Chapter 12 12. Transaction

Opposite the International Chapel on Petain Road in Shanghai, there is a majestic and magnificent white building, towering into the clouds, surrounded by green grass, bees flying and butterflies dancing, filled with a peaceful and sunny atmosphere all day long.It used to be the former site of an American school, and the sound of the students' reading and writing could be heard from time to time, echoing the sacred music in the chapel, creating a beautiful picture of paradise on earth. But now, heaven has become a purgatory, and the sound of reading and writing has been replaced by the horrible cry of the prisoner when he was tortured. The Japanese Gendarmerie chose this elegant place and turned it into a torture chamber for violence. Scene after scene of tragedies in this world.I don't know how many people with lofty ideals ended their young lives here. People turn pale when they talk about it, and regard it as a hell on earth, and call it "Bei Mansion" cryptically.

And in July of this year, a new communist, Ke Yi, was arrested in the Bei mansion. Ke Yi was arrested by the gendarmerie on the set of filming. He was accused of being the leader of the Communist Party's underground organization group. The actors were in a mess, some rushed home from illness for fear of getting into trouble, some slapped the table in outrage and cursed Japanese dogs, and some talked about Director Ke's cautious appearance, but they didn't expect him to be a Communist. But when all the discussions came down to the practical issue of how to find a way to rescue Ke Yi, everyone stopped talking, and finally Sister Fang said: "Why don't you find Miss Huang, Miss Huang is familiar with Mr. Cai, Or you can talk." One sentence reminded everyone, and they frantically searched for a phone to call, but Huang Shang accompanied Yifan to the hospital, and it was Jiaxiu who answered the phone. Hearing the words, he was surprised and promised to find a solution immediately .

Jiaxiu was actually conflicted in her heart. She finally forced Huang Chang to agree to cut off contact with Cai Zhuowen, but now she took the initiative to ask her niece to intercede with him, which is really hard to say.But other than that, is there any other way to save Ke Yi? The sun shines on her body sparsely through the flower stand. The part covered by the leaves is dark golden, while the part of the petals sieved is a bright tender pink. Sitting in the shadow of dark golden pink, she looks like A little wick burning in the lacquered incense burner, blown by the wind, is soft and shakes, like the flickering of a candle.She just sat in this flickering wick and meditated, as if man and god were at war.

Many things that I could not understand before are now simple and clear.I have always felt that Ke Yi's status in Europe is not awkward. He said that he was engaged in movies, but he didn't make a few movies, but he gathered a group of friends around him every day to talk and talk, and his wife, it was difficult to travel between Europe and Asia. Too often.But it turned out that he was an underground party, and she was his assistant and liaison officer.In this way, Mrs. Ke's death is quite questionable.It was also because of Mrs. Ke's sudden resignation that Ke Yi lost his cover and had to return to Shanghai to preside over the overall situation, right?So now that his identity is exposed, is he going to follow the old path of his wife's mysterious death?

No!Can't!Ke Yi cannot die!Jiaxiu tensed up, twisted her hands in front of her chest, and wrinkled the front of her clothes. Mama Cui went in and out, tried to speak a few times but swallowed it halfway. Jiaxiu looked impatiently, so she took the initiative to ask: "Mama Cui, just say what you want, don't swing like a pendulum in front of me." Seeing the question, Mama Cui first served Jiaxiu a cup of milk tea, and then stepped forward and said cautiously: "I seem to have heard you tell the person on the phone that something happened to Mr. Ke, and you want Miss to ask Mr. Cai for help. Thinking, since Miss is not here, why don’t you call Mr. Cai yourself? Whether it’s successful or not, it’s better to try, sitting here thinking, but you can’t think of people.”

