CHAPTER XXXI

At the beginning of the lanterns, the customers who played for a day in the Penglai domestic market were satisfied, and went away with large bags and small bags. On New Year's Day, the whole street has been lit up, and bright red banners are hung on the left and right outside the Penglai Hotel.

A car drove in in an orderly manner, and there was still more than half an hour before the party began. If the invited dignitaries and businessmen arrived in advance, Liang Qingwen arranged to bring them to their seats.

After dark, a little snow fell, slowly accumulating a thin layer of white in front of the steps. Shen Yigong didn't go in at this time, and stood beside Mu Qiuping. The woman put on her coat and let out a white breath when she spoke, she looked at the car parked in front of the door, and did not forget to thank Shen Yigong: "Thank you for accompanying me out to wait for the old horse." ”

"It's okay, it's still a while before the start anyway. Are you cold? Do you want me to take off my coat for you? ”

Mu Qiuping squinted at him and laughed at him: "What kind of gift do you take off your coat for me?" It will make your big brother Ma see it and muttered in his heart. ”

Shen Yigong didn't expect this, and touched his nose with a little embarrassment. I heard Mu Qiuping shouting forward: "Oh, you're here!" Then he hurriedly greeted Ma Weisan. Shen Yigong saw that his face was gloomy, and he called "Brother Ma" and sent the couple into the venue without much greeting.

Ma Weisan sat down in the venue with Qiuping's waist in his arms, and when the woman saw his face, she raised her hand and poked his cheeks, pretending to be coquettish: "What's wrong with you, Mr. Shen is opening today, what are you doing with a long face?" ”

Ma Wei Sanyi grabbed her wrist and put her hand down: "Don't make trouble, I'm worried about it." ”

Mu Qiuping curled his mouth: "You are annoyed, what kind of tantrum do you have with me." ”

"What tantrum can I have with you? I'm worried about myself. Don't ask, I'll tell you when I get back in the evening. ”

The woman listened obediently and nodded: "Okay, then you have to talk to me when you go back." ”

Shen Yigong only noticed that Ma Weisan's face was wrong, but he didn't ask in detail. When he turned his head, he saw Huo Zuo in the crowd holding You Yiman's hand and getting out of the car and walking over.

He was dressed in a long dark brown coat, with a top hat, and held a gentleman's staff in his hand. Huo Zuowei raised his head and met Shen Yigong's gaze from afar. In an instant, the so-called people around seemed to be quiet, and the lights in front of the door became brighter. Shen Yigong realized that his mouth moved, but there was something dumb inside. When the two men had already walked to the door, he just said, "Long time no see." ”

Bring it again.

"Mr. Huo, Miss You."

You Yiman Shi Ran stretched out his hand and held it by him: "Long time no see, congratulations, Boss Shen." ”

Shen Yigong withdrew his gaze from Huo Zuo, looked at You Yiman's smiling face, and kissed her on the back of her hand: "I still want to thank you for your help, if it weren't for you, Penglai Market wouldn't be here so soon." ”

"We don't have to contribute some money, and it depends on you young people to contribute our brains." After she said this, she said to Huo Zuo again, "Old Huo, are you right?" ”

Huo Zuo nodded and didn't speak. Shen Yigong turned sideways and raised his hand to make a gesture of please: "I'll take you in." ”

You Yiman laughed: "Okay, Boss Shen will take the seat, I seem to have a row tonight." ”

They entered the door together, didn't take two steps, and heard You Yiman say: "Oh, suddenly I forgot something, Boss Shen, you take us Huo Dong in first, I'll come when I go, my things are off the car." ”

"Then I'll accompany you to get ......?"

"No!" You Yiman refused, "I'll just ask you Manager Liang to lead the way." Go in first! ”

After saying that, he turned around and left, without stopping for half a minute. Leaving Shen Yigong and Huo Zuo to stand sideways, their faces helpless, after a period of silence, it was Huo Zuo who spoke first to break the situation, and laughed: "This woman is at this age, and she is still so temperamental." ”

Shen Yigong said casually: "Isn't this what Sister Yiman is, is there any way." ”

After speaking, they looked at each other, pursed their lips, and moved their eyes elsewhere.

Shen Yigong led him to sit down, there was nothing to ask, the other party didn't even say a word of greeting, he whispered: "If you have something, you can find me again." And he departed from him.

Huo Zuo looked at his back and muttered for a long time, Shen Yigong was dressed in a decent suit today, and his short hair was wiped back, black and shiny. Watches, ties, hand towels, all the choices are atmospheric and elegant, and you can still see the embarrassment of curling up on the street corner at the beginning. This is the boy he once brought up, and now he has fully grown into a man.

