Espionage: You're tasked with spying, but you'll blow up the Special Higher Police?

Zhou Hongyi took the blind man to a pharmacy, treated his injuries, and then followed him to the blind man's home.

The blind man's family lived in an alley not far from the bustling city center. North of here was Henan Road, which led to Huangpu District, the area known as the "Ten-Mile Foreign Concession." It was clear that the blind man's mother had earned a considerable amount of money; even in an alley, houses here were certainly more expensive than in other areas.

"Mom~~~ I'm back, and I brought guests back with me. Have you cooked yet?"

The blind man led Zhou Hongyi into the alley, across a small ditch, and saw a pregnant woman boiling water not far away.

She has an oval face and her long hair is tied up on her head. Although her face is a little swollen due to pregnancy, her features are still very delicate, with big eyes, a upturned nose, and full lips. Even with her big belly, she is still very charming.

"No wonder. But even someone like that can be fooled. Aren't all those dancers seasoned in love? I bet the blind man's mother is the legendary love-struck fool."

Zhou Hongyi mentally formed a conclusion, thinking that the blind woman really looked young, and her son was quite mature. If strangers said they were siblings or husband and wife, no one would doubt it. The only strange thing was the mother-son relationship...

"Guests have arrived? We're almost out of rice. What are we going to feed them? Oh, is this handsome young man your friend? I've never seen him before?"

When the blind man's mother saw Zhou Hongyi's clothes and upright posture, her eyes lit up instantly, like a hungry old cat seeing a fat mouse.

“Mother, this is my benefactor. Brother Dao found out that I was stealing and selling weapons, and look how badly he beat me. If it weren’t for my benefactor paying out money to cover the losses, I would have been drowned in the Huangpu River tonight.”

"What?! That little bastard Xiao Dao dared to hit my blind man? And he's planning to drown you? Has he forgotten that I beat him up when he was naked?! I'll go to their house tomorrow and yell at them. We're from the same alley, how can he be so ruthless!"

The blind man's mother even calls her son "blind man," what a shameless mother.

"So you're our benefactor! Come in and sit down. We've just boiled some water to make tea for him. Blind man, go outside and buy two ounces of pig's head meat and half a pound of wine. Come back and properly thank him."

"No need, no need... Madam Shen, I just brought the blind man back. It's good that he's alright, no need to bother. You're not very mobile either, and it's dark and the road is slippery, so you should get some rest. That's all for now, blind man, see you tomorrow. I have some things I'd like to ask you."

"My benefactor isn't staying for dinner?"

The blind man's mother was somewhat surprised. She reached out to grab Zhou Hongyi, but missed. As a result, she lost her balance and fell towards the door with a cry of pain.

Zhou Hongyi broke out in a cold sweat. This was a heavily pregnant woman. If he fell and got hurt, it could result in the death of both mother and child, and he would become a murderer.

Fortunately, the pregnant woman wasn't far from him. Zhou Hongyi reached out and helped her up, while the blind woman threw herself into his arms, saying coquettishly, "Oh dear~~ my waist has gotten thicker, and I'm not as agile as before. My benefactor saved my life again, so I absolutely have to stay for a meal today. By the way, my name is Shen Qingxia, you can also call me Sister Qingxia. You don't look older than me, right? What's your name?"

The heavily pregnant Brigitte Lin leaned on Zhou Hongyi's shoulder, seemingly with no intention of getting up. She whispered the question into his ear, her warm breath tickling him. If she hadn't known she was pregnant, he would have pushed her away long ago.

"Sister Qingxia, I do have some things I'd like the blind man to help me with. Alright, in that case, I'll stay for dinner. Just something simple will do; nothing too complicated."

Zhou Hongyi agreed first, then helped the seemingly boneless pregnant woman to a chair inside the house before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

Shen Qingxia stared at Zhou Hongyi's face, glancing at him and smiling, glancing at him and smiling again, seemingly quite satisfied with this well-dressed and handsome young man. She even gave her son an encouraging look, as if to say, "Take your time buying, don't rush back."