Jiaxiu heard that although her words were rough, it might not be unreasonable, but she couldn't help pondering, so she went to Huangshang's house and opened the drawer to find the address book, but saw a strangely shaped chocolate box, which was heart-shaped and surrounded by rose branches. Entangling, exceptionally delicate.Curious for a while, I turned the case open, and saw that inside was dried petals as a base, with a few pieces of leftover chocolate candies on it, two expired movie tickets, a deflated balloon, and a few cards. Jiaxiu casually picked up the top one, and saw that it read:

"I don't expect you to be able to hear the sound of wind chimes, and I don't dare to expect to leave a shadow on the snow, I just want to be a gust of wind, blowing the wind chimes, blowing the snowflakes, blowing the waves, Maybe it's just a look back, maybe a cup of tea, but enough.I just want this. Cai Zhuowen. " Cai Zhuowen? !Jiaxiu understood that this box, and all the things in this box, must be related to that Cai Zhuowen, most likely it was a souvenir recording Huang Shang's various exchanges with Cai Zhuowen. Cai Zhuowen gave it, and the movie tickets were probably shared by the two of them. As for the meaning of the balloon, it is puzzling. Could it be that two people are so old and still go to the store to buy balloons to play with?

Jiaxiu took it over and inspected it carefully, and found that the name of a certain tea restaurant was printed on it, and then suddenly realized that it must be a small gift from this tea restaurant to attract customers, and the two of them gave it with the table when they dined together in this tea restaurant. What surprised Jiaxiu the most was not that Huang Chang had so many contacts with Cai Zhuowen behind her back, but that Huang Chang saved these things with good intentions.From this point of view, Cai Zhuowen already has a very important position in her heart, and he can be remembered for a lifetime.

This actually made Jiaxiu make up his mind to come, anyway, just call that Cai Zhuowen—even if it is not for Ke Yi, to find out the character of that surnamed Cai, and see what kind of heart he has for Huang Chang. it is good. Cai Zhuowen was surprised when he received the call, but without asking any further questions, he immediately agreed to meet at "Black Cat" and thoughtfully asked if he would send a driver to pick her up.Jiaxiu said he has a car, thank you.Cai Zhuowen seemed a little surprised again, but still didn't say much, and hung up the phone. Jiaxiu's car had just stopped at the door of "Black Cat", and she had already seen Cai Zhuowen through the car window - she had never seen him before, but she was sure immediately that the tall man in a suit must be he.I couldn't help but secretly said in my heart, no wonder - no wonder Huang Chang!

Cai Zhuowen also recognized Jiaxiu, stepped forward politely, took off his top hat, nodded slightly, and said with a smile: "You must be Ms. Huang's aunt. If I hadn't explained it in advance, I would have thought you were her sister." He paid attention Looking at the white Russian driver, Huang Chang's family background turned out to be so prominent, which he did not expect, and it made him admire Huang Chang even more. A woman who is not ostentatious and does not show off is the most rare thing. Until he sat down in the coffee shop, he was still slightly agitated by this little secret.Men and women in love can't help but exaggerate every new advantage of their lover, and regard it as a great discovery.Zhuo Wen is not young anymore, but people in love don’t ask age as usual, he is very nervous about this date, but he is also ready to wait for Jiaxiu to ask at any time: "I beg in the name of my aunt, don't you I'll be looking for Huang Chang again."

