As is customary. Every year during the Spring Festival, the Chen family has to spend it in Shanghai, for no other reason, mainly because there are many discounts in the major shopping malls in the concession during the New Year, which is convenient for Yao Yilei and Jianbing to purchase.

Originally, Xia Xiaoqing planned to make a little temper, but he couldn't stand his son Xiaobei who wanted to go to Shanghai to see the world, so he also came along.

The Chen family went to Shanghai for the New Year, and the high-level people in Jiangdong all rushed to follow suit, and the Yan Su family, Chen Qilin and his wife, and Gong Zijun and Xia Jingxi, all bought real estate in the French Concession in Shanghai, and came to celebrate the New Year together every winter. In addition to the old subordinates in Jiangdong, there are also friends in the political and business circles, Chen Tiaoyuan, Chen Yi, Du Yuesheng, Li Yaoting, Mu Yichen Che Qiuling, all often come to visit the door, and the house prepares two tables of mahjong all year round, and plays at any time.

The ladies at the card table are naturally discussing fashionable bags and cosmetics fur coats, and the only topic for the men is politics, after Jiang Zhongzheng went into the field, the successor chairman of the National Government is a veteran member of the League, and Lin Sen, the anti-Yuan protector of the law, this duke is already sixty and four, indifferent to fame and fortune by nature, not forming a party for personal gain, purely a decoration, since taking office, no one in the Executive Yuan has gone to see him.

"Chairman Lin is a man who reads the seal, and it won't be long before Jiang Gong will come back." Chen Tiaoyuan, like Chen Zikun, is one of the few Beiyang warlords who have defected to the Kuomintang, and his view of politics is the same as that of Chen Zikun, that is, no one can play in the current China except Chiang Kai-shek.

Sun Ke, the premier, is the son of the former premier, and he is a serious man, but he neither has Chiang Kai-shek's ability to command the army, nor does he have Song Ziwen's ability to make money, and he is not as good as Wang Zhaoming and Hu Hanmin in terms of party affairs.

Yan Su played the wrong card, touched one more and made it into Xianggong, and said: "Sun Ke is like this deck of cards, how can he not get along, the troubles of the armies of Jiangsu and Zhejiang have gone to the gate of the Executive Yuan, can he solve it?" I see that his hair is turning gray now. ”

Chen Yi is currently the director of the Ordnance Industry Administration, and is led by Chen Zikun in business, and usually has a lot of contacts, so he took Yan Su's words and said: "What Chairman Yan said is extremely true, Sun Ke's ability is not enough, and he can't get the support of any of the three giants of Jiang Wanghu, he, the executive premier, can last a month, it's good, last time I went to the Executive Yuan, the work was a mess, the National Defense Construction Supervision Commission, so far vacant, Brother Kunwu, what are your plans?" ”

Chen Zikun said: "I didn't plan, it was originally a tiring errand job, I don't plan to do it anymore, last week I asked the secretary to go back to Nanjing to take care of the aftermath and seal all the documents, and this supervisory committee will end here." ”

While playing cards, the servant came to report that a guest surnamed Wang was visiting, Chen Zikun said: "It must be Wang Geng's arrival, please hurry." ”

It was really Wang Geng, who came with Chen Zikun and Yan Su all served in the Beiyang War Department, and Chen Zikun was also an alumnus of West Point.

Time has passed, the romance of the Beiyang period has long been gone with the wind, the former handsome and dignified young general has shown fatigue today, Wang Geng has been the deputy director of the police department of the Ministry of Communications, the director of the Harbin police, Sun Chuanfang's ironclad commander of the cavalry, the former chief of staff of the enemy, since the peaceful divorce with Lu Xiaoman, the career is getting lower and lower.

He attended Xu Zhimo's funeral last month, and when he saw his former beloved wife Lu Xiaoman's painful appearance, his mood was even worse.

Chen Zikun gave the card game to others, pulled Wang Geng to the small reception room on the side, served coffee and cigars, and said with a greeting: "Lao Wang, it's not a way for you to be idle, I found you a job, as long as you want, you can take office immediately." ”

Wang Geng held the coffee cup and smiled bitterly: "What can I do like this, I can't do it high." ”

Chen Zikun said: "Our West Point alumni naturally want to be generals. ”

Wang Geng said: "General? Now it is all the world of Whampoa's rapid birth, how can there be a share of West Point. ”

Chen Zikun laughed: "It's true, Song Ziwen has set up a tax police corps, and he needs talents with formal American-style military education, so I recommended you, as long as you want, you can immediately hang up the general's collar badge." ”

Wang Geng said: "I've heard of the Tax Police Corps, but I have never personally fought in battle, it's all some knowledge on paper, I'm afraid it's a mistake." ”

Chen Zikun said: "So you are willing to do it, don't be modest, the training of the army needs talents like you, as for the war, there are other people to bring it." ”

Wang Geng's chest lit a flame of hope, and the color of the decadent Tang Dynasty was swept away, and he stood up and said, "Zikun, thank you so much." ”

"Well, we're old friends." Chen Zikun also stood up and shook hands with Wang Geng.

