Chapter 162: Liang Zhu (10)

Liu Tao sat blankly on the sofa for more than ten minutes. After calming her emotions slightly, she didn't say anything more to persuade Luo Jun to return to Shanghai, went upstairs to change into a clean set of clothes, combed her hair and washed her face, and then began to clean.

Luo Jun sat in the living room reading the newspaper.

Very rare, he wasn't reading a novel, but political news. There were key terms circled with a fountain pen on the newspaper, basically about how the war situation was in various places, where there were floods, where there were droughts, where there were plagues, and some missing person notices mixed in the corners.

Qin Huai stood beside Luo Jun and glanced at the newspaper, finding that Luo Jun indeed hadn't been wrong. According to what was written in the newspaper, except for remote areas that no one cared about, there really wasn't any absolutely safe place in this era.

In this era, remote areas that no one cared about meant unsafe in a sense.

Luo Jun frowned and studied the newspaper, circling locations with his fountain pen from time to time. Just as he was studying, a knock on the door sounded outside.

Liu Tao, who was wiping the cabinet, hurriedly went to open the door. Outside the door was a middle-aged couple.

The man had a big belly and looked very imposing. The woman was slightly plump, wearing a cheongsam, with a beautiful pearl necklace around her neck, heavy gold bracelets and exaggerated gemstone rings on her hands, looking bejeweled and very wealthy.

"Minister Cao, Mrs. Cao, why are you two here?" Liu Tao hurriedly welcomed them in.

Luo Jun was also a bit surprised to see the visitors, but he didn't show much, just calmly put down the newspaper and stood up.

Liu Tao went to the kitchen to make tea.

"Mr. Luo, you didn't return all night last night and didn't even say hello to your wife; you scared her to death, she was terrified in the air-raid shelter. If it weren't for me and your servant holding her back, she would have run out in the middle of the night to look for you. Just heard you returned safely, so I and my old Cao specially came to see," Mrs. Cao said. The words had no problem, but the tone sounded unkind.

Minister Cao glared at Mrs. Cao, Mrs. Cao rolled her eyes back at him disdainfully, unconvinced, and sat down.

Minister Cao could only smile apologetically at Luo Jun: "Mr. Luo, don't mind me, my wife has been in the countryside for the past few years, she just has this temper."

Mrs. Cao rolled her eyes again.

"It's like this, my wife is a bit confused about the situation. I heard she said some unpleasant things to your wife in the air-raid shelter last night. She is suspicious all day long, and I'm worried she'll lead your wife astray, so I specially brought her here to explain," Minister Cao said with a smile.

Liu Tao came out of the kitchen with tea, serving tea to Minister Cao and Mrs. Cao. When the tea was served in front of Mrs. Cao, Mrs. Cao specially stood up to take it, drank it directly, and pointed to the seat beside her to Liu Tao, signaling Liu Tao not to stand but to sit down too.

Qin Huai looked at the two, feeling Mrs. Cao was quite interesting. Although she didn't like Luo Jun much, she had a good relationship with Liu Tao.

"Mrs. Luo, I know you're very worried because Old Luo has been going out a lot lately, but don't worry, he is my brother, and there are people protecting him when he goes out. Men working hard outside are all for their wives and children, you also have to be more understanding of Old Luo. I just got a box of high-quality bird's nest yesterday, take it to nourish yourself, I see you've been haggard lately," Minister Cao said, laughing falsely.

Liu Tao was a bit confused, clearly not understanding why Minister Cao and his wife came specifically to explain this matter. Still hesitating about how to ask, Minister Cao stood up and said he had something to do and had to leave first. Mrs. Cao also stood up, telling Liu Tao not to forget to go to her house to play mahjong in the afternoon.

Liu Tao sent the two out, Luo Jun continued to read the newspaper as if it were nothing.

Qin Huai also felt Minister Cao and his wife were a bit inexplicable, quietly following them out, wanting to hear if they could say some explosive gossip.

Just went out and heard it.

