Chapter 6, Return to Modernity

However, after Wang Feng and Liu Min packed their belongings and walked out of the gates of St. Maria Hospital, the two Japanese puppet agents who had been sitting outside the ward also followed them out.

When the waiter suddenly asked him a question, Wang Feng, who had just stopped in his tracks, felt somewhat perplexed. He was immediately filled with doubt: why does this café not only serve drinks to customers but also sell coffee ingredients? Moreover, this was his first visit to this café, so how could the waiter claim that he had ordered Brazilian coffee last time? It was truly baffling. It seemed that the waiter had mistaken him for someone else, wrongly assuming that he was a customer who had ordered Brazilian coffee from their café.

On that day, after having lunch, around two o'clock, the doctor from St. Maria Hospital came with a nurse to change Wang Feng's dressing. After the dressing change, Wang Feng expressed his desire to be discharged from the hospital

As he looked around the cellar, he discovered that on the left side of the cellar, there were still some vegetables that his late father had lowered down with a rope. Once he confirmed that he had returned to the modern world, he was immediately overwhelmed with emotion, tears streaming down his face

"Sir, the Brazilian coffee you requested last time has arrived. Are you here to pick it up today?" asked the tall waiter in a lowered voice.

Upon seeing the server who had previously failed to recognize their authority, the two Japanese puppet agents finally made way. Considering the urgency of their mission, they did not pursue the matter further and hurriedly rushed into the café.

"You, the waiter, must be seeking death, daring to block my way. You want a tip and you come to me for it; I have seen those who are not afraid of death, but I have never seen anyone as fearless as you." One of the Japanese puppet agents, upon seeing the café waiter blocking his path at the entrance, immediately became furious. He then took out a small blue notebook from his coat pocket, opened it in front of the waiter, and said angrily: "You brat, open your eyes and take a good look. I am from the Action Group of the Special Affairs Department of the Jiangshang City Police Bureau. You better step aside quickly, otherwise, if you delay me in carrying out my duties, you will bear the consequences. If you continue to block the way and do not let me in, I will have you arrested and taken to the police station to spend a few days in jail, so you can taste the experience of being imprisoned."

Since these two oblivious Japanese puppet agents have started to follow him, Wang Feng has developed a plan to lure them to a remote location and eliminate them.

The French Concession in this upper city is bustling with commerce, with a continuous flow of pedestrians on the streets and an unceasing stream of vehicles. Wang Feng finds himself on this main road in front of St. Maria Hospital, which is naturally crowded with both people and cars. He weaves through the vehicles and pedestrians like an eel.

The doctor, considering that Wang Feng's gunshot wound on his arm was healing well, agreed to his wishes and prescribed several boxes of medication for daily use. He also advised Wang Feng to come back every three days after discharge to change the dressing. Thus, Wang Feng was discharged very smoothly

Wang Feng only sustained an injury on his arm. After resting in a private room at St. Maria Hospital for three days, along with Liu Min's attentive care, his injury healed quite rapidly. At the very least, the originally thick bandages have been removed.

Those two Japanese puppet agents are capable members of Zhang Mingyi's action team, and they are certainly not to be underestimated. Their tracking skills are also executed with precision, maintaining a distance of neither too far nor too close to Wang Feng, keeping a distance of three to five meters. They believe that this way, they can avoid being detected by Wang Feng and alerting him while still keeping the target in sight

With the memories he possessed in this national era, Wang Feng cautiously made his way for about an hour before arriving at the back of the grocery store. After surveying his surroundings and confirming that no one was following him, he took advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention and climbed over the wall into the backyard of the grocery store

I came here today just to have some coffee. Since the coffee from Brazil has arrived, I will store it here for two days. I can come back to pick it up when I have time later. Wang Feng, relying on the memories of his predecessor's physical shell, understood that the waiter was implying whether he had any important information to report. Seeing the two Japanese and puppet agents following him, Wang Feng decided to use the military intelligence agent disguised as a waiter to delay them for a moment, buying himself some time to escape. He lowered his voice and pleaded, "Brother, two Japanese and puppet agents are following me. After I go in, if they come after me, please help me block them for a while to buy me some time to escape. Recently, there is no important information, so there is no need to see the boss. I have other matters to attend to."

Sir, welcome!" As Wang Feng approached the entrance of a café that appeared lavishly decorated, a waiter dressed in a white shirt and a red bow tie stood at the door. As he walked towards Wang Feng, he gestured with his hand to invite him in while speaking in a warm and hospitable tone, courteously saying.

