The bluestone path passed through the elegant courtyard. The midsummer sun shone through the gaps between the trees, and the warm and pleasant wind carried the faint sounds of people and footsteps. The refreshing summer was like the warmest season in his memories. As he followed the woman in white towards the inner courtyard, Yu Ho-chung suddenly had this feeling.
Lost youth, the past Bianliang, the gradually solidifying possibility of life … As these thoughts flashed through his mind, he was introducing the person accompanying him to Shishi. Yan Daolun, who had received care from Shishi over the years, had come all the way to Chengdu to see his old friend. Yan Daolun was worried that his trip would be in vain, so he came with him.
Yan Daolun politely introduced himself. Shishi tilted her head and smiled gently. After a few customary greetings, the three of them turned into the courtyard next door. This was a small courtyard with rooms on three sides. The courtyard faced the Pool of Mahākāśyapa. There were rockery, trees, pavilions, tables, and chairs. Every room seemed to be occupied, and there were guards on duty in the inconspicuous corners.
"… This was originally the property of the rice merchant He Lang. After the Chinese army entered the city, the higher-ups looked for a place to host future meetings. He Lang planned to donate this property, but every inch of land near the Pool of Mahākāśyapa is worth gold, so we didn't dare to accept the donation. Later, according to the market price, we got a 20% discount for 32,000 strings of coins and bought this courtyard. It can be considered a bargain. I live in the two rooms on the left, but the weather is nice today. Let's go outside and have some tea … "
Shishi smiled as she introduced the history of the courtyard to the two. She was no longer young, but her appearance hadn't aged. Instead, her smile became more and more pleasant as she experienced more and more. Yu Ho-chung looked at her smile and subconsciously replied, "Liheng has always been good at business, so he shouldn't be short of money."
Shishi smiled and shook her head, "In fact, he's short of money. Of the 32,000 strings of coins, only 10,000 were paid in cash. The rest came from the glass workshop."
"The Chinese army's glass workshop will be worth a lot of money in the future." Yan Daolun interrupted, "The Chinese army is so generous. He Lang really got a big bargain."
Shishi's lips curved into a crescent moon. "When Mister Ning does business, he never eats alone. Only when everyone is willing to participate can his business grow. Mr. Yan, please take a seat with He Zhong. I'll call someone to pour tea. "
They stopped in front of the swaying wooden table under the shade of the lake. When Shishi said this, Yan Daolun hurriedly waved his hand. "No need, no need. I just happened to be passing by today, so I came to accompany Brother Yu. Since the two of you have reunited after such a long time, I still have some matters to attend to. I won't trouble Miss Shishi … Actually, I've heard of Master Shishi's reputation for a long time. It's an honor … My wish is fulfilled, hahahaha … "
He did not go back on his word and was about to leave after saying his goodbyes. However, Shishi also raised her hand and said, "No, no, since Mister Yan is a good friend of Brother Yu, you should at least have a cup of tea before you leave. Otherwise, outsiders will say that I, as a younger sister, do not understand etiquette …"
She raised her left hand and smiled warmly. When Yan Daolun wanted to refuse again, she tilted her head and smiled, "… I insist." There was a hint of seriousness in this warm smile. Yan Daolun was slightly stunned. Finally, he smiled and pointed at the table and chairs. "Then I … drink a cup? Just one cup … I really don't want to trouble Miss Shishi … "
"It's okay, it's okay. Sit down." Yu Ho-chung felt very satisfied and also asked her to stay. When Shishi went to call the female soldiers in the courtyard to prepare tea and snacks, Yan Daolun looked around and said to Yu Ho-chung, "I didn't expect that Miss Shishi would only use two rooms in this courtyard."
Yu Ho-chung frowned and nodded. "Yes, when she was in Fan Lou, she had a whole courtyard. Now … maybe all the Huaxia soldiers are like this … "
They chatted casually, so naturally, they could not be sure. Then, Yan Daolun enjoyed the lake view and led the conversation to the scenery here. When Shishi returned, the two of them also praised the nearby scenery. After that, the female soldiers brought tea and snacks. Shishi asked Yan Daolun, "Did Mister Yan come to Chengdu for something important? It won't be delayed, right? If it's something important, I can ask Xiaoling to accompany you. She is familiar with this place. "
Yan Daolun smiled. "No, no, it's just ordinary business." He did not say too much. After that, it was just ordinary small talk. After drinking a cup of tea, he stood up and left. Yu Ho-chung was no longer a hothead. After seeing Shishi, he was at a loss of what to do. After asking Yan Daolun to stay, he was worried that Yan Daolun had some ulterior motive. Perhaps it was to monitor him, so he went with the flow and kept Yan Daolun company. Only now did he calm down.
