"Happy people are all alike, and unhappy people are all unhappy in their own way."
Shen Er, who fled from Sichuan Province to Jinling, must have never heard of Leo Tolstoy's famous saying in "Anna Karenina". If he knew it, he would definitely agree with the Russian bearded man's words.
Since the 19th year of the Republic of China, Sichuan Province has experienced droughts, floods, hailstorms, insect plagues, and banditry disasters year after year. Shen Er's family of seven set out from Gulin County, and when they arrived in Jinling, he was the only one left.
The two sisters were sold to landlords before leaving Sichuan Province.
Two younger brothers died of illness in Hunan Province.
My parents died of starvation in a relief society in Hubei Province.
Shen Er didn't know how he arrived at Jinling along the river. It was meaningless anyway. He might starve to death someday. It was difficult to live a hard life even if he remembered so clearly what he was doing.
Fortunately, a fellow villager who arrived in Jinling earlier told him about a good place. Jinling City is worthy of being at the feet of the Emperor. There is such a good place as the Quanye Meeting Hall where the victims of the disaster can sleep here.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have survived last winter at all.
After settling down, Shen Er also wanted to find a job, but he had neither education nor strength. Which store would be willing to recruit disaster victims. Apart from being able to eat, there was nothing to exploit.
Only one drugstore shopkeeper said that he could give it a try after the clerk who went home to get married was gone. Unfortunately, there was no further text. Shen Er later learned that there was a fire in the store and everyone died.
"A good man doesn't pay with his life."
Shen Er huddled up in the Hunan Province Exhibition Hall at the Quanye Conference. He muttered something and put a broken tin can on the fire. Something was simmering inside, and the smell was a bit pungent.
Now that the weather is warm, this is the best season for a beggar like him. At least he won't get cold, and rich people are willing to throw away their leftovers, so they won't be hungry after all.
Today he found these fish bones and pig skins from Tongjia Alley, especially the fish bones, which had bits of meat on them. Although he was chased by a black dog for a long time, it was worth it.
He rubbed his hands, stirred the can in the can with a wooden stick, then took the can off the fire with a few leaves, grinned and blew hard, and couldn't wait to bring it to his mouth.
"Don't move." A confused voice sounded.
Shen Er was stunned. There was a hard object on the back of his head. He knew what it was. His two sisters were half bought and half snatched away by the person with this thing on his waist.
He was reluctant and did not dare to put down the cans in his hands, so he followed what his fellow villagers told him: "Spare my life, I am just staying here temporarily. If it delays the good man from doing his job, I will leave now."
"Put down the can in your hand and move slowly, otherwise the gun will not recognize you. I only want you to answer one question. Has anyone gone missing around here recently?" the voice sounded again.
Shen Er was stunned. This person was not here to seize the territory. This made him relieved. He said cautiously: "There are all disaster victims here. They come here today and leave tomorrow. I didn't pay attention to whether anyone is missing."
The voice behind him was silent for a while, and then handed out a banknote from behind: "This is a reward for you. Now remember if anyone is missing? I will only ask you for the last time, bullets or money."
While the other party was speaking, he pushed Shen Er's head with his gun again. His cold tone let Shen Er know that the other party was not joking. From the sound of his voice, he knew he was a powerful person who would kill without batting an eyelid.
A good man does not suffer immediate losses.
Shen Er slowly took the banknotes and stammered: "I really don't know that anyone is missing, but I heard that there were strange movements in the Japan Pavilion. Someone said to go and have a look, but he didn't come back.
Yesterday I was looking for water nearby and saw several men in black clothes. They beat little Changsha half to death and then dragged him in. They looked so fierce that I ran away without daring to say anything. "
This is the truth. As a disaster victim, he doesn't know what is missing or not. He just knows that someone went to a certain place and then disappeared. As for whether he died or ran away, it has nothing to do with him.
"You can take the money away, but if you dare to lie to me, the consequences will be serious. Do you hear me?" The owner of the voice behind him warned him, and then threw out two more banknotes: "This is for you."
"Thank you, good man, thank you so much, good man."
Shen Er was no longer afraid of the gun. He rushed to the banknote and grabbed it in his hand. The feel of it told him that it was a real banknote. Adding the one just now, the total was thirty yuan, which was enough for him to set up a stall to make a living.
He wanted to thank him again, but when he turned around, there was no one there, only the bonfire was blowing in the breeze. Shen Er stayed for a while, picked up the bedding and cans, and ran away without looking back.
I can't stay here any longer.
No matter what the person who gave him the money wanted to do, or who was in the Japan Pavilion, he couldn't afford to get involved. It would be better to take the money, rent a house somewhere else, and find a way to start a small business.
After a long time, the bonfire gradually extinguished.
Holding a Browning gun, Zuo Zhong walked out of the shadows, cleaned up the scene, and slowly exited. At this time, he was in ragged clothes and wore a broken peaked cap on his head, making it difficult to see his face.
After nightfall, he climbed over the wall from Bingdi and walked a few miles to pick up a car that he had been eyeing for a long time. It was the car of a young man who slept in flowers and willows, and finally arrived at the Quanye Conference in the early morning.
