Jing Mingchen interrupted him: "Pah, pah, pah, why are you so crow-mouthed! I came here specially to see you this time."
Le Ling asked curiously, "What do you want me to do?"
Jing Mingchen smiled and said, "I'm here to catch up with you. It's been more than a year since we last met. I just happened to have some time off so I thought I might as well come to Kunming to see my old friends. Besides you, I have another classmate who is a teacher at the United Nations University. By the way, Aunt Shen also asked me to bring something to you."
She handed Le Ling a pair of shoes that Aunt Shen asked her to bring back. Le Ling's eyes turned red. "My parents died early, and this aunt is the only relative left. She is really good to me, but it's a pity that I am unfilial."
Jing Mingchen observed his expression: "Are you worried about something?"
Le Ling put away his sad look and forced a smile, "What can I worry about? People say I'm a piece of wood and don't have a heart. It's not easy for you to come to Kunming, so I should do my best to be a good host. I will pay for your food, clothing, accommodation and transportation in Kunming for the next few days. I guarantee that you will come back again within half a year!"
Jing Mingchen asked him: "You have so much time? Where is your wife Xu?"
Le Ling said gloomily, "She is not in Kunming. She has returned to Chongqing. Her relationship with Mr. Xu seems to have eased recently."
Jing Mingchen said: "That's perfect. If they reconcile, you can get out of this."
Le Ling sighed, "It's not that easy. If Mrs. Xu had hooked up with another gigolo, I might have been able to get away safely. But she has returned to her ex. I'm afraid that the couple will put all the blame on me and use me as a scapegoat in order to resolve their past grudges."
He waved his hand in annoyance: "Forget it, let's not talk about it. It's a rare few days of leisure, let's have some fun."
The next day, Jing Mingchen took him to the United Nations University to visit his college classmates, and the three of them had some fun together.
On the third day, Le Ling began to fulfill his hospitality as a host and took Jing Mingchen around Kunming. He was an opera singer, had no cultural education, and his taste was not very elegant . He just took Jing Mingchen through the streets and alleys to find food. Having stayed in Kunming for five or six years, and being born with a love of eating, drinking and having fun, he could be considered an expert on Kunming.
He took Jing Mingchen to Dongyuelou on Huguo Road to eat pot-sticked mullet, saying that this was the only one in Kunming and a creation of Dongyuelou. The mullet was cut into the size of a cloud cake and a slice of Xuanwei ham was sandwiched in the middle and fried. The fishy aroma was wrapped in the meaty aroma, and Jing Mingchen couldn't stop eating it.
He took Jing Mingchen to Zhengyi Road to eat steamed chicken. He said that after eating all over Kunming, this steamed chicken shop made the best chicken. They used Wuding Zhuang chickens. The fatness of Wuding Zhuang chickens is unmatched by other breeds of chickens. Therefore, the steamed chicken made with Wuding Zhuang chickens is naturally incomparable. He praised it to the sky all the way. Jing Mingchen was skeptical, but he was completely conquered the moment he entered the shop and smelled the fragrance.
On the fourth day, he took Jing Mingchen to a teahouse early in the morning. As the manager of a transportation company, he would not go to a shabby teahouse where poor students whiled away their time. He took Jing Mingchen to a large teahouse on Zhengyi Road. The upper and lower floors were painted red and looked very impressive. He was a frequent visitor here. As soon as he entered the door, a waiter greeted him and took him upstairs. When he went upstairs, he saw a vacant space by the window. A group of people were standing or sitting together. Some were playing drums, some were playing the violin, some were playing the flute, and some were beating gongs. In the middle stood a thin middle-aged man, singing opera to the sound of stringed instruments. Seeing Le Ling coming, someone greeted him, "Boss Le, how come you have time to come to the teahouse today?"
Le Ling pulled Jing Mingchen to sit down in the empty seat: "A relative is coming from another place, bring her here to see what's going on."
Someone praised Jing Mingchen: "What a handsome little brother!"
