The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 160 Liang Zhu (Ten)

Liu Tao sat on the sofa in a daze for more than ten minutes. After calming down a little, she stopped trying to persuade Luo Jun to return to Shanghai. She went upstairs, changed into clean clothes, combed her hair and washed her face, and then began to clean.

Luo Jun was sitting in the living room reading a newspaper.

It was very rare that I read not novels but current affairs news. There were key words circled in pen in the newspaper, which were basically about the war situation in a certain place, where there were floods, droughts, plagues, and some missing persons notices in the corners.

Qin Huai stood beside Luo Jun and glanced at the newspaper, and found that Luo Jun was indeed right. According to what was written in the newspaper, except for remote areas where no one cared, there was really no absolutely safe place these days.

In this day and age, remote areas that no one cares about represent insecurity in a sense.

Luo Jun studied the newspaper with a frown on his face, circling locations with a pen from time to time. While he was studying, there was a knock on the door.

Liu Tao, who was wiping the cabinet, hurried to open the door and saw a middle-aged couple outside.

The man was pot-bellied and looked very imposing, while the woman was slightly plump, wearing a cheongsam, a beautiful pearl necklace around her neck, heavy gold bracelets and exaggerated gemstone rings on her hands, looking glittering and rich.

"Minister Cao, Mrs. Cao, why are you two here?" Liu Tao hurriedly welcomed them in.

Luo Jun was a little surprised to see the visitor, but he didn't show it. He just calmly put down the newspaper and stood up.

Liu Tao went to the kitchen to make tea.

"Mr. Luo, you didn't come home last night and didn't even say hello to your wife. She was so scared that she was scared in the air-raid shelter. If your servants and I hadn't held her back, she would have run out to look for you in the middle of the night. I just heard that you returned safely, so my husband Cao and I came to visit you." Mrs. Cao said. There was nothing wrong with her words, but her tone sounded hostile.

Minister Cao glared at Mrs. Cao, who rolled her eyes back at him in disdain and sat down unconvinced.

Minister Cao could only smile at Luo Jun apologetically: "Mr. Luo, don't blame me. My wife has been living in the countryside for the past few years and she has this temper."

Mrs. Cao rolled her eyes again.

"It's like this. My wife is a little confused about the situation. I heard that he said some unpleasant things to your wife in the air-raid shelter last night. She is suspicious all day long, and I was worried that I might lead your wife astray, so I brought her to your house to explain." Minister Cao said with a smile.

Liu Tao came out of the kitchen carrying tea and served it to Minister Cao and Mrs. Cao. When the tea was brought to Mrs. Cao, she stood up and took it, drank it directly, and pointed to the seat next to her, indicating that Liu Tao should sit down instead of standing.

Qin Huai looked at the two of them and thought Mrs. Cao was quite interesting. Although she didn't like Luo Jun, she had a good relationship with Liu Tao.

"Mrs. Luo, I know you are worried about Lao Luo because he has been going out a lot recently, but don't worry, he is my brother and he has someone to protect him when he goes out. Men are busy with their careers outside for their wives and children, right? You should also be more considerate of Lao Luo. I just got a box of the best bird's nest yesterday to nourish you. I see that you have looked haggard recently." Minister Cao said, and laughed very fakely.

Liu Tao was a little confused, and obviously didn't understand why Minister Cao and his wife came to explain this matter. While she was still hesitating about how to ask, Minister Cao stood up and said he had something else to do and had to leave first. Mrs. Cao also stood up and told Liu Tao not to forget to go to his house to play mahjong in the afternoon.

Liu Tao sent the two of them out, and Luo Jun continued reading the newspaper as if he was used to it.

Qin Huai also felt that Minister Cao and his wife were a little weird, so he quietly followed them out to hear if they could tell him some explosive gossip.

I heard it just after I went out.

