After a short break, the melancholy jazz music began again. Under the enchanting Nian lamp, the dance floor once again roamed with pairs of dance partners, red, white, green, and blue...... The corners of the skirt are fluttering, and the swaying figure is like the young leaves just spit out by the plane trees on both sides of Xiafei Road in the French Concession, flying happily in the gentle breeze of early spring.

The dancing girl is seductive, and the male partner is much more restrained. After all, this is not Paramount, Metropolis, and Lido, there are not so many gentlemen and small openings with swollen faces and fat people; It's not a small dance hall with 10 or 16 dances per currency, full of personable but shy college students. It's just the Shanghai Club of the Navy of the Nationalist Government, and most of the male companions are officers, who are dressed in decent suits and black bow ties; Or directly wear a military uniform, dance with a beautiful and graceful dancer in your arms, and be serious.

This was the spring of the 26th year of the Republic of China, and the dance hall of the Navy Shanghai Club was full of the fragrance of wine, flowers, coffee, and fat powder, and the music was intoxicating, the lights were charming, and the women were seductive.

"Brother Shaosheng, after careful consideration, the ministry still thinks it's better to let Lin Zunzhi go this time......" Sitting next to Li Kongrong was Major Zhou Yingcong, the adjutant of Admiral Chen Shaokuan, Minister of the Navy, who came forward to invite Li Kongrong to the club today, just to negotiate the official business that was not easy to speak out on such an extremely private occasion.

Zhou Yingcong looked at Li Kongrong as he spoke, this thirty-four-year-old marine engineer officer did not look like a Fujian man: his eyebrows were not thick or light, but the bridge of his nose was high, and his complexion was ......, probably because he was often in the engine room, and he rarely looked fair, and the only flaw was that his eyes were too dull. But even so, if he is asked to take off this major uniform, take a few books, and put on a monocle, I am afraid that he will be no different from the college students in the school. Because of this, several dancers across the dance floor were pointing at this side, including the chicly dressed ballroom queen today.

At this time, Zhou Yingcong was a little surprised in his heart, he did not object to or agree with not sending him to Europe, he just waited silently for himself to say it, the only change was that his closed lips jumped a lot tighter, and his eyes were even darker.

“…… Zunzhi is younger, graduated in the seventeenth year of the People's Republic of China, four years later than me, and is more ...... than you" Zhou Yingcong couldn't help but look at the rank on Li Kongrong's military uniform when he said this, he remembered that Li Kongrong was promoted to major the year before last, which cannot be considered low in the navy. But he graduated from the ninth year of the Republic of China and the twelfth session of the horsetail pipe wheel, and Lin Huiping and Xu Zhenqi, who were one or two years later than him, had already been promoted to lieutenant colonel, and he would also be promoted to lieutenant colonel when he came back from his trip to Europe this time. In such a comparison, the promotion is indeed slower.

Coughing unconsciously, Zhou Yingcong raised his throat and said: "Qualifications are not easy to compare, it is really better to compare qualifications, and I have also been to the United Kingdom and entered the Greenwich Naval Academy." This is public, if it is private, after all, the surname is Lin, and the ministry and those old people who are idle want him to go further. ”

Yu Gong's reasons did not impress Li Kongrong, but when it came to selfishness, his tense lips finally relaxed, his brows relaxed, and he said a little bitterly: "Since there is an arrangement in the ministry, then I will obey the arrangement of the ministry......"

