Agents of the Republic of China

In a bungalow villa in Shanghai, an old man in his fifties is sitting by the floor-to-ceiling windows. A cup of steaming coffee is placed on the European-style coffee table beside him. He is smoking a pipe and keeps flipping through the pages. Looking at the newspaper, it seems that he is looking for something.

There was a sound of stairs, and an old man with white beard and hair came up, wearing a plain long gown, with no beard under his chin, and a thin figure. He walked gently to the old man who was reading a newspaper, "Master, I have a letter, it is the second young master of the Bai family." .” The voice was soft but strangely sharp.

"Oh?" The old man raised his head, and his long and narrow eyes suddenly showed surprise. He hurriedly took the telegram.The old man in the long gown immediately stood aside with his hands down.

The content of the letter is only two short sentences: "The person has been found and is on his way to Shanghai." The signature is "Bai Dingguo".There was also a photo inside the envelope.

The old man put on his presbyopic glasses and looked at it carefully, his fingers trembling a little. Although his eyes were filled with tears, there was an unconcealable smile on his face.

"Ayao, come and take a look, it's too similar, it looks too much like Xiaojun!"

The old man in long gown at the side secretly wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and kept nodding his head.

"Ayao, is Chang Huan back?"

The old man in the long robe nodded, "I came back last night, and everything has been done."

The old man thought for a moment, then pointed to the photo, "Tell Chang Huan to arrange manpower at the pier and station, pay attention to this person, but don't disturb him."

The old man in long gown was taken aback.

The old man put down his pipe and exhaled a puff of smoke, "I want to observe what is so special about this kid. If it is a piece of material, you might as well cultivate it. I am old anyway, and I have to find a successor; If you go to the wall, then arrange his life for the rest of his life so that he has no worries about food and clothing, and one day in the future I will be able to give Yuehua and Xiaojun an explanation!"

The old man slowly turned his gaze out of the window, and a breeze blew by, accompanied by the swaying of the magnolia flowers outside the window, and there was a faint sigh.

In the twinkling of an eye, Lin Xiaotang and Datou had been bumping on the sea for two days. According to the arrangement above, they returned to Changsha, took a train from Changsha to Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian Province, and then transferred from Fuzhou to Xiamen. It took only six days by land. There are wars and air strikes everywhere, and it was not until Xiamen that they boarded an Italian merchant ship bound for Shanghai.

The big head who pretended to be a Shanghainese showed his true colors as soon as he got on the boat, and he vomited a lot. He didn't recover a little until today, but his face was still pale, and even his fat head seemed to be a size smaller.

Lin Xiaotang stood on the deck of the bow, despite the hot sun shining all over his body, the seagulls sang and followed beside him, and he looked at the piece of paper in his hand thoughtfully.

An address and a person's name are recorded on the piece of paper in his hand: Passing Guest Cafe, Apartment.

Bai Qi didn't say anything else, but told him that he could go to this man named Yugong when he was desperate.Lin Xiaotang asked him back, what exactly does Yungong need him for?Bai Qi replied that he didn't explain about this Yun Gong, maybe he just admired Lin Xiaotang's skill and courage.

Lin Xiaotang slowly tore up the piece of paper in his hand and threw it into the blue sea, maybe he didn't need this.

The siren sounded, and the sparse crowd on the deck suddenly burst into commotion, "Shanghai! Shanghai is here!"

Lin Xiaotang followed the crowd to the other side of the boat, and the outline of the city in the distance gradually appeared.Is that the Bund?

The merchant ship slowly entered the dock, Lin Xiaotang looked at everything in this city.Shanghai, the commercial, economic and financial center of Asia, entered Lin Xiaotang's world in this way.

Rows upon rows of buildings from all over the world are neatly inlaid on the Bund like a string of brilliant pearls. Passenger ships and merchant ships gather on the Huangpu River, and a prosperous atmosphere blows over us.

The big head came to the side of the ship at some point, he opened his arms and shouted loudly: "Adventurer's Paradise, I'm here to conquer you!"

Lin Xiaotang didn't smile, and murmured: "That's right, from today onwards, the history of Shanghai will be written by us!"

The big head looked at Lin Xiaotang in surprise, "You boy, you are more ambitious than me!"

Lin Xiaotang didn't speak, he just stared at everything on the shore.At this time, he suddenly had a strange idea, those influential figures in Shanghai, such as Wang Yaqiao, Du Yuesheng, Huang Jinrong, Gu Jiatang, Jin Jiuling and others, were they as full of desire to conquer this city as he was when they first arrived in Shanghai? longing?

At this time, Shanghai showed a kind of deformed prosperity. After the Japanese occupied Shanghai, the public concession and the French concession controlled by the British, American and French countries declared their neutrality because the Japanese occupied Shanghai. An isolated island surrounded by the Japanese army, a country within a country.

Shanghai is already a prosperous city, especially the concessions.Due to the outbreak of the war, a large number of refugees flooded into the concession, among them were not only a large number of real poor people, but also a considerable number of rich people.Some people also have money, so Shanghai did not stop the pace of development because of the war. Instead, a large number of industrial factories, tobacco halls, brothels, and casinos sprung up like mushrooms. Shanghai has no shortage of rich people and middle classes. They are used to different Compared with the luxurious life in other cities, life in Shanghai is as luxurious and leisurely as ever.