He and Shishi stood up to send him off. Then, they asked Xiaoling to bring Yan Daolun out of the house. Although he was a little confused about Yan Daolun's behavior of only coming over to greet him, he did not think too much about it.
He turned his head. Shishi was looking at him and then smiled brightly.
After sending Yan Daolun off, the two of them, who had been reunited for a long time, sat opposite each other at a small table by the lake. After all, this separation had been too long. Yu Ho-chung was actually somewhat restrained. However, Shishi was friendly and natural. She picked up a piece of pastry and ate it. She began to ask Yu Ho-chung about his experiences over the years. She also asked about his wife and children at home. Yu Ho-chung chatted with her for a while. He felt very comfortable in his heart. This was almost the first time in more than a decade that he had such a comfortable conversation. Following that, the many interesting and difficult things that he had encountered in the past ten years were also added into the conversation. When Shishi talked about her own situation, Yu Hezhong was able to casually tease her and the Huaxia Army a little. Sometimes, even if it was an unhappy memory, in the atmosphere of reunion, the two of them could still laugh happily under the sunlight by the lake.
Shishi had always been nostalgic. This feeling of being bathed in the spring breeze was exactly the same as it was in Bianliang more than a decade ago. At that time, whether it was him or Chen Sifeng, they could express their feelings in front of Shishi without restraint. Shishi never felt that there was anything wrong with the feelings of these childhood friends.
They chatted for a while. Yu Ho-chung remembered what Yan Daolun had said about "she only took up two rooms." He also remembered what Yan Daolun had said yesterday about the internal power struggle in the Hua Xia army. After hesitating for a moment, he cautiously said, "Actually … although I have been outside all these years, I have heard some … about the situation of the Hua Xia army …"
"Huh? What situation? "Shishi asked with a smile.
"I heard people say that you are also a great figure in the Hua Xia army."
"What kind of big figure?" Yu Ho-chung said teasingly. Shishi shook her head and laughed. "Actually, the Hua Xia army has been established for so many years. Almost all the scholars in the world want to beat up the Hua Xia army. Although Liheng has trained many cadres, there are not many really good cultural officials. I have studied before, and I can write and calculate. Liheng let me do this and that. It can be said that he has found a strong man … In fact, there is a big shortage of such officials. "
Speaking of this, she looked at Yu Ho-chung. Yu Ho-chung looked at her for a moment and blinked. "You mean … actually … that …"
"Don't worry. Brother Yu, you still don't know what the Hua Xia army is like. Anyway, you will be staying in Chengdu for a while. Think about it." Shishi smiled and pushed the cake towards him. "But I am not a big boss. I can't make you a big official."
"My family is still in Shishou. They have lived there for a few years. It was not easy to settle down. Didn't everyone say that there will be no war in the next few years …" Yu Ho-chung nagged.
Shishi nodded. "I know, I know. And the possibility of war in the next two years is not high. Hmm, you said that you heard about the Hua Xia army. What else did you hear? "
"It's about you. They said that you are in charge of diplomatic missions in the army. Your prestige is everywhere …"
"Yes, yes. Is that what they said?"
"Of course. Then, there are many people who have received protection because of you. For example, Li Jingshen, Nie Shaotang, Yu Zhangqing … These people used to have power and influence in the Sichuan Fourth Route. Now, they will all come to visit you. Also, whoever spoke to the outside world will support you in the future. That's amazing, Official Li. You see, there's a female minister in the north and you in the south … "
Shishi smiled as she ate the cake. "That's nonsense. The Lou Xiang is very powerful. I can't compare to him. In the Hua Xia army, not to mention the wives of Liheng's family, even the female shopkeepers of Takeshi are first-class people. I can't compare to them … and then? What else is interesting? "
Yu Hezhong hesitated for a moment. "They said that you … originally, you could have done something big. In the end, I don't know why, but in April, you were pulled back to write books. Those … small stories, books used in brothels … after that, some people guessed that you … in any case, you must have offended someone and they suddenly sent you to do this … Shishi, between you and Li Heng …"
He hemmed and hawed. "If you think I'm talking too much, you don't have to say it."
