However, not long after Dai Li left, Kong Xiangxi's butler Lin Shiliang arrived. As soon as he entered the door, he skillfully took out an invitation and handed it over.
Little did he know that Li Qiang's mind was still immersed in the meeting with Dai Li just now, and he didn't reach out to pick it up at all.
Lin Shiliang stood there in shock for a long time, and then he couldn't help but greet him in a low voice, "Mr. Li! Mr. Li?"
Li Qiang suddenly came back to his senses, "Ah? Oh, Butler Lin, I'm really sorry. I was a little distracted just now. What did you say?"
"Knowing that you and your wife are going back soon, our master has specially reserved a seat at Liuchun Temple. We will hold a banquet for you two at noon tomorrow to see you off. We also ask you to show your respect."
"I am so grateful to have been treated so politely by Master Kong during this trip. How can I dare to trouble him to hold a banquet to see us off? This is impossible, absolutely impossible!"
Lin Shiliang waved his hands after hearing this, "Mr. Li is serious. In fact, it is not only our master but also Mrs. Jiang who insists on holding a banquet for the two of you, so..."
"What? Even Mrs. Jiang... oh, I'm really flattered! If I don't agree again, I really don't know how to flatter you. I'd like to ask Butler Lin to tell Mr. Kong that we and I will be on time for the banquet at noon tomorrow."
"That's right! I'll be waiting for you two at Liuchunmen tomorrow. Farewell!"
"Steward Lin, walk slowly!"
After a speechless night, Li Qiang went out early the next morning to buy a few boxes of exquisite snacks and gifts, and went straight to a house that had just moved in near Shenxiankou.
"Oh, Mr. Li, you came right away. Why did you bring so many things? You're so out of touch." When the hostess saw that it was Li Qiang who was visiting, she immediately greeted him warmly.
Li Qiang smiled and said, "How about it, Mrs. Xu, are you still used to living here?"
"For us orphans and widowed mothers, this kind of life is already pretty good."
"Where's Yanji?"
"I went to school. Madam Chiang specially approved the note. Not only that, she also arranged a relatively free job as a librarian for me. This way, I have enough time to take care of Yanji."
Hearing this, Li Qiang nodded, but still said with some worry: "Mrs. Xu, this place is not as good as Hong Kong. If the security is not good enough, the Japanese planes will come over and drop bombs. I heard that not long ago,
It also caused a huge tragedy, so you must be more careful!"
"Well, I've heard about that too, but don't worry, the Air Defense Department has already sent people to take a look, and they will send people to help us dig the air-raid shelter in the next two days. In the end, it's all thanks to you, Mr. Li, for
If it weren't for you, we, mother and daughter, would never have been able to reach Chongqing. Even if we were lucky enough to arrive in Chongqing, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to live here."
After saying that, he asked to bow down.
Li Qiang saw this and hurriedly stepped forward to help her up, "Mrs. Xu, what are you doing?"
"Other than that, I really can't think of how to express my inner gratitude to you at this moment."
"Mrs. Xu, you don't have to be like this. Even if you want to thank me, you shouldn't thank me. Instead, you should thank Professor Chen!"
"Professor Chen?"
"Yes, I think if Professor Chen had not reluctantly given up his love and gifted his personal collection of "Ancient and Modern Zaju" in the banknotes of the Pulse Watch House, Madam Chiang and the Air Defense Department might not have treated you mother and daughter so well.
I’m so concerned about this.”
As soon as these words came out, Mrs. Xu fell into silence and murmured for a long time: "I didn't expect Professor Chen to be...Mr. Li, I know the next request is a bit excessive, but if I can, I still want to beg you.
Help him, at least... at least you can save his life after Hong Kong is destroyed... okay?"
Facing Mrs. Xu's extremely sincere eyes with a hint of expectation, Li Qiang did not choose to dodge but instead looked up decisively and replied without hesitation: "Don't worry, Mrs. Xu, I will
promise you!"
"Thank you!" Mrs. Xu said, ignoring Li Qiang's obstruction and bowing deeply to him.
After leaving Mrs. Xu's house, Li Qiang went straight back to the guest house.
However, just as he was about to return to his room, he bumped into Lao Wenchi, who had been waiting in the corridor for a long time. A bad premonition suddenly arose, but he still pretended to be relaxed and said hello, "
Brother Wenchi? Why are you so free today and come to my place?"
