At that time, Shanghai was China's window to the outside world, and that newspaper was famous for its shortcomings and was very important. In the upper circle, almost everyone orders one by hand. As soon as Ma Sin's article came out, it attracted a lot of attention, and even the foreign consuls in the concession saw it, and a British consul even mentioned this article while chatting with officials of the Nationalist Government, and also mentioned Cheng Yuejin.

As a result, the faces of the officials of the national government are a little unsightly, and the silent loss of domestic treasures is an ugly thing after all. It was seen as a joke by foreigners. And the faces of the officials of the national government are not good-looking, and naturally the faces of the Jiangdu Provincial Office are even worse. Collect treasures everywhere, but there are treasures in front of you that can't be collected.

The commissioner in the official residence of Yangzhou City received the order from above, and hurriedly rushed to the old residence of the Zhao family in person to discuss the exhibition with Zhao Shinan. This is the first in Yangzhou City, and the commissioner personally came to the door.

Zhao Shinan greeted the two commissioners of the Office with a big gift, but when it came to Cheng Yuejin's participation, he still did not change his original intention, shook his head and said: "Now Cheng Yuejin has already closed the factory, and I will not be able to participate in the exhibition." The cost of the machine is also very high. ”

A commissioner surnamed Su persuaded: "As mentioned above, if Cheng Yuejin runs for election, there is no need for a primary election and a second election, and he will directly represent the province to participate in the national selection." Mr. Zhao also knows that if you talk about silk, it is very possible to directly represent the country in the World Expo with Jiangsu and Zhejiang as the top. If there is a cost to the machinery, the government can allocate part of the funds to subsidize it, or make up the expenses in the form of government-run procurement. ”

This condition is already extremely favorable, not to mention Yangzhou City, and there is no second one in Jiangsu Province. Zhao Shinan thought slightly, raised his eyes and asked, "Why did you suddenly remember Cheng Yuejin from above?"

Another commissioner surnamed Ge chuckled in his heart, people said that Zhao Shinan drank and made people stupid, and he didn't participate in the exhibition under such good conditions, and now it seems that he is stupid and shrewd. I found the crux of the problem at once.

Commissioner Ge is a few years older than Commissioner Su, and before coming to Zhao's house, he specially asked about Zhao Shinan's background, and there must be a reason why he did not participate in the exhibition, otherwise no one would be stupid and guard the treasure and not take it out. Otherwise, I don't know where the knot in people's hearts is, and it's useless to say. Commissioner Ge inquired and knew that the decline of Cheng Yuejin was mainly due to the fact that Zhao Shinan and the reorganization faction were a little unclear and tired and suffered losses. Now Commissioner Su is not paying attention to his mouth, and when he talks about "above", how can the disheartened Zhao Shinan be willing to buy the "above" account?

Seeing that Commissioner Su was about to speak again, Commissioner Ge hurriedly took over: "The situation is different from the past. Now the above is paying special attention to people like Mr. Zhao. The situation has changed greatly, and only Mr. Zhao is fortunate for the country to do business in a down-to-earth manner. It also happened to be in time for the World Expo, and it was naturally thinking about Mr. Zhao's peerless brocade and winning glory for the country. Commissioner Ge can speak, and a few words are very useful to Zhao Shinan's heart.

Zhao Shinan's tone was a little loose, and he pondered again and again and said: "The two commissioners came to the door in person, this honor Shi Nan is ashamed to deserve, since this is the case, let Shi Nan think about it again." If they participate, they will be informed to the two commissioners in a timely manner. ”

Seeing Zhao Shinan say this, the two of them couldn't continue to be reluctant, they always had to give people a little time to think, so they got up and said goodbye. As soon as the two of them left, Zhao Shinan brought the jackal feather and ordered: "Prepare the car, I'll go to the brigade commander of the horse." "Brigade Commander Ma Huaijin, who has known Zhao Shinan for many years, is the original Ma Hu military envoy, after the Northern Expedition War, he was incorporated into a division, and the original chairman of the province was friendly, and the dispute between the Xishan faction and the reorganization faction was also affected, but after all, with heavy troops, the national government did not dare to force pressure, and finally took the original position, guarding the Huaiyang area.

Zhao Shinan arrived at Brigade Commander Ma, and after a few greetings, he went straight to the point and asked: "Huaijin, what does it mean to personally let Cheng Yuejin participate in the exhibition this time?"

Once bitten by a snake for ten years, I was afraid of the well rope, and sometimes the meaning above is not just a sentence, but also represents a political trend. Maybe it's some kind of struggle, ready to use yourself as a gunman. Zhao Shinan suffered a lot from this. This time, I was naturally cautious.

Ma Huaijin practiced the army all day long, and he didn't listen to these things, but he had a lot of friends with the Nanjing National Government, patted Zhao Shinan on the shoulder and said: "Shi Nan, don't worry, I'll call you to inquire, let's get together today, let's have a good drink first." As he spoke, he instructed someone to prepare food and drinks, and called to ask.

This matter is also entrusted by someone, and after Ma Huaijin's phone call, the other party promised to inquire. After hanging up the phone, Ma Huaijin and Zhao Shinan set up a table of wine and food in the pavilion in the backyard, chatting and drinking.

When Zhao Shinan met Ma Huaijin, it was probably more than ten years ago, when Zhao Shinan was young and frivolous, and Ma Hujun was full of spirit. In a blink of an eye, both of them have experienced some changes in the world. Ma Huaijin's right shoulder was injured in an encirclement and suppression, and now it has become a problem to serve wine glasses, and Zhao Shinan is not yet thirty years old, his expression is haggard, and his head has gradually grown flowery hair, and he looks much older than his actual age.