As soon as the door closed, Minister Cao changed his face and accused in a low voice: "Are you full and have nothing to do? Last night, you were fine and said those inexplicable things to Mrs. Luo, even persuading her to return to Shanghai, saying you wanted to return to your hometown. If you want to go back, I won't stop you; I'll have someone buy you a ticket to go back tomorrow."

Mrs. Cao also changed her face instantly: "So what if I said a few words? You men are all the same, you dislike me for being old and ugly and threw me in the countryside to serve your parents, while you marry a female student in the city and live happily. My brother just got promoted and picked me up to the city, and you change your face faster than flipping a book."

"You Cao are not a good thing, and he Luo is even less of a good thing. Isn't he just a businessman who does business? He pretends to be a lover all day long, not reading books or reading newspapers, and secretly raising a mistress outside. He talks business with you; what business did he talk with you about? He runs out every three days, God knows what he is doing outside, he must be raising a little one outside."

Qin Huai:?

Minister Cao lowered his voice even more: "What does this have to do with you? Is that Luo Jun an ordinary businessman? Go and inquire, those who have offended him over the years, whether they are gangs, retired officials, foreigners, or government officials, all have disappeared without a trace. I am just a small minister with no real power, how many lives do you have, and you say he is just an ordinary businessman."

Mrs. Cao was still unconvinced.

"I told you to play mahjong with Mrs. Luo more, not for you to sympathize with her and become sworn sisters."

"If you ask me, Mr. Luo is decent enough. His wife is illiterate and an opera singer by origin; being a concubine is already climbing high. They've been married for so many years and don't even have children; eight out of ten times she can't give birth."

"This Mr. Luo didn't directly take a small one, just looking outside, I guess he wants to have a child and then raise it in his wife's name. It's already done to this point, what else is there to pick on? You say less of those things in front of Mrs. Luo, and when playing mahjong in the afternoon, watch your mouth, remember?" Minister Cao said sternly.

Mrs. Cao nodded unwillingly.

"The business Mr. Luo talked to me about can't be leaked either. That pearl necklace on your neck was given by Mr. Luo, keep your mouth tight."

Mrs. Cao walked away unhappily, speeding up her pace.

Leaving Qin Huai standing there a bit confused.

Based on his understanding of Luo Jun, Luo Jun was highly unlikely to raise a mistress outside. Luo Jun didn't like to lie; it was good enough that he didn't look at people with his nostrils in the sky or look at people sideways; he simply disdained doing things like lying.

But he did indeed lie.

Liu Tao said Luo Jun went out frequently lately, and every time the air-raid siren sounded, he wasn't at home, always out talking business with Minister Cao.

But Luo Jun clearly didn't talk business with Minister Cao, so Minister Cao and Mrs. Cao would guess Luo Jun was raising a mistress outside.

Now the problem comes: why did Luo Jun lie to Liu Tao? He wasn't a person who liked to go out either.

When Luo Jun wasn't in love, except for necessary killing, he was holed up in a hotel reading novels, and he called for couriers for meals.

Luo Jun was short of money lately, had many businesses outside, had to hide his tracks because it was too bloody, so he went out frequently to find Minister Cao to act and deceive Liu Tao?

The business shouldn't be that much.

Qin Huai walked through the wall back to the room with doubts.

Luo Jun was still sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper, and Liu Tao had cleaned from the cabinet to the dining table.

After another period of time, Uncle Zhang and Chen Ping, who went out to find Luo Jun in the morning, returned. Both looked a bit disheveled, covered in dust. Luo Jun didn't say anything, directly ordering the two to work.

One went out to run errands to buy newspapers, the other went to the restaurant to get food.

In the afternoon, Liu Tao went to Minister Cao's house to play mahjong, and Luo Jun went out with the excuse of going to the government to find Minister Cao.

"Boyan." Liu Tao hesitated before going out, but still spoke, "It's so chaotic outside now, it's already very dangerous for you to go out every day to talk things over with Minister Cao. Why don't you put aside the matter of looking for my father and mother."

