The visitor didn't stay long, and Zong Ying had just finished smoking the second cigarette when he heard the door closing. Reading at zero

She was still standing on the half-arc balcony, and there were two foreign children playing in the garden downstairs, and another blonde lady who spoke English came out and urged them to change their clothes and go to church.

Before the crisis came, the people in the concession were still living in an orderly manner as usual.

At this time, Sheng Qing let open the balcony door and invited her into the house.

"It's a little sunny outside, so let's come in."

Although he used this reason, the actual reason was that he was in a hurry to go out and wanted to explain things to Zong Ying quickly.

This person is very good at covering up.

Zong Ying returned to the house and listened to him continue to talk about the previous things: "The hot water piping system is faulty, if you want to take a hot bath, you can use a gas stove to burn it; the window of the upstairs guest room faces north and it is cooler, and Miss Zong can go upstairs. Go and rest; it's Sunday, and the cleaning company's workers should be here around ten o'clock to clean"

As he said, he took a brand new briefcase on the sofa, dug out a stack of banknotes and handed it to Zong Ying, and said calmly, "Close the salary directly with her, and you can tip appropriately." He added. : "Mr. Ye from the service office likes to inquire. If he asks you about the meal, you can say that he is my friend. Please pay him the meal fee in time."

Zong Ying took it and counted it in front of him.

A piece of five yuan and ten yuan, a total of one hundred and two yuan.

"One hundred and two." She said, taking out two yuan and returning it to Sheng Qingrang, "I'm used to counting whole numbers."

Sheng Qing let it go.

He thought it had been explained properly, went to the door with the bag, looked back at the uniform Zong Ying had been wearing for a long time, but stopped returning, went straight into the bedroom, and took out a folded black silk gown from inside: "If you need to change and wash The clothes can be replaced with this one, which was delivered just the day before yesterday, has been cleaned, and has not been worn yet."

Zong Ying vaguely felt that he was very worried about being alone here. This kind of worry might not be because he was worried about her safety, but a kind of unease that his private space had been invaded.

He used the "generous" on the surface to cover up this tension in his heart, even if it was subconscious.

Zong Ying took the gown, glanced at the clock, and said, "Mr. Sheng, it's getting late."

Sheng Qingrang heard her overtones and realized that he seemed to have talked too much and caused her a misunderstanding, so he said, "I will try my best to be back before ten o'clock in the evening." He repeated his promise to take her back at night. , then said goodbye, and took the initiative to close the door after going out.

When the sound in the hallway outside disappeared, the room seemed even quieter.

Zong Ying let himself sink back into the sofa, and the phone lay dead on the coffee table.

No power, the screen went black. It doesn't work if there is electricity, because there is no signal.

Zong Ying, who had not slept all night, raised his hands to cover his face, and planned to take a short nap amid the chirping of the clock, but he couldn't fall asleep at all.

What will be the situation over there now? If Xue Xuanqing couldn't get through to her phone, she would be mad again; she might be contacted in the hospital, and she might also be found at home—

But they couldn't find her anyway.

No matter if she can't find it, she rarely has such a lot of time to do nothing.

Zong Ying got up and walked into the bathroom, which was cleaner than she expected.

The dry and wet were separated. There was a row of wooden cabinets against the wall. When they were opened, the toiletries were neatly arranged. There were indeed several new towels stacked in the cabinet on the far left. Zong Ying took one out and put it on the edge of the bathtub.

There are two faucets above the bathtub, one of which is marked with "H", Zong Ying guessed that it is hot water.

Although Sheng Qingrang said that the hot water piping system was faulty, she stubbornly tried to turn on the hot water faucet—there was indeed no water.

It was hot and she didn't want to spend time boiling water, so she simply turned on the faucet on the other side and took a cold shower.

After she finished washing, a faint coldness and pain came up on the back of her head.

She scribbled dry and picked up her own clothes. When she finally put on the shirt, she lowered her head and sniffed it, put it aside, and went out to get the black silk gown.

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Because it was a home-style gown, it was shorter than the one she wore when she went out, but when she put it on, the black silk material almost fell to her ankles.

The buckle is slanted from the neckline to the armpit, and then buckled straight to the middle of the thigh, with a slit down to facilitate walking.

There should be a pair of trousers in the matching set, but Sheng Qingjang forgot to give it to her.

Zong Ying took the newspaper again, sat down on the sofa, and read it one by one in page order.

The headline was the disappearance of a sailor named Masao Miyazaki in the Japanese army stationed in Shanghai on July 24. The photo was accompanied by the Japanese army's sentry in Zhabei. Several Japanese soldiers were carrying bayonets to search for passers-by and vehicles.

Scrolling back are some inconsequential private statements and tidbits, and some reports on the Northern Front, worded with an unfounded optimism.

The room was too quiet, and the more Zong Ying read, the more uncomfortable she felt, so she put down the newspaper and got up, trying to turn on the gramophone.

The fuselage is huge and heavy, with the VICTOR logo printed on it. It is manual. It takes a lot of work to make it work, but it will stop after a long time. In modern people's pursuit of efficiency and profit, it is necessary to listen to a song. It's obviously not worth the effort to put in so much effort.

