N-A-A Chapter 15 Waterway Network
Chapter 15 Waterway Network
"A diversionary tactic?"
"Yes." Li Ranmo turned around. "The main force of the inspection team has been lured away, so the old sluice gate is empty. We'll take advantage of that gap and go in by water."
"And then what happens after they go in? How are the goods transported out?"
"Use the hospital's procurement list as a cover." Li Ranmo walked back to the table, opened a drawer, and took out a stack of blank forms. "Tomorrow I'll go to Vice President Chen and apply for an expansion of the medical alcohol procurement. After it's approved, I'll change the list and add hemostatic bandages and sulfanilamide powder. Even if someone sees it, I can say it's a normal hospital procurement."
Shen Qiushui thought for a moment.
"The risk is still too high. What if Wang Qingnian has a backup plan and has also planted hidden sentries at the old sluice gate?"
"Then it depends on how convincingly Han Xiuyun acts," Li Ranmo said. "She has to convince Wang Qingnian that the 'goods' at Pier No. 3 are worth mobilizing everyone for."
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
The two exchanged a glance.
Shen Qiushui got up and opened the door.
She is Chen Qitai's secretary.
"Dr. Li, Vice President Chen requests your presence."
"Now?"
"Now."
Li Ranmo straightened his white coat and went out with his secretary.
The door to Chen Qitai's office was open.
Li Ranmo walked in, and Chen Qitai was standing by the window with his back to him.
"Close the door."
Li Ranmo closed the door.
Chen Qitai turned around, his face expressionless.
"sit."
Li Ranmo sat down opposite him.
"Dr. Li is quite busy today." Chen Qitai walked back to the table and sat down. "He went out early this morning and only just got back."
"Let's go buy something," Li Ranmo said.
"What are you buying that you're dressed like that for?" Chen Qitai asked, looking at him. "The clothes for corpse transporters aren't cheap."
Li Ran remained silent.
Chen Qitai smiled.
"How's the scenery around the old sluice gate?"
The room was quiet for a few seconds.
"The vice president already knows," Li Ranmo said.
"I don't know." Chen Qitai shook his head. "I only know that you went out this morning mixed up with the corpse transport team, went to the west of the city, and came back mixed up with the corpse transport team again. As for what you did at Laozhakou, I can't guess."
He paused.
"But I have to warn you. Wang Qingnian's side recently got a new gadget, supposedly a German-imported listening device that can intercept radio signals. His investigation team now uses encryption when they communicate, just to prevent anyone from eavesdropping."
Li Ranmo's heart tightened.
Encrypted communication networks, as Shen Qiushui just mentioned.
"How does the vice dean know these things?"
"I have my own methods," Chen Qitai said. "In short, Wang Qingnian's net this time is more ruthless than before. If you want to make a move, you'd better be extra careful."
Li Ran remained silent for a while.
"Vice President, the hospital is currently experiencing a shortage of medical alcohol. I would like to apply for an expansion of our procurement."
Chen Qitai glanced at him.
"How much larger?"
"It's 30% more than usual," Li Ranmo said. "In addition, we also need to replenish our supply of hemostatic bandages and sulfonamide powder."
"What's the reason?"
"To prepare for air raids," Li Ranmo said. "The situation is tense lately. If something happens and there are many wounded, we won't be able to keep up with the demand for supplies."
Chen Qitai tapped his fingers on the table.
"Sure," he said, "but the purchase list must be detailed. For every item, you must remember the quantity, purpose, and storage location."
"clear."
"And one more thing," Chen Qitai said, looking at him, "Don't leave the things you buy lying around. Put them in the warehouse where they belong, or store them in the storage room where they belong. Don't give anyone a handle to use against you."
"Yes."
Chen Qitai waved his hand.
"Go."
Li Ranmo got up and walked out.
As he reached the door, Chen Qitai called him back.
"Dr. Li."
"Um?"
"Walking at night too often makes you prone to slipping and falling," Chen Qitai said. "You'd better take care of yourself."
Li Ranmo nodded, opened the door, and left.
Back in the office, Shen Qiushui was still waiting.
"What did Vice Dean Chen say?"
"He implied to me that he knew I went to Laozhakou." Li Ran sat down silently. "He also reminded me that there were new types of eavesdropping devices in Wang Qingnian's encrypted network."
Shen Qiushui's expression turned serious.
"So, what's our plan...?"
"As usual," Li Ranmo said, "but faster."
He walked to the metal cabinet by the wall, opened the innermost cabinet door, and took out the instruments and gauze rolls.
Press your finger on the edge of the base plate.
The base plate bounced up.
He took out paper and pen from the hidden compartment and quickly wrote a few lines.
Then fold it up, tuck it back into the interlayer, press the base plate in place, and put the instrument back in its original position.
"Han Xiuyun's men will come to collect the secret letter tonight," Li Ranmo said. "We've arranged for her to release false information at Pier No. 3 three days later."
"Three days later?" Shen Qiushui asked. "Then when do we make our move?"
"On the night the fake news was released," Li Ranmo said, "the main force of the inspection team was transferred away, and that's when we took action."
Shen Qiushui took out another slip of paper from her bosom.
