Chapter 16: Anzu Keeps an Appointment, Shibusawa Meets Smith

  "Who is Anzi?"

  "Mother, just now Inoue's friend came to tell me that Uncle has arrived in Beiping and wants to see me. Shigeharu has already gone!" Ishii Kyoko didn't bother with courtesy towards Yanagawa Jihiro, watching him leave before closing the window lattice.

  "Oh, it's almost time for dinner, why hasn't Mr. Ishii come home yet?" Li Yu'e said with a small bowl in her hand leaning against the door, speaking to Anzi who was walking from the entrance of the courtyard.

  "It seems like Uncle said he had something else going on, so he can't come over"

  "Hey, is Hei Ping still sleeping? Are you going to take him out?" Li Yu-e looked at Xingzi walking to the door and said while tidying up her hair beside her ear.

  "Never mind, if he wakes up, he'll be in a bad mood again, haha"

  "Well, that's fine. You can drive yourself out then. Be careful on the road and drive slowly. It looks like you won't be coming back for dinner today." Xingzi had already walked into the room to change her clothes and came out, while Li Yujiao said this to herself.

  "Don't worry, mom, nothing's wrong, I'll be careful." At this time, Xingzi had already changed her clothes and was walking towards the garage while talking. Li Yujiao quickly put down the bowl in her hand and walked to the courtyard gate to open the iron gate for her.

  "Goodbye..." The car stopped at the gate and Xingzi smiled and waved goodbye to Li Yujiao.

  "Hey, slow down, if Mr. Ishii is free, let him come to our house for a visit." Li Yu'e said with concern as she bent down to look at Kyoko.

  "Got it," said Anzi, stepping on the gas pedal, and the car immediately drove out of Zhao's house and exited the alley.

  "Songyuan, quickly drive my car to the He Ping Hospital and tell Zhao Zhibang that Ishii Shirō has arrived at his home. Tell him it's Inoue Masao who sent you to inform him to hurry back home." After handing over the car keys to Songyuan, he drove away. Liu Chuanji then took a look around at the Japanese soldiers surrounding him before sitting down in a small tavern at the entrance of the alley. He was waiting... waiting for that most important person to arrive - Zhao Zhibang, the Chinese man who had made the Japanese men lose face. Originally, he could have easily secretly eliminated Zhao, but he felt that wouldn't be satisfying enough... The evil heart and handsome face of this devilish-looking man were worlds apart. It was as if he had an "angel's face, but a heart more poisonous than the devil's".

  "Anzi..." At this time, Ishii Anzi had already driven to the Rokoku restaurant. She had been here once before, when her son Zhao He and Ping were full moon and set up a banquet here. Just as she got out of the car, Ishii Shirō and Inoue Masao had already walked over.

  "Uncle..." It's been many years since they last met at the Zhao family's quadrangle courtyard, and Sakai Anzu was visibly excited.

  "Eh, Shibata and Heiwa didn't come together?" Ishii Shirō asked, looking back at her.

  "Oh, I came when Ping was already asleep and didn't bring him along. Zhibang has gone to work, and Liu Chuan said someone had been sent to call him, so why hasn't he arrived yet?"

  "Oh, that's a real hassle for Yanagawa-kun, Inoue... You should thank him properly on my behalf!" Ishii Shirō said with a smile to Inoue Masao after nodding at Kyoko.

  "Alright... Anzi, teacher has been sitting in the car for so long and is tired too. Let's go inside and wait for Zhibang first, he should be arriving soon!"

  "Alright... Uncle, let's go..." said Ishii Kyoko, turning her head to look back and holding Ishii Shirō's hand.

  "Hehe, won't this be a bit bad? Let's wait for Shiro here for a while!" Ishii Shirō said, lightly tapping on Kyoko's head.

  "No need, let's go in and wait for him instead. It wouldn't be right to make you wait, elder one. Let's go... We'll go in... Hehe..." With that, he smiled and pulled Ishii Shirō into the house.

  Six countries restaurant, this side Ishii Anzu three people chatting while anxiously waiting for Zhao Zhibang's arrival, but after a long wait, still no sign of Zhao Zhibang. Thinking that maybe Zhao Zhibang had something urgent and couldn't come temporarily, they decided to call the waiter to serve food first, and the three ate while waiting. Yanagawa Jihiro, who was also waiting anxiously in Liu Ye Hutong, had already received notice that Songyuan had returned a long time ago, but Zhao Zhibang still hadn't appeared.

  "Director Ryūkawa, I told Zhao Zhibang as you instructed and have been waiting outside. I only came back after seeing him come out. It's been so long, he should have returned a long time ago!" Shōen whispered to Ryūkawa Jihiro.

  "Did you really see him come out with your own eyes?" Before Songyuan could finish speaking, Liu Chuanji glared at him and then said in a soft voice using stiff Chinese, "He glared at Songyuan because he was speaking Japanese, although Songyuan spoke very softly, but Liu Chuanji was still afraid that others would hear."

  This time Songyuan didn't say a word and just looked at him, nodding his head in affirmation.

  So what happened to Zhao Zhibang? In fact, when he heard that Ishii Shirō had arrived at home, he was very happy and immediately asked for leave to return home. However, just as he saw him coming out of the hospital in Songyuan and driving away, on his way back to report to Yanagawa Jihei, a black sedan stopped beside Zhao Zhibang.

  Just as Mr. Zhao was wondering how the car had stopped right in front of him, an old foreigner with blue eyes and blonde hair got out of the car and stood before him.

  "Oh, it's Dean Smith, hello" Zhao Zhibang took a closer look and saw that the person who came was none other than Charlie Smith, the dean of Mary Hospital of Tianjin American Church where he used to work.

  "Mr. Zhao, it's great to see you! I didn't know how to find you, but as soon as I arrived here, I saw you - this is truly God's arrangement." Smith is over 60 years old and comes from Washington State in the United States. He is the president of Mary Hospital, which was established by the Chinese government with the help of American experts many years ago. Tianjin Mary Hospital and Tsinghua University were both established at the same time with the help of the US using the Boxer Indemnity to assist China. Everything from the hospital's construction to all its medical equipment, even the doctors in the beginning, were brought over by Americans.

  "Is Mr. Smith here to see me specifically?" Zhao Zhibang looked at the foreign old man in front of him with a puzzled expression, although he had met Smith several times at Mary's Hospital, but those were all due to work-related reasons, and he couldn't think of what business Smith would have with him at this time.

  "It's like this, Mr. Zhao, I'd like to ask for your help. I know you're no longer working at Mary Hospital, and I have no right to make such a request, but I'm still begging you to grant my wish!" Smith stopped smiling and put on a serious expression as he spoke to Zhao Zhibang.

  "Mr. Smith, please go ahead and say what's on your mind. I'll do my best to help if it's within my capabilities." Zhao Zhibang replied, looking at the sincere expression on Mr. Smith's face. Although he had never been to America and hadn't interacted with Americans much, he knew that despite their seemingly casual demeanor, unlike the Japanese who were strict and by-the-book, Americans were actually very meticulous when it came down to business. Seeing Mr. Smith's expression now, he was certain that something was troubling him, but he couldn't fathom what a young doctor like himself, barely out of medical school, could possibly do to help.