After another ten minutes, I finally saw a young man in a plaid suit walking and stopping and stopping at the stairs to go downstairs. There were three people walking side by side in the middle of the stairs at the back. On the right is an old man with snow-white hair and a white beard above his lips, wearing a gray kimono and stepping on clogs, with a face full of joy and chatting with the two of them. On the left is a woman wearing a red orchid embroidered cheongsam and golden leather shoes, with a noble and generous demeanor, about thirty-five or sixteen years old. His hair was in a high bun, his face was white and ruddy, he wore a gold chain with a blue pendant around his neck, and he carried a small bag with a blue gold chain in his hand. In the middle is a middle-aged man about forty years old, about 1.8 meters tall, with wide shoulders and a strong body behind him, with a high forehead and thick eyebrows, eyes and a little hooked nose, while talking to the old man on the right, he also held the woman's arm with his left hand. At the back are the two young Japanese men in blue kimonos. A group of six people slowly went downstairs, and three pairs of clogs stepped on the wooden staircase to make a "click, click" sound.

Black Friday looked at the middle-aged man with a sense of déjà vu, and hurriedly ran forward and arched over and said, "Excuse me, is it Boss Huang?" Have you ever seen Young Master Kuan of the Nanxun Zhou family? ”

"What did you do? Why don't you go to the company if you have something? The middle-aged man had some displeasure on his face, turned his head and said to the old man: "Mr. Watanabe, please, Huang will definitely come to visit another day and try your country's sake, please." "The young man who finished and saw through the plaid suit," Adong, open the door. A few people went down the stairs and walked out, walked up to the middle-aged man in a plaid suit, whispered a few words, and quickly ran out of the teahouse. The middle-aged man nodded and continued walking, and after going out, he walked to a black Ford car in front of him.

Although he was thrown off by the other party, Hei Wu still bowed down and followed them, and from the middle-aged man's tone, he heard that he was Boss Huang, and it was also possible that it was Young Master Kuan. So even if you are scolded a few more times in order to do things, it is only right that you can help Ji Tang.

This middle-aged man is indeed Huang Chenkuan, and he has changed his name to Huang Zhenkun in order to develop in Shanghai. Some businesses and investments are registered under this name, and most people call him Boss Huang without knowing the name Huang Chenkuan. On his left is Xing Hongying, the grandmother of the Zhou family, and on his right is Shizuichi Watanabe, an advisor to the General Federation of Japanese Merchants. Today's meeting was requested by Shizuichi Watanabe, and the Japanese side has already visited many people in the Shanghai business community, and no one wants to blatantly cooperate with the Japanese. Huang Zhenkun did not give a clear answer, he has analyzed the current situation, and now cooperation still does more harm than good. Because the sentiment of domestic boycott of foreign goods is very high, especially Japanese goods, all walks of life across the country are uniting to resist Japan. There is news at the top of the authorities that the national army may declare war at any time, so how can he shoot himself in the foot. It's all vague to say, he won't do this kind of thing if he refuses it directly, one is that the situation is changing rapidly, maybe he needs help that day, and he doesn't plan to offend any forces.

Just when Huang Zhenkun let Watanabe Shizuichi and Xing Hongying get into the car successively, he was about to get in the car. Hei Wu bowed down to the car door and said, "Boss Huang, are you Young Master Kuan?" My second young master is waiting for you at the Weida Hotel, I don't know what you-"

"Hey- our boss said he didn't know you, you're causing trouble, aren't you?" The young man in a plaid suit holding on to the car door turned around to interrupt Hei Wu's words, pointed at his nose and said, "Believe it or not, Master killed you?" ”

"Hey, hey, don't be angry with this little brother." Hei Wu hurriedly smiled with a smile, and it was almost certain that Huang Zhenkun in front of him was the one who went to the bookstore to find Ji Tang to borrow a phone, "Little acquaintance Boss Huang, a few years ago he and your eldest young master Zhou Yizhi borrowed my phone in Liaocheng. My young master has traveled thousands of miles, and he really has something to do with your boss. ”