……

Liu Ting was ordered by Chen Zikun to go to Nanjing to clean up the mess, the National Defense Construction Supervision Commission was revoked, the office was diverted for other purposes, all archives and documents should be destroyed, and the sealed ones should be sealed.

The salary of the private secretary is not low, Chen Zikun gives Liu Ting a salary of 200 yuan a month, which is enough to catch up with a university professor, her life is similar to that of a Puritans, she is not particular about eating and drinking, and the only expenditure is to buy books, and she has accumulated 1,500 yuan in a year, which is an astronomical amount for the Liu family.

She made a long-distance call to the Chen Mansion in Shanghai to ask for leave, Chen Zikun naturally granted leave, this secretary is all year round, conscientious, and almost assassinated, and should take a month or two off.

It snowed in Nanjing, and the light snow fluttered between the heavens and the earth, and the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties was depressed, Liu Ting wore a blue cotton robe and a long white wool scarf, and went to the bank to withdraw deposits.

On the way to the bank, a woman in an old coat sat on the side of the road, holding a child in her arms, her eyes were very sad, Liu Ting couldn't help but look at it twice, her eyes fell on the card in front of the child, and the words "two hundred yuan" were particularly dazzling.

There are a lot of people queuing in the bank, Liu Ting waited for an hour to get on the number, she took a thousand yuan of banknotes, exchanged for a hundred yuan of cash and some copper dollars, gross bills, Liu Ting hid the money in the schoolbag, and went home carefully, although Nanjing is the capital, but the security is not very good, and robberies on the street occur from time to time.

On the way back, it was already late, the snow in Nanjing could not accumulate, only a thin layer on the tiles, the ground was wet, cold and slippery, the woman who sold the child was still sitting in the old place, but retreated under the eaves, the child was very well-behaved, a pair of big eyes flickered, Liu Ting couldn't help but look at it again, and continued to move forward.

"Girl...... Would you do me a favor? Suddenly, there was a timid conversation from behind, Liu Ting looked back, and the woman had a flattering smile on her face. She subconsciously took out a dollar: "No, buy something for the child to eat." ”

The woman didn't answer and said, "Sister, it's okay, buy this child." ”

Liu Ting was shocked and took a few steps back: "No, no, no, how can this work, I'm not married yet." ”

"It's good to buy a maid, it's a boy, you can work after a few years, please, I really can't help it, the man is sick, there is no overnight food at home, this child has only a dead end with us......" The woman's tears rained down, washing the cheap fat powder on her face, her Nanjing accent was not authentic, with a hint of Jiangdong accent.

Liu Ting felt compassion, but she would never dare to buy this child, so she took out a 200 yuan bill from her bag and handed it over: "Sister, take it, you can take the child back." ”

The woman held the child and kept bowing: "Thank you, Nong, you are a good person, and a good person must be rewarded." Speaking with a little Shanghai accent, Liu Ting smiled bitterly, two hundred yuan is a good word, but it is also a merit to keep the mother and son apart.

The child had a lot of fate with Liu Ting, watching her laugh, the child who was less than a year old laughed very innocently, and the woman saw Liu Ting smiling, so she held the child over: "Let Auntie hug it." ”

Liu Ting is the eldest daughter in the family, she has been raising children since she was a child, she is used to holding her younger brothers and sisters, and she is naturally an expert when she picks up a child. ”

Liu Ting teased the child, not noticing the abnormality of her face.

"Girl, I'll go to the house and get something and come out." The woman took a deep look at her child and turned into the house by the side of the road, the hem of the aqua cheongsam flashing under the half-worn coat.

Liu Ting didn't care, waited for a while and didn't see the woman come out, so she was a little panicked, and when she entered the house, she saw that it was a shop, and the guy in the store was a man in his forties, with a mouthful of scorched teeth, and said, "You were fooled, that lady left early." ”

"I gave her two hundred dollars, why did she leave?" Liu Ting panicked.

"You untie the quilt and take a look, ah, it's a disability?" The man looked at the boy in Liu Ting's arms with disdain, and said: "How can there be a reason why a male doll can't be sold, it's definitely wrong." ”

Liu Ting opened the small bag and took a look, and sure enough, the baby's soles turned out, and he was born with a disability.

Now she was really scared, holding the child everywhere to look for, where to find it, tossing for an hour, looking for the patrol case, the patrol police also couldn't help, saying that you spent money, this child is yours, if you don't want it, send it to the nursery orphanage.

Liu Ting wanted to cry without tears, so she had to slowly walk back with a disabled baby she bought.

On the street corner in the distance, the woman held back tears and watched her own flesh and blood being taken away by others, her lips trembled, she just couldn't cry, and waited until Liu Ting's figure disappeared into the wind and snow before she stumbled home.

As soon as I entered the door, my man was in a meeting with a group of people, and when he saw her coming back empty-handed, he stepped forward and asked, "Sold?" What about money? ”

The woman took out the 200 yuan bill and said sadly: "You can't take it all, you still have to eat at home." ”

The man brutally grabbed the two hundred yuan, returned to the middle of the group, and said in a low voice: "Comrades, the funds for paper and ink printing and engraving have been settled. ”