As soon as the door closed, Minister Cao changed his expression and whispered, "Are you bored and have nothing to do? Last night, you said those inexplicable things to Mrs. Luo for no reason, and even persuaded her to go back to Shanghai, saying that you want to go back to your hometown. If you want to go back, I won't stop you. I will have someone buy you a ticket to go back tomorrow."

Mrs. Cao's expression changed immediately: "What's wrong with me saying a few words? You men are all the same. You despise me because I am old and ugly and throw me to the countryside to serve your parents-in-law, while you marry a female student in the city and live a carefree life. My brother brought me to the city as soon as he got promoted. You change your expression faster than turning the pages of a book."

"You, Cao, are a piece of shit, and he, Luo, is even less of a piece of shit. Aren't they just businessmen? They pretend to be romantic all day long, reading books or newspapers, but they are secretly keeping a mistress outside. They even talk about business with you, but what kind of business did they talk about? They run out every few days, who knows what they are doing outside, they must have a mistress outside."

Qin Huai:?
Minister Cao lowered his voice even more: "What does this have to do with you? Is Luo Jun an ordinary businessman? Go and ask around. Anyone who has offended him over the years, whether it's gangs, residents, foreigners, or government officials, has disappeared without a trace. I'm just a small minister with little real power. How many lives do you have? You say he's just an ordinary businessman."

Mrs. Cao still refused to accept the result.

"I asked you to play mahjong with Mrs. Luo more often, not to ask you to share the same hatred with her and become sworn sisters."

"If you ask me, Mr. Luo is very kind. His wife is illiterate and was born into an opera family. It's considered marrying up to be a concubine. They haven't had any children in all these years of marriage. It's likely that she is infertile."

"Mr. Luo didn't take a concubine directly, he just looked for one outside. I guess he wanted to have the child and then raise it under his wife's name. What else is there to complain about after it has come to this? Stop talking nonsense in front of Mrs. Luo, and watch your mouth when you play mahjong in the afternoon. Remember that?" Minister Cao said sternly.

Mrs. Cao nodded reluctantly.

"You can't let anything slip about Mr. Luo discussing business with me. The pearl necklace on your neck was given to you by Mr. Luo. Keep your mouth shut."

Mrs. Cao quickened her pace unhappily and left.

Qin Huai was left standing there in confusion.

Based on his understanding of Luo Jun, it is highly likely that Luo Jun will not have a mistress outside. Luo Jun is not a liar. It is good enough that he does not look down on others and squinting at them. He simply disdains to do such things as lying.

But he did lie.

Liu Tao said that Luo Jun has been going out frequently recently. Every time the air raid alarm sounded, he was not at home, but was outside discussing business with Minister Cao.

But Luo Jun obviously did not discuss business with Minister Cao, so Minister Cao and Mrs. Cao speculated that Luo Jun had a mistress outside.

Now the question is, why did Luo Jun lie to Liu Tao? He is not the kind of person who likes to go out.

When Luo Jun hadn't been in a relationship, except for necessary fighting, he would stay in the hotel reading novels, and he would ask someone to run errands for him to eat.

Luo Jun has been short of money recently, and he has a lot of business outside, which is too bloody and he needs to hide his tracks, so he often goes out to find Minister Cao to act and deceive Liu Tao?
The business shouldn't be that much.

Qin Huai went back to the house through the wall with doubts.

Luo Jun was still sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper, while Liu Tao had already cleaned the cupboard and moved to the dining table.

After a while, Uncle Zhang and Chen Ping, who had gone out to look for Luo Jun in the morning, came back. Both of them looked a little embarrassed and dirty. Luo Jun didn't say anything and just told them to work.

One went out to run errands and buy a newspaper, while the other went to the restaurant to get food.

In the afternoon, Liu Tao went to Minister Cao's house to play mahjong, and Luo Jun also wanted to go out, using the excuse of going to the government to see Minister Cao.

"Boyan." Liu Tao hesitated before leaving, but still spoke, "It's so chaotic outside now. It's already dangerous for you to go out and talk to Minister Cao every day. Why don't you put the matter of looking for my parents aside?"

