Beacon 1937

At 8 pm on August [-], [-], Alvin Abel arrived at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport from Washington.He carried a leather case in each hand and placed them in front of the security officer.

"Good afternoon, officer." Ai Wen politely greeted the security officer with his head bowed in standard Chinese.

The young Chinese security officer raised his head when he heard the sound, and was startled when he saw Ai Wen's beautiful blue eyes. His face was written all over... I thought he was a Chinese!

"Eh! Good afternoon! Sir!" The security officer looked a little embarrassed, trying to put away his surprised expression, and said in Mandarin with a strong Shanghai accent, "Sir, please show your ID."

Ai Wen smiled and handed over a certificate indicating his nationality and a document indicating his occupation to the other party.

After checking the documents, the young security officer handed them back to Ai Wen, and handed him a piece of paper and a black pen.

"Doctor Abel, please fill in your personal information and temporary residence address in Shanghai on this piece of paper."

Aiwen filled it out on the paper very cooperatively. During this period, the security officer at the counter kept looking at him secretly.Ai Wen didn't find this irritating, because he had long been accustomed to such eyes...

He has black thick but naturally curly short hair, fair skin and three-dimensional facial features, and has the softness of the East. His nose is high and straight, but not as sharp as the West.Only those sapphire-like eyes can make people sure that he is not Asian, at least not purely Asian.

"Doctor, there are surgical tools in your luggage. According to regulations, we must check them routinely." The security officer finally closed his eyes and said routinely.

"Yes, police officer, here is the declaration form for my belongings before I left the United States." As he spoke, he handed the list to the security officer, opened one of the suitcases, took out the surgical kit from the medical box, and opened it on the security box. On the counter in front of the officer.

After seeing the various tools in front of him, the Chinese security officer was stunned again.He looked at the list, then at the tools, looking very bewildered.Seeing this, Aiwen enthusiastically compared the list of items and pointed out those tools to the security officer one by one.The security officer then checked the gauze and bandages in the medical kit.Since medicines such as medical alcohol and morphine are not allowed to enter or exit at will, Ivan's medical kit only has a small bottle of disinfectant and a small bottle of anesthesia for one person.

"Thank you very much for your cooperation, doctor." The security officer smiled sincerely and stamped his certificate, "I wish you a happy life in Shanghai."

"Thank you, officer." Ivan walked out of the security check area with his two suitcases of luggage.Since then, he has officially set foot on his mother's hometown.

When he walked out of the room, the scorching sun outside hit his head like a fireball, shaking his blue eyes slightly.At this time, Aiwen was wearing a gray plaid suit of the current style in the United States, and his tie was neatly tied.But the temperature here made him hate the tie, it was like a boa constrictor around his neck.

"Alvin!" At this moment, someone called his name in English, accompanied by two car horns.

Alvin looked away after hearing the sound.

Today's Hongqiao Airport is sparsely populated, and there are not many foreigners, so Ivan almost immediately found the familiar figure, his best friend...Frank Eliade.

"Hey! Frank!" He walked towards Frank quickly, put down his luggage in front of him, hugged his friend, and patted each other on the back, and it took a long time to let go of each other.

Frank is a white French youth with flaxen-colored mid-length hair and a pair of dark green eyes.He and Ai Wen were both foreign students, and both graduated from Oxford, England.But at this moment, the flaxen hair of this French handsome man is particularly dazzling under the scorching sun.

"Good boy! You kept me waiting for an hour!" Frank complained as he moved Ivan's luggage into the trunk of his black Ford, "You must know that Shanghai is different from Europe. It is not the same as yours. America is even different. This summer is like being boiled in hot water."

"Sorry, Frank. I think it's because the security officer was so interested in my surgical tools that it took so long." Ivan replied with a smile.

"Ou! Yes, yes! Isn't it! Who said it wasn't! Few normal people can understand your tools."

Ivan smiled and sat in the passenger seat without saying a word.He knew that his friend didn't mean any harm to him at all, but he just needed to complain when he was in a hurry.

"To be honest, Aiwen, I haven't seen you since graduating from college. Although I really miss you very much, it's really not a wise decision for you to choose this time to come to China." Frank sat in the driver's seat and turned off Came to the door and started his black "Beetle".

"You mean the July [-]th Incident..." Ai Wen said quietly.

"Yes, of course! But obviously you are aware of this matter, but you don't realize its seriousness. You may not know that the relationship between the Chinese and the Japanese can be said to be tense recently, and if there is a spark, it will lead to a fire. "

"Frank, that's why I have to come here. Otherwise, once things happen, or when everything is over, I think I may never find my mother's relatives." Ivan looked out of the car window melancholy. The hot wind of the day blew over his fair and handsome face through the wide open car window.

Yes, his mother is Chinese, from Shanghai, China, and he is a Chinese-American mixed race.And he came here for nothing else, just to find relatives who had lost contact with his mother for many years... This was her mother's last wish.

"I'm so sorry for your mother," said his friend sadly.

"No, no, Frank. My mother is very strong. She fought against the disease for three years. You know, pancreatic cancer is very painful..." Ivan and Frank have been in correspondence, so his good friend knows his mother Just passed away.

"She is an elegant woman full of oriental charm." Ivan showed Frank his family portrait, and this friend was full of praise for Ivan's mother at that time.His French friend has no resistance to beautiful women... no matter what country.

"I think Mr. Abel must be very sad."

