cicada

Chapter 962 Francois Huang

Zuo Zhong looked at Francois Huang of "Pear Blossoms with Rain" and smiled slightly, shook hands with him, then sat down beside the stool, looked him up and down with great interest and asked slowly.

"Mr. Francois, don't you work for a French foreign company in Jiangcheng? Why did you suddenly come to the mountain city and participate in the black market gold transaction? Tsk tsk, this is a serious crime that destroys the wartime economy."

As soon as they met, Zuo Zhong put a big hat on the other party's head, and Francois Huang rushed to his side after hearing this, bent down and squeezed out a flattering smile to explain.

"Sir, you don't know that my house in the French Concession was bombed by the Japanese. If our family hadn't attended the consulate's dinner that day, I'm afraid we would have all died in Changcheng.

Without my house and property, the French not only refused to help me, but also made me worse and fired me from the foreign firm. Fortunately, I had deposited some gold in the British bank before, so I did not starve to death. "

When this matter was mentioned, François Huang blushed with anger, and then changed the topic: "Since the French are unreliable, I can only find a way to come to the mountain city and make a living on the black market."

Zuo Chong glanced at the other party, and said with a half-smile, "It's just a meal, Mr. Francois is too modest, with a few hundred taels of gold, he can be regarded as a big dealer even in the black market.

And why don't you come to find Zuo when you come to the mountain city? You should know Zuo's identity. I said when we parted last time that we can cooperate if necessary in the future. Could it be that you look down on Zuo? "

François Huang Lianlian shook his head and smiled more humbly: "Where is the left chief, you have a high position and authority, and I dare not bother you. It's not because there is a connection with the Central Committee, so I didn't come to you."

The two chatted for a while with questions and answers. Zuo Zhong had a general understanding of Francois Huang's recent experience.

He got up and looked at his watch, and nodded to Wu Chunyang who was on the side: "You issue a release certificate to Mr. Francois. For the gold, [-]% will be drawn according to the rules, and the rest will be returned."

After finishing speaking, he smiled and asked Francois Huang: "My old friend, please understand that this is a public affair, and I must explain to everyone, that I cannot give you all the gold."

"Understand, understand, I understand."

François Huang Fei nodded quickly. He was not satisfied with being able to get out of the military command intact and get back [-]% of the gold. Didn't you hear someone screaming outside the window?

It was the military spies who were interrogating black market merchants, and they fell into the hands of these murderous spies. It was impossible to get out without losing their skin, let alone get their money back.

If it wasn't for a good relationship in Changcheng, he would definitely be one of the people being interrogated. Francois Huang knew this very well, and thanked Zuo Zhong and Wu Chunyang repeatedly.

Zuo Chong waved his hand and replied with a smile: "Hehe, well, you're welcome, after all, we also lived and died together in Jiang City, and without the help of Mr. François, we would not have retreated so smoothly.

I just heard from you that Mrs. Sister-in-law and the child have also come to the mountain city. It is better to hit the sun than to choose a date. Zuo and this Chief Wu will be bad guests today. How about it, Mr. Francois, do you welcome Zuo and others to visit? "

"Welcome, of course."

François Huang was overjoyed. This reaction was normal. It was the dream of many people to be able to establish a relationship with the deputy director of the Military Command. With the help of the other party, the mere black market was nothing.

So the three of them walked out of the room talking and laughing, took a suitcase of gold, got into the car, drove staggeringly for more than half an hour, and arrived near the Li Family Garden in the eastern suburbs of Shancheng City.

After everyone got out of the car, Zuo Zhong looked at the lush woods around him, raised his arms and expanded his chest, took a deep breath of the extremely fresh air, and turned to look at Francois Huang.

"Mr. François has chosen a good place for self-cultivation. It seems that Zuo wants to set up a residence here. The city is certainly lively, but it is too noisy and the air is turbid.

Just living here, it might be a bit inconvenient to start a black market business. Could it be that Mr. François takes gold to the city every day, which is a bit dangerous, and the streets are not stable recently. "

He seemed to be concerned about asking a question, but Wu Chunyang, who was in charge of accompanying him, was moved in his heart, and turned his eyes to Francois Huang secretly, hoping to hear how the other party would explain.

François Huang smiled wryly, and pointed to a small courtyard surrounded by green trees: "Of course it's inconvenient, but the housing prices in Shancheng City are too high, and my capital is limited, so I can't even afford to rent it, let alone buy it." .

This place is far away from the urban area and has beautiful scenery, so it is a suitable place to stay. As for safety, Li Family Garden is close to Yucheng Highway, and there are many military and police patrols nearby, so safety can still be guaranteed. "

To this answer, Zuo Zhong was noncommittal, and walked slowly along the mountain road to the house pointed by François Huang. Wu Chunyang and the little secret agent in charge of protection quickly followed after seeing this.

When a group of people came to the gate of the small courtyard slowly, a young child squatting on the ground holding a wooden stick to play with ants saw Francois Huang showing surprise, turned around and ran into the courtyard and shouted.

"Mother, mother, father is back."

Following the yelling of the child, the sound of objects falling to the ground came from the room, and then an elegant woman in her 30s rushed out of the house and looked up, with tears in her eyes.

