"When I was seven years old, I was in trouble. Xiao Su's mother took me and fled from Fengtian to Jinmen."

Meixiang said calmly, "When I was eight years old, when Xiao Su's mother and I were begging for food at the gate of the Liyuan, we met Mr. Shang Xiaoyun. He saw that I was pitiful and rewarded me with five oceans and two silver cents. Then

It was all the money he had with him at the time."

Having said this, Mei Xiang pointed to the two silver cents inlaid on the pistol grip and said, "Those five yuan and two cents saved my life and Xiao Su's mother. Later, Xiao Su's mother took it with her

When I found a job that allowed me to make a living, we had a total of one dollar and two cents left. I embedded the two cents in the rhino horn handle, and the other dollar was embedded in another small hand.

On the ivory grip of the pistol."

"Is this a rhinoceros horn?" Wei Ran looked at the small pistol held by the other party in surprise. He thought it was made of buffalo horn.

"This gun was also given to me by Mr. Shang Xiaoyun."

Mei Xiang sighed, "At that time, Mr. Shang's first wife, Mrs. Li, was still alive, but her health had been poor. In the 15th year of the Republic of China, Mrs. Li fell ill. I felt that I was of low status and did not dare to visit, so I asked

Miss Gu sent a rhinoceros horn as a token of appreciation.

Later, after Mrs. Li recovered from her illness, Mr. Shang asked Miss Gu to send this small pistol in the name of his wife. At that time, the pistol's grip was inlaid with two pieces of rhinoceros horns.

He asked Miss Gu to tell me that no matter whether you are an actor or a singer, as long as you keep yourself clean, you are not inferior to anyone else. But after all, if you are wandering around in the Liyuan Palace, you must have something to protect yourself and your innocence.

.”

"I heard rumors..."

"How can I, a singing prostitute in the fireworks alley, dare to climb up to Mr. Shang?"

Meixiang, who used to be full of aura, said with a sense of inferiority, "I have always had nothing but admiration and gratitude towards Mr. Shang and Mrs. Li. The rumors from the outside world after Mrs. Li's death were actually nothing more than the gossip of those romantic tabloids. In fact,

Since Mrs. Li's death, in order to avoid suspicion, I have not contacted Mr. Shang again."

Having said this, Meixiang put away the small pistol, took a deep breath and asked with a smile, "Qiushi also has a small pistol on her body, have you seen it?"

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "I've seen it before" Wei Ran nodded, "That one is much more beautiful."

"That one was a gift from Xiao Su's mother."

Meixiang shook her head helplessly, "Before Mr. Shang renewed our relationship, she had been thinking about bringing me and Mr. Shang together. Most of those rumors were spread by her."

After saying that, Mei Xiang looked at Wei Ran curiously, "Why are you so interested in these two pistols?"

"Maybe one day I'm down and out, and I can get some money by selling these inside information to Fengyue Tabloid." Wei Ran replied with a playful smile.

"Looking for a fight"

Meixiang gave Wei Ran a dumbfounded look, stood up with the oil lamp and walked downstairs, saying, "Okay, I've told you everything you want to know, go down and have a rest early."

"How about one last question?" Wei Ran stood up.

"Say" Meixiang responded without stopping as she walked downstairs.

"What's going on in the attic?" Wei Ran, who was at a loss for words, asked casually, just to help this beautiful cousin divert his emotions.

"It was also left behind by the British missionary"

Meixiang explained casually, "This used to be a place where opium was hidden. The British Concession was very strict. Not to mention opium dens, even brothels were not allowed to get out of the way. It's ridiculous to say that the opium was sold to us in China.

Aren’t they just the British?”

"Yes, it's just them..."

Wei Ran sighed as if talking to himself, followed her out of the attic, watched her enter the bedroom, then returned to the darkroom on the second floor, lay down, and lit the last Qianmen cigarette of the day.

The appearance is ruthless, the actor is meaningless?

Wei Ran snorted coldly. Whether it was Mr. Shang Xiaoyun, whom he had never met before, or Mei Xiang upstairs, these actors and singers, who were almost at the bottom of the society's contempt chain, were much better than the likes of Ding Rongfu.

too much.

After smoking the last cigarette very carefully, Wei Ran fell asleep in the rain that never stopped outside the window. At the same time, he was looking forward to the pigeon and radish soup tomorrow morning. By the way, he was also worried about the next few days.

Will everyone in this building starve - like in Leningrad under siege?

Perhaps he was reminded of the terrifying memory of hunger before, or perhaps it was the experiences he heard Mei Xiang talk about before going to bed. In his sleep, Wei Ran felt that the surroundings were getting colder and colder, and he even vaguely heard the sound of gongs and drums.

The noise of opera.

Gradually, the voice of the opera singer became clearer and clearer, and the coldness around him became heavier and heavier.

Shivering violently, Wei Ran finally woke up, and then he noticed that he was standing in the foyer of Xu Qing's apartment.

In the yard outside the foyer, the sky was no longer filled with floods. Instead, a thick layer of snow had fallen. On top of the snow, there were still a few faint traces of footprints that had not yet been covered.

