Zong Ying left the villa and waited in the garden outside. Reading at zero

When you look up, you can see the clean glass windows in the meeting room on the second floor. The thick curtains cover almost all of them. The sunlight is exhausted, but only a thin ray can be penetrated.

She turned her gaze back, and finally had the opportunity to take out the cigarette case and smoke a cigarette.

The summer trees are green, the cicadas are tireless, and there seems to be a secluded peace in the mansion, which exists only as it wishes.

However, things backfired. Anxiety, anger, and long-standing prejudice and hatred were gathered in the parlor on the second floor at this time, and many contradictions were about to erupt.

Sheng Qingrang made it clear that the Shanghai war was inevitable, and at the request of the relocation committee, he tried to persuade his eldest brother Sheng Qingxiang again to relocate Yangshupu, Nanshi and Sheng's factories in the public concession to the mainland.

For this matter alone, Sheng Qingrang has persuaded him more than once or twice. Big brother didn't care from the beginning, but now he is in a state of turmoil in the face of chaos, but he has never been able to make up his mind to move the factory——

After all, it is a huge project, which is completely different from the evacuation of ordinary people.

A family relocation is just a matter of packing up a few luggages, the whole family boarded the car and boat smoothly, and arrived at the destination to find a place to stay.

But for such a large factory, the word "relocation" includes the dismantling of machines, packing, and transportation, as well as the leasing of factories and resumption of work after arriving in the mainland. Nothing is easy to say, let alone that it also involves There are a lot of personnel and funding issues to be resolved.

During the war, no one had any experience in relocating such a large factory to the mainland rashly. Just thinking about it felt that the journey was full of thorns, and life and death were uncertain.

The ashtray was buttoned lifelessly on the floor, and the second brother-in-law's cigarette went out. There was no fresh smoke rising, and the room seemed to enter a stagnant state.

The eldest brother's fat body was stuck in the leather sofa. Hearing Sheng Qingrang continue to talk about the "Relocation Subsidy Regulations", his eyelids were slightly lowered, and his face showed fatigue.

Maybe it's too late, he thought.

Instead of risking so many unknowns and risks to move the factory to the mainland, it is better to try your luck. Maybe the war will not last long, or maybe the Sheng family ancestors will be able to avoid bombing as much as possible.

When the big brother thought of this, he almost made up his mind, so Sheng Qingrang's speech became particularly annoying.

The eldest brother frowned and said sternly, "Don't talk about it, go out!"

Sheng Qingrang didn't get up, but he didn't speak anymore. There was a bit of helpless frustration hidden in his sick face.

Qing Hui noticed that the atmosphere was not right, and interjected: "Third brother, let's go out for coffee."

Sheng Qingrang did not answer her words, but put the tickets that he had been holding on the coffee table: "Rajputana, the ticket to Hong Kong on the 17th, there are a total of five seats, which may be used at home."

His voice was low, without the slightest bit of aggression, entirely out of kindness.

The second sister, who had been silent all the time, snorted coldly: "What do you mean by the British ferry ticket? Show us your contacts in the Ministry of Industry and Industry?"

Sheng Qingrang stood up with his briefcase in his hand, walked to the door top-heavy, turned his back to the room, and said in a slow voice, "The Yangshupu factory is directly exposed to the enemy. Germans, as long as you try to fill in the date backwards, you can go to the German consulate to register. In this way, you can at least apply for a little compensation from the Japanese military and reduce losses.”

After he finished speaking, he opened the door and went out, took two steps and bumped into his little nephew.

The boy raised his head to look at him, and threw the glass ball in his hand to the ground on purpose, just hitting his feet.

Sheng Qingrang leaned over to pick it up, firmly grasped the glass ball, and only said to the child "don't throw things around", then bypassed him and went downstairs.

The sun was shining, and there was no wind outside.

Zong Ying stood outside the door smoking, Sheng Qingrang walked to her side, and the abrupt milk scent mixed in the smoke couldn't wait to enter his nostrils.

loubiqu.net

Zong Ying noticed that he was coming, and quickly extinguished the cigarette butt. The tip of his tongue subconsciously licked his dry lips, and he tasted a sweet smell of smoky fire.

"Are you gone?" she asked.

"Let's go." Sheng Qing asked her to hold the extinguished cigarette in her hand, but he hesitated, and finally just lowered his head and walked out.

Uncle Yao opened the door for them, and the two got back into the car. At this time, the car smelled of being steamed by the scorching sun, and the temperature also rose.

The driver asked, "Where else do you want to go, sir?" Sheng Qingrang said, "No. 33 Sichuan Road."

After he finished speaking, he closed his eyes. Zong Ying didn't know that he was going to the relocation committee to resume his life, but she didn't ask a word, just sat quietly and looked outside. As the car moved forward, the street scene receded all the way, and the depression turned into depression, but it was calm.

When we got to Suzhou River, the car was forced to stop, and the driver turned his head and said, "Sir, I can't get through."

Sheng Qingrang opened his eyes, and Zong Ying also looked out. The narrow bridge was full of machinery and equipment that needed to be transported. The other side of the bridge was crowded with workers and refugees from the north side of the Suzhou River.

There is no choice but to take a detour.

The driver took them around in a large circle, and at noon finally arrived at No. 33 Sichuan Road, the sixth floor of the building, which is the temporary office of the relocation committee.

Only when the two walked to the fifth floor, they could hear footsteps from upstairs, and they were busy.

Zong Ying stopped: "If it's inconvenient for me to show up, then I'll go downstairs and wait. I just happen to be hungry and want to eat something."

Sheng Qingrang didn't stop her, only told her "don't go too far" and went upstairs first.

