Cheng Changyu gets up every morning to do three things, take a bath, pluck his gray hair and drink tea. But when he woke up today, he lay on the bed and didn't do anything, his wife, Jin Xiaoxu, a famous corner who once shocked Shanghai, sat on the edge of the bed wearing a newly made cheongsam, buttoned up one by one, turned his head to look at his open eyes, gently stretched out his hand, and gently stroked his shoulder: "You're awake." ”

Cheng Changyu turned his eyes to look at her face.

"It feels like you tossed and turned last night, as if you didn't sleep well."

His wife. He had been madly infatuated with her, her voice, her figure, her smile after she took off her makeup offstage. Her gentleness and thoughtfulness taught him to live quietly, and now that they have been married for ten years, they are still as close as glue. Such a husband and wife relationship is simply a gift from God, and being a man with such a wife cannot be compared to others' dreams.

Jin Xiaoxu looked at his burning gaze, rubbed his index finger lightly in his palm, and laughed: "What's the matter, look at me like this." ”

Cheng Changyu pulled her into his arms with all his might, hugged her slender waist, buried his head in the side of her neck and sniffed the roses in her hair. Xiao Xu shrank his shoulders a little shyly, and patted him coquettishly: "Don't make trouble, Brother Huo said that he told us to go to breakfast." ”

Cheng Changyu directly followed her smooth thighs and put his hand under her cheongsam, causing Jin Xiaoxu to exclaim and exclaim: "Oops, are you crazy?" ”

was gagged by his kiss and pressed back to the bed. The woman's face flushed, her eyes fluttered, she raised her hand around his neck, bit his lip lightly and whispered: "Then you hurry up, Xinyi and Yaya will come to urge in a while." ”

As soon as she finished speaking, Cheng Changyu didn't say a word from beginning to end, just turned her back but grabbed her waist from behind.

It was still early, the curtain beside the bed had not yet been raised, and the hazy morning light shone into a room of spring.

When Huo Zuo woke up, the big grandfather clock downstairs had just struck seven o'clock. The invitation of the Japanese businessman Nagao was arranged at half past nine. After he got up, he called the Qingyuan Restaurant first, and Ziyue answered and said that the eldest sister was not there. I called Xianli again, and said that the proprietress left last night and was no more. Huo Zuo was a little strange, remembering that she said that Liang Qingwen had saved up money to buy an apartment, so he guessed whether this woman went to sleep with her ex-husband. It's just that I haven't asked her to leave a phone number, and I can't find her now.

I muttered in my heart, but finally got up and took a shower, and went upstairs to the practice room to make a stake for a while, and at about eight o'clock, Xu's mother came to knock on the door and said that Mr. Cheng's family was here.

Huo Zuo took a handkerchief and wiped the sweat on his forehead and walked downstairs. When Mother Xu came to report, Cheng Changyu had just driven the car into the mansion, and at this time, Huo Zuo went downstairs and was welcoming their family into the door. Cheng Changyu is holding his youngest daughter Yaya, with Jin Xiaoxu next to him and his eldest daughter Xinyi behind him. Xinyi is now slim and elegant, she is already a big girl, and when she saw Huo Zuo, she still raised her head childishly and called: "Daddy Huo!" ”

Seeing her sister calling like this, Yaya also shouted: "Daddy Huo!" Daddy Huo! ”

Huo Zuo patted Xinyi on the shoulder and smiled at Jin Xiaoxu: "These two golden flowers look more and more like you, Xiaoxu, you must be a great hero in the Cheng family." ”

Jin Xiaoxu covered his mouth and smiled: "Big brother, don't laugh at me." ”

They walked to the dining room like a family, sat down at the table one at a time, and chatted about family life. Jin Xiaoxu said about their original summer arrangement: "We originally planned to take Yaya and Xinyi to Tianmu Mountain to escape the summer. But Lao Cheng said that we may encounter some problems this year, and we can't go. ”

"I want to play in the water, Mom." Yaya grabbed the fritters and said, Xinyi sat beside her and reminded her: "Dad said that he won't go this year." Maybe we can wait until next year. Or wait for the winter to go to Tianmu Mountain to see the snow - Mom, what do you think? ”

"Not bad, actually?" Jin Xiaoxu turned his gaze to Cheng Changyu, the man had already finished breakfast at this time, and put down his chopsticks: "No, we won't have any arrangements related to Tianmu Mountain in the near future." Big brother, it's almost time for us to go. ”

Huo Zuo had actually eaten a long time ago, he just enjoyed the comfortable atmosphere of his family staying together and chatting. Hearing Cheng Changyu speak, Huo Zuo also stood up, and before leaving, he didn't forget to lean over and whisper to Xinyi: "By the way, Daddy Huo bought you a gift, or put it in a secret place that only we know." ”

Xin Yi was excited to get up from the chair, but Jin Xiaoxu glanced at her with disgust: "At least wait until you finish breakfast and then go to your Daddy Huo's room to find it!" ”

Huo Zuo put on a top hat and smiled with the child: "It's okay, it's hard to get me to play here, so it's okay to let them mess around." ”

Cheng Changyu shook his head helplessly: "Big brother, you really want to spoil the child more than me." ”

When they said this, they were leaving the mansion and going in the direction of the park, Huo Zuo raised his hand and patted Cheng Changyu's shoulder: "I have no brothers and sisters, and I have never married a wife, I regard Xiaoxu, Xinyi and Yaya as my relatives." ”

They stopped next to the car. Huo Zuo turned his head to look at his old friend who had known him for decades and said in a deep sense: "No matter what you have done, I still plan to treat you as my brother." ”

Cheng Changyu did see the sincerity flashing in Huo Zuo's eyes at that moment, but it disappeared so quickly, so fast that he couldn't confirm whether it was true or not. However, their former friendship - the boyhood they experienced together, in the era when Huo Congyi and Qin Shengzhu were still alive, yes, they were the best brothers, the best partners, Huo Zuo did not forge his empire alone, Cheng Changyu was his best adviser.

