sea ​​situation

At noon the next day, Yan Xiaohui called first to confirm that Lu Ming was at the apartment, and then sent someone to deliver three invitation cards.

The invitations were in a typical Japanese style, with blooming cherry blossoms printed on the cover, and Lu Ming's name was written on one of them after opening.

Yan Xiaohui told Lu Ming that the other two invitations did not include names, and asked him to fill them in as needed.

As soon as he got the invitation card here, An Gonggen's phone call followed, asking him about the invitation card, as if he was a prophet.

At this moment, An Gonggen was waiting in a cafe near Lu Ming's apartment, which showed his eagerness.

Lu Ming told him that he had already got the invitation, and if he wanted it urgently, he could take it now.

An Gonggen invited Lu Ming to come to the cafe quickly, he couldn't wait any longer.

This cafe is very inconspicuous, with a small frontage, almost buried in the bushes on the side of the street, An Gonggen reads the newspaper by himself in it.

Lu Ming stepped forward and sat down opposite him, and asked for a cup of coffee and a piece of bread, before he had time to eat breakfast.

"I thought about it, I'd better take the invitation away, and don't let my people meet with you." An Gonggen said.

"Why, do you not trust me, or..." Lu Ming rubbed his hands and smiled.

"No, it's... How should I say that, let's put it this way, if they miss and fall into the hands of the Japanese, even if they can't bear the torture, they can't confess the origin of the invitation, and they don't even know my existence." An Gonggen took a sip of coffee and smiled.

"It makes sense if they don't know me, how could they not know you?" Lu Ming was surprised.

"This is the need of the revolution. It has to be like this. All they know is the mission and the person who gave them orders. They don't need to know any information that is redundant." An Gonggen's tone was decisive.

"Can't you comrades trust each other?" Lu Ming still didn't understand.

"It's not distrust, but to narrow the scope of insiders as much as possible. We implement a single-line connection. You will understand later. This is also the protection of comrades."

Lu Ming seemed to understand a bit, and asked with a smile, "Have you ever been arrested?"

"No, I will never let the enemy catch me. I would rather die. We are all equipped with deadly poison, which we can hide on our bodies at any time." An Gonggen patted his neckline and said.

"It's purely curious, I just want to ask, if you are... caught by the enemy, do you think you can withstand all kinds of torture?" Lu Ming asked.

"Well, how should I put it, I believe that I can withstand it, but it is useless to believe in this kind of thing. After all, people are made of flesh, not iron, and the firmness of will depends on many factors. Some People themselves are not afraid of death, but they can't stand it when it comes to parents and children. Anyway, there are all kinds of situations, so it can't be assumed." An Gonggen patiently explained.

"Then let's go further. If a person is unfortunately caught, he has not had time to take the poison, but he has withstood all kinds of torture tests and comes out later. Don't you believe him?"

"You really have a lot of questions, what's the matter, you also want to do our job?" An Gonggen smiled.

Normally, he would not have the patience to talk to a rookie like Lu Ming. He would never be able to understand these complicated things without personal experience.

But now Lu Ming has helped him a lot, and he thinks that he may need to ask Lu Ming for help in the future, so he is very patient.

In fact, there is only a ten-year age difference between them, but there is still a big gap when it comes to looking at life.

An Gonggen's two elder brothers are both heroes. It can be said that he grew up beside the flames of revolution since he was a child, and he has long made up his mind to devote himself to national independence.

Lu Ming was different. He grew up in a favorable environment, went to study in the United States, and opened a detective agency by himself after returning to China. This kind of play was something An Gonggen didn't even dare to think about.

"No, I've said it all, it's pure curiosity." Lu Ming was indeed curious.

"Well, let's put it this way, emotionally, of course we believe in our own people, but intellectually, we have to doubt everything, which is a bit cruel, but revolution itself is cruel. A true revolutionary understands Yes, because he has long since dedicated his life to the country."

An Gonggen's words shocked Lu Ming a lot. He also knew what patriotism was, but he never connected patriotism with dedication, and never seriously thought about it.

"Ah, what if you are wronged, wouldn't you live in darkness all your life?" Lu Ming asked puzzled.

"Revolutionaries have their own light in their hearts. Master Lu, it is impossible for a rich person like you to understand us."

After An Gonggen finished speaking, he got up and left without paying the bill. He felt that Lu Ming was rich and young, so he shouldn't care about the money for two cups of coffee.

Lu Ming sent away the two invitations, and a stone fell from his heart. An Gonggen's arrangement was the best for him, but he still wanted to meet the two people who carried out the mission and see what the people who looked at death like home looked like. appearance.

As for what An Gonggen said about being afraid of exposing him, there was some truth to it, and he could understand it.Of course, he knew that An Gonggen did this to guard against him, fearing that he would betray his two comrades.

A person like An Gonggen would not trust anyone, and the cruel reality of struggle had hardened his heart long ago.

Lu Ming returned to the apartment, but received a call from Mingzhu.

"Lu Ming, I want to go out to find my sister." Yuan Mingzhu said anxiously.

"No, how do you look for it alone, and where do you look for it?" Lu Ming felt a little dizzy.

