I have been to Yuqian Cheongsam Shop several times, but this time, Chen Baoxiang felt murderous intent.
The action of Wanhualou's fried goods platform is imperative. The two sons are facing a crisis, which is also a trouble that has to be solved.
"Boss Chen, what tool do you use to kill people? I only have Emei thorns here, but you can still use them?"
Lian Chengbi showed no fear and gently picked up the Emei thorn with his right index finger and middle finger.
"Kill me, and you won't be able to keep the Japs' shelves or those boxes -"
Chen Baoxiang looked at the food box. Hidden in the secret compartment were sleeve arrows, a crossbow, and three wrist-breaking knives.
He took a deep breath and suppressed the secret fire in his heart.
"Miss Lian, I support you with all my hands in killing the Japanese, but you can leave a way for the people of Jinan to survive, okay? My two sons are on the cargo platform. If they die, I won't be able to survive."
Lianchengbi points to the northwest, which is the direction of the train station.
"Boss Chen, to be honest, when I came to Jinan this time, I had no intention of leaving alive. This thousand-year-old city has been trampled by the devils for too long. The people of Jinan have been trampled by the devils like a horse, a dog, and an ant."
Under your feet, you will destroy it at will... In this life of dire straits, what is the difference between living and dying?"
Chen Baoxiang choked and replied: "There is an old saying in Jinan, it is better to live than to die... No matter how miserable you are, you still have to live. You can't just die, right? There are so many people in Jinan and so many people in Shandong.
, are all dead, and the land thousands of miles away is barren, is that what you want?"
For a moment, Chen Baoxiang was in a daze, thinking of the Luokou massacre and the piles of dead bodies that fell in the moat of Baotu Spring during the May 3rd massacre.
Death is easy, a knife and a gun fly over, the head falls to the ground, and blood flows for five steps.
Life is not easy. I have to go through many ups and downs before I can reach the age of forty.
We may not be able to live in our fifties, sixties, or seventies in the future, and we may not be able to see the scenery of Jinan in the future.
"Boss Chen, if you don't want to kill people, then please do it!"
Lian Chengbi issued an order to expel the guests, and Chen Baoxiang tightened his grip on the diner's handle, and his whole body began to tremble.
"Boss Chen——"
Gu Lanchun appeared in time and hurried over from the end of the nine-curved railing on the north side.
"Grand Sect Master, let me speak, I will tell him!"
Gu Lanchun shouted, inserting himself between Lianchengbi and Chen Baoxiang, blocking Lianchengbi and facing Chen Baoxiang.
"Okay, explain it to him! The purpose of Wanhualou's work is that I would rather teach me to betray the world than teach the world to betray me."
Chen Baoxiang can't explain it. In fact, he has figured it out now.
Chuanwen and Chuanwu are his sons, and every middle-aged or young Jinan person on the shelf is someone else's husband, son, or father.
The death of one person is a big disaster for Jinan.
So many people have died in Jinan, and they cannot continue to die.
Lian Chengbi picked up the book, rolled up the map, and walked to the west wing.
"Boss Chen, when you come here, don't act rashly. This place is only a stone's throw away from Luoyuan Mansion. If there is any chaos, the Japanese over there will rush over immediately."
Gu Lanchun wore a slanted jacket with a cloth bag slung across his shoulders. His hair was tied into a bun on the back of his head and pinned with a branch.
With her appearance, no one could recognize that she was Gu Lanchun, a famous woman in Qingyi who was famous all over the capital. They just thought she was an ordinary Jinan woman.
"My son is at the goods counter. Both sons are there. Even if one of them is left for me, my Chen family will have children..."
Chen Baoxiang retreated to the next best thing and did not dare to ask for more.
"We will definitely be able to come up with a perfect strategy to prevent any Jinan people from dying or getting hurt..."
Chen Baoxiang shook his head, knowing that this would be difficult to achieve.
"Go back. If possible, I will inform you in advance."
This is the most honorable answer. Chen Baoxiang was once a Jinan native who wanted to save face, but now, he would rather kneel down and plead for mercy, for the sake of his son and the future of the Chen family.
"Boss Gu, Miss Lian doesn't want to listen, so I can only tell you. If my two sons die, the feud between me, Chen Baoxiang, and Wanhualou will be over. In this life, there will be ten or twenty years left.
