Chapter 8 March 20th, don't go out, remember!

  Under the crooked neck tree in the center of the courtyard, a small tea table was placed, and two men whispered beside it.

  On the bamboo chair by the door, a man and a woman were sitting, both with left-handed pistols inserted, looking heroic and majestic, their piercing eyes scanning the surroundings from time to time, extremely vigilant, as if afraid that someone would disturb this place.

  A man in his thirties, dressed in Western attire, picked up his teacup and made a polite gesture with his hand. Before he could say anything, Deng Xiaoke chimed in, "Mr. Song has come from afar, it's only proper that Luo says the please word. Come, try our Sichuan tea and see what makes it different."

  "Mr. Deng is too polite." Mr. Song sipped his tea, letting the liquid swirl around in his mouth before suddenly raising an eyebrow and praising: "It has the purest air of heaven and earth, and the best of Bashu's people... good tea... good tea!"

  "Good tea is good tea, a great man... I don't dare to be."

  "How could he not dare?" Mr. Song put down his teacup and praised, "Creating the Shu newspaper, opening a new academic trend in Ba-Shu region. In times of crisis, he climbed high and shouted loudly, protecting the country and its people, Brother Deng's name has long been known throughout the land, who wouldn't point their thumbs up and call him a great hero?"

  "Deng is just doing his best, but compared to you and Mr. Sun, he feels ashamed, really ashamed!" Deng Xiaoke knew that the other party was just praising him, but he still felt a little proud in his heart, and hurriedly waved his hand: "It's just a pity that Deng has exhausted his tongue, but the imperial court has repeatedly not listened to him and instead replaced the governor-general. Yesterday, a large number of military equipment were transferred from the new army in Wuchang, which shows that the intention to sell the railway... is already difficult to change."

  "Hum, incompetence, ineptitude, treason!"

  Three loud slaps on the table made the woman sitting in the distance widen her eyes, grab the grip of her left revolver, turn around and scan, and only slightly let out a breath after seeing that everything was fine.

  Deng Xiaoke also sighed and changed his tone of voice, asking: "Sir, this time you came, I wonder..."

  Mr. Song took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his heart and said: "To be honest with Brother Deng, I have been watching the matter of protecting the road for a long time, it's not that I'm speaking carelessly, but Mr. Song's strategy for civilized protection is probably......" After shaking his head, Mr. Song raised his voice: "So we've made all the preparations, this time we just want to ask you, sir, if things go well, are you willing to take on the position of Governor of Sichuan?"

  "River Governor!"

  Deng Xiaoke did not expect Mr. Song to be so thunderous as soon as he opened his mouth, almost getting up from his chair, but before he could speak, a sudden burst of gunfire came from outside, followed by waves of shouting and the shrill whistles of police officers.

  "Sister, protect Mr. Song." The big man sitting next to him immediately pulled out a gun and jumped up, and the woman also quickly ran to Mr. Song's side, pulling out a handgun to guard his left and right.

  "Don't worry, don't worry." Deng Xiaoke was also shocked and pale when he saw the situation. He knew that if something happened to Mr. Song here, his own life might not be spared either. He quickly calmed down the three of them and said: "Mr. Song, please rest assured. This place is remote and there's a large smokehouse in front, the police won't come searching here. Why don't I go take a look at what happened?"

  Mr. Song believed that Deng Xiaoke would not betray him, so he hurriedly pulled the former to prevent him from taking risks, and turned his head to the woman beside him: "Miss Miao Luo, trouble you."

  "Don't worry, sir." A woman named Miao Luo nodded, her braided hair swinging behind her, carefully making her way to the gate with a revolver in hand. As she reached the entrance, she peeked through the gap and saw nothing unusual outside, so she prepared to open the door for a clearer look. Just as she lifted the latch, a dark figure suddenly flashed before her eyes.

  "Be careful, little sister!" The big man was also frightened by the black shadow and hurriedly rushed up to help his sister.

  Upon hearing the warning, Miao Luo reacted swiftly as well. As his left foot swept horizontally, his right hand had already raised the gun, and just as he was about to take aim at the approaching person, the black figure suddenly crouched down.

