Spring, 1949. The price of a ticket to flee to Taiwan had risen to 11 taels of gold, roughly equivalent to two large yellow croaker fish. Police Chief Mao Sen began executing people; of the more than 500 Communist Party members and progressives imprisoned at Tilanqiao Prison, only 28 remained. General Tang Enbo held his ground in Shanghai, and every day the command headquarters was busy burning documents and transferring supplies. But the waters of the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek continued to flow, and the parties and dances went on.
At the MGM Ballroom, a middle-aged man wearing a red scarf met with a young woman.
The girl’s name was Chunyang, code-named "Cuckoo."
The middle-aged man said, “You’re so young. Aren’t you afraid of death?”
Chunyang replied, “I’m not afraid of death, but I’m afraid of the dark.”
“The sky will brighten soon.”
“Should I call you uncle or brother?”
“Call me comrade.”
The man placed a mahjong tile on the table. It was a "One Bamboo" tile, which looked like a bird. “My code name is ‘Sparrow.’”
Chunyang said, “But wasn’t Sparrow sacrificed long ago?”
The man smiled. “Yes, but I’m living on for her. She had two code names; her other was ‘The Chancellor.’ From now on, I will always use the name Sparrow.”
“How long will you use it?” Chunyang asked.
“Until I either sacrifice myself, or the sky brightens.”
Under the ballroom lights, Chunyang could see the man’s face, covered in deep, weathered scars. It was a face marked by time and hardship.
“My husband was killed a month ago. He was part of the guerrilla forces in the Siming Mountains of eastern Zhejiang,” Chunyang said softly, sipping her tea and lowering her eyes.
“That’s not unusual. I’ve lost nearly my entire family, but I’m fortunate to still have Comrade Li Dongshui.”
“Who’s Li Dongshui?”
“My son. His nickname is Pipi.”
The man said, “I’d like to introduce you to my sister-in-law. My brother is gone, but she’s still my sister-in-law. She’s been sick for a long time—she has asthma. She looks a lot like my late sister. She’s always wanted to find me a match. Her name is Liu Lanzhi.”
At that moment, a group of people surged into the ballroom, and the crowd suddenly became chaotic. Bureau of Confidential Affairs agent Xu Bicheng led Tao Dachun and others into the room. Chunyang tensed up. The middle-aged man placed his hand over hers, smiled with narrowed eyes, and said, “Comrade Cuckoo, look at me. Don’t look at them. You’ve got a tail—they’ve come for you.”
Seeing the smile at the corners of the man’s eyes, Chunyang regained some composure. “What should I do?”
The man said, “I know those two. Don’t be afraid. Do you have a weapon?”
“No.”
“If you can’t escape, there’s an electrical switch by the staircase. Just crash into it.”
Chunyang bit her lip and nodded resolutely.
The man smiled again. “I’d like to ask you for a dance—this is part of the job.”
The song Night Shanghai began to play.
“Do you know it?” the man asked. “It’s a song Zhou Xuan used to sing. There was an actress at Star Film Company who especially loved Zhou Xuan’s songs.”
The middle-aged man was Chen Shen. As he smiled, tears rolled down his cheeks. By then, the sound of artillery signaling the liberation of Shanghai was drawing closer and closer.
[The End]
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