, I only do one thing, and that is to kill everyone in Wanhua Tower——"
This is Chen Baoxiang's innermost thoughts. Since he cannot change the direction of Wanhualou's actions, he can at least do what he can do.
Gu Lanchun held Chen Baoxiang's shoulders and forced him to sit down: "Boss Chen, you can't say that -"
Chen Baoxiang straightened his waist and stood up suddenly. His body was swaying and he was not able to stand very steadily.
"Boss Chen, Wanhualou and the people of Jinan are one family, and killing the Japanese is also to liberate Jinan... I understand what you are thinking..."
Chen Baoxiang wanted to cry, but he couldn't cry. It was like laughing. He also felt that the muscles on his face were completely stiff and he couldn't move at all.
"I...I know that this is the Jianghu. People in the Jianghu can't help themselves. You and I are the same. But, but...I am not willing to accept it. Both sons are on the goods counter..."
Chen Baoxiang's head seemed to be filled with paste, and when he shook it slightly, he made a strange sound of purring.
When he walked out of Yuqian Cheongsam Shop, the lights on Furong Street had been half extinguished, half-dark and flickering.
"Boss Chen, let's go."
Chen Baoxiang did not look back. He knew that Gu Lanchun's words did not count, and there was no reason for Lian Chengbi to change his plan.
When he walked to Xigendao Street, two wild dogs were fighting and running towards the north.
"The people of Jinan are worse off than a wild dog..."
Chen Baoxiang stood leaning against the corner and took two deep breaths.
He bent down to open the food box and looked at the wrist-breaking knife in the secret compartment.
The blade of the knife was wrapped in butter paper, and only the handle was exposed. The two-inch-long handle was tightly wrapped with hemp rope in circles.
"These three knives are prepared for the devils, kill the devils, kill the devils..."
Chen Baoxiang's hands suddenly started to tremble. He never thought that one day he would become an enemy of Wanhualou.
The knife used to kill the Japanese is used against the Chinese. This is a tragedy, a tragedy that brings joy to the enemy and pain to the relatives.
There was no one on the street. To the southwest, the searchlight on top of Luoyuan Mansion swept back and forth, like a white lightsaber, harvesting the heads of Jinan people.
Chen Baoxiang was unwilling to give in. He did not want to be an enemy of Wanhualou. Today, he swore a poisonous oath to "kill people" in front of Liancheng Bi, but he was forced to do so.
He stumbled back to the rice shop, pushed open the back door, exhausted all his strength, and fell to the ground.
When Liu Yue'e heard the noise, she ran out quickly, supported him hard, and carried him to the north room.
"The boss, the boss..."
Chen Baoxiang's mind became extremely clear, but he didn't want to say a word.
"Master, what's wrong with you?"
"It's okay. I'm tired. I'll be fine if I sleep for a while. Don't make any noise, don't scare the children..."
Chen Baoxiang remained motionless until dawn with his eyes open.
He heard the Japanese patrol walking through the back streets of the county, their big leather shoes stepping on the bluestone, making a cold and heavy clicking sound.
"When people are in the arena, they can't help themselves."
These eight words clearly appeared in his mind. Those Japanese boxes were of great importance. If they were not eradicated, there would be endless troubles.
The people of Jinan and Shandong will suffer, and the land of Qilu will be infested with wild dogs and desolate.
"The life and death of a family cannot be compared with the life and death of the entire Shandong. The Japanese became suspicious and strengthened the security of the goods platform, so the plan of Wanhualou cannot be carried out..."
After getting up, Chen Baoxiang walked to the store and opened the front door.
The bluestone slab in front of the door was covered with a layer of cold frost, emitting a faint cyan light under the rising sun.
“What is supposed to come will come—”
The three children went out with dry food and headed west side by side.
Chen Baoxiang held on to the doorframe and straightened his back.
After the massacre in Luokou, he once felt that the sky in Jinan had fallen, there was no sky, and there was no hope.
That time, he bit off his finger, dropped it into the wine bowl, and swore to the northwest of Luokou that as long as he had one breath left in his life, he would fight the Japanese to the end - "Kill the Japanese, kill all the Japanese in Jinan, kill all the Japanese in the world!"