  Hei Ying was naturally the flustered Yang Qiu, who ran to this place and happened to see Miao Luo opening the door to look around, so he rushed in without greeting to take temporary shelter. Unexpectedly, the other party turned out to be a Practitioner's child, so he hastily retreated half a step, crouched down and used his shoulder to block the incoming whip kick, his right hand stabbing at the inner side of the opponent's thigh, preparing for a fierce counterattack.

  "Shameless!"

  Miao Luo had never seen the army's combat skills combined with Muay Thai before, but after his thigh was held by someone and his inner thigh was fiercely grasped, he felt a tingling sensation in his sensitive area, and all his strength seemed to be drained away.

  Yang Qiu's eyes widened in surprise as he suddenly cursed his bad luck, never having expected that his opponent would be a woman! But now it was too late to say anything, and all he could do was grit his teeth and use the momentum of her attack against her, sending Miao Luo flying out with a crash.

  Just after throwing the woman out, another big man rushed over. Unexpectedly, there were still people behind him. He could only subconsciously roll on the ground and saw two middle-aged men with extraordinary temperament standing in the center of the courtyard. So he rushed to their side, held a gun against the one wearing a western suit, and took him hostage first.

  Da Han saw his sister being thrown out and was so anxious that he wanted to shoot, but didn't expect the newcomer to knock down his sister and then use a move that even Jianghu people wouldn't use - donkey rolls. By the time the figure stopped, a black muzzle was already pointing at Mr. Song's forehead.

  From the moment the door opened to Yang Qiu bursting in, a series of actions flashed by as quickly as lightning. In just a few breaths, Deng Xiaoke saw that Miao Luo had been thrown out, and then Mr. Song's forehead was pressed against the muzzle of the gun, his body trembling with fear.

  "Close the door!" Seeing himself holding a gun at this Western-style dressed guy, the big man didn't dare to move again. Yang Qiu finally let out a sigh of relief, knowing that he had gambled correctly this time.

  Miao Luo endured the pain and got up from the ground, seeing Yang Qiu pointing a gun at Mr. Song, her eyes turned red as she was about to rush forward to fight, but the big man quickly pulled her back, pointed to the gate of the courtyard before bowing to Yang Qiu and saying: "This brother, I am Miao Yuan, I don't know where I offended you, please enlighten me."

  "Brother, why bother talking nonsense with him." Miao Luo quickly closed the door and ran over to help, her beautiful eyes seeming to spout fire as they emitted a shocking anger.

  At this moment, Yang Qiu finally saw the four people clearly. Except for the Western suit gentleman he was holding hostage, the long-shirted man next to him looked like a local squire from his clothes, and the big man was majestic.

  The most astonishing thing was the girl who had fought with him, not to mention her tall and majestic figure, but at the age of twenty, she wore a blue Miao nationality dress, with a long black braid hanging behind her head, and under her shallow bangs, a pair of phoenix eyes shone brightly like lacquer. Unfortunately, the girl's eyebrows were now furrowed, her mouth pursed in a cold expression, as if she would have liked to swallow him whole. Recalling the shoulder strike and kick he had used earlier, he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his neck.

  Seeing Yang Qiu's thieving eyes constantly scanning her body, Miao Luo's silver teeth were almost bitten to pieces. If it weren't for Mr. Song being captured by this evil thief, she would have dug out his eyeballs even if it meant risking her own life.

  "In the autumn of Yang Qiu, I encountered some trouble and just wanted to take a temporary refuge here, so I'll have to trouble you all to wait for a moment." It was clear that these two siblings were trained, with revolvers in hand. Yang Qiu could only continue to shamelessly hide behind Mr. Song.

  "Yang Qiu, are you Yang Qiu? ... Despicable thief, lackey! Let go of Mr. Song at once!" Before he could even understand what was happening, Yang Qiu saw that after he reported his name, the brother and sister almost simultaneously turned pale, took a step forward with their feet shoulder-width apart, and looked like they were about to get tough.

  What's going on? Has one's own reputation really reached the point where it's like a street mouse that everyone, young and old, can yell at and beat up?!