Hearing this, the man in the plaid suit turned his head to look at Huang Zhenkun, and then glanced at the Japanese next to him and Xing Hongying in the front seat. I thought: This person is really colorless, even if he wants to borrow money, he can't come in front of the young grandmother and the Orientals? The two Japanese behind the car door also looked at Huang Zhenkun. I saw him holding on to the car door and turning around to look at Black Five, then took out a pile of thousands of yuan of fiat currency from his pocket, casually pinched more than ten sheets and handed them to Black Five, and lightly handed them to Black Five and said, "Okay, even if I really borrowed your phone, these should be used as compensation." ”

Hei Wu didn't expect Huang Zhenkun to be like this, so he hurriedly took two steps back and said with a smile: "Young Master Kuan, you misunderstood, my young master came here in person to meet you." ”

The two Japanese behind the car door were originally going to wait for Huang Zhenkun to sit next to him after getting into the car, but they didn't want to be entangled by Black Friday, and their faces showed displeasure. One of the Japanese took the money from Huang Zhenkun's hand, took a few steps and impatiently smashed it into Hei Wu's face, and scolded in his mouth: "Stupid pig, take the money and get out, don't delay Boss Huang to talk about things." Black Wu was caught off guard and retreated, dodging the money, and then rolled his eyes and glared at the man. Huang Zhenkun and his subordinates were angry, he could endure it as much as possible, because he asked for help, and he was annoyed when the foreign devil spread wild, and gathered the sullenness that had been held all morning to his brain.

Huang Zhenkun noticed the movement of Black Five's dodge, and he could see that it was Lian Jiazi, but he didn't say anything, and looked at the Japanese silently. At the same time, the Japanese also looked back at Huang Zhenkun and Shizuichi Watanabe, who was sitting in the car. Watanabe Shizuichi didn't speak with a gloomy face, and his right eyebrow twitched a few times. The man then turned around and rolled up his sleeves and waved his big fist at Hei Wu, probably wanting to grow face for his master in front of Huang Zhenkun.

The Japanese really underestimated Black Friday, and it just so happened that Black Friday was also trying to find someone to vent their pockets. Just before the big fist reached the front of Hei Wu, the man's lower abdomen was kicked, and the fat body fell to the ground, kicking the dust on the ground a few meters away. The man had just gotten up and hadn't stood firmly, when Hei Wu kicked the man in the chest again, and fell down again with his face up, and then raised a puff of dust and smoke.

Someone is beating foreigners on the street, or on the bustling French road, at the entrance of Jubao Teahouse. In an instant, a lot of people poured out to watch the excitement, even the patrol police, but they just hid from a distance to watch.

The other Japanese was annoyed, pulled out a long knife from his back belt and rushed up to cut it directly. But not indiscriminately. Chopping, chopping, pushing, teasing, hanging, cutting, chopping, pointing, cutting, and stabbing are used coherently, with many changes, the body flashes and moves, and the seemingly bulky body is also dexterous. Black Friday had never seen an Oriental with a knife, so he was very careful to dodge and wait for the opportunity. The man on the ground got up and calmed down, and he also pulled out his knife, and the two knives struck Hei Wu back and forth. Black Friday patiently dodged left and right for four or five minutes, and the fierce sideways body slid down, and the footwork staggered behind one of the Japanese; With his left hand, press the man's left side to jump acupoints, and with his right hand, quickly sweep the numb points of his elbow joints. The man fell to his knees with his left leg crooked, and the knife in his right hand came out of his hand. said that it was too late, and then quickly, Hei Wu didn't wait for the opposite person's knife to react, volleyed the knife, flipped his wrist to the upward, and slashed straight at the neck of the opposite person. Although he didn't stab him, he forced the opponent back two steps, and jumped up with his left foot on the kneeling man's right shoulder, and jumped up in the air while stepping on his stomach, and slashed three or four times backwards on his back, landing on both feet to defend the portal. Look at this Japanese man sitting on the ground five or six steps backwards, his clothes were cut and turned down, without hurting his skin. Despite this, he was so frightened that he sat on the ground and did not dare to move, and the one who fell to his knees slowly got up and did not dare to move forward.