Ma Huaijin and Zhao Shinan drank a lot of warm and soft breezy breezy and fragrant crape myrtle, and Ma Huaijin asked, "Your wife, there is still no news?"

Zhao Shinan's heart twitched and shook his head. All these years, he has been looking around. Some people said that they saw Du Heng in Shanghai, but he hurried over, but he did not see him; some people said that they saw Du Heng in Hangzhou, and he chased after him, but he still did not. Some people say that Du Heng is in a silk shop, some people say that Du Heng is in school, some people say that Du Heng went to a brothel------- there are any theories, Zhao Shinan doesn't matter if it's true or not, as long as someone gives him a little wind, he runs away, but it's not. Especially when he heard about brothels, restaurants, and these places, Zhao Shinan's heart burned like being fried. Acacia almost made him collapse with decay, and his originally good body has now become vulnerable.

Ma Huaijin sighed: "I also entrusted someone, but in the vast sea of people, it is too difficult to find someone." As he spoke, he looked at Zhao Shinan and said, "Shi Nan, if the person is not there, don't say it, if the person is still there, it is avoiding you, if she deliberately avoids you, even if she finds it, what can you do, do you still point the gun shell at her head, so that she has to live with you?"

Zhao Shinan couldn't speak, he just wanted to see Du Heng, but he never thought about what it would be like if Du Heng saw him and still refused to forgive him. Ma Huaijin patted Zhao Shinan on the shoulder: "If you want me to say, a manly man, why don't you have a wife, which woman is different? If you like everyone's young lady, it is not difficult for me to find another one for you." Why bother making such a mess of yourself?"

Zhao Shinan didn't speak, he only drank with his head bored, he didn't want to say more, even if he was good friends with Ma Huaijin, but people and people's minds were different, Ma Huaijin couldn't realize that he was so broken.

Before he met Du Heng, he also felt that women are a fart, which is not a handful? appearance, personality, talent, what do you want. But when I met Du Heng, my heart became narrower and thinner, and I could only accommodate a small her, and there was her in the world, but there were countless victories. But where is she now?

The two drank for a long time, and suddenly Ma Huaijin's staff officer ran over: "Brigade commander, your phone." Ma Huaijin threw down his chopsticks and strode to answer the phone. Only Zhao Shinan was left alone in the pavilion to pour himself a drink.

After a long time, Ma Huaijin came back, and after sitting down, he smiled on his face: "The person I entrusted gave me a reply." This time you kid was lucky, someone published a comment in the newspaper, openly writing silk, secretly calling you wrong, and even foreign consuls saw it. The government can't hold its face, so you have to exhibit. ”

Zhao Shinan sneered twice: "If they can't hang up, I have to participate?"

Ma Huaijin thought for a while and said: "If you want me to say, it's not a bad thing, your silk is there, and it won't be troublesome to reproduce." Take it to the exhibition, it's nothing if you can't get the award, and now the national strength is weak, and it's normal to not get the ranking, so you should go abroad for a walk, the opportunity is rare. If you can get it, then you don't add glory to your ancestors, with this award, I see how embarrassed the authorities are to card you again. This is also an opportunity to turn around, so why keep screwing it?"

It is said that knowing current affairs is a junjie, and Ma Huaijin's last few words touched Zhao Shinan. Now that the two factions are fighting each other, it is also a thing of the past to take advantage of this opportunity to change relations with the authorities. Zhao Shinan was a little hesitant, if there was no conspiracy behind it, was it worth a try?

While thinking about it, Zhao Shinan continued to drink wine with Ma Huaijin, pondering the before and after of the matter, and suddenly his heart moved, and he asked, "Is it a newspaper in Shanghai?"

Ma Huaijin nodded: "Popular Daily, you have also heard it, I often publish some radical articles, and I have become famous." The authorities dare not speak out in anger, and they dare not seal it if they want to. ”

Zhao Shinan's heart suddenly jumped, he didn't know anyone from the newspaper, the only one he knew, Bai Zhi, had already been ancient, he was arrested as a revolutionary party, and later he was rescued with Zhao Lingquan, and he was dying after coming out, and he went in a few days. It took a lot of connections from the family to bring the body back. But when she saw the body, she didn't know how tragic it was, Bai Zhi's mother went crazy at the time, and she went with her daughter a few days later, which made people sigh. Zhao Shinan also sent a lot of memorials.

Besides Bai Zhi, who else would use a newspaper as a weapon to call him a grievance? Zhao Shinan suddenly felt that the blood in his whole body was about to boil, and he grabbed Ma Huaijin's arm: "What is the name of the person who wrote the article?"

"I didn't inquire about that. Ma Huaijin looked at Zhao Shinan's face suddenly brightened, and his eyes were shining as if he was about to burn, he hadn't seen Zhao Shinan like this for many years.

Ma Huaijin quickly stood up and walked briskly to the front room: "I'll ask." ”

Zhao Shinan couldn't sit still, and followed Ma Huaijin to the front office area. Ma Huaijin shook the phone, turned around and asked loudly: "Who wrote that article in the newspaper?

After asking a few words, he hung up the phone and said to Zhao Shinan: "It's called Ma Xin, it's one of their reporters." It's a woman. ”

Zhao Shinan's eyes were about to light up, Ma Xin, this name made his heart throb suddenly, at that time, people had many herbs at home, so they were naturally familiar. Ma Xin, Du Heng, isn't it just a thing? No wonder he hasn't been able to find her all these years, it turns out that she has changed her name and surname. Thinking of this, Zhao Shinan couldn't stay still for a moment, and looked at Ma Huaijin with eager eyes: "Give me the address of the newspaper office, and I'll go immediately." ”