The Bravest

In November 1940, the Wang Puppet Government was about to issue Zhongchu in Shanghai.

Lin Jie's focus has always been on the welfare home. He knows his own abilities. Stealing intelligence can only be done for the country when there is a chance. After all, spies do not collect intelligence every day. When there is no opportunity, Lin Jie mainly protects himself and does what he can, just like now, feeding as many orphans as possible. This is what he can do now and he thinks is meaningful.

However, for someone like Lin Jie, there was no need to steal intelligence. As long as Lin Jie frequently dealt with the Japanese or high-ranking Japanese puppet officials such as Li Shiqun, he would naturally be exposed to a lot of confidential information for the lower levels. Therefore, the Military Control Commission saw his future and used the beauty trap and specially designed a letter of surrender to strengthen Lin Jie's trust in the Japanese and No. 76. This process would not be achieved overnight.

However, it cannot be said that Lin Jie has not played any role at all now. Just like the last time he obtained a large amount of medicines for the Military Control Commission, it cannot be said that the Military Control Commission paid for it and it had nothing to do with Lin Jie. Even if you ask Boss Dai to take the gold bars, he may not be able to buy it. Otherwise, there would be no need for the Military Control Commission to find a solution.

In addition, Ye Wulian used his relationship with Lin Jie and through Gangcun's wife, Mei Zi, he also came into contact with many wives of Japanese officers. During their interactions and conversations, he also obtained a lot of information. Intelligence could not all be in the form of documents, but also had to be integrated and analyzed through some relatively fragmented information. Moreover, a lot of it was not certain, so he could only rely on his own judgment.

Therefore, Lin Jie had already reported all the information about the pseudo-government's issuance of the Central Reserve through Ye Wulian. He also mentioned it to Uncle Liu and Teacher Liu intentionally or unintentionally when they were discussing prices. Lin Jie's value was that he himself did not recognize his potential.

In addition, Yan'an attached no less importance to Lin Jie than the Military Control Commission, and even more so. This can be seen from the fact that a long-silent intelligence team led by Teacher Liu was specially activated to follow up and cooperate with Lin Jie.

Lin Jie didn't know all this. He just wanted to run the welfare home as well as he could while protecting himself.

"Is Teacher Liu here?" Lin Jie came to find Teacher Liu to meet Uncle Liu.

"Dean, what do you want to talk to me about?" Teacher Liu felt a sense of victory that Lin Jie took the initiative to find him, especially in front of Teacher Sun. Humph, the dean must recognize me more.

"Teacher Liu, do you still have classes today? I want to meet Uncle Liu and discuss something with him." Lin Jie didn't think there was anything wrong with Teacher Liu's enthusiasm for him. In the future, this level of enthusiasm was not worth mentioning at all.

"Dean, there's nothing to do this afternoon. Let's go to my house. My dad should be home today."

"Come on, I'll take you for a ride today." Lin Jie was in a good mood today. As a man, how could he not like cars?

"Ah, what is a ride? Where do we go for a ride?" It was the first time that Teacher Liu heard this and he was very curious.

"Haha, let's just go out and play in a car. Let's go for a ride." Lin Jie was so excited that he pulled Teacher Liu's hand and walked away. He didn't even notice that Teacher Liu's face turned red, as if she had put on rouge and powder. Teacher Liu's heartbeat was much faster than Lin Jie's pace. Ah, here it comes again. Why is this person like this? He always takes advantage of me. I really hate him. Teacher Liu complained in her heart, but she didn't mean to break free. She was inexplicably happy to be pulled away by Lin Jie like this. No, she should be happy because she was going for a ride.

Lin Jie took Teacher Liu and his two young bodyguards to the car to look for Uncle Liu. They took a short detour on the road and considered it a ride. In this tense situation, there was no romance at all.

Because they had something important to discuss, the car stopped outside the alley. Lin Jie asked Liu Sheng and Liu Yidao to watch the car, while the other stayed outside the alley to walk around as a warning. He and Teacher Liu went home to find Uncle Liu.

"Uncle Liu, I came here today to discuss something with you. The welfare home needs a deputy director. I want to invite you to come out. After all, you were the principal of this school before. You have experience. What do you think? Are you interested?"

"Oh, I am definitely interested in this. I don't have a proper job now. May I ask how the salary is calculated? Sorry, this is a bit abrupt." Teacher Liu's father Liu Qingshan replied with an excited and slightly embarrassed smile. It is not easy to find a suitable job in this world.

"As for the salary, it is twice as much as that of ordinary teachers. I wonder if Uncle Liu is satisfied with this."

"Haha, that's pretty good. When can I start work?" Liu Qingshan was already a little impatient.

"You can go to the welfare home to handle the formalities tomorrow. I'll be there after ten o'clock. But Uncle Liu, I came here today because I have an important matter to ask your opinion. I will open a factory in the welfare home to produce some Japanese military supplies. I will recruit a group of teenage homeless children as workers. They will only be provided with food but no salary. What do you think?" Lin Jie stared into Uncle Liu's eyes, trying to see his reaction clearly to confirm whether his guess was correct.

