At nightfall, Wu Ming and Liu Rulin, who had changed into neat military uniforms, drove to Hangzhou City.

Along the way, the two talked about the situation on the Songhu battlefield to the sluggishness of Nanjing's response, from the chaotic situation of the security forces in various parts of Zhejiang, to the security division that was about to be formed, and finally to the embarrassing reality of battlefield rescue and wounded disposal.

After passing through two checkpoints and entering the city of Hangzhou, Wu Ming found that the order on the street was much better than he expected, so he casually praised it.

Liu Rulin smiled bitterly when he heard this: "The truth is not what you see now, all the homeless refugees have been driven to the place full of temples and Taoist temples in Wushan in the south of the city." Since the 128 Anti-Japanese War in Shanghai, students and citizens in Hangzhou have launched three large-scale anti-Japanese demonstrations, and it was enough to shout anti-Japanese slogans, but who knew that Lu Dao actually shouted radical slogans to bring down the Kuomintang and the Nationalist Government. ”

"In desperation, our military and police launched a crackdown, arrested several student leaders and interrogated them overnight, and quickly attacked and arrested more than a dozen Communist Party leaders who were hiding in Hangzhou government departments, newspaper offices, and several schools in the guise of intellectuals, and the chaotic situation in Hangzhou only improved slightly."

The car entered Zhongshan Road, turned north, and soon came to the intersection of Jesus Lane in the northwest of the city.

Jesus Lane is also called Jesus Lane, named Lane, in fact, the road is wide and smooth, most of the buildings on both sides are European and American style buildings, there are also some simple and elegant Chinese style buildings dotted in the meantime, the church hospital Guangji Hospital is located at the intersection location, the three-storey European-style building of considerable scale is very conspicuous.

Wu Ming motioned to Liu Rulin to drive the car to the gate of the hospital and stop, he wanted to get out of the car first and call Lei Mengde, asking if there was time for everyone to meet, if it was inconvenient, you might as well reschedule, this is at least polite Wu Ming still knows how to go.

Lei Mengde was very happy to receive the call, and learned that Wu Ming was calling him at the gate of Guangji Hospital under his jurisdiction, and immediately asked Wu Ming to continue driving inside, and he would wait at the gate of Tianshui Church.

About 100 meters away from the car's drive into the alley, Wu Ming saw Lei Mengde, who was dressed in a priest's robe, and Dai Zichen, who was wearing a priest's robe, standing in front of the church gate, and behind the two there were five male and female clergy dressed in the same costume, and the scene was very formal and grand.

Liu Rulin drove the sedan to slow down, and stopped five meters away after the last stop.

Wu Ming got out of the car and strode to Father Lei Mengde, bowed slightly with a smile, and took the lead in extending his warm hand.

Lei Mengde gave Wu Ming a powerful hug: "My dearest friend, you don't know how much I look forward to your arrival!" Now I finally got my wish! ”

Wu Ming was quite moved in his heart, and sincerely apologized to himself for taking the liberty of coming, and then in Lei Mengde's friendly laughter, he turned to Dai Zichen, who had been reunited after a long absence, and greeted: "Brother Zichen has always been good? ”

"Brother Wu, you surprised me so much, you should have told us the news...... If it weren't for the priest's unexpected sight on the Bluestone Bridge, I wouldn't have known that you had become a soldier, but you are now so heroic. Dai Zichen was very emotional and held Wu Ming's hand for a long time.

After introducing Liu Rulin, Fr. Lei Mengde instructed the Chinese priest around him to drive the car into the church, and then took Wu Ming's hand and warmly invited Liu Rulin to enter with him:

"This is not the place for us to talk freely, and we are about to start dinner when we get your call...... But that's okay, let's start again and enjoy the time God has given us! ”

Wu Ming and Liu Rulin looked at each other and smiled, did not give in any longer, and happily followed Lei Mengde to the church, and only halfway through, Wu Ming was suddenly attracted by the car parked under a big tree on the left side of the church.

"I'm sorry, please wait a minute!"

Wu Ming curiously walked to the front of the car that didn't look very conspicuous on the outside, and Liu Rulin, who loved the car like his life, strode over without regard for etiquette.

After looking at the front of the car, the two turned around the car and turned to the side and bent down, looking at the chassis of the car from below for a while.