Not long ago, Huang Chang had said this to him once - that day when they came out after watching a movie at "Da Guangming", Huang Chang said he wanted to go for a walk, so he sent the driver back.It was dusk, and there was an indescribable sadness in the air. They didn't know where they were going, and they just walked along Beisichuan Road in silence. From time to time, someone looked at them with strange eyes—maybe it was just She looked at Huang Chang's overly eye-catching clothes, but Huang Chang became impatient, always feeling that people were watching her and him.She wanted to extinguish those peeping eyes and stay away from those people, but no matter where she went, there were people, and there was a cross before she finished walking on this road, and the roads on all sides were also people.There are people everywhere, and there are people everywhere.A writer said that there is no road in the world, because someone has walked, so there is a road.But now all the roads have been traversed, and there are no more roads—the road has come to an end. The moon has risen, and the very thin and sharp curve is green and bright, but it is too thin, and there is not much light under it despite all the effort. The long shawl seemed unable to hold the moonlight, and when the light fell on her, it rolled all the way down, fell to the ground, and broke into pieces.And her slender heels knocked on the moonlight, and every step she took broke a moonlight bell. Finally she stopped at the intersection of Lu Ban, looked at him and said clearly: "Let's break up here, in the future——we won't meet again." He only heard a "click", cold from the bottom of his heart Come out, as if a bell was broken there too, and can no longer be repaired. He looked at her, this beautiful and delicate girl like "The Newborn Venus" in Bochettili's works, slowly rising from the sea, standing gracefully between two huge clam shells, her skin is white and firm, her eyes are slightly Confused, her face even reflected the pearly light of shells.When she firmly said the word "break up", the corners of her mouth were pursed firmly, but nostalgia was clearly written in her eyes.He had never seen such a beautiful face with soul, it was heartbreakingly beautiful.Ever since he saw this face for the first time at her birthday party, he had been deeply shocked.It was a love ideal he had had since he was sensible: On a clear summer afternoon, amidst the fragrance of wine and the flying of music, a noble and glamorous woman sat across the table. A glass of blood-red wine and a bottle of fresh flower arrangements, as glamorous and charming as the stunning Chinese dress of the woman opposite - that should be the lifelong goal of a man, right? He did it.But then he did not stop at this hope.He wants to get to know her better and be with her forever.But she said goodbye to him, with a sadness like broken moonlight flowing on her face.Is there any way to bring back a bright smile on that face instead of sadness and determination? For the past few days, his heart has been lingering on that night when the moonlight was broken, and he couldn't think of a reason to see her again.He knew that she loved him very hard, but he loved her only harder.Behind her, Shang is just an aunt who disapproves of their love, but behind him, there is a whole family of people, even a whole generation of people, as well as his background, experience, status, standpoint, and future. and life. In this troubled world, their obstacles to love come not only from the estrangement of family status and family obstacles that a couple who do not love each other are accustomed to encounter, but also from the political forces and positions imposed on them by the background of the entire era. Embarrassment with faith. He hesitated. At this time, Jiaxiu suddenly came looking for him.Could it be that this aunt is worried that she won't give up, so if she wants to ask her teacher face to face, will she be successful?But Jiaxiu's first sentence was: "I came today to ask Mr. Cai for a favor." Cai Zhuowen bowed, hiding his surprise with a nod: "What can I do for you?" Jiaxiu said: "You know Mr. Ke, right? I just heard that he was taken away by the gendarmerie." "Ke Yi?" Cai Zhuowen was slightly taken aback, "When did this happen?" "Just this afternoon. He was said to be the Communist Party, but Mr. Ke is just a director. He just came back from Europe not long ago. We have known him for so long. He has never talked about politics. How could he be the Communist Party? " Cai Zhuowen sought Jiaxiu's permission, lit a cigar, took two puffs but then put it down, pondered and said: "I don't know much about Mr. Ke, but I heard rumors that he is indeed The Communist Party, moreover, is a big leader in the underground organization. The director’s identity is just