Lao Wenchi replied with a businesslike look: "I heard that you were going back, so Deputy Director Zheng sent me over to see you off."
"Deputy Director Zheng is so polite." After saying that, he turned around and said angrily into the room, "Haitang, what's the matter with you? How can you let Brother Wenchi stand in the corridor? Really?
…”
After hearing this, Lao Wenchi hurriedly explained, "Brother Li, you have misunderstood my sister and brother. It was me who insisted on waiting for you here, so I rejected her kindness."
Hearing this, Li Qiang's face looked better, "That's it, then... please come in quickly! Let's talk inside if you have anything to say."
After doing enough superficial things, the two of them walked into the room.
As soon as he entered the door, the look on Lao Wenchi's face suddenly became serious, and he said to Li Qiang in a deep voice: "I just received a call from Mr. Zhou, asking you to return as soon as possible."
Unexpectedly, as soon as he said this, Li Qiang showed a troubled expression, which immediately made Lao Wenchi frown, "Is there any problem?"
"To be honest, now that the mission has been completed, I also want to leave Chongqing, a place of right and wrong, as soon as possible, but this specific route..."
"Don't worry, Mr. Zhou has made all the arrangements. As long as you arrive at the junction of Guangdong and Guangxi via Guangxi, someone from Guangdong will come to meet you and escort you to Hong Kong. But remember, the mayor of Guangzhou, Chen Yaozu, is Chairman Wang's brother-in-law.
He is the biggest obstacle to your return, do you understand?"
Li Qiang nodded heavily after hearing this, "I understand, but how should we contact the people who come to meet us?"
Lao Wenchi was naturally prepared for this question. Before he finished speaking, he lowered his voice and whispered a few words to Li Qiang. After speaking, he stood up and left, "Okay, if nothing unexpected happens, this should be the last time the two of us meet.
It’s a long road ahead, I hope Brother Li will take good care of it.”
"Brother Wenchi goes deep into the enemy camp, so we should pay more attention to it!"
"Then let's cherish each other and say goodbye!"
After that, Lao Wenchi left, with a bit of freedom and ease in his words and deeds.
I have to say that this Lao Wenchi can be considered a character, but it's a pity that he was in the wrong team and took the wrong road.
For some reason, Li Qiang seemed to see a bit of himself in him, and couldn't help but sigh.
But at this moment, Haitang's words directly brought him back to reality from his emotions.
"I said it's time to go to the banquet. How long are you going to stay there in a daze?"
Li Qiang suddenly came to his senses, and at Haitang's urging, he tidied up, and then rushed to Liu Chunmai Restaurant without stopping.
However, what surprised Li Qiang was that although Lin Shiliang waited at the stairs early to greet him like last time, he did not take the two of them directly into the private room like last time, but left Haitang behind.
In the VIP lounge area, Li Qiang was taken alone to the door of another private room at the end of the corridor.
"Madam, we're here." Lin Shiliang knocked on the door gently and said in a respectful tone.
After a while, Mrs. Jiang's voice came from inside, "Come in!"
Li Qiang immediately straightened his clothes after hearing this, and then stepped in.
To be honest, this private room is not too big, but the decoration inside is very elegant and elegant. Perhaps that is why Mrs. Jiang chose this place to meet her!
Just as she was thinking about it, Mrs. Jiang spoke first, "Here you come? Sit down!"
"Yes!" Li Qiang responded quickly, and then sat upright opposite Mrs. Jiang.
Mrs. Jiang did not go around in circles and went straight to the topic, "I believe that during your trip to Xifeng, you should already have an understanding of General Huang's attitude, right?"
"Yes!" Li Qiang returned truthfully, and then recounted the conversation between the two to Mrs. Jiang truthfully.
It was only after confirming that what Li Qiang said and the monitoring recording Zheng Yaoxian sent back were almost word for word, that a smile finally appeared on Mrs. Jiang's face.
"You see, even if General Huang is not red, he still has deep prejudices and misunderstandings about the Chairman. That's why the matter is here. After all, the party-state is not just for the Chairman. Li and Bai from the Guangxi clique, Yunnan and Yunnan
Long Yun of the Military Clan and Yan Xishan of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Clan, which one is not a local official who holds heavy troops and dominates one party? Even within the party, there are factions such as the CC and the Xishan Conference that jump out from time to time to impose constraints. What a taste of this.
