December 18, 1940, Jinan.

The twentieth day of the winter lunar month, the Gengchen year, the Wuzi month, and the Yiwei day.

Suitable for: traveling, moving, moving to a new house, praying for blessings, laying a bed, offering sacrifices, moving coffins, adult ceremonies, placing incense, making clothes, removing clothes, moving tombs, and fasting.

Inauspicious: Planting, installing a door, treating diseases, building a stove, consecrating lights.

When the evening show at the Grand Theater No. 1 ended, snowflakes began to fall from the sky again.

Chen Baoxiang and Mr. Mu walked out of the theater gate side by side and walked down the steps.

"What a good show. The famous actor from Peking, Boss Gu, is worthy of being the "No. 1 in Tsing Yi" who once swept Shanghai and sold out 18 shows in a row. His singing style is authentic."

Mr. Mu stroked the short beard under his lips, his thoughts still unfinished.

Chen Baoxiang smiled and nodded, and a poster of Gu Lanchun in Tsing Yi was posted on the display board to the right of the theater door.

She is dignified and beautiful, with a handsome appearance. Her voice is mellow, like the sound of nature.

This time she personally brought the theater troupe here and took part in the show again, which was a real treat for the old theater fans in Jinan.

The two of them walked east from the Grand View Garden to the edge of the garden and sat down in front of Lao Cai's wonton stall.

"Two bowls of wontons, two tea eggs, a plate of peanuts, and a pot of wine."

They were all regular customers. Chen Baoxiang greeted them, and Lao Cai, who was standing in front of the stove, responded while bringing out all the midnight snacks they were used to.

The last play tonight is "Eight Righteousness Pictures", which is based on the story of the orphans of the Zhao family during the Warring States Period.

"In troubled times, heroes are nameless. Cheng Ying is the real hero!"

Mr. Mu is a private school teacher. He is thin, with slender arms and a slight hunchback.

A literary man like him should not be interested in chivalrous affairs, but at this moment he drank a large glass of wine, his cheeks were flushed, and he was in high spirits.

Chen Baoxiang looked to the north and saw a dazzling plaster flag flying in the night sky.

The north wind blows strongly, making hunting noises.

He is forty years old this year and has seen "troubled times" since he was a child.

From the braided soldiers of the Manchu Qing Dynasty to the large army of warlords, from Chief Zhang to Chief Han, from bandits to the temple, from the bloody battle between the two armies to the Ming Dynasty, Hubei Water Gate...

At the end of 1937, the Japanese entered Jinan City. On the surface, the wind calmed down and the waves calmed down, but Chen Baoxiang had more and more nightmares at night.

"Mr. Mu, we only talk about drama, not about things."

Chen Baoxiang is worried that people talk too much and have ears behind walls. Once someone hears something and reports it, it will be troublesome.

Mr. Mu drank another large glass, bent the index and middle fingers of his right hand, and beat the drums on the low wooden table.

On the side street, a few drunk Japanese people walked by, laughing unbridledly and singing a few lines of Japanese songs from time to time, like wild dogs howling at night.

"Jinan, Jinan..."

Mr. Mu seemed a little drunk. He cleared his throat and sang in a low voice——

"To save the orphan, I gave up my own son Jing Ge. To save the orphan, my wife and son went to hell. To save the orphan, I pretended to be with thieves every day. To save the orphan, I lived in a butcher's house and was unworthy. To save the orphan, I was killed by others.

Swearing is like a dolphin or a dog, but I endured the humiliation for sixteen years to save my orphan..."

Chen Baoxiang poured wine for Mr. Mu, feeling very emotional.

He ran a rice shop on Xianqian Street and managed it with his wife and children. When Chief Han was here, he could barely make ends meet.

When the Japanese entered the city, the people were in panic, and the business of the rice shop was getting worse day by day.

He felt that his family - no, all the people in Jinan, so many people were locked in a big well, suffering, sitting in the well looking at the sky, not knowing when they would be able to get out of the well and live a normal life.

Going to the Grand View Garden to watch a play has become his only solace.

After watching Gu Lanchun's play tonight, he felt more and more that he had become a mayfly in the turbulent waves of this troubled world.

Only with the sound of gongs and drums and the actors singing and reciting can he temporarily get rid of those chaotic chores and allow himself to truly be a sensible person.

Mr. Mu got up and went to the dark alley next to him.

Lao Cai came over, carrying a bowl of hot soup, and placed it next to Chen Baoxiang's hand.

"Boss Chen, have you heard that there was a battle in Zhangqiu a few days ago, and more than a dozen Japanese soldiers died!"

Lao Cai's face was shining brightly in the fire.

"It's really a relief. These Japanese soldiers show off their power all day long, coming in and out, either with trucks or motorcycles... This is the place of Jinan people, not the country of Japan. This is how they should be treated. If I hadn't brought my family with me, I would have taken off my clothes."

Without even getting out of the way, I would have thrown a kitchen knife at Nanshan’s team, with real knives and guns, to fuck the fucking Japanese!”

