When Wei Ran drove the car back to the entrance of Quanyechang in accordance with Jasmine's request, Jasmine put her fingers in her mouth and blew a loud whistle. Within a few seconds, two little cigarette sellers came to blows.
He ran over in a hurry.
"Sister Jasmine, are you buying cigarettes?"
One of the young men who had sold them cigarettes many times before was talking, and he took the initiative to move the cigarette case hanging on his shoulder to the car window, and asked enthusiastically, "Do you still want the Fairy brand?"
"Give me as many packages of fairy cards as you two have here."
Jasmine said, having already taken out a few pieces of gold and threw them into the cigarette case, "In addition, your mute uncle asked me to tell you, be careful in the next few days, and if you encounter any difficulties, go to the cloth shop where Sanguo'er is not working.
Hide. You don’t have to look for the extra money. You should reserve some food in advance.”
"Hey! We remembered it!"
The young man was not polite to Jasmine. As he spoke, he handed all the Fairy cigarettes in his and his companion's cigarette cases to Jasmine along with two packs of matches.
"Sell me all your Qianmen cigarettes and Camel cigarettes."
It was only then that Wei Ran called another cigarette seller over, and like Jasmine, he gave him several silver coins, and with the little guy's gratitude, he bought all the cigarettes in their cigarette case.
Qianmen and Camel cigarettes, as well as several boxes of matches.
After sending away the two young men selling cigarettes, Jasmine signaled Wei Ran to go back, and at the same time took the initiative to explain, "When the mute uncle was in trouble, the lady rewarded him with five oceans, and he relied on the five oceans to make his living.
Started a cigarette selling business.
Later, the mute uncle became the girl's driver. Every month he would find a beggar child, give him five dollars, and teach him how to buy and sell cigarettes."
"Is this the case now?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.
"Can't"
Jasmine nodded, "Any young man selling cigarettes who buys two packs of cigarettes and gets a pack of matches for free is probably brought by the mute uncle, but he doesn't even want to show his respect for a pack of cigarettes. He still spends money to buy cigarettes himself.
"
After saying that, Jasmine changed the subject without waiting for Wei Ran to speak, "Let's get down to business. The lady is not here. Brother Wei Ran, do you think Canhua should play some music for that brat?"
"That's your nephew, not mine," Wei Ran reminded the other party, half jokingly and half seriously.
"I want to hear your opinion." Jasmine lit another cigarette as she spoke.
Seeing this, Wei Ran, who was in charge of driving, simply lit a cigarette and said in a puff of smoke, "I don't know my cousin's plan, but the love letter shows that it is definitely better to be scattered than to be together."
"What do you mean?" Jasmine looked at Wei Ran strangely.
"Have you never been bribed in these years or Qiushi hasn't been bribed?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.
"They've all been bribed," Jasmine sighed, "most of them were tabloid reporters."
“It makes the same sense”
Wei Ran slowed down the car slightly, "Let the outside world think that the study apartment is monolithic, it will only make them think that the small building is full of secrets. But it will be different if you take the initiative to open a few holes."
"you mean..."
"Two dollars a day"
Wei Ran stretched out his two fingers and compared them, "Besides, it's the devil's money. If you don't make money, you won't make it in vain. I thought, the devil will definitely come to Canhua to ask questions. Shouldn't it be over if we just show off?"
What the Japs knew through Canhua's mouth at that time was what we wanted him to know."
"But what if it's exposed?" Jasmine still felt sorry for her nephew after all, "If it's exposed, wouldn't Canhua be in danger?"
"When the time comes, can't we just deal with Canhua first before the Japanese?"
Wei Ran replied without any psychological pressure, "We just need to hide Canhua well, and then release the news that he betrayed the lady and was sunk in the Haihe River. If you don't believe it, just go and ask under the Haihe River! Anyway, in the Haihe River
There are some old bastards waiting for extra food."
Before Wei Ran could finish his words, Jasmine already laughed out loud, and then nodded in approval and said, "What you said makes sense. I'll talk to Canhua when we get back."
"The words must be seven percent true and three percent false."
Wei Ran reminded him with a puff of smoke, "It can also be nine percent real and one percent fake. The more real components there are, the more lethal the fake ones will be. Little brother Canhua seems to be an honest person, but the more he is like this
If you are honest, the lies you tell will be easier for others to believe."
"I'll just take it as you praising him," Jasmine said, but she laughed again.
While chatting, I returned to the Xuqing Letter Apartment. The workers who arrived early in the morning were still building the flower beds that blocked the basement windows. On one side of the courtyard near the north wall, there was now a row of six paintings.
There are large glazed water tanks with lotus patterns. Each of these water tanks is large enough for two adults to sit in and take a bath.
But the water tank was already planted with lotus flowers and plants dug from nowhere, and a fishmonger whom I had seen before at Sanguo'er was putting lively carps and loaches in it.