Zong Ying really went downstairs and walked north along Sichuan Road. He finally found a food store that was still open. He went in and bought some biscuits and candies. Standing inside the glass door, he opened the biscuit bag and ate half of it, his mouth was dry. .

Walking out the door, the sun outside is even more poisonous, and the buzzing sound from nowhere makes people mistaken for tinnitus.

She turned back to No. 33 and waited downstairs for a while. Seeing that Sheng Qing Rang couldn't come down, she simply walked up.

On the sixth floor, the doors of every office were open, people came and went in the corridors, the auditors were flipping through a large pile of documents, the accountant's abacus beads were crackling, and the phone was ringing non-stop.

Someone looked down at the document with a water glass in hand, and almost bumped into Zong Ying when he walked towards him quickly. Fortunately, she avoided it quickly, but the water still splashed out of the cup due to inertia and landed on the floor, soaking it all. The man scribbled apologetically, but without raising his head, he turned around and went straight into the house.

At such a pressing time, almost everyone is so busy that they forget themselves, only Zong Ying, like an outsider, quietly sits on the bench at the end of the corridor, eating candy one by one.

Zong Ying saw that it was already five o'clock in the afternoon when Sheng Qingrang.

She straightened up and looked up at him, took out a piece of candy, and without a word, peeled off the candy wrapper and handed it over: "Mr. Sheng, your blood sugar should be very low now."

Sheng Qingrang reached out to take the candy, turned around quickly and said, "There is still a place to go before dark, let's go."

So Zong Ying followed him downstairs again, waiting for a taxi to go to the next location.

That place is not in the public concession, but in "Little Tokyo", a gathering place for Japanese expatriates. Along the way, you can see Japanese women in kimonos, carrying luggage and children, and they seem to be preparing to evacuate Shanghai.

The car finally stopped in front of a private house. It was a small two-story building with an unmaintained look on the surface.

Only an elderly servant came out to open the door. When he saw Sheng Qingrang, he said, "Sir is back."

Sheng Qing asked, "Uncle Xu, have you packed your luggage?"

The servant known as Uncle Xu shook his head helplessly: "Master refuses to leave."

While talking, all three entered the room. There was a smoking bed facing south in the living room, a man in a robe was lying on it smoking a big cigarette, the window was tightly closed, and the smell in the room was very unpleasant.

The people on the smoking bed coughed violently, breaking the chaotic darkness and silence.

Uncle Xu frowned and said, "Young master is back."

The man seemed to have never heard of it, and after a long time, he suddenly said in a hoarse voice and angrily: "What are you doing here?! Tell me to go to the concession or to Hong Kong?!" After speaking, he coughed violently: "I'm not going, where am I? Don't go! Tell him to get out!"

Sheng Qingrang stood silently in the room for a long time without saying a word.

In the smoke, the panes cut the sunset into pieces, like his fragmented childhood——

The biological mother had no status, she was carried to the Sheng family after birth, and was adopted to the uncle's family who had nothing to do with it. Both the uncle and the aunt smoked cigarettes, and the property acquired during the separation was almost squandered.

If you smoke too much, beat him; if you run out of cigarettes, beat him; if you lose in mahjong, beat him too.

He was so young that he could hardly find the strength to find an exit.

Sheng Qing let sweat ooze out from his forehead, his palms became colder, and his eyelids almost drooped down. Suddenly he closed his eyes, walked out the door, and Uncle Xu followed.

He handed a thick envelope to Uncle Xu: "Ferry tickets, money, and passes are all inside."

Uncle Xu took it, clasped his hands tightly, and lowered his head again: "Master is like this, maybe in the end, Mr.'s arrangement will be in vain, I will persuade him again."

The sky was getting darker, Sheng Qingren didn't make a sound, and went back to the car and sat for a long time. The driver asked him where he was going, but he didn't answer.

At this moment, Zong Ying said, "Mr. Sheng, if there is no other place to go, can you go back to the apartment?"

Sheng Qingrang suddenly recovered and said "sorry", and then said, "then go back."

The car started, the sky and the street gradually merged into one color, the street lights were sparsely lit, and there were few pedestrians.

Going to Apartment 699 is like a ship entering the port, even if the road is long, but it is home in the end.

Zong Ying breathed a slow sigh of relief next to the car window, turned his head, and saw Sheng Qingrang's profile again. He pursed his lips and closed his eyelids, looking bad.

When the car passed Sichuan Road again, Zong Ying saw the temporary office of the relocation committee, which was lit in the night.

She suddenly said mysteriously: "Why?"

He heard the voice, opened his eyes and asked, "Miss Zong?"

Zong Ying turned around, looked at him in the shadows, and asked, "Why do you do thankless things?"

Sheng Qingrang also saw the building that was still lit up, he thought for a long time, and slowly replied to her in a hoarse voice: "Chinese industries are like seedlings in the snow, they are already very fragile. In the fire of war, or falling into the enemy's hands, it will be an even worse blow to the industry. What's more... the war lacks the support of the industry, so where is the chance of winning?"

Zong Ying was silent, reaching into his pocket and touching the cigarette case.

At this time, Sheng Qingrang suddenly said, "Miss Zong...don't worry about me."

Zong Ying hesitated for a moment, then finally took out the cigarette case and smoked a cigarette, lit the match and lit it. It was a pitch-black cigarette with only a thin gold rim, and the cigarette holder was printed with BLACK DEVIL - black devil.

It burned in the dark, with sweet smoke lingering around, Zong Ying frowned and asked, "So, how can I help you?"

Sheng Qingrang obviously did not expect her to have such a thought.

"Miss Zong, this is an era that has nothing to do with you. I don't want you to be in danger." He sighed, "You know, this is the last day of peace in Shanghai."

Click to download the best app for chasing books, many readers use this to read and listen to books aloud!