The muddy water from the wheels soaked her pant legs. In front of the braised duck shop across the street, the permed proprietress curled up on one leg, leaning against the door panel to smoke, and winking at passers-by.

The dance party at Xianle Gate is divided into two sessions, morning and evening, and the night show has not yet opened, and two waiters wearing official uniforms similar to those of the Manchu era are holding brooms at the door, sweeping up the garbage left by the dancers at noon. When they saw her coming, they all smiled.

"Miss Zhong, it's so early." A young "Zhongtang" wiped the rain from his face and asked affectionately.

"I came by train today, how is business doing in the morning?"

"It's not as good as when Miss Zhong is here."

"Manager Song from Fengsheng Pharmacy is here?"

"Yes, he has dinner in the evening, and he came to dance in the morning today, how does Miss Zhong know?" "Zhongtang" asked with some curiosity.

Zhong Shanwen threw the finished cigarette butt in the garbage and pouted at one of the crumpled cigarette cases: "Among the regular customers, he is the only one who likes to smoke the elongated 'Hademen' brand cigarettes." He can't get used to other cigarettes, and he is too young. ”

"Zhongtang" probe glanced at it, and said with a smile: "It is said that Miss Zhong has good ears, but I didn't expect your eyes to be so smart." ”

"No way, natural." Zhong Shanwen took out a cigarette and threw it at him.

"Zhongtang" caught the cigarette, clamped it to his ear, and immediately gave her a thousand words: "Miss Xie Zhong gives the cigarette——! ”

Zhong Shanwen patted him on the shoulder and walked towards the gate.

This news about the dinner made Zhong Shanwen interested. Fengsheng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is a medium-sized commercial bank, specializing in the operation of various medicines, and the backstage boss is Wu Jie, the big boss of the famous "Wu Group". The manager, Song Liangyu, is a sleek person and has a good relationship with Zhongfang, who has always been his big customer. I just don't know if tonight's dinner is related to the procurement of drugs by the Chinese [***] side? If it is purchased on a large scale, it is likely to be a precursor to a major campaign launched by the Chinese army. However, this is only her inference, and more intelligence is needed to confirm it. After all, the word "maybe" is not allowed in her work.

There are three floors in total. The ground floor is the restaurant and storefront, and the second floor is the dance floor and banquet hall. In the hall on the first floor, guests who have afternoon tea are sitting together in twos and threes, chatting leisurely. Many of them were Zhong Shanwen's regular customers, and when they saw her coming, they all nodded or beckoned. Zhou Yanyan, the youngest daughter of the "paint king" Zhou Zongliang, also deliberately gave her a flying kiss, which caused the young people at the same table to laugh.

Zhong Shanwen beckoned to them and went up to the second floor.

The lights on the second floor have not yet been turned on, and at a glance, the large dance floor that can accommodate thousands of people to dance together is empty, like a dark red ice lake. The faint light from the window creates a faint reflection on the mahogany floor, faintly revealing the tiny abrasion marks on it. On the dance floor, waiters are putting the scattered tables and chairs back in place, replacing them with clean linen tablecloths, and setting up ashtrays and vases. Outside, on the small dance floor, several women in white shirts knelt on the ground, waxing the floor.

"Hello Miss Zhong!" From time to time, a waiter who was working stopped and greeted him respectfully. Chung returned the salute as she stepped on the frosted glass floor and walked towards the piano stage on the other side of the dance floor. There, a beautifully carved grand piano sits quietly.

This is Chung's first and only grand piano of her own. Chung remembers the feeling of her fingers gliding over the keys when she first encountered it. The incomparable crispness and softness, like coffee with rock sugar cubes, and like a spring in the forest, with a fresh scent, gurgling into the heart.

However, the sound of this piano is not so beautiful at the moment. Ding ding dong, like a newborn puppy stepping on the piano keys, clumsy and childish.

Perhaps hearing her footsteps, the sound of the piano suddenly stopped.

