Chapter 232 Japanese Master
The second one was a public phone, and Chu Lingyun asked Shen Hanwen to check it personally.
He was indeed not so confident in the people at Hangzhou Station, and would not ask them to help where his own people could be used.
"Stationmaster Cai, please have someone check the sources of all the phone numbers."
After Chu Lingyun finished the arrangements, he said to Cai Zhengru, who was taken aback. "Are you going to check everything?"
"Everything needs to be checked."
Chu Lingyun nodded. The two of them said the same thing but in different tones. Cai Zhengru was about to say something when he suddenly remembered Secretary Qi's instructions and immediately nodded in agreement.
He is not in charge of the Hangzhou station now. Although Chu Lingyun's rank is lower than his, he is an imperial envoy with the imperial sword, so he can only obey his orders.
Cai Zhengru ordered someone to check the source of the phone number, while Chu Lingyun went to the Oriental Chess Club.
This time, Station Master Cai was not asked to follow. He is not a director, and even if he is in charge of the case, it is impossible for him to let a station master be his follower.
The person who followed him to Hangzhou Station was Fang Hai. As the head of the intelligence team, he had the responsibility and obligation to assist Chu Lingyun in handling this case.
Wanhua Road is not far away. The Oriental Chess Club is quite large. There is a vertical sign at the door with the four big characters "Oriental Chess Club" written in powerful strokes.
"This chess club has been open for quite some time, over 50 years. Old Hangzhou residents know it and it's very famous. It's said that Pu Zuoying came up with these words on the sign."
When Fang Hai saw Chu Lingyun noticed the sign, he hurriedly introduced it.
For an old chess club, it is unlikely that the boss has problems, and the chess clubs that are passed down in this way are basically composed of locals.
However, the people in the chess club are complicated, and the possibility of Japanese spies existing in the club cannot be ruled out.
As for who Pu Zuoying was, Chu Lingyun didn't know, but since Fang Hai specifically mentioned him, he was probably a celebrity.
"Team Leader Fang, have you ever been to this chess club?"
Chu Lingyun suddenly asked. Fang Hai was stunned for a moment and immediately shook his head: "No, I don't know how to play chess and I have never been here."
"Besides Ren Cheng, are there any other people in your station who often come to the chess club?" Chu Lingyun asked again.
"As far as I know, no. The other players are average in chess. There are many masters here. Why would they come here if they can't beat them? But the stationmaster may have been here."
There are not many people coming to the chess club in Hangzhou, only Ren Cheng comes regularly.
As for Cai Zhengru, it is normal for a webmaster to be pretentious, and many people in the Kuomintang like this.
Chu Lingyun never doubted Cai Zhengru. If Cai Zhengru had been instigated by the Japanese, he would not be handling the case here, but would be facing danger.
"Team Leader Zhu, Team Leader Fang, let's go in together."
Chu Lingyun said calmly. Fang Hai didn't say anything, but Zhu Qing frowned and hurriedly stopped Chu Lingyun: "Team Leader Chu, it's too dangerous for only the three of us. Bring a few more people in."
Although he said there were three, Zhu Qing actually only thought of two.
Fang Hai at the Hangzhou station had no calculations at all. He did not handle any cases, but he had been following Chu Lingyun. Just by watching from the side, he discovered many problems at the Hangzhou station.
At this time, he had great distrust of Hangzhou Station.
"It's okay. Let the others stay outside to keep watch. If the situation goes wrong, they can rush in to provide support at any time."
Chu Lingyun shook his head. He had decided to come to the Oriental Chess Club on a whim, and the director had just ordered him to investigate Ren Cheng's case today.
If the Japanese had even found out all this and made arrangements in the Oriental Chess Club in advance to deal with him, then he wouldn't have to hide, as the Japanese would succeed sooner or later.
"Alright."
Zhu Qing hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement, and instructed his men to be on guard around them. However, he still arranged for two of his best men to wait for them to go in for a few minutes before entering the chess club to provide secret protection.
Fang Hai looked at Zhu Qing in surprise.
He knew that two team leaders had come from the headquarters, Team 3 and Team 4 of the Operations Department. He had previously thought that the two team leaders were working together on the case, but Chu Lingyun was the main one.
But looking at Zhu Qing's attitude towards Chu Lingyun, this doesn't look like cooperation in solving a case.
Zhu Qing has always been by Chu Lingyun's side, bringing many people with him when he goes out to investigate cases. Now, on the grounds of safety, he asks to bring more people into the chess club. This is clearly to protect Chu Lingyun, not to help with the case.
Without thinking too much, Fang Hai hurriedly followed behind and entered the chess club.
The chess club is not a membership-based one, anyone can join, but if you want to play chess you have to pay, and it’s not cheap, as you are charged by the hour.
