1928: The rise of giant merchants

Xu Zhimo’s death was not much different from that in history.

Yesterday, Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman had another quarrel at home, and then took the train to Jinling alone. This morning, he was going to take a plane to Peiping, because tonight he was going to attend a Chinese event organized by Lin Huiyin for foreign envoys at the Peking Union Small Auditorium. Architectural Art Lectures.

During this lecture, Lin Huiyin also called Ye Luo to inform him that he could come and see it if he had time. However, due to the recent resignation of the principal and the Wanrong incident, Ye Luo couldn't get away at all, so he had to politely refuse.

After a quarrel with Xu Zhimo, Lu Xiaoman stayed at home angrily and did not accompany him to Peking.

Xu Zhimo also notified Liang Sicheng in advance to send a car to pick him up at the airport, but Liang Sicheng waited at the airport until 4:30 pm today and did not wait for Xu Zhimo.

Confused, Liang Sicheng called from Peiping. After several twists and turns, he finally learned that the AVIC "Jinan" postal plane Xu Zhimo was on had crashed due to bad weather.

Lin Ruxian told Ye Luo that after getting the news from Liang Sicheng, she sent people to AVIC and asked officials from relevant departments in Jinling.

It is said that when the plane arrived in the Dangjiazhuang area in the south of the provincial capital of Shandong Province, heavy fog suddenly filled the air, making it difficult to distinguish the heading.

In order to find the correct route, the pilot had to lower the flight altitude. Unexpectedly, the plane hit a mountain and immediately fell into a valley. The fuselage caught fire and all people on board (the two crew members and Xu Zhimo) were killed.

As for the cause of Xu Zhimo's death, it is tentatively believed to be due to the influence of heavy fog, the main engine crew Wang Guanyi was busy preparing for his daughter's wedding the night before, and was in poor spirits during the flight.

"There are unpredictable things happening in the sky." Ye Luo couldn't help but sigh. After time travel, Xu Zhimo was one of his few friends in China.

Since Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman got married, they came to live in Shanghai from Peking, which was when Ye Luo started his car business.

I still remember that on the opening day of Ye's Automobile Shop, Xu Zhimo specially brought Lu Xiaoman's paintings to celebrate.

As Ye Luo's business grew bigger and bigger, the friendship between the three people never changed. Ye Luo also helped them stabilize many unstable factors in their marriage.

Unexpectedly, Xu Zhimo died in this disaster.

"I'm afraid it's not a natural or man-made disaster." Lin Ruxian whispered.

At this time, when the Japanese invaders invaded the north, Ye Luo was wrestling with various forces, fighting openly and secretly.

Although Xu Zhimo is not a political figure, he is well-known in the literary and educational circles. He is also keen on resisting Japan and saving the country and criticizing the internal struggle of the Kuomintang.

The sudden crash of the plane inevitably makes people wonder whether it is related to the political struggle.

What Lin Ruxian and the others were more worried about was that this was a disguised warning from the Japanese invaders to Ye Luo.

Ye Luo took in Wanrong and Jin Bihui, which was tantamount to publicly breaking up with the Japanese invaders. The Japanese Consul General in Shanghai, Shichitaro Yada, wanted to eat Ye Luo alive.

The possibility of using Xu Zhimo's death to attack Ye Luo is not impossible.

Ye Luo looked at Lin Ruxian, then glanced at Lu Xiaoman and others, and lowered his voice: "Just in case, sister-in-law, please send more people to protect Ye Mansion, and then ask Yongzhen and the others to check in secret to see if they are really with the Japanese." related."

"I know, don't worry, just leave it to me." Lin Ruxian is the eldest among these women and has experienced the most storms. Little Aqiao is now busy at home taking care of the baby, so she can work as a nurse outside. The second hostess of Ye's investment.

After talking about this, Ye Luo returned to Lu Xiaoman and patted her on the back to express comfort.

Lu Xiaoman cried like a tearful person: "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu There’s no need to make a cargo plane, maybe just”

"Xiaoman, the matter has come to this, you don't want to take all the responsibility on yourself." Ye Luo knew that Lu Xiaoman was the one who was hit the hardest this time, but he had no choice but to comfort him softly, and then helped take care of Xu Zhimo's funeral. .

