A hundred years of cultivation to share the same boat across

  Lu Yi had been thinking about going to Shanghai for a long time. To build a strong fighting force, he must have sufficient and advanced equipment, which was not available in Tongzhou. Shanghai was the economic center of China at that time, and its connection with foreign countries was also very frequent. To keep up with the times, Lu Yi had to have a foothold in Shanghai. Moreover, Lu Yi remembered that Japan's invasion of East China and Central China began in Shanghai a few years later. Since the shock troops took it upon themselves to resist Japan, they could not establish an intelligence system from Shanghai along the Yangtze River.

  Before this, as the base of Zhushan Town had just been established, the shock troops were also facing high-intensity training, and Luo Yi could not leave for Shanghai. Now that all aspects have come to an end, the base is increasingly stable, and the training of the shock troops has gradually become routine. Luo Yi felt that he should set out on a trip to Shanghai.

  The lineup going to Shanghai was very luxurious, with Su Xiaofeng, Le Jialin, Tu Jiu and several other soldiers serving as guards, in addition to Luo Yi, Yuan Jing and Zeng Shan. Lu Shuangyong had some resentment about not being selected for the "Shanghai Tourism Team", but Luo Yi's reason was also very reasonable, the assault camp had more than 100 people, and a leader had to be left behind to guard it. Luo Yi promised that in the next two years, he would arrange for everyone to go to Shanghai for inspection from time to time, and Lu Shuangyong, Wang Dacheng and others would still have opportunities at that time.

  Xu Liangqing was rather indifferent to the trip to Shanghai. Among the officers and soldiers of the assault regiment, Xu Liangqing was probably one who had traveled the most. After all, he was from the Northeast Army and had run from Liaoning to Jiangxi, covering several thousand kilometers, so he didn't have any particular interest in going out this time. Luo Yi also did not bring him along because the daily training of the assault regiment still needed him to lead. However, before leaving, Luo Yi had a serious talk with Xu Liangqing, who provided Luo Yi with a list of various weapon models, essentially giving him a supplementary lesson on modern weapons.

  Zhang Tianyou also had some friends in Shanghai, and he wrote several letters of introduction to Luo Yi, telling him that after arriving in Shanghai, he could find these friends for help. After thanking him repeatedly, Luo Yi let Yuan Jing put all the letters away.

  After everything was ready, Luo Yi and his party left Tongzhou and set out on their journey to Shanghai.

  Le Jialin has been in charge of the financial affairs of the assault camp for a year, and he has also traveled to some places and accumulated many relationships. He took everyone to Nanchang first, and through the connections of several businessmen, they boarded a small steamer that was transporting goods to Shanghai. The small steamer followed the Gan River into Poyang Lake, then exited the lake and entered the Yangtze River, continuing downstream to Shanghai.

  "Ah, the Yangtze River!" Yuan Jing exclaimed in surprise. Since boarding the small steamer, Yuan Jing's mood had improved. The knot of worry that had been building up over the past few days due to the Jiangxi Red Army had gradually loosened. As the saying goes, "out of sight, out of mind", after all, it was a matter far removed from herself, and Yuan Jing found it hard to keep it on her mind.

  "In the boat, don't wildly guess the guest, last year Xiao Gu married Peng Lang." Luo Yi stood beside Yuan Jing, showing off his meager literary foundation, this poem was in their middle school textbook, it's rare that Luo Yi still remembered it.

  "Luozige, what do you mean?" Zeng Shan stood on one side and pulled at Luo Yi's hem to ask.

  "Have you seen that mountain in the middle of the river? It's called Xiao Gu Shan. Originally, it was just 'Gu', meaning solitary, but some people say it's 'Gu' as in maiden, so they call it Xiao Gu."

  "Who is Na Peng Lang?"

  "On the opposite side of Xiaogushan, there is a mountain called Penglangya. Originally, it was said that the waves under this mountain were very big, and when pronounced in harmony, it became Penglang. Everyone says that Penglang is the lover of Xiao Gu."

  "It's so much fun." Zeng Shan said with a happy clap, seeing Yuan Jing also listening intently, she asked: "Xiao Jing, have you heard Luozi Ge recite this poem before?"

  Yuan Jing shook her head and curiously asked Luo Yi: "Luo Zige, you don't seem to recite classical poetry often, did you write this poem?"

  Luo Yi Han said, "I don't know who wrote this poem either. I just learned that Lu You wrote 'Crossing the Great Lonely Mountain and the Small Lonely Mountain', which has a similar sentence. To be honest, I'm not sure where it's from."

  At this time, someone suddenly interjected from behind them: "This poem is from Su Shi's 'Li Sixun Painting the Map of the Great River and the Lonely Island', if I'm not mistaken, the first line should be 'Mountain after mountain, water flowing endlessly, big solitary and small solitary in the middle of the river', as for what comes next, I don't remember either."

