Hearing that he was a guest invited by the Consul General, the sergeant did not insist that Lu Ming take out his American passport. Instead, he made a phone call in the guard box and raised his hand to let him go.
Lu Ming did not take his U.S. passport with him. After returning to China, he stored his passport in a bank safe. He was not afraid of losing it. He could apply for a replacement passport at the U.S. consulate and the procedure was not troublesome. He wanted to get a new passport in the United States.
Lock the whole life in the safe at the same time, and say goodbye with a simple "see you no more".
Half a year after returning to China, he had indeed almost forgotten about life in the United States and almost forgotten that he had another responsibility. Now the call from Mr. Frank in the United States awakened him.
The U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai is located at No. 13-14 Huangpu Road. It is an exquisite building worth US$355,000. It was also the most expensive embassy and consulate building in the world at the time. This is enough to show the U.S. government’s interest in Shanghai, the Oriental Magic City.
degree of attention.
Lu Ming often passes by this road, but never thought that he would one day walk into this building.
In the Consul General's office on the second floor, Lu Ming met the US Consul General in Shanghai.
The Consul General knew that Lu Ming was an overseas student who had returned from the United States not long ago and had obtained American citizenship, so he was quite affectionate towards him. One of the most important responsibilities of the embassy and consulates is to protect the safety of overseas Chinese in the country, and Lu Ming was certainly within their protection scope.
Inside.
The two of them conversed directly in English.
"Mister, this is a personal request from Harvard University." The Consul General said, taking out a telegram and showing it to Lu Ming.
When Lu Ming saw the above message, he asked the consulate to find Lu Ming and then invite him to the Consulate General to make a call to Mr. Frank from the United States.
The Consul General knew that Frank was a famous American scholar of East Asian economics and culture and a senior professor at Harvard University, but he also wondered why Mr. Frank's personal request was issued in the name of the US Secretary of State.
The reason why he paid attention to this request was because it was a telegram from Mr. Secretary of State, which could also be said to be an order. Therefore, after receiving the telegram last night, he immediately located Lu Ming's location and sent his own special car to guard the road.
Ming came to find him.
Lu Ming was ashamed when he saw the name of the US Secretary of State. It seemed that Mr. Frank was really anxious and adopted this unconventional method to do things in the name of the Secretary of State. No matter how difficult it was, the embassy and consulate could not refuse it.
.
The Consul General didn't say much. He obviously didn't want to get involved in this matter. He called a secretary, invited Lu Ming to another room, and used a secure phone to dial the number on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. He heard the voice on the other side.
Mr. Frank handed the microphone to Lu Ming, and then the secretary left the room by himself.
"Lu, are you still alive?" Frank's furious voice came from the receiver.
Lu Ming laughed. It was hard for him to imagine how angry Frank, who respected the tradition of British gentlemen the most and always maintained the old British style, was.
"Sir, I am still alive. Are you okay? Are your wife and children okay?"
The conversation between the two is always in Chinese, not English.
"I'm not good, I'm very bad, Lu, you are my favorite piece of gold and jade. Have you been rotten by the stale air in Shanghai and turned into rotten wood? You can't be carved anymore." Frank's anger continued, and he spoke quickly.
"Sir, the air in Shanghai is fresh. Although the rainfall has increased during this period, heavy rain is also the best detergent for cleaning a city." Lu Ming said with a smile.
He was not afraid of the old man. In his eyes, Frank, who always smoked a pipe and liked to wear a tweed jacket, was not only a teacher, but also a loving father, and his biological parents were truly strict fathers and loving mothers.
"Stop talking nonsense to me, what have you been doing for so long? Where are the observation reports you owe me? Have they all been sent into space?" Frank shouted.
Lu Ming felt really ashamed. Before returning to China, he made an agreement with Mr. Frank, which was to provide an observation report no later than ten days a week. Frank would pay him a salary of 500 US dollars and reimburse all telegraph expenses. If there was any temporary situation,
, can be sent at any time.
When Lu Ming first returned to Shanghai, he really wanted to write an observation report, but he really couldn't figure out what the lives of the Shanghai citizens around him were worth the attention of the US government. However, he still subscribed to a large number of domestic newspapers and periodicals, and also
There are foreign newspapers and magazines to keep yourself out of touch with the entire world.
"Sir, the things that happen around me and that I can observe are all trivial matters. They are really not worth wasting telegraph fees." Lu Ming defended.
"Lu, provide as much detail as possible about your observations, and remember to observe changes. Even if there are changes in the food and clothing of the rickshaw drivers you have ridden in, you can write an observation report and send it to me. How to analyze and adopt it is up to me.
Regarding the problem, you are my eyes in China and Shanghai. I hope to see the changes in China and Shanghai through you. The telegraph fee is reimbursed by the US government and is not an issue you need to consider." Frank said.
"Okay, sir, I will write you a report when I get back." Lu Ming said.