Before Uncle Liu could say anything, Teacher Liu beside him became anxious and said, "Dean, how can you exploit workers?" This immediately exposed the truth. Teacher Liu was actually very cautious and would never blurt out sensitive words like this. But for some reason, Teacher Liu was not on guard in front of Lin Jie.

"Haitang, don't talk nonsense. Dean Lin, I'm sorry, Haitang is ignorant. But since you are a worker, why don't you get paid?" Uncle Liu interrupted his daughter and asked Lin Jie calmly.

"The Japanese factories don't pay wages. They have prisoners of war, so of course I don't pay them either, but I can have enough food." Lin Jie answered as a matter of course. "I just want to ask Uncle Liu for his opinion."

"Well, Dean Lin asked me for my opinion, so I can only tell you frankly that it's not very appropriate to open a factory in a welfare home, and I don't think it's a good idea not to pay wages! Of course, this is just my personal opinion. Since Dean Lin has made the decision, my opinion is not worth mentioning. I still have to thank Dean Lin for giving me a job opportunity, but I'm sorry, I can't do anything about the factory." Liu Qingshan's face darkened. He obviously couldn't stand Lin Jie's evil tactics, but he was unwilling to give up the job.

Lin Jie thought about it and decided that since Liu Qingshan was unwilling to be responsible for the specific management of the factory, forget it. "Okay, then Mr. Liu, we have a deal. Tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, I will welcome you to the welfare home. I will take my leave first."

"Okay, I'll take you there." Liu Qingshan politely escorted Lin Jie out the door.

"Dad, why don't you take charge of the factory management so that you can have better control over the welfare home?" Liu Haitang asked his father puzzledly.

"He is testing us. You just said the wrong thing. He is too shrewd. The information shown in the file and the things he deliberately leaked are all tests for us. They are not enough to prove his true attitude. Maybe he will test everyone who appears around him."

"How could that be? The dean is a nice person. He can't be a bad person." Liu Haitang was unconvinced.

"I didn't say he is a bad person, but political stance cannot be simply distinguished by good or bad. Just like there are good people in the Kuomintang, but he opposes the policies of our organization, then he is our class enemy. It's just that now is a period of united resistance against Japan, so we should temporarily put aside different political views and unite to fight the war. This is a question of political stance." Liu Qingshan patiently taught his daughter.

"So, Dad, who is Dean Lin?"

"I can't tell. He's too cautious. It's hard to determine his political stance. Don't be impatient. Just do your job well. Don't say things like you just said in front of anyone. This is not our base."

"Dad, will he suspect us based on what he just said?" Liu Haitang was a little worried.

"It's okay. He probably doubts everyone, so there are traps in what he says, including the things that seem to be done unintentionally. For example, last time you helped him print documents, if you secretly took a copy, he would definitely find out. Fortunately, you are not stupid and knew to print an extra copy with your own paper."

"If he keeps leaking information like this, isn't he afraid that the Japanese will suspect him? Can this also prove that he is not on the side of the Japanese?" Liu Haitang has his own analysis.

"It's hard to say. What he leaked is actually of no importance to the Japanese. It can also be interpreted as a careless leak. The Japanese will not seize this point to suspect him. After all, he still needs him to do things for the Japanese."

"Oh, Dad, now that you mention it, I feel like he's the multi-faceted spy you mentioned."

"Really? So it's hard to judge his political stance now. By the way, did he catch anyone he wanted to arrest some time ago?" Liu Qingshan suddenly remembered something.

"I heard from Liu Sheng that the person was not caught. It was a fake surrender by the Military Control Commission. But two were killed. Dad, why would Dean Lin arrest the Military Control Commission? He is not really willing to be a traitor." Liu Haitang always believed that Lin Jie was not a bad person. "But Liu Sheng said that the man was called Liu Yang, the deputy director of intelligence at No. 76. He was a multi-faceted spy and helped the Japanese capture several members of the Military Control Commission. Do you think the dean wanted to get rid of Liu Yang because of this?"

Liu Qingshan was very worried when he saw his daughter innocently defending Lin Jie. He took a deep breath and said in a slow tone, "Haitang, Lin Jie is not a simple person. You have to be careful of him. And Liu Sheng, why does he tell you everything? Don't let him set you up. The three little ghosts around Lin Jie are very cunning."

"Oh, I know." How dare Liu Haitang tell her father that Liu Sheng and the other two called her Teacher Liu in front of Lin Jie, and called her Sister-in-law when Lin Jie was not around. No matter what she said, they would not listen. However, except for the name, the three of them listened to her in everything. Gradually, she seemed to get used to it and let the three children call her whatever they wanted. Now that her father asked, she remembered that she must remind the three of them not to call her whatever they wanted, otherwise she would be really angry. Well, then you are not angry? Liu Haitang felt a little hot on her face.

Seeing his daughter's carelessness, Liu Qingshan felt something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what it was. ...