"Gentlemen, if you wish to enter and have coffee, you must first pay me a tip of one dollar. Otherwise, I cannot allow you both to enter. Hehe, this is an old rule for those who come to our café." The tall waiter, who stood at the entrance of the café with an imposing stance as if to say 'one man can hold back a thousand', stretched out his hands to block the two Japanese and puppet agents pursuing Wang Feng, feigning a playful smile as he made things difficult for them. Hehe, this is an old rule for those who come to our café." The tall waiter, who stood at the entrance of the café with an imposing stance as if to say 'one man can hold back a thousand', stretched out his hands to block the two Japanese and puppet agents pursuing Wang Feng, feigning a playful smile as he made things difficult for them.

However, after pondering for half a day, Wang Feng ultimately gritted his teeth and made up his mind to try jumping into the cellar to see if he could return to the world of modern society. His intention was not to escape, but rather to go back and pay his respects by bowing a few times before the portrait of his father, who had passed away just four days ago, fulfilling his filial duty as a son before Zhang Mingyi discovered his identity as a member of the Communist Party.

After Wang Feng climbed over into the backyard of the grocery store, he did not rush to the nearby cellar, but instead hid in a dark corner of the wall, observing the surrounding situation. Once he confirmed that there were no other people in the yard, it suddenly occurred to him that he had left an empty magazine next to the woodpile in the backyard.

Suddenly, Wang Feng had a foreboding feeling. In his contemplation, he believed that the empty magazine had most likely fallen into Zhang Mingyi's hands. The pressing matter at hand was to quickly respond to the situation where Zhang Mingyi would pursue the investigation regarding that empty magazine.

Ah, it turns out to be the two officials. I, I failed to recognize the great mountain, it is all my fault. Please, esteemed officials, come in. After pondering for a moment, the server, who had just been quite unreasonable, immediately changed his demeanor, bowing and scraping, clearing the way and gesturing to invite them in.

In this two-story café, the two Japanese and puppet agents searched every room within the café but found no trace of Wang Feng. They had lost track of their target, and the thought of returning to face the inevitable scolding from their captain filled them with dread. They blamed the delay on the waiter who had blocked their path at the entrance of the café, causing them to waste time. Consequently, they rushed out of the café, only to find that the waiter had vanished without a trace.

Thus, he thought that after regaining his freedom, he would hurry to the cellar in the backyard of the grocery store from which he originally crossed over, to see if he could once again traverse back. After all, he did not belong to this era; he still wanted to return to the modern world to continue his role as the deputy director of the disabled persons' federation in his small county.

Thus, after Wang Feng communicated his thoughts to Liu Min, she nodded vigorously without a second word, agreeing to his idea. After all, Liu Min also wanted to find that traitor as soon as possible and avenge her deceased parents, so she naturally wholeheartedly supported the idea proposed by Wang Feng.

After making up his mind, Wang Feng struck a pose of righteous determination, fearless of death, standing firm in front of the cellar. With a deep leap, he jumped inside.

As expected by Wang Feng, within less than half a minute of his entering the café, the two Japanese spies who had been following him also arrived at the entrance of the café. However, just as they were about to barge directly into the café, they were stopped in their tracks by a tall and strong waiter.

After a considerable internal struggle, Wang Feng, who was navigating through the crowd, ultimately spared the lives of the two dog-like agents. The immediate priority now was to quickly shake off the relentless pursuit of these two agents, thereby regaining his freedom.

Since the target has also been lost, and the waiter from the café, whom they originally intended to use as a scapegoat, has also disappeared without a trace, these two Japanese puppet agents can only consider themselves unfortunate. They quickly called for two rickshaws and headed to the Special Agents Division of the Shangjiang City Police Station to report the issue of the lost target to their captain, Zhang Mingyi

Standing upright with arms outstretched, the waiter at the café blocked one of the Japanese puppet agents who had taken out his identification. He thought to himself that his task was merely to delay them a bit, buying some time for Wang Feng to escape from the café. It had already taken two or three minutes; given Wang Feng's skills, he should have already slipped out the back door of the café. If he did not prevent these two Japanese puppet agents from entering, Wang Feng would likely face dire consequences.

