【Lou Cheng】 How easy is another day

In this way, Mingcheng's face overlapped with the faces of other compatriots who had only met once before Minglou's eyes.Seeing the excitement and even resentment in his eyes, Minglou just slightly raised the corner of his mouth, took Mingcheng's hand, wrote down the words "maintain the original status" stroke by stroke, and pinched his hand again. Then he retracted his hand and said calmly: "This is an order I received. It is also my order to you. A Cheng, patience is often a very painful thing, and it requires extra perseverance and perseverance. Aspiration. But only learn to be patient. When your mission comes, you will be able to do it. Don’t be afraid of patience, let alone waiting, learn to enjoy them. In the future, you will find that they will eventually help you overcome cowardice, fear and even humiliation …until victory comes. You asked me what is the most important quality in this business. Now I give you my answer."

In the past ten years, they have been masters and servants, and then brothers, friends, lovers, like-minded comrades, and superiors and subordinates. One day, they will return to the land of their homeland and become a pair of comrades-in-arms fighting side by side.

But until that day comes, they all need to maintain the status quo and learn to endure.

Mingcheng lowered his eyes after listening, silent as a sculpture.Minglou thought he was deep in thought, but didn't want him to raise his eyes without warning and smiled: "Minglou, I love you."

This is not the first time Ming Lou heard this sentence from his mouth, but no matter when he heard it, the deepest corners of his heart could not help trembling strangely with these three words.Once again, Mingcheng's face changed in front of Minglou's eyes. It was a younger him, and it was also a summer day, not in this miserable island country, but in the farther east, the city Pushkin once enthusiastically praised, as if In the endless scene of white night, they walked side by side on the banks of the Neva River, and Mingcheng also said the same sentence with a smile.

There had been fear and desperation in his eyes then, and now they were gone.

Ming Lou closed his eyes, nodded almost invisible, and the smile on the corner of his mouth was carefully collected and bestowed: "I know."

After hearing this sentence, Mingcheng picked up the knife and fork and put away his amused expression. After a few seconds, he returned to his nonchalant expression: "...I understand what you mean. After I go back, I will apologize to the ambassador. Would love to go to Germany."

"No need."

"Ok?"

"I have received news that Nanjing has contacted Moscow. They are discussing an alliance. Wu Hao and the others have also started secret negotiations with Nanjing a few months ago... If, I mean if, you receive an order to be transferred to the Soviet Union , just like rejecting Germany this time, reject it again.”

"Understood." After Mingcheng answered, he suddenly recalled what Minglou said, and looked at Minglou in disbelief, "The second time... cooperation?"

"When the country is alive or dead, the only way to save the country is to abandon the past and unite with the outside world. Northeast China fell, North China fell, and East China..." East China is where his hometown is and where his relatives are. To fight against the Japanese, and then to encircle and suppress the Communist Party, even if Jiang Gong hated communism, if there is an irreconcilable hatred, he definitely does not want to have another Double Twelve.”

Minglou spoke calmly, as if what he was talking about this time was whether there would be another torrential rain tonight.After hearing this, Mingcheng pondered and said, "I don't believe they will sincerely ally with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The blood debt of the Great Revolution has not yet been paid off."

"What are you talking about sincerity right now? Whether it's true or false, in the face of the current situation, I'm afraid it's not the top priority. But any Chinese with a little backbone, who can sit back and watch the country's land fall? Jiang Gong is not afraid of the mountain of corpses we piled up A sea of ​​blood, but the shame of subjugation, I am afraid that even he and his comrades will not have the face to accept it. Is it really necessary to wait for the Japanese to attack the city of Nanjing before they agree to speak out?"

"Brother... have you contacted Eldest Sister?"

Minglou was silent for a while: "There will be a war in Shanghai. Last time I sent a telegram to my family, I advised my elder sister to go to Suzhou to hide from the limelight, or to go to Nanjing. She refused, saying that after the nest was overthrown, there would be no eggs, and she said one or two things. It’s not like I haven’t seen the bad things of the Japanese before. It’s just that I don’t want to leave Shanghai.”

