Duan Mingfeng looked outside and immediately recognized him—it was Yu Rui, grandson of Principal Yu of Shanghai University. Because their fathers’ generation were acquainted, they had met a few times before on social occasions, enough to be on nodding terms.
He quickly tucked away the building plan in his hand and said to Yu Rui, “The International Settlement is in such chaos—what brings Brother Yu here?”
Yu Rui pointed to the long line behind him and said calmly, “I heard about the fighting last night, so I came to help distribute relief grain and medicine.”
Duan Mingfeng followed his gesture and looked ahead—indeed, among the crowd comforting the refugees, there were quite a few patriotic volunteers. Though he and his brother weren’t particularly close with Yu Rui, they knew he was a well-known passionate young patriot. He hesitated a moment, then advised, “This place is right next to the combat zone—it could fall under attack at any moment, and all the news is being blocked, nothing’s getting through for now. Once the relief grain’s mostly distributed, Brother Yu should head back to the safe zone soon, so Principal Yu and the others don’t worry.”
Yu Rui smiled. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. The relief grain’s almost all given out, so I’m about to head back too. This place is too dangerous—Brother Duan and Second Brother Duan should also head back to the French Concession soon.”
Once they’d left, Yu Rui first mixed back into the crowd and made his way back to the block of shops, then, taking advantage of the chaos, went straight upstairs and said, “There were only the Duan brothers in the car, but there was another car tailing them the whole way, with about a dozen people in it—I think they were the Duan family’s own servants. Duan Mingfeng did indeed have a building plan on him, but from that alone I can’t tell what their intentions are.”
Ruide wore a pained expression. “With four different factions currently searching for the gold bars—the enemy, Wu Ruhai down in Nanjing, the government, and the various organizations—none of them would openly carry a building plan around in plain sight. If the Duan family dared to come after the gold bars alone, without any backing, that’s odd—I suspect someone in the government leaked information, though I don’t know how word reached the Duan brothers’ ears. The way they’re acting, with no real plan at all, doesn’t look like they’re working for the enemy, and doesn’t look like Wu Ruhai’s men either. The way I see it, could there be some connection to people in the government?”
Hearing the words “government leak,” He Yunqin’s brow had already furrowed; he said nothing for a long while.
They’d just had Yu Rui warn the Duan brothers—there was still time to withdraw now. If they insisted on wading into these muddy waters anyway, no one could stop them.
As for who leaked the information and who was stirring up trouble, he’d find out once he got home.
He looked at another companion. “Still can’t get through on the phone?”
The man shook his head. “The North and East districts are currently the enemy’s base for advancing on Shanghai’s military defenses—the lines were knocked out long ago, can’t get through for now.”
Ruide said, “The French Concession’s been turned upside down already, and we searched the rest of the International Settlement earlier too—of this whole vast concession, only the area north of Suzhou Creek is left unsearched. That place is right next to the battlefield, moving around there would really be too much trouble. I suspect the other factions are already nearby too, just that for now they don’t dare act rashly.”
Yu Rui stood and looked out the window. “There are also huge numbers of refugees still pouring into the International Settlement—at least three hundred thousand of them, they say. Once all these people flood in, most of the buildings will be packed full. If Wu Ruhai’s men are the first to find where the gold is hidden, that’s not so bad—this man, though he’s in league with the enemy, cares about both his reputation and his profits, so he wouldn’t dare turn his blade directly on ordinary people. But if the enemy figures out the exact location first, that would be real trouble—they wouldn’t care at all about these people’s lives, they’d go straight to using explosives to dig up the gold underground.”
He Yunqin smiled. “That second possibility is unlikely. Don’t forget, the International Settlement is currently under the thumb of the British and American legations. If the enemy really found the gold in such a blatant way, how would they get it out to the battlefield? It would probably be seized before it even made it out the concession gates. So no matter which faction it is, however urgent things get, they can only search for the gold through covert means.”
Yu Rui’s brow knitted into a tight furrow—this truly was an impossible problem. First they had to avoid the notice of the other factions to find the gold, and then they had to make sure it could actually be transported to their own side’s battlefield.
This time, success would mean helping to save the nation and its people; failure would mean there’d be no way to come out unscathed. This point, surely, these elders were well aware of—and yet on their faces, there was not a trace of hesitation or timidity to be seen.
“So, as I said before, I’ve temporarily drawn up two plans,” He Yunqin said. “First—these abandoned factories and houses in Shanghai have already been searched through completely; doing it all over again would just be futile effort. I want to try a different approach—instead of continuing to search houses and factories that have sat empty for years, I want to focus on buildings that sat empty around ten years ago but were later put back into use.”
Everyone was startled for a moment—this truly was a new way of thinking. “And the second point?”
“The second point is, if those other factions’ thinking hasn’t changed, they’ll certainly come sniffing around places like the Sima Light Bulb Factory that have sat empty for years. If they show themselves, that’s exactly our chance to take out a few of them. I’m hoping we can get the phone lines back before dark—if not, our best move is to hold still and not act, because whoever moves first will immediately become the target of every other faction.”