Against such a background, a large number of intelligence personnel of various nationalities representing various forces poured into Shanghai, making it a place for agents to fight for hegemony, a dark battlefield hidden behind the prosperity.

Lin Xiaotang also took a fancy to this point, so he resolutely accepted the order and chose Shanghai as his place of residence. It was a time of troubled times, and princes and generals would rather care about each other!I have a whole body of ability, why not take this opportunity to fight for a bright future for myself and the nation.

Lin Xiaotang and the two got off the boat and headed straight for Zhabei, where the meeting and reporting place arranged by the military commander was there.

But just not far away, Datou suddenly slapped his head, "Where is my hat?"

Lin Xiaotang was taken aback for a moment, then touched his head, and the hat was gone.

"This is a ghost. When I got off the boat, I was afraid that the wind would blow me away, but I only walked a few steps. Why did it disappear?"

Lin Xiaotang smiled wryly and said: "Forget it, don't look for it anymore, the two of us are still licking our faces to conquer Shanghai, and we were murdered by the Shanghai people as soon as we got off the boat. This is a fucking palace!"

The big head looked bewildered, and Lin Xiaotang tried to explain to him again.

Running top palace refers to stealing other people's hats when there are many people. In the past, some hats were very particular. People who sell used clothes can make a small profit.

It is said that Du Yuesheng also started from this when he first entered the rivers and lakes, but Du Yuesheng is more skilled. He only needs to pass by the crowd and lightly bump the person next to him with his body, and that person's hat will fly away like a flying saucer. His accomplice immediately snatched the hat, tucked it under his arm, turned and ran, and the person who threw it didn't even notice.

The two people who were so ambitious just now suddenly lost their energy and muttered: "Shanghai is so fucking hidden, even a thief is so particular."

I touched my wallet, but fortunately, it was safe and sound.The two were afraid of being followed by others, and they didn't even dare to sit in a rickshaw, so they walked straight to Zhabei with their suitcases.

As soon as the two disappeared into the crowd, a young man in a suit in the pier averted his gaze from Lin Xiaotang and the others, threw away the cigarette butt in his hand, and walked to a small alley by the pier.

There were already several people waiting in the alley, and when they saw the young man coming in, they bowed their heads together, "Brother Huan!"

There were two people dressed in green leather lying on the ground, and when they saw the man called Brother Huan coming, they hurriedly bowed, "Brother, where are you from? We don't know Taishan with our eyes, please leave a name, okay?" Let us have an explanation to the higher ups!"

Brother Huan knelt down and slapped the man on the face, "Little Chi, you deserve to inquire about Allah's name. Go back and tell Boss Nong that Allah's name is Ahuan!"

Brother Huan stood up and handed over two hats, "Brother Huan, this belongs to those two people!"

Brother Huan took it over, "You take turns staring at them, remember, don't let them find out, and report to me every day."

Lin Xiaotang and Datou stuck out their tongues, looking exhaustedly at this small shop called "Changjiu Department Store" in this muddy alley.That's right, it's here.

Lin Xiaotang dragged his two legs that seemed to be filled with lead, and walked into the shop with his big head supported.

There was only one clerk in the store, and he couldn't help being surprised when he saw Lin Xiaotang's embarrassed appearance, but he immediately came up to greet him, "You two gentlemen, what do you need to buy?"

Datou panted heavily, motioning for Lin Xiaotang to answer.Lin Xiaotang glared at him angrily, then turned to the clerk and said, "Qian, is shopkeeper Qian here?"

The clerk was taken aback for a moment, and then he returned to normal. He asked the two of them to sit down on the chairs by the counter, and then immediately went to the back to invite the shopkeeper.

After a while, a man in his 40s came out from behind, with a signature smile on his face, "I am the shopkeeper here, surnamed Qian, are you looking for me?"

"We are from Leshan. Previously, shopkeeper Liu of our warehouse bought a batch of cotton cloth from your store, but after the goods arrived, he found that the number was wrong, and there was still a hundred pieces short, so he sent us to order some more."

"Oh." The smile on Shopkeeper Qian's face faded slowly, and he looked the two of them up and down, "It turns out that's the case, but the price of cotton cloth has risen recently, and the price of this hundred pieces cannot be made according to the price of the previous batch. In this way, Please go to the back and have a cup of tea, look at the quotation, and we can discuss it later."

Lin Xiaotang and the two followed Shopkeeper Qian to the backyard. Shopkeeper Qian poured a cup of tea for the two of them, and looked at them again, "I was notified earlier that the two of you will be coming soon, please wait a moment, I will contact the above immediately." Let's see how to arrange you."

Shopkeeper Qian turned around and walked into the back room, while Lin Xiaotang and the two quickly picked up their teacups to moisten their throats that were about to smoke.

Soon, Shopkeeper Qian came out from the back room with an embarrassed expression on his face, holding an envelope in his hand.

"Both of you, this is your task. The higher-ups require you to kill this person within a month!"

Lin Xiaotang and Da Tou were taken aback for a moment, but they still took the envelope.