Chaos

There is a man-made lake in the backyard of the Feng family, and some fish are raised in it. Mrs. Feng likes to sit by the pond and watch the fish, or Feng Zhenyang plays chess with him when he is away.The breeze is blowing, the birds are singing and the insects are singing. Although it is still the hottest season, the wind can already bring a little heat away.

Feng Zhenyang is the eldest son of Mrs. Feng and the current eldest son of the Feng family.Feng's silk company sells tens of thousands of pieces of silk and satin to all over the world every year, as well as several tons of raw silk. In the late Qing Dynasty, it had a great say in shipping.It was an unexpected opportunity to start selling arms at the earliest time. At that time, when the elder of the Feng family went abroad to discuss business, he met a German arms dealer who wanted to open up sales in the Asian region. is one of them.In today's Shanghai Bund Underworld, the two families are comparable in terms of financial resources, and the Feng family is higher in terms of status.The selection of the successor of the Feng family is different from the Li family's head, but Li Xian, and Feng Zhenyang is a well-known good gentleman.

Feng Zhenyang took a shot, picked up the tea and blew on it.

The old lady looked at the chess game and asked, "Yang, did you hear that Li Shu had dinner with the Li family a few days ago?"

Feng Zhenyang nodded, "I heard that when Li Lu got married, she went there in person. It seems that she is about to let go of her suspicions and go back to the head of the house."

"No," the old lady said, "She is so arrogant, she won't change her surname so casually, and go back after suffering so much."

"I'm so proud of my temper, I don't know if I will go back or not. Since she changed her surname, why didn't she change her surname to Wang, Liu, and Zheng, and there are so many surnames, but she has to have a surname that is homonymous to 'Li'? 'Li'? Don't blame me for talking too much, maybe she is Li Gong's sniper." Feng Zhenyang put the teacup back on the table and looked at the chess game.

"Why are you sniping? The Li family has such a big family business waiting for her to inherit it. Why don't you let Li Lu and Li Kang go? Put her outside and see what the Li family has become in the past few years. The loss outweighs the gain!"

"30 years in Hedong and 30 years in Hexi, with her ability, as you can see, she can get a piece of the arms so quickly from scratch. If I were Li Gong, I would let her out. It was used for war more than ten years ago. Guns belong to either the Li family or the Feng family. At that time, our family had fifteen days in a month, but now there are only twelve days left. If Li Nan turns around and returns to the Li family, they will have eighteen days. Li The family is in a bit of a mess now, but if Li Shu's property is counted in Li's family, you can carefully calculate whether Li's family has earned or lost? I really can't figure out why my mother tried her best to protect her back then. Do you put one in your bed?"

"Whether it's a gun or a squib, you'll only find out when you're still in my stomach. When you were still in my stomach, I had already taken people to discuss business with the Germans. Can't I think of anything you can think of? I also sent people to lock her up, But in that dilapidated firewood house, I hadn’t eaten for several days, and I could barely sit up. When I heard that the Li family was coming, I got up and locked the door. At that time, I felt that she was exactly the same as when I was young, she was iron My heart is about to break with the Li family."

Feng Zhenyang smiled, "Mother, let alone how many times you have said these words. You said that you were determined to leave home back then, but didn't you come back in the end?"

"How can it be the same! Your uncle Hong has a stupid mouth, Master Chang can't teach you no matter what, if he becomes a master, he will be able to manage such a big business after your grandfather dies, so I won't come back!"

Feng Zhenyang said with a smile: "You have a knife mouth and a bean curd heart. How can uncle be as bad as you say? You are doing business outside, and there are more than 100 people in the house. Without uncle, it would have been a mess! "

"I know uncle all day long, there are so many people in the house, why don't you say they are good to you?" The old lady's voice was not loud, but there was reluctance in her words.

"They have you boasting, so I will say a few words for my uncle!" Feng Zhenyang smiled and played a chess piece and said, "He is already old, so don't always say that their uncle is not good in front of the children. He'll be embarrassed."

Feng Zhenyang kept smiling, and the old lady couldn't say anything when she was unhappy, so she choked out a lesson for a long time: "You'll be mad at me!"

