After Zhou Shiying left, Lin Hongwen bought his yard, he left in a hurry, he didn't take a lot of things away, and left a yard of flowers and plants. Lin Hongwen found someone to open a door on the wall on the west side of the courtyard, and opened it with his side, so he came to tidy up things in his spare time. Originally, he wanted to help take care of the flowers and plants, but he was a layman and didn't know the likes and dislikes of all kinds of flowers. After watering a few pots, I hurriedly found a gardener to take care of them. After a long time, listening to the gardener's chatter, I also know a thing or two.

The scorching sun was scorching, and Lin Hongwen made a pot of hot tea in the shade of a tree. Zhou Shiying has been gone for almost two months, and he still can't name some of the flowers, the flowering period of those flowers has long passed, and now only lush leaves remain. The breeze blows, and the leaves make a slight noise, but it is even quieter. Lin Hongwen sweated a little under a few cups of hot tea, and when the wind blew, he suddenly felt cool. He remembered that a few years ago in the winter, the northwest wind was biting, and Zhou Shiying shrank at the intersection, not money, no chestnuts, as long as he went to buy two buns. I also remembered that Zhou Shiying told him seriously, "Doing business is what you and I want, one party knows and the other doesn't, what's the difference between that and a liar, what my father said, serious businessmen can't be like that." "In fact, it was clear from the beginning that they were not all the way after all.

Zhou Shiying sent the first letter three months after leaving, and the letter was addressed to Xu Qingzhi. After reading it, Xu Qingzhi relayed to Lin Hongwen that Zhou Shiying had arrived in Guangzhou and got in touch with Chen Yuexuan, but he did not plan to settle in Guangzhou, and he might go to Hong Kong in the future. After hearing this, Lin Hongwen pondered for a while and said, "Hong Kong is not a place to live in peace. ”

Xu Qingzhi picked up the pen and wrote a reply and said, "Where is there a place to live now." ”

In the summer of that year, the war between Russia and Japan finally entered its final phase. In the Battle of Tsushima, the Russian Baltic fleet was completely annihilated by the Japanese Combined Fleet. In August, the Japanese captured Sakhalin and the Russian defenders surrendered, ending the Russo-Japanese War with the complete defeat of Russia.

If you lose a war, you have to sign a treaty, cut land, pay compensation, and open ports for trade, this kind of routine is no longer unfamiliar to the Chinese, because this whole process has been repeated many times for more than half a century. Now that the Russians have lost the war, they will sign a treaty, but the strange thing is that the treaty signed between Japan and Russia is about the Northeast.

After the war, there were more Japanese in Harbin than before. Lin Hongwen heard that the Russians had cut the railway from Changchun to Lushun to the Japanese, and thought that that area should already be the sphere of influence of the Japanese. The Japanese do a lot of business, clothing, shoes and hats, rice, flour, grain and oil, hardware, brewing, in He Mu's words, they are everywhere. In fact, not only Japanese, but also foreigners from various countries have increased. Ground was being broken in several parts of China's streets, and when he heard that there were shops, hotels, and restaurants, Vincent lamented that it would probably be even more difficult to make money in the future, but it would continue to be profitable.

He Ji never got up after the grain and oil were paved, after all, it was something that was eaten in the mouth, and the slightest thing would make people remember. The grain and oil shop of the United Commercial Bank also began to open after the autumn harvest, and Lin Hongwen was afraid that there would be any problems, so he often went to check it. During the war, the Russians opened many flour mills, tanneries, and breweries, but now that the war is over, there is no need for so many supplies, and the factories have closed down one after another. Lin Hongwen saw the opportunity and bought a flour mill as if robbed, and the price was so low that Vincent was staggering.

"Didn't the boss cry?" Vincent asked, "He's clearly losing money." ”

"Anyway, his face is not very good", Lin Hongwen replied, "Whatever, no one forced him to sell." ”

"He's taking revenge", Xu Qingzhi said with a smile, "Last year, the Russians doubled the rent several times for no reason, and at that time he said that sooner or later he would get back the principal with interest, and he didn't even get the principal with interest back in the past two days." ”

Vincent looked at Lin Hongwen with wide eyes, "Well done!" ”

Lin Hongwen smiled and shook his head without speaking, although it is happy to buy the flour factory at a low price, there is one thing that has made him uneasy, that is, He Gui and Yao Shunchang. After the accident in the grain and oil shop, He Gui and Yao Shunchang didn't do anything, but they were obviously not the kind of people who would do business honestly after learning a lesson. Lin Hongwen was worried that they were secretly planning something, so He Mucha sent people to keep an eye on him, but he didn't see any movement. However, He Yao would come here two or three times a month, but he only took Lin Hongwen to go around casually, and he didn't mention He Gui at all.

Before the winter, Chen Yuexuan finally had an eyebrow about joining the textile factory, and he introduced a small textile factory in Suzhou in the letter, saying that he had done business with the boss before and was reliable. Xu Qingzhi didn't dare to delay for a day after receiving the letter, and rushed to Suzhou by train overnight. As soon as he left, Lin Hongwen became a spinning top that couldn't be stopped, tossing in several places every day, and he couldn't wait to give birth to three heads and six arms.

