The next day, when Su Sansheng opened the door to the special treatment room, he saw that Li Xiaonan had folded the blank sheet of paper into a paper boat. On the side of the boat, in the ink Su had given her, she had written three words: “Victory.”
Seeing these three words, Su Sansheng's head buzzed. He suddenly realized that Li Xiaonan’s fate might be sealed. He stared at her for a long time, then turned and walked out of the room. Soon after, Li Xiaonan was quickly transferred to the interrogation room. Meanwhile, Chen Shen sat as usual on the low wooden cabinet in Liu Meina’s office, drinking bottle after bottle of kvass. Liu Meina, too, carried on as she always did, filing her nails. However, she occasionally glanced nervously at Chen Shen, knowing that this time the captive was a third-rate actress, pursued by Su Sansheng, and also someone who had feelings for Chen—his sworn sister.
“Aren’t you going to the interrogation today?” Liu Meina asked, her voice carrying a hint of trembling.
“I’ll have to.”
“Why?”
“Because Bi Zhong Liang will definitely be there. He’ll want to see if my relationship with this sworn sister is more than it seems.”
“Is it?”
Chen Shen appeared angry. He downed the rest of his kvass in one gulp and slammed the empty bottle down hard on the cabinet. The loud noise startled Liu Meina. At that moment, Bian Tou appeared at the doorway, panting. “Captain Bi wants you in the interrogation room.”
The harsh white light of the incandescent bulbs shone down on Li Xiaonan. She sat in a chair, her hands tied behind her back, waiting for Chen Shen to arrive. When Chen walked in, she smiled as if seeing a long-lost family member. Chen smiled back. The iron rods in the stove were already glowing red-hot. Whips of various sizes hung on the wall, alongside containers of chili water, a tiger bench, and a heap of torture instruments piled in the corner. But clearly, they wouldn’t be needed—when Li Xiaonan saw Chen Shen, she said, “Give me a cigarette.”
That day, Chen Shen lit a cigarette for Li Xiaonan with great care. Bi Zhong Liang, standing silently in the background, observed the expressions on both Chen and Su Sansheng’s faces. He had always felt that whether it was the Communist agent known as “the Chancellor,” who was gunned down at the door of the MGM ballroom, the Bureau of Military Statistics operative Tang Shan Hai, buried in the woods, or the third-rate actress Li Xiaonan now in custody—there was someone in the shadows behind all of them. If not for this mysterious figure, all their efforts might have been in vain. Bi Zhong Liang didn’t completely trust Chen Shen, but what frightened him was the idea of suspecting Chen Shen. Could Chen be nothing more than a skilled barber? The captain of the first team of the Direct Action Unit? A Communist underground courier? Or even the legendary Sparrow? Or was all of this just wild speculation, and he was wrongfully doubting the man who had once saved his life and helped him smuggle opium?
After finishing her cigarette, Li Xiaonan began her confession. She revealed that she was, in fact, the long-lost sister of the Chancellor, who hadn’t been in contact with him for years. She also revealed that her entire family was now dead. Chen Shen remained calm, though in his mind, he recalled the scene outside the MGM ballroom when Li Xiaonan had screamed as she watched the Chancellor shoot himself. Only now did he realize that Li Xiaonan had witnessed their meeting inside the ballroom.
A wave of fear swept over Chen. He feared that if Li Xiaonan couldn’t withstand the torture, what would happen to the list of contacts buried in her mind?
Apart from that, Li Xiaonan said nothing more related to intelligence. Her earlier mention of her connection to the Chancellor seemed almost as if it had been meant for Chen Shen to hear. Afterward, she spoke at length about gossip from the film set and the romantic escapades of a certain director. Finally, Bi Zhong Liang could no longer sit still. He stood up, glanced at Su Sansheng, and said, “I only care about results. You get me results. If you can’t, you’ll have to explain yourself to the 76th Unit, and you’ll have to explain yourself to the Meijiang Office. If you can’t handle it, then it’s your problem to deal with.”
Su Sansheng’s face was grim as he stared at the woman he had pursued for so long. After a while, he had one of the agents bring a dry towel. “Stuff the towel into her mouth,” he said, “push it down into her esophagus and stomach. When the stomach acid starts breaking it down, yank it out. Supposedly, it can pull the stomach lining out. If the stomach comes out, the papers she swallowed might not have been fully digested yet. I might be able to recover the intelligence. And if I can’t, well, at least it will serve as punishment for this Communist with a will harder than iron.”
Bi Zhong Liang glanced at Chen Shen and asked, “What do you think of Captain Su’s method?”
Chen Shen, gritting his teeth, glared at Su Sansheng. “You begged her for love, and now you’d do this? I’d rather kill you myself.”
Su Sansheng laughed. “Anyone who’s an enemy of Chairman Wang and the new government is my enemy. Enemies must be eliminated, or else they will eliminate you. Are you trying to speak up for a suspect, Captain Chen?”
Chen Shen said nothing more and stood up to leave the interrogation room. Just as he was about to go, Li Xiaonan called out to him. She asked for another cigarette, and Chen Shen lit it for her once again. Li Xiaonan said, “If you get the chance, please check on that cactus for me.”
Chen Shen nodded solemnly, but her words did not escape Bi Zhong Liang’s notice.
As Chen walked down the long corridor, his steps were heavy and slow. Soon, the sound of Li Xiaonan retching and screaming reached him. A mist rose in his eyes—he knew Su Sansheng had already begun stuffing the towel down her throat.
A little while later, Bi Zhong Liang appeared in the corridor as well. He followed a few paces behind Chen Shen, the screams making his scalp tingle. Ever since he had taken a shrapnel wound to the head during the Red Bandit suppression campaign, his scalp would occasionally tingle, especially on rainy days.
Five minutes later, Bi Zhong Liang instructed one of his men to go to the abandoned warehouse and bring the cactus back to his office. That afternoon, Bi Zhong Liang spent over an hour examining the items his men had taken from the warehouse, including the cactus. In the end, he found nothing and handed the plant over to Chen Shen.
Chen Shen asked, “Did you think the plant was hiding intelligence? I noticed the soil in the pot had been disturbed.”
“Anyone would be suspicious,” Bi Zhong Liang replied, “but there’s nothing hidden in the pot.”
Chen Shen carefully cradled the plant and took it back to his office. Once there, he placed the cactus on the windowsill, where the sun streamed in. The dark green ball of the plant was covered with delicate, star-like pale flowers, blooming vibrantly. Chen Shen thought to himself, The secret of this cactus is probably… victory.
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