Hong Lucheng's generation is indeed three brothers.

The boss Hong Fucheng is a word. Hong Lu Cheng Xing two, the word is beneficial. They also have a third brother named Hong Shoucheng, who is cautious.

And the reason why their father Hong Xiaoru gave his three sons such names was actually taken from the traditional moral standards of merchants.

Because in order to prevent businessmen from deceiving customers when selling things, the ancients named the first three stars of the scale as Fu, Lu and Shou when making scales.

The implication is to give less people one or two lack of blessings, less to give people two or two short-term Lu, and less to give people three or two folded life. If these three are not abandoned, they will be honest.

As for the words of this brother, it naturally has a meaning, and it is connected to say, "Establish it as the foundation, benefit the virtue, and keep it in mind".

However, there is one thing that is different from Hong Fucheng and Hong Lucheng. Hong Shoucheng, as the youngest son of the Hong family, is actually born by Hong Xiaoru's wife Xuxian.

He is half-brother with two older brothers. And it is precisely this brother and son who is the only one who is favored by his father.

Why?

It's not that Hong Xiaoru is biased, and it's not that Hong Xiaoru loves the steproom, the house and Wu, so he loves this child. It's because Hong Shoucheng is very talented in reading.

As mentioned earlier, there are two osmanthus trees in the second courtyard of the Hong family, which were planted after the Hong family entered Beijing.

Among them, there are many people who hope that the descendants of the Hong family will also be able to "climb the clouds and win laurels" in the future and become a Wenhua scholar.

But it's a pity that the Hong family has been a businessman for generations, and there is no one with outstanding humanities who can make achievements in academic fame.

The clinker is this Hong Shoucheng, who has had the ability to never forget since he was a child. He began to read and write at the age of three, and from private school to Chongshi Middle School, he has always been excellent in character and learning, and is deeply loved by every teacher.

After being admitted to the Department of Physics of Fu Jen University, he was valued by the professors of the department and hired as a laboratory assistant. is really the most likely candidate to realize the dream of the Hong family.

Everything is inferior, but reading is high. This is a deep-rooted value orientation in China for thousands of years. Hong Xiaoru is not exempt from vulgarity, and he must be favored by his youngest son.

He even deliberately let Hong Shoucheng move to a small western-style building, and equipped him with special housekeepers, porters, messengers, fan cooks and servants. In order to let him adapt to Western-style life as soon as possible and prepare for going abroad in the future.

But it is precisely for these reasons, I don't know if it is out of jealousy, Hong Fucheng is not very affectionate to this younger brother, and can even be called cold.

On the contrary, Hong Lucheng, who lost his mother at a young age, was brought up by his stepwife, he not only respected his stepmother very much, but also made friends with Hong Shoucheng since childhood, and the relationship between the two was better than that of the original brothers with the same father and mother.

What's more, in the marriage between Hong Lucheng and Wang Yunlin, Hong Shoucheng also made a great effort.

On the night when Wang Yunlin ran away at night, he ordered the porter to put Wang Yunlin into Hong's house and personally took her directly to find Hong Lucheng.

In the future, he begged Hong Lucheng and Wang Yunlin to ask his mother to intercede on his behalf, and said a lot of good things in front of his father, so that their marriage was successfully consummated.

So even after marriage, Hong Lucheng and his wife get along best with this third brother. Not only do they often travel and party together, but Wang Yunlin also intends to introduce her female classmates to Beiman Girls' High School. I hope to repay him with a happy marriage.

But all good things end in national disaster.

Before the fall of the capital in the "77 Incident", Hong Fucheng saw that the situation was not good, and fled early to Nanjing. After the fall of the capital, Hong Lucheng and his wife, as the heirs of the Hong family's property, were also arranged by Hong Xiaoru to go to Huhai through Jinmen. Only Hong Shoucheng still stayed in the capital, studying and accompanying his parents.

After the fall of the national capital, due to the pain of the people's hearts, the mountains and rivers were colorless, and the university was also interfered with by the Japanese. Hong Xiaoru was reluctant to leave his youngest son as a slave in the occupied area. paid a large sum of money and sent him to France in advance to stay abroad.

But who knows, Hong Shoucheng has secretly joined the "anti-Japanese murder gang" at Fu Jen University, and has participated in many successful assassination operations in Beiping.

Therefore, after arriving in Jinmen, he did not board a ship to Europe, but took a huge amount of money to study abroad and completely devoted himself to the struggle of the Anti-Japanese War. He has never been home since.

A few years later, until the morning of the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1941, the porter of the Hong family inexplicably found a letter written by Hong Shoucheng in the window.

The specific contents of it are:

Father and Mother:

I'm fine now, and you must not look for me where I am needed. When it's time to go back, I'll go back.

I am writing this letter to tell you that I am married, and it is a like-minded union.

A photograph is attached. We hope to receive your blessings. And I hope you are in good health, and don't think of us.