Wei Ran couldn't help but shiver again. He only listened to the direction of the storage room behind him. Someone was singing amidst the sound of drums, "Bearing the pipa in my arms to bid farewell to the king of Han. The west wind rustled away Hu Chen. Thousands of soldiers in the imperial court began to believe in their merits."

In women..."

It was Zhaojun who came out of the fortress...

Wei Ran muttered to himself, and then looked down at his outfit. He still wore Oxford boots with a black tunic suit, and a silver watch chain exposed from his chest pocket. In addition, he was also wearing a pair of

He was wearing a double-breasted woolen coat and a black top hat on his head. Even his hands were wearing a pair of soft sheepskin gloves, and there was even a cigarette holder with antlers between his fingers.

A dying cigarette.

"I can beat you to death..."

Wei Ran cursed and took a sip, then pulled out the cigarette butt and flicked it into the snow under the stairs.

He took off his gloves and put away the cigarette holder. He also took out the pocket stove from the metal book, lit it and stuffed it into his arms. After all, although the outfit he wore looked decent, it really wasn't very warm, and he didn't know.

Does the metal book have any special meaning in arranging itself here to guard the door? Or maybe it just wants to keep itself awake.

Putting on his gloves again, Wei Ran walked down the steps and wandered around the yard, only to find that what was parked in the garage was not the milky white car, but the Japanese car he had seen and driven before. That car was parked in the garage.

There is even a small Japanese hemorrhoid flag on the front side of the car.

In addition, he also noticed that a ginkgo tree seemed to have been planted in the yard. Obviously, the previous one probably failed to survive the 1939 flood.

Continuing to circle around the small building, he also saw Uncle Meng who was busy burning the boiler, and Ma Yang who was busy killing chickens in the small open space at the back door of the kitchen.

"Xiaowei, what are you running around and touching?"

Uncle Meng patted the soot on his body and asked jokingly, "Didn't the lady just ask you to bring back Xiao Su's mother and Canhua? Are you planning to go?"

"Not urgent"

Wei Ran waved his hand, "I'm not going to find a broom to sweep the snow off the front of the car. You don't know that Xiao Su's mother is definitely waiting to find fault with me."

Uncle Meng suggested while taking off his apron, "The snow hasn't stopped yet, so even if you sweep it, it will be in vain. Start early and drive slower on the road."

"That's right." Wei Ran nodded, "Then I'll set off now."

"Go early and come back early, and drive slowly on the road." Uncle Meng gave his final instructions.

Knowing what to do next, Wei Ran stopped delaying. After getting into the car and starting the engine, he lit a cigarette again and waited until the cigarette was finished before driving the car out of the small courtyard.

.

"I don't know what year this is..."

On the way, Wei Ran muttered to himself, and after seeing a newsboy selling newspapers, he immediately slowed down the car. After rummaging around for a while, he took out a piece of silver and handed it to him, buying a copy of it.

A tabloid that no one in future generations has heard of.

What the newspaper said was not important, but the position of the masthead clearly showed that it was December 1st, the 30th year of the Republic of China.

The 30th year of the Republic of China was...

Wei Ran made some calculations, but his heart sank to the bottom. The 30th year of the Republic of China, changed to a more familiar calendar for later generations, was 1941!

It doesn't matter what happened on December 1, 1941, but Wei Ran knew clearly that a week after this day, that is, December 8 (Pacific Time 7), both for the Japanese and the Pearl,

It was a big day for Hong Kong! In other words, the Pacific War was about to break out in a week.

This was undoubtedly not good news. Even if he did not rely on his own historical knowledge, he would know simply by thinking about it. When the Pacific War broke out and Britain and the United States declared war on the Japanese, the Japanese who started betting on the fate of the country would definitely take action on the British concession in Tianjin.

.

It’s broken, it’s broken, it’s broken!

Thinking of this, Wei Ran immediately increased the speed of the car, suppressed the uneasiness in his heart and drove to the edge of the Japanese Concession. He found the small building next to the opium den with familiarity.

Before he could stop the car, Tao Canhua, carrying a piano bag in one hand and an erhu in the other, wearing a gray cotton robe and a top hat on his head, walked out.

This was just "one night" or two years of absence. Tao Canhua, who once had a youthful look on his face, is now a well-mannered young man.

Just as Wei Ran looked at the other party in a daze, Tao Canhua also opened the car door and sat in. Putting down the instrument in his hand, he said, "Cousin, Xiao Su's mother asked me to tell my aunt that she recently contracted a cold and didn't want to go out.

, so I won’t join in the fun.”

"Okay, let's go back now."

Wei Ran came back to his senses, gently stepped on the accelerator, and drove the Japanese car in the direction of the study apartment. At the same time, he asked in a casual tone, "Have I asked you anything today?"

"I asked. That old devil Ueda kept asking the same questions over and over again."

Tao Canhua sneered, "Who usually goes to the dance class run by my aunt now, and whether there are any new people in the troupe. He also said that after Xiao Su's mother recovers from her illness in two days, she will follow Xiao Su's mother and Furukawa.

Sir, we went together to listen to the show."

"You have quite a big face," Wei Ran snorted, but he felt increasingly bad inside.
To be continued...