"Then I won't say it." Shishi said. She leaned on the table and covered her mouth as she laughed. In the past, when she treated people warmly, she had a strange side. At this time, it didn't make people dislike her. Yu Ho-chung said, "Then even if …" Shishi continued, "You guys really like to think too much …"
"I heard it from others. I'm a little worried about you."
"I'm fine, although … I haven't married myself yet."
"Then why did they transfer you back from such an important matter …"
"Of course, there's a serious reason." Shishi said, "He Zhong, you still have to stay in Chengdu for a long time. Take your time. When you understand, I'll pull you into the Hua Xia army … Although the peace will last for a few years, there will be a war in the future."
At this point, her face became serious, but after a while, she changed the topic to a more relaxed one.
The sun was still warm, and the warm wind blew from the lake. The two chatted happily. Yu Ho-chung asked about the internal affairs of the Hua Xia army, and Shishi would occasionally tease or gossip with him. Although she didn't directly answer his question about her relationship with Ning Yi, her words indirectly confirmed some of his guesses. For more than a decade, she and Ning Yi were sometimes far and sometimes close, but in the end, they didn't successfully get together.
They chatted until noon. Shishi asked the female soldier, Xiao Ling, to order a few dishes from the kitchen, and they had lunch in the courtyard. Later, it seemed that someone came to visit, so she sent Yu Ho-chung out and made an appointment to see him later.
Walking through the streets of Chengdu, Yu Ho-chung felt that the Hua Xia army veterans on the street were no longer scary, as if they were "on the same side." However, on second thought, he still hadn't seen the deep waters of the Hua Xia army. How much meaning was hidden in Shishi's words? Was she banished to the cold palace, or did something else happen to her? Of course, this was also because they had only chatted once, and they couldn't explain it clearly. As long as they met a few more times, Shishi might not be so vague anymore — even if she was vague, he believed that he would be able to guess the gist of it.
As for the possibility of joining the Hua Xia army that Shishi had mentioned, he wasn't too keen on it. That afternoon, he met Yan Daolun again at the agreed place, and he revealed a lot of inside information about the Hua Xia army that Shishi had mentioned. Yan Daolun's eyes lit up, and he praised and nodded from time to time. In fact, they naturally knew a lot of things, but the information Shishi revealed was naturally more systematic, and there were more key points that they couldn't find out from the outside world.
Yu Ho-chung was also satisfied. If he joined the Hua Xia army, which he didn't understand at all, and relied on Shishi's protection, would he be able to stand out in the Hua Xia army? The possibility of this being the case was actually quite low. However, as long as he had Shishi's connection, he would definitely be valued by Liu Guangshi and General Liu. He knew how to wait for the right price, and manage this round of relationships well.
The truce might only last for a few years, but as long as he made good use of these few years to save up a batch of wealth, resources, and connections, even if the Hua Xia army entered the Central Plains in the future, he could always clear his name in front of the Hua Xia army with Shishi's help. When that time came, he might be able to talk to Shishi as an equal in front of her.
On the other hand, if Yan Daolun or General Liu Guangshi really valued the relationship between him, Shishi, and Ning Yi, and wanted to use this as an opportunity to contact and trade, it was very likely that he would be left in Chengdu as a messenger and channel of communication. At that time, he might be able to see Shishi as an equal every day.
He thought about these things for the whole afternoon, and when night fell, the whole outline became clearer. After that, he tossed and turned in bed, and it was another sleepless night.
As for Shishi, after seeing off Yu Ho-chung, she met with a few people, and then began to sort out the script for the meeting the next day.
Entertainment and publicity work was the most important in the Hua Xia army. In the beginning, even Shishi and the others didn't understand it, and only after more than ten years of practice did they roughly understand the outline.
In this aspect, Ning Yi's ideas were relatively extreme. Classical Chinese should be changed into vernacular Chinese, and dramas should be improved to become more popular. Many dramas that Shishi thought were quite excellent were considered by him to be too genteel, sloppy, and not good. Obviously beautiful words and sentences were considered by him to be too high of a threshold. No one knew how he wrote those magnificent poems.