The unfilial son is longevity, and the daughter-in-law is respectful

What makes the second elder of the Hong family happy is that Hong Shoucheng in the photo is very handsome, and the girl is also very beautiful, and she looks very matched. Both of them are wearing dresses and jewelry, and their financial situation seems to be good.

It's just that there are only a few words in the letter. They knew almost nothing about the girl, except for the word "Wanhua" at the end of the letter, which probably represented her name.

Since then, the letter and the accompanying photos have been kept by Hong Xiaoru.

But although every day is a longing for wear, but the west wind and geese do not come, Hong Xiaoru has never been able to wait for the day when his son comes home.

After the liberation in 1945, the old man reunited with Hong Lucheng, who had returned to Beijing from Huhai, and before his death, he could only point to the photos and letters, entrusting him with this matter.

“…… You'll have to go to him when you have the chance...... ...... for me Call you brother...... Go home...... Don't forget...... Let them give it to me...... Grave ...... Kowtow ......"

So after that, Hong Lucheng followed his father's words and began to try to find news of his younger brother in many ways. He even begged his eldest brother in Chongqing to help.

But how can it be so easy? Finding someone in the vast sea of people is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But the hard work paid off, and with a heavy reward, I finally got a more accurate news.

Some people say that they have seen Hong Shoucheng in Huhai. It's just that the person is not sure, because at that time, I heard that Hong Shoucheng was called "Mr. Lu".

Hong Lucheng held on to a glimmer of hope, and hurriedly sent someone to take Hong Shoucheng's photo to Huhai to investigate.

Unexpectedly, he really had some eyebrows, so he took the bodyguard and ran twice in person, and finally after some careful search, it was proved that the news was indeed true, and "Lu" (green) was "Hong" (red).

From the mouths of those who had dealt with Hong Shoucheng, he also learned about the missing brother's scales and half claws.

"Mr. Lu" was a translator for a foreign company and lived with his wife, who later became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. During the occupation, "Mr. Lu" also joined the Japanese gendarmerie, but was quickly bailed out by the Germans, and he did not suffer any crimes.

But on the eve of the liberation, "Mr. Lu" seemed to have caused some trouble that should not be caused, and there were always some inexplicable and vicious people who came to ask about them......

So in the end, the whereabouts of "Mr. Lu's" family of three completely evaporated in Shanghai. They disappeared without a trace, not even a bubble.

And it is particularly regrettable to Hong Lucheng that Hong Shoucheng's family's former residence in Huhai is not only in the concession, but even only two streets away from his own residence.

In those years, the two brothers could have met easily, but they just missed it. This cannot but be said to be a trick played by fate on them.

Later, after the liberation, Hong Shoucheng's situation has been kept strictly secret in the Hong family, and no one knows about it except for Hong Lucheng and his wife. They no longer dare to actively look for it.

Because they all know in their hearts that all kinds of signs indicate that Hong Shoucheng is likely to be engaged in secret service work. Moreover, the "anti-Japanese murder gang" of Fu Jen University was not only headed by a member of the military commander, but also many people later joined the military commander, and if relevant news was leaked, it would definitely cause trouble.

Of course, it is also possible that Hong Shoucheng is a member of the Red Party, but this is very unlikely. No matter from the perspective of his family background or the economic situation in the photo, it is not the same. How dare they take such a risk?

So I can only hope that Hong Shoucheng will one day be able to keep his promise to go home and knock on the door of the Hong family's old house.

And the only thing Hong Lucheng can do is to secretly take out the treasured photos from time to time and sigh from time to time.

Later, they were forced to move out of their old mansions, and after all the "movements", they did not dare to mention it in the slightest.

Even during the "movement", for the sake of safety, Hong Lucheng stuffed the letter into the brazier and burned it.

It's just that photo, but he didn't want to burn it, just like Wang Yunlin's "Jade Flat Square". It became something he was willing to risk his life to preserve.

As for the moment, since there has been no news for so many years, Hong Lucheng has undoubtedly accepted the worst.

He felt that there were several possibilities for "missing persons".

died, returned to the United States, and fled to Taiwan when the Republic was founded......

So after he touched the scene today, and confided in this family history in a stirring mood, he still didn't forget to warn the children cautiously.

"It's good that you know about it, and don't mention it again. Lest outsiders know that the peace that our Hong family has won so hard will be involved in turmoil again. ”

And just when he said a few words of advice. Tears overflowed Hong Lucheng's eyes, and Wang Yunlin's eyes were full of melancholy, also revealing indescribable sadness.

This is not only to regret missing out on "Mr. Lu", but also to be frustrated for not being able to give an explanation to the deceased elders, or perhaps because I deeply miss the figure that lived in this small Western building decades ago...

Many things in the world are incredible.

Many of the Hong family's insider stories are unexpected.

Eloquently, tears in the room. On this day, Hong Yanzheng, Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan, they all remembered Hong Lucheng's entrustment and remembered this dilapidated Western-style building.

There is a group number: 244574974, friends who like this book, come and join

(End of chapter)