seventeen

After August 13, the concession authorities implemented a curfew system, but it was relatively relaxed, and the curfew time was from 0:00. Since the Japanese army was stationed, the curfew time was raised to 9 o'clock, and as soon as it was past 9 o'clock, there was no one on the street, and occasionally cars whizzed by, and they were either military and police spies or Wang pseudo-nouveau riche with special passes, and ordinary people could not go out casually even if they were seriously ill, and if they were caught by patrols, they would be stripped of their skins at the least, and at worst, they would be treated as Chongqing spies, and they would not give up until they extorted their family wealth.

Chun Bao went out at eight o'clock in the evening, he first went to the shop on the road of Fada, where he originally spent a lot of money to top down the abacus shop, now Bai Yao Zu Gu occupies the magpie's nest, all day long with a group of ruffians in the store gambling money, eating and drinking in the nearby restaurant, but at night the shop is not easy to live, you have to rush home before the curfew or go to a casino brothel and other places to spend the night. So Chun Bao planned to take advantage of the darkness on the road to send Bai Yaozu back to the west, and then surrender himself.

The tunic is a relic left by Lin Yanhe, Chun Bao has never worn it, and then he wears a black top hat, even if an acquaintance passes by opposite, he may not be recognized at a glance, he stood far away on the dark street corner, looking at the door panel of his shop has already been installed, it seems that Bai Yaozu went back ahead of schedule today, it seems that his life should not be extinguished, at least not tonight, just when he was about to go home, a figure came out of the alley, it was Bai Yaozu.

Chun Bao's heart began to beat wildly, and he touched the dagger in his arms, this knife was the tool he used to cut bamboo, extremely sharp, as long as he swiped lightly, Bai Yaozu's throat would be cut like a chicken's neck, the gods couldn't save him, excitement and fear were intertwined and hit Chun Bao's heart, he could hear his teeth chattering. Bai Yaozu didn't look at this side, walked a few steps, called a rickshaw and went straight to the west, the street lights were dim, the pedestrians were in a hurry, the police at the intersection began to take up their posts, a truck full of gendarmes passed by, the group of bayonets in the carriage flashed a miserable white light, Chunbao's mind burned by hatred gradually calmed down, Bai Yaozu's deflated three people are not worth their lives and die, as long as they plan carefully, they are not without a chance to get out.

The rickshaw drove unhurriedly on the Yaerpei Road, Chun Bao followed far behind, he first wanted to know where Bai Yaozu lived, so he could do it calmly, but he could only follow until half past eight and had to go back, otherwise he would be detained by the police patrolling the night. Just take out the pocket watch to see the time, the rickshaw turned left into the Alpei apartment, which used to be a garden house inhabited by Europeans, and now the residents are mixed, smuggling rice, trafficking tobacco, opening a casino and dance hall, in short, more or less have something to do with the Japanese, the wall of the Alpei apartment is not high, there is a power grid on it, hanging a warning sign with a lightning skull, and outside the wall is a row of dense French plane trees, Chunbao guesses that the power grid is a bluff, and the people's homes are not even enough electricity for lighting, The flies and dogs who live here may not be able to afford to use the power grid to prevent thieves, the door of the apartment has a gatehouse but it is nothing, anyone can swagger in, the whole apartment has sixteen buildings, one ladder and two households, each family is up and down two floors, Bai Yaozu got off the rickshaw and entered the door, there are four families living in this building, two households are lit, two households are black, there is no light in the corridor, Bai Yaozu polishes a match, climbs the stairs, the Japanese-made match wood stalk is very short, it is soon burned, Bai Yaozu polishes one again, Faintly felt that there was someone behind him, turned around, and saw Chunbao's face by the faint light of the match, followed by a cold chest, the match fell to the ground, and the corridor was dark, only the sound of popping was heard.