"Miss has been hungry"
Jasmine said before opening the car door, "I, Yang Ma, Qiushi, Cao Duba, including the young lady all have to eat, have all been hungry, and are afraid of hunger. What about you? Have you ever been hungry?"
"Ah..."
Wei Ran swallowed subconsciously. Although he didn't say anything, Jasmine already got the answer.
"Just put the things in the back seat in the car first." After saying this, Jasmine opened the car door, then walked around to the back of the car, and took out the cigarettes, wine, tea and candies bought at Sanguo'er from the trunk.
Entered the small building.
By the time Wei Ran backed the car into the garage, Jasmine had already closed the door of the small building. At this time, there was only a large basin of sour plum soup with ice cubes and watermelon soaked in water in a bucket.
Only Cao Muba, who was holding the teapot and supervising the work, was left.
Bao Yuan took the initiative and gave half of the Camel cigarettes bought by Bao Yuan to Cao Duba. The latter grinned with an honest smile, then tore open two packs of cigarettes and scattered them to the workers.
branch.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! While the workers were smoking, Wei Ran also walked around the small courtyard. After half a day of work, a circle of flower beds covering the basement windows has been almost completed.
, at this time, workers were leveling the outside of the flower bed with cement and inlaying various geometric patterns with small pebbles.
According to the current progress, I am afraid that all the work will be completed by the evening. I went to the flower bed with the ventilation holes hidden. Not only did it block the basement windows, but the flower bed was even connected to the courtyard wall.
Together, it not only covered the original flower bed and iron fence, but also the large water tank with lotus and goldfish was wrapped in the flower bed.
Wei Ran fed the colorful big parrot some nuts. After trying to stroke the parrot's wings but almost getting bitten, Wei Ran decisively turned around and returned to the first floor.
Miss Mei Xiang was not here, so the lunch cooked by Yang Ma was relatively simple. It consisted of a few refreshing cold dishes and a pile of hot pancakes, which was no different from what the workers who had left their meals had to eat.
Although this lunch is ordinary for Wei Ran, Jasmine and others, it is a rare and good meal for both Tao Canhua and the workers hiding in the shadow of the courtyard wall, eating around square tables and large carts.
.
After finishing the hot summer lunch with a "big cake and everything" method, Cao Duba was the first to leave the small building and distributed a few more packs of cigarettes to the workers, while Wei Ran helped Yang's mother clear the dining table.
As for Tao Canhua, as early as when he was eating, he was taught over and over again how to deal with the Japanese Zeda by Jasmine. After finishing the meal, he didn't even have time to rest, so he was taken to the second floor by Jasmine to continue the emergency training.
With nothing to do, Wei Ran simply went back to the room and took a look around. When he came out, he already had a Rollei camera in his hand.
With a cigarette in his mouth, he took several contemporary photos of the busy workers. He also mingled with them through the camel cigarettes he handed out from time to time.
Towards evening, all the work was finished. Cao Duba paid each worker enough wages and gave them two extra watermelons to eat on the way back before letting them go.
At six o'clock in the evening, Guan Bingwen, a young man who had met at the dance before, came over on a bicycle.
"Is Miss Meixiang here?" the young man asked after Wei Ran opened the courtyard door.
"Not here, what happened?" Jasmine asked loudly at the door of the small building while turning on the porch light.
"Teacher Feng's car broke down"
Guan Bingwen, who was standing at the door of the small courtyard with his pusher, said anxiously, "He asked me to borrow Miss Meixiang's car for use. Teacher Huang is anxious to go back to her parents' house to have a look and will definitely return it tomorrow morning."
"I'll go find the mute uncle to get the key for you, but you have to drive carefully." Jasmine said from a distance, "Our lady may come back at some time, so you must return the car tomorrow."
"Don't worry, Sister Jasmine!"
As Guan Bingwen said this, he had already pushed his bicycle into the yard and parked it against the wall. "I will definitely bring the bike back at dawn tomorrow, and I will fill it with gas by then."
"wait a moment"
Jasmine said, turning around and getting into the small building, while Wei Ran glanced at the milky white car in the garage without leaving a trace. He remembered clearly that there was still lunch in the back compartment of the car.
Those mysterious cloth rolls I bought from the cloth shop I didn't care about back then.
Without waiting for long, Cao Yuba drove the car directly from the garage out of the yard, then opened the door and gave up the driving seat to Guan Bingwen, while making babbling gestures.
"Don't worry, Uncle Cao"
Guan Bingwen had already sat in the driver's seat as he spoke, "I will definitely not bump into it. I will send it back at dawn tomorrow!"
Before he finished speaking, Guan Bingwen drove the car, which seemed to have something he forgot to take out, and disappeared in a flash.