For a period of time, Ning Yi even discussed with her the idea of simplifying Chinese characters, such as getting rid of the cumbersome formal character "one" and unifying it into a common character (note: In ancient times, there was no such thing as a traditional character or a simplified character, but some characters were written in a simplified way. The formal way was called a formal character, and the simplified way was called a common character) "one". For some characters that didn't have a common character, as long as they were more than ten strokes, they should be simplified. As for this project, later, Ning Yi considered that his sphere of influence was not large, and it would be difficult to promote it, so he temporarily gave up.
At this time, the promotion of vernacular Chinese and the popularization of dramas had already achieved many results in the Hua Xia army's cultural system. However, because Ning Yi insisted on making things more popular, the dramas they produced might seem even more "despicable" in the eyes of the elite literati.
However, as the war in the southwest came to a halt, Ning Yi considered cultural work to be the focus of the aftermath. For example, the soldiers who had survived needed a family, and the widows who had lost their husbands needed a partner. The Hua Xia army could organize social gatherings, but at the same time, they needed to arrange a warm and moving love story to make this process more natural. The soldiers of the Hua Xia army were brave and fierce in battle, but they didn't necessarily have outstanding characters and were suitable for marriage. In particular, soldiers were more or less prone to violence. As a result, Ning Yi had long ago requested that the cultural front use dramas to create one or two models of domestic violence that everyone despised. This way, the work of the military law office and other departments would be much easier.
And this time, Chengdu welcomed guests from all over with an open attitude, even allowing foreign Confucian scholars to criticize and debate the Hua Xia army in the newspapers. This placed a significant amount of pressure on the Hua Xia army. At the same time, by promoting dramas, dramas, and storytelling manuscripts that promoted war heroes, they would emphasize the problems of the Wu dynasty and the ugly behavior of the past ten-odd years, inciting people to spurn the Wu dynasty. Then, no matter how the Confucian scholars criticized the Hua Xia army, as long as they expressed their standpoint, they would be shouted down by the people at the bottom of the hierarchy. After all, countless people had personally experienced the hardships of the past ten-odd years.
When it came to the overly utilitarian principle of the cultural policy, Shi Shi and a few of the more accomplished members of the Hua Xia army had more or less given some suggestions to Ning Yi in their early years. This was especially true when Ning Yi, who could casually recite good poems, was so passionate about these unorthodox methods that it left people rather perplexed. But in any case, in the current Hua Xia army, this policy was very effective. After all, the number of scholars was not large, and the soldiers, the women, and the children of the soldiers' families were really only interested in this popular method.
The meeting on the fifteenth of June the next day was a summary of the previous work, as well as speculations about the trend of public opinion that might appear in Chengdu, as well as considering countermeasures and measures that needed to be prepared in advance. For Shi Shi, this would be the first time she saw Ning Yi since they parted ways in February.
Ning Yi returned to Chengdu on the ninth of the month, and she entered the city on the thirteenth. Although she missed him very much, she did not immediately go and disturb him yesterday. He had not been in the central command for several months, and Shi Shi knew that once he came back, it would be a continuous series of meetings.
In the afternoon, she prepared the script for the meeting. When she went to the canteen of the guest house for dinner in the evening, she found an official from the Ministry of Intelligence. "I need someone to help me investigate. His name is Yan Daolun. I don't know if it's an alias. He's in his early forties, with a square face and a round chin. There's a mole on the corner of his left ear. His accent is …"
…
In the early morning of the fifteenth of June, it was raining heavily in Chengdu, accompanied by lightning and thunder. When Ning Yi woke up, the sky was still dark. He sat in front of the window and watched the thunderstorm.
When the lightning flashed, the huge trees outside danced in the wind and rain. Outside the lightning was a chaotic darkness, and the magnificent city was drowned in an even more magnificent heaven and earth.
…
When he woke up in the morning, it was still raining heavily. The curtains of rain fell on the surface of the huge lake. After breakfast, Shi Shi came back and changed into a black civilian uniform. She tied her hair into a convenient ponytail. Before she left, the female shopkeeper in charge of publicity in Takeshi, Chen Xiaoxia, waved at her. "Meeting?"
Shi Shi nodded. "Yes."
…
When it was almost dawn, Shi Shi and a group of civilian soldiers entered the Illustrious Virtue Hall, which was about two miles away from the guest house.
When Ning Yi came in, she was talking to a companion beside her with her head tilted. She then looked at Ning Yi and pursed her lips slightly, revealing a calm smile on her face.
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