Chun Bao came out of the Yaerpei apartment, looked at the time, eight forty, the curfew was imminent, there were no pedestrians on the road, a tunic gave him a good cover, the people who wore this kind of clothes were usually traitors of the Wang government, and black clothes could cover up the bloodstains, he walked very fast, at nine o'clock he advanced to the back door of his house, took off his clothes and made a ball, stuffed them into the stove and burned them, and threw the dagger into them, and finally burned a blood-stained IOU. He washed his hands carefully, went upstairs to sleep, stripped and went to bed, looked up at the ceiling and insomnia until dawn, he had no fear only excitement, killing Bai Yaozu allowed him to find the dream of his youth, acting chivalrous, killing demons and demons, and consuming the wildness in his bones in the days of Lin Ji, Bai Yaozu's blood awakened the other self in Chunbao's heart.

The next day, the whole family was frightened from dawn, Baozhu knew that his arms couldn't twist his thighs, and he packed his luggage silently with tears, Chun Bao didn't care about her, and went to the cigarette paper shop to play half a pound of rice wine, with spiced broad beans, sat steadily, and drank deliciously, the calmness of the head of the family calmed down the others, even if they lost their residence, life must go on.

After a day, Bai Yaozu still didn't come to collect the house, Chunbao specially bought a copy of the "New Declaration" run by the Japanese, and read it carefully, but there was no news of Bai Yaozu's killing in the newspaper, presumably it was too common for a person to die in this troubled world, and a person like Bai Yaozu was actually not much stronger than a dog.

On the third day, there was finally news that Bai Yaozu was killed by the enemy at the door of his house, stabbed more than a dozen times, and the blood was drained, it is said that this case was done by Chongqing spies, and the patrol house could not be managed, but No. 76 should be managed, but they could not protect themselves, Wu Sibao had just been poisoned by the Japanese, and the whole Shanghai Beach was in a mess. Bai Yaozu's backer who usually shows off on his lips is not Wu Sibao, even the backer died violently, who will care about the life or death of a little minion.

In the end, Bai Yaozu's funeral was handled by Chen Chunbao, Mr. Bai is a native of Zhuji, no wife and children, a lonely family, mixed in Shanghai for more than 20 years, until he died, he only ended up in a thin-skinned coffin, and even few friends on the rivers and lakes came to his funeral. This act of kindness also won praise for Chun Bao again, and after burying Mr. Bai, Chun Bao went home for dinner, and Bao Zhu put a dagger burned with a wooden handle in front of him, and said softly: "Pick it up from under the stove and throw it into the river." ”

The biggest crisis faced by Chunbao's family passed like this, when Baozhu found unburned clothes and daggers under the stove, she understood the cause of Bai Yaozu's death, she couldn't believe that this man she had known for fifteen years and had been in bed with him for ten years had such courage, in her mind, Chunbao was just an honest countryman, a small businessman, a cautious life, for fear of making a mistake, and killing one person in ten steps, the chivalrous man who did not stay for thousands of miles was completely a person from two worlds, but it can be understood if you think about it, Even her Lin Baozhu can change from a young lady who doesn't touch the spring water with ten fingers to a mother of the Chen family who has broken into two petals, why can't Chen Chunbao become an assassin with blood splattered five steps. This feeling is very wonderful for Baozhu, originally Chunbao was just a puppet to send herself when she was emotionally frustrated, but now it has become a real reliance, such an era, such a city, it is safe to snuggle in the arms of such a man.

The shops on the road were reowned by Chun Bao, and no one disturbed his abacus business, and the shortwave radio hidden in the attic could hear good news every day, and the Americans were beating the Japanese fleet in the Pacific theater, and the national army of the Nationalist Army stationed in India had also completed its training and would return to Yunnan at any time. The good news on the battlefield made Chun Bao feel comfortable, and what made him more relaxed was the improvement of the relationship between his mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, Bao Zhu and his mother were much more harmonious, and even the relationship between husband and wife was also very harmonious, after a few months, Bao Zhu's belly turned out to be bigger, and Chun Bao knew that this time the child was really surnamed Chen.