Wu Ming stood up, clapped his hands and said, "Father, which country produced this car?" ”

Father Lei Mengde didn't care about Wu Ming's actions: "Dear Wu, do you like it too?" This is the latest product launched by Dodge Motors in the United States, and it just went on sale in October last year, probably because I hit it once in my car and replaced it with a new hood...... Don't you see the Dodge logo? ”

"See, see, just under the hood side."

After Liu Rulin finished answering, he asked again with interest: "This is a high-chassis high-horsepower car specially designed for the army, right?" How many dollars does it cost to the outside world? ”

"No, no, no! This is not a military car, this is a model specially designed and manufactured by Dodge Motors for the vast rural and wasteland areas of the United States, which are not very well transported, and many of them are used by American oil extraction companies. The North American Church thought it was suitable for the Chinese environment, so it sent five cars to the Chinese diocese, and this is one of them, I don't know the exact price, but I can ask you for details. Lei Mengde introduced kindly.

"Good! Dear Raymond, then please, I would like to buy a few if I can. ”

Wu Ming likes the car in front of him very much, and he and Liu Rulin both agree that although the luxury of this Dodge car is not as good as the Buick sedan just opened, but from its reinforced chassis and wide off-road tires, the car has a strong passing ability and is more suitable for China's bad road conditions.

"What, your army is interested in such a car?" Raymond asked with interest.

"No!"

Wu Ming shook his head with a smile: "It's me who is interested in this car, our army may not have the purchasing power now, many places in China have not yet been connected to roads, and the army and the people prefer to use horses." ”

"Oh! It's good to use horses, horses are the best friends of human beings...... When it comes to horses, I'm half an authority, and my grandfather was a good and industrious farmer, who owned two thousand acres of prairie and two horse farms in the middle of the United States, and had hundreds of the best stallions at the moment. ”

It is estimated that the reception dinner has not yet been prepared, Lei Mengde and Dai Zichen warmly invited Wu Ming and Liu Rulin to visit the inside of the church, and the monks behind them and the two nuns who were lighting candles in front of the icon were very surprised to see this scene.

The church is smaller than Wu Ming expected, but the architecture is exquisite, the decoration is gorgeous, and the candlelight and the golden light emitted by several crystal lamps on both sides make the whole space look particularly glorious and solemn.

The guests and the host walked slowly, visited around, and laughed happily from time to time in the conversation with each other, and after the last Lei Mengde took Wu Ming and the two to the living room of the two-story small western-style building where he lived alone in the backyard, Dai Zichen went to the kitchen in front to arrange and help.

Taking advantage of the time when Father Lei Mengde went upstairs to collect information for Wu Ming, Liu Rulin smiled at Wu Ming in a low voice: "Although I have long known that monks and nuns practice together in Daoyang Church, I am still very unaccustomed to it. ”

Wu Ming was so happy when he heard it that the sip of black tea in his mouth almost didn't squirt out, and he just wanted to explain, but he found that he didn't understand the doctrine and development history of Christianity, so he had to look at Liu Rulin and laugh.

"Wu, I beg your pardon for keeping you and your colleagues waiting...... I remember that when we were in the cave, you asked me about the level of scientific and technological development in the United States, and I was also very interested in the development of the military industry. ”

"What is even more regrettable is that I did not have the opportunity to return to the United States in person, so I could only write back to my sister to help collect relevant information, and I guess I will be able to send the materials of the other disciplines you need next time."

Lei Mengde held a stack of books in front of Wu Ming, looking at the thick information in his hand, Wu Ming was convinced that his concern and friendship for him were by no means false.

Wu Ming wanted to stand up and thank him, but he was pressed by Lei Mengde, so he had to smile and put this affection into his heart, picked up the top book and opened it, and in less than two minutes, he raised his head in surprise:

"Great, that's exactly what I need, thank you, Father! It is estimated that the several new processing equipment introduced above are the latest research results of the United States manufacturing industry. ”

Raymond shrugged indifferently:

"My dear friend, deep down, I personally very much do not want to see these manufacturing equipment drift across the ocean to China, which is in the midst of a catastrophe...... The war in your country has been going on for far too long, as more than a million people die each year due to wars and natural disasters, and countless people still live on the brink of hunger and death. ”

"At this time, China should actually develop its economy and people's livelihood more than war...... Although I know that this is very difficult and may not be possible in a short period of time, everyone should work hard to ensure that people have enough food and clothing. ”

Liu Rulin had just picked up a book and flipped through it, and when he heard Father Lei Mengde's words, he couldn't help but put down the book in his hand, looked at the priest with compassion on his face in surprise, and thought that this Yankee had a really good heart.