sea ​​situation

Hearing that it was a guest invited by the Consul General, the sergeant did not insist on asking Lu Ming to show his American passport, but made a phone call in the sentry box and then raised his hand to let him go.

Lu Ming didn't bring his American passport with him. After returning to China, he put his passport in a safe in a bank. He was not afraid of losing it. He could apply for a replacement passport at the American consulate, and the procedures were not troublesome. Locked in the safe at the same time, let's say a simple farewell of "I don't want to see you".

After returning to China for half a year, he had almost forgotten his life in the United States, and he had almost forgotten that he had another responsibility. Now the call from Mr. Frank from 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 35.5 U.S. dollars. It was also the most expensive embassy building in the world at that time. importance.

Lu Ming often passed by this road, but he never thought that he would walk into this building one day.

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 a student who returned from the United States not long ago and had obtained American citizenship, so he was quite affectionate to him.One of the most important responsibilities of embassies and consulates is to protect the safety of their nationals, and Lu Ming is of course within their scope of protection.

The two spoke directly in English.

"Misteru, this is a personal request from Harvard University." The Consul General said, and showed Lu Ming a telegram.

When Lu Ming saw the above information, he really asked the consulate to find Lu Ming, and then invited 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 East Asian economic and cultural scholar in the United States and a senior professor at Harvard University, but he also wondered why Mr. Frank's personal request was sent in the name of the US Secretary of State.

The reason why he attaches great importance to this request is because it is a telegram from Mr. Secretary of State, which can also be said to be an order, so after he received the telegram last night, he immediately located the location of Lu Ming, and then sent his special car to take the road Ming found it.

Lu Ming felt ashamed when he saw the name of the Secretary of State of the United States. It seems that Mr. Frank was really in a hurry. He used this unconventional method to act in the name of the Secretary of State. No matter how difficult it was, the embassy and consulate could not refuse .

The Consul General didn't say much, obviously he didn't want to get involved in this matter. He called a secretary, invited Lu Ming to another room, and dialed the number on the other side of the Atlantic with a security phone. Mr. Frank handed the microphone to Lu Ming, and the secretary left the room by himself.

"Lu, are you still alive?" Frank's distraught voice came from the receiver.

Lu Ming laughed. It was hard for him to imagine how angry Frank, who admired the tradition of British gentlemen and kept the old British style, was so angry.

"Sir, I am still alive. Are you okay? Are your wife and child okay?"

The conversation between the two has always been in Chinese, not English.

"I'm not good, I'm not good, Lu, you are my favorite fine gold and jade, have you been rotted into rotten wood by the stale air of Shanghai, and you can't carve it." Frank's anger remained undiminished, and he spoke quickly.

"Sir, the air in Shanghai is fresh. Although the amount of rain has increased during this period, heavy rain is also the best detergent for cleaning a city." Lu Ming laughed.

He is not afraid of this old man. In his eyes, Frank, who always smokes a pipe and likes to wear a tweed coat, is not only a teacher, but also a loving father, and his biological parents are truly strict fathers and loving mothers.

"Stop talking nonsense with me, what have you been doing for so long? What about the observation reports you owe me? Have they all been sent to space?" Frank yelled.

Lu Ming was really ashamed in his heart. Before returning to China, he had an agreement with Mr. Frank that he would provide an observation report no later than ten days a week. , 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 why the lives of the Shanghai residents around him deserved the attention of the U.S. government. However, he still subscribed to a large number of domestic newspapers and periodicals. There are foreign newspapers and magazines, so as not to lose touch with the whole world.

"Sir, what happened around me and what I can observe are all trivial things, it's really not worth wasting the telegraph fee." Lu Ming argued.

"Lu, provide your observations as detailed as possible. Remember to observe changes. Even if the food and clothing of the rickshaw driver you have been in has changed, you can write an observation report and send it to me. How to analyze and adopt it is up to me. You are my eyes in China and Shanghai, and I hope to see the changes in China and Shanghai through you. The telegraph fee is reimbursed by the US government and is not something you need to consider." Frank said.

"Okay, sir, I'll write you a report when I get back." Lu Ming said.

He also knew that there was really no way to delay it, so he might as well treat it as the 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. In this way, you can have a good identity as a cover, and you can run around without being hindered by heavy work." Frank praised him at the right time.

