Although Shanghai fell into the hands of the Japanese, the French Concession should drink and drink, sing and sing, and there are still a group of people who have no conscience and can still spend their time drinking, and they may not stop enjoying themselves because of a few cannon shots. Not to mention some soft-boned ones, long before the Japanese army occupied Shanghai, they had already fought fiercely with the Japanese in the concession, and the servile women wanted to kneel down and call their masters.

Ma Weisan is always a regular at such balls. With his wife full of smiles, he haunted the Japanese celebration banquet, talking and laughing left and right, and turned a deaf ear to the sacrifice of foreigners in the city and the roar of guns. There are those who insult him, and they look down on him, but he is cheeky and does not move, as if he doesn't care about it. Still drinking his wine, dancing his dance, drunk and dreaming of death, curled up in the French Concession and lived a good life that he didn't know what time to be.

Ma Weisan also likes to bring his movie star's wife to the ball, whether she wants it or not. When Mu Qiuping came, he stood alone in the corner, his face was calm and his head hung down, and he refused to say a word to anyone. The same is true in today's staggered situation, Ma Weisan dressed her up in a gorgeous robe just as a famous watch that can walk, and as his private property, as long as he can show others when he comes. As for her thoughts and reluctance - he didn't care anymore.

She just stood in a corner where no one was paying attention, holding the cup in her hand and drinking the sullen wine alone. Of course, there are people who talk to her, but they are all rejected by her dejected eyes. Today was a little different, she wanted to spend the night alone as usual, but someone came up. When someone tapped her on the shoulder, she replied impatiently in English: "Don't bother me, I just want to be alone." ”

The other party chuckled behind her: "It's a waste to let you be so beautiful and a young lady alone." ”

It's a woman.

Mu Qiuping hurriedly turned her head when she heard the familiar voice, and saw Qin Mingyue with short black hair and a red velvet long skirt standing behind her with a smile, and the huge diamond earrings on her ears were shining.

"Miss Qin?"

Qin Mingyue took advantage of the situation and grabbed her wrist and leaned to her side, and touched the wine glass with her when she bowed her head: "I saw Brother Ma chatting with Mr. Nakajima there, why are you standing alone here?" ”

"They are men, and I don't understand them."

Mu Qiuping said as he turned sideways and continued to stand out of the window. She didn't know her very well, and she had met in social circles in the past. Qin Mingyue has always been a popular single woman in the social circle, and her husband Qiu Yu has not settled down since he died in an accident a few years ago. Mu Qiuping knew some well-known things at most, but she naturally didn't know in more detail.

Qin Mingyue looked at her with a smile, Mu Qiuping subconsciously turned his head sideways and took a sip of the wine in the glass, and heard her say again: "You don't like it here?" ”

Seeing that she didn't answer, the woman waved her wrist and whispered in her ear: "I don't like it either, a bunch of Koreans and Japanese, it's so boring." ”

"They're annoying."

"Yes, they're annoying." After Qin Mingyue finished saying this, she turned her head and looked at Ma Weisan, who was talking to others in the distance, turned around and reached out and took away the wine glass in Mu Qiuping's hand, "I think no one will pay attention even if we leave." I'll take you out to breathe. ”

"Just gone?"

Qin Mingyue casually put their cups on the windowsill and took her hand: "That's it." ”

Before Mu Qiuping could react, he asked her to drag her out of the dance hall, and the two of them ran down the steps to the lobby, took the thick coat handed by the attendant and pushed the door away. Qin Mingyue saw that she put on her coat and immediately took her hand again: "Let's go, I'll take you somewhere else." ”

Without waiting for the other party to answer, he went out and stopped a taxi and got into the back seat with her.