Zhong Shanwen came to the piano and found that it was empty, so she couldn't help shaking her head and reaching out to grab the piano. A boy in uniform screamed "ouch, ouch, ouch", and she pulled it out by the ear.

"Little Bean, how many times have I told you that you are not allowed to touch my piano. Is there something wrong with your ears, only entering and not listening? If that's the case, I don't think it's useful for you to ask for it, so just pull it off. As she spoke, she tugged at the little ear in her hand.

The boy called "Little Bean" was about eleven or twelve years old, slightly thin, but very delicate and lovely, although he grinned in pain, his black eyes kept grunting: "Sister, light, light, I am just worried that you will not play well at night, check for you to see if the piano is broken." ”

"Really? I don't think the piano is broken, but you're going to break it. ”

"My sister is a good person, and I will not be bad if I follow my sister." Little Bean's face stammered.

"If only you worked as neatly as you talked, sooner or later you could be promoted to foreman." Zhong Shanwen let go of him, her fingers running softly over the keys.

A pleasing note poured out from under the keys and stopped abruptly as her wrist lifted.

"Sister, can you teach me to play the piano?" The boy looked up at her expectantly.

"Why do you want to learn the piano?"

"No, I just think you play well, it's true! Listening to your piano is like being touched by my mother when I used to sleep, which is heartwarming. ”

Zhong Shanwen touched her head: "If it's not a war now, I will definitely teach you." ”

"You can't teach if you fight?"

"Music is powerless in the face of war, unlike steel and artillery, which can change the fate of a nation." Zhong Shanwen sighed and said.

"Then why did you learn the piano?"

Zhong Shanwen smiled: "It's the same as you, I just think it's good." ”

"That'...... When the battle is over, sister, you teach me to play the piano! ”

"Okay, after the battle, if I'm still alive, I'll teach you."

"Sister, you are a good person, you must live a long time!" Xiaodouzi had an affirmative face, as if he had made a natural judgment.

Zhong Shanwen began to press on the keys one by one, and the black and white keys made a high or low sound, like a close friend who responded to the beat.

"Little Bean, which lady is dancing with Manager Song of Fengsheng Pharmaceutical Store today? Do you remember? Zhong Shanwen asked casually.

Xiao Douzi stared at her audition with wide eyes, and replied without raising her head: "It's 'Xiao Lanxiang', and the two of them danced together for a full ten yuan!" ”

"Little Lanxiang", whose real name is Lu Lanxiang, is a rare northern woman among Shanghai dancers, with a petite figure, gorgeous appearance, and a light and lively dance, which is quite popular with short dancers. The dance of Xianle Gate is one yuan and three dances, and of course the dance of ten yuan will not be as many as thirty dances, and with Song Liangyu's physical strength, there are at most seven or eight dances in a morning. However, he has always been generous, and he must have deliberately given a lot.

"And does she still dance the evening dance?"

"She also jumped miles, she said that she bought a new cheongsam, and she wanted to jump out of this month's clothes money earlier."

"Really? That's really hard work for her. ”

"She's hard? The high-heeled shoes are hard, and she steps on them all day long! Little Beanzi pouted.

Zhong Shanwen smiled dumbly and rubbed his little head.

"Sister, the sound of that key just now doesn't seem right." Little Beanzi said suddenly.

Zhong Shanwen was stunned for a moment, and her fingers fell on the keys just now, while listening carefully.

Sure enough, the sound of this key was a little more trembling than usual. The trills were so slight that they were like the ripples of a speck of dust falling on a spider's web, so small that it was imperceptible.

Zhong Shanwen glanced at Xiaodouzi in a little surprise, and she didn't expect this child's sense of voice to be so sharp. Perhaps, he really has the talent to be a pianist.

"There's something wrong with it, it looks like it's going to have to be tuned. Little Bean, go and help me get the toolbox, it's in the locker cupboard, in the second compartment below, next to the one in the medicine box. ”

"I know!" Little Beans went like a gust of wind.