Yu Rui gave a bitter smile. “But the problem is, those two factions are each better at disguise than the last—how am I supposed to tell who’s good and who’s bad?”
He Yunqin looked up at him. “Don’t easily trust anything you see, and don’t easily trust anyone who seems harmless. Can you do these two things?”
Yu Rui’s expression turned solemn. After a moment of silence, he nodded gravely. “I’ll remember it.”
“—”
Hongdou decided to take that blank seventh page of the building plan and use it to test Wang Bide. In these extraordinary times, she couldn’t fully trust anyone—but if Wang Bide truly meant to deliver a message to He Yunqin in good faith, she wouldn’t let him risk it alone.
She went to the study with her brother, and set the last page down on the table, saying to Wang Bide, “He Yunqin left this behind when he left. All I know now is that the seventh house is possibly somewhere in this area, but exactly which building it is isn’t marked on the map.”
Wang Bide picked up the paper and looked at it, frowning. “It’s in the North district, of all places. If the fighting hadn’t started, that would be one thing, but now that it has, this area is already unsafe. I’ll go find them right now—if Xiang Qisheng and the Peng tailor couple really are the enemy’s men, I have to get word to them at once.”
Yu Chongyi was startled for a moment. From what he’d heard between his sister and Wang Bide just now, he’d already fully pieced together what was going on. Seeing Wang Bide so resolute, he couldn’t help but be moved as well.
A tangle of emotions welled up in Hongdou’s heart; her gaze couldn’t help following Wang Bide’s retreating figure. Seeing that Wang Bide had already reached the door, she hurried to say, “Inspector Wang, it’s a warzone out there, going alone isn’t safe—”
Wang Bide, without turning back, only gave a snort. “So what if it’s not safe? Am I supposed to just stand by and watch these comrades be ambushed? An old wreck like me, not like Yunqin and Ruide—they’re young and capable, while I’ve muddled through my days for nothing. All these years I’ve been alone, drinking too much for too long, my body’s riddled with ailments already. My life isn’t worth much.”
With that he waved a hand and strode toward the door.
Hongdou thought back over all the time she’d spent with Wang Bide these past days—if He Yunqin hadn’t trusted him at all, why would he have let Wang Bide investigate the matter of the houses? With this thought, her heart suddenly cleared. She caught up a few steps, about to speak, when Yu Chongyi suddenly stepped forward. “Inspector Wang, you’re wrong—your life is worth a great deal. All our lives are worth a great deal. Hongdou is right, you shouldn’t go alone, it’s not safe. I’ll go with you.”
Hongdou froze, hurrying to try to stop them both, when her hand brushed against something in her brother’s coat pocket—a gun case. She was startled.
Yu Chongyi turned back with a smile. “This gun—I bought it back when Bai Haili had designs on you, just in case. At the time, I thought, if there was truly no other way, I’d take that bastard down with me.”
Hongdou’s throat tightened. “Brother.”
Yu Chongyi said gently, “If it hadn’t been for Yunqin and Inspector Wang helping out back then, I might really have done it. Now that Yunqin’s not here, Brother is the one you can lean on. You’re not in the same condition as before—for Mother’s sake, and for Yunqin’s sake, just set your heart at ease and wait for news at home. Brother’s got a strong constitution, I’ll definitely help find Yunqin for you.”
Only then did Wang Bide sense something was off. His gaze fell, startled, on Hongdou’s belly. He opened his mouth, but in the end couldn’t get any words out.
Hongdou lowered her head, thinking it over, hesitating again and again. At last, glancing down at her belly, she said to Wang Bide and her brother, “All right—if I insist on going along, that would be far too reckless of me. But there’s something I need to remind you both of: Yunqin and the others have been searching for so long without finding the gold. Now that the fighting’s come early, they’re all people who know how to read a situation and adapt—they could adjust their plans at any moment.”
Wang Bide asked, startled, “You mean Yunqin and the others have gone back to the French Concession?”
Hongdou shook her head. “If they’d gone back to the French Concession, Yunqin would definitely have called the He mansion. So I believe he’s still in the war zone. What I mean is, if there’s no news from those haunted or abandoned houses in the International Settlement, they might change their approach and go search somewhere else. So once you two reach this area, if there’s no trace of them anywhere, for safety’s sake, be sure to turn back right away.”
Wang Bide thought it over for a moment, his face showing understanding. “I think I mostly understand what you mean now.”
Hongdou’s lips curved faintly. “I remember something Yunqin said before—’when the enemy’s iron hooves are already trampling our faces, to have the ability to act and yet not act is shameful.’ So whatever Yunqin is doing, wherever he is right now, I believe he’s doing something truly great. If you find him, please, be sure to tell him for me—”
She turned away in a rush, trying to swallow her tears, but after all the worry and fear that had built up over this whole night, she finally couldn’t hold it in any longer. Her heart felt strangely still, and yet the tears slipped silently down her cheeks all the same.
“Tell him for me—he’s going to be a father. The baby and I will be waiting for him at home.”
Author’s note: Some of you have been discussing casting for Hongdou—way too early. “Winter Solstice” sold its rights last year and is still in pre-production, so I’d guess “Hongdou” is still several years off.