At a quarter past noon, in the Shanghai Public Settlement, Cheng Shi stood in front of the gate of a three-entry compound, with the corners of his mouth twitching slightly!

Cheng Shi sighed in his heart, this is Deng Xin's so-called friend who has some money. It seems that Deng Xin's family is not simple!

One of Deng Xin's friends, Wen Zuoxuan, was sitting on a wooden armchair in the elegantly decorated courtyard, basking in the spring sun!

Wen Zuoxuan closed his eyes and listened comfortably to the record player next to him, playing Romance of the West Chamber produced by Shanghai EMI Company (1912), an old opera record!

Wen Zuoxuan also chimed in from time to time and sang a verse, even though Wen Zuoxuan was only two years older than Deng Xin!

But his goal in life is to have fun, not to be rebellious like Deng Xin. Today he was lying down as usual, listening to his favorite opera!

At this time, a servant wearing a gray short coat walked in. He came to Wen Zuoxuan and said softly.

"Master, there is a person coming to see you at the door!"

When Wen Zuoxuan heard this, he closed his eyes and said, "What is his name?!"

The servant said: "He said to tell you about Heitan Tou, and you will know!"

When Wen Zuoxuan heard this, he quickly opened his eyes, stood up and said excitedly: "Where is he now!"

The servant was very surprised by his young master's expression, because he has been here for two years and the young master has never been so unstable!

Naturally, the servant did not dare to neglect, and quickly bowed and said: "He is at the door! I will invite him in right away!"

Wen Zuoxuan raised his hand to stop the servant and said, "I'd better go and welcome him in!"

Wen Zuoxuan turned off the record next to him, and the opera music stopped. Then he walked through the two courtyards and came to the gate of the courtyard.

Before he went out, Wen Zuoxuan laughed and shouted: "Heitan Tou, I didn't expect you to think of coming to see me?!"

Wen Zuoxuan, who walked out of the gate immediately, was stunned when he saw Cheng Shi at the door, and said in surprise: "Who are you?!"

From what the other person said, Cheng Shi already understood that this person was Wen Zuoxuan he was looking for, so he quickly stepped forward and said with a smile.

"I am a friend of Deng Xin. My name is Cheng Shi. He asked me to come to you!"

Wen Zuoxuan's smile slowly disappeared. He looked Cheng Shi up and down and said, "Since you are Deng Xin's friend, please come in first!"

After Wen Zuoxuan finished speaking, he made a gesture of invitation. It can be said that Deng Xin and Wen Zuoxuan were friends since they were young. They were good friends when they were young!

They often do naughty things together, so the relationship between the two of them is naturally very good, otherwise they wouldn’t be so excited!

After arriving at the house and asking Cheng Shi to sit down, Wen Zuoxuan asked with a smile: "Why didn't Deng Xin come by himself, and why did he ask you to come to me?!"

Cheng Shi said with a smile: "Brother Wen, I am Deng Xin's colleague, we are investigating a case, and he has something to do and he can't leave!

We need to check information in the public concession, but we don’t have management rights and we don’t know each other, so we need your help to set up a line!”

"It's easy to talk, it's easy to talk, it's lunch time, let's talk after eating!" Wen Zuoxuan replied with a smile.

Although Cheng Shi was a little anxious, he did not forcefully ask questions, but said sheepishly: "Then I'll excuse you!"

Wen Zuoxuan said hello, and soon a servant brought out exquisite dishes, and soon the table was filled with sumptuous dishes!

Wen Zuoxuan began to talk about the story of the two's childhood. Cheng Shi didn't mean to interrupt him, but listened attentively!

Wen Zuo

Moreover, it seemed a bit unusual for the other party to be so calm, and he wanted to see if the other party was telling the truth!

Wen Zuo

"Brother Cheng, if you say you need my help with something, just say so. Deng Xin's brother is my brother!"

Cheng Shi nodded, and without any more nonsense, he directly stated the purpose of his visit.

"I want to investigate how a man named Zhang Tingzhong was visited by a thief in a compound in the West District of the Public Settlement more than a year ago!

Of course, if Brother Wen doesn’t know, you can find someone to take me to where they live, and I’ll ask them myself!”

Wen Zuoxuan was stunned for a moment and asked with confusion: "What happened to Zhang Tingzhong?!"

Cheng Shi nodded and said: "It's nothing, it's just that the thief was killed, we need to find out about the situation from them!"

Then he came to his senses and said, "Brother Wen, do you know him?!"

Wen Zuo

Cheng Shi said doubtfully: "Young master from an official family?!"

Wen Zuoxuan said doubtfully: "You don't know him, then you must know his father and his grandfather if I tell them!

His father is Zhang Peilun, a minister in the late Qing Dynasty, and his grandfather is Li Hongzhang, whom everyone knows!"

When Cheng Shi heard Zhang Peilun, he only felt that it was familiar, but when he heard the familiar name behind him, he was still surprised!

For future generations, Li Hongzhang is definitely the most famous person in the late Qing Dynasty. Of course, the most well-known person is the unequal treaties he signed!

Having betrayed his country's sovereignty, Li Hongzhang became what everyone calls a traitor, a lackey of the Qing Dynasty, and a traitor!

In fact, this evaluation is unfair. First of all, the unequal treaty he signed should be said to be Cixi's intention!

Li Hongzhang was just a person who conveyed orders, and this crime could not be pinned on him so simply.

But Cheng Shi thought of another celebrity, the famous female writer Zhang Ailing. He remembered that Zhang Ailing was born in the Shanghai Public Settlement!

And Zhang Ailing is Zhang Peilun’s granddaughter, so Zhang Tingzhong is his father!

At this time, Cheng Shi suddenly felt the urge to rush there and see what this female writer of the Republic of China was like as a child!

Cheng Shi thought of this and quickly said with a smile: "I wonder, Brother Wen, can you take me there to ask for clues to the case!"

Looking at Cheng Shi's smiling face, Wen Zuoxuan also nodded and said: "Okay, it's time for me to go and ask for the bill. If he has money to pay back, he can just say what he wants. If not, I'm afraid he won't be able to say it even if he wants to!"

Having said this, he stood up and gave each other a slap with both hands, and immediately a servant collected what the two of them had eaten!

After leaving the table, Wen Zuoxuan actually drove out a black car. Cheng Shi knew that the other party was well-off. Wen Zuoxuan also invited Cheng Shi to get in the car, and the two of them started to rush to their destination!

Soon, the car arrived at No. 313, Megen Road, in the West District of the Shanghai Public Settlement, a fake Western-style mansion built in the late Qing Dynasty.


Chapter completed!