"
This time, the sky was about to fall again, but he believed that as the backbone of the Chen family, he would be able to hold the sky up again so that Liu Yue'e, Chuan Wen, Chuan Wu, and Xiu'er could all live in peace.
"On New Year's Eve and the first two days of the Lunar New Year, I called the two children back and told them that their parents were suffering from heartache and were about to die... As soon as the children arrived home, they would close the door and the whole family would pretend to be dead and would not open the door to anyone.
.Hehe, hehe, this is the only way..."
Chen Baoxiang smiled bitterly and held on to the door frame, his nails digging into the wood.
This is a countermeasure that Chen Baoxiang came up with after thinking about it all night. Only in this way can Chuanwen and Chuanwu be preserved.
If it affects Wanhua Tower's plans, that's God's will.
Thinking of Lian Chengbi's decisive gesture, Chen Baoxiang became increasingly depressed.
He just wants to find a way to survive for his whole family, and this way of survival was achieved by one person overcoming obstacles. If others are not relatives, who can think about it for him?
"Master, what happened to you?"
Liu Yue'e stood in the store and wiped the table, clutching the rag hard, her eyes full of worry.
"It's okay, I'm confused by the sand, it's okay, it's okay, work, work!"
On the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, there were finally fewer customers in the store.
Chen Baoxiang cleaned the big pot, placed the elm vegetable pile in the center of the shop, took out the pig's head, split it open with an ax, then threw it directly into the pot, boiled it and skimmed it, and then turned it on over high heat.
Only when he was doing these things, he temporarily forgot about the flames of war outside and whether the blue sky and white sun flag or the plaster flag was hanging on the top of Jinan City.
Taking advantage of the sunshine in the afternoon, he ordered Liu Yue'e to flip the firecrackers on the window sill twice and spread them out to dry.
Those who make firecrackers in the countryside are afraid of an explosion when loading gunpowder, so they sprinkle water on the fuse, gunpowder, and rolling paper in advance.
Old Jinan people all know that from the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month to the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, all the water vapor in the firecrackers has run away, and when it rises at one o'clock, the vibrations make the rafters tremble.
Chen Baoxiang was busy until evening. The pig heads and mutton bones were cooked and placed in large wooden basins in the backyard. After they were allowed to cool, they were divided into small basins, where peanuts should be placed and soybeans should be placed.
Xiu'er likes to eat wolfberry. Liu Yue'e has already soaked a big bowl of red Gansu first-grade wolfberry, and will make a small bowl separately for Xiu'er to eat.
"Boss Chen——"
It was getting dark when a thin woman came in, wearing a cotton hat on her head, a long scarf around her neck, and a wicker basket slung in her elbow.
Ye Tian raised his head and his eyes lit up. It was Gu Lanchun who came.
"Friends from the Northeast sent some Harbin red sausages. I sent some over for the children to try."
Gu Lanchun put down the basket, which was full of two large bundles of Northeastern red sausage.
"Thank you very much."
Chen Baoxiang cupped his fists and cupped his hands, thanking him in a low voice.
Facing Gu Lanchun, his mood was a little complicated.
The other party promised to find a solution, but may not really have a solution.
In the past, he and Mu Changsha both loved to watch Gu Lanchun's plays, but now, after the play was over, Gu Lanchun took off his Tsing Yi costume and changed into the military uniform of Dao Ma Dan, and he was about to go to war with the Japanese.
Gu Lanchun took off his hat and gloves and sat by the fire.
Her face was smeared with disguise ointment, and it was gray and dull, as if she was suffering from a serious illness.
When walking on the street with this look, no one would pay attention to him even if he walked across from the Japanese devils.
"Boss Chen, I know what you are worried about, and I also know what you will do. It is a natural instinct for an old cow to protect its calf, and no one can fault it. I just came from the goods counter, and during the Chinese New Year period, the devils have increased their presence.
There are three times the guard post, and you have to check your work ID, number plate, and certificate of good citizenship when entering or exiting. Tell the two children not to just work hard and be more thoughtful."
The firelight reflected Gu Lanchun's eyebrows. Chen Baoxiang looked at her from the side. His long black eyelashes trembled slightly, like the buds of apricot blossoms in the Apricot Garden of Wanzhu Garden in spring.