He glanced at Jasmine who seemed to be sizing him up with his peripheral vision, but Wei Ran was still not overly curious. Instead, after bolting the courtyard door, he went straight into his room and continued to finish his daily pack of cigarettes at the front door, cigarette after cigarette.
Smoking mission.
There was nothing to say all night. When it was just dawn on the morning of the 27th, Guan Bingwen sent the car back. There was even a bamboo chicken cage containing seven old hens in the trunk of the car.
"This was given to Miss Meixiang by Teacher Feng's mother-in-law," Guan Bingwen said as he moved out the chicken coop filled with old hens, "Mother Yang, where should I put it?"
"He...there's no way to raise chickens in this courtyard."
Yang Ma looked around, and finally pointed helplessly to the corner of the courtyard wall on the side of the entrance and said, "Just put it there first."
"okay!"
As he spoke, Guan Bingwen directly lifted the chicken cage to the base of the wall, then pushed the bicycle he rode over last night and said, "Mama Yang, brother Wei Ran, I won't stay much longer, I have to go back to class.
"
"Go on, go on, take your time on the road."
Yang Ma enthusiastically asked, waiting until the other party was far away, and then looked at the cage of old hens in the corner with a frown, "What can we do? If Xiao Su's mother sees this, she will definitely scold her again.
I."
"Isn't it enough to stew one for her then?"
As Wei Ran spoke, he re-bolted the courtyard door, then got into the cab of the car and backed it into the garage.
While reversing the car, he also noticed that the long cloth rolls in the back compartment were gone, replaced by the food box that was delivered to Teacher Huang's office yesterday.
When he stopped the car, Jasmine also walked into the garage. She opened the rear door as expected and took out the food box.
"Hold it for me"
As Jasmine spoke, she handed the lid of the food box to Wei Ran who had just come out of the car, then took out the silver dollar sealed in a long tube and put it into her pocket.
"Aren't you curious?" Jasmine asked proactively when she saw Wei Ran following behind with the lid of a food box and busy lighting a cigarette.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Not curious"
Wei Ran puffed out a puff of smoke and said, "My job is to protect my cousin, even though she doesn't take me with her when she goes out for fun now."
Hearing this, Jasmine smiled, took out another khaki envelope from the lower layer of the food box, folded it and put it in her pocket, and then said, "Remember to send Canhua to Xiao Su's mother before two o'clock, but it's very important."
Don’t make a mistake.”
"we have a deal?"
"It's agreed." As Jasmine spoke, she handed the food box to Yang's mother who happened to come into the house, and then ran up the stairs.
Aren't the beautiful cousin and the enchantress-like Miss Andy upstairs?
Wei Ran glanced at the stairs leading to the second floor in confusion, and then went into his room with an indifferent expression.
This morning, except for the disturbing Guan Bingwen and the hens that kept clucking and clucking, it was quite peaceful.
When the sun reached half the top of his head, Cao Yuba got up early as usual and started cleaning the yard and scrubbing the car. After Wei Ran fed the noisy big parrot, he carried a big watering can and started pouring water around the small building.
Flowers and the work of watering the flowerbeds covered with sack sheets.
After spending the somewhat boring morning in a particularly leisurely manner, Wei Ran also drove a car and took Tao Canhua, who was carrying a piano bag and carrying an erhu, to the opium den on the edge of the Japanese Concession.
However, what made Wei Ran frown was that in just one day, the Japanese Concession, which was only a street away, was under martial law!
"Brother Weiran, what...what should I do?" Tao Canhua asked in the back car, feeling rather restless.
"first"
Wei Ran stopped the car, raised the window, slowly put a holder on a cigarette and held it in his mouth. He lowered his voice and reminded, "You can't call me Brother Wei Ran, you have to call me cousin."
"Cousin...cousin"
Tao Canhua shouted in embarrassment. He had discovered that he was the youngest in the entire Love Letters Apartment. Even Qiushi, who was almost a year younger than him, asked him to call her aunt.
"Secondly"
Wei Ran turned around and said with a smile, "Cousin Canhua, you have to remember that as long as you play well today and satisfy Mr. Ueda, even if you can't walk around in the Japanese Concession in the future, at least no one will dare to bully you.
"
"I... what if Ueda is dissatisfied?" Canhua asked anxiously.
"That's his problem. It's none of our business. It's up to us whether we want to hear it or not."
Wei Ran said, taking out a piece of ocean from his pocket and handing it to the other party, "Remember, if the other party asks how many oceans I gave you, you can bite them off and say it's just one piece."
"Why...Why? Aunt...Didn't Jasmine say two yuan a day?"
After Tao Canhua finished speaking, he quickly waved his hand, "I don't want another piece, I'm afraid that the Japanese will ask, and I'm worried that he will blame you."
"No, this is for your own good."
Wei Ran smiled and said, "I can't explain it to you in detail, but he will definitely give you more than two oceans today. Do you know what to do?"