"That way you can go out a little less."

"Staying with Minister Cao, I feel a little more at ease. I'm really worried about the situation like last night."

Luo Jun looked at Liu Tao's worried expression, although a bit reluctant, he still nodded: "I know, I'll let others do the looking for people in the future, I won't go out at night."

Liu Tao felt relieved and went out.

Luo Jun didn't go out first, but went upstairs to fold 26 newspapers, and went out with a pocket full of newspapers.

Then Qin Huai followed Luo Jun all the way, watching Luo Jun pass through the rich area, pass the coffee shop, avoid the street vendors, and walk around on the intricate roads. Finally, he came to an open space without high-rise buildings blocking it, with a wide field of vision, bright sunshine, and no smell of blood or rot in the air, looking like a good environment, took out the folded newspapers, unfolded them, and began to read the newspaper.

Qin Huai:?

No, Luo Jun colluded with people to deceive Liu Tao, and didn't hesitate to give a string of high-quality pearl necklaces, causing Mrs. Cao to think he was cheating and raising a mistress outside, angrily hinting at Liu Tao, doing so complex, spending so much effort just to find a place with good light to read the newspaper.

Is the light at home not good?

Is a novel particularly good to read only when outside?

Are men after marriage so elusive? This place is not as good as the small courtyard of Jiang Weiming's neighbor; at least in that courtyard, Luo Jun could sit on a chair and read, here he could only stand and read.

Luo Jun stood and read the newspaper for an afternoon like this, his feet weren't sore at all, his waist wasn't painful at all, and he read until the twilight light dimmed, before reluctantly folding the newspaper and putting it in his pocket to go home.

When Luo Jun returned home, the sky was completely dark, and Liu Tao was waiting at the door.

Seeing Liu Tao standing at the door, Luo Jun asked: "Why not wait at home."

"It's dark and you haven't returned, I'm worried about staying at home," Liu Tao said, revealing an embarrassed smile. "Mrs. Cao explained to me this afternoon, I misunderstood her meaning last night."

"You're right, it's not safe anywhere now, and it's not safe in the countryside."

"Mrs. Cao just had a maid send a pot of gastrodia stewed pigeon, gastrodia is for eyesight. You don't like pigeon, but I tasted the soup, it's very fresh, drink more pigeon soup later."

Luo Jun nodded: "Don't stand outside next time, I'll try to control the time and return before dark. The wind is strong at night, it's easy to get sick if you blow too much wind."

The two entered the house together, the dishes were kept warm in the kitchen, Liu Tao went into the kitchen to serve the dishes, and served Luo Jun a full bowl of pigeon soup. Qin Huai glanced at the leftovers in the kitchen; it was more than just drinking a little, basically all the soup was in the bowl.

The dishes were very simple, but they should be considered sumptuous in this era.

Pan-fried tofu, stir-fried vegetables, sweet and sour fish, and braised pork ribs, plus a bowl of pigeon soup and white rice, absolutely a big meal.

After eating, Luo Jun and Liu Tao went upstairs, Luo Jun read a novel to Liu Tao for more than an hour before the two went to sleep.

It could be seen that the situation was indeed very chaotic; Luo Jun couldn't even hire a female student to read novels to Liu Tao and had to read it himself.

Early the next morning, Luo Jun folded more than 30 newspapers at once and brought a novel, went out early after drinking Chen Pi tea, found a place with a better environment than yesterday, and stood and read for a whole day.

Didn't even eat.

It could be said to be quite forgetful of food and sleep.

The next two days were also like this.

If there were smartphones at this time, Luo Jun's WeChat step count would definitely be very high, because he was city-walking and reading standing up every day. Qin Huai even suspected that Luo Jun's legs weren't good when he was old, not because he was a Bifang entity with only one leg, but because he walked too much when he was young.