"Yes......" Cheng Changyu's mouth finally moved, "Since I came back from studying abroad, I have been working for you, and it turns out that my vision is also good." ”

Huo Zuo didn't speak again after that.

They got into the car, and the driver drove the car all the way to the scheduled meeting place in Hongkou. In addition to the two he and Cheng Changyu sat on, there were two bodyguards behind him who accompanied him this time.

When the car stopped on the side of the road in turn, Huo Zuo recognized at a glance that the one parked in front of him was Ma Weisan's dark brown Buick car. This time the location was an apartment purchased by Nagao in Shanghai, which belonged to the wife of a certain warlord more than ten years ago, and Huo Zuo vaguely remembered that he seemed to have been invited to a party and danced. But that was a long time ago. Now the Japanese military flag is blatantly hung on this building, and there are men in military uniforms guarding the apartment building with guns.

Since the signing of the "Songhu Armistice Agreement", the Japanese army began to build roads in the Hongkou area, Huo Zuo knew that he promised to go to their territory to negotiate business was very risky, but he couldn't help but come to the appointment, and he couldn't let others think that he Huo Zuo was a villain who would only hide cowardly when encountering trouble.

When they entered the house, they were greeted by a maid in kimono and led them upstairs. The maid told Huo Zuo in slightly broken Chinese: "Mr. Nagao is in the study, and he is waiting for you with Mr. Uesugi and Mr. Ma." ”

They were taken to the second floor, where the long, cold corridor was lined with two large windows in front and back, and the wind poured in through the narrow gap in the windows, making a "whine" ghostly cry. The maid's small steps on the floor of the corridor "clicked" loudly. She stopped in front of the third room, bowed deeply, and raised her hand to invite them in. Huo Zuo took off his black top hat before entering the door, and the people in the room stood up to greet him.

In the study, there is a set of sofas, exactly six, divided into three directions, two on each side gathered around the brown glass table. On the left and right sides, it is close to the balcony due south.

Ma Weisan sat on the left in a white cotton and linen coat, a Japanese businessman in a long-tailed gray suit on the right, and the person next to him wore a Japanese major general's military uniform.

"I'm sorry, I seem to be late." Huo Zuo stepped into the study with the black hat in his hand, and the table clock placed somewhere in the apartment building was ringing "dang" to announce half a o'clock.

Huo Zuo walked towards the group of sofas, he swept over Ma Weisan, but the other party looked away inexplicably cowardly and did not meet him. Something began to churn in the man's heart. Nagao raised his hand and pointed to the vacant position directly on the south side, and said, "Please take a seat, Mr. Huo." You are not late. ”

It was completely Japanese, and Cheng Changyu spoke to Huo Zuo before the Japanese translator spoke.

"Thank you." Huo Zuo nodded to them, sat down in the seat, and nodded slightly, motioning for Cheng Changyu to sit in the vacant seat next to Ma Weisan.

The waiter brought two cups of tea and put them in front of them. If this is a simple "business interview", it would be too small to underestimate the military uniforms and flags that have appeared so far. After Huo Zuo sat down, Nagao made a brief introduction, and beside him was Koichiro Uesugi, a major general of the Japanese army currently stationed in the Shanghai area. After the simplest introduction and greetings, Long Tail went straight to Huo Zuo and opened his mouth - of course, Cheng Changyu was translated to Huo Zuo at the same time.

"Mr. Huo, we came to you in the hope that we could reach a cooperation with you when we carried out business activities in Shanghai in the future. We are planning to open a Bank of East Asia, and you, together with Mr. Ma and Ms. You, will be our largest shareholders. Now that Ms. You has categorically rejected our offer and is not attending this business meeting, I would love to hear from you. ”

"Yiman didn't come." When Huo Zuo spoke, his tone was relaxed, "This is not strange. She's a woman, and if you ask her about this kind of thing, she probably doesn't want to answer, she doesn't want to think about it. ”

"This kind of thing?" Nagao looked puzzled, "What do you call this a thing?" I think this is the most normal people-to-people business cooperation, and we have also learned that Miss You is a businessman, and she hurts very good businesswomen. A businessman should not let go of the opportunity he has in his hands. We will give you as many shares as possible, Mr. Huo, to ensure that you can earn enough benefits from this business cooperation. ”

Huo Zuo didn't answer his question directly, just hummed and chewed on those four words, and said with a sneer: "You regard this as a non-governmental business cooperation? ”

"Isn't it?"

Huo Zuo stretched out his hand to pick up the teacup, squinted his eyes and sat there with a major general: "Then what is this friend of yours doing in a military uniform again?" Threaten me? ”