Chapter 10 Chapter nine

Ms. Hui's trip to the ball was not in vain. Before she left, she finally met the military police officer in her target.Under her repeated pleading, the other party finally agreed to let Ms. Hui go to prison to meet the "former fiancé" Sheng Guangzhe.On the other hand, Mrs. Wang secretly wished that Ms. Hui knew that there was no hope after seeing her this time, and that she would finally give up on that red-faced element. On October 3, 1926, Ms. Hui walked into the prison of the Law Enforcement Division of the Gendarmerie Headquarters in the eastern suburbs of Beijing.The tall poplar trees that are common in the north bring a shadow to the autumn sky, and make Miss Hui's footsteps and heartbeat as heavy - it is here that the famous reporter Shao Piaoping was interrogated in secret a few months ago, and finally Escorted to Tianqiao execution ground.

Under the care of the officer, Ms. Hui was taken to a simple house, waiting anxiously for Sheng Guangzhe to appear, hearing the rustling of the leaves blown by the wind outside the window, showing the silence of the whole building Mori cold.Suddenly, there seemed to be a distant voice in my mind, eager and vague, making it impossible to distinguish.Ms. Hui was afraid that it was an auditory hallucination caused by her trance these days, so she rubbed her temples desperately, and concentrated on staring at the half-hidden door in front of her. Unexpectedly, the more she concentrated, the voice in her head became clearer, and she could vaguely hear the mournful call of "Help me...help me...".As if touched by the helplessness and desolation of that voice, Miss Hui suddenly touched her beating heart, and in horror recognized that the voice in her head was calling: "Miss Hui...help me..."

That voice had never been heard in reality, but it was inexplicably familiar, and Miss Hui suddenly remembered the weird hallucination in Lincheng Qingyun Hall.That's right, that's clearly the voice that led her to travel through the illusion. If you speculate more boldly, it's Nian Brother's original voice—could something have happened to Nian Brother? Cold sweat drenched Miss Hui's clothes, and she clearly understood in her heart that Brother Nian was calling her.If it hadn't been for something extremely critical, that shy and forbearing young man would never have disturbed her mind... But, she finally found a chance to visit Sheng Guangzhe, how could she leave him halfway? "Wait, I'll find you soon." Miss Hui tried hard to let the distant party understand her thoughts, but in vain, that helpless call was still like the tide on the seashore, tirelessly receding and surging again. come up.

The door of the room opened suddenly, and several figures appeared in the shadowy corridor, which instantly wiped away Miss Hui's hesitation and boredom.She stared blankly at Sheng Guangzhe who was sandwiched between the two soldiers, and was immediately unable to speak or move as if petrified, and the soreness in her chest suddenly surged up, choking her mouth and nose. The soldiers carried Sheng Guangzhe to a chair and sat down, only said "five minutes", and then did not say another word.However, they did not leave just yet, and stood vigilantly at the door of the room, obviously wanting to monitor the conversation between Miss Hui and Sheng Guangzhe.

But at the moment Miss Hui can't say anything.She stood where she was, with her whole body leaning against the only wooden table in the house, tears rolling down her cheeks.How could she hold back the tears?The gentle seventh young master of the Sheng family and the high-spirited editor-in-chief of the newspaper in the past have become weak and pale in just one month, not to mention the messy hair, bruised cheeks and injured legs that are inconvenient to move.All the evil deeds that Ms. Hui knew about Zhifeng warlords in the past were nothing more than hearsay. Now that she witnessed it with her own eyes, even if she was prepared in her heart, she could no longer control her grief and indignation.

"Hui'er, don't cry." Sheng Guangzhe was the first to speak, and greeted with a smile and stretched out his hand, "Time is running out, come here and let me take a good look at you." Miss Hui nodded her head hard, wiped away the endless tears on her face, walked over and squatted beside Sheng Guangzhe, and naturally held his cold hand.She originally wanted to comfort him and she was trying to save him, but now she can't tell such a weak lie. "I'm so happy that you came to see me." Sheng Guangzhe still had a warm smile on his face, just like when he used to run a newspaper in Lincheng, always calm and unhurried.He let Miss Hui hold his hands tightly, looked at her distressedly and said, "You've lost weight when you come home... I won't urge you to do fitness exercises anymore, you should consciously run and play, don't let foreigners Some people think that our Chinese women are weak..."

"I remember..." Ms. Hui finally managed to spit out these words, and suddenly felt that she had gone through all kinds of hardships to see Sheng Guangzhe, just for the last side of her speechless, and the sadness in her heart was nothing to worry about. Suppressed, he suddenly fell on Sheng Guangzhe's lap, his dirty gown was wet with tears. "I will find a way to save you..." She repeated these words with choking voice, as if these words were no longer meant to comfort Sheng Guangzhe, but to comfort herself. "You don't have to worry about it. Many friends from the newspaper industry have tried to beg Zhang Zongchang..." Sheng Guangzhe stopped talking, but Miss Hui already knew in despair that the warlord who was always known for his brutality and tyranny would never let Sheng Guangzhe go.

"It's time." The two soldiers guarding the door came over, unceremoniously pulled Sheng Guangzhe up from the chair, and said to Miss Hui in a rough voice, "Miss, let go." "Hui'er, let go, you are not yet eighteen years old, live your own life well in the future." Sheng Guangzhe comforted him softly, with the same kindness and love in his eyes. Miss Hui let go of Sheng Guangzhe's hand, and watched his back was covered by soldiers on both sides, and quickly disappeared into the shadow of poplar trees. Miss Hui lowered her head, and tears fell on her frozen hands, still unable to wash away the coldness left by the handcuffs on her fingertips.She raised her finger and saw that it was still stained with bright red blood.It was Brother Seven's blood, she thought, and she would never be willing to wash it away.