"...Yes." Ai Wen cast his eyes out of the window again, watching the completely unfamiliar scene outside, "Father has been a doctor for decades and saved countless lives, but he can't cure his wife." . . . yes . . . he was sad."

"..." Frank was silent. He didn't know how to comfort this friend who was born in a doctor's family, but he quickly found another topic, "But he agreed with you to come to China at this time, and he actually agreed!"

"No, Frank, he doesn't agree, of course he doesn't agree. But I reached an agreement with him... No matter what the result is, stay in Shanghai for one month, at most one month, and I have to go back after one month."

"Ha! That's great! Apparently, Mr. Abel knows how to deal with your stubbornness better than I do." Frank joked with a smile, "You know, sometimes I really suspect that it was because I was fascinated by your blue eyes. Only then will I be friends with you, a lunatic."

Alvin's blue eyes are indeed different from many Westerners.In the West, blue eyes are not uncommon, but his color is more like indigo, like sapphire in the light, and it is a very rare eye color.

Hearing this, Aiwen couldn't help laughing twice, and said: "You are still the same, you know that there may be danger, but you still stay here and don't go back to France."

"No, Ivan, I am different from you. I have a lot of business here." Frank emphasized a little loudly.

Frank was an aristocrat in France, but in recent years the European economy has been sluggish, so Frank decided to develop in the French Concession in Shanghai after graduation. involve.

"I'll take you to the French Concession to take a good look, and you'll understand."

"No, Frank, I'm not going to the French Concession." Ivan immediately refused.

"What! Don't you want to come back to live in the mansion with me?" Frank's expression was unbelievable.

"Yes, I got in touch with a friend of my father's before going abroad. He opened a Chinese medicine shop in the North District of the International Settlement. He is Chinese." Ai Wen didn't care about his friend's reaction.

"Chinese medicine shop! My God! Can you get used to the smell of medicine!" Frank looked like he wanted to pull over and kill Ivan.

"Calm down, Frank, it's nothing. My mother told me that her hometown is in the public concession, so living in that Chinese medicine store is the most convenient way to move." Contrary to the situation where Frank was about to explode, Ivan's mood was as calm as water .

"Crazy, what a crazy!" His friend closed his mouth after speaking as if making a final conclusion.

Due to the long journey and jet lag, Ivan dozed off not long after, until the car suddenly jolted violently, and he opened his eyes and looked out the window...

The car has already driven into the public concession, the road paved with gravel will make the car a little bumpy, and the flow of people here has increased, so the car can only stop and go.Aiwen observed the pedestrians and shops outside like a child: colorful cheongsams, gray gowns, Western men in suits and top hats, women in foreign skirts, Japanese in kimonos, Shikumen residential areas, Chinese style There are pharmacies and pawnshops, westernized restaurants, barber shops, bakeries, movie theaters, trams and countless rickshaws...

It seems that there is a collection of cultures from all over the world, but it also has a strong Chinese flavor.This is Shanghai, his mother's hometown.

Frank parked the car in front of a Chinese store, and the sign on the store said... Danji Rentang.Before getting out of the car, Ivan smelled a special smell.

"We're here." Frank got out of the car first, opened the trunk and took out Ivan's luggage.

Ai Wen took the luggage, and the two entered the pharmacy together.As soon as he stepped in, the special smell of medicine instantly filled the entire nasal cavity.Ai Wen felt that the smell was refreshing, but the friends around him couldn't get used to the smell, and felt uncomfortable all over.

While Aiwen was still looking at the whole room, staring curiously at the medicine cabinet on the entire wall behind the counter, a thin middle-aged man with gray temples and gray temples walked down the second floor quickly, wearing a blue-gray gown and black cloth shoes .

This Chinese man in his fifties walked up to Ivan and Frank, looking a little short.There were some wrinkles on his smiling face, which made people feel kind and friendly.

"You should be Dr. Alvin Abel!" the middle-aged man asked.

"Yes, you are Mr. Li Xiangrong!"

"Yes! Nice to meet you, nice to meet you!" The middle-aged man stretched out his hand a little excitedly, as if for a handshake.

Ai Wen hurriedly put down his luggage and shook hands with him tightly.

"I didn't expect to see Dr. Abel's son after so many years." Li Xiangrong became even more excited when he mentioned Ai Wen's father.

"Father misses you very much too, Mr. Li, he asked me to say hello to you." Then, the two shook hands tightly again, like friends at first sight, although the age difference between the two is nearly half, "Because we are looking for Mother's relatives, I can only take the liberty to disturb here for a few days."

"No problem, doctor, it doesn't matter how long you bother me. But I'll take the liberty to say...your Chinese is really good."

Hearing this, Ai Wen's smile deepened: "My mother taught me to recognize and speak Chinese since I was a child. Ah! By the way, Mr. Li, this is my French friend... Frank Eliade."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Eliard."

"Hello, Mr. Li."

Frank and Li Xiangrong shook hands politely.His Chinese is obviously not as good as Ai Wen's standard, and he still has a French accent, but it is already quite good.

"Then doctor, let me take you into the room in the backyard to rest first!" After speaking, Li Xiangrong picked up Aiwen's luggage and went to the back room.

At this time, Frank patted Ivan on the shoulder and said, "Go to bed quickly! I will pick you up at dinner and take you to a good place!" After finishing speaking, Frank got into the carriage as if fleeing .

"What! Frank! It's almost three o'clock now, you can't let me sleep longer!" Ivan wanted to dismiss his friend's bad idea, but the other party didn't seem to hear, leaving a sentence... see you at five o'clock!Then he drove away.