It turned out that in order to avoid trouble, Le Ling asked Jing Mingchen to change into men's clothes. Coincidentally, she had short hair, and with an octagonal hat on, she looked like a cute newsboy.
The man in the middle sang a part and said to Le Ling, "Boss Le, why don't you show us your skills?"
Le Ling was quite happy: "Since the Third Master has spoken, how dare I not appreciate his kindness? Please play some music and help me sing "Kill the Four Gates". "
He walked to the middle, took his stance, cleared his throat and began to sing.
Although she had a broken voice in her early years and could no longer sing on stage, she was not bad as an amateur singer, and people around her applauded. Jing Mingchen only thought that the rhythm was strange and nice, and she could not hear anything else. Her family loved to listen to Western music, even her mother, who only listened to pop music like Zhou Xuan, and she really knew nothing about singing opera.
After Le Ling finished singing "Sha Si Men", he withdrew. Jing Mingchen asked him, "What is the meaning of the play you just sang?"
Le Ling smiled and said, "If you don't understand, then you don't understand. If you don't understand, it means you are not destined to be with it. There are many things in the world that you don't understand. Do you really want to get to the bottom of everything?"
Jing Mingchen nodded in confusion. Le Ling reached out to call the waiter to bring some refreshments, and Jing Mingchen had no choice but to sit down and listen to others perform.
Jing Mingchen was happy and relaxed while listening to the opera, but Jiang Gubei in Chongqing was not in such a good mood. He took the rare time to go to Leshan to see Jing Mingchen, but he learned that Jing Mingchen had asked for leave a few days ago.
Where could she go after taking leave? She didn't go back to Chongqing to find him, and Mingyu also said that she didn't go home. Jiang Gubei thought about it again and again, and finally found Lin Xianyu's house.
He asked Lin Xianyu straight to the point: "Mingchen is not in Leshan, where did she go? Did you ask her to do something?"
Lin Xianyu admitted frankly: "Yes, I asked her to go to Kunming to find Le Ling."
Jiang Gubei took a step forward and grabbed Lin Xianyu by the collar: "If anything happens to her, I won't let you go!"
Lin Xianyu was not afraid: "Mr. Jiang, relax. You know in your heart that this is a shortcut, perhaps the fastest shortcut. Miss San will be fine. Miss San is my savior. You have feelings for her, and she has done me a favor. I care about her safety no less than you do, but I am more rational than you."
Jiang Gubei let go of him, glared at him fiercely, and turned away.
Lin Xianyu straightened his collar and heard him loudly ordering Ah Da outside: "Ah Da! Buy me a plane ticket to Kunming, the sooner the better!"
In a blink of an eye, Jing Mingchen had been in Kunming for almost a week. During this week, she went to teahouses with Le Ling, eating steamed chicken and mushrooms. She was so happy that she couldn't help but sigh to Le Ling: "People say Chengdu is the land of abundance. I don't know how abundant it is because I haven't been there. Kunming is really like heaven."
The day before leaving, Le Ling took her to eat rice noodles. There are so many delicious foods in Kunming. After being here for so long, this is the first time to eat something as common as rice noodles. When the rice noodles were served, Jing Mingchen's eyes widened: "Isn't this just a small hot pot? Where is the fire? The soup is quite fragrant. Let me have a taste."
She took a spoon and was about to scoop up some soup to drink, but Le Ling quickly slapped her hand away, saying with a smile: "Little aunt, if you pour this spoonful of soup into your throat, your throat will be ruined."
He used chopsticks to push the dishes of vegetables and meat into the soup, waited a while, and then took them out again and put them in front of Jing Mingchen: "See, this soup is so hot that it can directly cook the meat slices. This is how to eat rice noodles."
Jing Mingchen waited patiently for the soup to cook the vegetables, meat and rice noodles, and finally waited until Le Ling said that it was time to eat. Le Ling personally scooped out a small bowl of rice noodles for her, and Jing Mingchen's eyes lit up as soon as he took a chopstick of rice noodles into his mouth.