Zhou Yingcong, who thought it would take a night of hard work, laughed immediately when he heard Li Kongrong say this, he raised the goblet that had been put aside for a long time, and said, "Come, Brother Shaosheng, little brother, I'll do it first as respect!" ”

Zhou Yingcong raised his neck as soon as he finished speaking, and Li Kongrong, who had not finished speaking, saw him like this, and had to frown and drink the wine in the cup in three sips, but his alcohol consumption was too bad, and after drinking this cocktail, his already somewhat drowsy brain became even more dizzy. But Zhou Yingcong, who was on the rise, did not give up, and reluctantly tossed with him for two drinks, and then asked with a smile: "Little brother is strange, Brother Shaosheng, when did you start researching submarines?" I see that the two articles you posted in the Navy magazine are much higher than the things that Li Beihai copied from all over the place. ”

"I didn't know how to study submarines......" Li Kongrong really drank a little too much, and his words began to be unpleasant, "Since the last time... I was hit on the head, and there was more... Something I can't put into words......"

"Then I beg your brother to bear with me, and don't send articles to magazines for the past year and a half, especially articles related to submarines. Your article is well written, but it is not published in the magazine, and it is not published if it is not. Zhou Yingcong finally said his final request, "Those people from the Ministry of Military Affairs and the Supervision Yuan are gossiping, saying that those who know about submarines will not be sent to Germany, but let Lin Zunzhi, who doesn't know anything, go." Those people have long looked at the Admiralty unpleasantly. It took a lot of effort for the minister to move the chairman of the committee to order German submarines in Europe this time, and if they continue to make wanton accusations as before, perhaps the matter will not be made again. It doesn't matter if you don't go to Germany, you can also transfer to the submarine after you get it back......"

Zhou Yingcong probably drank too much wine, chattering about the difficulties of the Admiralty in ordering submarines in Europe this time, and he didn't want to finish his sentence, and Li Kongrong, who had fainted from drinking, had fallen asleep on the back of the chair.

"Brother Shao Sheng, Brother Shao Sheng......" Zhou Yingcong shook Li Kongrong a few times and found that he had indeed fallen asleep. He had to sit on the side, and when the next dance began, he got up and danced with a dancing girl in his arms.

As soon as Zhou Yingcong got off the dance floor, a dancer in a beige single coat stepped over timidly at the instigation of her sisters. Under the dim light, she combed a common ball hair in later generations - born with yellow hair, snow-white and crystalline face, mutton fat jade-like neck, coupled with the innocence and innocence unique to female students, such a 'kawaii', which made her completely different from those red dancers with black curly hair, thin willow eyebrows, old and contrived, and became the focus of attention of all men in the audience.

As soon as the dancer took a seat in the place where Zhou Yingcong had left, a man who invited the dance took the lead before the others, he bowed slightly, and said with a gentlemanly smile: "Miss Pepe, can I have the honor of dancing with you?" ”

"I ......" the dancer named Pepe had never been so sought after before she was dressed like this, with the crampedness and shyness of an ugly duckling turning into a swan, she learned the tone of those popular dancers, and refused skillfully: "I'm sorry sir, I'm already very tired, can you let me rest for a while?" ”

One man retreated, followed by the others, but all of them turned away helplessly in her coquettish tone, even if one of them was a major general with a gold star on his shoulder. But Li Kongrong, who was too drunk, still slept soundly, and he didn't know what was happening in the dance hall at all, and when he got home, his wife, who had smelled him, reminded him of the dancer named Pepe.

"You're going to dance with that vixen named Pepe again, right?" Like Li Kongrong, his wife is also from Fuzhou, virtuous and decent. However, after coming to Shanghai for a long time, she also learned a lot about the gossip and philistines of Shanghai women in the alleys.

"Nothing." Li Kongrong immediately denied it, and to be honest, he really didn't know anything about the dancing girl named Pepe, except for the name. "I just talked to Zhou Yingcong......"

"What's not there?! Soon after you went out, the vixen called to find you! "The wife showed the detective side and was going to get to the bottom of the matter," she said, "She also said that this time she was dressed according to your instructions last time, and asked you to see if it was okay." ”

"This ...... What's the matter? Where do I know what Pepe?! His wife was eyeing him, and Li Kongrong's grievances were a little uneasy -- since he was hit on the head, there have always been some strange things about him: for example, he wrote a few articles related to submarines, which were published in naval magazines; Another example is the mail-order of a large number of yearbooks, bulletins, German dictionaries, music books, ...... that I can't read, and I also made a lot of notes; Once, even more outrageous, he actually sleepwalked! I woke up in the middle of the night at Shanghai North Railway Station, holding a blue-steel express -- a ticket from Shanghai to the capital Nanjing, and I was not wearing pajamas, but military uniforms.