"I didn't mention anyone, I want you to accompany me." Yuan Mingzhu said.

"Okay, you wait for me for two days, and when you finish your work, I will accompany you to find Ziyuan." Lu Ming said.

"We have to wait a few more days, what else do you have to do?" Yuan Mingzhu insisted.

"That's it. Zhang Ziyang was kidnapped before. If he wants to go back to the police station, he has to explain some things during this period. I have to be a witness for him. I'll be free when I'm done with this matter."

Lu Ming didn't lie. Whether he could go to the welcome banquet or not, Zhang Ziyang's matter was more important. If the police station wants to close the case, there must be a witness.

They had already discussed that after the welcome banquet, Zhang Ziyang could go back to work at the police station no matter what happened or not.

As for how he got back safely and how he escaped, all of these had to rely on Lu Ming to testify to him, and he alone couldn't make it through.

"Do you think something will happen to my sister? I've been terrified these past two days, and I dreamed of her several times at night." Yuan Mingzhu started sobbing as she spoke.

"Don't cry, Mingzhu, listen to me, Ziyuan is fine, she's so smart, she can get an idea when she blinks her eyes, what's wrong with her, trust me." Lu Ming said.

"Well, then I believe you, you are not allowed to lie to me, I tell you, if you dare to lie to me, I... will not live." After speaking, Yuan Mingzhu hung up the phone.

However, Lu Ming was in a cold sweat. He knew that Yuan Mingzhu was not talking casually, but was really doing what he said. However, he did not lie to Mingzhu. After thinking about it, I feel that Ziyuan's accident is unlikely.

His judgment is that Ziyuan is hiding in a secret place now, but she dare not show her face, nor dare to communicate with her family casually.

This shows that she is still in danger. If Ziyuan really asked someone to send the safety letter, it may be sending some kind of message, indicating that she is in trouble and waiting for someone to rescue her.

Lu Ming didn't know if he was thinking right or not, but he got too few clues now, so he could only make inferences.

Lu Ming suddenly remembered the matter of Sheng Di calling Yuan Mingzhu, which was a bit abnormal, why didn't Sheng Di mention Ziyuan's desire to break off the engagement with Mingzhu?But he took the initiative to disclose this information to him. What is the implication?

The welcome banquet hosted by the Yan family was held at the Yamato Hotel in the Japanese Concession. The living room on the third floor of the hotel was luxurious enough.

The hotel was closed one day in advance, and the guests staying there were investigated one by one, and those whose identities could not be confirmed were all respectfully persuaded to leave, saying that there was an important meeting that needed to occupy the room, and they were asked to vacate it. Fees are refunded in full.

Passengers had to check out, knowing that there was going to be a big banquet to welcome an important person.It's better to stay away from this kind of situation, once you get into trouble, you will be in trouble.

There are many rumors about the important people who came to visit. Some people say that they are important officials from Japan who came to inspect, some even say that it is a prince of the royal family, and of course some people know that it is the commander of the Kwantung Army Shigeru Honjo.

It is not a secret that Ben Zhuangfan is going to visit Shanghai, so it is not particularly confidential. Earlier, the soldiers of the Eastern Army came to do the preliminary work, mainly to communicate with the Japanese Consulate in Shanghai.

The Japanese Consulate in Shanghai expressed its extreme disapproval of Honjo’s trip to Shanghai, and specially sent a telegram to the Kwantung Army, asking Honjo to cancel the trip. The reason was that the situation in Shanghai was turbulent recently, anti-Japanese sentiment was rising, and it was difficult to guarantee the safety of the officer.

The Kwantung Army negotiated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the General Staff Headquarters and rejected the request of the Consulate in Shanghai.

A few days before Shigeru Honjo arrived in Shanghai, people had already started marching on the streets of Shanghai, demanding that the government ban the sale of Japanese goods.

The parade did not cause any trouble, and only stopped for a while in front of the city police station building, the city government building, and the Japanese Concession, and held a lecture. As soon as it got dark, everyone went home.

Lu Ming naturally knew about it, he heard it from the radio.This kind of thing is not uncommon in Shanghai. Every once in a while, something will arouse public anger and take to the streets to march.

He felt that Du Yuesheng was standing behind this parade, because workers and gang members accounted for the majority, and there were only a small number of students.

Generally speaking, students are the most patriotic group, and whenever there is any patriotic movement, the students are always the first to initiate it.

Naturally, Sheng Youde has the most reason to resent the rampant Japanese goods in Shanghai, because Japanese goods have had the greatest impact on his business, and now the Sheng family's business is basically maintained by the bank, and the market for silk, satin and cloth is taken over by Japanese companies. accounted for a large share.

Fortunately, the Sheng family has a big business, relying on years of accumulation, there is no problem for the time being.

But Lu Ming didn't know what kind of feud Du Yuesheng had with the Japanese, at least he hadn't heard of it, maybe it was simply because he didn't like the Japanese.

Whether Sheng Youde participated in this event, he still couldn't tell for a while, at this juncture, Sheng Youde's every move had a deep meaning.