Mu Qiuping hadn't reacted yet, and looked at her with a smile and a smile: "Where are you going to take me in a hurry?" ”

Qin Mingyue handed a note forward and said to the driver, "Go here." So he sat back in his coat and leaned against her shoulder and said, "You'll know when you go." Don't worry, I won't do anything to you. ”

Hearing this, Mu Qiuping was inexplicably not worried, she thought of something, and a layer of melancholy gradually appeared in front of her: "If you are a patriot and want to threaten Ma Weisan by kidnapping me, then you have miscalculated." He doesn't care about me anymore, that guy doesn't care about anyone now, his conscience is eaten by dogs, not to mention any patriotic feelings with him. You can't shake him with me. ”

When Qin Mingyue heard her say this, she put away her usual attitude of a courtesan, let go of her hand and said seriously: "Don't worry, I won't hurt you, Mrs. Ma." You also said that Ma Weisan's conscience was eaten by dogs, and we don't want to have too much intersection with such a person. ”

"Which side are you from?" Mu Qiuping looked at her, "Kuomintang? Underground? ”

"It's all a joint anti-Japanese effort, is there a difference?" Qin Mingyue stroked the broken hair in her ear and smiled slightly with her, "Don't guess, you'll know what to do with you when it comes in a while." ”

The car gradually drove away from the French Concession, and when she entered the Public Concession, she encountered the Japanese army setting up a card for inspection, Qin Mingyue took out a booklet and handed it to the people who were inspecting outside, and the soldiers immediately saluted her and let their car pass. When the car window was closed, Qin Mingyue noticed the increasingly curious eyes of the people around her, and smiled back at her: "I need to work hard, I have prepared a lot of these documents." ”

Mu Qiuping retracted his gaze and turned his head: "Remind you, if I disappear for too long, Ma Weisan will still be suspicious." ”

Qin Mingyue took out the pocket watch in her bag and glanced at it, and replied to her: "Don't worry, we will definitely send you back before Mr. Ma is in a hurry." ”

Since she said so, Mu Qiuping leaned on the seat of the car and stopped asking. Her eyes wandered from both sides of the road, the scenery around her became more familiar, and when the car stopped, she finally realized where it was.

"Here we are, Mrs. Ma."

Qin Mingyue opened the car door for her after getting out of the car. Mu Qiuping opened his mouth slightly: "You brought me-"

"Yes, I'm bringing you to meet an old friend."

She gracefully took her hand and walked into the alley, stopping at the door she knew and knocking. There was a sound of footsteps inside, and after a while, an old aunt asked behind the door, "Who, are you coming so late?" ”

"Looking for Mr. Shen, it's Ma...... Miss Mu is here. ”

The man inside hesitated for a moment, then listened to the latch of the door, and the door opened a crack from the inside.

Mother Zhao looked at the people outside, opened the door wider, and invited the two wives to come in. She didn't say much or ask much, but only whispered to them: "Mr. Shen is in the room, come with me." ”

They followed the old aunt into the courtyard. There were a lot of wooden horses, skipping ropes and swings for children to play in the yard, and when I walked into the room, there was a small desk in the living room, and more than a dozen children were sitting there talking and writing quietly, and when they heard the voice, they raised their heads and cast curious eyes. Mu Qiuping glanced at the changes that had taken place in this shikumen with some confusion, it had been nearly seven years since she had last visited, at least at that time, there were not so many children in this house.

"Excuse me, is this ......?"

Mother Zhao was about to go up the stairs, when she heard her speak, she turned her head with the handrail, looked in the direction of her finger, and replied to her with a smile: "Oh, these are children who have been lost with their parents and have been temporarily adopted by us." There were more of them before, and last month the newspaper was distributed, and some parents came and took their children away, and the rest ......"

At this point, there is no need to go on.

Walking to the second floor, several rooms have been changed into bunk beds, Shen Yigong's room is on the third floor, Mu Qiuping knows. She followed Zhao's mother to the door, and saw the old aunt knock on the door and report to the people inside: "Mr. Shen, Miss Qin has brought a guest." ”

The man in the room was sitting at the table with a bow, and when he heard this, he turned his head and was obviously stunned when he saw the people outside.

