Siheyuan: Cooking journey

It was very quiet inside.

The doors and windows facing south are all open.

An elderly man with gray hair was sitting in a wheelchair basking in the sun.

He Yuzhu looked at him, and he also looked at He Yuzhu.

"Mr. He, please take a seat."

The old man spoke first, his voice a little weak.

The woman wearing sunglasses brought a chair and placed it not far from the old man.

"Where's Huang Ruo?"

He Yuzhu did not sit down, but stared at the other person coldly, guessing that this person should be the mysterious president of the Shanhai Gang, Shan Zhongyue.

"When you got on the bus, Mr. Huang had already returned safely."

The old man stared at He Yuzhu with his slightly blurry eyes and said slowly: "This is a token of my heart. Can Mr. He take a seat now?"

"Let him go back?"

He Yuzhu was slightly startled and felt very surprised.

Of course, I won't believe these words easily.

If it was so easy to let Huang Ruo go, why did we have to ask him to come here specifically to negotiate terms?

"What can we do to release Huang Ruo?"

He Yuzhu asked directly before sitting down.

"Mr. He doesn't believe it?"

The old man sighed and said, "Mr. Huang is not that important to you."

"It's just my way of inviting you."

"I've known for a long time that you have a high reputation in Japan."

"But every time you come here, you always come and go in a hurry, so it's hard to have a chance to meet. I have no choice but to use Mr. Huang as an introduction to get you here."

"He is the head of a trading company. If something goes wrong, Mr. He will not sit idly by."

"Now that you are here, Mr. Huang is naturally no longer a big deal."

He Yuzhu's eyes became a little more serious, and he said coldly: "Is it me you want?"

"That's not entirely true."

The old man looked up at the sun and sighed: "The country we really want to contact is the Red Country."

"I originally thought of inviting Mr. He to a private meeting after he came to Japan."

"I didn't expect that you have such a great influence here. You have attracted the attention of the Yamaguchi-gumi and the Inagawa-kai. Coupled with some accidents that happened in the past few days, things have become very complicated."

"I have no choice but to invite you explicitly, otherwise I'm afraid I will never have the chance to meet Mr. He again."

Red country?

He Yuzhu frowned. Since coming here, he always encountered unexpected things.

The leader of the Shanhai Gang actually wants to contact the Red Country.

This is really unexpected.

"There is an embassy in Japan, so it won't be difficult to contact them there."

He Yuzhu had some doubts about what this person said.

"For things like this, the fewer people who know about it, the better."

The old man looked at the warm sunlight, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said with some emotion: "I know Mr. He will be on guard, so I will just say it directly."

"Before the introduction, let me introduce myself first. So that Mr. He knows who I am. I won't mention my previous name anymore. My current name is Yamanaka Yue."

"The Yangtze River is filled with sorrow, and my eyes are filled with tears as I journey home for thousands of miles."

"The autumn wind is high and refreshing, and the fallen leaves are flying among the mountains."

"I wonder if Mr. He has ever heard of this poem."

He Yuzhu glanced at him.

Of course I remember this poem - "In the Mountains".

Expressed deep longing for distant hometown.

Although I long to return to my hometown, it is difficult to achieve.

It describes the sadness and helplessness of people who live in a foreign land for a long time.

"Mountains and Yue", these two words remind people of his hometown. "Yue" may be his original surname, or it may be an expression of his ambition.

This is intentionally stated.

Maybe it means: Even though you are in a foreign country, your heart is still with your homeland?

He Yuzhu knew it very well.

But judging from the Shanhai Gang's usual practices, it is hard to tell that they are truly on their side. It is hard to tell what Huangpi is thinking.

"never heard of that."

He Yuzhu responded coldly.

"So this is ah....."

Yamanaka Yue was a little disappointed and said slowly: "During World War II, the country was broken. Although I cared about my motherland, I went astray. I worked in the Wang Puppet Government. After Japan was defeated, I went to Taiwan first, and then followed the army to live in Japan."

"Until now, I still pay close attention to the domestic situation."

"To be honest, I was really surprised. I didn't expect that it would be the teacher who unified the country and established a new era."

"I have always hoped to return to my hometown one day, but unfortunately it has not come true. I also hope that one day our army can reach Japan and wash away the national humiliation."

“I have been preparing for this over the years.”

"After waiting so long, the result is like this. Although I feel regretful and unwilling, the international situation is like this and I can only accept it."

"It's just that my health is not as good as before, and I don't know when I will die. I don't want to take all these preparations and efforts with me. I hope to give them to the motherland. Please, Mr. He, pass them on for me."