In the blink of an eye, he ran over panting with his toolbox.

"Alright, let's get busy." Zhong Shanwen opened the toolbox and picked out a long ruler.

"I'll just watch for a while......" Xiaodouzi refused to leave. Zhong Shanwen's piano is the holy weapon of Xianle Gate, and no one can touch it except herself, not even Gu Yifan, who is the boss. For Little Bean, this behemoth that can emit a beautiful melody is full of mystery and mystery.

"Nope."

"Why?"

"When I'm working, I don't like to be disturbed by people, and when I get distracted, it's easy to make mistakes. And I can't allow mistakes now. Zhong Shanwen put the ruler parallel to the keyboard, checking if there was any deformation of the gear wood that caused the keys to bulge, and said without raising her head.

Little Beanzi had no choice but to pout and walk away.

Zhong Shanwen didn't have the heart to care about the thoughts of a little pianist, and all her attention was on the black elf in front of her. A piano has nearly 9,000 parts, and any slight loosening or misalignment can affect the tone of the piano. But at the end of the day, there are only three basic elements to the pronunciation of a piano: the strings, the hammer, and the sound board. When the piano is played, the player's fingers press the keys and the hammer is struck with the strings, so that the spruce soundboard resonates with a saturated and even resonance.

Zhong Shanwen pressed the key, and the strength of the key was very stable, and there was no loosening or imbalance. She frowned, if something went wrong with the hammer, the stringing machine would have to be removed. She thought about it and decided to check the strings first.

As it turned out, she was the right one, and the string was broken.

There are two types of piano strings: bare wire and winding. The soprano and alto strings are made of bare steel wire, while the bass strings are made of steel wire and copper winding wire, and the homophonic strings are divided into two forms: single and double. Strings with three strings in a homophonic string group are mostly bare wires. What gave Zhong Shanwen a headache was that this was a two-chord key in the bass range. Different from the simple replacement of bare steel wire, there are dozens of specifications of winding copper wire, with different lengths and diameters, and once broken, it must be customized by a professional factory. Now in Shanghai, it is a little difficult to customize such a piano wire. Until then, she has to make sure she plays tonight.

When one string breaks, the other naturally loosens. Zhong Shanwen untied the broken string and put it in her pocket, ready to keep it as a sample to go to the factory for customization. Next, she used the loose strings to deftly make a ring sleeve at the hanging nail, twisted it into a twist buckle, cut off the extra strings, hung the ring sleeve on the hanging peg, and then put it back on the bridge, and twisted the sound peg. This way, the string can still be used, albeit at a lower volume.

As she does all this, she is engrossed, and every movement is gentle and coordinated, full of indescribable rhythmic beauty.

With a light breath, he habitually tapped the soundboard, listening to the humming sound.

"Min-" A sweet call sounded on the other side, and a graceful figure swayed across the dance floor and walked towards her.

That's Sisi, the most popular dancer in Xianlemen, her best friend.

"Why did you come early?" Zhong Shanwen said casually and gently closed the lid. Although the evening dance of Xianle Gate starts at seven o'clock, the dancers who enter the stage at that time are generally the so-called "soup group dancers" with mediocre appearances, and red dancers like Sisi generally do not enter the venue until after eight o'clock.

"Yesterday Boss Rong had a party in his new home in Huaxin Apartment, I drank a few more drinks and slept until noon. It was raining and I couldn't go shopping, so I was so idle that I came to work. Sisi was attached to her arms, the smell of hangover mixed with the faint smell of Ai Peizhi perfume, lazy and charming. Today she wore a pearl-fur coat with a dark green gold silk phoenix cheongsam. Even though it was cold, she still wore stockings. As the most popular dancer in Xianlemen, every touch of color on Sisi's body means fashion and gorgeousness. She was dressed in snow white, like a tired Qionghua.

