Chapter 24 24. Butter in the crotch——it’s either shit or shit

Cai Wharf is not far from Sock Hutong, so Ding Shaomei went to visit the old lady Zuo first, and took a gramophone with him in the car, as well as dozens of vinyl records, all of which were arias by famous Peking Opera actors.To cancel this ridiculous marriage, we still have to start with the old lady. Zuo Yinglong wasn't there, but Mrs. Zuo was very happy to see him, and wanted to divert the conversation to the marriage. Ding Shaomei hurriedly made a joke about listening to an opera in England, and diverted the conversation.At this point, he was squeezed into the cracks, so he couldn't talk about his marriage, and it was inconvenient to mention the date with Zuo Yinglong on the pier, so he just kept chatting, and it was considered as a special trip to make the old lady happy.

Wu Niu probably heard about her father's marriage proposal, so she didn't show up.That's fine, I'll support you first, sooner or later Mrs. Zuo will understand that the two of them are not suitable for getting married.Right now we can't offend them, Zuo Yinglong has a bastard temper, if he gets angry, he will inevitably be in danger. The appointment is at 8 o'clock, where is Zuo Yinglong now?It's not easy to ask. Seeing that it was getting late, Ding Shaomei came out to bid farewell. The old lady Zuo didn't get up to see her off this time, she guarded her status as an elder, and ordered her servants: "Master Ding is driving at night, and give the lamp to his palm."

Wu Niu was guarding the gatehouse, obviously waiting for him, with downcast eyes, blushing cheeks, and handed him a neatly bundled cattail bag, which was quite heavy.Walking out of the gate of Zuo's house like this, he really looks like a new son-in-law, even eating and taking.He also asked Mrs. Zuo to be put in a circle. It seems that this old lady is more difficult to deal with than Zuo Yinglong.He even thought that if he could cultivate to this level of sophistication, he would be worthy of the name of being eager to learn half his life. His boat was an old wooden boat, with a single mast, tattered sails, and sticky mud all over the deck, which made him suspect that it would sink to the bottom of the river before it could go very far.

Zuo Yinglong still didn't show up, which made him uneasy, seeing that Yu Changchun was already waiting there, he felt a little relieved in his heart.This is the way to do things. I am doing everything for you, taking the risk of the day. If you don't show up, let alone an anti-Japanese hero, I'm afraid you won't even be considered a man. The mast was lowered, the boat passed under the east pontoon bridge, four men were poles, Erbao was at the helm, and no one spoke.The local iron bridge is only opened for ships, so the masts of sailboats on the river are all detachable. Ding Shaomei sat in the stern and looked around. The right bank was the Japanese Concession, and the left bank was the Old Austrian Concession and the Italian Concession. The lights were still bright. On the riverside road, a string of charcoal-burning cars were shining brightly, carrying people chasing fame and fortune. Of course, there are patriots and traitors.The most melodious thing is the copper bell of the rickshaw. The passengers in the car should slam their feet, and the bell whips the driver. It is not something urgent, it is just a pastime to relieve boredom, and it is full of style.Most of the vehicles are going in the same direction as them. The downstream is the French Concession and the British Concession. The evening banquets of those people may not satisfy them, but after the Japanese occupation, the entertainment industry in the concession has flourished with an unprecedented momentum. Arise, play numbs fear.

He was born in this city and grew up here, but he never found it so vibrant, even under the trampling of the Japanese army, it still has such a wonderful night scene. "It's so beautiful!" Yunong suddenly sighed behind him as the boat sailed past the Qiangzi River Estuary in front of his house and entered the old German Concession occupied by the Japanese army. He screamed, "Why are you here?" "They want to erect the mast, I'm in the way in the cabin." Yunong smiled, a little nervous. He wanted to jump up and curse, or throw the man who took her into the boat into the river.This matter is too dangerous, if there is something that I can't handle, if I don't show embarrassment in front of her, she may be a great drag.

"I can't stop you, so I can't let you go alone." Yunong was persistent and worried like a child who was afraid of the dragonfly flying away in his hand. "Wherever you go, I'll be with you." "I'm going to do some business, not escape from marriage." Ding Shaomei said without hesitation. "I didn't say that I must marry you, but I will not let you go easily, or let you be caught by the Japanese..." She spat out the unlucky word behind it. He is far less comfortable talking to Yunong about this kind of dialogue with strong emotional impact than flirting with Fan Xiaoqing.This girl looks weak, but she is as hard as iron.