  Lu Yi and the other two turned back in surprise, only to see a middle-aged man standing behind them, dressed in a Sun Yat-sen suit, looking like a government official. Seeing Lu Yi and the others turn around, the middle-aged man smiled slightly: "Sorry, I just couldn't help but interrupt when I heard this gentleman reciting poetry so elegantly. Please don't mind."

  Luo Yi hastily bowed and said: "Where, where, sir is really well-read, such words can also be spoken fluently."

  A middle-aged man said: "It's mainly because I was born by the side of Poyang Lake, and when I was a child, my teacher taught us to read books, and specially chose this poem for us to recite. Unfortunately, I'm not talented, and I've forgotten several sentences."

  Mr. Luo smiled and said, "If you say so, sir, we would be ashamed. Looking at your age, which is older than us, the words you learned as a child can still be remembered. The things I learned as a child have all been returned to my teacher."

  The middle-aged man also burst out laughing. Everyone chatted for a few sentences and exchanged names with each other. The middle-aged man's name was He Jichun, who indeed worked as a civil servant in Shanghai. This time he had just returned to Shanghai from his hometown after visiting relatives and had boarded this small steamer through connections. Luo Yi did not reveal his true identity, only saying that his family was a landlord in Zhu Shan Town, Tongzhou County, and that he was accompanying two younger sisters of his relatives' families to Shanghai to see the world and find schools for them to attend. As for Su Xiaofeng and others, they were house guards sent by their families to protect the safety of the two young ladies. This time Luo Yi and others had brought weapons with them, and it was impossible to hide this from others.

  "Looking at Mr. Luo's temperament, it seems like he has studied in a new-style school? His ideas are very advanced." He Jichun said.

  Luo Yi said, "Mr. He is overpraising me, I just have a good relationship with the principal of a small school in the county town, and I've read a few new books from him. To be honest, apart from Nanchang, I haven't been to any other big cities yet."

  He Jichun said: "Mr. Luo is young and promising, isn't he afraid that he won't have the opportunity to go to a big city? Look, aren't you going to Shanghai right away?"

  Luo Yi waved his hand and said: "I'm going to Shanghai, I'm really a country bumpkin coming into the city. I don't know if those Shanghai people will look down on me or not."

  He Jichun was amused by Luo Yi's "Ah la Shanghai people" and said, "Mr. Luo actually still understands Shanghainese. This sentence is quite authentic, I've been in Shanghai for so many years and haven't learned a single sentence."

  Two people were chatting, Le Jialin came over, he nodded to He Jichun first, then said to Luo Yi: "Young master, it's time to eat."

  "The young master" was a title agreed upon before departure, and Zeng Shan and Yuan Jing were also referred to as Miss Zeng and Miss Yuan respectively, in order to cover up the truth. After all, at that time, it was impossible for a town's security team to make such a big fuss about going on a public-funded tour of Shanghai.

  Luo Yi said: "The dishes have all been served." Then he turned to He Jichun and said, "Mr. He, would you do us the honor of dining with us?"

  The small steamer was mainly for cargo, not a passenger ship, so it only provided some simple meals. Le Jialin brought a lot of cured meat, sausages, and salted eggs when he set off, so the food for the Tujie camp was very rich. He Jichun was traveling alone and didn't bring much to eat. When he saw the food laid out by Le Jialin, He Jichun felt a bit embarrassed: "Mr. Luo, how can this be right? We just met on the water, how can I trouble you like this?"

  Luo Yi said, "Mr. He, no need to be polite, after a hundred years of cultivation, we can cross the same boat. You and I being able to sit on the same boat is fate. If you don't mind, just call me by my name, don't keep calling me Mr. this and Mr. that, I really can't bear it. Otherwise, I'll just call you Brother He, what do you think?"

  He Jichun was taken aback, then smiled and said: "No problem, I'll be a few years older, so I'll call you Brother Luo. After arriving in Shanghai, if there's anything inconvenient, you can come find me. However, it must be stated beforehand that I'm just a small public servant, with no power, and can't accomplish big things."

  Luoyi tried to get close to He Jichun, with the intention of building a relationship that might be useful in the future when he arrived in Shanghai. Seeing that He Jichun was quite eloquent, Luoyi guessed that this person must have some background. At present, Luoyi's mentality is somewhat like that of a countryman entering the city, and he doesn't understand what Shanghai was like in the 1930s at all, so he wants to take advantage of anyone he can grab onto.

  The small firewheel was moving very slowly, and on this road, He Jichun didn't eat less of the wine and dishes that Luo Yi and others brought. Since eating from someone's mouth makes one's words short, He Jichun also knew this principle, so he could only find a way to compensate a bit. Every day during idle chats, He Jichun would tell Luo Yi some anecdotes about Shanghai, including the situation in various areas of Shanghai, as well as some important figures and such. However, He Jichun spoke very little about his own profession; all Luo Yi knew was that he was an officer at a small institution in Shanghai, equivalent to someone in charge of family planning at a street office or something, in short, someone with neither power nor influence, just a local nobody.