Chapter Twelve

  Liáng Zhōngguó was overjoyed and couldn't believe his eyes, saying: "County Magistrate Wáng, your great name is like thunder in my ears, I never thought that today I would actually meet you in person, it's truly a blessing from three lifetimes."

  Wang smiled calmly and said: "China, since you think so highly of me, then tell me about my life experiences. If you can't say anything, then you're just flattering."

  Li Zhongguo said calmly, "County Chief Wang, you are from Fuzhou, Fujian Province, graduated from Baoding Military Academy, participated in the war against Zhang Xun, and later abandoned military life for a literary career. In December 1935, you were appointed as a counselor of the Beiping Municipal Government and concurrently served as the director of the Publicity Department. This January, you were appointed as the inspector of the Third Administrative District of Hebei Province and concurrently served as the county chief of Wanping County. After taking office in times of crisis, you followed orders to negotiate with the Japanese multiple times, handling matters with great care to maintain national dignity at all times. If it can be said that General Song Zheyuan had a compromising side towards the Japanese army, then you didn't have any."

  Wang Leng was praised by Liang Zhongguo, and he was overjoyed, laughing and saying: "Liang, you're overpraising me, I'm just doing my job, it's nothing special."

  Liang Liangfeng saw that his son was so happy when he met Wang Lengzhai, and laughed scoldingly: "My son has no other skills, only knows how to flatter."

  Li Chong said with a smile: "Dad, I'm just telling the truth."

  Cheng Changying, Huang Xiangsu and Xiao Zhen had already entered the hall when Liang Liangfeng introduced Wang Lengzhi to Liang Zhongguo, with Xiao Zhen leaning his wooden stick against the door.

  Wang Leng pointed at Huang Xiangsu and Xiao Zhen, saying: "The other two participants who helped treat Zhang's illness are you two, right?"

  Xiao Zhen hastily said: "Commissioner Wang, take action and punish Zhuo Yi just like you did to me and Liang Zhongguo. Xiang Su didn't participate."

  Liáng Zhōngguó looked at his watch and asked in surprise: "Mayor Wáng, how did you know that we had a fight with Táng Zhìyuán?"

  Liang Liangfeng hummed: "You little rabbit, you've made a mistake and are afraid of being found out."

  Wang Lengzhi explained: "The Tang Zhiyuan who had a conflict with you just went to the Beiping authorities and said that today there were some unreasonable Chinese people who came to provoke him and his fiancée on purpose. In order to maintain his personal dignity, he had no choice but to fight back against the hooligan Liang Zhonghua and his male companion. As a result, another Chinese troublemaker appeared and beat him up in the street, causing multiple injuries to his body. He said that this incident has seriously affected the friendly relations between China and Japan, and demanded that the Beiping authorities severely punish the hooligans Liang Zhonghua and his male companion, and issue a wanted poster to apprehend the Chinese people who beat him up."

  Xiao Zhen scolded: "That Tang Zhiyuan is still reasonable or not, does he want to lose face, and actually distort the facts."

  Li Zhongguo was not surprised after hearing this, and thought to himself that it seemed that Tang Zhiyuan must have only thought of finding the Beiping authorities after the fact. Otherwise, he would have asked for Lian Qianbei's name at the time, which would have been better for issuing a warrant for Lian Qianbei's arrest. At the same time, he heard that the beautiful woman was originally Tang Zhiyuan's fiancée, and his heart felt a pang of disappointment. He said calmly, "Xiao Zhen, don't be so surprised. Think about it - Japan has occupied the three northeastern provinces, invaded Shanhaiguan, attacked Rehe, fought for the Great Wall, attacked Jidong, and greedily taken cities and land while killing people and setting fires. When have they ever talked about reason or given face?"

  Wang Lengzhi nodded and said: "China is reasonable, I think this conflict was provoked by Tang Zhiyuan."

  Huang Xiangsu heard this and cold sweat flowed straight down her forehead. She never thought that her momentary jealousy would cause such a big commotion, and when investigated, she was inescapably guilty.

  Li Zhongguo looked at Huang Xiangsu with a nervous expression and hastily said: "County Magistrate Wang, the situation is like this. At that time, I was on the main street when I saw Tang Zhiyuan and a beautiful Japanese woman walking together. I thought the Japanese woman was pretty, so I asked Xiangsu to help me take a photo of her. As a result, we were discovered by Tang Zhiyuan. Then Tang Zhiyuan came over and quarreled with us. He scolded us Chinese people as 'Shina', and I scolded him as 'little devil'. That's how our argument started."

  Liang Zhongguo said this, Xiao Zhen frowned, Liang Zhongguo's words were somewhat inconsistent with the facts. He glanced at Huang Xiangsu, who had let out a big sigh of relief, and suddenly realized that Liang Zhongguo was trying to cover up for Huang Xiangsu.

  "Then Tang Zhiyao went too far, wanting to destroy our camera and negatives. I wouldn't let him, so he threatened us and even hit us. That damned Tang Zhiyao actually beat people on the street! If we didn't fight back, wouldn't that be a loss of face for us Chinese? So we fought with Tang Zhiyao, but in the end, neither Xiao Zhen nor I could defeat him. That damned Tang Zhiyao was triumphantly cursing us Chinese as if no one was around, just when it seemed like all was lost, fortunately, a kind-hearted person appeared and helped us out of the situation, saving our Chinese dignity."

  Liang Liangfeng hummed: "You still lost in the end, didn't you lose face for us Chinese people?"

  Li Chongyuan's face turned red and he said: "Dad, you can't blame me for this. From a young age to now, I've only practiced knife techniques, not any other martial arts."

