1928: The rise of giant merchants

On this trip to Suzhou, the two of them set off at 8pm and arrived at the Suzhou Pier at 8pm the next day. They had to spend the night on a rickety steamer.

Fortunately, today's ships are not as small and prone to capsizing by wind wolves as the small steamers Huang Huiru boarded, but the swaying and violent bumps that night were still nauseating.

What's even more uncomfortable is that it's difficult to open the door of the small single room. Behind the closed door, there is only a small fan blowing loudly above the head. The sultry heat, bumps, and humidity have really taken a toll on Ye Luo, the second young master who is used to living a comfortable life. suffering.

Originally, the quality of life during the Republic of China was not as good as in the technological era of later generations. After this time, Ye Luo swore that he would never ride in a transportation system with others in his life.

Of course, squeezing also has its advantages.

The entire small single room was only big enough for a narrow wooden bed, which was so small that it couldn't even accommodate two people lying flat on their backs, so they had to bend over and back to back.

In August, the weather is hot, so sleeping in the same clothes is a shame.

At first, Ye Luo and Hu Die were dressed neatly, but after a while, they became too hot.

If this continues, you will definitely suffer from heatstroke.

Ye Luo turned her back to Hu Die, feeling the soft curves of her waist, hips, and back, and said lightly: "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was so uncomfortable."

"Second Young Master, why are you apologizing to me? I came from a poor family when I was a child. This crime is nothing." Hu Die didn't fall asleep either. There were beads of sweat on her head, but she felt a little sweet in her heart. , "Second Young Master, if it's really hot, just take off your clothes and pants. It's okay."

Since Hu Die doesn't mind, Ye Luo won't hold on.

Taking off my coat and pants, leaving only a pair of large pants, and adding the fan above my head finally relieved me a lot.

"Why don't you take it off too." Ye Luo could feel the traces of sweat coming from Hu Die's back. If she got hot all night and suffered a heat stroke, she might not be able to find a doctor in time the next day.

Hu Die was at war with heaven and earth in her heart, but she had a gentle temperament and was like a jade from a small family. After hearing what Ye Luo said, she felt uncomfortable with the heat, so she let out a low "Hmm" and began to unbutton her cheongsam, finally taking it off until only one piece was left. A small bellyband and underwear.

During this period, although the so-called "prosthetic breasts" had spread to Shanghai, generally only the prostitutes in Hualiu Lane dared to wear them. Even though more than half a year has passed since the natural breast movement, the craze for underwear liberation has not yet spread.

In addition, imported "prosthetic breasts" are too expensive and cannot be worn by ordinary people, so women's inner linings are still mainly made of bellybands, or even vacuum ones.

Ye Luo couldn't sleep at all as the ship rocked. He didn't know how long it had passed, but he asked softly: "Are you asleep?"

"No." Hu Die couldn't sleep, but the reason was different from his.

Just when she was thinking about how to spend the long night, she suddenly felt warm in her waist and her body was hugged gently.

Ye Luo turned his back to her and turned to his side to hug her.

The two slept together like babies curled up.

Charming, romantic, subtle, emotional, all kinds of atmosphere are intertwined in a small single room.

Seeing that she didn't refuse, Ye Luo gently reached out and groped inside, then pulled it down.

At 8:15 the next morning, the ship arrived.

Suzhou Pier is not as prosperous as the Shanghai Pier, so patrols are rare.

Ye Luo pulled Hu Die, who had some difficulty in moving, off the ship, and randomly found a few dock workers to move the luggage and locked wooden boxes off the ship. After paying a few copper coins for work, he immediately caught two cars that had been waiting for a long time. The rickshaw went straight to Suzhou Prison.

Hu Die was a little depressed, so she leaned on Ye Luo's shoulder to take a nap. During the bumpy process, she thought of the charming night last night, and felt sweet in her heart.

Suzhou Prison was built in the second year of Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty (1910). It was the product of the reform of the prison system in the Qing Dynasty. It was renamed several times in the late Qing Dynasty. Because the local place name was "Shizikou", it was also commonly known as "Shizikou Prison". It was also known as the "Three Major Prisons of the Republic of China" together with the "Tiger Bridge" Prison in Jinling and the "Tilanqiao" Prison in Shanghai. A high-security prison for prisoners serving severe sentences.

There is a branch lane on Chengcang Street in Suzhou called Xiaoliuzhi Lane (formerly known as Xiaoliuzhen Lane), which starts from Cangjie Street in the west and ends at the Inner City River in the east.

Looking at this white-walled and black-tiled house built next to the river, I thought it was the former site of a wealthy family. In fact, this is the famous Shizikou Prison.

Hearing that the young couple was going to Shizikou Prison, the rickshaw pullers' original desire to chat was instantly suppressed. They were speechless the whole time. When they arrived at the prison gate and moved their things, Ye Luo asked the rickshaw pullers to send Hu Die to Beibei again. At Runsheng's house, the two rickshaw pullers didn't want to stay here at all, so they took Hu Die and left quickly.

