Chapter 16 Section ten

Stephen's elegance is unparalleled. He is used to getting up at six o'clock in the morning, folding out the four corners of the quilt, then grinding the coffee beans, filling the coffee container with hot water, and putting the coffee powder in, clockwise Stir three times, and when the water slowly flows into the bottom of the pot, a hillside-shaped brown residue is left, which is smooth and pink. In fact, today's coffee was not very well brewed, and it tasted a little sour, but soon Stephen pulled himself together, put some cream on his face, carefully tidied up the moonstone cufflinks, and then left Come out for business.He knew some guests who liked to sit there from morning until the wee hours of the morning, using it as a homestay.But Stephen didn't mind, he liked to have people on his turf for a long time. Years ago, in the Pomegranate restaurant in London, he could spend seventeen hours there with a glass of beer.Especially in that rainy city, nine out of ten days your soles are wet, and small restaurants are the best consolation.

So Stephen likes China, and he likes Shanghai even more. When he thinks that he will eventually leave this land, he feels extremely depressed, and when the expected result is getting closer and closer, his excitement and disappointment swell into a balloon in his chest.But before he left, he had to see that woman, otherwise there were certain things that he would never let go of for the rest of his life. That woman, who is standing outside his shop now, has obviously been well-groomed, her hair has been fixed to the smallest extent with pomade and the like, and a thin layer of balm has been applied on her face. Loose powder covers the pits and spots on the skin. The lipstick is fresh and thick but fades easily. It has faded halfway now, showing a slight yellow color. There are a few conspicuous wrinkles on the lotus leaf lapel of the white silk shirt, beige Under the long skirt, a pair of pointed-toed cowhide shoes stained with floating dust have worn out their heels.

When she walked in, she brought a gust of fresh and moist wind, and he realized that it was raining today, and the color of the street was very dark. "What do you want?" He stepped forward and chuckled. Stephen was a handsome man at any age. This is Du Chunxiao's unchanging judgment on him all the time. Even though he is now a real middle-aged man, his nasolabial folds and cheekbones are too sharp, but he is still very beautiful, and his brown hair with a faint luster is as soft as before. On the back of the hand that handed over the menu, those light golden body hairs were still familiar.

"You miss me that much?" She ordered a cup of black tea and a piece of cake, smiling slightly. He looked at the unbeautiful but confident woman in front of him, and weighed the sharpness of her smile. "It's so strange to come here, it's because Nong misses me." He replied in standard Shanghainese, which made her a little dumbfounded. She cut off a small piece of the cake with a fork, put it in her mouth, and replied, "I don't have the money to pay the bill, please." he laughed. The two returned to their school days in England in an instant. At that time, they were both short on money, but they wanted to try expensive things, so he went to steal, and she was in charge of letting go, stealing a dim sum shop to the point of almost "bankruptcy".

At that time, they were still pure, okay.As for when it started to be bad, they were deliberately avoiding it, but they couldn't think about it anyway. So he had no choice but to speak first: "How do you know I'm here?" "Second Young Master Shi told me that he knows a lot about me, including very bad things. Those things were only known to you and me. I thought it would be the same in the future, but obviously I was wrong." She didn't mean to let him go at all. He touched his nose in embarrassment, and sat down simply. The light rain outside the window made the fragrance of the green sycamore leaves seem to be coming through the glass.Across the street, the old Frenchman who used his shop as a "homestay" was hurrying here with a stack of newspapers under his arm.

"Okay, to make a long story short, I just want to know the whereabouts of those Russians who harassed Gao Wen before, I hope you can tell me." "Why do you need to know this?" She swallowed for a while, but couldn't speak for a while, what should she say?Could it be that he is helping his fiancé as a private detective?In this case, she couldn't say it out, so she could only say awkwardly: "A friend asked me to help investigate this case." "Such a dangerous matter, wouldn't it be better to leave it to the police?" "Will you confess in front of the police?" She couldn't help but beat him back.

He smiled: "As long as I know, I will definitely tell, but I really don't know the whereabouts of the Russians you mentioned, so—" She couldn't help frowning, almost as if she was going to give up, because no one can pry her mouth open for things he refuses to talk about. She is the only one who understands this truth best, but she was a little unwilling, so she forced her to say: "I'm afraid it's the two The murder case has something to do with you, so you don't want to talk about it." "Aggression doesn't work for me, Joanna." He shrugged.