Feng Zhenyang looked like the old lady was like an angry child, she just wanted to play tricks if she couldn't say it, so she couldn't help laughing.

At this time, a servant came forward and said, "Mr. Yang, old lady, Officer He is here."

"Officer He?" Feng Zhenyang turned his head and said with a smile, "It's rare, what did he say he didn't say?"

"I said, I said that I came to propose marriage."

"Marriage proposal?" Feng Zhenyang and the old lady looked at each other, "What kind of marriage proposal in the afternoon? He came by himself?"

"Yes."

Feng Zhenyang's eyes narrowed into a smile, "It's weird, I haven't heard of anyone at home getting on good terms with Police Officer He recently?"

"Go, have a look."

He Guanhai was wearing a neat Chinese tunic suit, which didn't look like his. He sat upright as if he was being punished. The weather was so hot that his hair stuck to his forehead, and there were still a few beads of sweat rolling down.Seeing Feng Zhenyang and the old lady, He Guanhai stood up quickly.

"Mr. Feng! Mrs. Feng!"

Old lady Feng greeted with a smile: "You're welcome, sit down!"

"Why are you dressed like this today?" Feng Zhenyang looked at He Guanhai's clothes with great curiosity.

"Oh! I'm here to propose a marriage! It's important to dress formally." He Guanhai clasped his hands on his knees stiffly, trying to restrain his movements.

"Whose relative?"

"I'm here to kiss Miss Feng Yanqing."

"Yanqing?" Feng Zhenyang looked back at the old lady and smiled.

Feng Yanqing is the eldest daughter of Feng Zhenyang. She married a classmate four years ago. Her husband and Yanqing were in love with each other, but unfortunately passed away a year ago.Yanqing was mainly responsible for supervising the illegal goods of the Feng family at the dock. During this time, he went to other places to do errands to relax, and sent letters every now and then to report that he was safe, and did not say when he would come back.

"Yes. After Mr. Yanqing passed away, Ms. Qing has been monitoring the goods at the pier by herself, and went to drink in her spare time. When I saw her last month, she lost a lot of weight."

"How do you know this?"

"The place where I live is not far from the Hualou where Miss Qing often goes. When I come back from the night patrol, I often meet her. I am afraid that she will encounter hooligans on the way home drunk, so I will follow her from a distance. Wait until she gets home. go back."

"You still protect her yourself? There are bodyguards by her side."

Feng Zhenyang asked all the questions with a smile, but he knew it all in his heart, but He Guanhai only wanted to express his sincerity, and ignored other things.

"Miss Qing's own bodyguards are famously tall and strong, but I still don't worry. What if there are too many of them? It's always safer to fight four hands with two fists. All the gangsters in Shanghai know me. It's definitely okay with her. This is a promise I made when I was a child, and I have to keep my word!"

"Promise? What promise?"

"When I was ten years old..." He Guanhai said, the hand clasped on his knee suddenly flew up involuntarily, and quickly retracted, clasped it on his knee.Everyone in the room let out a suppressed laugh.

This smile didn't matter, it made He Guanhai very nervous, he panicked thinking about what they were laughing at, but he didn't know that his expression suddenly became more panicked, like the exaggerated expression of a storyteller telling a monkey show, making everyone want to laugh even more , even the servant girl behind turned her face away and bit her mouth to hold back her smile.

He Guanhai's face turned into a bun with worry, and he hurriedly remembered what Li Kang said at some point, "Ask if you don't understand", and quickly squeezed an awkward smile, and asked cautiously: "Old lady, Mr. ...what are you laughing at..."

"Guanhai, it was Li Kang who taught you how to wear this suit and how to sit and talk like this?" Mr. Feng still asked with a smile.

He Guanhai didn't know whether to answer "yes" or "no", he blinked for a long time, and slowly said "ah...", "I said I was going to propose marriage, but he said that he looked stable..." His The sound is getting smaller and smaller.

He Guanhai didn't know how exaggerated his expression was. He looked at the servant girl next to her who was holding back her laughter and blushing, and still didn't understand why they were laughing. For a few seconds, he really wanted to pull out the gun from his waist and shoot it into the sky, shouting: "Stop fucking laughing!"

Feng Zhenyang turned around with a smile and said to the old lady: "Look how bad Li Kang is, and gave him such a bad idea!"

