Manhattan Reborn 1978

Hong Kong.

night~

Villa at No. 60, Mount Galley Road, Victoria Peak.

Although Cui Yingying tried her best to persuade her master Zhang Maochang to stay, he still resolutely got into the car driven by Zhou Liwen and left.

On the way down the mountain.

Zhou Liwen, who had just returned from the island nation of Tokyo, was concentrating on driving the car slowly down the mountain. It was not until he turned onto the wider road at the foot of the mountain that he glanced at the rearview mirror with a slight relaxation and smiled.

"Uncle Chang, should I take you home directly? Or...?"

"Let's cross the sea first, and then..." Mr. Zhang Maochang looked at the neon lights flashing quickly outside the car window, paused for a few seconds and said.

"There is a nice late night restaurant near my house. Do you want to have a drink?"

"Okay!" Zhou Liwen slowed down the car a little, nodded and smiled in the rearview mirror.

. . .

Sham Shui Po District, Pei Ho Street.

Zhou Liwen parked his second-hand Mercedes-Benz on the street. When he got out of the car, he happened to see two passing "green-clad" policemen coming around the corner.

He smiled and put the car keys in his pocket, took out his cigarettes and walked towards two middle-aged "green men" patrolling the streets. He gave each of them a cigarette and started chatting familiarly.

In front of an unbranded late night snack shop on the street, Mr. Zhang Maochang ordered steamed fish, braised chicken and two side dishes to go with wine from the waiter, and ordered two bottles of wine.

About ten minutes later.

A few flashes of lightning flashed across the dark clouds in the sky, and drizzle fell silently like silk threads.

Zhang Maochang and Zhou Liwen were sitting at the table by the window in the store. They toasted together, and the silence was louder than the sound at this moment. .

"I asked some old friends about you..."

"I also found some seniors and found out some of your past..."

Mr. Zhang picked up a broad bean, smiled, and asked, "What did they say about me?"

"You are the only one in the whole of Xiangjiang, recognized as the second master of Yi Zi Pai!" Zhou Liwen put away his smile, made a very strange gesture with his hands, and answered seriously.

"Haha~" Mr. Zhang chewed the broad beans carefully and whispered with a smile full of sighs.

"In that war-torn era, I witnessed too many tragedies with my own eyes..."

"It's not easy for everyone to help each other and support each other to earn a living. There is no second master..."

Zhou Liwen picked up the wine pot and filled the old man's wine glass. Several thoughts flashed through his mind and he spoke seriously.

"On December 1941, 12, Major General Malby, the commander of the British garrison in Hong Kong, announced his surrender to the island country's troops at the Peninsula Hotel."

"The next day, the island nation's troops entered the city of Xiangjiang in large numbers and occupied it."

"Later, that day became known as Black Christmas."

“I was still a few years old at the time, and I don’t have much memory of the history of the island country’s army invading and occupying Hong Kong.”

"After the end of World War II, I and my family once saw surrendered war criminals from island countries parading on the street."

"My mother told me that the hands of these island officers who were tied to cars and paraded through the streets were stained with the blood of countless ordinary people."

"When I grew up, I slowly learned more about it from my family and school."

Zhou Liwen raised his wine glass to Mr. Zhang, with a serious expression and piercing eyes, and lowered his voice.

"From May 42 to September 5, a total of nine island nation soldiers were attacked and killed in Xiangjiang."

"Among them, there was a strangled island soldier who was hung on a street lamp not far from my home. My father couldn't help but get drunk for two nights in a row and screamed like crazy~"

"But until now, no one knows who did these gratifying deeds."

"Uncle Chang, let's drink this glass of wine!"

"...Hmm!" Mr. Zhang Maochang's eyes flickered a few times, he looked at Zhou Liwen and nodded with a smile, then raised his cup and drank it.

After drinking this glass of wine, Zhou Liwen became more and more friendly to Mr. Zhang. He poured a glass of wine for him with a smile and continued.

"In 48, after the group of island nation war criminals were executed in Stanley Prison, my father secretly found connections and obtained a set of clothes worn by war criminals from the prison, and burned them for the brothers who died in the Anti-Japanese War."

"A few years ago, when he was seriously ill and lying in the hospital, he kept talking to me..."

"I hope that the names of those comrades from the Independence Brigade who died on the battlefield can be known and remembered by more people."

"Among them are literati, drivers, translators, college students, sailors, and even farmers and people who have lived on ships for generations."

"Half of them are not from Xiangjiang and have never been to Xiangjiang..."

"They just didn't want to see this place occupied by the island country's army, so they spontaneously joined the independence brigade with passion."

"What's your father's name?" Mr. Zhang raised the wine glass to his lips and asked, thinking of the long-gone story.

"Zhou Ze."

"Have not heard.."

"Haha~" Zhou Liwen picked up the wine glass and took a sip, smiling.

"You may not know that my father worked with Lau Hei-jae in the Sha Tin Pistol Team..."

"But at that time, due to the severe shortage of weapons and ammunition, the pistol captain Huang Guanfang only approved Liu Heizai's unrestricted use of firearms and ammunition."

"So, after my father was injured in a mission, he left the pistol team and was responsible for helping to collect supplies and other logistical liaison work in the city."

"Double-gun Liu Heizai?"

"Yes!"

Zhou Liwen took a sip of wine, and the hot wine flowed into his stomach, making him sigh.

"The legendary Liu Heizi, who is famous in Hong Kong, did not die on the battlefield, but unfortunately passed away due to tetanus at the age of only 26."

Mr. Zhang drank up his drink silently, put down the glass, turned to look at the thin rain falling outside the window, and sighed deeply.

"Don't mention these old things from decades ago~"

"You just came back from Tokyo?"

"Correct!"

"How is the development there now?"

"Very good..." Zhou Liwen picked up the wine bottle with a strange expression, thought for a moment, and replied.

"Those things shown on the TV news are not lying..."

"Tokyo is very prosperous now, and it can no longer be seen that it has been affected by large-scale wars."

"And I found through observation that they don't seem to be as respectful to Americans as they used to be."

"Oh?"

Mr. Zhang looked at Zhou Liwen and asked, "You mean...David?"

"No~ not Mr. Coleman."

Zhou Liwen waved his hands repeatedly and said: "He is my new boss. He took me to Tokyo this time to let me get to know some new colleagues."

"The Americans I'm talking about are those new colleagues."

"The attitude towards the islanders who follow my boss's friends makes me feel very unnatural..."

"So, I learned some things while chatting with them."

"Can you tell me more about it?" Mr. Zhang picked up a piece of braised pork and put it on Zhou Liwen's plate, smiling.