"Miss Hui..." The voice that had subsided came out of Miss Hui's mind again, as if it had exhausted its last strength, and could not utter any other syllables, so it could only repeat over and over again: "Miss Hui... ...Miss Hui..." And the voice eventually faded away bit by bit, and finally could no longer be captured. "Brother Nian, what's the matter with you?" Miss Hui asked subconsciously, her heart shrank, and she almost lost the strength to stand up.Panting shortly, she returned home desperately, and began to rummage through the boxes to find the address slip that Nian Geer had slipped into her on the train.

When she finally found the long-forgotten note in the interlayer of the suitcase, Miss Hui realized that her face was covered with sweat.She raised her sleeves and wiped away the water that had dazzled her eyes, then ran out of the house again clutching the note, ignoring her mother, Mrs. Wang's call. "No. 23, Anqiuli Hutong." Hastily jumping into a rickshaw, Miss Hui reported the address written down by Brother Nian. The rickshaw driver ran vigorously, leaving the pedestrian buildings on the side of the road behind one by one, but Miss Hui still leaned forward anxiously, wishing the driver could go as fast as possible.She didn't know why she cared so much about Brother Nian, even though Sheng Guangzhe's experience had covered her whole heart like white snow, Brother Nian's figure would still be like a weak but strong bud, peeking out from the snowfield. Come out, let the heart longing for spring get a little comfort and warmth.

There has always been a saying in Beijing that "the east is rich and the west is rich, and the south is cheap and the north is poor", which means that the people living in the east and west are rich, while the poor and humble live mostly in the south and north of the city.Anqiuli Hutong is located in the south of Beijing, and most of the residents are coolies pulling carts, poor and poor settlers, and poor students from other places.Ms. Hui thought that if Zhang Nianzu had just made a fortune not long ago, as his mother said, then even if he temporarily lived in this place after graduation, he should have moved to another place long ago. Brother Nian should never be allowed to come here again. look for him.But this is the only clue she can find Brother Nian, no matter what, she can only try. No. 23, Anqiuli Hutong is an extremely crowded and noisy courtyard, filled with trash picked up by residents in the courtyard, exuding a strange smell that Ms. Hui cannot get used to.She stood in the cramped aisle in the yard, staring blankly at the scattered shacks, listening to the endless noise of quarrels, and suddenly didn't know what she could do when she came to this place in a hurry. She stood next to the wooden houses and looked in through the narrow windows one by one, hoping to find Brother Nian.However, besides the old man lying on the bed, the couple fighting, and the crying child, she also saw the gambler who was drinking and drinking, and even the opium smoker who was smirking at her. Miss Hui was taken aback by that malicious smile, and almost wanted to escape from this filthy place immediately, but when she remembered Brother Nian's helpless and terrified call earlier, she stopped in her tracks .After finally seeing an old lady come out of the house, Miss Hui quickly walked over and asked, "Ma'am, does Brother Nian live here?" "Brother Nian, which brother Nian?" The old lady shook her head in amazement as she looked at Miss Hui's fine-quality cheongsam, which was obviously the daughter of a wealthy family. When Miss Hui came back to her senses, she immediately smiled and said, "His name is Zhang Nianzu, and he originally studied at Yenching University." "Oh, you're talking about that student boy." The old lady really came to her senses, "But he got rich a few days ago and doesn't live here anymore." Seeing that Miss Hui's face turned pale suddenly, the old lady kindly pointed to a The small attic said, "He used to live there, and he hasn't returned the rent since he moved out. I think he has money, so he doesn't care about the rent." Ms. Hui thanked her, and boldly stepped up the steep wooden stairs from the entrance where the wall peeled off.There was no light in the corridor, so we could only grope for the rough walls with our hands, and climb up by stepping on the creaking wood.The attic was already crumbling, and no one came in at all. In the dark, frightened mice could be felt running past their feet.Miss Hui's hair stood up little by little, not because of the darkness and the mouse, but because of the increasingly clear premonition in her heart - Brother Nian is nearby.But what was he doing in this dead silence? At the end of the wooden ladder was a thin door. Ms. Hui pushed it casually, and found that the wooden boards nailed together at random were the same as those of other houses in this courtyard, and they were not locked. "Is anyone there?" She stopped and knocked on the door carefully, but she didn't hear any movement in the room, so she pushed the door open and walked in. The inside of the room looks as dilapidated as the outside, years of dust mixed with the fibers suspended in the air, forming strings of cotton-like "sun dust" on the four walls, and the empty bed boards and tables everywhere show the The room is unoccupied.Miss Hui walked around the room, but found nothing. Just as she was about to leave in disappointment, there was a dull sound from the other side of the wall, as if something had fallen to the ground. Miss Hui walked over following the sound, and sure enough, she found that there was a compartment hidden in the dark at the end of the stairs.She lifted the hem of the cheongsam and was about to step over tentatively, when suddenly a hand stretched out out of thin air: "Let me help you." Miss Hui let out an exclamation, shook her body, and was immediately held firmly by someone.Then she saw Brother Nian's face—no, Zhang Nianzu's face turned from behind, with an elusive smile: "You have a strong curiosity, Miss Wang." "I want to see your amazing servant." Miss Hui calmed down somehow, and replied with a smile. "Okay, I'll let you see." Zhang Nianzu had a secretive expression on his face, stepped up to the cubicle next to the stairs, and stretched out his hand to pull Miss Hui up.Then, an oil lamp came on, illuminating the utility room with no natural light source.