Then he turned his head and said to He Guanhai: "Guanhai, they are laughing at your funny expression, your eyelids will pinch mosquitoes to death!"

He Guanhai scratched his head and smiled, "Old lady, Mr. Feng, I'm a rough person. I haven't studied for a few days, and I still can't figure it out. What are you laughing at..."

He Guanhai stroked his sweaty hair with his hands, and a lock of hair just turned up, as if he had horns on his head, and a servant accidentally laughed out loud.

The old lady suddenly shouted: "Stop laughing!"

Everyone quickly pursed their lips and smiled back.He Guanhai was also taken aback.

"What's so funny! Zhenyang! You're still teasing him! What are you talking about!"

Feng Zhenyang quickly turned his face away, covered his face with his hands and made an innocent grimace at He Guanhai.He Guanhai accompanied him with a smile for no apparent reason.

"What are you doing! You're teasing him again! Do you look like a gentleman!"

Feng Zhenyang quickly apologized and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, mother, I won't tease him anymore."

The old lady turned her head to compare He Guanhai's hair again, indicating that it was upturned, and He Guanhai quickly smoothed it out with an "oh".

"Guanhai, it's not a bad thing to be safe. It's just that we have watched you grow up, and we have long been familiar with your temperament. We don't have to dress like this. You don't move your hands and feet. It doesn't look like you anymore. They just look at what you're wearing today. Fresh and without malice."

He Guanhai breathed a sigh of relief, grinned and said, "I'll understand after you tell me, otherwise I'm a big-hearted bastard, and I won't be able to guess people's thoughts!"

The old lady smiled and said: "Don't guess, I don't blame you. Don't you want to talk about Yanqing, go ahead!"

"Oh, good. When I was ten years old," He Guanhai stood up, gestured with his hands in the air, and began to talk happily, "Yanqing was just four years old. She liked to come out to play, and I also liked to come out to play. But she is young. , some older ones came to bully her and rob her of candies and toys. I saw them one day, they bullied her, robbed her of toys, and even pushed her down! I went to fight with them, there were so many of them I couldn't beat it, my face was covered with bruises. When I got home, my father saw that I was beaten and asked me what was wrong. I said I would be beaten again, but I was not afraid. When I sent her back that day, Yang My husband asked me, I protected her this time, what should I do if she is bullied again in the future, I said I can always protect her. I heard a story told by Mr. Shu before, the person in the story said that whoever he likes should 'not marry her' My husband asked me if I liked her, and I said yes, I liked her, and if I had to marry her, no one would try to bully her when I grew up! Later, when I grew up, Yanqing studied well and knew Mr. Xie Ze, they are also a good match, I am happy for her, I thought someone could protect her for me, but she is still bullied, who bullied her? She was bullied by God! Mr. Let's get sick So heavy, I left her at such a young age! Seeing that she often went to drink and lost so much weight, I thought, I should come out to protect her again. Anyway, I said that I would not marry unless she was a bachelor, and I kept my promise for so many years. It's too late to propose marriage now, as long as Yanqing agrees to take good care of my health, I don't need to be on patrol!"

Mr. Feng listened with great interest, and finally said: "You are really a storyteller! Have you mentioned it to Yanqing? Does she know you are coming?"

He Guanhai's eyebrows suddenly drooped, and his voice lowered a bit: "I wrote a letter, and it was just sent out yesterday... I guess I haven't received it yet..."

"Do you know where she went?"

"Hangzhou, she said it when she was drunk that day. The anniversary of her husband's death has just passed, and she is not in a good mood. I'm afraid to mention her sad things."

The old lady nodded in satisfaction, and said, "You have a heart. But for such a big matter, let's wait for her to come back and decide on her own. It's not easy for us to decide for her."

"Yes yes yes..." He Guanhai accompanied him with a smile.

"Today counts as your practice. When she comes back, choose a good day, at least in the morning, and then formally come to propose marriage! Also, don't wear this dress anymore, make a long robe, and talk as you usually do." Just do it!"

"Hey! Yes! I shouldn't say that I'm here to propose marriage, it's too informal!"

"It's a trivial matter, and it's right to ask for our opinion!"