Chen Baoxiang quickly shook his head to stop Lao Cai from talking.

Disaster comes from the mouth, and disease enters from the mouth.

He said it happily, but it was only pleasant for a moment. If the Japanese spies heard it, it would be over.

"Boss Chen, you are also a practicing disciple. I heard that you have been a disciple of Wan Zi Xiang Sha's old fist since you were a child. You can be regarded as a good and well-known disciple of his?"

Chen Baoxiang smiled bitterly: "Me? I'm just a cook. In fact, I'm not even a cook, I just run a rice shop. When I was a child, I was weak and sick. I became a disciple of Sha Fist, just to strengthen my body. I'm not naturally good at martial arts. Now I'm old

It’s been a long time since I’ve practiced, let alone.”

After half a sentence or so, Lao Cai snorted and stopped talking.

Mr. Mu staggered back, still humming the lyrics.

The two of them drank the wine in the pot, ate their wontons, and returned to the city together.

When entering Puli Gate, plaster flags were also flying on top of the city.

On both sides of the city gate, there are sandbag fortifications with machine guns mounted on them.

However, the two sentries guarding the gate were already fast asleep, holding their spears and leaning on sandbags.

Mr. Mu stopped and looked at the two Japanese.

"Baoxiang, do you know that in Jinan City at this moment, everyone is a chopping block, and I am a fish and meat, to be slaughtered by others... It's just a few thousand Japanese soldiers, enslaving so many Jinan people..."

Chen Baoxiang knew that Mr. Mu had drunk too much and quickly dragged him into the city.

The two of them went to Xigengdao Street without their feet touching the ground.

Mr. Mu has no family and has been living alone.

Chen Baoxiang helped Mr. Mu take off his cotton robe, helped him get on the kang, and then took off his shoes.

"Mr. Mu, have a good sleep. When you wake up tomorrow, forget everything. We are ordinary people and can't take anything for granted..."

He unfolded the quilt and covered Mr. Mu.

When he was about to leave, he suddenly discovered that there was a little dark blood on the uppers of the pair of blue cotton shoes in front of the bed.

He picked up the shoes, smelled them first, and then scraped them lightly with his nails to confirm that they were blood stains. Moreover, the blood had just been stained and had not yet dried.

"Where did the blood come from?"

He didn't dare to neglect, so he found a piece of cloth, dipped it in some water, and wiped the blood stains clean.

After doing all this, he closed the door and left.

When he got up early in the morning, as soon as the rice shop opened, Chen Baoxiang heard the news.

Last night, an assassination occurred on a small street northwest of the Grand View Garden. A total of three people were killed, one was a Japanese translator from Peiping, and two were local receptionists.

It is said that the three of them came from Zhangqiu and went to Bagua Tower for entertainment at night. They came back too late and had their throats slit while passing through a dark alley.

The murderer was a master, and his knife skills were accurate, one blow at a time, and the residents nearby did not even hear the cry for help.

Chen Baoxiang was busy doing business and turned a deaf ear to these things.

Usually the people who come to the rice shop to eat are acquaintances. Today, he clearly felt that the two people wearing top hats and long gowns looked strange and did not look like Jinan locals.

The two of them kept their heads down while eating without talking. When they were settling accounts after the meal, one of them greeted Chen Baoxiang, and his accent turned out to be that of Dongfang Weixian County.

Chen's rice shop sells dried rice with meat in it. The person paying the bill was a bit tongue-in-cheek and misinterpreted the word "meat" as "leak", which made the people next to him cover their mouths and snicker.

After lunch, Chen Baoxiang's daughter-in-law Liu Yue'e washed the dishes and chopsticks with quick hands and feet, and took a rag to wipe the tables, chairs and benches in the store.

Liu Yue'e was a simple and honest woman. After marrying into the Chen family at the age of eighteen, she respected her parents-in-law and abided by women's ethics, and gave birth to two sons and one daughter to Chen Baoxiang.

If the Japanese had not entered the city, by the time the three children had grown up, the family of five would have become more and more prosperous. The family would have flourished, and the family would be full of descendants, creating a big family with a loving father and filial sons.

Chen Baoxiang was sitting behind the counter holding a pointed teapot, staring at the door in trance.

He thought of the blood stains on Mr. Mu's cotton shoes. The two of them returned to the city without stepping on anything unclean. Where did the blood come from?

The cotton curtain at the door was lifted, and Mr. Mu came in, followed by a middle-aged man with a fair face and a kind face.

Chen Baoxiang quickly stood up to greet him and asked Liu Yue'e to make tea.

Mr. Mu introduced that the man’s surname was Yu, he came from Peiping, and he was engaged in flour business.

"I am a book boy, please give me some advice from Boss Chen."

This gentleman speaks in an elegant manner, and you can tell at a glance that he is a well-educated and sensible person.

Mr. Mu also introduced that Yu Shutong likes to listen to operas and is also a fan. During holidays, he often puts on makeup on stage and plays with famous actors.
To be continued...