No. 1, Honggong Temple located in the west of Mochou Lake, is the headquarters of the Lixing Society's Secret Service.

A second-story office building that looks inconspicuous is hidden among green trees. The word "revival" written in cursive script on the plaque above the office building's door represents that this is the core area of ​​the Secret Service.

In the office on the second floor, Dai Li, who was in his thirties, sat behind his desk and looked carefully at the telegram in his hand.

Next to Dai Li, a young man in his early thirties stood, with a slightly thin figure, a pale face due to lack of sleep, and a cold look on his eyes.

"Mr. Li, you have been in Shanghai for many years and are familiar with the situation there... You might as well tell me honestly how much role can Shanghai's intelligence network play?" Dai Li turned his head and said after reading the telegram in his hand.

The young man was Zhao Lijun, who graduated from the fifth political science department of Huangpu. He was from Dazu, Sichuan. He joined the Communist Party of China during the Great Revolution. After the failure of the Guangzhou Uprising, he fled back to his hometown. He once organized the "Tuqiao Riot" in Tongliang area. After the failure, he sneaked to Chengdu. Later, he rebeled from the party to Nanjing to join Dai Li, who was organizing a spy agency, and participated in the "first" training of the special training class of the Honggong Temple of the Secret Service | Chen Gongshu, who is also the four great kings, is a classmate, and a figure who is a man of civil and military affairs.

"The intelligence network in Shanghai has been basically sound. As long as the director gives the order, it can operate at high speed." Zhao Lijun, who is now the head of the intelligence section of the Secret Service, answered respectfully.

Dai Li stood up and said quietly: "The Chairman does not want to get into evil with the Japanese. Zhang Xiaolin has caused such a big mess. Our work is very passive."

"Director, Zhang Xiaolin has never sold our accounts much before, and has cooperated with the Japanese, causing us a lot of trouble... Now I don't know where he has made a crazy trip, but he actually turned against the Japanese, which is just right for him to be sober... If the situation continues to develop like this, once it can't hold on, we can even accept his power in Shanghai." Zhao Lijun carefully expressed his opinion.

"inappropriate"

Dai Li shook his head, tapped the table with his fingertips, and said, "Although the Chairman ordered Zhang Xiaolin to be pushed out when necessary, the premise is that the situation has developed to an irreversible level... Zhang Xiaolin has been operating in Shanghai for many years, and the relationship network is complicated. In addition, with the relationship between Huang Jinrong and Du Yuesheng, if it were not for the last step, the Chairman would still not be willing to bear the charge of betraying his friend."

"What should we do?" Zhao Lijun asked softly.

Dai Li said calmly: "Yibin is still in Shanghai. If Zhang Xiaolin is smart, he should take the initiative to find us to clear the joints. If he doesn't even have the awareness of bleeding, it is not worth our help... Let's first observe the changes in the situation and wait for an opportunity to remember that any new situation must be reported to me in time."

After Zhao Lijun left, Dai Li sat down again and silently guessed who was behind the scenes?

Another day passed.

The beaches shrouded in the night, the street lights in the streets and alleys are bright, and the neon lights on buildings of different styles are constantly flashing. At first glance, they are almost the same as those in later cities.

On the winding and vertically intertwined roads in the concession, there were crowds of people, trams, cars, rickshaws and wheelbarrows shuttled back and forth. The well-dressed people didn't care about the war that could come at any time. They were still indulged in luxury, singing every night, and entertainment venues everywhere were crowded.

Wu Ming took Sun Chengyuan and Lu Kuiyuan, followed the six guards far away to protect him, and went west along Nanjing Road, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the night on the beach.

"Brother, Shanghai is such a good place. It's still as bright as the daytime when it's dark... Where are they going to go with so many pedestrians on the street? Do Shanghainese have to work overtime at night?" Cheng Yuan held Wu Ming's hand with excitement, pointed around, looking like a country bumpkin entering the city.

"There are many professions in this world that specialize in working at night..."

Wu Ming looked ambiguous, and while speaking, he pointed to many Shikumen arcades with red lanterns hanging in front of the alleys on both sides of the street. Women wearing heavy makeup and soliciting guests everywhere could be seen everywhere. These bizarre scenes immediately made Cheng Yuan understand, and his handsome face quickly dyed a big red cloth.

Wu Ming couldn't help laughing. Everything in front of him made him feel a little fresh. Under the unpredictable neon lights, the contrast between prosperity and backwardness, civilization and ignorance formed a huge visual impact, giving people an extraordinary shock to their souls.

After walking around the road, I admired the buildings that can be called the "Museum of All Nations". The brightly lit shopping malls, gardens, tea shops, theaters, bookstores, and cinemas on the main road are dazzling. Before I knew it, Wu Ming and others came to the door of the Paramount Dance Hall located at the corner of Yuyuan Road and Fanhuangdu Road in Jing'an Temple in the west area of ​​the Public Concession.