a cover. His real mission is to promote the Anti-Japanese War. They arrested him this time, probably because they obtained relatively reliable evidence. I’m afraid it’s hard for me to say talk." Jiaxiu was silent, but soon a drop of tears fell into her coffee cup, and after a while, another drop came.At this moment, even she herself was shocked, she never thought that she cared so much for Ke Yi.She loves Ke Yi, and now she knows it, but Ke Yi is already behind bars, so she has no chance to tell him her love for him. Cai Zhuowen was softened by those silent tears, he thought of himself and Huang Chang, if one day he committed a crime, I wonder if Huang Chang would cry for him like this.He picked up the cigar, which had died out after a while without smoking.He was hesitant to light it again, but the waiter had already stepped forward to strike a match and handed it over graciously, so he immediately lit it up, took a deep breath, and chose his words carefully: "How about it, Miss Huang, I promise you that I will do my best... When I was in Nanjing, I had a little friendship with Mr. Ikeda, the clerk of the Japanese embassy, ​​or I could talk to you... But Ikeda is a cultural official, and he may not necessarily be in charge of political matters. ...I can't guarantee when I will release him, but at least, Mr. Ke should not suffer too much..." In the distance, the band played a jazz piece, and on the dance floor there were a few sporadic couples dancing the waltz, flying youth, flying skirts. Jiaxiu lowered her head, and when she raised her eyes again, her eyes were bright, but there were no more tears, and she smiled firmly. She cut in and said, "Thank you for your trouble. After Mr. Ke is released from prison, I would like to invite Mr. Cai to my house." Come for refreshments, I hope you can appreciate it." There was an unusually decisive and crisp tone in his tone, which seemed undisputable, with a hint of urging, I don't know if he was urging Cai Zhuowen to step up his work, or urging himself to make up his mind quickly, for fear that after a while Like regret. Zhuo Wen was startled, he couldn't see that this delicate and gentle woman had such a broad mind when she started bargaining.The meaning in her words clearly implied to herself that if Ke Yi could be rescued from prison, she would gain the right to freely communicate with her niece and daughter.He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Jiaxiu. This noble lady has changed so quickly. Seeing her speechless and crying just now, you would think that she is delicate and weak, but she is wrong. Men are more decisive, more direct, and more to the point.This is a deal, the party has already made an offer, should he take over? Despite Cai Zhuowen's great help, Ke Yi was locked up for a full month before being released, but luckily he was not tortured.When he walked out of Bei's mansion, he saw Jiaxiu standing in the small square in front of the opposite church waiting for her. The sun was shining brightly, making her look like a luminous body, surrounded by doves dancing in circles, against the tall steeple of the church behind her, she looked like the Sistine Madonna described by Raphael.She smiled calmly, as if this was not the gendarmerie, and Ke Yi had just returned from a trip to Europe instead of just getting out of prison, and she came to pick him up at the airport.Her gentle smile made Ke Yi suddenly feel like coming home, and he was very moved. He sat in the car with her, smiling and gossiping about the weather and pigeons. She didn't ask about the situation in the "mansion", so he didn't mention it either. It was obviously a rebirth after a catastrophe, but the two of them It looks like a reunion after a peaceful farewell.It wasn't until the moment before the breakup that she smiled and casually mentioned that there was a tea party at home tomorrow afternoon, and she hoped he could attend.He asked who she had invited, she still smiled, but her smile was a little unnatural, and she replied that there was only one Mr. Cai.He understood everything, and there was an inexplicable sourness in his heart. But on the second day, Ke Yi came to the appointment on time with a basket of fruit, but Jiaxiu said that Mr. Cai returned to his hometown yesterday and would not come.So Ke Yi became the only guest, and there were three hosts, namely Yifan, Jiaxiu and Huangshang. The tea seat is set on the balcony. The black iron carved coffee table is covered with hand-embroidered napkins, and the matching carved chairs. There are tea, coffee pots, fresh orange juice, ice cubes, sugar boxes and milk cups on the side carts. , There are only a few kinds of dim sum, but they are exquisite. The top layer is a large flower basket, in which there are several colorful birds of paradise blooming in full bloom, surrounded