"Hey! Then I'll go back first, and come back when Miss Qing comes back!" He Guanhai trotted out after returning the salute.

Seeing He Guanhai go out, Feng Zhenyang said with a smile, "This kid is really a fool. Besides himself, who else would take a child's words seriously."

"That's right, if she doesn't marry, then she really won't get married!"

"I still remember when Qing was young, she didn't cry when she knew others were robbing her, and would go out to play when the time came. When Guanhai brought her back that day, she was disheveled and her clothes were torn. When I asked him if he liked Yanqing, it was just a joke, who knew he could remember it for so many years."

The old lady sighed, "My mother passed away early, and a father like a bandit only taught him to keep his word, not to be flexible."

"I don't think it's necessarily bad. Maybe he should have been like this? If the patrol room in the British Concession didn't have him, so many hooligans who got involved in the patrol would have turned upside down."

"That's true," the old lady said, "Although he is reckless, he is also simple, and Li Kang will believe it after a few coaxing words!"

Feng Zhenyang said with a smile: "I think it's probably because Guanhai is afraid of making a fool of himself by proposing marriage. Li Kang gave him an idea and asked us to tell him to relax. The two of them have known each other for more than [-] years, and they know how many roundworms they have in their stomachs." !"

"Do you think Qing will agree to him?"

"It's hard to say." Feng Zhenyang flattened his mouth, "Guanhai said that he likes her and is willing not to go on patrol, it must be true, but after all, he only knows how to tell stories, so he may not be able to chat with Qing. But the children's own business , let them think for themselves."

"That makes sense. But if she doesn't agree, you can't blame her. It's a pity for such a good-looking talent. I'm only 24..." The old lady sighed when she thought of Yanqing's husband.

"Everyone has their own destiny, so you don't have to feel sorry for them. Young people have tried all kinds of love and romance. They have tasted it all, and it's not in vain!"

"You can think about it!"

Feng Zhenyang smiled, "If you don't want to talk about it, how can you live? In this turbulent time, if you live through today, you don't know if there will be a tomorrow. Who knows when you will kick your legs and close your eyes."

"Bah, bah, bah! Don't talk nonsense!"

Feng Zhenyang squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, no nonsense!"

He Guanhai left Feng's house, went straight to the pier, took off his coat and held it in his hand, looked around for Li Kang's shadow, saw Li Kang marking the cargo box, and shouted at him, attracting many people across several layers of people look back.

"23...Huh?" Li Kang vaguely heard someone calling himself, turned his head to look for the source of the voice, "Guanhai? Why are you here?"

"I'm here to find you, I have something to do!"

"What's the hurry?"

"I went to Feng's family to propose marriage."

A smile suddenly appeared on the corner of Li Kang's mouth, and he asked, "What do you say?"

"There are many people here, go to Fuyi Tower!" He Guanhai said and was about to pull Li Kang away.

"I'm busy right now," Li Kang shook his arm and broke away from his hand, "This batch is the foreign wine that Sister Nan will use to open a tavern, so there must be no mistakes!"

He Guanhai looked at the number on the recording board and the moving workers, and asked, "How many more?"

Li Kang looked at the number of boxes pushed by the approaching mover, stroked the notebook a few more times, and said, "There are still more than 50 boxes."

"Wait for me a moment," He Guanhai ran not far away to find a ship steward who was smoking on a chair, and pulled him over while talking.

"Do you have any money on you? Give him some, you teach him how to remember, write the list to him, and I will move with you!" Then he dropped his clothes and ran to move the goods.

Li Kang called him too late and watched him run away.

He Guanhai has fought with people since he was a child, and he is full of energy. He can move more and faster than labor-intensive movers. When the car was driving towards the city, it was still dark.But he didn't want to go to Fuyi Building either. The two of them took two bottles of foreign wine from the box and sat on the steps of the pier, listening to the noise, chatting while drinking.

"What did the Feng family say?"

"I didn't say anything, but Mr. Feng and the old lady have passed the test."

Li Kang smiled, and asked embarrassingly: "That is to say, Feng's family has responded?"

Seeing Li Kang's smile, He Guanhai couldn't help saying, "Are you still laughing? Do you know how ugly I was in Feng's house! The girl laughed so hard that she couldn't hold her water!"