“Mr. Zhou, if you really have something to do, I’ll go buy some wine and food and we can chat while we eat.”

As the blind man spoke, he took out money to buy things, leaving only Zhou Hongyi and the pregnant woman with a large belly who treated him like Tang Sanzang in the room.

"My benefactor, you haven't told me your name yet!"

“My name is Zhou Hongyi. Sister Qingxia, I didn’t expect you to be so young. If you didn’t say you were the blind man’s mother, I would have thought you were his sister.”

"Hehehe~~~ Young? What's the point? I'm all old and faded... Back in the day, I was quite a big shot at the Paramount Ballroom. Lots of rich bosses would fight to dance with me and hear me sing. Now I'm old and can only watch helplessly as those young girls take my place... I finally found a man, but he's a heartless bastard. He cheated me out of my body and my money. That damned bastard is probably somewhere who knows where he's fallen into the Huangpu River and drowned!"

Seeing that the other party had steered the conversation to this point, Zhou Hongyi continued, "Sister Qingxia, I just heard from the blind man that you used to be the top courtesan at the Paramount. The Paramount was one of the top entertainment venues in Shanghai, so you must have met many dignitaries and had many connections, right?"

Shen Qingxia raised her delicate fingers, smoothed the hair at her temples, and said smugly, "Of course! Back in the day, I, Qingxia, was known as the most beautiful woman in the Paramount Ballroom. From the military and political circles to the gang leaders, who wouldn't give me Qingxia some face? If Young Master Zhou wants to go to the Paramount Ballroom, I can take you in."

Zhou Hongyi glanced at the other woman's bulging belly, somewhat speechless, and hurriedly advised, "Sister Qingxia, your current physical condition is not suitable for going to that kind of place, but I really have something I want to ask you. Does the Paramount currently have a girl named Manyu?"

When Shen Qingxia heard Zhou Hongyi asking about Manyu, she immediately scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"That little hussy, Maggie Cheung, used to follow me around calling me 'sister' this and 'sister' that, acting like a country bumpkin. Now she's something else! Even if she's rich, the line of men wanting to dance with her stretches from one end of Shanghai to the other. It's incredible! What, Mr. Zhou, you've taken a fancy to Maggie Cheung's girl? Let me tell you, those little girls are just for a couple of glances. When it comes to real women, you need mature, sophisticated women who can bear you sons!"

As she spoke, she deliberately touched her belly, seemingly hinting at something to Zhou Hongyi, but the latter coughed awkwardly as if he hadn't understood.

Goodness, lady, you're too bold! You pounced on someone the first time you met them, no wonder you got scammed!

"Oh, I didn't mean anything by it. I just heard about Maggie Cheung from a friend and I'm a little curious. If you have time, I mean, when you're feeling alright, could you please introduce me to her?"

"Convenient~~ Of course convenient~~~ Oh dear~ It's just childbirth, I'm not that delicate. If you want to go, come to my house tomorrow night, I'll take you. Don't worry, I know my own body, it's not my due date yet~~ Young Master Zhou looks like a rich man's son. We blind men may not be very capable, but we are smart, filial, and grateful. You saved his life this time, so let that boy follow Young Master Zhou as his henchman. You don't need to give me face, just order him around, hehehe~~~~"

The two chatted about the Paramount Ballroom for a while, then the blind man bought some braised pig's head and bok choy and returned. He skillfully stir-fried the bok choy. And so, with a plate of meat and a plate of vegetables, and some homemade yellow wine, the three of them had a simple meal.

But the blind man's mother was truly something else. As the three of them ate and chatted, she had tears in her eyes and said shyly that this scene was her dream for many years: the blind man, his mother, and his father sitting together as a family of three, eating a hot meal and having a couple of drinks.

Her dream nearly made Zhou Hongyi choke on his vegetables. Somewhat overwhelmed, the young master Zhou finished his meal and hurriedly left. He needed to make some preparations: first, to pay back the money to Xiao Dao of the Axe Gang, and then to find the alluring pregnant woman and ask her to introduce him to the beautiful young lady from the Paramount Ballroom.