She stood up, took out her wallet and opened it, he hurriedly held it down, and said, "I'm treating you." "Who said I have to pay?" She pushed his hand away, took out a card from her wallet, and put it on the table, "This is the first warning for you, next time I come again, I hope you can Tell the truth." When he saw the chariot plate next to the porcelain plate, he could only smile wryly, knowing that this matter was far from over, this was not only her style, but also her temper.
The bag that Xia Bing found was called Xiao Si, who escaped from famine in Anhui. After spending a few years in the French Concession in casinos, he paid the price of a left hand, and then began to rely on collecting information for a living.This kind of character is not unusual at all, but it is not easy for him to escape from Qin Yazhe's gambling table.What's even more exaggerated is that when Xia Bing found him, he was betting with the other hand, playing a game with others, and after winning ten oceans, he happily turned his head to talk to Xia Bing.

Originally Xia Bing wanted to change someone, but she took him back to show Du Chunxiao, but she liked it very much, immediately made a decision, promised him many benefits, and paid the deposit in a hurry before leaving. "This person looks too idle, maybe he's unreliable?" Xia Bing pushed the frame of his glasses, looking worried. "No." Du Chunxiao shook his head and said, "People with disabilities will be stronger than ordinary people. He will definitely be useful to us in the future." Sure enough, three days later, Xiao Si broke into the Shikumen alley reeking of alcohol, and said something to Xia Bing: "Listen, there was half a Russian newspaper and a piece of paper next to the foreigner's body." The eldest son of Boss Shi’s family was beheaded, and after the second son was arrested, Zhu Fanghua, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Shi family, had a private meeting with a man at the dog run in Yiyuan.”

"Do you know who that man is?" Xiaosi didn't answer, just stretched out his hand, Xia Bing hurriedly paid him another five yuan, and then he lazily replied: "Listen to that, but I can't see clearly, the other party's clothes are quite modern , very young, a little short and a little thin, that's all." After finishing speaking, turn around and leave. Xia Bing asked: "Which side did you listen to?" "Hey." He turned his head and smiled, "Which side? Just over there!" Before he finished speaking, he had already walked out of the door, and bumped into Tailor Li who hurried in, but he didn't answer, but lowered the brim of his hat a little, and ran straight to the entrance of the alley.

"You little bastard, are you going to die?" Tailor Li patted his heart and kept looking back at Xiao Si's back. After a long pause, he turned around and smiled at Xia Bing, "Xiao Xia, Miss Du is there?" "Yi went out early in the morning, what is Mr. Li doing?" Xia Bing was thinking whether to follow the clues in the newspaper, or break through from Zhu Fanghua, so he was inevitably a little impatient when his neighbors came to his door. "Then when will she come back? I'll talk to her about the strange things." "What strange things? Tell me first, and I'll tell you." As soon as he heard the word "weird things" from Tailor Li's mouth, he became interested. It is true that every time the strange event is extremely bizarre. "No, I'll come back after a break. She comes back for supper? If you are patient, listen to my old Li and stay and wait for her. The three of us will eat together. I stewed a pig's foot today. Come and join me." Wow?" Xia Bing simply put his heart to rest, sat down with Tailor Li and waited for Du Chunxiao to come. In the evening, Du Chunxiao really came back with a dignified expression. He didn't even look at the crispy hoofs on the dining table. He just threw the leather bag on the sofa and sat down. Tailor Li seemed unaware of her disappointment, so he stepped forward happily, grabbed her arm, and said with a smile, "Chun Xiao, do you know? Last time I told you that the piece of material used to make the clothes is a costume, the guest." It must be the wife of a rich family who has an affair with Song Yushan, you are really good at predicting things, you can guess! But do you know who that lady is?" "Who?" She lazily raised her eyelids. "It's Bi Xiaoqing, the fifth concubine of Qin Yazhe, the second head of the Hong Gang!" Only then did Du Chunxiao bounce off the sofa as if his butt was on fire.