This time, Shen Yigong slept lightly. Even though a person is lying in bed, his mind is always full of thoughts. For example, Guo Feng, for example, that suitcase, for example, what else can he do in the current situation in Shanghai.

There were many things he tried to participate in – but he was not qualified. This was the case in the past, and it is still the case after three years of painstaking operation. Shen Yigong wanted to do something more for those people, even if it was just a little.

But he is always slow, one step slower, Mr. Xu Ruonong is dead, Mrs. Xu is killed, will he always wait for others to command him, tell him where to go and what to do? Then he can only be slow forever. You can't be slow, if you slow down, your life will be gone.

When sleepiness hit, these words still echoed in his mind repeatedly. How can I not be slow? How can you find a way to find a primer in this Colosseum that you can be qualified to come forward and take a peek?

He no longer wanted to see anyone die of his own incompetence.

When I woke up again, it was the administrator who knocked on the door outside, urging and shouting: "Mr. Shen, I have your phone!" ”

Shen Yigong got up with his clothes draped and looked out the window, the gloomy sky should be past noon. He went to the reception room to pick up the phone, and the voice of the speaker was familiar.

"Why did Xu Ruonong die?"

Shen Yigong lowered his head, put his hand on the side of the telephone, and answered sullenly.

"You...... Coming back from Tianjin? ”

Huo Zuo said: "I got the news as soon as I came back. Let you protect him, now he's dead. Although this was due to a traitor on his side, I promised him that it could not be done anyway. ”

"I thought ......" Shen Yigong wanted to find a reason for himself, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he swallowed back the words after thinking about it, and said instead, "Blame me, I didn't distinguish the people around Mr. Qingxu." ”

"Of course, you can't be blamed entirely. Claiming to be the most faithful team, who knew it would be like this? Huo Zuo listened to him blame himself, and also softened his tone slightly, and said, "I have done everything that should be done, but you can explain to me first, what is going on with that child?" ”

"Xu Ruonong's child?" Shen Yigong replied, "I thought the promise you made was to protect their family. ”

"I protected. Even Mrs. Xu is ...... now Killed, do you think it's appropriate for me to put this kid here? ”

"Mr. Huo." Shen Yigong interrupted him, "Regarding these situations, I think it is more appropriate for us to say them face to face. I have something else to tell you besides that kid. ”

Huo Zuo hesitated for a moment on the other end of the phone, but finally agreed. He said an address, and Shen Yigong subconsciously said, "You don't live in the old mansion anymore?" ”

"It's been a long time coming." Huo Zuo said, "When will you arrive?" ”

“…… Give me an hour. ”

"Okay. I'll wait for you. ”

Hang up the phone and go back to the room, Mu Qiuping should have left a long time ago. The clothes that had been cluttered in the bathroom had long since been cleaned up. Shen Yigong sometimes feels sorry for Qiu Ping, but what he can say has already been made clear, even if she mentions it again, she has her own self-esteem, stubbornly holding her as a friend and telling her that she didn't do this because she "liked him".

Shen Yigong thought that he should not be a character suitable for being loved. He couldn't accept being cared for for no reason, even though the other person had tried hard to show kindness.

No matter how you deny it, the days of holding a knife and licking blood in those years are still engraved into your bones. No matter how much you try to forget, you can never forget it. Just because I have seen how easily human life disappears, it is natural that I will be grateful for the "kindness" of all people.

changed into a jacket and went out, and according to the address left by Huo Zuo, he took the tram over. It was almost exactly an hour by the time we arrived. The villa was hidden behind a grove of leaves. Entering the door, Shen Yigong raised his eyes and saw that it was the old housekeeper Xu Ma who came to receive him, and his heart was slightly astringent. When Mother Xu saw him, she showed a gentle smile, and she didn't seem to care about what he said in Huo Zhai three years ago, took his coat and hat and said, "Mr. Xiao has grown up a lot." If you stumble upon you on the street, I wouldn't even dare to recognize you. ”

Shen Yigong greeted her: "You are in good health." ”

"Not bad. My lord usually takes good care of me. After a few pleasantries, Mother Xu led him upstairs, "The master is waiting for you in the study, come with me." ”

She led it to the door and knocked on the door for him to report: "Master, it's Mr. Shen who is here." ”

A voice came from inside, "Let him in." ”

Mother Xu stepped out of the way, invited him into the house, and closed the door for the two of them before leaving.

Shen Yigong stepped into the study, it was nearly four months, and there was still a charcoal fire burning in the corner of the house, burning and drying. I haven't entered Huo Zuo's room for too long. The last time, I was still young, and I was full of emotions just when I was close to him, and I didn't know what to do. Nowadays, there are too many things in my heart, which I can't say and can't explain. Personnel changes, although he and Huo Zuo are still disconnected, but the excitement and joy at the beginning are difficult to find now.