He couldn't leave a record with the guard at the door, so climbing over the wall became his only option. As for going back, he made corresponding preparations. Zuo Zhong had been preparing for this day for a long time.
The top priority now is to find Wang Lizhong.
If you want to find Wang Lizhong as quickly as possible, it is useless to search aimlessly. Only by looking for these old residents can you get information. The beggars with bedding and hot food are naturally old residents.
The result was pretty good. Zuo Zhong basically determined Wang Lizhong's position. At the Japanese pavilion at the Quanye Conference, Xu Enzeng made a dry joke and placed the underground party traitors in the Japanese "territory".
As for why he didn't knock the beggar unconscious, the safe spot at the front-foot agent headquarters was attacked, and a beggar fainted on the ground appeared near the back-foot. Even a fool knew there was something wrong.
No clues can be left to the secret service headquarters.
So it was better to let the other party go. This person had been a beggar for so long, so he should know the safest way. It was not until he confirmed that the beggar really left that he showed up to clean up the traces of the other party.
Carrying a cloth bag in his hand, Zuo Zhong walked around the ghostly Quanye Conference Hall, recalling the map in his mind. He was now in the front National Exhibition Area, and the Japanese Pavilion was in the central Exhibition Area.
But the exhibition area is not very accessible.
He frowned. The distance between the national pavilions was huge, and the terrain was open and unobstructed. He had to find a way to get closer, otherwise the other party's support would arrive before he could kill Wang Lizhong.
Walk past a beggar pretending to be a scavenger?
No, the people at the secret service headquarters are extremely cautious this time. When they see a stranger approaching, they will definitely be more vigilant. They are just secret agents, not supermen, and they will be in trouble when facing so many people.
Besides, after so many years of searching, except for the cement that cannot be taken away and the branches used to make fires, there is nothing left to pick up here. We cannot treat the agents in one place as fools.
Check to see if there are any blind spots.
Zuo Zhong found the direction and moved towards the central exhibition hall area quietly. In order to avoid the beggars sleeping on the street, he moved very slowly. It was just past twelve o'clock, so he still had plenty of time.
The fewer witnesses, the better. After doing intelligence work for so long, he understands that clues are hidden in the details. Perhaps an unintentional action of his is seen by others, which will cause his identity to be exposed.
Choosing to act late at night with poor visibility can minimize this possibility. In addition, the beggar went to beg very early and went to bed early. He just spent a long time looking for someone who was awake.
After twenty minutes, Zuo Zhong walked to the vicinity of the Japan Pavilion, got under a half-collapsed brick wall, lowered his body and looked out through the hole. A dark building appeared in front of him.
"md."
After just one glance, his heart dropped. This was a standard Japanese-style building, and this kind of building usually opened a circle of windows on the second floor to obtain better natural ventilation and lighting.
But this also made it easier for people at the secret service headquarters to observe. It was a bit dark, so Zuo Zhong fumbled around in his sack for a while, took out a telescope, and observed carefully in the weak moonlight.
The entire Japan Pavilion is built of cement and is still basically intact after decades. The cornices learned from ancient China are bent high into the air, and the remaining bells are swaying in the wind.
There are a lot of bricks and stones piled up at the gate. People who don't know the situation will just think that this place has been abandoned when they see it. They never expect that there is a group of people hiding inside, which is a bit interesting.
The originally open corridor structure outside the first floor was gone, leaving only high steps. The wooden windows on the front were also missing, but the dark windows seemed to have been blocked with bricks.
Zuo Zhong wrote down this detail. It may have been done by beggars to avoid the cold, or it may have been done by agents from the Secret Service Headquarters after they arrived, in order to minimize the number of people entering and exiting.
Looking at the side wall, there are pits on it, and the top transom is also blocked. This should not be done by beggars, unless they are willing to choke to death from the smoke of the bonfire in the cold winter.
Zuo Zhong thought for a moment, then raised the telescope up to avoid the moonlight. The situation on the second floor was exactly as he had guessed. A long window was open, and the view was very broad.
He was sure that these modifications were definitely done by the secret service headquarters. The first floor was airtight to prevent secret infiltration of personnel, and the second floor was unobstructed. Mounting a machine gun was the best defensive position.
"What a bastard."
Zuo Zhong complained in his mind that Xu Enzeng had gone from one extreme to another. There must be more than one machine gun inside. Even if a special agent brought out a mortar, he would not be surprised.
With this level of defense, unless a large number of armed personnel attack with heavy firepower, it will be difficult to break in. When the guards of the Central Party Headquarters come to help, the attackers will face a flanking attack.
Not to mention that the Jinling underground party did not know the whereabouts of Wang Dingzhong. Even if they knew, it would be useless. This is not something ordinary combatants can do. They must sneak in without giving the other party a chance to shoot.
He slowly closed his eyes. The current situation was that it was bright outside and dark inside. Looking from a bright place to a dark place would improve and reduce his vision. He had to let his eyes adapt to the darkness for a while.
Five minutes later, Zuo Zhong covered the moonlight above his eyes with his hands, opened his eyes and looked at the second floor window again. This was the best observation post, and it was impossible for the agents at the secret service headquarters not to take advantage of it.