Le Ling smiled and said, "Miss Jing, you really like to eat. This is great. When I was a child, my mother told me that people who love to eat are blessed."
He didn't eat either, just watched Jing Mingchen eat, and occasionally gave her a chopstick of rice noodles and a spoonful of soup.
Jing Mingchen almost finished the big bowl of rice noodles by herself. After she finished, she touched her stomach contentedly, but also felt a little regretful: "It's a pity that I won't be able to eat it tomorrow after leaving Kunming."
Le Ling comforted her: "This soupy stuff is no longer available, but there is a compromise. There is a snack in Kunming called Erkuai, which tastes just as good as rice noodles. I'll take you to buy some and you can take them back to Leshan to eat."
After dark, he took Jing Mingchen to a Tengchong-run bait stall, bought some and carried them in his hands, and sent Jing Mingchen back to the inn: "This kind of bait has a common name when it is fried, called Da Jiu Jia."
Jing Mingchen asked curiously: "Why is it called such a name?"
Le Ling narrated the story: "Legend has it that Wu Sangui led the Qing army to fight against the Southern Ming, and fought all the way to western Yunnan. The Yongli Emperor of the Southern Ming fled to Tengchong. It was already late, and the group had been running all day without a drop of water. They were hungry and tired, so they stayed at a farmer's house. The owner fried all the food in the house together and made a big stew of erkuai, ham, eggs and vegetables. After eating it, the Yongli Emperor praised it highly and said that this erkuai saved his life. Later, Tengchong fried erkuai was commonly known as "Da Jiujia" (great rescue)."
Jing Mingchen asked: "Is it really that delicious?"
Le Ling shook the bag of bait in his hand and said, "You'll know if you fry it when you get home."
In front of the hotel where Jing Mingchen stayed was a remote alley, which was intersected by many small alleys. The street lights were broken and only the moonlight illuminated the street. It was already late, and there were only two of them on the road. Le Ling suddenly lowered her voice and tightly grasped Jing Mingchen's arm: "Hurry up, something is wrong!"
He suddenly dragged Jing Mingchen and ran away. Jing Mingchen followed him without knowing why. Suddenly, he stepped on something and fell to his knees. In that instant, a figure approached from behind. Le Ling was quick-witted and threw the bait in his hand at the figure. While the figure was dodging the bait, he carried Jing Mingchen on his back and ran away without saying anything.
A gunshot rang out behind them, Jing Mingchen was startled. Le Ling did not stop and ran towards the hotel. He kicked the door open and rolled in with Jing Mingchen.
Without even taking a breath, he pulled Jing Mingchen upstairs and hid in a utility room.
The two of them huddled in the utility room, staring at each other in the moonlight that leaked in through the window. They could only hear each other's breathing. After a long while, Le Ling finally burst out laughing: "That Bao Da Jiujia, he really saved me this time."
Jing Mingchen asked: "Who is it?"
Le Ling gnashed her teeth and said, "It's probably coming for me! No wonder my eyelids have been twitching these past few days. I've been worried since Mrs. Xu often went to Chongqing in the past year. I'm afraid that this thief will say that I seduced her in order to win back Mr. Xu. Mr. Xu is so proud, how can he swallow this?"
Jing Mingchen grabbed his hand and said, "What should we do? It seems that they want to kill you. Are you just going to wait for death?"
Le Ling sat down on the ground dejectedly: "What can I do? He is a high-ranking government official, and I am just an actor with a broken voice. I have to let him rub me at will."
Jing Mingchen sat with him on the ground for a long time, and said thoughtfully: "If you want to save your life, there are ways. Mr. Xu is from the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. The Military Bureau of Investigation and Statistics and the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics have been wrestling with each other. If you can get in touch with the Military Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, you may be saved."
Le Ling said dejectedly, "You sound nice. How can I get involved with the Military Control Commission? I don't even know any of their people."
Jing Mingchen comforted him: "I do know someone close to Mr. Lai of the Military Control Commission, but if you don't have a letter of surrender, even if I know Mr. Lai himself, I have no reason to introduce you."