Qin Huai followed Luo Jun for several days, and the reason why he didn't sit comfortably at home reading novels but had to suffer by walking tens of thousands of steps every day to find a place to read wasn't found, but he read quite a few novels, more than the previous two memories combined.

Seeing the third day, Qin Huai actually felt that Luo Jun's novel-reading mode was quite healthy.

Exercising and reading, and having a regular schedule, except for not eating lunch and missing a meal every day, there were no shortcomings.

Qin Huai even felt that Luo Jun could tell Liu Tao the truth, and with Liu Tao's trust and tolerance for Luo Jun, even if Luo Jun didn't give any reason, just saying he wanted to walk more outside and read novels, Liu Tao would likely accept it.

Oh no, Liu Tao felt it was too dangerous outside, so she likely couldn't accept it.

Wait, could this be the reason Luo Jun deceived Liu Tao?

But why did he have to read outside?

On the third night, all questions seemed to have an answer.

Luo Jun read novels to Liu Tao as usual, Liu Tao listened with relish, suddenly, the air-raid siren sounded.

Liu Tao was still wearing pajamas, heard the air-raid siren, quickly got up and put on a thick coat, took a water bottle and biscuits wrapped in oil paper from the cabinet, and pulled Luo Jun, who had just picked a novel, downstairs.

Downstairs, Uncle Zhang and Chen Ping, who lived on the first floor, had also packed small bags, waiting for Liu Tao and Luo Jun to come down, protecting the two one after another to go out and walk towards the air-raid shelter.

The air-raid shelter in this area should be specially dug for this rich area, not wide, but with complete facilities.

Qin Huai noticed that there were radios, telegraph machines, kerosene lamps, tables, and some wooden boxes in the air-raid shelter, presumably containing supplies like food and water.

Liu Tao and Luo Jun didn't bring complex supplies because someone helped them bring them; the servants of Mrs. Cao's family not only brought hot water, tea sets, and tea leaves, but also brought chairs and cushions.

Others brought even more outrageous things; some brought mahjong, some brought chess, some brought opium pipes, some carried birdcages, some held cats and dogs.

Everyone's things were put together, not only could they play with birds and fight dogs, play cards and chess, but they could also smoke, gamble, and shake dice.

There were guards standing at the outermost part.

Qin Huai was stunned.

Outside, families were broken and people died; here, it was extravagant and dissipated.

No wonder Luo Jun said other places might not be as safe as here; it was indeed very safe, even a bit too safe.

Luo Jun clearly didn't like the extravagance and dissipation of this environment.

No matter how many items rich people added here, it couldn't change the fact that this was an air-raid shelter.

Damp, dark, narrow, noisy, emitting a musty smell, it was a dark corner that couldn't see the light.

Liu Tao was pulled to the mahjong table by Mrs. Cao, but she clearly had no intention of playing cards. Because Liu Tao also knew Luo Jun didn't like staying in the air-raid shelter. She wanted to stand by Luo Jun's side to accompany him, even if she sang two lines of opera for Luo Jun under the disdainful eyes of others.

"Mr. Luo, we are 3 missing 1, do you want to come and join?" someone called Luo Jun.

Luo Jun shook his head.

Others laughed: "You're not unaware that Mr. Luo doesn't like playing mahjong, don't disturb him reading. I remember your driver knows how to play, right? Pull him to the table to top it off."

"He is a driver..."

"Extraordinary times."

Everyone laughed together.

Seeing this scene, Qin Huai seemed to have returned to the Richard Hotel when he first saw Luo Jun's memory, where mahjong was also played all night long with lights on.

Qin Huai seemed to understand a little why Luo Jun had to find excuses every day and run outside to read the newspaper.

He didn't want to stay at home, he just didn't want to stay here.

He was too lazy to explain, and couldn't explain clearly, so he simply didn't explain, making up a reason to go out reasonably every day.

Anyway, he wasn't afraid of bombing.

Qin Huai could only say that Bifang in its prime could indeed do whatever it wanted.

The memory plot of the previous chapter has been changed a bit.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 163 =====