"The Rong family's Rongbao company just lost 200,000 yuan, where did he get such a good interest to move?" The Rong boss mentioned by Sisi just now is Rong Yihong of Rongbao Company, a big fat man who is shrewd to the bone. Amazingly, the favorite of this cheesy-looking fat man turned out to be Beethoven. Every time Chung played those sonatas, he burst into tears.

"I heard that I recently took over a large amount of medicinal herb business, and I came back to life."

"Big business? And with whom? Zhong Shanwen asked sensitively.

"How do I know? I'm not interested in his business. Sisi waved the lace gloves in her hand, and her slender fingers tapped on the keys: "The piano is broken again?" ”

"There was a lack of maintenance, and many parts had to be replaced, but there were no spare parts here. There is no way, but to deal with it. ”

"Otherwise, I'll talk to Colonel Lu and let him think of a way."

"No need, it's not worth bothering him with this little thing. Besides, he doesn't know the piano either. ”

"Why are you so rigid? Don't you often say that anyone can understand music? ”

"Their minds are only thinking about war, and music can't stop it." Zhong Shanwen didn't want to dwell on this issue, he was interested in Rong Yihong's big business. Fengsheng Pharmaceutical and Rongbao Company are acting at the same time, is this just a coincidence? Now that the war is fierce and there is a shortage of drugs in China, it is impossible to buy enough drugs unless it costs a lot of money. Song Liangyu and Rong Yihong have one thing in common, that is, they have a good relationship with the political axe and the military. Although China's main forces are now on the battlefield of the Soviet Union, the attitude of China's political axe towards the battle has not relaxed in the slightest....... ”

"What?"

"Rong Fat Man."

"A lot of people have gone, a lot of sisters."

"How much appetite can he have as an old and frail fat man? Can you afford it? ”

"And his friends in the military circles, but everyone is a civilized person, just drinking some red wine, playing cards, and nothing else."

"Oh." Zhong Shanwen didn't believe that this cunning fat man was making such a big show just to move to a new house, these people must have gathered together to discuss something, Sisi and her sisters were just a beautiful smoke.

"By the way, I forgot to tell you, I met someone from Yanjing, who seems to be a big man......" Sisi said.

"Oh? How did you meet? Zhong Shanwen asked casually.

"At Boss Kong's house. It seems that I know Boss Kong very well, but this is the first time I have met him. Sisi stretched his waist and yawned, "There were a lot of celebrities who came that day, and they seemed to know him, and they called him Mr. Bai." He sat there most of the day, but I knew he was watching me while I danced. ”

"Strange people."

"He's very handsome, and the key thing is, I can't tell how old he is."

"Oh?"

"He looks quite young, but I always feel like he's in his sixties and seventies. It gives a sense of vicissitudes, hehe. ”

"You didn't go talk to him? Maybe it's a big deal, and if he takes a fancy to you, you won't have to show up all day. Zhong Shanwen said with a smile.

"Of course we talked about it, Boss Kong specially introduced us to the acquaintance." Sisi got up from her arms, pinched her face mischievously, and said with a smile, "He said that my dancing is good, but the accompaniment piano is almost there, I think of you, saying that I have a good sister, who is the best pianist in Shanghai, and I only dance the best when she accompanies me." He said he wanted to hear your piano, and we made an appointment, and tonight, he would come. ”

"Just sell me too! Dead girl! ”

"Good things should be shared! If he also takes a fancy to you, the two of us will be 'good' together, hahahaha! Then Xianle Gate is going to be a yellow shop! Boss Gu has to cry to death! ”

"It's so ugly, I'm not afraid that Boss Gu will come in and hear it, and give you small shoes to wear!"

The two good friends laughed for a while, "Okay, okay, since he's coming, I have to prepare well to help you capture his heart at once." Zhong Shanwen said with a smile.

"With your help, I will definitely succeed!" Sisi hugged her happily, "I hope his real age is a little younger, hehe." ”

"It looks like Xianle Gate is really in danger of closing the door." Zhong Shanwen noticed the subtle change in the expression on Sisi's face, and knew that she had really moved her "mortal heart" this time.

(To be continued)