"Hey, Sir Zuo, this is Zhuojing." Francois Huang introduced the woman embarrassedly, then walked quickly to help her wipe away her tears, and spoke in a low voice.

The husband and wife spoke their own words, Zuo Zhong and the others turned their faces away consciously, admiring the surrounding scenery. After a long time, Francois Huang returned to the spies and invited them into the house.

Zuo Zhong┴ nodded and started to walk. When he passed by the young boy hiding behind Francois Huang, he suddenly touched the other boy's head. Seeing the angry eyes of the young boy, he walked into the door with a big smile.

Entering the yard, the first thing you can see is an ordinary mountain city dwelling, with winding steps and tall stone houses standing on the pingba built with stones and mud.

There is a well in the northwest corner of the courtyard. There are traces of long-term use along the well, and there is a copper basin turned upside down on the ground, which shows how surprised François Huang's wife was just now.

After casually looking at the layout of the courtyard, everyone entered into the living room and sat down under the guidance of François Huang. His wife brought a few cups of black tea, which was fragrant and beautiful in color.

"Oh? Ceylon black tea, this is a good thing." Zuo Zhong picked it up and said with a smile, then put down the teacup. It's a good habit to be suspicious in this business, who knows if there is any poison in the tea.

Smelling the aroma of tea, he took a closer look at Mrs. Francois Huang. She was tall and slender, wearing a foreign cloth cheongsam, with a slightly rough but fair skin, which fit the characteristics of a troubled middle-class housewife.

Zuo Zhong asked with a faint smile, "I don't know what Madam's name is. I'm being rude to bother you this time. If it wasn't for Shangfeng asking me to fight the black market, I really don't know that Brother Huang came to the mountain city to make a living."

Francois Huang's wife handed the last cup of tea to the little spy, and said her name gently: "Weng Wenpei, Francois told me just now, thank you sir for saving me this time.

If it weren't for your noble hand, my child and I really don't know what to do. It is also a great honor for us to have you at home. You and the officers will wait a moment, and I will go to the kitchen to prepare meals. "

As he said that, Weng Wenpei took a few steps back gracefully, and dragged the curious child out of the living room. Francois laughed dryly twice, and took the initiative to ask the left again about the government's crackdown on the black market.

Now the entire black market in the mountain city is in panic. No one knows what the government is going to do, to what extent the black market will be hit, and whether the top party leaders are really going to smash this pot.

This can be related to the livelihood of countless people, such as the stick who moves the goods, the boatman who transports it, the landlord who leases the shop, even the elder brother who looks after the place, and the people who rely on the black market to exchange daily necessities.

Rubbing the warm teacup in his hand, Zuo Zhong did not "hide it", and pointed out the joints directly to the other party. How and when this matter will end depends on Deputy Director Xu of the Central Committee.

Their military commanders are just going to suffer for others and be tricked by Xu Enzeng. After all, someone in the Guo party is famous for his compassion and love for the people like his own son.

As long as the Central Command withdraws the suggestion to crack down on the black market, the military command promises to stop the action immediately, and those who have been caught can leave after paying the fine, so as to ensure the stability of the livelihood of millions of people in the mountain city.

François Huang is naturally a big braggart, making Zuo Zhong so righteous that he is a master of the world, and the people of the Republic of China are about to leave.

With the common topic of scolding Lao Xu, all the spies looked at each other more pleasingly, and the scene gradually became lively. Wu Chunyang also asked him about the black market and the people at the bottom.

According to Francois Huang's statement, since the start of the war, all kinds of prices have risen. Recently, the trend has become more and more obvious. The life of refugees and ordinary mountain city residents has become more and more difficult.

In order to make profits, profiteers deliberately hoard goods, manipulate hot money, speculate, and raise market prices. Traffic obstruction and insufficient supply of goods also make the daily necessities of the people very scarce.

Various factors are intertwined. Faced with rising commodity prices, the people deeply feel the strong impact on their daily life, feel the pressure of survival, and their living conditions are deteriorating.

For example, some men in mountain cities follow their wives to buy meat, and they simply cut up the pork and take it away, because if they honestly wait in line, the price of pork will rise again, so they have to grab it.

Under the rapidly changing environment during the war, all industries and commerce came to a standstill, traffic jams, and high prices made the people very uneasy, and emotions such as anxiety and injustice permeated the society.

Some uneducated people and people without professional skills are desperate after being unemployed, and because of hunger and cold, they embark on the road of crime, so all kinds of crimes spread and breed in large numbers.

Wu Chunyang's face was heavy when he heard it. To be honest, with his current status, military salary, and gray income┴, he can't feel the lack of supplies at all, but ordinary people are not like this.

So he hurriedly asked Francois Huang for more information, and while Francois Huang answered, he took out a box of cigars from the drawer in the living room and distributed them to everyone, and took out an ashtray.

Zuo Chong took the cigar with a smile, his eyes swept across the ashtray inadvertently, but he didn't know what he saw, his pupils shrank suddenly, and then he quietly put away the cigar, listening to the discussion of the two people next to him.

(End of this chapter)