Chapter 161 Interrogation and Screening (Requesting Monthly Votes)

The next morning, Ning Zhiheng arrived at the office as usual and immediately set to work handling various official duties.

As the newly established Fourth Action Unit had numerous matters requiring attention, Ning Zhiheng handled everything in a decisive and well-organized manner, confident and thoroughly prepared. Backed by his extensive connections within the Military Intelligence Investigation Bureau, everyone was eager to give him face.

The personnel, equipment, and training of the Fourth Action Unit were swiftly deployed. Moreover, since his subordinates were all members of the Baoding clique, they obeyed his commands implicitly and without question. Consequently, the Fourth Action Unit entered a normal operational state with remarkable speed.

This greatly pleased Zhao Ziliang, who recognized that Ning Zhiheng was not only an operational talent with extraordinary execution capabilities but also an exceptionally gifted administrator.

At that moment, a knock sounded at the door. In response to Ning Zhiheng's permission to enter, Wang Shucheng pushed the door open and walked in.

"Shucheng, is there something you need?" Ning Zhiheng asked with a smile, gesturing for Wang Shucheng to take a seat.

"Group Leader, that batch of properties has been completely disposed of. Have a look at this—?" Wang Shucheng sat down in the adjacent chair and began speaking.

"So fast! How are the current market conditions?" Ning Zhiheng inquired. While those properties currently held immense value, they would become entirely worthless in half a year. Liquidating them as quickly as possible was, naturally, the safest course of action; keeping cash in hand remained the most secure choice.

"Market conditions are still quite favorable, just as you instructed. I lowered the price slightly, and they sold off very quickly. The total came to eighty thousand US dollars!" Wang Shucheng said with a smile. Although he did not understand why Ning Zhiheng was in such a rush to offload the real estate, he had always followed Ning Zhiheng's directives with absolute obedience.

Not only that, but he had also converted all of his own personal assets into US dollars. The direct consequence of this event was that, from that day forward, he never once questioned any command issued by Ning Zhiheng.

Ning Zhiheng nodded. To be honest, considering the sheer amount of real estate he owned in Nanjing, eighty thousand US dollars was not a huge sum, but since it was essentially a windfall, he was quite satisfied.

"Have the money delivered to my house tonight! From now on, handle all such matters in this manner, keeping only British pounds and US dollars on hand," Ning Zhiheng instructed with a nod. Then, after a moment of thought, he decided to give Wang Shucheng a slight hint of what was coming. "We will not be staying in Nanjing for long. Word has it that the Military Intelligence Investigation Bureau is going to pull together a large number of personnel for a mopping-up operation in our rear cities. We must prepare ourselves; we might just be selected for it, so we must be ready to leave at a moment's notice! Keep this matter strictly confidential and do not speak of it to outsiders."

Only then did sudden enlightenment dawn upon Wang Shucheng. No wonder the Group Leader wanted to dispose of everything in Nanjing; it turned out he had access to insider information. He nodded repeatedly in acknowledgment before standing up and taking his leave.

Ning Zhiheng felt a sense of helpless resignation. Once the war broke out, leaving was a foregone conclusion. He could not abandon his family and loved ones to remain in a dangerous zone.

All he could do was take the people around him out safely to the greatest extent possible. For now, he had to find an excuse to get them to make all necessary preparations for departure, lest they be caught unprepared at the end, when regret would come too late.

Meanwhile, parked inside a sedan just outside the gates of the Military Intelligence Investigation Bureau, Du Qian, the chief of the Xicheng District Police Station, and Shao Wenguang were conversing in low tones.

"Brother Shao, can this Group Leader Ning you mentioned really guarantee my safety? This three hundred thousand is no small sum. It's not that I'm afraid of spending money, but I'm terrified of knocking on the wrong door and failing to get things done! I simply don't have time to gamble anymore. Another family moved into our neighborhood yesterday, and at a glance, they are clearly no ordinary characters—they are definitely keeping me under surveillance. Now I don't even dare to return home!" Du Qian, the police chief, said with a tearful whine.

During this period, he had truly been frightened out of his wits. The agents of the Kuomintang Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics were closing in tighter by the day, and it seemed they were about to make a move soon. He could not sit and wait for death, yet he had sought help everywhere in vain. Even his backer, the deputy chief of the Police Headquarters, had turned hostile and refused to acknowledge him, barring him from entering the premises altogether.

Desperate and clutching at straws, he had thought of this newly acquainted special commissioner of the Military Intelligence Investigation Bureau, Shao Wenguang!

"Old Du, you can put your mind completely at ease! Just what kind of person is Group Leader Ning? It is only because my reach extends to the heavens that I am able to rely on such a figure.

"A favored disciple of the Whampoa Military Academy, a major serving as an action group leader, and he just graduated from Whampoa less than a year ago—he is only twenty-one years old this year!

"When he received his promotion, the Director of our Military Intelligence Bureau personally pinned the rank insignia on him. At the celebratory banquet, both the Director and the Deputy Director attended in person! This is no secret within our Military Intelligence Bureau; you only need to make a discreet inquiry to find out. Just think about the background standing behind him!" Shao Wenguang spoke fluently and without pause, sparing no effort in boasting on Ning Zhiheng's behalf. And to be fair, everything he said was the truth, so he had no fear of Du Qian making private inquiries.