  Wang Leng's expression turned solemn as he said, "I thought this conflict was entirely the responsibility of Tang Zhiyuan, but now it seems that China also bears some responsibility."

  Liáng Zhōngguó said: "That's right, I have responsibility, but Táng Zhìyú also has responsibility. Moreover, he even asked the Beiping authorities to arrest me and issue a wanted notice."

  Wang Leng sighed, "China, you should also know that nowadays, Ri is thinking every day about creating friction and causing trouble to gain the greatest benefit in China. Even a small matter can trigger a diplomatic incident, so we must be extremely cautious and cannot make any mistakes."

  Liáng Liàngfēng let out a long sigh: "County Magistrate Wáng, today is the day I, Liáng Liàngfēng, have failed in teaching my son, and thus brought about this calamity. Go to the yamen and do two hours of horse stance for me."

  "Changying, spare his life."

  Liāng Liàngfēng angrily shouted: "What else is there to consider, the middle child becoming like this is all because of your overindulgence. I'm being lenient by just making him squat."

  Chang Ying said with a long sigh: "Alright, when something happens it's always my fault. Don't you forget, the child has your share of responsibility too!"

  Huang Xiangsu saw the Liang couple quarreling over this matter and felt anxious, saying: "Uncle Liang, Auntie Liang, actually the whole thing is not entirely as Brother Liang said." She was about to explain when Liang Zhong stopped her, saying: "Xiangsu, one person does something and one person takes responsibility. Since I caused this trouble, I'll take full responsibility for it. You don't need to make excuses for me."

  Wang Lengzhi nodded and thought: This Chinese nephew is quite good-looking, but he also has the courage to take responsibility, which is great.

  Xiao Zhen suddenly said: "Officer Wang, are you here to arrest Liang Zhongguo and me?"

  Wang Lengzai displeased said: "How can you be so impudent? Look at me, Wang Lengzai, how could I be someone's lackey?"

  Xiao Zhen smiled and said: "I was too underestimating Commissioner Wang. Then may I ask, what brings Commissioner Wang to this place?"

  Wang Lengzhi said: "Song Junlong has already known about this matter, he and Tang Zhiyuan coordinated to suppress this conflict, I came by car specifically to tell everyone the result of handling this conflict."

  "What was the outcome?"

  Wang Leng sighed deeply and said, "After Song Jun's arduous negotiations, Tang Zhiyuan finally gave up arresting Liang Zhongguo and you, and also gave up the arrest warrant for that extraordinary person. However, Tang Zhiyuan had a condition, which Song Jun has already agreed to."

  "What conditions?"

  Wang Leng sighed and said: "Zhang Zhiyuan demands that the Chinese side compensate him for 100,000 francs in losses."

  Li Ang said furiously: "Bastard, he wants us to compensate him? He also hit us, we should ask him for compensation instead."

  Xiao Zhen also said: "The little devils are cheating us too much, this is clearly a scam to swindle our Chinese people's money. I would rather be arrested than pay these 100,000 francs."

  "Wang Leng persuaded them: 'You should be more open-minded, wealth is just external things after all. You should keep your precious lives and make contributions to the country in the future.'"

  Li said with a shake of his head: "We won't give you this money."

  Wang Leng sneered: "The 100,000 Fa coins that Song Junlong intends to use to treat Tang Yuzhen's illness will come out of his own pocket."

  Huang Xiangsu gritted her teeth and scolded Tang Zhiyuan, saying he was not as good as a pig or dog. Liang Liangfeng frowned and said: "Director Wang, this won't do. How can I let Song Junlong pay the money? I've already paid 100,000 francs. Later, you'll go with me to the bank to get the money."

  Liáng Zhōngguó yelled: "Dad, why are you giving money to Tang Zhiyuan?"

  Liang Liangfeng glared at Liang Zhongguo fiercely and said: "You rascal, you've caused trouble and still have the nerve to speak."

  Wang Leng smiled bitterly and said: "Liang Zhongguo, you also have a responsibility in this matter. If things get out of hand, we can still keep you innocent. This is the best solution."

  Liáng Zhōngguó sighed helplessly, he and Xiāo Zhēn both thought to themselves: "You owe me a debt of gratitude, Guī Yǒu, remember this, one day I will come back to collect it with interest."

  Changying patted Liang Zhongguo's shoulder and said: "Zhong'er, trust your father and Director Wang, let's settle this matter like this."

  Liang Zhongguo responded with a disheartened "uh-huh", and then Xiao Zhen suddenly said: "Commissioner Wang, you used to work in the automotive industry, so why didn't we see any cars on our way back?"

  Liang Liangfeng explained: "I invited County Chief Wang to stay for lunch, so I asked the driver to drive the car away first."

  Liáng Zhōngguó, Xiāo Zhēn and Huáng Xiāngsù were all stunned. Huáng Xiāngsù said: "County Magistrate Wáng, what's the name of that beautiful woman in the calendar, do you know?"

  Wang Leng nodded and said: "I know what that woman's name is, and I also know her identity."

  Liáng Zhōngguó heard this and his spirit was shocked. Huáng Xiāng Sù said: "Then please inform County Magistrate Wáng."

  Wang Leng said, "That woman is the only daughter of Nanagawa Shigeo, the captain of the Tōkai Butai, named Nanagawa Sakurako. She has been living in China with her father since the September 18th Incident."

  Liáng Zhōngguó scolded: "As soon as I hear the four words 'Taizong Shi Team', I get furious."

  "Wang Leng asked: 'Why?'"

  Liáng Zhōngguó said: "I know that the Japanese army has been fighting from the three eastern provinces all the way to Ji Dong, this 109th Division has almost participated in every battle, and no one has been able to destroy it, which makes me furious."