Le Ling's eyes lit up: "Are you serious? As long as you can introduce me, I will certainly have the credentials. Mrs. Xu has been running a transportation company for several years, and I have been helping her manage the business. How could I not know what tricks are going on? This couple is pushing me too far, so don't blame me for taking desperate measures!"
When Jiang Gubei rushed to Kunming, Jing Mingchen and Le Ling had already left Yunnan in disguise.
He only heard that a shooting occurred in a hotel near Wenmiao Street the night before.
Standing in front of the hotel, Jiang Gubei stamped the cigarette butt under his feet and turned back to the airport.
A few hours later, when he was sitting on the plane with his eyes closed to rest, Jing Mingchen and Le Ling had already arrived in Chongqing.
Jing Mingchen took him to the North Mansion and called Lin Xianyu using the phone in the North Mansion. An hour later, a Buick stopped at the entrance of the North Mansion and then drove Le Ling to the direction of the Hunan Guild Hall in Wanglongmen.
In Lin Xianyu's office at the Military Commission's Investigation and Statistics Bureau, Lin Xianyu and Le Ling stared at each other across a desk. Lin Xianyu's eyes were sharp and sinister: "You know where this is. In this place, you are responsible for every word you say."
Le Ling gulped timidly: "I promise, every word I said is true."
Lin Xianyu smiled: "Very good, now I will officially begin to interrogate you. You said that you have evidence that the wife of Mr. Xu from the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics was involved in smuggling, murder and loan sharking. Please tell me all these things one by one."
Le Ling straightened his back, cleared his throat, and began to explain: "I met Mrs. Xu in 1939. The following year, I joined her transportation company in Kunming. Soon after, I was promoted to manager. A lot of the transportation company's business was handled by me..."
A few hours later, Lin Xianyu walked out of the office, went downstairs, and called the North Mansion: "He confessed everything, the evidence is irrefutable, Mr. Xu will not escape this time."
Jing Mingchen let out a long sigh, her tense nerves finally relaxing. She slumped heavily on the sofa and told Lin Xianyu: "You must ensure his safety."
After hanging up the phone, she went to the bathroom to take a shower, then fell on the big bed in the guest room and started to catch up on her sleep.
She was really exhausted from filming in Kunming these days. In the shooting scene, although she knew that the other party was sent by Lin Xianyu, she was still shocked when she heard the gunshot.
She slept soundly until dark, until someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of bed. She opened her eyes and saw Jiang Gubei looking at her with a cold face in her blurry vision: "Miss Jing, you have become so capable that you dare to plot with outsiders without telling me!"
Jing Mingchen's brain was spinning rapidly after getting enough sleep. She immediately spoke in a louder voice than Jiang Gubei to embolden herself: "How dare you say that to me? You and Lin Xianyu have been working together for half a year without telling me, didn't you?"
Sure enough, when this matter was mentioned, Jiang Gubei's momentum weakened: "Then you can't do such a dangerous thing behind my back."
Seeing that he softened his attitude, Jing Mingchen felt that she had indeed gone too far, so she comforted him: "I'm fine, it's all well-rehearsed, nothing will go wrong."
Jiang Gubei hugged her and put his head on her shoulder: "Gun has no eyes. What if Lin Xianyu hired a half-baked killer? You don't know, when I heard about the shooting in the hotel, I was completely scared."
Jing Mingchen's heart became as soft as cotton, and soaked in water, feeling heavy. She stroked Jiang Gubei's back and coaxed him, "It's okay, it's okay. I'm fine in front of you now, right? By the way, Lin Xianyu called and said that Le Ling confessed everything, and the evidence he provided is enough to bring down Mr. Xu."
What Lin Xianyu said was true. Within a month, news came that Mr. Xu had been removed from all his positions.
Mr. Xu, who has been active in politics for many years, has completely lost his voice this time.
As promised before, Lin Xianyu completed the procedures for Le Ling to go to the United States. Le Ling took Aunt Shen and left China for the glamorous world of America.