Huang Zhenkun tilted his head to look at Shizuichi Watanabe in the car, and his little white beard was obviously trembling. He knew that it was time to end this matter, so he casually closed the car door and walked towards Black Friday, and said coldly: "I don't care who you are, since you dare to do something ugly for me in public, I have to take you to the patrol room to interrogate the crime." ”

Black Friday instantly felt that things were a little too much, after all, the Japanese are guests invited by others. hurriedly explained: "Ah, this, Young Master Kuan, don't blame me for this, they did it first." Young Master Kuan, I can't do anything with you, please come with me to meet my young master. ”

"Hey, black boy,. If you have the ability, if you win, you will take me to see your young master. If you lose, you will obediently go to the patrol room to admit punishment, and you will have to show up in Shanghai in the future (1)! Let's shoot! If Huang Zhenkun wants to hear his explanation, he won't wait until now. After saying this, his body straightened up, his right hand was raised upward, and a smile appeared in the corner of his eye that was extremely difficult to find.

This made Black Friday stumped, and once he stretched out his hand, his errand was a failure, whether he won or lost. After winning the battle, you will definitely have to settle a grudge, and it is even more impossible to invite someone else, not to mention that you may really be imprisoned in the patrol room if you lose, which is equivalent to causing trouble for Ji Tang. Thinking of this, he bowed down again and said, "Young Master Kuan, the little one didn't mean to cause trouble to you, and he didn't dare to do anything with you." Why don't you get busy first, and the little one will come to the door tomorrow to apologize. ”

After saying this, Black Five threw his knife and quickly squeezed out of the crowd. Suddenly, I felt a gust of wind floating overhead, and I couldn't help but cry out secretly when I looked at it. Huang Zhenkun was already standing opposite him, his face was still flat, and he had real kung fu to see the situation. Now I can only bite the bullet, thinking that as long as I accompany him to make a few moves, I don't hurt the other party and find a chance to slip away, and maybe I can still come and go afterwards with him. Thinking of this, Hei Wu lowered his voice and said, "Young Master Kuan, I'm offended." "Staggered hands to use the iron sand palm trick when mixing the underworld.

When he handed over his hand, Hei Wu was dumbfounded, and saw Huang Zhenkun's left hand naturally hanging down and sticking out his right hand. The shot is to collapse, shake, suddenly, hit, hit, poke, squeeze, lean and other superior techniques, and the action is as fast as lightning. Look at the lunge and horse step exchange under the foot and step on the inner nine palace steps, the leg method is to play, rub, sweep, hang, collapse, kick, bite, fan, intercept, and kick. Obviously, it is the Southern School Bajiquan. Dodging left and right like a dragon and snake swimming, the move is not far from the top three key parts of Black Five, forcing him to only parry and not return the opportunity. It's useless to keep your hands for others, and it's good luck not to be beaten down. He tried his best to dodge, and felt a cold sweat break down his spine.

The two fought for nearly five minutes, and Black Friday was already dazzled. He practiced hard skills, which was suitable for hard encounters, and he couldn't play when he encountered the fierce and dexterous boxing method of Bajiquan. I felt a pain in the back of my head and fell, and as soon as I got up, I was grabbed by a hand at the base of my neck, and I couldn't get out. Huang Zhenkun immediately let go of him, stood up straight and waved his hand to the side, and more than a dozen patrol officers rushed over and tied up Hei Wu with ropes. It turned out that they all knew each other, and they waited for the summons to dare to do it. I only heard Huang Zhenkun cough lightly and said twice: "This person robbed on the street and injured foreign friends." You take him back and hand him over to Captain Luo for a good trial, and the money is the evidence. ”