"That way you can go out less."

"I feel more at ease being with Minister Cao. I was really worried about the situation last night."

Luo Jun looked at Liu Tao's worried expression, and although he was a little reluctant, he still nodded: "I understand, I will let other people do it next time, and I won't go out at night."

Only then did Liu Tao feel at ease to go out.

Luo Jun did not go out first, but went upstairs to fold 26 newspapers and went out with a pocket full of newspapers.

Then Qin Huai followed Luo Jun all the way, watching Luo Jun walk through the wealthy area, past the coffee shop, avoiding the small vendors, and walking around on the intricate roads. Finally, he came to an open space with no high-rise buildings blocking the view, bright sunshine, and no smell of blood and decay in the air. It looked like a good environment. He took out the folded newspaper, unfolded it, and began to read the newspaper.

Qin Huai:?
No, Luo Jun colluded with others to deceive Liu Tao and even gave her a string of fine pearl necklace, which made Mrs. Cao think that he was cheating on her and had a mistress outside. She was indignant and kept hinting to Liu Tao, saying that it was so complicated and took so much effort just to find a place with good lighting to read the newspaper.

Is the lighting in your home bad?

Do novels have to be read outside to be particularly interesting?

Are all married men so unpredictable? This place is not as good as the small courtyard of Jiang Weiming's neighbor next door. At least in that small courtyard, Luo Jun can sit on a chair and watch, but here he can only stand and watch.

Luo Jun stood there reading the newspaper for the entire afternoon. His feet and waist didn't feel any pain at all. He kept reading until dusk when the light dimmed. Then he reluctantly folded the newspaper, put it in his pocket, and went home.

It was completely dark when Luo Jun returned home, and Liu Tao was standing at the door waiting for him.

Seeing Liu Tao standing at the door, Luo Jun asked, "Why don't you wait at home?"

"When you didn't come back after dark, I was worried and stayed at home." Liu Tao said with an embarrassed smile, "Mrs. Cao explained to me this afternoon. I misunderstood her meaning last night."

"You're right. Nowhere is safe now, not even the countryside."

"Mrs. Cao just had her maid bring a bowl of pigeon stewed with Gastrodia elata. Gastrodia elata can improve eyesight. You don't like pigeons, but I think the soup is delicious. Drink more pigeon soup later."

Luo Jun nodded: "Don't stand outside next time. I will try to come back before dark. It's windy at night and it's easy to get sick if you're exposed to the wind too much."

The two of them went home together. The dishes were all warmed in the kitchen. Liu Tao went into the kitchen to bring out the dishes, and filled a full bowl of pigeon soup for Luo Jun. Qin Huai took a look at what was left in the kitchen. It was more than just drinking more, basically all the soup was in the bowl.

The dishes are simple, but considered sumptuous in this era.

Pan-fried tofu, stir-fried vegetables, sweet and sour fish and braised spareribs, plus a bowl of pigeon soup and white rice, it's an absolute feast.

After dinner, Luo Jun and Liu Tao went upstairs. Luo Jun read a novel to Liu Tao for more than an hour before they went to sleep.

It can be seen that the situation is indeed very chaotic. Luo Jun can't even hire female students to read novels to Liu Tao, so he has to read them himself.

The next morning, Luo Jun folded more than 2 newspapers at once and brought a novel. After drinking tangerine peel tea, he went out early, found a place with a better environment than yesterday, and stood there reading the novel all day.

Didn't even eat.

It can be said that he was completely obsessed with sleep and food.

The same thing happened for the next two days.

If there were smartphones at that time, Luo Jun's WeChat Sports steps would have been very high, because he walked in the city and read while standing every day. Qin Huai even suspected that Luo Jun's hind legs were not so good at age, not because he was a Bifang with only one leg, but because he walked too much when he was young.

Qin Huai followed Luo Jun for several days. He didn't find out why Luo Jun didn't sit comfortably at home and read novels, but had to torture himself by walking tens of thousands of steps every day looking for a place to read. However, he did read a lot of novels with him, more than the previous two memories combined.

