At eight o'clock in the evening of August 5, in the flower hall of the Yellow House, Lin Guisheng was lying on the couch and counting Du Yuesheng.

“…… Hmph, shouting to investigate, what kind of things have also been found out, and I still don't know why Guangrong Lin is looking for this foreigner. also talked nonsense about what kind of knife and gun, causing a group of brothers to follow for more than half a month. Look at the teaching, now people are so good that they wear a pair of pants. There will always be a place in Shanghai......"

At this time, the French Concession Inspector Huang Jinrong walked in from the outside with a slumped head, and there was not even a person who was notified in advance along the way, but Lin Guisheng was so shocked that he sat up from the couch and said, "Monk Huang, what are you doing with it?" Sneaking in scared me! ”

Huang Jinrong didn't speak, but leaned on the chair next to him, and Mu Zhimu Jue didn't have any spirit at all. He was about thirty-five or sixteen years old, with a short figure, and he was quite powerful when he was full of spirits, but now he sat down like a frosted eggplant, and he looked inferior to ordinary people.

When Lin Guisheng saw him like this, he knew that he was in trouble, so he changed his tone and said softly: "Monk, what kind of unhappy thing is there outside?" I can come back sooner now. ”

Huang Jinrong still sat there and said nothing, and Lin Guisheng's temper came up again.

"It's better to hurry up, it makes my heart anxious!"

"I'm being fired by the patrol room today." Huang Jinrong finally opened his mouth.

"What? Didn't you just get the news that you are going to get the gold medal of the first class from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs? Which rammer will take the chagrin and get rid of it? ”

"I don't know what the reason is, I only know that it was an order from the Consulate General. Don't worry, I've already asked people to go to the Cao Mansion to find Brother, and I'll make plans when the news comes. ”

Huang Jinrong said that the elder brother of the Cao family is Cao Xianmin, the translator of the French Consulate General, if there is no translator to hold his stinky feet in front of the French, the foreigner who commits face blindness when he sees the Chinese knows who you are?

There was silence in the flower hall, and Du Yuesheng stood aside and didn't know whether he should sneak away or continue to stand here in the corner, but in this atmosphere, he didn't dare to ask him.

Fortunately, he was embarrassed for a short time, and it didn't take long for Ma Xiangsheng, the follower sent by Huang Jinrong to the Cao family, to come back.

"Ma'am." Ma Xiangsheng rushed in, he first saluted Lin Guisheng out of breath, and then turned to Huang Jinrong and said, "Master, Master Cao was also fired today!" ”

"What?" Lin Guisheng and Huang Jinrong jumped up at the same time, this surprise was really extraordinary.

"By the way, Master Cao has already followed the house, just behind me, I came in in advance to report." Ma Xiangsheng said again.

"Where's the ride? I'll pick it up. With that, Huang Jinrong walked out.

But before he could reach the door, he heard a voice from the dark garden path outside the door:

"Brother Huang, I have really become a difficult brother today!"

"Brother." Lin Guisheng heard it and greeted him at the door.

"Brother and sister are also here, that's good, one person is short, three people are long, the three of us will discuss it together, and see what kind of charter we can come up with." Although Cao Xianmin walked in a hurry, his voice still sounded very calm and did not show flustered emotions.

"Brother, can't Consul Waltz protect you?" Huang Jinrong asked without waiting to sit down.

Cao Xianmin shook his head. He is the translator of the vice consul waltz, in the eyes of Huang Jinrong, a figure like the vice consul should be the top of the sky in the French concession, but he himself knows that don't look at his usual translation when he calls Waltz the "director of the concession", but this is just a trick of the sedan chair man to carry people, only when the status of the waltz rises, he as a translator can be listened to.

In fact, Waltz was just an honorary consul. Consulates are different from embassies, where even a third-class secretary is a diplomat, but in a consulate whose main function is to provide services to the expatriate, except for the consular officer officially appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, no other personnel can be counted as diplomats. The so-called honorary consul is actually an ordinary overseas Chinese who is recommended or hired by the local overseas Chinese community to assist the consular officer to perform a certain part of the consular functions on his behalf, not only are not diplomats, but also not even government employees - in fact, in the beginning, the consul itself was elected by the overseas Chinese group, not appointed by the local government, and sometimes there are even cases where foreigners act as consuls in their own country.

Waltz was a veteran missionary and influential in all walks of life in the French Concession, so successive consuls general would use him to assist them in administering the Concession. When it comes to management, it is actually to communicate between the consul general and the overseas Chinese on behalf of the people, and play a role in sending down the situation. Although such a role can be "respected" by the consul on the surface and enjoy "honor" among the overseas Chinese, what real power can it have? Even to some extent, he is not as good as Cao Xianmin.

As a student in France, Cao Xianmin was sent to Shanghai after being hired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in France, so he is a serious government employee. Now Ju Laida has only removed him from his position, but he cannot fire him outright - but it is only a matter of time, and as far as Cao Xianmin knows, no one in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will harden the consul general for the sake of him, a Chinese.

Of course, there is no need to say these words to Huang Jinrong, what Cao Xianmin wants to find out most now is whether he is implicated in something, and how to find a way to get himself out before the consul general officially submits his report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"I heard the news that the order to dismiss you and me from our posts was issued directly by the Consul General."