Hearing Huang Zhenkun's words scared Hei Wu a lot, and if he wanted to say that he injured a foreigner, he had to argue a few words, and he was actually charged with robbery. He hurriedly begged for mercy: "Yo, Young Master Kuan, don't say that, officials, there is a big misunderstanding, listen to me-"

"Smack", without waiting for Black Friday to explain, one of the patrol officers gave him a resounding slap in the face. Those few also followed for a while with punches and kicks, scolding and pushing him away, and two people squatted on the ground to pick up the money and followed happily. Hei Wu knew that it was useless to say anything, so he could only grit his teeth and endure the humiliation, turned his head and glared at Huang Zhenkun fiercely, and was pushed east. Huang Zhenkun didn't look at Black Friday at all, and smiled and beckoned the two Japanese to get into the car, and the car honked its horn to disperse the crowd and drive west.

The patrol is gone, and the people are gradually dispersed, and they should continue to do what they should do. At this time, Ji Tang rushed to the door of the teahouse in a rickshaw, got out of the car and went up the stairs to ask if Nanxun Zhou's family was inside. Listening to Ji Tang is Shandong accent, he looked up and down a few times, lowered his voice and told him to hurry up, don't look for it again, just now there was a stranger who was looking for this, and he was beaten and arrested in the patrol room. When Ji Tang heard this, he immediately guessed that something had happened on Black Friday, and hurriedly pulled the running hall outside the door and stuffed a few hundred-yuan fiat coins, and quietly asked what happened. ran the hall to get the money, and it didn't matter who this person was with whom, he concisely said the fight just now, including the fact that Black Friday was pushed in the direction of the old north gate to capture the house.

After hearing this, Ji Tang felt cold air in his spine, hurriedly beckoned to call a rickshaw, got in the car, left the Jubao Teahouse, and rushed to the city hall. When he saw his second uncle Zhou Ying, who was the director of the transportation bureau, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon. Ji Tang hurriedly told him how he came to Shanghai and how he was beaten on Black Friday, and Zhou Ying's brows twisted into a pimple after hearing this. Tell him that in Shanghai, a place where dragons and snakes are mixed, everyone in the scene has various backgrounds, and the last thing to provoke is foreigners. Nine out of nine of the Boss Huang is Huang Zhenkun, this person is widely connected and sleek, he is a middle-aged wealthy businessman who has risen in the past few years, and he is also a new director of the French Concession Public Board of Directors.

It's hard to do, after all, it was his wife's nephew who begged to come to the door, Zhou Ying first let Ji Tang into the office to drink tea, and then started to call. First call Luo Chusan, the captain of the old North Gate Capture House, and remind them to be kind to Black Friday. immediately called Lu Hong, another veteran veteran of the Board of Directors, and asked him to talk to Huang Zhenkun. Wait for the other party to reply and then send someone to send some gifts to the Japanese to apologize, because the Japanese Chamber of Commerce generally does not embarrass government officials.

There was not much time, Huang Zhenkun called Zhou Ying, smiled and said that since it was his own person, it was a misunderstanding, and said that he would immediately clarify to the patrol room. Zhou Ying politely said that he wanted to settle in Fan Mao, but Huang Zhenkun politely declined, saying that he would ask Zhou Ying to drink and chat in Jiuchongtian another day.

In this way, Zhou Ying sent his secretary to buy a few gifts and send them to the General Federation of Japanese Entrepreneurs to apologize to Shizuichi Watanabe. Watanabe Shizuichi felt that it was not going well for nearly half a year, and he was quite angry when he went back, and he planned to buy the patrol and murder Black Friday; Seeing Zhou Ying's secretary, he changed his mind, accepted the gift kindly, and brought back a generous gift for Zhou Ying to form this relationship.

