Xi Muqing was wearing a Western long dress, she was not tall, and she couldn't reach the cat on the tree with her toe hands, she was so anxious that she was sweating, and said angrily to the white cat: "Circle, come down quickly, if you don't come down, I'll go!" ”

Song Xiaofei walked to the garden to take a closer look, and it turned out that a green kite had fallen on the treetops, which was inconspicuous. Xi Muqing's white cat head was round, very cute and cute, its hind legs were entangled by the thin line hanging from the kite, and it couldn't move on the branches, the more it struggled, the tighter the line was tied up, and he smiled: "The circle is the name of this cat, right?" Can cats understand you? The thread on the cat's leg should be ...... first."

Before Song Xiaofei's words were finished, Xi Muqing loved cats very much, and when she saw him smiling on her face, she thought he was gloating, and said angrily: "Huanhuan has followed me for six years, of course I can understand people's words, unlike some people." ”

Song Xiaofei knew that she had misunderstood, did not speak, and took out a five-inch-long small saber, which was brought back by Feng Guozhang when he visited the German Army Non-commissioned Officer School, and gave it to Song Xiaofei, he liked it very much and carried it with him.

Xi Muqing saw Song Xiaofei take out a knife, thinking that he was angry for what he said just now and wanted to commit murder, and said, "What do you want to do?" This is the French Concession, and I will be there as soon as I call for patrol. ”

Song Xiaofei jumped lightly, drew a knife and cut the string of the kite, hugged the white cat down, and was about to dispose of the thin line on its legs, the cat's nose was sensitive, it could smell the smell of a person, and "meowed" and screamed, Song Xiaofei had to hand it over to Xi Muqing to deal with, and said: "Miss, now you know what I am doing with a knife." ”

Xi Muqing took the cat, and when he saw the thin line on his leg, he realized that he had misblamed Song Xiaofei, and his face flushed. She looked down and saw that the white cat's legs were red and swollen, and the messy threads were embedded in the flesh pads of the cat's paws, and she was very distressed, so she hurriedly found the threads and gently straightened out the threads and threw them away. Song Xiaofei saw her petting the kitten like a distressed relative, and felt that she treated animals like this, she must be a caring person, and accosted: "I also had a yellow cat when I was a child, and he died at the age of ten. Your cat is six years old, which is equivalent to a human being in his thirties and forties, and he still likes to run around. ”

When Xi Muqing heard that Song Xiaofei also had a cat, he suddenly felt cordial, and said: "Yes, this cat is also an adult, it is still very naughty, and it likes to run around, and the sofa and chair at home are full of its scratches." By the way, I haven't thanked you yet. ”

Song Xiaofei said that you are welcome, turned around and prepared to go back to the hotel to sleep, Xi Muqing stopped him, introduced himself as Xi Muqing, her home is near the Luofia Hotel, she smiled: "You are welcome to come to my house as a guest when you are free."

Xi Muqing smiled, revealing her white teeth, Song Xiaofei thought to herself, is this girl asking herself to be a guest at her house, is it out of politeness, or is she planning to make a friend? He felt that he was just a passer-by in Shanghai, and he didn't take Xi Muqing's words to heart at this time.

In the afternoon, Song Xiaofei and Sheng Xuanhuai just walked out of the Luofia Hotel, Shanghai Dao Shao Youlian was waiting outside the gate in a Yunyan official uniform, he had prepared a foreign carriage, Song Xiaofei asked Sheng Xuanhuai how far the Xifu was from this hotel, Sheng Xuanhuai said: "less than a mile."

Song Xiaofei said: "Then let's go over." ”

Shao Youlian insisted on accompaniing, so the three of them went to Xifu together, and Sheng Xuanhuai gave Song Xiaofei, the porter, a greeting post and a tael of silver, and asked him to go in to report.