He also knew that there was really no way to postpone it, so he might as well just treat it as a composition assigned by the teacher when he was in school.
"It's a very smart idea for you to open a detective agency in Shanghai. This way you can have a good identity as a cover, and you can run around without being bogged down by the heavy work." Frank praised him at the right time.
Lu Ming thought to himself, I am not trying to hide my identity, I really want to be a detective. My reasoning ability will scare you, but no one uses me to handle cases.
"I heard that you were going to get married, why did you change your mind again?" Frank asked.
"Sir, do you know this? You are not spying on me, are you?" Lu Ming said half truthfully.
"Of course I know that the Shanghai Consulate General is paying attention to your situation, of course for your safety. The Consulate General reports on the safety of overseas Chinese every week, and I pay special attention to the reports from Shanghai." Frank explained.
Lu Ming felt a little unnatural. He really didn't expect that there was an eye from the Consulate General staring at him from behind. Thinking at the best, it might be that the current situation is turbulent and the Consulate General has strengthened its supervision of overseas Chinese. Thinking at the worst, then
It's surveillance.
"In addition, the daughter of Mr. Sheng Youde, the richest man in Shanghai, disappeared. This is such an important matter, but I read about it in the Washington Post, not from your report. Why didn't you report this matter?
"Frank asked.
"This is just a disappearance case. It happens often in Shanghai. Are you concerned about it?"
"Since it happened to the richest man in Shanghai, we have reason to suspect that this is not an ordinary criminal case, but may be a big conspiracy, don't you think? If it is a conspiracy, then where does the conspiracy come from and what is its purpose?
?" Frank sneered.
Lu Ming was ashamed. He had already taken on this case, but he didn't think as much as Frank. Obviously, he only cared about the missing persons, while Frank was concerned about the things hidden behind the disappearances.
"Sir, I will continue to give you observation reports on this case." Lu Ming suddenly became alert.
"That's good. Also, don't use your real name when sending me the telegram. Instead, use Martin Scott. If there is a major event, then send it in cipher text. I'm reminding you again, don't forget it.
Our agreement." Frank said.
Lu Ming agreed. He felt like a bad spy who got lost during a mission and was being severely scolded by his instructor.
But for a moment, a thought flashed in his mind: Could the teacher be an agent of British mi6?
Whether it is his various arrangements or some of the techniques taught to him, they all look too much like a secret agent rather than a cultural scholar.
However, considering Frank's identity, he still dismissed his fleeting thoughts. Although the British Empire was a kingdom of old spies, it would not dare to place agents around President Roosevelt. Once it was exposed and the incident came to light, how could he have the face to show off to others?
.
After talking to Frank on the phone, Lu Ming walked out of the room and was invited to the consular office by the secretary waiting outside.
Mr. Consul General chatted with him for a while and didn't ask him a word about the phone call, but he already had a guess in his mind.
President Roosevelt did not trust government workers, but instead used a large number of scholars, bankers, industrialists, and retired soldiers from various fields to serve as his personal advisors and envoys who secretly visited various countries on his behalf. This is not a secret among the upper levels of the U.S. government. Shanghai
The Consulate General also had a personal observer for the president. He didn't know who it was. It might be a military attache or a second secretary, but he never thought to find out unless he wanted to ruin the rest of his life.
Among President Roosevelt's personal advisers, the most famous are two figures. One is the public special adviser to the president, Harry Lloyd Hopkins, who is also President Roosevelt's think tank. Hope is involved in almost all European policy decisions.
The shadow of Kings is in it. After the outbreak of World War II, Roosevelt's contact with the Soviet Union and his personal contact with Stalin were all completed by Hopkins. He became a heavyweight figure hidden behind the scenes of the Big Three during World War II.
The second heavyweight is retired Colonel Donovan. Under the instruction of President Roosevelt, he organized the U.S. Strategic Intelligence Service during World War II. After World War II, it became the world-famous CIA, which competed with the KGB from east to west.
After chatting for about half an hour, Lu Ming felt a little restless. He didn't understand whether the Consul General was really free and had nothing to do, so he was chatting with him about these trivial matters, or he had other motives.
Americans are accustomed to respecting other people's privacy, so they never ask about other people's home conditions, unless they are special friends.
Could it be that Mr. Consul General, by doing as the Romans do in his native land, has contracted some of the Shanghai habitual habits? Are you trying to deliberately tease him?
At this moment, someone knocked on the door, and Lu Ming took the opportunity to stand up and say goodbye.
Mr. Consul General said goodbye to him with some regret, and then walked him out of the room in person, as intimately as if the two had been friends for many years.
The staff waiting outside the door stared at them dumbfounded, wondering what the relationship between this young Chinese and Mr. Consul was.
"Okay, I'll try my best. Thank you sir for the invitation."
Lu Ming stumbled downstairs and then walked out of the Consulate General. The Consul General's car was already waiting for him. This special car transfer made Lu Ming a little dizzy. The American Consul General was too enthusiastic.