Lu Ming thought to himself, I'm not covering for some identity, I really want to be a detective, my reasoning ability scares you, but no one uses me to handle cases.

"I heard that you were going to get married, why did you change your mind?" Frank asked.

"Sir, do you know this? You can't be spying on me, right?" Lu Ming said half-truthfully.

"Of course I know that the Shanghai Consulate General is concerned about 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 the eyes of the consulate general were staring at him behind him.On the plus side, it may be due to the turmoil in the current situation. The consulate general has strengthened the supervision of the expatriates. On the downside, it is surveillance.

"In addition, the disappearance of Mr. Sheng Youde's daughter, the richest man in Shanghai, is such an important matter, but I saw it on the Washington Post, not from your report, why didn't you report it? ' asked Frank.

"This is just a case of disappearance. It happens frequently in Shanghai. Do you also care 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 a big conspiracy, don't you think? If it is a conspiracy, then where did the conspiracy come from and what is its purpose ?” Frank sneered.

Lu Ming was ashamed, he had already undertaken the case, but he didn't think as much as Frank did.Obviously, all he cares about is the missing person, while Frank is concerned about the hidden things behind the disappearance.

"Sir, I will continue to give you the investigation report on this case." Lu Ming suddenly woke up.

"That's good, send me another telegram not using your real name, but Martin Scott. If there is an important event, then send it in encrypted text. I am reminding you again, don't forget Our agreement." Frank said.

Lu Ming agreed. He felt like a poor spy who lost his way during a mission and was being severely reprimanded by the instructor.
Whether it is his various arrangements or some of the techniques taught to him, he is too much like a secret service intelligence officer, rather than a cultural scholar.

However, considering Frank's identity, he still denied his fleeting thoughts. Although the British Empire is a veteran kingdom of spies, it is expected that they would not dare to place agents next to President Roosevelt. .

After talking on the phone with Frank, Lu Ming walked out of the room, and was invited to the consular office by the secretary waiting outside.

The Consul General chatted with him for a while without asking him about the phone call, but he already had a guess in his mind.

President Roosevelt did not trust government staff, but used a large number of scholars, bankers, industrialists, and retired soldiers in various fields as his personal advisers and special envoys who secretly visited various countries on his own behalf. This is no secret in the upper echelons of the US government, Shanghai The consulate general also has a personal observer for the president. He doesn't know who it is, it may be a military attache, or it may be a second secretary, but he never thought of finding out, unless he wanted to ruin the rest of his life.

Among the private advisers of President Roosevelt, two figures are the most famous. One is Harry Lloyd Hopkins, the public special adviser to the president, who is also the think tank of President Roosevelt. 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 behind the scenes of the Big Three during World War II.

The second heavyweight is the retired Colonel Donovan. Under the instruction of President Roosevelt, he organized the US Strategic Intelligence Agency during World War II. After World War II, it became the world-famous US Central Intelligence Agency, which confronted the KGB.

After chatting for about half an hour, Lu Ming was a little restless. He didn't understand whether the Consul General was really idle and chatted about these trivial matters with him, or he had other intentions.

Americans are used to respecting other people's privacy, so they never ask about other people's family situation, unless they are special friends.

Could it be that Mr. Consul General went to the countryside to do as the Romans do, and also got some of the problems of a Shanghai eighth woman?Want to tease his taste on purpose?

Just at this time, someone knocked on the door, and Lu Ming took the opportunity to stand up and say goodbye.

The Consul General stretched out his hand to bid him farewell with some regrets, and then personally sent him out of the room, as if the two had been friends for many years.

The staff waiting outside the door stared at them dumbfounded, not knowing what kind of relationship this young Chinese had with Mr. Consul.

"Lu, in a few days, there will be a reception at the consulate in the evening. I hope you can come and bring your beautiful fiancée with you." The Consul General finally said.

"Okay, I'll try my best, thank you sir for the invitation."

Lu Ming went downstairs in a daze, and then walked out of the consulate general in a daze. The consul general's car was already waiting for him there.This special car pick-up made Lu Ming a little dizzy. The American Consul General was too enthusiastic. What kind of medicine is sold in the gourd?