Shanghai morning

On the way back, Wang Yao didn't say a word, and Al didn't ask him, and drove in silence.

After a while, Wang Yao felt less depressed, so he took the initiative to say: "Al, I betrayed my friend."

"Who?" Al asked quietly.

Wang Yao turned his head and looked at Al's side face: "That time I helped someone escape from Shanghai, I didn't do it myself."

Before he could finish, Al took up the conversation and said, "Francis Bonofova helped you."

"You know?" Wang Yao was taken aback.

"You can't do it yourself, it's easy to guess," Al said, "and it's not hard to find out who that person is."

Wang Yao felt his heart sinking. He suddenly felt that Al was very strange. He was far from understanding this man he had always trusted and with whom he could share everything with him.

Sensing Wang Yao's suspicion, Al said, "Yao, I won't do anything to hurt you, I just want to protect you."

"Is there anything else you don't know?" Wang Yao asked in a muffled voice.

Al could hear Wang Yao accusing him, and he didn't want to lose Wang Yao's trust like this: "Yao, I won't investigate you like a stalker, but what happened last time was too dangerous, and now you are still in danger I can't just sit back and watch."

"I don't want to do this at all..." Wang Yao couldn't continue in the middle of his sentence. He looked back on his life in Shanghai, huddled his neck to survive in places where foreigners gathered, and forbearance and concessions everywhere, but he still couldn't live in peace. There is nowhere for people to gain a foothold.There was only one thing he did at the risk of beheading, but in retrospect there was a hint of excitement besides fear, and that was probably the only correct thing he did in his life.

"Why didn't you come to me? Am I not as reliable as Francis?" Al asked.

Wang Yao felt Al's dissatisfaction, he sighed: "Al, I never said you are unreliable. It's just that I have known Francis for a long time, he is a trustworthy friend, he has helped me a lot, and he is more than you Like a drunkard."

"Wonderful?" Al raised his eyebrows.

"That day I asked him to go out of the city together pretending to be a prostitute," Wang Yao said.

Al thought about it carefully: "He is indeed more suitable for this role." But the jealousy in his heart still couldn't be solved. Wang Yao believed that Francis would help him at any cost, but he didn't believe that he would do the same thing.

"Now that I've got him involved, I really shouldn't have brought him in." Wang Yao regretted it at the beginning, "Honda Ju knows everything. He played me like a mouse and threatened me with Francis."

"What if he threatens you with me?" Al asked quietly.

"That's absolutely impossible! I can't let you be harmed by him!" Wang Yao said a little excitedly.

Al smiled slightly: "That's enough."

"Huh?" Wang Yao didn't understand.

Al changed the subject, "Are you going to tell Francis?"

"I'll go find him tomorrow, there's no longer any delay." Wang Yao decided.

Arriving at the entrance of Wang Yao's alley, Al stopped the car, and Wang Yao opened the car door to get off.

"Yao." Al suddenly stopped him.

"What?" Wang Yao stopped moving.

Al whispered, "Anyway, you have to protect yourself."

"I will." Wang Yao nodded.

Wang Yao got out of the car, Al started the car and left slowly.

The next day, Wang Yao came to Francis' home.Compared with the last time he came here, there is no improvement, and it is still a mess, but Francis seems to be looking better. Wang Yao hopes that he has recovered from the break with Arthur, at least he is recovering.

Francis cleared a chair for Wang Yao to sit down, sat on another chair, and sat down a shirt under his buttocks indifferently.

Wang Yao didn't make any preparations: "Francis, you have to leave Shanghai."

Francis was a little surprised, but not too surprised: "Why?"

Wang Yao became ruthless, and said everything: "Honda Ju already knew that you helped me send someone out of Shanghai, and now he is threatening me with the lives of you and my sister, there is nothing I can do, but You can still go, you must leave before he strikes at you."

Francis was not much moved, he brushed his hair: "I can leave at any time, but I still have unfinished business, so I can't just leave Shanghai."

Wang Yao asked: "Is it Arthur?"

Francis nodded: "Arthur is in a very bad situation now. If I don't look at him, maybe he will do something unwise."

"Then why did you leave the foreign firm?" Wang Yao smiled wryly, "You can help him only by staying with him!"

Francis shook his head slowly: "I can't bear to continue like that, it's worse than letting me never see him, I'd rather be like this, stay in this city with him, guard him where he can't see .”

"This is completely meaningless." Wang Yao said.

Francis smiled decadently: "I know, but what can I do?"

"You go back to Europe safely, so you can see Arthur again in the future. If you die in Shanghai, you will have nothing, and," Wang Yao added, "instead of putting you in danger in the vicinity, Arthur must I hope you are safe waiting for him somewhere far away."

"Arthur won't make any plans for me," Francis said mockingly, "that guy's heart is unimaginably cruel, and you haven't been deeply hurt by him yet."

Wang Yao's heart trembled, he thought of Hong Kong in England.

"Yao, don't worry about me, your own affairs are enough to bother you." Francis said.

"You were implicated by me." Wang Yao couldn't get over this hurdle in his heart.