by bluebells, with distinct colors. Yi Fan was sitting beside the tea table wearing a white crepe brocade short-sleeved cheongsam, like a quiet stone statue. When he saw Ke Yi, he just smiled and didn't say hello.Ke Yi sighed, she was more stunned every time she saw her. Huang Chang cherished the flower basket and carried it into the bedroom, and the tea feast began. Seeing Ke Yi watching the flower basket carefully, Jiaxiu explained, "Mr. Cai sent it. He came to say goodbye last night." Ke Yi asked: "Huang Chang and Cai Zhuowen...are they really in love?" Jiaxiu was a bit guilty about this matter, she lowered her head when she heard the words, and said, "You can't say that... just ordinary friends. I didn't approve of their association, but..." Ke Yi said categorically: "This matter must be stopped as soon as possible. Cai Zhuowen's background is not simple. If Huang Chang associates with him, he will ruin himself, and maybe he will be infamous for the rest of his life. Be courteous to him, and be careful that you will attract wolves into the house." " Jiaxiu's face changed drastically when he heard his serious words.What's more, Huang Chang has already turned around, and said with a smile as he walked: "I said, why have I heard birds singing these two days? Auntie, guess what? Under my back window sill, swallows built a nest there. I raised a nest of little swallows." Ke Yi's conversation with Jiaxiu stopped there, he looked at Huang Chang attentively, the girl's eyes obviously had a lot of thoughts on her mind.Her eyes used to be as clear as water, but now they are as deep as an ancient well, locked with a thousand-year-old secret, only waiting for the prince in her dream to open it.Her prince is Cai Zhuowen, right?Just as she was about to make indirect remarks about her, Mama Cui came in and said, "Miss Kun from the uncle's house is here." Ke Yi hurriedly stood up to greet her. Huang Kun came in with a gust of wind, and greeted with a smile on his face: "Auntie, long time no see, you look better these days; A Chang, I don't come to look for you, you never know to look for me, you miss me to death; Teacher Ke is here too, it's really better to meet by chance than to invite each other. You really, if you don't invite me to a good show like afternoon tea, don't you allow me, a layman, to be a bit more elegant?" Jiaxiu said with a smile: "Look at your mouth, after a while, you have praised everyone and complained all over again. You said, meeting by chance is worse than meeting each other. If so, please sit down and have a cup of tea." Mama Cui also came up to wait on the waiter, and asked Miss Kun what drink she wanted and whether she had any special flavors.It turned out that in "Shui Wuyou", although the cook and the maid had their own arrangements, whenever the relatives of the Huang family came, the old servant Cui Mama greeted them, looking kind. Huang Kun sat down and explained his purpose slowly.It turned out that Chen Yanhua had borrowed someone else's small conference hall to hold an art exhibition, and was willing to support Huang Kun, and set aside a corner so that she could also participate in the exhibition with some drawings.Huang Kun thought, he hadn't learned pastel painting for a while, and he didn't know how to apply fine charcoal powder.The paintings are side by side, and it is not embarrassing to see what is superior.It's better to get some sketches of beauties, although they are childish, but the lines are exaggerated and interesting, maybe they can surprise you.After making up her mind, she excitedly drew dozens more sketches, with the general title "Shanghai Women", and brought them together to ask Huang Chang to help with a few lines of text.The purpose of this art exhibition is to create excitement and show off. If the painting of Shanghai's most beautiful woman is paired with the essay of Shanghai's most talented woman, wouldn't it complement each other and be a gimmick, as eye-catching and beautiful as a golden apple dropped into a silver net pocket. Huang Chang smiled, but did not ask her who is the golden apple and who is the silver pocket.I just picked up the sketches and flipped through them one by one. It was really interesting, but it was a bit tricky, so I wrote more than a dozen paintings casually. Huang Kun was overjoyed, she thought in her own mind that women are natural enemies, especially beautiful women, and beautiful and famous women are simply irreconcilable.She had prepared a lot of flattery and various favorable conditions in exchange for Huang Chang's help, but she didn't expect to use them all.Huang Chang readily agreed. She looked at the accompanying texts, next to a picture of a fashionable girl dancing the Chilsden dance in very thin transparent clothes, Huang Chang wrote: A woman sometimes changes