"This was just intercepted." She handed it over. "It's the duty roster for the inspection team. From 2:00 to 2:30 in the morning, that's when they change shifts, and the surveillance is weakest."
Li Ranmo took the note and looked at it.
Two o'clock in the morning.
"At this time," he said.
Three days later, at 1:30 a.m.
Li Ranmo and Shen Qiushui, dressed in dark clothes, squatted in the reeds on the opposite bank of the Laozhakou River.
The river was pitch black, with only a few lights shining from the distant patrol team's post.
"It's almost time," Shen Qiushui said in a low voice.
Li Ran glanced at his pocket watch.
1:45.
Suddenly, a commotion arose in the distance.
It's the direction of Pier 3.
You can faintly hear whistles and shouts.
"They're fighting! They're fighting!"
"Quickly! Everyone, assemble at Pier 3!"
The lights in the inspection team's camp suddenly came on, and figures moved about. Soon, more than a dozen people rushed out with guns and ran towards Pier No. 3.
Shen Qiushui breathed a sigh of relief.
"Han Xiuyun's play has begun."
Li Ran stared silently at the opposite bank.
The person who was sitting under the old locust tree in front of the warehouse is gone.
There was no longer any movement from the guards near the back gate.
"Walk."
The two of them crouched low and ran quickly along the riverbank.
Running to the side of the warehouse, Li Ranmo lifted the loose wooden board.
The two of them went inside, one after the other.
The warehouse was dark, with only a sliver of moonlight filtering through the cracks in the wooden planks.
Li Ranmo turned on the small flashlight he had brought, and the beam swept across.
The box is still in the same place.
He walked up to the stack of wooden crates printed with foreign letters and pried open the lids.
The flashlight beam shone inside.
Inside were neatly stacked glass bottles, rolls of hemostatic bandages, and several packets of sulfonamide powder.
"These are all urgently needed at the front lines," Shen Qiushui said.
Li Ranmo took out several counterfeit purchase labels from his pocket and stuck them on the boxes.
The label read "Purchased by Nanjing Army Hospital, Medical Supplies" and had a blurry red stamp on it.
"Alright," he said, "Let's go."
Just as the two were about to turn around, footsteps suddenly came from outside the warehouse.
It was very light, but getting closer and closer.
Li Ranmo immediately turned off the flashlight and pulled Shen Qiushui behind the box.
The footsteps stopped at the back door of the warehouse.
Then came the sound of a key unlocking the door.
The door opened.
A figure flashed in, carrying a kerosene lamp.
The light flickered, illuminating the person's face.
It was Abing.
Li Ranmo walked out from behind the box.
"Dr. Li?" Ah Bing was taken aback. "What are you doing...?"
"We're here to put up the labels," Li Ranmo said. "What brings you here?"
"My older sister was worried, so she sent me to check on the goods," Ah Bing said. "At Pier 3, our men put on a show with the inspection team, fought a few times, and then ran away. The inspection team is searching the entire pier for them now."
"Well done," Li Ranmo said. "The labels are on. This batch of goods will be shipped out tomorrow under the guise of a hospital purchase."
Ah Bing nodded.
"Alright, I'll head out first. You guys should hurry too, the inspection team might be back anytime soon."
After he finished speaking, he took the kerosene lamp and went out the back door.
Li Ranmo and Shen Qiushui also crawled out from the gap in the wooden planks, fixed the planks, and ran back along the riverbank.
They ran back to the reeds, squatted down, and caught their breath.
In the distance, the noise from the direction of Pier 3 gradually subsided.
The lights were still on at the inspection team's post, but there was no activity.
"It's a success," Shen Qiushui said.
"Let's go back first." Li Ranmo stood up.
The two returned to the hospital along the same route.
It was past four in the morning, and it was still dark.
They slipped in through the back door of the hospital, and as soon as they reached the first-floor corridor, they heard footsteps ahead.
They are from the inspection team.
They came back ahead of schedule.
Li Ranmo pulled Shen Qiushui into the nearby storage room and closed the door.
Peeking through the crack in the door, several members of the inspection team, carrying guns and with grim expressions, strode over.
"Damn it, what a wasted trip!"
"Those bastards with the 'righteousness' in their name, they really ran away quickly!"
The footsteps faded into the distance.
Li Ranmo and Shen Qiushui came out of the storage room and quickly went upstairs.
Back in his office, Li Ranmo immediately went to the metal cabinet and opened the innermost cabinet door.
Take out the instruments and gauze rolls, and press down on the base plate.
The secret letter he had previously placed inside the hidden compartment was gone.
Instead, there was a new copper coin and a small piece of paper.
Li Ranmo took out the slip of paper and unfolded it.
The sign read: "The fish has been caught in the net."
The handwriting is Han Xiuyun's.
Li Ranmo burned the note and carefully put away the copper coins.
Shen Qiushui walked to the window and looked outside.
The curtains in the window of the vice president's office across the street moved slightly.
A figure stood by the window, looking in this direction.
It's Chen Qitai.
Shen Qiushui drew the curtains.
"Vice Dean Chen saw it."
"It's good that he saw it," Li Ranmo said. "It lets him know that even though the net is torn, the fish are still there."
Outside the window, the sky was beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.
A new day is about to begin.