Fang Hai went to pay the money, and Chu Lingyun called the guys from the chess club and set up the chessboard for them. He and Zhu Qing sat face to face and pretended to play chess.
"Are there any masters in your chess club?"
Chu Lingyun asked as the waiter just brought the tea over. The waiter poured them tea and said with a smile: "Look at what you said, we are the number one chess club in Hangzhou City, so we naturally have many masters."
Chu Lingyun took out a dollar and put it on the waiter's tea tray: "Tell me about the masters."
"You're not from here, are you?"
The waiter saw the money beaming, quickly put it away and began to introduce: "Our chess club's top player is Dong Wenyuan. Although Mr. Dong is young, his chess skills are extraordinary and there are few rivals. There are also other famous players like Wang Zhihe and Xu Chun who often come to our chess club to play chess."
Chu Lingyun didn't know any of the people the guy was talking about.
"Dong Wenyuan is so powerful, has he never lost?"
"Mr. Dong has lost before. Last time, a Japanese man named Goto Tanyo came and fought against twelve masters from our chess club. Unfortunately, no one could beat him."
The guy shook his head as he spoke. That was the worst loss their chess club had ever suffered. If Chu Lingyun hadn't given him a lot of money, he wouldn't even be willing to say this.
"But apart from that Japanese guy, Mr. Dong has never lost again." The waiter added.
Fang Hai looked at Chu Lingyun. He had never thought about the fact that a Japanese person had appeared in the chess club before, and he had never come to the chess club to conduct an investigation.
"Is Goto Tanyang still here?" Chu Lingyun asked.
"He looked like a master, but unfortunately, Goto Tanyo is long gone. After sweeping our chess club six months ago, he left soon after and reportedly returned to Japan. If you want to play chess with a master, I can arrange an appointment for you with Master Dong. However, you have to pay first to play chess with him. You have to pay ten yuan for three games. If you win, the ten yuan will be refunded to you."
Fang Hai really didn't know that these masters charged money for playing chess.
"My chess skills are average, so there's no need to look for such a great master. Is there anyone who is a little bit better but not that strong?" Chu Lingyun continued to ask.
"Yes, besides the masters I just mentioned who require payment for appointments, there are also Zhu Jun, Ren Cheng... and several other masters. You can make appointments with them for free, but it depends on their time and mood."
Ren Cheng's name finally appeared and was remembered by the guys. It seems that Ren Cheng's chess skills are really good.
"Isn't there anyone among these people who can defeat that Japanese?"
Chu Lingyun asked again. The waiter looked around and then shook his head: "Several masters have come up, but no one has been able to defeat Goto Guyang. Masters Zhu Jun and Ren Cheng lost the most. They gave up two pieces but still couldn't win."
"Okay, go ahead and do your work. I'll call you if there's anything else."
Chu Lingyun waved his hand, and the waiter thanked him again and left. This customer was very generous. He gave him a dollar as a tip just for asking a few common questions. He asked him to stay here longer and serve them if there was anything.
"Team Leader Chu, I'll have someone investigate this Goto Tanyang."
After the guy left, Fang Hai immediately whispered that he was not stupid enough to know that Ren Cheng's rebellion was probably related to Goto Tanyang.
"Okay, we need to not only find out where he is, but also his whereabouts in Hangzhou and who he's in contact with."
Chu Lingyun nodded. Fang Hai did not dare to delay and ran out immediately, ordering his men to investigate these issues.
Ren Cheng loves playing chess and often comes to the chess club. He has extraordinary chess skills and is considered a master in Hangzhou.
Hobbies cannot be called weaknesses, but in the eyes of those who are interested, some hobbies can become targets of attack.
For example, love of money, love of sex, love of gambling, etc.
Compared with these, the hobby of playing chess is indeed nothing in the eyes of many people, but if it is used by someone with ulterior motives, it may very well become a sharp weapon for breakthrough.
Huang Ye, the painter who had previously called the traitor Liu Dazhuang in the department, had a hobby of fishing.
Chu Lingyun used his hobby to lure him out and successfully captured him.
Although Chu Lingyun still didn't know what method the Japanese used to persuade Ren Cheng to rebel, playing chess might be their breakthrough point.
I gained a lot from this visit to the chess club.
After playing chess for a while, Chu Lingyun didn't ask any more questions and took Zhu Qing away. He asked Zhu Qing to leave two people who knew how to play chess behind and keep playing chess in the chess club, mainly listening to the conversations of people around them to get clues.
Chu Lingyun didn’t know whether he could get any clues. This was just a routine arrangement.
When we returned to Hangzhou Station, Shen Hanwen had already returned. He found out the public phone and the person who called.