"I know, I know." Tao Canhua nodded hurriedly, "There are two yuan in total, one is mine and the other is the gas money for the round trip."
"That's okay. Get out of the car. Just listen to us and we'll make sure you're fine."
Wei Ran said, already pushing open the car door, taking out the lighter and lighting the cigarette in his mouth.
When Tao Canhua got out of the car cautiously but accidentally knocked his head, the expression on Wei Ran's face became more and more satisfied. Whether this Tao Canhua was really afraid or pretending to be afraid, he was
Very confusing.
Deliberately giving the young man a cigarette to calm down, Wei Ran led him and knocked on the door of the small building where Xiao Su's mother lived. He nodded and bowed and sent Tao Canhua inside.
"Go, buy a pack of cigarettes for me and come back." Xiao Su's mother said bossily to Wei Ran.
"But... Xiao Su's mother, you are not allowed to enter the concession next to it." Wei Ran said with a embarrassed look on his face.
"This Jinmen doesn't just have one concession, nor does it only sell cigarettes in the concession next to it." Xiao Su's mother rolled her eyes, "Go back quickly, why are you still waiting for me to give you money?"
"I...I'll go right away."
Wei Ran responded quickly, and after the old lady closed the door, she didn't forget to spit on the roadside, then got into the car and drove straight to the direction of Quanyechang.
He found the young man selling cigarettes and bought a pack of Fairy brand cigarettes. He also bought a pack of Camel brand cigarettes to complete the task. Then he slowly drove back to the opium shop and knocked on the bell.
He walked through the door of the small building next door, and amid the melodious guqin music, he respectfully handed all the cigarettes he bought and the pack of matches to the old lady.
“Waiting outside”
The old woman in kimono whispered a rather contemptuous instruction, and then closed the door.
Seeing this, Wei Ran spat again, then got into the car on the side of the road, lowered the window and lit a cigarette with the front door sign. While waiting for Tao Canhua to finish his work, he also looked at the people not far away.
The Japanese Concession is closed to entry and exit.
In fact, there is no need to go in. Just looking at the Japanese expatriates patrolling the concession with guns on their shoulders, you know that this war is inevitable, and both sides who are about to fight are already making various preparations.
The opium den on the roadside guarding the Japanese Concession, but not within the scope of the Japanese Concession, was really a good place to communicate with the outside world and collect intelligence at any time, and to retreat into the Japanese Concession to avoid the war at any time.
While he was observing the terrain outside, in the small building next to the opium den, Tao Canhua was playing the guqin and answering questions raised by Ueda.
According to this devil, as long as he plays the music continuously and without mistakes, he can get a piece of ocean for every question he answers.
This was undoubtedly a very attractive price, so much so that even Xiao Su’s mother, who was hiding on the second floor, was worried about it.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Fortunately, for Tao Canhua, although the piano skills he practiced since he was a child are far less impressive than the Guangling San played by Wei Ran in the basement, the muscle memory he has already formed is quite good.
It wouldn't distract him too much. What's more, Jasmine spent the whole afternoon yesterday helping him familiarize himself with the way to deal with problems.
Just when this guqin song was about to end, the Japs named Ueda asked, "The young man who sent you here, did he tell you the price of coming here to play for me?"
"I've said it"
Tao Canhua's nervous face showed a hint of happiness and gratitude, "Cousin Wei Ran said that if he comes to play for Mr. Zhida every day, he can get two dollars, but one of them is the gas money for the round trip."
"You see, Chinese people are so greedy."
Ueda threw a silver dollar at Tao Canhua's feet and at the same time switched to Japanese and spoke to Guizi Furukawa sitting on the other side of the chess table. There was only a strong sense of ridicule in his tone.
"Greed is good"
The thin Japs named Furukawa muttered vaguely, and at the same time he dropped a white piece on the chessboard. He lowered his voice slightly and asked, "Aren't you going to bribe that Chinese guy waiting outside?"
"Let's find someone else," Ueda said in a low voice. "It will be more credible if the two people's information is verified by each other."
"But what's the use of that woman's information?" Furukawa asked puzzledly.
"Of course she is useless"
Ueda smiled and explained at the same time, "But a narcissist is easier to control and bribe than those famous actresses, right? Furukawa-kun, those beautiful narcissists are the symbol of prosperity through singing and dancing."
"Are you going to support that lonely girl?" Furukawa asked with raised eyebrows.
"She can only be considered a breakthrough at best."
Ueda replied with a smile, "Chinese people have a saying that a thousand-mile embankment breaks in an ant nest. Furukawa-kun, to the Chinese people, the opium den you run is an ant nest."
To Jinmen, which is about to belong to us, that little lonely girl is an anthill. To the famous prostitute Miss Meixiang, this cowardly child and the greedy driver outside may be the same anthill."