After about a cup of tea, the porter came back and reported: "Our master is not feeling well, please come back another day." ”

Shao Youlian saw that Xi Zhengfu dared not to see Song Xiaofei, and scolded the porter: "Can you send the greeting post of Lord Admiral?" ”

The porter said that the lord had already received it. Shao Youlian was so angry that his beard was about to curl, and he said angrily: "What do you mean? What day is another day? Our adults have traveled thousands of miles from Tianjin to visit us, and your lord dares to let the adults eat behind closed doors, which is really unreasonable! ”

Sheng Xuanhuai said to Song Xiaofei: "Don't be surprised, Xi Zhengfu likes to talk about business. ”

Song Xiaofei thought that Xi Zhengfu might be testing his sincerity, so he smiled and said to the concierge of the Xi family: "It seems that I have to stay in Shanghai for a few more days, you go and tell your master, I will come to visit tomorrow." ”

Back at the hotel, Song Xiaofei remembered the last time he accompanied Rong Rong in Shanghai to watch the scene of Luoyue by the river, and his mood was mixed, and now, Rong Rong's "Qiangguo Daily" in Tianjin was an instant hit because of the report of the Great Famine, and Song Xiaofei invited Yan Fu, Timothy Li and other open-minded friends to be the main writers, and often gave some official insider information. It's just that the relationship between the two is still standing still, when it comes to real marriage, it's not a matter of two people, Rong Rong is still a little hesitant. Song Xiaofei put on a coat and went to the river to blow the wind.

A round of red falls, slowly sinking on the Huangpu River, the river water was clear, unlike now from time to time from a few dead pigs floating upstream. The river is full of water, reflecting a few red clouds, the sailboats on the river are dotted, transporting goods from the south to the north, the workers wearing short-sleeved horse coats and shirtless carry goods at the wharf, and the "fake foreign devils" in suits and leather shoes drag their braids to command the command, showing the prosperity of Greater Shanghai and the gap between the rich and the poor. Song Xiaofei knows that this is not only a paradise for the rich, but also a hell for the poor!

The French Concession is close to the Huangpu River, Song Xiaofei walked along the riverside, and unconsciously walked to the Pidgin St. Joseph's Church, the architectural style of this church is imitation Gothic, the pointed arch of four or five zhang high rises high, pointing to the sky, and there is a melodious chorus in the church, which is a hymn to "glory to the Father":

He loves the whole world

To save us sinners

He gave his only son

The Lord is willing

Give your life for us

Open the gates of heaven

that we may live

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord

Song Xiaofei knows that even if he does not believe in God, he should respect the beliefs of his followers, which is the bottom line of human civilization. For thousands of years, people have invented various religions out of two major psychological needs: people always have to die, so they need to find a sense of existence in religion and fight the fear of death; People have deep-seated selfishness, violent impulses, and boundless desires. But we must eventually learn how to live in harmony with the world and with others, and faith is the chicken soup for the soul in the face of suffering.

Although Song Xiaofei does not believe in religion, he has a good impression of many beliefs advocated by religion, such as love, tolerance, kindness, courage, compassion, and equality of souls.

Xi Muqing accompanied her father Xi Zhengfu, and her sister Xi Muyan, who was six years older than her, both of them had goose egg faces and willow eyebrows, but their temperaments were very different, Xi Muyan also graduated from Wesleyan Women's College in Georgia, USA, but she was the "royal sister" Fan Shizu, and she always stared at Song Xiaofei's eyes when she spoke, with a smile on her face.