All kinds of strange things made him feel as if he was sick, he had never sleepwalked before, but he didn't dare to tell anyone. The dancer named Pepe that my wife said this time may really be a good thing to do by herself!

"But everyone knows you! The phone calls are coming home! Li Shaosheng, you said you ......" The wife was a little relieved to see Li Kongrong come back so early, but now seeing him so categorically deny that he knew that Pei Pei, she instantly felt that the man must have something to hide from him. In Li Kongrong's astonishment, her tears suddenly fell, and she cried with a whimper.

In Shanghai Flower World, the dancers in the dance hall are ghosts that devour men, they not only pour soup on men to cheat money, but also break up their wives and families. She used to be glad that her husband was a serious and honest person, who expected that men would change when they said they would......

The woman was whimpering, but the man sighed heavily, he sat on the bamboo chair with his butt, and said, "The matter of going abroad is in vain!" ”

"What... What the? Hearing that she was going abroad, the woman began to wipe her tears, but her tone was still sobbing.

"I say!" Li Kongrong grabbed his hair, dissatisfied but frustrated: "The matter of going abroad is in vain!" Zhou Yingcong asked me to go today to talk about this matter, and they planned to let Lin Zunzhi go. ”

"Do you want to send a telegram to the family and ask the clan uncle to go to the minister to plead for mercy......" The wife's tears had stopped. After her husband was squeezed off the list of overseas students in the eighteenth year of the Republic of China, she knew very well the importance of going abroad for her husband. At present, although her husband, who is a marine engineer, has a monthly salary of 270 yuan, everything is expensive in Shanghai, and the family that has just bought this Shikumen house owes countless debts, and she has to save on food and clothing.

"It's useless." Li Kongrong, who had grabbed his hair, smiled bitterly, "After all, people's surnames are Lin, and my surname is just Li." ”

"But this time..."Since her husband said that he might go abroad recently, the woman has used her only knowledge to look for all the news of the delegation to Europe in the newspaper, and those things that seemed earlier are involuntarily revealed at this time, and she still insists: "But this time the new king of England ascended the throne, and there are so many people in the delegation, can't I add you again?" ”

After all, his wife did not understand the internal affairs ......of the navy, and Li Kongrong wanted to explain but was upset -- he couldn't elaborate on it, if he couldn't become the chief officer of the naval cadets going to Germany, then even if he went abroad, he would only accompany Minister Chen to go around Europe and come back. What's the point? It's not interesting at all! When he returned, he was the engineer on the 2nd Fleet's gunboat Chuguan, not the captain of a newly purchased German submarine. Maybe some people will laugh at him, saying that he climbed up with all his heart, and asked the pen to write articles in magazines, which was quite magnificent, but the result was just a circle in Europe with the minister, and finally he had to go back to Chuguanzhou.

After thinking about it in a hurry, Li Kongrong waved his hand vigorously, as if he wanted to cut something in two, and he said: "Don't mention the matter of going abroad in the future, you should never have such a thing." After he finished speaking, he thought about the third article he wrote a few days ago, and said, "You didn't send the last article, did you?" Zhou Yingcong said it was better not to ......"

"I sent it out early the day before yesterday." The wife, who had forgotten 'Pepe', said that the tears on her face were not dry. "Didn't you say you're done?"

"Sent?!" Li Kongrong was immediately shocked, but he thought that his wife said that it was sent out the day before yesterday, and after thinking about it, he said suddenly: "Send it, you can't publish it in the magazine anyway." ”