Before leaving, Jing Mingchen went to see him off. Aunt Shen was quite worried about the future, but Le Ling comforted her that she had saved a lot of money over the years and she didn't have to worry about not having food or clothes in the United States. Jing Mingchen felt guilty for taking advantage of Le Ling, and couldn't help but tell the truth when seeing him off. Le Ling didn't get angry, he just smiled and said to Jing Mingchen: "It's nothing, I'm still of some use, I'm happy."
After seeing Le Ling off, Jing Mingchen returned to Beigongguan in a depressed mood. She always felt as if something was unresolved. When she returned to Beigongguan, opera was playing on the radio. A spark flashed in Jing Mingchen's mind, and she asked Jiang Gubei: "Do you understand opera?"
Jiang Gubei was sitting on the sofa, clapping along to the music. When he heard her question, he smiled and said, "When I was young, I ran errands in the theater for a while. What do you think?"
He has a lot of experience! He shows off every day! Jing Mingchen rolled his eyes at him: "There is a play called "Killing the Four Gates", do you know what it is about?"
Jiang Gubei paused for a moment, then sang two lines, "Thinking back to the time when my king was so brave in Hedong, the wind blew the lotus flowers all over the river red. Now the red sun is covered by dark clouds again, and the dragon is trapped in the shallow water." He asked Jing Mingchen, "Is this the play?"
Jing Mingchen nodded: "That's it."
Jiang Gubei said: "This play tells the story of Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty being trapped in Shouzhou during the war with the Southern Tang Dynasty. Gao Junbao came to the capital to defend the king but was trapped. In order to save her husband, Gao Junbao's wife Liu Jinding personally led the army to Shouzhou to rescue him and defeated the Southern Tang army. In short, it tells the story of a heroic woman who risked her life to go to the battlefield to save her lover."
Jing Mingchen was stunned when he heard this.
She suddenly remembered that time in the teahouse, when she asked Le Ling what the play meant, and Le Ling just said: "There are many things in the world that you don't understand, do you really want to get to the bottom of everything?"
Le Ling, Le Ling, are you really stupid, or are you just pretending to be stupid?
It can be said that Lin Xianyu played an indispensable role in Mr. Xu's downfall. After this incident, he got a chance to be promoted and soon became a big shot around Mr. Lai.
The turmoil surrounding the Chiang family naturally subsided, and no more spies came to visit.
It seemed that everything was progressing smoothly until one day, Fu Qiudi suddenly came to Beigongguan to find Jiang Gubei again.
Her face was pale and bloodless as she said, "Mr. Lai just went to my house."
Jiang Gubei frowned: "Why did he go to your house?"
Fu Qiudi bit her lip and said with difficulty: "His purpose is the same as Mr. Xu's before! He said that he has admired me for a long time and is my loyal fan. He said that he has watched "The Peony Pavilion" over and over again for more than ten times and has been very interested in me since then. Unfortunately, I was already a married woman at that time. He said that now that Jiang Tao and I are divorced, he can't bear to see me alone in the troubled times..."
Jiang Gubei's face changed.
I never expected that just after driving away a wolf, a tiger came here!
He pondered for a moment and said, "You are a famous actress. He must be attracted by your fame and beauty, but I think it is more than that. He and Mr. Xu have been fighting for more than ten years. Both of them have been trying their best to kill each other. Now he has finally won. Mr. Xu pursued you for five years but failed. He probably wanted to suppress Mr. Xu and harvest you as a trophy."
Fu Qiudi smiled bleakly: "No matter whether it is true or false, I didn't want to marry Mr. Xu in the beginning, and now I don't want to marry this Mr. Lai! If you force me, I will die anyway."
Jiang Gubei felt a chill on his back when he heard this. He said sternly, "Why do you have to die? You are not alone. Am I not a human being? Is Lao Jiang not a human being? With two of us men here, can we just watch you die? Don't worry, I will call Lao Jiang and tell him about this. You have sacrificed so much for him over the years. It's time for him to pay for you."