The public telephone belongs to a cultural relics shop, which mainly sells some pens, ink, paper and inkstones, as well as some ancient inkstones, ancient chess boards, etc.
The person who called was the owner of the antique shop, and he called Ren Cheng.
The main purpose was to sell some ancient chess manuals to Ren Cheng. Ren Cheng liked playing chess and especially loved collecting ancient chess manuals. He was an old customer of this store. Whenever the boss received an ancient chess manual, he would call him, and every time Ren Cheng would buy it at a high price.
Ren Cheng's hobby of chess can be described as an obsession, which can definitely become his real weakness.
"Go check all over the city to see where ancient chess manuals are sold. Also, have someone keep an eye on this store and report immediately if Ren Cheng shows up."
Chu Lingyun gave Shen Hanwen an order, and Shen Hanwen immediately went out to investigate according to Chu Lingyun's requirements.
He was the only one who came to Hangzhou with the team leader this time. I didn't expect that the team leader could also handle cases in Hangzhou. If this case is solved, his contribution will be indispensable.
Shen Hanwen was very motivated because of the bargain he got for free.
It is unlikely that Ren Cheng would appear in this antique shop. No matter how much Ren Cheng loves chess, he is the deputy team leader of the intelligence team. He knows very well that if someone investigates him, these places may be found.
If you show up again, you will only be walking into a trap.
Besides, he had already run away, and the boss couldn't notify him, so he wouldn't know when there would be new chess records in the store.
So he only deployed one person, purely as a precaution.
"Team Leader Chu, this is the source of all the phone numbers."
Fang Hai soon came to Chu Lingyun. In order to facilitate the solution of the case, Cai Zhengru specially gave him a new office where Chu Lingyun could work during the investigation.
This office became the temporary headquarters for the traitor case, and all clues would eventually converge here.
"Team Leader Fang, wait for me."
Chu Lingyun asked Fang Hai to sit on the sofa and wait, while he carefully looked into the sources of these calls.
Normally, Ren Cheng, an intelligence officer who loves playing chess, should not have so many people contacting him, but the calls came from various sources, including the post office, a business, and several public telephones.
"Team Leader Fang, please take someone to verify what these places do and why they called Ren Cheng."
After Chu Lingyun removed a few places related to Wenwan Go, he handed the remaining phone sources back to Fang Hai.
It takes a lot of manpower to investigate these places. Zhu Qing has enough people with him, but his main task is to protect himself. Moreover, they are unfamiliar with Hangzhou, so it is far better to let the people from the Hangzhou station go to investigate.
"good."
Fang Hai hurriedly got up, got the remaining phone numbers and addresses, and went out immediately.
He had reported the chess club matter to the stationmaster, who was very surprised at the time but attached great importance to his report.
A Japanese man appeared in the chess club that Ren Cheng often went to, and that was half a year ago. This Japanese man is a major suspect.
It was a pity that he had not thought about this before and had not investigated the chess club.
In his opinion, playing chess is just a more elegant hobby. What's wrong with liking chess? As long as it doesn't involve gambling, it doesn't matter how you play chess.
However, the results of the investigation gave him a vague feeling that Ren Cheng's being instigated by the Japanese might really be related to his chess playing.
The young team leader at the headquarters had some connections and found important clues so quickly. Although they did not directly point to Ren Cheng, they at least allowed them to find out how the Japanese brought Ren Cheng into trouble.
Cai Zhengru no longer dared to underestimate Chu Lingyun, and specifically instructed Fang Hai to cooperate with Chu Lingyun's investigation.
Almost all the people at Hangzhou Station had left.
Shen Hanwen was also busy outside, and only Zhu Qing was always by Chu Lingyun's side, and there were definitely no less than twenty people around him.
Cai Zheng also realized at this time that although two team leaders from the headquarters had come, their status was not equal at all.
Zhu Qing is just a bodyguard. He doesn't ask about other things unless Chu Lingyun has arrangements. And after Chu Lingyun makes arrangements, he is very happy to do it. He doesn't feel aggrieved at all that he is ordered by his peers.
This shocked him.
Let one team leader protect another team leader. Who is this Chu Lingyun and how can he have such a great reputation?
At this time, he treated Chu Lingyun equally and no longer dared to regard him as an ordinary team leader.
As the sky gradually darkened, various investigation results were slowly summarized in Chu Lingyun's hands. Chu Lingyun did not go back, he had nowhere to go, so he stayed at Hangzhou Station at night. He would stay here until the case was solved.
The phone records were checked quickly, and Fang Hai handed the results to Chu Lingyun. After Chu Lingyun read through them, he immediately focused on one of them.
"broker?"
There was a phone number that was called twice, and it belonged to a brokerage company. The so-called broker is the intermediary in this era, and it was called a "yahang" in ancient times.
Second update, more updates to come