1928: The Rise of Giants

in the afternoon.

The extended version of the Rolls-Royce Phantom stopped at the entrance of Ming Mansion in the French Concession. Ye Luo looked out through the car window and said to Cao Fan who was driving, "Please send a visiting card in for me."

Cao Fan got out of the car immediately, ran to Ming Mansion with the brand new visiting card, and rang the doorbell.

In less than a moment, the butler came out to greet them. Seeing that it was a visiting card from the second young master, he quickly opened the big iron gate and let the Rolls-Royce slowly drive into the garden of Ming Mansion.

Soon, a young man wearing a fine suit, a slicked-back hair, and gold-rimmed glasses, who looked quite scholarly, walked over quickly: "Second Young Master, I am sorry for not welcoming you in person. Please come in!"

"Boss Ming, I haven't seen you for a long time. How have you been these days?" Ye Luo got out of the car, shook hands with him, and walked into the villa hall of Ming Mansion side by side with a smile.

Ming Mansion is a newly built villa with a low-key and luxurious design, and a European style. Unlike those nouveau riche, the houses are not filled with all kinds of expensive furniture, but only some calligraphy and paintings with a strong scent of ink, and rows of antiques that look priceless.

"Okay, okay, thanks to Mayor Bai's support, I can continue to stay in Shanghai's political circles. I'm very grateful." Ming Lou took Ye Luo to the study on the second floor with a hearty laugh. When they went upstairs, a beautiful woman in cheongsam happened to walk down slowly.

"Hey, why is the Second Young Master here? You didn't even inform me in advance, what a shame." The speaker was Ming Jing, the eldest sister of the Ming family. She twisted her slender waist with a hint of sleepiness on her face, as if she had just woken up not long ago.

Before Ming Lou took over the Ming family business, Ming Jing had always been in charge. However, she was just a woman after all, and she encountered many inconveniences in the business world and was always bullied.

When Minglou grew older, she hid behind the scenes to assist her brother.

"Sister Jing, long time no see. I just happened to pass by your house and wanted to chat with Boss Ming. You just sent me the visiting card."

Ye Luo walked over and gave her a Western-style kiss on the cheek. Ming Jing had studied in the United States in her early years and had been adopting Western lifestyle habits ever since. However, no one had expected that this well-known female boss in Shanghai's business world was actually a red capitalist.

Ming Jing smiled and scratched his palm with her fingers: "Okay, then you guys chat slowly, I'll ask someone to prepare some fruit drinks. Oh, by the way, that brat Ming Tai is back too. It seems that he was called away by Dai Li's people a few days ago, and I don't know what he did. Ask Xiao Lou, but Xiao Lou can't do anything either, how about you help ask?"

Mingjing is 32 years old this year, which is exactly the most mature age for a woman. She exudes the aura of a young mature woman and is not married.

In fact, she had hinted to Ye Luo many times that she hoped to have a romantic relationship with him without affecting his family life, but Ye Luo declined every time.

the reason is simple.

Ming Jing's real identity is a member of an underground organization, and a relatively direct descendant. The probability of approaching him is to win him over to that side.

Now Ye Luo had no intention of joining the underground organization, so he tried to keep his distance from her.

"Okay, Mingtai is also upstairs?" Ye Luo nodded and asked.

"He's reading in his brother's study. You guys should go quickly." Seeing that he still didn't accept her feelings, Mingjing didn't get angry. She smiled and pushed him, then went downstairs.

"Let's go, let's go up and take a look together." Ming Lou was also very dissatisfied with Dai Li's sudden visit to find his brother. He was originally a member of the Secret Service, but he had several duties. He knew the difficulties of being a multi-faceted spy and how difficult it was to get into the Secret Service. He didn't want his brother to fall into this quagmire.

The two entered the study. Mingtai, who was concentrating on reading, saw them coming and immediately stood up and greeted them: "Brother? Luo Ge? Why are you here!"

"Mingtai, the last time I saw you, you were still a follower who followed me around asking for candy, but now you are as tall as me." Ye Luo was filled with emotion. He is 26 years old this year, and Mingtai is the same age as Bai Xiuzhu, 22 years old this year, and was one of the followers who followed him around back then.

Now looking at the grown-up Mingtai, he almost exclaimed "Brother Xiaoyao"!

"Brother Luo, stop laughing at me!" Mingtai pulled him to sit down and poured tea for his two brothers obediently.

He used to be an uneducated young man from a rich family, but after going to Hong Kong for further studies, his temperament became completely different, and the books he read were mainly progressive. No wonder he later joined an underground organization.

"What are you reading?" Ming Lou sat down and saw a copy of "New Moon" edited by Hu Shi and others on the table. His face suddenly changed. "Are you crazy? This publishing house has just been listed as a reactionary organization by the principal. How dare you read their publications?"

With the January 28 Incident settled, the principal shifted his focus to "suppressing bandits". A meeting not long ago also finalized the policy of "pacifying the country before resisting foreign aggression". After that, his hired writers and organizations began to frantically attack the left and some progressive magazines and newspapers.

Last week, the Crescent Moon Publishing House was smashed and many people were arrested by Dai Li's agents and taken to Longhua Prison. They are probably going to be labeled as members of an underground organization.

He was still watching this at home at that time. Even though he was a member of an underground organization, Minglou was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat.

Also present was Ye Luo, the principal’s famous celebrity!
Mingtai defended himself: "Brother, that was a smear campaign by the Nationalist government! This magazine..."

"Shut up and get out!" Ming Lou's face changed drastically. He glanced at the smiling Ye Luo and angrily scolded his brother.

Mingtai still wants to defend himself: "Brother"

"Get out!" Minglou almost threw the teacup in his hand.

"Yes." Seeing that he was so angry, Mingtai had no choice but to leave the study in shame.

"Why is Boss Ming so angry?" Ye Luo smiled and drank a sip of tea. After the door was closed, he suddenly said something shocking, "We are all family anyway, so what's the problem?"

"Well, Mingtai's unfilial descendant..." Minglou was stunned for a moment and tried to change the subject cleverly, but Ye Luo did not give him the opportunity.

"I'm not talking about the platform, I'm talking about you, the boss." Ye Luo looked at him.

Minglou's hand holding the teacup hesitated slightly. He subconsciously wanted to draw his gun, but immediately held himself back.

The opponent is the second young master, who is very skilled in martial arts. It is unknown whether he can be killed here, but once he dies, the entire Ming family will definitely be buried with him!

But how did he know this?
Could it be that the person who contacted us above has been arrested?
His heart was pounding, but Ming Lou pretended to be calm and replied with a smile, "Me? What do you mean, Second Young Master?"

"This 'New Moon' is a publication of an underground organization, and Boss Ming is a member of the underground organization. Aren't we a family?" Ye Luo continued with a smile.

Ming Lou's face became worse and worse, and he pretended to be panicked: "Second Master, this joke is not funny! I am a close confidant of Mr. Wang, and this is a well-known fact."

"Yes, but that doesn't prevent you from being a double agent for both the underground organization and the secret service, right?" Ye Luo said leisurely. (End of this chapter)