Fu Qiudi watched him eagerly as he walked to the phone and dialed: "Connect me to Yunnan Jiang's Transportation Company, Mr. Jiang Tao."
A few days later, a "guest from Yunnan" appeared in Beigongguan.
In the North Mansion, Jiang Gubei, Jiang Tao, and Fu Qiudi sat in silence. Jiang Tao and Fu Qiudi lowered their heads. Jiang Gubei looked at them with sharp eyes: "Why are you lowering your heads? Is there a solution on the ground? Old Jiang, I asked you to come back to discuss something, not to let you judge whether the pattern of my floor is good-looking or not."
Jiang Tao finally raised his head: "What do you think we should do?"
Jiang Gubei seemed to have been thinking for a long time: "The only solution now is to leave Chongqing and live in hiding somewhere else, or simply... send Qiu Di to your place."
Jiang Tao seemed to be burned: "Is it possible?"
Jiang Gubei waved his hands impatiently: "Then tell me, what else can we do? It took us so much effort to bring down Mr. Xu, and it is impossible to bring down Mr. Lai again. What's more, we had already won over the Military Control Commission to deal with Mr. Xu last time. This time, the opponent is the Military Control Commission. What else can we do? By the way, Qiu Di, you didn't tell Lin Xianyu about Jiang Tao's return to Chongqing, did you?"
Fu Qiudi shook his head: "No."
After a while, she said softly but firmly: "Even if I tell him, he won't betray us."
Jiang Gubei stood up and said, "It's decided. No one knows that Lao Jiang and Qiu Di's divorce is just a temporary solution. No one knows that Lao Jiang has secretly returned to Chongqing. We will use this opportunity. In a few days, Qiu Di, you can drive to the outskirts of Chongqing on the pretext of visiting relatives. I will arrange for someone to pick you up there and take you to Leshan by boat. You can then go from Leshan to other places."
He turned his gaze to Fu Qiudi, his eyes sharp: "Remember, don't show any abnormality in the next few days, everything is normal."
Fu Qiudi and Jiang Tao looked at each other and nodded.
Fu Qiudi and Jiang Tao escaped on a Friday morning.
Jiang Gubei had already found out that Mr. Lai had left Chongqing the day before for some business and would not be back for three to five days. By the time he came back, Fu Qiudi and Jiang Tao had already gone away, so he had no choice but to swallow this loss.
At 8:30 in the morning, Fu Qiudi walked out of the house carrying a few gift boxes. The neighbor next to her was drying quilts. When she saw her, she greeted her: "Miss Fu, are you going to visit your relatives?"
A few days ago, at the mahjong table, Fu Qiudi mentioned that he had a relative in the suburbs who had not been feeling well recently and he wanted to go and see him.
"Poor relatives are always a source of trouble. You can't just ignore them, or else people will say you've forgotten your roots after flying into a phoenix's nest."
At the mahjong table, she mentioned the matter with some anger, which prompted the wives of her card-playing partners to join in complaining.
Fu Qiudi nodded to the neighbor: "We are relatives, let's go and take a look."
The driver had been waiting by the car for a long time. He was a man with gray hair, a slightly hunched body, wearing a hat and a face full of stubble.
The neighbor was sharp-eyed and recognized that this was not Fu Qiudi's usual driver: "Ms. Fu, did you change the driver?"
Fu Qiudi smiled and said, "No, Xiao Zhao, who drives me, had some family problems, so he recommended his uncle to come. Don't look at his uncle's age, he's an experienced driver with more than ten years of experience."
This "old driver" is naturally Jiang Tao.
This neighbor moved in the year he divorced Fu Qiudi, and he had only met him a few times. Even if he was an old neighbor, he probably wouldn't recognize that the middle-aged man in front of him was the dandy Mr. Jiang in a well-tailored suit and shiny hair.
Fu Qiudi stepped into the car door with one foot, and did not forget to lean out to ask the neighbor: "My relatives grow fresh fruits and vegetables. Do you want some, Mrs. Chen? If you do, I will bring some back for you."