Shen Yigong took off his glasses, he didn't seem to have expected their arrival at all: "Qiuping? ”

Qin Mingyue asked Zhao's mother to go downstairs first, walked into the house by herself, took out a cigarette from her bag and lit it: "Since I promised Boss Dai to cooperate with you in this matter, then the person who should be found will be found for you together." ”

"Miss Qin, the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party is good, but I don't need you to use this kind of spy method to involve irrelevant people."

"Irrelevant?"

Shen Yigong frowned slightly when he heard her subtle question. In December, the situation in Shanghai was basically clear, and after Lao Lu's death, no new liaison was sent from above, but instructions were sent to him in the form of code. Last month, Song Qi was sent to Chongqing, which didn't take much effort on his part, Song Qi's old friend came to pick him up, and they parted in the suburbs of Shanghai. The second was issued three days ago, and it was only five simple words - assassination of Ma Weisan.

That night, Qin Mingyue came.

They also know each other very well. Shen Yigong had learned from Huo Zuo earlier about Qin Mingyue's departure from the No. 72 Intelligence Station to join Dai Li's subordinates, but he didn't say it explicitly in the conversation between the two. The assassination of pro-Japanese traitors was their common task, and Ma Weisan was not easy to get rid of, and under this martial law situation, the two parties reached a short-term cooperation.

Mu Qiuping stood by the door and looked left and right at the two people at the desk, she thought for a moment, and her expression became solemn: "You are looking for me for Ma Weisan in the final analysis. ”

"You're Mrs. Ma, of course I'm looking for you for her." Before Qin Mingyue's words fell, Shen Yigong interrupted: "Qiuping, this matter has nothing to do with you, I will arrange for someone to send you back now." ”

He was about to stand up as he spoke, but he asked Qin Mingyue to hold his arm and asked in a low voice, "Send her back?" I finally got into the Japanese ball and brought her out, do you want to waste such a good opportunity? ”

"You are really similar to your brother sometimes, Miss Qin. There must also be a bottom line in doing things - don't involve innocent people in this kind of bloody incident. ”

"She's not irrelevant, Shen Yigong. Or do you feel sorry for the fragrance and the jade? ”

Shen Yigong rubbed the bridge of his nose and said helplessly: "What are you talking nonsense?" ”

"Since it's not, I'll tell her. Who can stay out of this situation? It's not that we don't talk about the bottom line, we just try to make sure the mission is as successful as possible. Seeing that Shen Yigong refused to speak, Qin Mingyue turned her head and said bluntly to Mu Qiuping, "The reason why we came to you is very simple-we need a complete itinerary for Ma Weisan's trip, and we want to kill him." ”

Shen Yigong wanted to stop her with extreme disapproval: "Enough is enough for Qin Mingyue, don't talk any more." ”

But she didn't plan to stop: "You also know that your husband is a pro-Japanese traitor, because how many Chinese soldiers died in Shanghai because of his actions." He asked his men to search for the wounded soldiers hiding in the homes of the citizens, and pulled them out and handed them over to the Japanese army. ”

Shen Yigong rubbed the corners of his eyebrows and leaned against the table.

Qin Mingyue still faced Mu Qiuping aggressively and continued: "He took advantage of the privileges given by the Japanese to forcibly seize a large number of post-war assets, and the people under him are now acting in the Japanese-occupied area. Your husband, whom you just saw, wagged his tail like a dog at the Japanese and begged for mercy, don't you think we should kill such a person? ”

But even so, Mu Qiuping's face was still calm, she stood there and listened quietly to Qin Mingyue's words, until she stopped the moment, she didn't speak, and asked a short question: "Ma Weisan is dead, can you guarantee the safety of my child." ”

The fourth person in the room spoke. If he hadn't spoken, Mu Qiuping might not have noticed him all along.

"Of course. Your children will live under my protection. Huo Zuo slowly walked out of the darkness in the corner of the room, "I promise that no one can hurt him a single hair." ”