After the warlords of the Pingchuan faction were eradicated, Xingbo (Ah Cheng's father) immediately repossessed the Li family's mansion, and together with a few other servants who had been resting for nearly a year, quickly restored the French man's chaotic mansion to its original state.

The rice mill was closed, the wood mill was sold, the shipping company moved to the city, and the freight business went to the company to contact the company, and it was more convenient for individuals to buy ferry tickets before they were sold, and they were sold by the Bank of East Asia's business outlets.

The old lady went to France, the eldest lady and the future young grandmother studied in the United States, and the eldest young master was in a high position and had no time to come back. I have a house by the sea in Vung Tau and another home by the sea in Phu Quoc.

Mr. Liu (Liu Jinghui) and others have been working here for most of their lives, eating and living here almost every day, either to Hong Kong, the Philippines, or to Indonesia and Singapore.

In addition to looking after the house and cleaning, receiving the captain, first mate and crew of the shipping company became Xingbo's only job.

Every day, I pinch my fingers to calculate the shipping schedule, sit in the concierge every day and wait for the phone, when the big and small boats will call at the port, how long they will stop in Saigon, how many people's meals will be prepared, and whether they should find a car to pick up at the dock...... The people who run the boat are hard, and these things must be taken into account.

With the development of several industrial villages, the business of shipping companies is not known how many times better than before.

Large and small cargo ships often go to Toulon Port, Vung Tau, Bak Lieu, Tie Sec and Phu Quoc, but do not come to Saigon very often. Even if they come to load and unload the goods and leave, without a moment's delay, the people on board will not have time to come and rest as in previous years.

Only the "Great China" passenger and cargo ship is left once a week, how lonely it is to guard such a big house, but fortunately, all the neighbors are there, and they can sit at the door and drink tea and chat with the old neighbors.

However, I didn't have time to drink tea with Lao Zhou today, Ah Cheng called early in the morning and said that the eldest young master was coming back, and said that the master's French friend had been found.

The French are also people. The same will be in trouble.

Country houses and estates were raided, and families fell into the hands of warlords who don't know how much they suffered. The garden houses in the urban area became "ownerless houses" and were occupied by a Gao Dai officer who had defected to the government. They are now homeless and are expected to live here for a while.

Mr. Jean Hingbo has met, a very amiable Frenchman who speaks the local dialect and some simple vernacular (Cantonese). When the old man was young, he helped arrange for him to study in France. Later, they did business together, and they also helped the master a lot in other businesses, and they had to clean the guest room and take care of them.

"Sister-in-law, don't worry about it here, go and urge Ah Hong. I made an appointment to go to work at 9 o'clock, but now it's 9:10, and not only does he know how to cook French food, ask him if he wants to do it. If I don't want to do it, I'll find someone else. ”

"Okay, okay, I'll go!"

Seeing off the confinement sister-in-law, Xing Bo seemed to be a different person, quickly made tea, brought it to the living room one by one, and said politely: "Doctor Wang, Miss Jiang, you two wait a minute." My young master will be back soon, and the guests, the patients who invited you two to see him, will arrive soon. ”

Mr. Li is better than the blue. At present, the people on the embankment only know that Li Weimin, a member of the government's "Refugee Committee" and the "Foreigners' Management Committee" and chairman of the Vietnam Industrial Village Investment Company, do not know that the once famous "Brother Guanyun" does not have the opportunity to come to Li's house for medical treatment.

Doctor Wang got up and said with a smile: "Xingbo is too polite, Mr. Li is so busy, we should wait for a while." ”

"Good. You two sit down, and I'll go get the fruit. ”

"Don't be busy, you're not an outsider, I'm classmates with your family."

Ah Cheng was taken badly by Ah Cai's kid, and he didn't study well since he was a child. If it weren't for the ability of the eldest young master, he would only be a bodyguard for the rest of his life.

The son is unproductive, and Xingbo can't raise his head for a long time, and he is embarrassed to mention it.

One person attained the Tao and the chicken dog ascended to heaven.

Now it's different, I followed the eldest young master to get wet, worked for a few days as a lieutenant officer of the Prime Minister's Guard, and later transferred to the security department of the industrial investment company, and yesterday was appointed deputy director of the police department of Vung Tau Industrial Village, specializing in the security of the eldest young master and Jiachang and other high-level executives of the company.

When he met his son's classmate, Xing Bo introduced Ah Cheng's new official title with a smile of admiration, and Dr. Wang looked admiring, and was chatting about it, and the eldest young master came back.

Mr. Jean-Bonaire had messy hair, was dressed in dirty and torn clothes, his eyes were glazed, and he was unhumanly thin. His son, Basille Bonaire, was only twenty-six or seventeen years old, and he had not seen him in two years and looked like he was thirty or forty years old, with calluses on his hands and scars all over his body.

Xing Bo didn't care about the introduction, and immediately worked with Ah Cheng, Dr. Wang, and several other industrial village policemen to help the father and son inside to take a bath, treat wounds, examine their bodies, get a haircut, and change clothes.

After thanking the doctor and paying the consultation fee, Li Weimin greeted the two of them for dinner, and said in a low voice: "I am very sorry for the matter of uncle, Basil, and aunt, and my father is also very sorry, he and his mother are on the plane to Saigon, and it is estimated that they will be there in the afternoon." ”

"Don't be sorry, kid, you've done a lot, you've done your best. God forbid, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't know about us...... Whether we can return to Saigon alive or not, I really don't know if we will ever see Justina again. ”

Jean-Bonaire burst into tears, and Basile choked up and couldn't speak.

They are unfortunate and lucky at the same time.