clothes to dance a certain dance, and sometimes chooses to dance to wear a certain dress - the same is true of love and marriage relations; Next to the picture of a young man in a suit standing under the watchful eyes of nine ladies: Standing out from a group of chickens is a kind of posture, lonely and proud; standing apart from a group of ducks (the exact number is 4,500 ducks) is a kind of torture, not only lonely, but also cruel. The evaluation of the winking girl is: Looking at means to open one eye and close one eye, and to open one eye and close one eye means to aim; The silent girl is: A woman who speaks with her mouth, no matter how eloquent she is, is a real actress; a woman who speaks with her eyes is an actress. Huang Kun laughed when he saw it, and asked with a pair of charming eyes: "So, on the stage of life, what stage am I?" Huang Chang smiled and complimented: "You are a real actor with acting skills." Ke Yi pointed to the picture of "a goose stands up to a flock of ducks" and was puzzled: "The meaning is clever, but what about 4,500 ducks?" Huang Kun laughed loudly: "Haven't you heard people say: one woman is equal to 500 ducks?" Jiaxiu frowned and said: "It's too mean, things hurt their kind, why are you in such a hurry?" Huang Chang lowered his hands to accept the instruction.Huang Kun, as usual, would not listen to these old aunts' theories, so he just urged Huang Chang to write down.This afternoon was spent in Huang Kun's "Wonderful Brush" and Huang Shang's "Wonderful Words". After Ke Yi left, Jiaxiu kept remembering what he said about Zhuo Wen's ambiguous identity, and asked Huang Chang's intentions subtly, but was distracted by Huang Chang's few words.Helpless, I had no choice but to be straightforward and said: "I promised you to associate with Cai Zhuowen because I don't think he is a bad person, but his identity is too special after all. I don't understand politics, but he was married. Don't care. You'd better ask clearly." In fact, Huang Chang may not be anxious, but how can she ask her?He hadn't wooed her, not even the faintest hint of it.He was very concerned about grasping the opportunity to be with her, but it was rare that they were together, but he mostly acted absent-minded, as if there were several mountains pressing down on him.She didn't know what was going on in his heart at all, she just felt that she wanted to cry every time she saw him, it seemed that it started from the first time they met, every time she faced him, she felt like crying, sadly , I feel out of control of the world. At first, when her aunt explicitly forbade them to come and go, although she was reluctant, she made up her mind not to talk to him anymore.But then the ban was lifted because of Ke Yi's affairs, just like the stream that had been resting for the winter had thawed and flowed again, and it could no longer be stopped.When she saw him, she had only him in her eyes, and when he was not in front of her, it seemed that the whole world was lost and everything was meaningless.In the past, she always felt that as long as she called him, he would definitely show up, so she never thought of taking the initiative to call.But now she knew that she couldn't find him, but she memorized his number by heart.I called and hung up again and again, and I felt a kind of desperate longing in the sound of "beep". If acacia can be sown like a tree seed, she must have a fairly dense forest by now.If that was the case, perhaps her heart would feel better, she would be less hopeless, and would guard her forest persistently for him, waiting for his return. But no, lovesickness is completely illusory, heavy but empty, it is wishful thinking, and it cannot be salvaged, nor can it be picked up. The heavier the lovesickness, the more empty the heart will be. That night, I don't know if it was true, but in the middle of my sleep, I heard the phone ring and picked it up, but there was no sound from the other side.She suddenly had a strong feeling: it was him!It must be him.An extremely depressing cry came from the other end, mixed with the wind and thunder, it seemed close but still far away. She looked out of the window, and the moon was like an upside-down oil bowl, with oil oozing from the bottom of the bowl, blurring the blue tablecloth, but there was no rain.So, the other party is not in Shanghai anymore.He didn't come back.Are you still in Fengdu? She held the phone and didn't ask any further questions, just sat quietly like that, letting the tears fall down one after another, her heart was cool. After a while, there was a "click" sound, and the other party hung up the phone.But she still refused to put down the receiver.Sit like that until dawn. The sky was getting brighter little by little, and the sun rose, shining on her face through the window screen, full of tears.