As soon as he died, the Xu family and his ex-wife Zhang Youyi couldn't sit still, and they would probably flock to Shanghai soon.

As one of Xu Zhimo's best friends during his lifetime, Ye Luo naturally had to assume the role of chairman of the funeral committee.

Lu Xiaoman really blames himself now.

Since coming to Shanghai, her expenses have increased. Xu Zhimo had to take on multiple jobs and travel to many places for her, and he was often too tired to be human.

After the last breakup between Zhang Youyi and Tang Ying, Lu Xiaoman lost her stable source of income. She was too embarrassed to continue going back to the Black Cat Dance Hall to work and get money, so she stayed at home all day long and frowned.

Although with the help of Ye Luo, Tang Ying and her daughters reconciled with her later, they could not make money after all, and it was not easy to be shameless.

As time went by, the expenses increased, and the core conflict between her and Xu Zhimo broke out again.

Last night, because Xu Zhimo had to attend Lin Huiyin's lecture, the two had a big fight. Xu Zhimo left in anger. In the end, penniless, he had to take a cargo plane to Peking.

If it weren't for these things, she felt that Xu Zhimo should have gone to Peking normally.

As soon as this happened, it will be difficult for Ye Luo to leave Shanghai in the near future.

Moreover, Xu Zhimo's bones have not been claimed yet, so he has to accompany Lu Xiaoman to claim the remains.

But before preparations were made to claim the remains, Xu Zhimo's unexpected death and the tragic circumstances before his death became public news.

According to various tabloid reports, Xu Zhimo’s death was extremely tragic.

Not only were his hands and feet burned to charcoal, there was a big hole in his head and half of his body was broken.

It seems that Xu Zhimo suffered inhuman torture before his death and did not die suddenly.

Lu Xiaoman became even more frightened after learning the news through the newspaper. She was afraid that she would collapse after seeing her husband's miserable condition.

Therefore, she never had the courage to go to the scene to identify the body. No matter how much Ye Luo tried to persuade her, she just huddled on the bed at home, looking pitiful.

Later, there was no other way, so Ye Luo had to go to Zhang Youyi.

Zhang Youyi is much stronger than Lu Xiaoman. She endured severe pain and took Xu Zhimo's son Xu Rusun to the scene to identify the body.

Finally, a few days later, Zhang Youyi, with the help of Ye Luo and others, transported Xu Zhimo's body back to Shanghai and sent it to the funeral parlor for burial.

After Xu Zhimo's body was transported back to Shanghai, Lu Xiaoman saw the only relic at the scene - a long scroll of landscape painting.

This painting was created by Lu Xiaoman this spring. It can be regarded as Lu Xiaoman's early masterpiece. What is even more precious is its inscription. Xu Zhimo took this hand scroll with him because he was going to Peking to ask someone to add an inscription. In the iron basket, the old things were not sacrificed.

Lu Xiaoman looked at this picture and couldn't help crying when he thought of Xu Zhimo's many benefits.

After Xu Zhimo's death, Lu Xiaoman vowed not to go out to socialize again, but to live in seclusion and devote himself to painting, as if he had become a different person.

Soon after, Ye Luo held a rather grand funeral for Xu Zhimo in the name of the chairman of the funeral committee.

Things are unpredictable. Lin Huiyin and his wife were unable to wait for their friends to attend their lecture, and had to go south to Shanghai to attend the funeral.

Lin Huiyin also wanted to come, but due to poor health due to pregnancy, he could not resist Liang Sicheng's insistence, so he had to worship remotely at home and talked to Ye Luo several times on the phone to express his thoughts and condolences.

Everyone was filled with a haze in their hearts because of Xu Zhimo's death.

The funeral here is being held as scheduled, and Lin Ruxian is also continuing to investigate the truth of the plane crash.

This was probably an accident. Even with the energy Ye invested, he couldn't find anything fishy in it.

But after searching, Lin Ruxian found out something interesting and useful! (End of chapter)