After leaving Teacher Liu's house, Lin Jie sat in the car, thinking about the conversation between the three of them at Liu Haitang's house. Apart from the familiar word "exploitation" that Haitang said, there was no other information that could reveal his identity. Is he the person he is looking for? Lin Jie did not dare to draw a conclusion. Those two words were known to most young people who studied during the Great Revolution, and they did not explain anything. Forget it, don't act rashly before you are absolutely sure.

However, the word "exploitation" also reminded Lin Jie. Yes, the policies and disciplines there are very strict. Can he adapt to them? Moreover, what he is doing now should not be in line with the policies there, and he will do it according to his own ideas. Once the bow is shot, there is no turning back. Now he can't stop even if he wants to. To feed these orphans, there are some things he has to do, and he may be more unscrupulous.

In that case, even if they were to connect in the future, there would be no problem in cooperation. As for joining, he really had to think it over carefully. This kind of thing was not something that could be entered or withdrawn casually. Lin Jie didn't want to be liquidated one day in the future.

"Liu Sheng, from now on, don't call Teacher Liu your sister-in-law. Remember that." Lin Jie said something inexplicably, which made Liu Sheng and Liu Yidao stunned. "Haha, brother, you know, haha, Teacher Liu is very good."

In fact, Lin Jie has always known about it, but the other side of his heart seems to like her a little bit, so he just pretends not to know. It has been almost a year since we got married. I don’t know if it’s because we don’t have the passion we had at the beginning, or because of Ye Wulian’s illness, the two of us don’t have a real married life. Recently, it seems like an invisible barrier has appeared between him and Wulian, and the lives of the two have become dull. Everything seems to be fulfilling its duties and trying hard to maintain a family.

Lin Jie didn't care about Haitang's appearance at first. In just a few months, they didn't meet very often. But when they were together, Lin Jie felt relaxed and comfortable. This feeling was impossible in No. 76, or even at home. One day, he accidentally heard Liu Sheng calling her sister-in-law, and she didn't refute. Maybe it was at that time that Lin Jie began to have thoughts that he shouldn't have.

"Haha, that's good. Don't call me that in the future. It's not good for Teacher Liu. Let's go home and ask your sister-in-law to prepare something delicious." Suddenly she remembered that except for the fact that he had said in advance that he would go home for dinner, Wu Lian seldom cooked at home because Lin Jie became unwilling to be at home during the day.

Passing by a jewelry shop, Lin Jie suddenly had an idea. He got out of the car and quickly picked out a sapphire necklace. He then went to a flower shop and bought a bunch of flowers. Then Lin Jie sent Liu Sheng and the other two back and said he would treat them to dinner another day.

On the way home, he wanted to buy some Wu Lian, but there was no more in the afternoon, so he had to buy some cakes. When he got home, it was only five o'clock, and Wu Lian had not returned yet. Lin Jie cleaned the first floor, boiled some hot water and took a bath. He quietly waited for the person who would give him a home.

It was getting dark, and Lin Jie fell asleep on the sofa with a few packages of cakes and flowers, feeling very at ease.

At eight o'clock, Ye Wulian went shopping with Mei Zi and a few sisters today, and came back after dinner. Li Jing followed them all the time, and he didn't feel unsafe. When she opened the door, there was no light inside. He didn't come back. She didn't know if it was because of the weather. The house was getting colder and colder. Ye Wulian said to Li Jing, "Okay, you will go." Since Lin Jie came home later and later, Ye Wulian didn't want Li Jing to live at home. Although Li Jing was still young, Ye Wulian didn't want a single man and a single woman to be together. Lin Jie just followed her. "Sister-in-law, I'm leaving." Li Jing left obediently.

After closing the front door, Ye Wulian realized that the door to the hall was open. She must have forgotten about it again.

It's so cold. He hasn't gotten home from get off work on time for more than two months. I haven't come home to cook since then. There's no smell of fireworks. I keep waiting, waiting later and later every day. Sometimes I fall asleep. Haha, I couldn't fall asleep before, but now I can fall asleep while waiting. It's really funny.

Usually around nine o'clock, he would come back and hold me to sleep as before, but he would not get up secretly to smoke in the middle of the night like he did at the beginning. But there was no unpleasant smell of cigarettes, and my body did not react the same way as before. It was like holding a beautiful rag doll, sleeping soundly. When the sun rose, I could no longer see him. Only the prepared breakfast could make me feel a little warm. I didn't blame him. I really didn't blame him.

Dragging her tired body, she walked in and turned on the light switch at the door. She found Lin Jie sleeping soundly on the sofa, holding the same flowers he gave her on the day of the wedding. On the coffee table were her favorite cakes that had not been opened. Ye Wulian's handbag fell to the ground, and she squatted on the ground with her hands covering her mouth, tears flowing silently.

"Ah, Wulian is back, what happened?" The sound of the handbag falling to the ground startled Lin Jie. Seeing Ye Wulian squatting on the ground crying silently, the feeling of pity came back. He walked over, gently picked up the woman he loved and put her back on the sofa, "Sorry, I'm back."