"Did Yu Changchun bring you here?" He had to find someone to resent. Yu Nong turned to look at the prow of the independent boat, Yu Changchun, who was "going to the meeting alone", did not answer. "Get over here, let's hold a small 'meeting'." Zuo Yinglong actually crawled out of the cabin, but he didn't know how to use new words. Leaving the city, it was dark all around, the masts were erected, the sails were blowing in the breeze, and the ship seemed to be gliding in pitch-black oil.Ding Shaomei suspected that Er Bao, who was at the helm, was sailing with his heart instead of his eyes, which made him feel a little weird and uncomfortable.

Zuo Yinglong yelled, "Light three lamps." Everyone sat in a circle, and three Mobil glass oil lamps were placed in the middle. The light was dim, but people's faces were green.Zuo Yinglong walked around behind everyone, holding an iron hook for unloading goods on his right hand with only two fingers. The four sailors looked as if they had seen death. "Old Zuo, I have always treated people well," everyone nodded. "But someone is playing tricks on me..." Because Zuo Yinglong's words didn't have a precise direction, even Ding Shaomei felt uneasy, every time Zuo Yinglong's footsteps turned behind him, the back of his neck could obviously feel the coolness of the river wind.

Could it be that this old river bandit is going to kill someone?Yu Changchun was calm in his heart, this was a ceremony for the gang to cut off the traitors, and they were just witnesses. "Little Japan entered Tianjin Wei, didn't you bring it with you, okay? On the contrary, it made our Chinese men ashamed. A famous man, a country is not a country, and a family is not a home. Are you wasting food while you're alive?" Zuo Yinglong said in the tone of the speech . "But then again, if the country is gone, there will still be a family, and if the family is gone, there will still be people. A man is upright, and he can't be ashamed."

He stopped, and the iron hook landed on Ding Shaomei's shoulder. "I lost two shipments in one month. Who informed the little Japanese? It was you? It was you..." The iron hook pointed at Ding Shaomei's head. "No one dares to admit it. He knows it. If he admits it, he will die. If you follow my old Zuo, you will either get rich or die. There is no other way." Why did Zuo Yinglong stop and nail him here?Ding Shaomei was not afraid, it was just uncomfortable, he hoped that the old river robber would leave behind him, and said: "Master Zuo, today you are doing things for me, taking people's money, and eliminating disasters with others. My business is over, you can kill whoever you want Who."

