"Take the water route?" Cheng Qianfan frowned slightly.

"Yes." Zhang Ping nodded and said, "On his way back to Yangjiang Hotel, 'Second Cousin' went to Huaji Noodle House and had a bowl of noodles. It was soup noodles."

This is the code that Cheng Qianfan and the others agreed with Cao Yu. If they eat dry noodles, they will go by land; if they eat soup noodles, they will go by water.

If you finish eating the noodles and leave directly, it means that the escort time is that day. If you come out of the noodle shop and then go to the grocery store opposite Huaji Noodle House to buy cigarettes, it means that you will be escorted on a different day. You will have to find another way to determine the time.

"Ferry schedule." Cheng Qianfan said.

Zhang Ping took out the ferry schedule from the drawer and looked at it carefully, "The ferry from Nanjing to Shanghai leaves at 8:15 in the morning and there is a night ferry at 5:30 in the evening."

She looked at Cheng Qianfan and said, "The enemy chose to escort today, so they can only choose the boat at 5:30 in the evening."

…

"The enemy chooses to take the water route, which is more troublesome." Cheng Qianfan said with a slight frown.

If the enemy chooses to be escorted by train, it will stop at four stations in Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Wuxi, and Suzhou. After they carry out rescue operations on the way, they can choose an opportunity to get off at the halfway station to facilitate quick evacuation.

By the time the enemy picked them up at the Shanghai Railway Station and discovered that something had happened, they had already successfully relocated.

If the enemy chooses to take the water route, generally speaking, it is a direct flight from Nanjing to Shanghai. In this case, even if they kill the enemy on the way and successfully rescue Comrade "Red-crowned Crane", they can only go ashore in Shanghai.

The enemy is bound to arrange agents to meet the Nanjing District escorts at the Shanghai pier. This also means that the enemy will find out that something has happened at the pier. This will greatly increase the risk and is not conducive to their successful escape, especially during the escort.

Under the premise of a wounded soldier who had been tortured by the enemy.

The most important thing is that for safety reasons, he can only disappear secretly for one night at most. If he cannot sneak back to Nanjing secretly the next day, this may arouse unnecessary suspicion.

The sailing time for a ship from Nanjing to Shanghai is about thirty hours, which means that even if he takes a ship back to Shanghai and then secretly takes a train back to Nanjing, it will take at least two and a half days.

The most important thing is that Shanghai is different from Nanjing. There are too many people who know him in Shanghai. Even if he disguises himself, there is no way to completely ensure that he secretly returns to Nanjing from Shanghai without being noticed.

Once someone notices that 'Mr. Xiao Cheng' has sneaked back to Shanghai, this will be a big hidden danger.

"It seems that we have to find an honest reason to take this flight back to Shanghai temporarily." Cheng Qianfan thought, since he couldn't return secretly, he simply boarded the ship and returned to Shanghai in an open and honest manner.

"It's not a problem that you applied to return to Shanghai. The problem is that we returned to Shanghai so suddenly without a suitable reason." Zhang Ping said thoughtfully.

"The reason." Cheng Qianfan fell into deep thought.

…

Suddenly his eyes stopped on the newspaper on the table.

This is today's latest "Central Daily News", which is the official newspaper of Wang Chunhai's puppet regime.

There is an extra note in the international section above.

Two days ago, on the night of May 9th, European time, Freiburg, a city in southwestern Germany, was suddenly hit by an air raid. The boarding school in the city was damaged and caused casualties.

Using the pretext of preemptive air strikes by the Belgian and Dutch air forces, the German army dispatched a large number of Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers early yesterday morning to attack cities, railway hubs and military facilities in the Benelux and France, launching an offensive.

On the 10th, Luxembourg officially announced its surrender to Germany.

After Germany and the British and French forces faced off across the Maginot Line for more than half a year, the war in Western Europe was officially ignited, which also meant that the Germans had launched peripheral operations to attack the French mainland.

"The European battlefield has expanded." Cheng Qianfan said with a slight smile, "This will have a great adverse impact on my and Peter's business."

He tapped his fingers on the table, "I must go back to Shanghai immediately to meet with Pete to exchange views and discuss solutions on the latest international situation."

"It's as if you are the Prime Minister of France and you still have to worry about the distant war in Europe." Zhang Ping pursed her lips and smiled.

"The expansion of the battlefield and poor transportation will naturally have a great impact on business. It's all money." Cheng Qianfan smiled slightly, "It has affected my income. I returned to Shanghai urgently. This is reasonable."