Li Kang held back his smile and asked, "Why are they laughing at you?"

"It's not because of you! I have been a gangster for 30 years, I haven't read much, and I dress up like a scholar. Mr. Feng said that my eyelids can almost kill mosquitoes! They think I'm a fool! It's strange if I don't laugh!"

Li Kang laughed out loud, and He Guanhai became even angrier: "You're still laughing! You're full of bad water!"

"It's not me who taught you how to wear a Chinese tunic suit. Do you blame me?" Li Kang smiled like the moon in the first year of junior high school, "Don't say it, you look good in this suit!"

"Okay, you! You'll just make fun of me!"

After a while Li Kang laughed enough, and said: "They should also agree, what does Mrs. Feng say?"

"Say——when Yanqing comes back, agree, bring the bride price, choose a date, change clothes, and formally propose marriage..." He Guanhai said in a long tone, reluctantly.

"Look, what I said, you don't need to go? You still don't listen! You still want to ask me what I wear, they watch you grow up, what do you wear differently?"

He Guanhai couldn't say no to him, so he took a sip of his wine and frowned: "What is this so bad?"

"Foreign wine," Li Kang saw that his face was wrinkled into a bun, and thought it was amused, "It's not for nothing, I took it from Sister Nan's wine box, and I have to pay Sister Nan later!"

"How much is this wine?"

"I don't know, but it shouldn't be cheap." Li Kang looked at the wine bottle in his hand.

"Hey, I haven't asked yet, why did the goods you picked up today belong to Sister Nan? Did she agree to go back to Li's house?"

Li Kang put down the wine bottle, and said, "A while ago, the old workers of the Li family asked me to invite Sister Nan back and set up a banquet. She, she...has agreed."

"Agreed? So refreshing?" He Guanhai raised his voice several times, his brows almost flew out, "What about Mr. Gong? What about Li Lu? Do you know about such a big event? And the banquet you gave, they all know about it? "

"I don't know, it's just a table meal, and she didn't really agree."

"Then did you agree or not?"

"Just say that I am familiar with the pier and ask them to hand over all the affairs to me. She will get the truth out if she intervenes directly. I was in charge of those matters, and she handed these matters over to me, saying that she will help me later, the Li family She doesn't have to be suspected of being meddled by outsiders, and she doesn't have to be suspected of stretching her hands too far. What do you think whether she agreed or not?" Li Kang smiled self-deprecatingly.

"I told you, don't think so simple. Sister Nan can do such a big business without relying on the Li family. She has long since ignored the Li family, let alone come back. You are stubborn! But I don't think you should think too much. Sister Nan has been doing business for so many years, so it's normal to be a bit suspicious of being the boss." He Guanhai said happily with a sip of horse urine in his mouth.

Although He Guanhai is not as smart as Li Kang, he is at least an outsider, and he is better than Li Kang in this matter.

"Although Sister Nan is only six or seven years older than you, she has experienced more things than you. At most, you have gone out to deliver bulk goods a few times, and you have never dealt with those old men and women who are chicken thieves. Opponent. Now you are the Li family and she is the Li family. Although they used to be a family, 20 years have passed. You can’t always live in the past. People have to look forward. However, she let you share the white goods Never mind, I should be thinking about the old love, I trust you, so don't think too much about it."

Li Kang took a sip of his wine, but did not speak to him.

Whether to trust or use, he knew in his heart.Li Kang knows Li Shu's talent very well, his wisdom and calmness are almost unreasonable, he admires and envies him, but he never thought that one day she would turn her sharp spear and sharp shield on him.Obviously he trusted himself, but he felt an unprecedented feeling of being abandoned.Growing up in Li's family, there was no biological mother but only the third wife who raised him and was suffering from chronic illness. Neglect and ridicule were almost commonplace.But no matter how Li Gong ignored him, he would never feel sad and lost, because with sister Nan around, he would definitely have sincere compliments and the same toys and candies as his brothers.Before his sister left home, what he and Li Lu were fighting for was just a little more favor from his sister.But he hoped that as long as his sister could come back, they would be the same as before, but the years were cold, and after all, they still took away the candle-like emotion.

"It's hard to drink."