The iron hook touched his neck, and it was cold.I only heard Zuo Yinglong say: "Don't think that if I propose marriage to you, I won't kill you. Even if you are already my son-in-law and betrayed your oath, you will still survive." Ding Shaomei didn't see it, only heard a gust of wind, Yunong on the left shoulder pulled him violently, the blood from the sailor on the right shoulder still splashed on his face, warm. The old guy is crazier than me.All he saw were scenes he could not have imagined: the blunt sound of the iron hook piercing into the flesh, the crisp sound of broken ribs, the wailing of the sailors shaking the trees... Everything happened very quickly, but he felt like a century in a blink of an eye.The sailor leaned over the hatch, motionless. The other three sailors went up one by one, each spit on him, and went down the cabin. Zuo Yinglong wiped the iron hook clean with a rag, walked up to Ding Shaomei, tilted his head, pointed at Yu Changchun and said, "He's not bad, he can be regarded as a man, but there is almost something serious on his body, and the eunuch is angry." "He's not bad at all." Ding Shaomei didn't want others to belittle his friend in person, even if he himself underestimated that friend. "You are different, you are not a student." Zuo Yinglong stuffed the iron hook into Ding Shaomei's hand. "As soon as I met, I could tell that you are the same person as me. You don't just eat what's in the bowl, you're the master who takes away the pot. Whoever dares to grab someone else's life." The three sailors who went down carried a ballast stone, which weighed sixty to seventy catties, and tied it to the man's leg.The man moved his arms, as if he wanted to pull the rope off his body, but he didn't have the strength. "Help him over here." Three sailors carried the man over and stood beside the side of the boat.Zuo Yinglong grabbed the iron hook in Ding Shaomei's hand and hung it on the man's collarbone.The man opened his hands vainly, babbling, not knowing what he was talking about. "This is your job, let go and put him down." Zuo Yinglong lit a cigarette and said to Ding Shaomei. "He's still alive." The man was blind in one eye, and a pool of black blood quickly gathered under his feet. "Knowing that you are still alive, how can you kill him if you die?" Two sailors held the man's arms, as long as Ding Shaomei pushed forward, the man would fall into the river; if he pulled back, the man might not survive, but it had nothing to do with him. Erbao has been looking at him, holding the tiller with his hands, but his eyes can speak, encouraging him. A cross wind hit the sail, the boat swung, and the man fell into the water.Ding Shaomei hadn't noticed what the man looked like since she got on the boat. Although the boat was moving slowly, it should be 10 miles away from the city at this time, and he was hungry. Er Bao beckoned him to sit on the helm, and said: "You are very clever, you killed someone, but no one thinks you did it." "He did it. Now he is a murderer just like me." Zuo Yinglong was very proud. Ding Shaomei became more and more hungry, and opened the cattail bag Wu Niu gave him. Inside were more than a dozen steamed bean paste cakes and a curved pistol.Wu Niu obviously knew that this trip was dangerous. Ding Shaomei's shooting instructor was a very bad-tempered Irish independent. He still remembers the comment given to him: Put an elephant across from your dining table, and you can't shoot its ass. Zuo Yinglong shouted from the bow of the boat: "Careful, the small Japanese steamboat may be lying in ambush in which river fork!" Old Giggs was furious, and scolded Earl Panavino who came to borrow money from him. Fortunately, the earl couldn't understand his Scottish dialect, so he kept nodding and smiling, thinking that the old man was addicted to preaching. It happened again. He wasn't angry with Panavino, the count's borrowing money was also an opportunity to win him over.He was angry with Ding Shaomei, who spent countless efforts and training him for 20 years, but he followed a robber to risk his death. The cruise ship of the third special envoy of the Ministry of Finance arrives in Hong Kong tomorrow, and will bring a letter of carte blanche from the British government, which will allow him to borrow large sums of money from British commercial banks and foreign banks without collateral to attack Union Bank notes.The difference from the original conditions was that the loan was in his own name, not the British government, which meant that the attack on Union Bank Notes was no longer at any cost, and any loss would fall on him personally. The British Empire is indeed in decline, and the gentlemen in the Treasury have been completely replaced by the sons of merchants.Old Giggs got angry, so he asked Earl Panavino out of the door without lending him a dollar.In this war of the British Empire to save the civilized world, his entire personal fortune may burst like a soap bubble. Use one person's financial power to fight against the China United Reserve Bank of the pseudo-coalition government, and behind this bank is the Yokohama Specie Bank of Japanese militarism.This isn't war, war is equal, and it's the treasury that starts this hyena attack on an elephant and thinks my old man is a terrorist, not a decent fighter.If they fail, they can wash their asses clean and have a good time at the negotiating table with the Japanese, and I and all allies related to this will be thrown to the Japanese military police like bones to a dog. The daughter is not at home, and there are only servants in the mansion.Old Ryan Giggs boarded the priest's pulpit.Thinking here brings you closer to God, even though God doesn't care about the chicken and goose fights in the world, what he cares about is the soul. The government sees me as a sacrificial pawn ready to start a fight once I pass the center square of the chessboard.However, would this fight be a smoke screen to cover the other side's attack, or use my suicide attack as leverage to gain a small advantage? At this time, "magician" became more and more important to him personally.Ding Shaomei can fully use his special talents in finance. Even if this financial war is a draw, he is a great tactician; if he fails, the government can't count the huge loss of money on my old man... …Of course, Xiao Ding is not as easy to control as Lao Ding, and his ambition is too strong, even to the point of not hiding it. Perhaps, this characteristic of him is what is needed most at the moment. I hope Ding Shaomei's adventure is safe and sound, as long as he returns to the concession, he will be under his control.I am too careless.Old Giggs blamed himself.It was all caused by that thug named Yu Changchun. If, I mean, if this thug disappears, disappears, dies and flees, at least in a short period of time, no one will be able to seduce Ding Shaomei again. Violent resistance against Japan. He happily climbed down from the ladder, lamenting that God's wisdom is infinite.