"Let the little things persuade her?"

"This family is her life. It's probably useless for Mingtai to persuade her. You don't know about her? Who can persuade you when you have made up your mind?" Minglou saw that Mingcheng was full of worries, and said, "The concession is always It is better than other places. I have already contacted Dr. Su. If the situation gets out of control, please organize to take care of her for us."

Mingcheng just looked at him and didn't speak.

No matter how much you don't want to think about it, don't think about it, dare not think about it, the motherland thousands of miles away, the motherland that was already in war, has once again been involved in a bigger war.Minglou and Mingcheng looked at each other for a long time, maybe they both wanted to find something out of each other's eyes, but couldn't bear to tell each other what they saw.

The dinner was cold, and the wine had lost its taste. Minglou asked Mingcheng what else he would like to eat, and Mingcheng shook his head: "I'm full. If I can, I'd like to have a glass of strong wine."

"Okay, let's go to another place. It's a holiday, and this restaurant will close soon."

This night was not as cold as a summer night, and the wind was blowing thin raindrops, hitting the faces of passers-by.Mingcheng followed Minglou through winding streets and alleys, like walking into a maze with no way out.

There were very few pedestrians on the street, but when Minglou opened a door that seemed to appear out of thin air, a new world appeared again.Bright, warm, with the smell of smoke and perfume mixed together, the oak table and walls shone under the light.

Minglou smiled at Mingcheng: "A place introduced by a colleague of mine. It has very good wine. Do you want whiskey? Or do you want vodka?"

"No vodka." Mingcheng said bluntly, "It always reminds me of winter in Moscow. It's too cold. Anything else is fine."

"Got it. I'll find you a drink."

Minglou went alone, but when he came back, there was another person.He was accompanied by a tall, thin young man with the very standard of a handsome English man.

Minglou introduced him to Mingcheng in French: "This is Anthony, my colleague at Trinity. This is the bar he recommended to me."

As soon as he opened his mouth, Mingcheng immediately knew why they didn't speak English—the other party's French was better than many French people, and it was very soft and graceful: "It's a pleasure to meet you. Anthony Blount."

Minglou's colleague is studying French art history at Cambridge and teaching French to undergraduates.Mingcheng started to learn painting after returning from the Soviet Union, and now he meets peers who are professionally studying fine arts, and it is naturally easy to chat with them.

Mingcheng and Blunt talked about French architecture and art for a long time, from the Middle Ages to the Baroque. After the rise, they also talked about Picasso and Dali. The two even exchanged a little painting skills. .Mingcheng noticed that Minglou hardly spoke, and he knew that this often meant that Minglou was observing something.This made Mingcheng also interested, and quietly observed this new friend he met tonight.

This is a very good conversation partner, and Mingcheng's inherent impression of the British is almost swept away.Mingcheng didn't know what Minglou was observing, so he raised his eyebrows and asked in a low voice, "...Brother?"

Minglou just smiled at him and gestured with his mouth: "Don't worry about it. Say whatever you want."

Whiskey has an intoxicating aroma, unlike vodka, which has no other smell except alcohol.After drinking half a glass of wine, Mingcheng heard his new friend start a new topic: "Your country has already gone to war with Japan. I heard that you will form an ally with Germany to resist Japan together?"

This overly direct question made Mingcheng secretly frowned. Later, he realized that this was at school, and his own teacher was also straightforward and even reckless, so he nodded: "Our finance minister, Kong Xiangxi, will come to Britain to attend the meeting in June. After the coronation ceremony of the King of England, they visited Germany. But as far as I know, they discussed the issue of Sino-German trade. China is Germany’s largest trading partner in the Far East. This time, Ambassador Taudman came forward to mediate on behalf of Germany Our government is also deeply grateful for the war.”

Probably because of the alcohol, these few sentences were spoken in a very correct manner, which made the other party smile slightly: "After the war starts, can the trade between China and Germany be normalized?"