Little did the two Japanese puppet agents know that the man standing merely three to five meters in front of them was no longer the head of the General Affairs Section of their intelligence office, but rather a top-level national security investigator from seventy years in the future. He had previously served three years as a special forces soldier and had sensed their presence the moment he stepped out of the gates of St. Maria Hospital. Yet, the two of them, in their self-satisfied ignorance, believed that their General Affairs Section head, who lacked martial skills and had abysmal marksmanship, had not yet noticed them.

However, considering that the two of them were specifically dispatched by Zhang Mingyi under the pretense of protecting him, if they were to die, he would not be able to extricate himself from the situation either

When Wang Feng fully entered the cellar, he immediately lost all consciousness, closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep. When he awoke again and opened his eyes, he was astonished to find himself standing in the cellar of his own backyard in the modern world

In Wang Feng's view, if he were to have two tails following him in the future, it would naturally be very inconvenient to act. Therefore, standing at the entrance of St. Maria Hospital, he whispered a few words of advice to Liu Min, who was beside him holding a bag of daily necessities, and quickly waved for a rickshaw, helping Liu Min onto the rickshaw

Because Wang Feng felt that he had been in this national era for three or four days, he had inadvertently crossed over into the body of a Communist agent who shared his name and appearance, and who had infiltrated the Japanese puppet government's intelligence agency and the Kuomintang's military intelligence. The situation was so complicated that it would be troublesome if he were to lose his life because of it

After escaping through the back door of the café, Wang Feng did not immediately head to the secret safe house he had previously arranged with Liu Min, but instead walked to the scene of the incident from yesterday—the grocery store

After thinking it over, Wang Feng could not afford to jump into the cellar and return to modern society. He hurriedly walked briskly to a pile of firewood near the wall of the courtyard and searched carefully, yet he still could not find the empty magazine.

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Feng did not wait for the waiter to respond, but swiftly sidestepped and pushed open the café's door, striding in. Just as the waiter was about to ask Wang Feng what he was going to do, he turned his head only to see Wang Feng vanish from the doorway, feeling quite frustrated with himself.

As Wang Feng thought of this, he happened to raise his head and caught a glimpse of a café three meters to his right front, which immediately brightened his eyes. Instantly, he furrowed his brows and devised a plan. Thus, he quickened his pace, taking three steps at a time towards the café.

Just as Wang Feng was about to tell the waiter standing in front of him that he had mistaken him for someone else, suddenly, memories of this café and this waiter surged into his mind. After pondering for a moment in the mind that had opened the door to memories, he finally realized that the words spoken by this waiter were a code used by the military intelligence.

After Wang Feng had walked approximately one kilometer from the Holy Maria Hospital, he realized that he had attracted the attention of the two Japanese puppet agents. However, they did not split up; one did not pursue Liu Min, who had left in a rickshaw, while the other followed him. At this moment, Wang Feng breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Liu Min was able to avoid being followed.

After the rickshaw had traveled a distance of over ten meters, Wang Feng finally withdrew his gaze and began to walk briskly in the direction the rickshaw had taken, all alone. Upon seeing this, the two Japanese puppet agents exchanged glances and hesitated for a moment before nodding to each other, then they set off together in pursuit of Wang Feng.

As Wang Feng reached the door, he expressionlessly lifted his head and glanced at the tall and strong waiter standing just in front of him, then walked directly towards him. However, when he was about to enter the café, the tall waiter blocked his way, preventing him from entering.

At that moment, Wang Feng felt that something was amiss. To him, if that empty magazine fell into Zhang Mingyi's hands, and he relentlessly pursued the investigation based on that empty magazine, it was possible that traces would be uncovered, potentially exposing his identity as a Communist. This could also implicate Liu Min. Liu Min's parents had already been brutally murdered by Zhang Mingyi's subordinates for protecting him, and if Liu Min were to be killed as a result, he would be deeply troubled. It was possible that he would expose his identity as a Communist, which would also implicate Liu Min. Liu Min's parents had already been brutally murdered by Zhang Mingyi's subordinates for protecting him, and if Liu Min were to be killed as a result, he would be deeply troubled

Those who are overly clever often end up being ruined by their own cunning and tricks. This time is no exception.

In Wang Feng's view, lying in the hospital room under the watch of two Japanese puppet agents outside, with no freedom at all, and since his injuries had mostly healed, it would be better to return to his residence sooner. After all, the pressing matter at hand is to eliminate the traitors mentioned by Zhang Mingyi.