Ye Luo kicked the locked wooden box with his foot, and then the wooden box shook slightly. He was laughing and angry at the same time. He had suffered all night for this friend who was a good friend. If Hu Die hadn't been with him, he would have been so angry. I want to throw this turtle grandson away.

That's right, the locked wooden box was none other than Lu Xiaojia, who was wanted by Huo Tianhong throughout the city.

He agreed to help Lu Xiaojia escape, saying it was a matter of friendship and brotherhood, but in fact it was because someone asked for mercy.

Friends are friends. When Ye Luo does things, Lu Xiaojia often comes to support him, but they are just fair-weather friends at best, not close friends who help him in times of need.

The person who made Ye Luo decide to help him is slowly walking towards here at the moment.

When the gate guard saw the two people coming, he immediately stood up straight and saluted.

The young man waved the guard to go rest first, then greeted Ye Luo in a grand manner, and kicked the wooden box with his foot, asking Guisun to come out quickly: "Brother Luo, long time no see!"

"Zhiyuan, thank you for helping me this time." Ye Luo greeted him with a smile, then unlocked the lock and let out the stinking Lu Xiaojia.

"Brother Jia!"

"Yingmei?"

The beautiful girl flew over and hugged Lu Xiaojia regardless of the stench.

"Why are you here?"

"I begged Brother Luo to rescue you. He told me to wait here." The beautiful girl who spoke was named Tang Yiying, and she was very famous in Peiping.

Because her husband is Aixinjueluo Pujie, Puyi's younger brother.

The marriage between Pu Jie and Tang Yiying was appointed by Concubine Jin in 1918, but the two did not get married until January 12, 1924.

This year, Pu Jie was 17 years old and Tang Yiying was 20 years old. They conformed to the folk custom of "female juniors holding gold bricks", but Pu Jie and Tang Yiying's lives were not happy.

Pujie married Tang Yiying when he was 17 years old. After the marriage, the couple had a bad relationship.

In 1926, Tang Yiying became the mistress of the young marshal and pushed Pu Jie to go to Fengtian to study in the martial arts hall. After that, the relationship with Pu Jie's family broke down.

While Pu Jie was studying in Japan, Tang Yiying and Lu Xiaojia fell in love and stole a large amount of property from Prince Chun's Mansion in Peking.

The two subsequently separated and became embroiled in a long-running divorce dispute.

Ye Luo had a headache just looking at this mess.

Tang Yiying is a famous socialite in Peiping. She is two years older than Ye Luo (24 this year), but she is easy to call Brother Luo.

After several in-depth exchanges with her, the young marshal felt that this woman was naturally romantic and gave up.

She doesn’t know through which relationship she found Ye Luo. Anyway, this is the first time the two of them met today. The cost of saving Lu Xiaojia was a quarter of the property of Prince Chun’s Mansion in Peiping, with a total value of over 500,000 oceans!

In addition, there are also telegrams from the young marshal and hints from several subordinate warlords.

These favors were too great, so Ye Luo accepted them.

The person who responded this time was the 17-year-old young man, Hu Zhiyuan. In 1938, Hu Zhiyuan enrolled in the Aeronautical Mechanical School in Paris, France, and later became a famous air force general who fought against Japan and saved the country.

His father, Hu Yimin, was the warden of Shizikou Prison, and his mother, Xiang Yingxin, was also a strange woman in the Republic of China. After Hu Yimin was imprisoned, she was brought into the military command by Dai Li and became a well-known female spy. She entertained people with her beauty, and she and Dai Li After being unclear, he was transferred to Mao Renfeng.

All in all, it was a mess, and Ye Luo wasn't very interested in knowing about it.

He met Hu Zhiyuan by chance when he was giving lectures at the Imperial University of Japan. When he learned that he was interested in the air force, he recommended him many related books and introduced him to some well-known overseas air force generals.

Unexpectedly, the connections he had unintentionally laid down would come into play at this time.

A few people exchanged pleasantries.

"Brother Luo, Xiaojia will never forget your life-saving grace!" Lu Xiaojia almost knelt down.

Ye Luo waved his hand: "You should thank Miss Tang, she really loves you."

Tang Yiying smiled sweetly at Ye Luo: "Thank you very much, brother Luo~ Since you are here, why don't you come in and sit down first?"

She walked in with great enthusiasm.

Ye Luo thought that he would visit Lu Genrong anyway, so he nodded.

Tang Yiying's little hands were soft, and when she held Ye Luo's palm, she lightly rubbed her little finger on his palm.

Ye Luo looked down at her, and she smiled like a flower.

Okay, I take back what I just said, Xiaojia, you wish for yourself.

Ye Luo remained silent and walked into the Lion's Mouth Prison side by side with her.