Huo Zuo didn't hate him. Not at all. He is even glad that he has achieved something today. But now everything he has gained has nothing to do with him.

Actually, it's okay, so his calamity here has nothing to do with him.

The band singers are warming up on the stage, the dinner is about to begin, and more and more people are present. Most of the people present at this kind of business dinner know each other. Not long after Huo Zuo sat down, an acquaintance came over to talk to him.

"Why is Mr. Huo here, I originally heard that you are still in Beiping."

"How's it going in Peking? I heard that business in the north is not very good? ”

"Hey, it stands to reason that the north has been pacified, and Chairman Jiang has returned, so what else is there to do?"

These groups of three or five spoke their own mouths, Huo Zuo let them surround them, and said with a chuckle: "Is the business in the north good or not, what do we southerners think about him?" ”

"Then you ......"

"Shanghai is prosperous enough, compared to coming and going, is it not as good as Allah Shanghai, don't you say?"

When he opened his mouth, the few people who came around were also busy. Huo Zuo's words are actually equivalent to giving a signal to Shanghai businessmen, if they can go south to do a good job, why bother going north to find it?

Shen Yigong watched from afar, and he couldn't hear what those people were saying, but he would completely subconsciously set his eyes on Huo Zuo. All that should be said is done, but some habits are really hard to change for a while. But I'm afraid of being discovered by the other party, so I think it's better to withdraw my gaze and don't look away. This is also a coincidence, as soon as I turned around, I saw Director Chen Ruifeng Chen of the Political Department coming with people. Mr. Chen was wearing civilian clothes instead of military uniforms today, wearing a black suit and Qin Mingyue, who was wearing a water-blue cheongsam at his side.

Shen Yigong rarely deals with people in politics, he really has no talent in this area, businessmen can make up with one mouth, but there is still business at hand, and everything is not far from its origin, no matter how you say it, it can't go beyond this range, then it is different for those who engage in politics, he can't figure out what these people want.

Shen Yigong saw that Major General Chen had arrived, and greeted him and said a few words.

Of course, the main reception is Liang Qingwen, and Shen Yigong is only responsible for standing aside and respectfully smiling at people. When Chen and his subordinates also sat down, the guests who came to the meeting today were basically all here. The singer who warmed up the stage handed the microphone to Liang Qingwen and asked him to open.

The lights are dimmed, and the stage is lit alone. Shen Yigong sat at the bottom, listening to him say a beautiful scene, his eyes were good, and under the bright stage lights, he couldn't help but see Liang Qingwen's white shirt under his suit, and the collar was stained with bright red. He subconsciously looked over to Huo Zuo, and saw You Yiman sitting next to the man without hurrying. Her lips were red, similar in color to the collar of Liang Qingwen's shirt.

This old couple, hey...... Shen Yigong smiled to himself, had nothing to say, and put his eyes back on the stage again. After Liang Qingwen finished his opening remarks, he pointed his hand to the stage and invited Director Chen to speak for the opening of the domestic market. It is also an old tradition for such large shopping malls to invite politicians to speak, and there are two official words, one is responsible for speaking, and the other is responsible for eating, and those who do business have to rely on them. Chen Ruifeng came to the stage with a smile on his face amid warm applause, took the microphone from Liang Qingwen's hand, waved his hand, and signaled that everyone's applause could stop: "First of all, I would like to thank Mr. Shen and Mr. Liang for giving me this opportunity to express some of my views on behalf of all big businessmen and political leaders in Shanghai today. This is my personal gratitude to Penglai domestic market, and secondly, I want to express my gratitude to the National Government [Harmony] Government for this domestic market. We have always been committed to improving the living standards of rural workers, and now the emergence of the Penglai domestic market has made what was originally a plan on paper a reality. Thank you so much! ”

Applause rose at the right time.

Shen Yigong actually understands that these are just polite words, but now that the Penglai domestic market has been opened, he always has an uncontrollable sense of pride in his heart.

This is his, and the large-scale shopping mall built by him has grown up in his hands step by step, and has what it is today.

"Today is New Year's Day, and on this initial day, I hope that you can ride the wind and waves in the new year and create more brilliance. The government will also do its best to support these national projects, so that we Shanghainese can live a better, more comfortable and more assured life. Towards the end of Director Chen's words, he raised his hand and wanted to give a round of applause to everyone present to end the speech. Someone in the audience had already clapped their hands, and a wave came from all directions - but the applause on the lone stage did not sound.