What a friendly and caring neighbor! No one could have imagined that she would never come back.
Mrs. Chen watched the car drive out and disappear around the bend.
The car drove forward until it was about to leave the city. Suddenly, Fu Qiudi became nervous.
She saw a checkpoint ahead, with several people standing there, checking vehicles leaving the city.
It was too late to turn around, so he had to drive on. Fu Qiudi clasped his hands and prayed silently in his heart.
Their car was indeed stopped.
Fu Qiudi rolled down the car window and put on a beautiful smile: "What happened?"
The other party also recognized Fu Qiudi and saluted: "It turns out to be Miss Fu. Something happened in the city. The higher-ups ordered us to check the vehicles leaving the city and look for suspicious people."
Fu Qiudi's palms were sweaty: "Thank you for your hard work."
As the other party was talking, he was about to come in to check, but suddenly, a voice of rebuke came from behind: "Ms. Fu's car, do you think you can check it?"
Lin Xianyu walked over calmly, and the person who was questioning him quickly retracted his head and smiled apologetically: "Well, there is an order from above..."
Lin Xianyu nodded to Fu Qiudi: "We still have to follow the orders from above. Please bear with me, Miss Fu."
He glanced into the car and his eyes fell on Jiang Tao, not moving away for a long time.
Fu Qiudi looked at him, her heart in her throat.
After what seemed like a century, Lin Xianyu raised his hand: "No problem, let me go."
Fu Qiudi's heart, which had been hanging in the air, slowly settled down.
The checkpoint was opened and the car had just started again when Fu Qiudi heard Lin Xianyu shout "Wait a minute". Her heart was lifted again. She raised her head and used her lifelong acting skills to make the most innocent and confused expression: "What's wrong?"
Lin Xianyu looked into her eyes and said softly, "Goodbye, Miss Fu."
Fu Qiudi nodded, and the car drove out and headed towards the suburbs. Lin Xianyu stood with his back straight, staring at the back of the car like a benchmark until it completely disappeared from his sight.
The next day, Jing Mingchen met Jiang Tao and Fu Qiudi, who were disguised as farmers and wives, at the Leshan ferry.
The couple did not stay in Leshan for long. They only stayed for one night and then went to their next destination.
Before leaving, Fu Qiudi hesitated and said to Jing Mingchen: "If there is a chance, please say thank you to Lin Xianyu on my behalf."
She was sure, as sure as everyone was going to die, that Lin Xianyu recognized Jiang Tao.
With his intelligence, he would have seen through at a glance that this was an escape from which there would be no return. He also knew Mr. Lai's feelings towards Fu Qiudi. As long as he stopped the car and reported to Mr. Lai, he could do Mr. Lai a huge favor, which would be of great benefit to his career.
But he didn't.
If he showed mercy just this time, she should remember his kindness for the rest of her life.
Half a month after Jiang Tao and Fu Qiudi left, news came from Jiang Gubei in Chongqing that Lin Xianyu had been dismissed.
He left the Military Control Commission, and his great achievement in overthrowing Mr. Xu was wiped out. He no longer had a bright future in the Military Control Commission.
When they returned to Chongqing for the New Year this year, Jing Mingchen and Jiang Gubei went to see Lin Xianyu.
He became an idler. When Jing Mingchen and Jiang Gubei arrived, he was sitting in a rocking chair with his back to the door, staring at the dead branches and leaves in the courtyard in a daze.
Jiang Gubei said to Jing Mingchen: "I have something I want to talk to Mr. Lin alone."
Jing Mingchen looked at him, then at Lin Xianyu, walked out obediently and closed the door.
Jiang Gubei sat down on the armrest of the sofa: "You were dismissed because Mr. Lai believed that you were derelict in your duty by letting Fu Qiudi go that day."
Lin Xianyu smiled softly: "Yes, you see, spies are like this, they are inhumane and ruthless. No matter how great your achievements are, as long as you make a small mistake, they will immediately abandon you like a piece of trash."