  Yang Qiuya's teeth were itchy, and just as she was about to ask for clarification, she suddenly saw Miao Luo's eyes flicker twice, seemingly giving the foreign-dressed man a signal. The pistol hastily tapped the latter's forehead twice.

  Unexpectedly, she was seen through by this villain again. Miao Luo didn't dare to act rashly anymore. Yang Qiu also took the opportunity to take a look at the man she had taken hostage. But when she saw him clearly, a familiar figure suddenly flashed into her mind!

  "Mr. Song?"

  Associated with the title just now, Yang Qiu suddenly remembered who this guy was!

  If it wasn't for his previous life's visit to the Xinhai Revolution Memorial Hall and seeing this guy's photo, perhaps he wouldn't have had any intersection with him in this lifetime. But how did he suddenly come to Sichuan? I remember that before the Wuchang Uprising, he should have been in Shanghai and other developed areas.

  "Yang Qiu?" Even with a handgun pointed at him, Mr. Song remained expressionless, scanning Yang Qiu and nodding: "So you're the one who single-handedly captured Du Lao Liu, seized a machine gun and over a hundred rifles - Yang Qiu, indeed a young hero with exceptional martial skills."

  It's just one day and night!

  Was communication so developed during the late Qing and early Republic of China? Even this person has heard their own name, what a great joke! Otherwise, they would have to curry favor with Song Old Three, kneel down and surrender, betray and defect to the Communist Party?

  Yang Qiu, who had been thinking a hundred times, finally endured it. Not to mention that he had just poked the gun at someone's forehead a few more times, just the fact that he had mistakenly killed Wang Tianjie earlier was already a great hatred. Now, even if this big man was willing to absorb himself, what could he do in the future? Be his bodyguard or run errands for him?

  Besides, this guy's life won't be long anyway! Once he dies, who knows how many people will come to settle accounts with him? So Yang Qiu immediately lowered his head and sighed: "Alas, being a famous person... is really not easy!"

  "Pfft."

  Miao Luo, holding two guns, heard this kind of witty remark for the first time and couldn't help but laugh out loud. The two small dimples slightly eased the atmosphere, probably feeling a bit out of place, the girl's cheeks immediately flushed with two red clouds, her eyes looking at Yang Qiu became even more piercing.

  Women are indeed unreasonable! Yang Qiu smiled to herself and turned her head, saying: "Nice to meet you, nice to meet you. I didn't expect Mr. Song Jiaoren to come all the way to Chengdu. It seems that Sichuan is going to be in chaos this time."

  As soon as the words came out, several people around them suddenly changed their faces, and no one expected Yang Qiu to reveal Song Jiaoren's identity in one sentence. Miao Luo was even more flustered and didn't know what to do.

  She had already figured out that Yang Qiu was being pursued and killed, so as long as Mr. Song's identity remained a secret, there shouldn't be any big deal. But unexpectedly, the biggest secret was revealed in one sentence! Thinking about this person's current reputation, he didn't even dare to breathe loudly, his hands tightly grasping the two guns. Fang had already made up her mind that as soon as she got the chance, she would immediately open seven or eight holes on the body of this "villain" who was holding Mr. Song hostage and had made her lose her composure.

  Deng Xiaoke beside him was even more stunned, and he couldn't believe that Yang Qiu, an ordinary Hubei new army soldier, would actually know Song Jiaoren! Could it be that he is a party member?

  It was Song Jiaoren who remained unperturbed, smiling and saying: "I see that you, young brother, are no ordinary person with exceptional skills. Why not abandon the darkness and join me in overthrowing the Qing dynasty to restore China's grandeur? Wouldn't it be wonderful?"

  Pull himself? The sound outside had already faded away, and Yang Qiu, who didn't want to continue entangling, slightly let out a breath. He originally didn't want to get involved in this mess, because reincarnation wasn't omnipotent, and being prescient didn't necessarily mean he could handle this chaotic era where geniuses emerged one after another. As for the data machine, it was directly forgotten by him - that thing was useless before he had a powerful industrial base!