"No one is hurting anyone, I am willing to help you, you don't need to feel that you owe me anything." Francis was generous.

Wang Yao failed to convince Francis in the end.

There were no accidents in the next few days, Wang Yao went to work at the foreign company on time, and Al didn't mention the party that day, and life went on as usual.But Al vaguely felt that there was something different about Wang Yao. Wang Yao would suddenly freeze for a while when he was dealing with work, as if he was thinking about something, or making a difficult decision.

Once Al finally couldn't bear to ask: "Yao, are you still worried?"

Wang Yao said, "I'm thinking of a solution."

Wang Yao went to visit Francis twice, but no matter how much he persuaded, Francis refused to leave Shanghai for refuge. Wang Yao realized that he could not persuade him at all. Francis was as stubborn as a steel plate.

Ivan also felt that Wang Yao's silence was a bit strange. Wang Yao has been in a bad mood since the incident in Wanwan, but he has always been a simple and easy-to-see person, with all his thoughts on his face. This situation is obviously wrong now. , Wang Yao seemed to be planning something ulterior, and refused to reveal anything to him.

"What's wrong with you? It's been like this since you came back that day." Ivan asked Wang Yao.

"My younger sister ran away with the Japanese, and I'm too poor to survive. Should I be smirking every day?" Wang Yao retorted.

"What happened at that party?" Ivan didn't want to be distracted by Wang Yao.

"I drank some wine that made people happy, other than that it's boring." Wang Yao said coldly.

Ivan didn't want to be dismissed by these two sentences: "You seemed to have lost your soul that night. Last year, you didn't have much stamina after drinking too much. Why did you drink poison this time?"

Wang Yao didn't answer, but suddenly asked: "Ivan, what kind of work do you think I can do?"

Ivan raised his eyebrows: "Aren't you doing a good job now? Do you think you don't have enough money?"

"What if I can't do this job anymore?" Wang Yao asked, "What can I do?"

Ivan said casually: "Going to carry work on the pier, didn't Xiaotai do it before? He is not stronger than you."

Wang Yao thought about it: "This is also a way."

The next morning, Wang Yao greeted Xiaofei, who had just returned from work, and seeing Xiaofei beaming, it meant that she had earned money.

"Xiao Fei, where did you go to work yesterday?" Wang Yao asked.

"Those old places, where are the men going!" Xiao Fei said delicately.

Wang Yao whispered to her, "When I'm doing business tonight, I'll help Brother Wang find out whether there is a shortage of labor at the dock."

"Okay," Xiaofei said, "Brother Wang, why are you asking about this?"

"Don't worry about it, just ask for me, and I will buy you delicious food later." Wang Yao said.

"Okay, okay! Brother Wang, don't worry!" Xiao Feile agreed.

When Wang Yao arrived at the foreign firm, everything was the same as usual that day, but he was beating a drum in his heart. He had already made a difficult decision, but he couldn't help but want to back down when it came to practice.

Al smiled and said good morning to Wang Yao as usual, this smiling face made Wang Yao nostalgic, he wanted to regret for a moment, but it only took a second to force himself to continue with the planned thing.He walked up to the second floor and knocked on the door of Arthur's office.

"Come in." Arthur's voice came from the door.

Wang Yao pushed the door open, closed the door properly, and walked to Arthur's desk: "Arthur, I have something to tell you."

"What's the matter?" Arthur asked, looking up.

All the flinching disappeared, and Wang Yao felt firmer than ever before.

In the evening, the light on the windows gradually faded.

Francis stared blankly at the repeated natural phenomenon, raised the wine bottle in his hand and took a few more sips.Chronic alcoholism had left his hands shaking, and he wondered when he'd be too shaken to hold a bottle.Maybe he was better at first, but after Wang Yao came to visit him last time, he completely fell into a vicious circle of self-destruction.

There was a knock on the door.

"The door is unlocked!" said Francis lazily.

The door opened, and in the afterglow of the setting sun, a tall silhouette at the door seemed to be reflected in the painting framed by the door.

"You..." Francis' voice trembled with surprise, "Arthur..."

Arthur resisted the urge to cover his nose: "It's me, I'll see if you're dead at home."

"Soon." Francis sneered.

Arthur walked up to him and sat down: "Wang Yao told me everything."

A trace of anxiety flashed in Francis' eyes: "What did I tell you?"

"Everything," said Arthur, "you helped him with the crimes he did."

"I wouldn't use the word 'crime' on Yao!" Francis growled.

"I don't want to argue with you about this," said Arthur. "Come on, Francis, go back to Europe."

"Yao asked you to persuade me?" Francis laughed at himself, "He is more cunning than I imagined."

Arthur said: "Francis, Wang Yao has resigned."

"What?" Francis raised his head sharply.

"He resigned," repeated Arthur.

"You fired him? Because he did something illegal?" Francis demanded.

"No, he resigned himself," said Arthur.

Francis sneered: "If he didn't take the initiative to resign, would you keep him?"

Arthur said nothing.

Francis smiled bitterly: "Arthur, you haven't changed at all." He drank the last wine in the bottle and said, "Okay, I promise you, I will return to Europe."