However, the hustle and bustle of the moment is also hustle and bustle, Zong Ying thought.

Therefore, when the bell struck eight times, the gramophone sang again: "Comparing Suzhou and Hangzhou to heaven. Suzhou and Hangzhou are normal now, and Shanghai is more heavenly..."

Zong Ying raised his hand and rubbed the back of his head, which was still aching, and walked into Sheng Qingrang's study by ghosts.

The window of the study room faces south, and several large bookcases are placed side by side against the wall. The glass cabinet doors are clean and spotless. There are rows of French books in the southernmost cabinet. Zong Ying took out a French-English dictionary and quickly checked some words. scanned the bookcase again and confirmed that there are many professional books loaded here.

There was a stack of certificates in the corner, she picked one out, and opened it was a letter of appointment in English.

The employing unit is the board of directors of the Public Concession Ministry of Industry and Bureau, and the position is a legal consultant. The date shows that this is the most recent appointment.

She recalled that in order to prove that he was from the 26th year of the Republic of China that day, the meeting record he showed seemed to be from the Ministry of Industry.

Zong Ying put the letter of appointment back in place, opened the second bookcase, and saw a photo frame.

Inside is a black-and-white photo of a family group, with the parents in the front, the mother holding a girl in her arms, and the four children standing behind.

No, there were three to be exact, and the one on the farthest had only half of his face and was a little panicked, as if he was pushed in at the moment when the shutter was pressed.

It seems to be-

He is not qualified to stand with other children to take pictures and is an outsider.

Although he was still young when the photo was taken, Zong Ying was able to recognize that he was Sheng Qingrang.

His eyebrows and eyes were already very good when he was a child. Judging by Zong Ying's aesthetics, this child can be regarded as the most outstanding one of the five.

How did you get such a photo?

Just as Zong Ying was thinking, the electric bell suddenly rang.

It was only after eight o'clock, and the people from the cleaning company seemed to be a little early.

Zong Ying put the photo frame back in its original position and walked quickly to open the door.

Before the door was fully opened, a clear and young female voice sounded: "Third brother, I have to borrow another book!" After she finished speaking, she saw Zong Ying's half face, and was obviously stunned for a moment. The corner of his mouth instantly collapsed: "This is my third brother's apartment, are you?"

Zong Ying couldn't close the door if she wanted to, she replied, "Friend."

The little girl had a look of disbelief on her face, followed by suspicion, and finally asked cautiously, "Girlfriend?"

"Friends passing by." After Zong Ying finished speaking, he opened the door to the end and motioned her to come in.

Friends passing by, it sounds like the friendship is not deep, and they went to forget the rivers and lakes at the beginning.

"Is the third brother not here?" The little girl looked around after entering the house. "He was here just now."

"I'm going out in a hurry." Zong Ying was a little tired at this time, sat back on the sofa, and quickly looked up at the other party.

Short-sleeved mid-skirt, short hair pressed against her ears, looks simple, but the hairpins and fabrics are high-end, and she should still be a student depending on her age.

She guessed that she was the little girl who was held in her mother's arms in the photo, Sheng Qingrang's younger sister.

The guest who came to the apartment an hour ago should also be her.

Zong Ying became addicted to cigarettes, took out a cigarette case from the pocket of his trousers resting on the armrest of the sofa, quickly took out a cigarette, and then stood up: "Go find the book you need, I'll go out and stand for a while."

She stood up half a head taller than the other.

The little girl said at this time: "Since the third brother is not here, I will not take it."

Zong Ying had planned to go to the balcony to smoke, but when the other party said so, she turned around and responded perfunctorily, expressing her approval.

The sun came in, but Zong Ying stood in the shadow beside him.

He was wearing a loose men's black silk tunic, which was wrapped almost from the neck to the ankle, showing one wrist, with a white cigarette between his fingers.

The little girl looked at it for a long time, at first she felt that Zong Ying's dress was indescribably ambiguous and strange, and then she suddenly mumbled out of time for some reason: "The third brother can smoke at home..."

Zong Ying said, "Well?"

The little girl quickly regained her senses, clenched her handbag and said, "I'll go first."

She walked hastily, almost like fleeing, Zong Ying couldn't even ask her name, but Zong Ying didn't care.

People from the cleaning company came to the door on time at ten o'clock, and Mr. Ye from the service office downstairs delivered the food on time when the meal was over. They seemed to be very familiar with Sheng Qingrang, and they all asked about Zong Ying's identity. Zong Ying followed Sheng Qingrang's instructions and replied: "Friend." But obviously no one believed it.

After lunch, Zong Ying was certain that no one would come to the door again, so he went upstairs to rest.

The north-facing room in Apartment 699 is very shady, and Zong Ying slept for the first time. Even after more than seventy years, she has never slept in the upstairs room. I thought I would recognize the bed, but it didn't.

In the dream, Fatong poked the lush branches into the narrow window, trying to bring a touch of life to the cold room.

It was almost ten o'clock when he woke up, Zong Ying quickly went downstairs to change into his uniform and waited for Sheng Qing to let him.

She suddenly heard hurried footsteps, followed by an anxious unlocking, but after the bell rang, everything was quiet.

She didn't wait for Sheng Qing to let go.

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