Chuliang County, also called Chuliang City, has fertile soil around it. It is a major grain-producing county in western Shanxi, so it is considered one of several important counties controlled by the Japanese.
People entering and leaving here these days must undergo strict scrutiny, and if they have the slightest suspicion, they will be captured and tortured by the puppet troops.
The reason why the review is so strict is because the Kurosawa unit stationed here is currently fighting, so Chuliang City has also entered semi-military management.
city gate.
A few fellow villagers in simple clothes and pulling carriages were leading their horses to prepare to enter the city, but they were stopped by a puppet soldier. "You, open the packages behind you and let me inspect them! There are also things pulled by your carriage." , I want to check it too."
The fellow stopped, looked back at the puppet soldiers, then took out a pass from his arms and handed it over, "Here!"
The fellow's tone was very harsh, which made the puppet soldiers guarding the city gate stunned for a while. They thought to themselves, "It's the opposite, right? You dare to do something violent with me. I take it you haven't been beaten before, right?"
The unhappy puppet soldier did not accept the pass, but took off his rifle and gestured, "Oh, where did you come from? What are you going to do in the city?"
"Buy food!"
The fellow's tone was still very harsh.
The puppet soldier guarding the door was even more unhappy. He could have rested at the station, but he was forced to work overtime because of the war. Because of this, he is still holding back his anger.
He had nowhere to vent, but two harsh words from a fellow villager made him feel angry.
Just as he was about to take action, he was stopped by another puppet soldier beside him, "Don't take action yet, let's take a look at the pass." After saying that, he took the pass from the fellow's hand, and after reading it, he handed it over to The fellow said, "It's okay, you can go."
"Lao Zhang, why did you let them in without checking their cars and packages?" The puppet army was very unhappy and began to complain about Lao Zhang.
"That's the pass issued by the brigade commander." Lao Zhang said softly.
"Brigadier?" The puppet soldier whispered quietly, put away his gun, and gave in decisively, because the brigade commander's pass is common in several counties, and people with such passes usually have backgrounds. So he didn't dare to provoke him.
The carriage drove slowly into Chuliang City and arrived at the entrance of Standard Chartered Bank in a leisurely manner.
Several fellow villagers were disguised as Yoshino, Akagi, and Inoue. This time they came to Chuliang to carry out Yamamoto's secret mission, and Yamamoto went to find Shinozuka to perform his trick.
Yoshino and his party stopped the carriage and looked up at the sign.
Akagi turned around and whispered: "This is it."
Yoshino nodded, then took out a cashier's check from his arms and handed it to Akagi, "Go back quickly, don't waste time!"
After loading the cashier's check, Akagi turned around and walked into the bank. It didn't take long before he returned to the carriage. "Everything went well. The bank teller didn't have any doubts."
In the south of the city, in Yuejia Alley, Yoshino and the others stopped the carriage again. Inoue stayed behind to take care of the carriage, while Yoshino and Akagi walked into the alley together.
Deep in the alley, there was a dark red wooden door. Yoshino glanced at the wooden sign hanging on the side, "This is it, Akagi-kun, knock on the door."
"Tuk tuk tuk" Akagi knocked on the wooden door.
Not long after, a woman's voice came from inside, "Who?"
The woman spoke Japanese, and her voice was very soft and pleasant. After hearing this voice, Yoshino's originally nervous face suddenly relaxed.
"It's me! Domoto-kun's friend." Yoshino responded.
"Please wait a moment, I'll open the door right away." The woman said, then pulled the bolt and opened the wooden door.
With a creaking sound, the red wooden door slowly opened, and a Japanese woman wearing a gray plaid kimono appeared.
The woman is small and has a typical face of Japanese women. She has no makeup and simply puts her long hair on top of her head.
When she saw Yoshino, she was a little surprised, because he had never seen this person before, and he was still wearing Chinese clothes. However, out of politeness, she put her hands on her lower abdomen and bowed slightly, "Hello, Domoto-kun has gone to work. Now Not at home, I am his wife Keiko Maeda, if you have anything, please tell me and I will tell him."
"Really? That's such a pity! I originally thought that when I came to Chuliang City this time, I could meet Mr. Domoto?" Yoshino stood at attention and answered seriously.
From Yoshino's polite manner, Keiko could tell that he was a genuine Japanese, so he relaxed his guard and asked, "Excuse me, who are you?"
"Let's go to Yoshinohan again, he is Akagi Yuyasu, and we are Domoto-kun and our juniors!"
Keiko looked at Yoshino carefully, and he did have a strong military temperament, so he relaxed his vigilance a little, "Yoshino-kun, if you don't mind, please come in and sit for a while and have a cup of tea, but even though you are busy with work, But I go home every night.”
"Then I'll trouble Miss Keiko!" Yoshino bowed again.
"You're welcome!" Guizi bowed in return.
The small courtyard of Guizi's family is a typical Chinese-style courtyard. However, compared with the clutter of Chinese people, this small courtyard is neatly tidied up, with almost no piles of debris visible. Even heating fuels such as firewood and coal have been placed. In a low wooden house.
Opening the door, you will find the entrance hall. There are several pairs of shoes, some big and some small.
Yoshino and Akagi took off their shoes and arranged them neatly, then followed Keiko into the inner hall.
The interior decoration is half Chinese and half Japanese style. It seems that Shuntaro Domoto really regards this place as his home.
Tatami mats, low tables, except for the stove against the wall, all the decorations in the tea room are full of Japanese style.
Seeing such a scene, Akagi couldn't help but say: "Senior Domoto is really interested. I didn't expect to build such an elegant teahouse in this back alley."
Keiko bowed and saluted, "Thank you very much, Mr. Akagi, for the compliment. Danna will be very happy to hear it."
After saying that, he smiled slightly and started to prepare the tea set.
After taking out the tea set, she knelt on the tatami and started a fire to boil water, and took out the incense from the incense box and lit it.
A few cigarettes slowly rose up, and the tea room was suddenly filled with the smell of sandalwood.
After Guizi prepared the tea set and the water was boiling, Guizi started the traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
After some tedious actions, Keiko held the bowl with her left hand and held the edge of the bowl with the five fingers of her right hand. After kneeling down, she raised the tea bowl and presented it to Yoshino. Then she toasted Akagi with the same method.
Akagi took the tea bowl and lifted it up to show his gratitude to Keiko, then put the bowl down and raised it again before putting the tea cup to his mouth and drank, followed by a "tsk tsk" sound of praise to show his gratitude to Keiko's tea ceremony. .
Later, Yoshino, who was sitting next to him, also imitated his actions.