"Bang-"

Gunshot.

"Bang-bang-"

The shrill screams of the female guests then broke through the sky. Chen Ruifeng still maintained the posture of standing on the platform, there was a hole in his chest, and the guards around him had already rushed up, and the other two gunshots came from the Browning in Qin Mingyue's hand. The crowd scattered and fled, which temporarily stopped the subsequent gunfire.

Shen Yigong and Liang Qingwen also hurriedly rushed over, shouting: "Director Chen! ”

"Director Chen, are you okay?"

The guy who had been hit in the leg had also been pressed over, and he was shouting like crazy: "You imperialist lackeys! Follow foreigners to force the Chinese, you Chinese do not fight against the enemy and hide in Shanghai to kill your own people, you are a bunch of cowards! Shame on the nation! You-"

Qin Mingyue directly took a cup and stuffed it into his mouth.

Chen Ruifeng walked off the stage with Shen Yigong in his arms, and he waved his hand to the people around him: "Don't worry, I'm fine." He tore open his shirt, exposed the body armor inside, turned his head and patted Shen Yigong on the shoulder: "I'm sorry, I'm scared of you?" ”

Liang Qingwen followed behind him and hurriedly said, "We should be embarrassed!" The security work is so poor this time! ”

"You can't think of it. After all, how can you business people expect terrorists to do this kind of thing? Just look at this Qin Mingyue said sternly, "This person, you should ask clearly, what is going on." What a good opening ceremony, how can such a guy be mixed up! ”

I heard someone say in shock: "I listen to him, his mouth is full of imperialist lackeys or something, don't be that...... Soviet people? ”

"Well, maybe it is."

Qin Mingyue pressed people and didn't leave, there were not only whispering people around, but also many media people sitting here, reporters and photographers surrounded this "terrorist", flashing flashing non-stop, and facing the arrested prisoner. There are also those who target Chen Ruifeng and the officers of his political department.

"It's terrible, there are still people who want to kill Director Chen with this kind of thought."

"He's the real enemy."

When someone said this, the captured guy blushed and shook his head while making a wordless cry.

Chen Ruifeng saw that the media was almost shooting, so he handed over his gaze to Qin Mingyue, asked her to stay behind, and said aloud to the people around him: "Everyone, so I have always had a sentence, peace is not easy to come by, everyone must not be carried away by some remarks." You see, a good young man, but he took out a gun and did such a terrible thing in such a public place. ”

Shen Yigong watched Chen Ruifeng use the media friends he called, and at the opening ceremony of his market, he didn't know how to call a guy who shot and borrowed the stage he gave him to promote the "evil of the underground party" again. He was holding his breath in his heart, but he had nothing to say. The speech on the stage is fake, but the speech after leaving the stage is real. Chen Ruifeng finished performing everything, turned his head sideways, and patted Shen Yigong's shoulder: "Boss Shen, you must take the lead." ”

Shen Yigong squeezed out a smile: "Certainly, definitely." ”

Later, Director Chen said that in order to ensure the safety of all the guests, he arranged for his subordinates to bring guns to protect everyone, which won the welcome of the audience, and the dinner was restarted under the "protection" of a group of soldiers.

After the ball, Shen Yigong was not in the mood to participate, if it weren't for the fact that he was the protagonist today and couldn't leave the table, he might have left a long time ago. It is unknown whether the person who shot is their member, but now, Chen Ruifeng has successfully used public opinion to make everyone believe that "he" is.

The struggle in the Shanghai area has never stopped. And the situation in this struggle will only become more and more severe. He stood there a little lonely holding the wine glass, and when he raised his head, he looked at Huo Zuo coldly.

It's still that pair of cold peach blossom eyes, and it's still so almost hard to see. The man raised the champagne glass in his hand as if to toast. After that, he drank the wine in the cup and turned around and left the venue. Shen Yigong stood in place, still thinking about the shape of the man's mouth.

What he said was - there was going to be war.

On the island, gunshots have been heard.

It was the first day of 1931. No one knows exactly what will happen this year. And where will the flames of war begin? Shen Yigong only knew one thing, more people would die, and Nanjing would take a more brutal approach to all the underground red elements to destroy them in one fell swoop. Obviously, it is the Chinese people who face the Chinese people, but it has come to such a point.

The war is about to begin, and what should he do?

Huo Zuo, what role will he play in this?

Shen Yigong drank the wine in his cup, the atmosphere of the dance was hot, but he felt cold from the bottom of his heart.