"Huh?" Huang and Lin were not shocked by this news, the consul general of the French Concession was like an emperor to them. Huang Jinrong was depressed, how could his name as a small detective be known by the Consul General? To be honest, apart from a few of his immediate immediate bosses, who knows which one you are Jinrong.

"I want to ask, brother, have you been in trouble lately? If there is anything to do, don't hide it, tell me about it, and I'll help you with the details. ”

"Absolutely not, to be honest, the market has been quiet recently, and there is nothing going on. If there is an incident, I will give you an explanation to Brother I would have long ago, and I would have asked you for help, how could I let the matter be in my hands? ”

"It's fine. However, I have inquired that your order to open your post will come down as soon as you have eaten well at noon today, and that the order to dismiss me from office will come out at about three o'clock. That's why I wondered, is there something wrong with you, or have you offended someone? ”

Huang Jinrong frowned, Cao Xianmin is a person he understands that it is impossible to joke with such a critical news at such a critical moment.

From this point of view, the mistake must be on him, but he really hasn't encountered any problems recently, and even the theaters and casinos that often have problems on weekdays have been smooth sailing recently.

The three of them summed up for a while, but no matter how Huang Jinrong used his brain, he couldn't figure out what went wrong, and in the end, Cao Xianmin said:

"It seems that if you want to figure out this matter, you still have to find someone to help."

"Brother, you have also been kicked out of the consulate general, who else can you find to help?"

"It's going to fall on you."

"Me?"

"How did you forget Verdi?"

The reason why it is rumored that Huang Jinrong can get the first-class gold medal is related to Verdy. Verdi was the clerk of the Consulate General, and in the year of Gengzi, he took his newlywed wife to Suzhou to play, but was kidnapped by lake bandits while visiting Taihu Lake, and they were rescued by the mediation of Huang Jinrong. In fact, at that time, Huang Jinrong had resigned from the French Concession because of the Siming Gongshu incident, and returned to Suzhou, where his father was a head hunter, to make a living. It is precisely because of the fact that he is quite powerful in Suzhou that the concession hunts for the house that he asks for his head. After the matter was resolved, Huang Jinrong not only returned to the house to be promoted and raised, but also became famous, laying the foundation for his next call for wind and rain in the French Concession.

It's just that Verdi is just a clerk, and the clerk is a consular employee, not a diplomat, and in terms of status, Cao Xianmin is half a pound and eight taels, what can he do to help?

"Can a clerk of Verdi help?"

"Hehe," it was rare that Cao Xianmin could still laugh out loud at this time, "There is one thing you may not know, Verdi is not as simple as an ordinary clerk. Think about it, when Gengzi was in turmoil, he was a foreigner, and he dared to take his newlywed wife to Taihu Lake if he was not familiar with life. What the hell are you doing? ”

"You mean ......"

"This," Cao Xianmin pointed to his ears, "he is the eyes and ears of the French." ”

"It turned out to be a spy."

"That's right, I also investigated in many ways afterwards, so I found out that it was refreshing. No, we're going to ask him to help us find out the news. ”

"Okay, without further ado, we'll get over here."

"Let's make a phone call first!"

After making the call, the two hurried out the door. Huang Jinrong didn't return home until midnight, Lin Guisheng didn't sleep, and when he saw him coming back, he said:

"How? Did Verdi promise to help? ”

"It's good to say that I agreed."

"Thank goodness I just said yes!"

It took two days for Verdi to come back with a message that before the order was issued to dismiss Huang Jinrong and Cao Xianmin, the consul general had each received a phone call from outside. However, when Verdi wanted to trace the two calls further, he found that the confidential room of the Consulate General was already manned by an intelligence officer in charge of internal affairs, and not one or two, but the entire team of five.

asked Verdi for help again, and Verdi made it clear that he didn't want to get involved in this matter anymore. In this regard, Huang Jinrong and Cao Xianmin have no problem at all.

On the evening of August 7, the husband and wife again held a meeting in bed until dawn, still helpless.

"Just let the little ones make a fuss, let these people see what the French Concession will be like without me."

"No," Lin Guisheng categorically vetoed, "Before we find out who is behind the scenes, we can't move, and we'll talk about it when everything is clear." She paused, and then said, "Not only is it difficult to move, but it is also necessary to restrain the people under your command, let them wait quietly, and do nothing." She paused and thought about it again, and said again: "In my opinion, it is better to let the brothers with criminal records go to the countryside to avoid the limelight. ”

"Is it necessary to go to the country?"

"In the past two days, I have been feeling that something big is going to happen."

"Okay, let's do it, you can't go wrong every time you listen to you."

For his wife's words, although Huang Jinrong can't say that he is obedient, but he can listen to the general direction, he can go from a small third-class patrol to today's point, and Lin Guisheng plays a very big role in it.

"Without further ado, the day after tomorrow is the beginning of autumn, I see that the Ming Dynasty set a list of people who want to go to the countryside during the day, and invite them to have a meal here at night, send them some travel expenses and pocket money, and when the beginning of autumn is over, send them to the countryside!"