Jiang Gubei said firmly: "You are not derelict in your duty, you are malfeasance. You recognized Lao Jiang, and you let them go on purpose."
Lin Xianyu did not deny it, Jiang Gubei asked softly: "Are you willing to do this?"
Lin Xianyu sighed and said, "If the person you love deeply loves someone else, what can you do? Mr. Jiang, tell me, if Miss San loves someone else, what will you do?"
Jiang Gubei was stunned for a moment, then replied, "I will give her a grand wedding, mountains of gold and silver, and a life of plenty."
Lin Xianyu nodded: "I am not as generous as Mr. Jiang. I don't have mountains of gold and silver. I can only wish her a peaceful life."
Jiang Gubei didn't speak for a long time.
Finally, he once again sighed and repeated what he said when Lin Xianyu asked him to join forces that year to show his affirmation.
"I thought you were a hero, but I didn't expect that you are just a romantic."
He opened the door and walked out, then stopped and turned back to say, "Qiu Di asked me to say thank you to you on her behalf."
Lin Xianyu didn't look back, he just waved his hand.
Jiang Gubei took Jing Mingchen's hand and left. He whispered to Jing Mingchen: "Fortunately, you also love me."
Jing Mingchen looked back. The door was wide open. The incandescent sunlight flowed on the cement floor, looking as cool as moonlight. The window was wide open, and the wind blew in, blowing the white curtains. Lin Xianyu sat with his back to the door, like an old man in his twilight years, rocking back and forth in a rocking chair, making a slight "creaking" sound. The radio next to him was singing an opera, singing "Flowers and plants like these are loved by people, life and death are at the will of people, even if they are sad, no one will complain."
It was like a door suddenly opened, light came in, and instantly illuminated a dark room. Jing Mingchen suddenly remembered the year when she was waiting for Fu Qiudi to perform in the audience, and Shen Bei sang Peony Pavilion. She felt like she had heard it before, but she couldn't remember where she had heard it.
She remembered.
It was in the Army Hospital.
In 1937, Lin Xianyu was wounded on the battlefield and was admitted to the Army Hospital for treatment. Once, when she went to the Army Hospital for an interview, she passed by his ward and heard someone humming in a low voice, "Flowers and plants like these are loved by people, life and death are at the will of people, even if they are sad, no one complains." She looked back and saw that the humming patient was wrapped in bandages, but a string of crystal tears rolled down from the corners of his eyes.
After rocking in the rocking chair for a long time, Lin Xianyu's sleepiness was shaken away. He slowly fell asleep in the rocking chair. He dreamed of the spring of the 21st year of the Republic of China.
In the 21st year of the Republic of China, "The Peony Pavilion" was performed in Shanghai and became an instant hit in the city. For a whole month, the hottest topics in Shanghai were "The Peony Pavilion" and the new movie star Fu Qiudi who played Du Liniang.
At that time, he was still a little beggar of thirteen or fourteen years old. Every day when he passed by the Cathay Cinema, he saw a big poster with a beautiful Du Liniang. Du Liniang was so pretty that he really wanted to go into the cinema to see her.
Finally, he got a chance. One day, he found a movie ticket that had not been checked on the ground. He swaggered to check the ticket with the ticket in his hand, but the ticket inspector pushed him to the ground and laughed at him: "Where did you come from, you little bastard? Did you steal the movie ticket?"
He fell to the ground, clenched his fists, and his eyes were misty with shame and anger.
At this moment, a hand pulled him up, wiped the dust off his body with a handkerchief scented with gardenia, wiped his hands clean, led him to the ticket window to buy a ticket, and then led him to the ticket gate: "Thank you for liking to watch my play, come in."
He looked back and saw the young actress smiling beautifully and sweetly.
Her hands were so soft that he swore at that time that he would keep them soft forever.
If he cannot give this warmth and tenderness, it is also good if others can give it.
What's more, that day when he let her run away with someone else, she looked back at him.
I'll devote my whole life to you just to get your look back.
This is enough for his life.