Only a handful of French people like them who fell into the hands of warlords made it back to Saigon alive. The dozens of Frenchmen who were rescued by the way during the rescue of Giustina were very grateful to Li Weimin, and spontaneously set up a sorority to take the day of rescue as a commemorative day, and gathered on the day of the anniversary, invited Li Weimin to attend and expressed his heartfelt thanks in person.

"Justina is very worried about you, she is depressed, staying in Saigon will only hurt the situation, and it is not good to live in France, so I can only send her to the United States to be with Qingqing and my fiancée. She is very happy to know the news, and she is eager to return to you immediately, like my father, on the plane back to Saigon, and I will accompany you to the airport to pick you up tomorrow morning. ”

"Thank you, kid, for all you have done for Justina and for our family."

"Uncle, our two families are world friends, this is what I should do, in fact, I haven't done enough."

……

Narrowly escaped death, Jean-Bonaire sighed.

Now that he was out of danger and faced a very real problem, he was silent for a moment, and said uneasily, "Child. On the way, they said you know President Diem and are now in charge of a huge investment company. As you and your father know, all my assets are in Xining, all invested in plantations and coal mines, and I even owe a loan to the bank, I wonder if I can recover it? ”

The next step for the government is to carry out land reform. In South Vietnam, 40% of the rice fields belong to landlords who make up only 0.025% of the rural population, and most of the landlords are French.

The reason why the French expeditionary force has not withdrawn from South Vietnam until now is largely related to the interests of the French in Vietnam. At the urging of the United States, the two countries are engaged in round after round of negotiations on such issues.

The situation of the Jean family was more special than that of the French landowners, and the plantations and coal mines in Tay Ninh Province had already been distributed to the locals by Zheng Mingshi. Coal mines may be recovered, but plantations are unlikely to be recovered, and with such a rising wave of anti-law, coal mines and plantations can be recovered. It's impossible to do business as before.

Li Weimin said helplessly: "Uncle, the government protects personal assets, and the key is that it does not have enough control over the countryside, especially in Xining, and doing so will lead to a series of new problems." If you insist, the government will recognize your ownership of the plantations and coal mines, but only ownership. ”

"Oh my God, how can this be?"

If you can't get back the plantations and coal mines, you will go bankrupt, and Basile is anxious: "Father. We can go to the expeditionary force. ”

The expeditionary force has shrunk to the periphery of Saigon and is preparing to withdraw to Europe. Don't say that they don't necessarily manage it, even if they can manage it for a while, can they still manage it for a lifetime?

After going through so much, Jean-Bonaire lost hope in the French government for a long time, shook his head and said: "Son, you are right for the people." What about the Vietnamese government's recognition of ownership? The Vietnamese hate us, and they won't let us stay in business. ”

"What then?"

No matter from the perspective of history or what happened to Ngo Dinh Diem some time ago, the Yankees are unreliable and cannot put their eggs in one basket.

Their father and son were miserable in Vietnam. But their family is very famous in France, Li Weimin thought about it for a while, and proposed: "Uncle, Basille, if you trust me, then rest here for a while, and when you are done attending my wedding, you will go back to France with my father." I'll take care of the bank loan, and I'll provide you with a fund to start over in France. ”

"No, you should have helped us a lot, I can't ask for your funding anymore."

"Uncle, you are my father's friend, my father's partner, you helped us when my family was in trouble, and now it's time for us to reciprocate. And if you can succeed in France, and you can help me again in the future, shouldn't it be what should happen between two friendly families? ”

"Son, I know it's a good intention, but I haven't been away from France for many years, and I don't know what I can do when I go back?"

"You don't know, I know."

Li Weimin took out a pen, asked Ah Cheng to bring a piece of paper, wrote down the names of several French companies in a row, and handed them to him: "These companies are very promising, although my father has French nationality, there are still many obstacles to investing in shares. You are different, you are a real Frenchman, your brother and brother have a certain influence in Paris, and they can rightly invest in or even control. ”

Matra, founded in 1945, specializes in the manufacture of missiles; Thomson Company, which is mainly engaged in aircraft navigation equipment and electronic systems.

Dassault is better known for designing the MB.200, MB.210 and MB.131 twin-engine bombers, producing the MB150 family of fighters and the MB.175 bomber. During World War II, his boss Dassault refused to cooperate with Germany and was imprisoned in Buchenwald, where he was not released until the end of World War II.

More than a dozen companies are all military-industrial enterprises, and all of them are half-dead except for Thomson, which is in better shape, and they will be happy if someone is willing to invest.

Seeing that their father and son wanted to stop talking, Li Weimin said bluntly: "I don't think that after the expeditionary force withdraws, the Americans can really save this country." I have many compatriots here, and I need to do some preparation in advance. In addition, although the war is over, it does not mean that the world will be peaceful, and investing in this industry will definitely not lose. ”

Is there a better option?

Jean-Bonaire weighed it, stared him in the eye and said: "Son, France is not the United States, not everyone can invest in the arms industry, I need to explain to those people the source of the funds." ”

"You can sell your coal mines and plantations and you only need to sign a legally binding contract."

Li Weimin paused and added meaningfully: "No matter what price the transaction takes, the funds recovered are equivalent to an interest-free loan with an indefinite term, and after your investment in France has benefited, it will be returned by donating it to a foundation." All I need is a commitment, a commitment to buy these companies' products at a discounted price in the future. ”

Arms purchases are not only about price, but also about politics.

Some advanced weapons and equipment cannot be bought by anyone who wants to, and whoever wants to sell them can sell them, so Bonaire realized that this is not only a business loan, but also a political investment.

He weighed it and resolutely agreed: "Child, thank you for your trust and for your help. No one can guarantee what the future holds, but I will do my best. (To be continued.) )