At that time, there were very few Catholics among young men in China, and Xi Muqing was surprised when he met Song Xiaofei again, and took the initiative to greet him and asked, "Are you also a Catholic?" Come to this church for worship? ”

Song Xiaofei replied honestly: "No, but I have a good British friend named Timothy Lee, who is a senior pastor. ”

Xi Zhengfu wears a traditional satin robe, the neckline and sleeves are inlaid with heavy gold threads, embroidered with beautiful Fulu characters, exquisite workmanship, his beard is gray, about half a foot long, his eyes are small, but very spirited, at first glance he is a shrewd businessman, he is on a tiger head cane, seeing Xi Muqing and Song Xiaofei chatting happily, he stepped forward and asked: "Muqing, do you two know each other?" ”

Xi Muqing said: "At noon, he saved the circle at the Luofia Hotel. ”

Song Xiaofei said: "With a lot of effort, the eldest lady is not worried. ”

Xi Muyan on the side interjected: "Sister, don't you hurry up and introduce us, you, the second miss of the Xi family, have become the eldest lady." ”

Xi Muqing introduced her father and sister to Song Xiaofei at this time, Song Xiaofei couldn't cry or laugh, it turned out that the inconspicuous old man in front of him was the famous Xi Zhengfu. Xi Zhengfu saw that Song Xiaofei was a talent, especially a pair of big eyes, and he felt that he was very human, and asked him where he was.

Song Xiaofei said with a smile: "The junior and Sheng Xuanhuai went to Xifu to send a greeting post this afternoon!" ”

As a powerful businessman in Shanghai, Xi Muqing certainly knows that in China, the return on investment in power will be much higher than that of any commodity, but power is a sharp double-edged sword, and it is easy to hurt yourself if you get too close, and Hu Xueyan is a living example. In addition, most of the Qing officials were greedy, so he hid in the French Concession and tried his best to avoid dealing with officials under the banner of "talking about business". This time Song Xiaofei came to the door, although he was introduced by his old friend Sheng Xuanhuai for 20 years, he was still vigilant. But Xi Zhengfu didn't expect that the energetic young man in front of him was Song Xiaofei, the admiral of the Navy who had made great achievements, and Sheng Xuanhuai mentioned to him the "successor" of Li Hongzhang, and couldn't help but praise: "The future is terrifying."

At this time, Xi Muqing came over and took his father's hand and said, "It turns out that you also know each other, and I also invited him to my house as a guest to thank him for saving the circle." ”

Xi Zhengfu heard Song Xiaofei just say that he had a pastor friend, and he was more curious, so he asked him about the details of his relationship with Timothy Lee, Song Xiaofei answered one by one, and Xi Zhengfu asked Song Xiaofei: "What do adults think of Catholicism?" ”

Song Xiaofei guessed that Xi Zhengfu's family was very likely to be Catholics, and he had to answer this key question seriously, so he thought about it for a while: "The younger generation thinks that the human spirit is either outside the wandering form or confined to the mind. On the contrary, religions such as Catholicism let go of the spirit outside the body and placed their trust in the Heavenly Father, seeking peace of mind from the outside in, both of which are mental cultivation, and the path is different! ”

Xi Zhengfu was more satisfied with Song Xiaofei's answer, and he didn't expect that this young man was more worthy of communication than Sheng Xuanhuai, so he used Xi Muqing's words to push the boat down the river, explaining that he would set up a thin banquet at home and invite Song Xiaofei to go to the house alone.

When Song Xiaofei heard this, there was hope for raising money to buy a warship, and he hurriedly thanked Xi Zhengfu: "The younger generation must visit on time."

Song Xiaofei didn't expect at that time that Xi Zhengfu was a diamond-level tyrant, and the family banquet held was actually the comprador meeting of Shanghai's most bullish foreign firm and money bank, except for Xi Zhengfu himself was the big comprador of HSBC Foreign Bank, his eldest son Xi Jiaming was the big comprador of the American-funded Qichang Foreign Company, his second son Xi Jiahui was the big comprador of the British-funded Swire & Co., and the third son Xi Jiadong ran Shanghai's largest money house "Da Dechang", the low-key and mysterious Xi family, which widely invested in the money industry, silver building, pawn, and gold number related to banking business. Property also includes land, real estate, mines, steamship companies, etc., and it is even rumored that the property of the Xi family far exceeds that of Hu Xueyan, the "richest man in the Qing Dynasty", who was prominent a few years ago.