"All aggression is unjust. Injustice must be stopped."

Blunt's smile deepened: "You are really an excellent diplomat. In my humble opinion, the key to whether China and Germany form an alliance, and whether the alliance is reliable, is probably not Japan."

"Oh?"

He dipped the last bit of residual wine in the glass, and wrote a few letters on the table: "Forgive me for using such an impolite way. It stands to reason that universities should be free to discuss anything, but unfortunately, in our country, some Somehow, things suddenly became undiscussable."

Mingcheng spread his hands, looked at him and said sincerely: "I don't know anything about communism, I'm afraid I can't discuss it with you."

"Don't discuss it as a kind of doctrine. This is a regime, a country. It's a living, a collection of people." Blount suddenly showed a look of boredom, "Speaking of which, I haven't been to Russia yet. Probably never again. You know, they renamed St. Petersburg to Leningrad."

Mingcheng shook his head: "The last thing I've ever been to is Austria."

"Oh? Vienna?"

"Yes."

Blunt smiled again. "It's a very beautiful city. The Klimt paintings are, well, very interesting."

At this point, Minglou, who had been a bystander for a long time, finally joined the conversation: "I never knew you were interested in politics. I thought you were a professional art historian."

"Art is seldom separated from politics. Does war deter love?" Blount raised his glass and drained his glass. "But politics is too boring, too many people, too short-lived, and too forgetful."

Their conversation returned to art again, and no one mentioned politics until the farewell.Mingcheng went to buy the last round of wine.Watching the youngest person present walk towards the bar, Blount fiddled with the wine glass as if bored, and asked lazily: "Quiestil? 4"

Minglou retracted his gaze and replied to his friend who was already a little drunk: "Jepensaisquejel'aifaitàl'introduction.Ilestmonfrèrecadet.5"

Blunt laughed, glanced at Minglou, and cast a glance at Mingcheng's back: "Nous, les anglais, onne regarderait jamais un hommedecettemanière, mêmes'ilestnotrefrère.6"

Ming Lou twitched the corners of his lips: "Then what'swrong with you English? 7"

Blunt smiles completely un-Britishly: "Santé! 8"

After midnight, the host and guest broke up happily.At the door of the bar, Blunt said goodbye to them in a very French way, and then walked into the depths of the night in Cambridge alone.Mingcheng didn't like other people's perfume sticking to his body, once his figure disappeared completely, he immediately frowned and took out his handkerchief to wipe his face for a long time, hoping that the rain would be heavier.

On the way back on foot, he saw that Minglou was always thinking, and the doubts in his heart had not been actively answered, so he asked, "Brother, so what are you looking at?"

Minglou glanced at him: "I don't know either."

Seeing Mingcheng's puzzled face after speaking, he shook his head and said, "I want to know if he is the same as us."

Monk Zhang Er was puzzled for a while, and subconsciously asked: "What is the same? Which is the same?"

Now Minglou laughed: "I want to know."

Seeing that Mingcheng looked more and more confused, he asked back: "Do you know what kind of people Cambridge is expelling now?"

"Cheating?"

"Of course."

"Anything else?"

"Of course." Minglou suddenly took Mingcheng's hand, ignoring his subconscious resistance, but grasped it firmly. It was not until the resistance subsided that he calmly said the answer: "An open Marxist, and being caught gay."

The face that had just bid farewell appeared before his eyes again.Mingcheng's eyes widened in surprise: "Then...!"

Ming Lou still shook his head: "I said it, I don't know. I can't see it. There is no flaw."

At this moment, Mingcheng remembered that the two were still holding hands, and hurriedly wanted to shake off, but Minglou was looking at him, as if surprised: "What are you doing?"

"You just said it yourself..."

Minglou chuckled: "I've done everything, are you still afraid?"

He leaned forward, covered in the fragrance of alcohol, and kissed him.

The pendulum of the city hall pointed to one o'clock in the morning.

It was August 1938, 8.

End of this article