In the evening, Zhou Ying took Ji Tang to the old north gate to capture the house, and Luo Chusan personally received them. Huang Zhenkun was exempted from the charge of robbery on the street on Black Friday on the phone, and the Japanese did not pursue the charge of beating international friends. However, it is a fact that there is a fight on the street that disturbs the law and order in the concession, and according to the usual practice, he will still be detained for half a month and fined 3,000 yuan. Although Zhou Ying and Luo Chusan were not in the same system, they understood that Luo Chusan was tired of this business, so he asked Ji Tang to pay a guarantee fee of 50,000 yuan and leave with Black Friday. Ji Tang set up a table at the Weida Hotel that night to thank Zhouying, Zhou Ying also called Lu Hong and Huang Zhenkun, Huang Zhenkun shirked something and couldn't leave, and sent someone to send two boxes of foreign wine. Present were Lu Hong, Zhou Ying and his wife, and Ji Tang's third aunt, Gao Xiaojie and his wife. Although they didn't suffer much this time in Black Friday, their trip to Nanxun and Shanghai did not score half a point, and the two rushed back to Liaocheng early the next morning.

Ji Tang hadn't eaten this kind of deflated since he could remember, so he couldn't figure it out when he got home. The most important thing is that the salt business he wants to show his strength has not been completed, and he is always thinking about how to meet Zhou Yizhi and how to really cooperate with the Zhou family. So, on the one hand, he sent someone to Nanxun to inquire about Zhou Yizhi's specific location, and on the other hand, he asked people to borrow a phone from Zhou Yizhi a few years ago. The old porter of the Ji family's gatekeeper remembered that two people came that night, and among them was the young man from Huairentang. Hei Wu went to Huairentang to inquire, and there was indeed a young master Zhou back then, who only stayed for one night, and let the foreigner's plane pull away the next morning; Kong Di, the doctor who treated Young Master Zhou, also left Liaocheng a few days later, and heard that the pharmacy business in Nanjing, Shanghai was quite prosperous; The two young men at that time, Deshun'er and Zhao Goudan, stopped doing it.

A few days later, Yao Tiezhu found the sloppy Zhao Goudan in the Confucian Temple in Tangyi County, and he first asked Ji Tang to give him a job before telling him what happened back then. This kid's memory is not bad, from Zhou Yizhi falling asleep and entering Huairentang, to how Kong Di took the pulse and how to put the needle; how to vomit blood the next morning, how Lu Jiayu forced foreigners with guns; Including going to Heidelberg for medical treatment before getting on the plane, it was all clear. Even the appearance of Huang Chenkuan, Lu Jiayu, and Nicholas who followed him was described, and Ji Tang left him to run errands with Black Friday. A few days later, the people sent to Nanxun also returned. I heard from the Zhou family that Zhou Yizhi was in Heidelberg, Germany, and they would regularly transport rice wine to France with a little money. Ji Tang felt that hope had come again, and wrote an enthusiastic letter overnight, asking Hei Wu and Yao Tiehammer to rush to Nanxun to find a way to buy the people of the Zhou family to send out the letter with the wine.

In the early autumn of this year, Japan's war of aggression began in an all-round way. In October, it entered Linqing, and at the end of the month, it began to attack Liaocheng. The county magistrate organized all walks of life to resist the enemy, and all walks of life began to panic, and the Ji family's bookstore and bookstore were almost closed. Although the Gu family's Xinglong Department Store is open, the purchase of goods has become a problem, and most of the goods stored are given to the neighbors on credit. Fan Zhongcheng discussed with Gu Qingyuan and Ji Wenhua, and the three families found two other families to jointly donate money and food to respond to the defense of the city. Ji Wenhua respected Gu Qingyuan's intentions, but Gu Qingyuan agreed but didn't have the heart or energy, so he handed over the matter to Ji Tang to deal with. Since then, Ji Tang has cooperated with people from the county government, participating in the organization and calling on the business community to donate money and materials. The Gu family's business is still greeted by Gu Zhong, Ji Tang has never forgotten to regain control of the business, suffering from the tense war every day, the surrounding environment is even worse, and there is no opportunity to display his ambitions.