Is the word 'difficult' good enough?"
After hearing this, Li Qiang immediately put on a look of shame and replied: "What Madam said is absolutely true. Previously, I was humble and made things easy."
"It's not your fault. After all, our status is different, our starting point and angle of looking at the problem are also different, and the final judgment is naturally different." At this point, Mrs. Jiang paused for a moment, and then pretended to be casual.
He asked politely, "By the way, I heard that when Xifeng was marching to the camp, you and Deputy Commander Dong followed the ancients and had a story about cooking green plums and drinking wine to talk about heroes, right?"
"The mission assigned by Madam, I never rushed to do it, so that was the reason for that parody, which made Madam laugh."
Mrs. Jiang waved her hand, "You can't say that. Yes, that old director does like to show off and preach, but he doesn't do it to everyone. Only those who can catch his eye will say more.
Those two sentences, since you can sit down and talk freely with him, you must have put in a lot of effort to make him favor you and be willing to cooperate with you in such a drama of cooking green plums for wine."
As soon as these words came out, Li Qiang was stunned, "Madam, do you mean to say that what Chief Dong said to Beizi was all an act?"
"Of course, otherwise do you think you can hide your little tricks from that old fox?"
"this……"
Seeing that Li Qiang was speechless for a long time, Mrs. Jiang smiled and consoled her: "But don't worry, even if he is acting, with his character, what he says must be from the bottom of his heart. After all, he is an expert in buying floral cloths and has always been
None of them will make a loss-making transaction."
Hearing this, Li Qiang breathed a long sigh of relief, and then recounted the conversation between the two in detail to Mrs. Jiang.
"Well, this old director's analysis is really clear and logical. No wonder the chairman of the committee loves and hates him, but he can't help but admire him. Okay." After saying this, Mrs. Jiang stood up and said to Li Qiang,
"I won't eat anymore, so that you won't be too restrained and unable to let go. By the way, the Chairman likes the set of ancient books you gave me very much. If you are tired of your lurking life, you can keep it. Dai Li, I'll
Come and talk to him."
"Thank you Madam Chiang and the Chairman for your kindness. In the face of a national crisis, you should never relax in your humble position, let alone have the slightest intention of quitting. What's more, the comrades over there are still in dire straits and are in a desperate situation. How about your humble position?
How can you ignore so many comrades just for your own personal comfort?"
"That's good. As long as you can return safely, I will personally award you the third-class Yunhui Medal."
As soon as these words came out, even Li Qiang couldn't help being shocked and froze on the spot.
What is the concept of the third-class Yunhui Medal? That is the highest honor for school-level officers. Even for general officers, ordinary merits will only be awarded the fourth-class Yunhui Medal. In other words, Mrs. Chiang is promising herself an officer.
.
You must know that even though Xu Baichuan, Zheng Yaoxian and Shen Zui, who are among the eight members of the military command, are already the best in the military command, their highest military rank is only colonel. They have been lurking in enemy camps for so many years, and they are still just colonels.
He was a lieutenant colonel, but now Mrs. Jiang directly promised herself an official position as soon as she opened her mouth. In other words, as long as she can return safely, she will at least be an equal to those few people, and even be directly promoted to a general.
Maybe, it can be said that a heavy promise was made.
Mrs. Jiang seemed to be very satisfied with Li Qiang's reaction, so she patted Li Qiang's shoulder encouragingly and left without looking back.
I don't know how long it took before Li Qiang came back to his senses and returned to the VIP rest area.
"What's wrong, are you okay?" Upon seeing Li Qiang's somewhat lost look, Haitang immediately stepped forward and asked with concern.
"Ah? No...it's nothing. Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm going to wash my face first." After saying that, he went straight to the bathroom.
It didn't take long, and when Li Qiang came out of the bathroom again, he had completely returned to normal.
But even so, Haitang still kept asking questions uneasily. In desperation, Li Qiang had no choice but to quietly tell Mrs. Jiang about Xu Guan.
It was okay for Haitang not to listen. After hearing this, he immediately started dancing with excitement. In the end, he had to imitate Li Qiang and go to the bathroom to calm down, and finally calmed down his inner excitement.
And just after she came out of the bathroom, Lin Shiliang came over and said respectfully: "You two, it's almost time, please come with me!"