The faint smell of smoke came, Shen Yigong walked inward, opened the bead curtain, and saw Huo Zuo sitting on a Taishi chair smoking a cigarette. He had gauze on his forehead, and his left hand was in a plaster cast and hung from his neck with a piece of gauze. Shen Yigong frowned just by looking at him, and just asked without saying hello first: "Who injured you?" ”

Huo Zuo squinted his eyes and took the cigarette away from his mouth: "What, are you still distressed?" ”

Shen Yigong didn't answer his words, but walked over and took the cigarette from his fingertips and put it out in the ashtray: "Don't smoke if you're injured, it's not good for recovery." ”

"Anyway, when I'm dead, you still come back to put on a stick, a cigarette, what are you nervous about." That being said, he didn't say much when he saw Shen Yigong take away the cigarette from his fingertips like this, but just pulled the topic back to business, "Cheng Changyu sent Xu Ruonong's children and suitcases to me." Is there anything you'd like to say? ”

"Child, be protected. His father did so much and was betrayed and framed to death by his own people, I don't think it should be. ”

"But you can't keep it with me. You can't let a martyr's child grow up next to the biggest gangster in Shanghai, and Xu Ruo will hate you if he knows it. ”

"The head of the gangsters really can't do it. But what about business tycoons? ”

Huo Zuo looked at him.

Shen Yigong stood in front of him, neither humble nor arrogant: "I plan to raise this child." ”

"You want to say you're the business tycoon yourself?" Huo Zuo laughed out loud as he spoke, completely mocking, "Shen Yigong, you tell me why you are a poor and white agent to be a business tycoon?" Just the daily necessities you got from the factories in Ningbo, Hangzhou, and Taizhou? Don't dream, these can't be on the table, you can only make a living as a small trader at best. ”

"People need to use daily necessities, and I know how big the market is."

"The market volume is indeed large, but you yourself should be an agent and you should know in your heart that there are so many people in Shanghai, how many people use Japanese, European and American goods, and how many people use domestic products. Are you going to grab the market with the Japanese? You're dreaming! ”

Shen Yigong squatted down in front of Huo Zuo and looked up at his injured face: "I know, you have been looking at me like this since you saw me from the beginning." I'm a little deflated by you who will never be able to climb under your feet. ”

Huo Zuo's body stiffened and didn't move, meeting his eyes, silently listening to his next words.

"You use me just because I'm available. Because you know a character like Xu Ruonong, as long as you are willing to pull the strings, I can throw my life to help them. I wanted to do something, and you know all about my origins and experiences, so I know very well what kind of life people live in such a world. I want to try to do something to improve. Shen Yigong really hasn't said this for a long time, he just does it alone, even if he doesn't have too many close friends around him to share this, he will still do it without hesitation and almost stubbornly in the past three years, "I've seen how the people around you treat money and the poor, so I told myself that I have to try to help them no matter what." ”

Huo Zuo opened his eyes and wanted to touch his cigarette: "You have to be a good person, don't drag me on." I'm a person who went to the eighteenth layer of hell after I died, and I didn't go all the way to the Yellow Spring. ”

Shen Yigong pressed his hand, took a deep breath, and finally got to the point: "But my own strength alone is not enough. I can't support the domestic market in Shanghai alone. I...... Need your help. ”

"Shen Yigong, I asked you to help Xu Ruonong because I think you are the same kind of people and are better to speak. But I didn't expect them to be stupid, and you were stupid. Huo Zuo withdrew the palm that was pressed by him, bowed his head and said, "Why should I help you?" You know exactly how difficult it is to do in the domestic market, and how much money you put into it is also versatile! ”

"I have a way, I have a plan!"

"Hah, plan!"

"The farmer's market at Sixteen Shops is a testament to that. We have this consumption, Shanghai citizens are actually not low enthusiasm for domestic products, as long as there is a sales window for them, they can naturally reach sales. ”

"That's not enough. You'll have to say one more thing that will convince me. ”

Shen Yigong looked at his indifferent face, and finally let out a long sigh of frustration: "Okay, then I'll change my sentence." ”

"Huh?"

"I want to be rich. I want to be richer, and I want to become qualified to participate in Shanghai's economic and trade politics. And as far as I know, it takes a lot of money. ”

"If you need money, you shouldn't touch the hardest thing to make a profit."

"I want to be rich and patriotic."

"Shen Yigong, I don't know whether to say that you are hypocritical or just."

"Someone must do domestic products, and the market must be opened to compete with Japanese and European goods. While our people are trying to sacrifice and fight for a better life for the people, traitors continue to breed and murder their brothers and sisters. Why? Because we are poor, we are so easy to be taken advantage of, so easy to betray - this is the only feeling I have after watching Mrs. Xu be killed and Mr. Xu is arrested and shot. I know who killed them, who leaked the secrets, and who still has hidden evil intentions there, but I can't say! Because I was sent by you, and I have your name engraved on me, and they don't trust me, and I can't come up with a reasonable name to make them trust! ”

The more Shen Yigong spoke, the more excited he became, and finally stood up directly and held Huo Zuo's shoulder that was not injured. His jaw trembled slightly, and everything that happened last night finally had a window for catharsis now.

Knowing that he was out of control, Shen Yigong tried to calm his emotions. He took a deep breath and smiled bitterly at Huo Zuo's dark brown pupils, "I thought I had escaped from your shadow, Huo Zuo...... But now it seems that even if I follow what I do in my heart, it is inevitable that I will still be under your wing. I don't want that. I'm going to be rich, and I want to continue to protect the people I'm trying to protect. ”