On the thirtieth day of the lunar month, Gu Xi'er returned to Gu's house in Liaocheng. Alone, wearing the cotton clothes and cotton pants of an ordinary village woman, she sat in the car of the second shopkeeper of Huairentang who entered the herbal medicine, and she was not the fourth aunt of the scenery. She came from Luohe, the hometown of Han Fuguang's second wife, who ran over when Jinan fell. Han Fuguang had been executed in Wuchang six days earlier after he had retreated without a fight while garrisoning Jinan and had withdrawn his troops to the southwestern mountains. Without Han Fuguang's favor, she didn't want to endure the squeeze of the other three wives, so she entrusted her three-year-old son to the eldest wife and returned to her hometown alone. Gu Qingyuan originally regarded Xi'er as his daughter, but now he only sighed when he saw her. Due to the accident that she took Gu Xinyi to the provincial capital that year, the girl Cuiying died, Gu Xinyi has been insane since then, and even the honest Gu Zhong turned his face with her. But in the end, it was Gu Chong and Zhu Qiaozhen's daughter, seeing that she was pitiful and let her live in the courtyard of the sixth uncle, helping to do housework and Gu Xinyi as a companion on weekdays.

After a year of hard work, Liaocheng still did not hold. In the winter of the following year, the ancient city was occupied by the Japanese army and the Japanese puppet army, and became bleak after a period of burning and plundering. By the spring of 1939, the situation was somewhat more stable. There are six or seven forces stationed inside and outside the city, the main ones in the city are the stronger Japanese troops and puppet troops, the north of the city is entrenched in the remnants of the so-called Zhengpai army, the west of the city is close to Tangyi is the bandits headed by Zhao Zhenhuan under the banner of the security group, and there are anti-Japanese organization activities near the Shanxi Hall in the east of the city. There was a lot of friction between them, but there was no big fight. Most businesses gradually began to open, Xinglong Department Store resumed its pre-war busyness, and the only bad thing was that occasionally soldiers ate for nothing.

The Japanese army and the puppet county magistrate Dong Hua established the maintenance association (2), which was located in the North Garden Temple, in the same courtyard as the military police brigade. To say that it is to promote harmony and maintain the relationship between industry, peasants, businessmen and the puppet government is essentially similar to that of a traitor. Ji Tang became the vice president of Luxi Union, but he used this identity to protect the interests of some people and the Gu Ji family. At the same time, he let his two brothers, Ji Guang and Ji Yan, run a grain store business. Although it is millet, corn, sorghum and other miscellaneous grains and noodles, there are more than 50 small shops in the 24 counties of Donglindao and Wuding Road. Gujia Department Store has also developed in many counties in the form of grocery stores, which are still managed by Gu Chong. Gu Qingyuan, who is high-minded, disdains Ji Tang's behavior, but he can't deny that this traitor son-in-law protects the Gu family's surroundings, and always ignores him with a black face when they meet. On the contrary, Ji Tang respected Gu Qingyuan as always, and brought some wine and meat to the door every once in a while, mainly taking care of Xinyi, and by the way, taking care of the merchants on Loudong Street. Behind his back, some people talked about him hooking up with the little concubine Gu Xi'er, but no one confirmed it, because Gu Qingyuan and his wife didn't bother to ask. He first assured his parents-in-law and Aunt Qiao Zhen that they were all rumors, just like fabricating his eldest brother Ji Guang and the bandit Zhao Zhen to worship him, in fact, Ji Guangyi and others ran a grain store, and every time he went to Linqing, he bypassed Tangyi County.

Note: (1) Black words, referring to the eyes. (2) It refers to a temporary local puppet regime established by the Japanese invaders in the occupied areas of China during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression using traitors, serving the Japanese invaders to achieve "governing China with China" and "dividing and ruling it".