The Paramount Dance Hall in the 1930s was very famous and was known as the "No. 1 Yuefu in the East". In his previous life, Wu Ming had frequently seen it in many film and television and literary works, and was full of curiosity about it. When he came to Shanghai this time, he was not prepared to visit. Unexpectedly, he accidentally walked around and went there in a mess.

Since he came, he would be at ease, so Wu Ming decided to go in and take a look with his own eyes.

The sign at the gate clearly marked price, and the dance hall is charged according to different periods. Tea dances from 1:00 to 4:30 in the afternoon, tickets per week are 40 yuan per holiday, and female dancers are 25 yuan per festival. Each festival is 10 minutes, and male dancers are calculated according to the booking of the venue, each person is 400 yuan.

The ticket price for the champagne dance from 4:40 pm to 8:00 pm is 100 yuan, and the fee for male and female dancers is the same as tea dance; while the ticket price for the evening dance venue from 8:00 pm to 1:00 pm is 200 yuan, and the rest of the consumption is calculated separately. Unlike during the day, the evening dance venue has jazz bands and singers singing live, English songs, and professional male and female dancers accompanying dance, but the price of female dancers has been raised to 35 yuan per session.

Sun Chengyuan purchased nine tickets, and more than a dozen charming welcome guests who were standing on both sides immediately smiled and welcomed Wu Ming and others into the gate. The two young and beautiful ladies wearing cheongsams led the way in front while turning around to introduce the situation of Paramount.

The dance hall has three floors, the first floor is the kitchen and storefront, and the second floor is the dance floor and the banquet hall. The design inside is extremely modern, with a large amount of nickel, crystal and white wood layout. The crystal clear marble spiral staircase leads directly to the big dance hall. The largest dance floor is more than 500 square meters. The dance floor is supported by car steel plates, which will cause a shaking feeling when dancing.

There are small dance floors around the big dance floor and on the leap floor. They can be divided at will, which can be used for people to dance or have a tryst. Especially on the balcony, there are footlights on the floor, which makes people feel like dancing on eggs. When the dance hall on the second floor and the two-story dance floor are all on, thousands of people can dance at the same time. The interior is also equipped with heating and cooling air conditioning and luxurious furnishings.

The third floor is the hotel, and there is a huge cylindrical fiberglass tower on the top floor. When the dancer is about to leave, the waiter calls out the guest's car license plate or other code on the tower. The coachman can see it from a distance and drive the car to the door of the dance hall.

Wu Ming and his party were all wearing black youth outfits. Although they looked clean and tidy, they had nothing to do with elegance and luxury, and they were even out of place with the environment and atmosphere of the dance hall. Paramount, Xianle, Xinxianlin and Metropolis were known as the four major dance halls in Shanghai. The consumption level was extremely high, and those who were either powerful and wealthy businessmen with jewels were all jewel-like. Along the way, Wu Ming and others were looked down upon a lot.

Paramount was going up from the entrance to the wall of the stairs. The walls along the way were hung with photos of red dancers for guests to choose from. When they arrived at the lobby on the second floor, Wu Ming directly found a seat remote from the center of the stage to sit down. Soon a senior dancer came over to ask if there were any familiar dancers. Wu Ming politely declined and asked the waiter to order some wine, and easily cost a few hundred yuan.

Wu Ming looked around and found that there were no singers singing on the stage behind the dance floor. A band composed of Filipinos was playing hard. These dark-skinned musicians looked very skillful in playing. After a few songs, Waltz, Rumba, and Tango were all involved.

Miss Welcome just now introduced that these bands who came to China to make gold can keep up with the "trend". What kind of music is popular in New York, Paris, and London? It will be able to move into the Paramount Dance Hall in a few months, so Paramount has always been at the forefront of fashion and popularity.

In the big dance floor in the middle, pairs of well-dressed men and women danced with their feet, and their bodies kept swaying. The dancers who were as beautiful as flowers and danced like butterflies became the focus of the gaze of many guests.

The lighting in the dance hall is very regular.

When the music is played with fast pace, a red light appears on the glass floor of the dance floor. When the music is played, there are blue or green lights. The music is played and the lights flash. The lights passing through the glass floor are no longer so dazzling, but there is a little more hazy. The guests dance in this colorful world. The dancers and viewers are intoxicated and do not know where they are.

After looking around, Wu Ming found that the Paramount dance hall was indeed well-known and its business was very popular. The seats surrounding the big dance floor were full. In addition, the private rooms and small dance floors above the arcades made 200,000 to 300,000 yuan in one game.

Just as Wu Ming was enjoying the graceful dance postures of the dancers with excellent shapes on the dance floor, Lu Kuiyuan, who was always paying attention to the surrounding situation, gently touched Wu Ming and at the same time slapped his mouth towards the stairs.

Wu Ming turned his head and looked at it, and a playful smile appeared quickly on the corner of his mouth. Zhang Xiaolin, Wu Jingguan and Fang Zhibin walked into the hall surrounded by more than a dozen burly men. Zhang Xiaolin looked relaxed and had a good chat with Wu Jingguan and Fang Zhibin around him. It seemed that he did not take the huge losses to the Hongying Pavilion and the East District of the Public Concession too much.
Chapter completed!