On the third day, Qin Huai actually felt that Luo Jun's way of reading novels was quite healthy.

I exercise, read, and have a regular schedule. Apart from skipping a meal at noon, I can't find any shortcomings.

Qin Huai even felt that Luo Jun could tell the truth to Liu Tao. With Liu Tao's trust and tolerance for Luo Jun, even if Luo Jun didn't give any reasons and just said that he wanted to walk around outside and read some novels, Liu Tao would most likely accept it.

Oh, no, Liu Tao felt that it was too dangerous outside and probably couldn’t accept it.

Wait, could this be the reason why Luo Jun lied to Liu Tao?

But why did he have to watch outside?

On the third night, all the questions seemed to have answers.

Luo Jun was reading novels to Liu Tao as usual, and Liu Tao was listening with great interest. Suddenly, the air raid alarm sounded.

Liu Tao was still wearing her pajamas. When she heard the air raid alarm, she quickly got up and put on a tight coat. She took out a kettle and biscuits wrapped tightly in oil paper from the cupboard, and took Luo Jun, who had just picked out a novel, downstairs.

Downstairs, Uncle Zhang and Chen Ping, who lived on the first floor, had also packed their bags and were waiting for Liu Tao and Luo Jun to come down. They protected the two of them as they walked to the air-raid shelter, one in front and one behind.

The air-raid shelters in this area should have been dug specifically for this wealthy area. They are not very wide, but they have complete facilities.

Qin Huai noticed that there was a radio station, a transmitter, a kerosene lamp, a table, and some wooden boxes in the air-raid shelter, probably containing supplies such as food and water.

Liu Tao and Luo Jun did not bring complicated supplies because someone helped them. The servants of Mrs. Cao not only brought hot water, tea sets, and tea leaves, but also chairs and cushions.

Others brought even more outrageous things. Some brought mahjong, some brought chess, some brought smoking pipes, some carried bird cages, and some held cats and dogs.

By putting everyone's things together, you can not only play bird and dog fighting, cards and chess, but also smoke, gamble and roll the dice.

There are guards standing guard outside.

Qin Huai was stunned.

Outside, families are broken up, but here people are living in debauchery and extravagance.

No wonder Luo Jun said other places might not be as safe as here. This place is indeed very safe, even a little too safe.

Luo Jun obviously doesn't like the extravagant and decadent environment.

No matter how many things the rich add here, it cannot change the fact that this is an air-raid shelter.

It is damp, dark, narrow, noisy, and smells musty. It is an underground corner that should not be seen by the light of day.

Liu Tao was pulled to the card table by Mrs. Cao, but she was obviously not interested in playing cards. Because Liu Tao also knew that Luo Jun didn't like staying in the air-raid shelter, she wanted to stand beside Luo Jun and accompany him, even if she had to sing a few operas for Luo Jun in the face of other people's disdainful eyes.

"Mr. Luo, we are three and short of one. Would you like to come and join us?" Someone called out to Luo Jun.

Luo Jun shook his head.

Someone else laughed and said, "You know Mr. Luo doesn't like playing mahjong, so don't disturb him from reading. I remember your driver knows how to play mahjong, right? Pull him up to the table and hit him."

"He's a driver..."

"It's an extraordinary time."

Everyone laughed.

Seeing this scene, Qin Huai seemed to be back in the Richard Hotel when he first read Luo Jun's memory. The lights were also on and people were playing mahjong all night long.

Qin Huai seemed to understand why Luo Jun had to find excuses every day to go outside and read the newspaper.

It's not that he doesn't want to be home, he just doesn't want to be here.

He was too lazy to explain, nor could he explain it clearly, so he simply gave up explaining and made up a reasonable reason to go out every day.

He wasn't afraid of the bombing anyway.

Qin Huai could only say that Bifang in his heyday could indeed do whatever he wanted.

The memory plot of the previous chapter has been changed


(End of this chapter)