  But some words were suppressed in his heart, and he always felt that it was not pleasant to ask counter-questions: "Mr. Song said well, but Yang Qiu has a few doubts, and I hope Mr. Song will instruct."

  Without waiting for Song Jiaoren to speak, Yang Qiu continued to ask: "After you overthrow the Qing dynasty, how will you dissolve the Beiyang clique's control of the military? With foreign powers surrounding us and unequal treaties weighing heavily on us, how will you deal with the country's weakness and poverty, and the people's inability to resist? How will you distribute power among the Tongmenghui, Gongjinhui, Wenxueshe, Qīnghé, and Hóngbāng factions? With foreign debt piling up and warships patrolling our seas, surely you don't think that Mr. Sun's shouting a few slogans and doing some chores for the foreigners will exempt us from our debts just because you've successfully overthrown the Qing dynasty?"

  "And one last question."

  Perhaps it was the visit to the memorial hall just now, or perhaps it was the fact that these guys had a revolution but couldn't complete the real national unification, resulting in the tragic situation of warlords carving up the country. Yang Qiuyu became more and more indignant as he spoke, and unexpectedly got into character, narrowing his eyes with sharp edges scanning the crowd, and said heavily: "If any one of the above four cannot be solved, the country will inevitably fall into internal chaos, and at that time, warlords will carve up the country, foreign powers will intervene, and the 40 million compatriots will be slaughtered by the flames of war. How will you face the suffering people then, how will you behave?"

  Only four questions, but they made Song Jiaoren and Deng Xiaoke's hearts throb violently, they did not expect that this guy who was said to be just an ordinary logistics soldier in the Hubei New Army could see through the situation so thoroughly.

  "If you have an answer, please send someone to Wuhan to tell me. At that time, Yang Qiu will be willing to hold the reins for you." Seeing Song Jiaoren had no response, Yang Qiu hooked his arm and walked him to the door under the watchful eyes of the Miao siblings. He looked outside and said, "Thank you, sir, for your help today."

  Then he glanced at the girl with a face like a lotus flower, Miao Luo, who was full of spirit and vigor, and smiled: "Miss looks better when she smiles than when her face is cold." Unexpectedly, this scoundrel still wanted to flirt with her before leaving, and Miao Luo's breathing, which had just calmed down, became rapid again.

  "This good fellow, since you bear the heavy responsibility of protecting Mr. Song, I have one sentence to remind you." Before Miao Luo could explode, Yang Qiu continued to say to Miao Yuan: "March 20th, don't go out! Remember! Remember!"

  "March 20th, don't go out?" Miao Yuan and Miao Luo were still puzzled about what this meant, when Yang Qiu had already taken a step ahead and rushed out the door. By the time they ran to the entrance to support Song Jiaoren, there was no one outside.

  "Yang Qiu!" Song Jiaoren, who had finally come to his senses, looked around the empty alley, furrowed his brow and muttered a few times before slowly raising his head: "Deng brother, do you know anything about this Yang Qiu?"

  After a false alarm, Deng Xiaoke finally let out a sigh of relief, but Yang Qiu's words had deeply pierced his heart. At this moment, when Song Jiaoren asked him, he shook his head: "Only know that they are Hubei new army soldiers escorting weapons to Chengdu, nothing else is known, but from today's look...this person doesn't seem like what the outside world says."

  Song Jiaoren nodded, if Yang Qiu was indeed a Qing dynasty running dog as the outside world said, he shouldn't have let go of such a good opportunity to capture himself. Moreover, his four questions earlier directly pierced people's hearts, and even he himself couldn't defend against them, not to mention ordinary soldiers wouldn't be able to ask such questions. Just when he was about to let Miao Yuan inform the Wuchang side to investigate, another urgent knocking sound came from outside the door.

  Miao Luo saw clearly that after the comer opened the door, Wu Yuzhang, another important person in charge of the Sichuan branch of the Tongmenghui, had rushed in and exclaimed: "Mr. Song, something's gone wrong! Comrade Wang Tianjie was just killed by Yang Qiu on the street!"

  "What?!"

  The astonishing news left Song Jiaoren and Deng Xiaoke staring at each other in dismay. What kind of person was this Yang Qiu...?