Shili Yangchang

In the summer of 1937, there was a crisis lurking in the scorching heat. Although the streets and alleys of Shanghai were still as lively as ever, uneasiness had spread among the crowd like a plague, no matter Chinese or foreigners.The shadow of war is approaching, and the concession is no longer a paradise for refugees. This last paradise will finally be involved in the flames of war just like the whole precarious China.

Counting the days, Wang Yao realized that he had lived with Al for more than three months, and that the unexpected and wonderful acquaintance in early spring would develop into the current relationship.During this period, he hardly ever went out, and all the outside news was obtained through newspapers and Al.Although closed, he also has a sense of the current situation that is about to come. It will be a matter of time before Japan/Japan launches a war of aggression against China. He has known this since September [-]th.Arthur was gone, and like him, many foreigners had fled the land that had begun to turmoil.Shanghai, known as the Paris of the East, has always been a pearl on the coast of the Far East, and now this oriental pearl is about to be captured by the ambitious Japanese.

Why doesn't Al go?

Wang Yao didn't want to think about it, because he knew that he was the one who tripped Al up.

Al has something on his mind, Wang Yao has already found out, he guessed that Al is hesitating between whether to stay or not.Wang Yao felt a little sad when he thought that Al might abandon himself and return to the United States, but he quickly dispelled his emotional unhappiness with reason: Al's leaving was the right choice, and it was better to escape one than to both get stuck in Shanghai powerful.It is also based on this kind of thinking that Wang Yao will ruthlessly drive Aberdeen away.

One morning, after Al went out, Wang Yao boredly flipped through the books on Al's bookcase.Suddenly someone knocked on the door, Wang Yao opened the door and saw a young man who looked very similar to Al, but his temperament was weak, completely different from Al.It looks familiar, but I can't remember where I saw this person.

"Hi, my name is Matthew Williams, I'm Al's brother." The blond young man said hello politely.

"Hello, my name is Wang Yao." Wang Yao wondered why the surnames were different if they were brothers.

"You guys have been polite for too long, are you going to keep blocking the door?" A soft voice familiar to Wang Yao came, and a tall figure appeared behind Matthew.Wang Yao looked up, and there was a pair of amethyst-like eyes on that unforgettable handsome face.

"We meet again, Wang Yao!" Ivan greeted an old acquaintance.

"Mr. Ivan Braginsky?" Wang Yao was a little surprised that he hadn't seen this person for a long time.

"Just call Ivan," Ivan said with a smile, "Can we go in and talk?"

Wang Yao hurriedly let the two into the room and made coffee unskillfully.

"Mr. Wang Yao, I have something to ask you for coming here today..." Matthew was too nervous and couldn't continue speaking soon.Wang Yao couldn't remember him, but he couldn't forget Wang Yao. He had seen Wang Yao's skills at Licha Hotel that morning. If he angered this dangerous person, he might cut his own throat immediately.

"Let me tell the story." Seeing Matthew's timid look, Ivan took up the topic, "Wang Yao, have you lived with Al for a long time?"

"Yes." Wang Yao blushed a little, but still answered the question.

"Al fell in love with you?" Ivan asked more directly.

"I don't know." Wang Yao lowered his head and said, do foreigners think that such private words can be asked casually.

"So, do you love him?" Ivan continued to press, refusing to let him go.

Wang Yao's face was as red as rouge. If he wanted to go on stage now, he didn't need to put on makeup, but he still answered in a mosquito-like voice: "...Yes."

"Then I'll just say it's okay," Ivan leaned back on the sofa back, "Shanghai/Shanghai is very chaotic now, foreigners are planning to leave, but Al has not left, do you know why?"

"Because of me?" Wang Yao had already had this question.

"You're very smart, but you probably can't guess what he's doing now." Ivan took a sip of coffee deliberately, before slowly saying, "Al wants to take you away, but you are wanted, So he's going to find a way to fake your identity. If he fails, he'll go to jail."

Wang Yao's red face instantly turned pale, and he widened his bright black eyes in disbelief: "Alta..."

Ivan smiled gracefully and said, "Al is such a person. He dared to take risks and was never afraid, perhaps not afraid of death. But—" Ivan approached Wang Yao: "Do you want him to die for you?"

Wang Yao was dumbfounded.

Seeing this, Ivan knew that his goal had been achieved, so he pulled Matthew away quietly.

On the way back to the consulate, Matthew whispered to Ivan, "Thank you for your help."

However, Ivan lost his usual smile, and his face was unprecedentedly bored: "I don't want to help you or Al, although I don't want to see Al that guy court death. I just don't think anyone has the right to hide from Wang Yao, he shouldn't Live under someone else's arrangement."

Al returned home in the evening, but there was no sign of Wang Yao. He hurried upstairs, and the bedroom was empty.Al started to feel bad. He scanned the room and found a letter that had not been sealed with wax on the neat sheets.He almost pounced on to open the letter, shook out the letter paper, and his face completely changed after reading two lines:

"Al: I don't want to leave without saying goodbye, but I probably won't have the courage to leave if I see you. I already know what you're doing, and I appreciate you. Don't come looking for me, I'm sure I won't catch your shadow. Go back to the US/country, Shanghai/Shanghai is about to become a hell on earth, people like you shouldn’t be buried here. Don’t worry about me, China/country is huge, as long as you leave Shanghai/Shanghai, Honda can’t catch me. Wang Yao"

Al threw himself on the soft bed, and the sheets still smelled of Wang Yao's refreshing body, but the person who slept on it had disappeared, as if these three months were just a too extravagant gift.

U.S. Consulate.Al rushed in to find Matthew, and lifted the thin man from the chair: "You told him! You let him go!" He had already asked Francis, and Francis knew nothing about it, so it could only be Matthew.

"Al, don't..." Matthew's thin shoulder was almost broken.

"Are you trying to kill him? Why do you want to!" Al shook his thin brother violently.

"Al, I'm sorry, but I can't let you die!" Matthew's glasses almost fell off, "It is true that I begged Mr. Braginsky to persuade Wang Yao, and I have no other choice."

"That bastard Ivan is also involved in this matter?" Al stared fiercely.

Matthew realized that he had made a slip of the tongue, but it didn't help. Al left him and rushed to the Soviet/Union Consulate.

In the Soviet/Union Consulate, Al punched Ivan's fair cheek, and there was a large patch of bruises there, which soon became very swollen.The guard next to him wanted to take Al away, but Ivan waved his hand to stop him.

"I knew it would be like this," Ivan smiled wryly, "Wang Yao has already left, right?"

"You forced him away! You let him kill himself!" Al roared.

"Al, you are wrong. Leaving you is Wang Yao's own choice, and," Ivan smiled calmly with half of his face swollen, "you are the one who lied to him. Wang Yao knows nothing about your plan. Is this fair to him? I knew from the first time I saw him on stage that he was a man of dignity and he would not be pushed around by anyone. All I did was tell him the truth and after that The choice is entirely his own will."

Al's arrogance was extinguished, and he realized for the first time that he might have completely lost Wang Yao.

"Go back to America, don't let him down." Ivan left the room with a disappointed smile, leaving Al alone in a daze.