He Yuzhu stared at the old man in front of him with a look of surprise.

A person who had long been labeled a traitor and a fake Japanese actually had a patriotic heart.

This was really unexpected.

For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

He found it difficult to judge whether these words were true or false.

There was silence for a while.

He Yuzhu finally recovered and said calmly: "The motherland doesn't need these things. Since you have been preparing for so long, keep them."

Now, the country's focus is on economic development, so no matter what kind of elaborate arrangements are made, they are of no use.

Besides, think about the Shanhai Gang’s usual behavior.

It is also difficult to accept.

Shan Zhongyue glanced at him subconsciously, stared at him blankly for a while, retracted his gaze, looked at the sun, and sighed: "Mr. He, are you prejudiced against us?"

"Yes, Mr. He must have known about us before he came."

"For a truly patriotic person, our behavior is indeed disgusting. However, there is one thing I would like to ask Mr. He."

"Are those men who abandon their families and live outside good men? Can those who abandon their motherland, forget the spirit of the Chinese nation, and worship foreign things still be considered compatriots? Maybe Mr. He would think they are."

"But I don't think so. Their thinking has changed. Apart from the same skin color, they have nothing to do with us. They are even more hateful than foreigners. Because they insult their hometown and bully their compatriots, they are even worse than foreigners."

“If you have never experienced the pain of others, don’t easily persuade them to be good.”

"What we Shanhai Gang did was just tit-for-tat..."

"you are right."

This is what Yamanaka-dake said.

He Yuzhu agreed, nodded and said: "People who have changed are no longer our compatriots."

He paused, then asked, “But do all those who leave the country and settle abroad become corrupt?”

"Obviously that's not the case."

“Some people still care about their motherland.”

"We can't deny everyone because of individual cases."

"But as far as I know, your Shanhai Gang has been bullying and exploiting overseas Chinese. How is this different from those corrupt people you mentioned?"

Shan Zhongyue was silent for a long time before he sighed and said, "Mr. He, during World War II, Japan invaded the Red Country and caused us great harm."

"Under this kind of hatred, if there are still people who want to come to Japan to live, then they have lost their national integrity and are no longer our compatriots."

"As the saying goes, a child will not despise his mother, and a dog will not despise his home. Why should we defend these fake Japanese people who are worse than dogs?"

He Yuzhu was speechless for a moment.

He had never thought about the problem from this perspective.

What Yamanaka-dake said also sounded reasonable.

But after careful consideration,

He Yuzhu thought this view was a bit too extreme, so he said solemnly: "Some people's ancestors came to Japan, and their descendants had no choice, so we should not generalize."

"During my two visits to Japan, I met many patriotic Chinese people."

"Mr. He..."

Yamanaka Takeshi said solemnly: "Whether in history or modern times, the crimes committed by the Japanese army in our coastal areas are outrageous. With such national hatred and family feuds, they still immigrated to Japan to live and took the enemy as their father. This is a manifestation of the loss of national spirit. Yes, the ancestors made the decision. Don't their descendants have any other choice? They can return to their country or leave here!"

"And among those who grew up in Japan and were assimilated into Japanese culture, how many of them truly care about their motherland?"

"There are many such examples in our Shanhai Gang."

"I just made a rule that I would show no mercy to those who oppress their fellow men. I have no emotion at all."

"This rule is also a way to identify who are your true companions."

"It's a pity that over the years, there are almost no sincere compatriots."

"Perhaps Mr. He will be dissatisfied with the way we treat these people."

"But I must say that in my opinion, if you randomly pick out ten such people, nine and a half of them are corrupted fake Japanese. Do you know how the Japanese view them?"

"They are regarded as the lowest and most marginalized group in society and are not respected at all."

"For example, Kabukicho in Edo was open to Americans and tourists from Western countries could go in for consumption and entertainment, but these people were not allowed in."

"Because they think these people are lowly and not even worthy of Japanese prostitutes."

"And these people are so humble and fawning, and they can't wait to marry their daughters to Japanese people, and they are proud of it. Do you think it is necessary to protect people like this, Mr. He?"

"Do you still think they are compatriots? To be honest, compared to some Japanese people who share the same ideals, these people who have given up their beliefs and changed their temperaments are even less trustworthy."

He Yuzhu opened his mouth, feeling so mixed up that he didn't know what to say.

I realized that some of my previous thoughts were too naive. Everyone has the right to choose. Since they have decided to move abroad, whether they are former companions or not, we should not interfere. After all, this is their personal choice.

Similarly, although some people in the country may appear to be compatriots, they have actually changed and become people who have a red heart but do not know where to go.