However, this side of China Street is still worry-free, because Shen Lie has been taught by Xu Qingzhi to be almost able to take charge on his own, and Xu Qingzhi told him in detail before leaving, so the store is quite orderly. Lin Hongwen just went to check the accounts every night before closing, and sometimes he went early and would chat with him. But Shen Lie's temperament was already dull, and he had nothing to talk about after chatting for a while, so he had to give up. However, the longer they got along, the more Lin Hongwen felt that Shen Lie was familiar, but he racked his brains and couldn't figure out where he had seen him.

After entering Layue, Xu Qingzhi came back from Suzhou, he was in a hurry when he left, and he didn't bring thick cotton clothes, and it became colder and colder along the way, and he got sick when he got home, and the temperature was burned for two days before he retreated. The throat that was injured when I was sick a few years ago has become even more crazy this time with the help of the fever. Xu Shihuai couldn't help but count him down when he saw that he couldn't speak, "Such a big person can't take care of himself, and it's the New Year when you see it, so you can celebrate the New Year dumbly." ”

Xu Qingzhi couldn't speak, so he could only smile helplessly at Aunt Feng, picked up a big bowl of medicine and poured it down. Xu Shihuai added two more flavors of medicine to him today, which was very bitter. Xu Qingzhi frowned, and just wanted to find some candy or something, he heard that Lin Hongwen was here.

Lin Hongwen first saluted Xu Shihuai when he entered the door, and respectfully called Dr. Xu. Although Xu Shihuai had some complaints about his lack of contact in the past three years, seeing that he was respectful and holding a gift box, it was inconvenient to say anything, so he said, "Qingzhi's illness has burdened you, and you still come to see him when you are so busy." ”

"It's not in the way, there are a lot of guys now, and I don't have to worry about it", Lin Hongwen smiled and handed over the gift box, "I bought two cans of tea and two boxes of pastries, don't dislike it." ”

"This foreigner's dim sum, Zheng Yun and your Aunt Feng have been talking about it several times", Xu Shihuai took the gift box and said, "This time their wish has been fulfilled." ”

Lin Hongwen took out a small wooden box from his arms and gave it to Xu Shihuai, "I heard Qingzhi say that you have always been a little unclear about what you have seen in the past two years, but today you passed by the British trading house and saw this, which should be useful." ”

Xu Shihuai opened it and saw that it was a pair of glasses, and couldn't help sighing, "You kid, you are really thoughtful, I'll go into the house and put it on." ”

Lin Hongwen exchanged a few words with the people in the medical hall before sitting down next to Xu Qingzhi. He glanced at the empty medicine bowl on the table, looked around again, and saw that everyone else was busy, so he took out a small rectangular cardboard box from his pocket. Xu Qingzhi saw that after he entered the door, he was busy working left and right, and felt that it was very funny. So he reached out and plugged in. went into Lin Hongwen's other coat pocket to see if he was still hiding something. Lin Hongwen ignored him, but opened the small carton like a thief, and whispered, "The chocolate I bought with the Swiss, you just finished taking the medicine, and your mouth is bitter, eat some." ”

Xu Qingzhi smiled and broke a small piece and stuffed it into his mouth, the chocolate was not very sweet, which relieved the bitterness of Chinese medicine. Lin Hongwen put away the rest, stuffed it into Xu Qingzhi's pocket, and whispered, "Don't let them see it, it's not enough." ”

Xu Qingzhi nodded, Lin Hongwen straightened up and said seriously, "You should recuperate at home before the New Year, there is nothing wrong with the firm, He Gui and they are also quite calm, you can recuperate well and come back after the New Year." ”

Xu Qingzhi was speechless, so he had to continue to nod. Lin Hongwen looked at him with a sick face, he couldn't say what he wanted to say, and he felt a little uncomfortable, "Speaking of which, your voice was still two years ago in the winter, worrying about hoarding goods and getting burned, this time because of the textile factory, both times for the business bank, this kind of thing can not be said for a third time." Xu Qingzhi listened quietly, trying to persuade Lin Hongwen to be more relieved, but he couldn't speak, and finally could only pat the back of Lin Hongwen's hand to reassure him.

Lin Hongwen sat for a while and left, there were actually a lot of things a year ago, and the four of them were busy in previous years, not to mention that there were fewer Zhou Shiying and Xu Qingzhi this year. In two or three months, Lin Hongwen lost some weight, and the pants that originally fit him were now loose at the waist. But there is no way, Xu Qingzhi's illness is like that, even if he doesn't mind coming to help, Lin Hongwen also minds.

It was easy to get to the twenty-ninth day of the lunar month, sorted out the accounts, and after the bonuses were paid, He Mu's subordinates came to report again, saying that Yao Shunchang had invited the police chief to dinner. Lin Hongwen sighed tiredly and said, "They have moved." ”

"But the Japanese won this battle," He Mu said incomprehensibly, "shouldn't they be going to the Japanese?" ”

"The Japanese won, but in Harbin, the Russians are still more powerful," Lin Hongwen said, "Even if He Gui wanted to slap the Japanese, he would not dare to blatantly stammer." Ru Ting also said before that He Gui does not directly contact the Japanese, but only asks the people below to contact. She said that the man was about thirty years old, and I thought this person must be He Gui's cronies, otherwise he would not have been relieved to hand over such a secret matter to him. ”