"This is true? Good heavens! Brother Shao, your connections truly reach the heavens! I must have accumulated immense virtue in my past life to have the fortune of knowing you, Brother Shao. If I manage to survive this disaster, I will definitely show my profound gratitude with heavy gifts." Hearing Shao Wenguang's words, Du Qian felt his heart settle considerably. It seemed he had finally knocked on the right door, and this time he would likely weather the storm safely without mishap.

"Old Du, I am only helping you because I see that you are a straightforward and sensible person. This money won't be spent in vain. By the way, Group Leader Ning only favors British pounds and US dollars—I told you that already, haven't I? Have you prepared everything?" Shao Wenguang waved his hand to cut short Du Qian's flattery and asked directly.

Du Qian hurriedly lifted the small suitcase in his hand and said, "Thirty thousand US dollars, not a single cent short!"

Shao Wenguang nodded and said, "That's good. Once we go in, answer whatever Group Leader Ning asks you. You must be completely honest. He is an extremely perceptive person, and if you dare to utter a single lie, he will see right through it. You know very well what the consequences will be!"

"Understood! Understood! I will tell him everything I know without holding anything back, and I won't dare to conceal a single thing!" Du Qian replied repeatedly.

"All right, let's go inside quickly! Remember, you must not conceal anything, or regret will come too late!" Having given his final instructions, Shao Wenguang urged Du Qian to step out of the car.

Trembling with fear, Du Qian entered the Military Intelligence Investigation Bureau, reported his name to the guards on duty, and waited while a guard made a phone call to Ning Zhiheng's office. Only after receiving Ning Zhiheng's explicit approval was he allowed inside.

Despite being a police station chief, this was Du Qian's first time entering the Military Intelligence Investigation Bureau. To him, this legendary palace of the King of Hell—where people were devoured without even their bones left behind—felt as though every building was a ferocious giant beast, baring its bloody maw and staring intently at its prey.

Daring not to linger, he followed the guard's directions, walked quickly into the Action Department, and arrived outside Ning Zhiheng's office.

He knocked cautiously on the door, and a clear, resonant voice rang out from within!

"Come in!"

Du Qian gently pushed the door open, slowed his steps as he entered the office, and closed the door behind him. Only then did he dare to raise his head, seeing a very young military officer sitting straight behind the desk, head bowed as he carefully wrote something on a document.

Du Qian did not dare to speak, fearing he might disrupt the other man's train of thought. He cautiously observed the young officer; he truly wore the rank of a major, and his sharp, angular facial features were astonishingly young.

Shao Wenguang was right. A major officer this young, especially holding the title of a major group leader within the Military Intelligence Investigation Bureau—which external rumors painted as mysterious and fiercely ruthless—was certainly not someone small fry like himself could ever imagine crossing.

After a long while, the young officer finally looked up at Du Qian and put down his fountain pen.

"You must be Du Qian," Ning Zhiheng asked indifferently.

"This subordinate is Du Qian, here specifically to listen to the Group Leader's instructions," Du Qian hurriedly and respectfully replied.

"Old Lao told me about your situation. I hear you've even gotten yourself tangled up with the underground party—you've got quite a bit of nerve!" Ning Zhiheng said in a cold voice.

Hearing this, Du Qian hastily began to plead and cry out his grievances: "Group Leader, I am truly wronged! Where would I ever have the guts to deal with the underground party? This is entirely a frame-up by the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics!

"That pharmacy owner, Wu Quanjiang, is merely an ordinary traditional Chinese medicine doctor. He treated an old ailment of mine in the past, and out of gratitude, I befriended him, but it was purely a normal, ordinary friendship.

"I never expected disaster to strike out of nowhere. For reasons unknown, the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics wanted to arrest him, but he managed to escape. As a result, they shifted their target onto me!

"Group Leader, I am innocent! Besides, I am a police station chief and a subordinate of our Military Intelligence Investigation Bureau. Even if someone were to move against me, it shouldn't be their Bureau of Investigation and Statistics' place to do so!"

Du Qian was truly an old veteran who had weathered many storms. With a series of artful deflections and counter-arguments, he managed to distance himself completely from the accusations while subtly reminding Ning Zhiheng that he was a man of the Military Intelligence Investigation Bureau, hoping that Ning Zhiheng would shield him from the storm.

Ning Zhiheng scrutinized the police station chief closely, attempting to glean any clues that would help him determine Du Qian's true background and decide how best to handle him.

"I'm asking you: what kind of connections have you had with this Wu Quanjiang? Let me remind you that you must take responsibility for every single word you say. If you dare to conceal anything, the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics won't even need to make a move—I will have you arrested right now, and you can kiss goodbye to ever getting out of here for the rest of your life!"

Having already received Shao Wenguang's warning, Du Qian knew that this bigwig before him had zero tolerance for deceit and that the consequences of lying were extremely severe. He dared not hide anything further.

Deciding to confess everything, Du Qian hurriedly answered, "Nanjing has a complete supply of pharmaceuticals, and Wu Quanjiang had stockpiled quite a few good medicines. He couldn't sell them for a good price locally, so he wanted to transport them inland to make a higher profit! However, many of them were controlled drugs and difficult to ship out, so he begged me for help. I couldn't find a way to refuse him, so I arranged things for him!"