"It's reasonable." Zhang Ping nodded and smiled, "It's very reasonable."

…

She looked at Cheng Qianfan and said, "However, one thing is, we can't go back alone. If you go back in public, you will naturally have to take someone back with you. Who will you take back, and how many people will you take back?"

"Hao Zai can't be taken with him. Although this kid is usually not very clever, when the time comes to take action, with Hao Zai's ability, he will definitely find some clues." Cheng Qianfan said thoughtfully.

"Hao Zai is your personal guard captain. If you don't take him with you when you go back, I'm afraid there is no reasonable excuse." Zhang Ping said with a frown.

"So, you have to stay in Nanjing." Cheng Qianfan said, "I have a reason to keep Hao Zai in Nanjing and let him lead people to protect you."

"Okay." Zhang Ping thought for a while and said. Her personal strength was average and she was not capable of participating in the rescue battle. She stayed in Nanjing to contain Zhong Guohao, which was considered effective.

"Has Lao Huang arrived?" Cheng Qianfan asked.

"We've arrived, staying at Fuqiao Hotel on Zhuangyuan Street." Zhang Ping said.

…

Li Hao sent someone to escort her to Nanjing. Later, Huang also found an excuse to go to the countryside to collect medicinal materials and secretly took a ship to Ning.

The "Farmer"'s telegram instructed Comrade "Huo Miao" and "Second Cousin" to work together to rescue Comrade "Red-crowned Crane". Zhang Ping was worried that Comrade "Huo Miao" would be unable to survive alone, so she decisively asked old "Yuchang" to come to Ning secretly.

"Inform Lao Huang and buy a ticket for the Ningkun steamer from Nanjing to Shanghai at 5:30 this evening. He doesn't need to worry about weapons. I will prepare them for him." Cheng Qianfan said.

"Okay, I'll go out to see Lao Huang in a moment." Zhang Ping said.

"No, I'm going to Hualin Garden later, while you find a busier grocery store and call the hotel." Cheng Qianfan said, "Just inform Lao Huang in code."

"Understood." Zhang Ping nodded. She had to admit that Comrade Huo Miao's arrangements were more prudent and reasonable.

…

Hualin Garden.

Cheng Qianfan found Chu Mingyu to ask for leave and reported it.

He originally considered finding Liu Xia in advance, telling her that he was going back to Shanghai, and asking Liu Xia to help him while he was on leave.

However, Cheng Qianfan was worried that Liu Xia would be in trouble if she returned to Shanghai with him on a whim, so he simply stayed in the office for a while. When he saw Liu Xia going out, he knocked on the door of Chu Mingyu's office.

"Why do you want to go back to Shanghai suddenly?" Chu Mingyu asked in surprise.

"There are some emergencies that require me to go back and deal with." Cheng Qianfan said a little nervously.

"What's the emergency?" Chu Mingyu glanced at Cheng Qianfan and asked.

"Well, Uncle Chu, you should read the newspaper." Cheng Qianfan said.

"Newspaper? What newspaper?" Chu Mingyu was a little confused, "Say what you have to say, don't beat around the bush."

"Germany launched an attack on France, and Luxembourg only resisted for one day before surrendering," Cheng Qianfan said.

…

"What does it have to do with you when the Germans attack France?" Chu Mingyu frowned and asked.

"Well, the war situation in Europe has changed dramatically. Isn't that..." Cheng Qianfan showed an embarrassed expression, "My nephew's business is very involved with France. This sudden change in the war situation in Europe has far-reaching consequences. It is necessary for my nephew to return to Shanghai to cooperate with the partners. people to discuss contingency matters.”

"I can't tell, your business is related to the international changes." Chu Mingyu looked at Cheng Qianfan deeply and teased.

"Small business, small business." Cheng Qianfan chuckled and said, "Uncle Chu, you know your nephew. He has quite a business acumen."

"Even if you want to go back, there is no need to go back today." Chu Mingyu said.

"Uncle Chu, if you don't do business, you don't know that this international change has a profound impact on business. We must respond in time, otherwise, let alone making money, we may lose our money." Cheng Qianfan said urgently.

"Okay, don't cry and look sad. I've approved this fake." Chu Mingyu glared at Cheng Qianfan and said angrily.

He looked at Cheng Qianfan and asked, "How many days will you go back?"

"I can't say, maybe I can come back in two or three days, but it will also take four or five days." Cheng Qianfan quickly said seriously, "My nephew will return to Ning as soon as he handles the matter."

"It's not an option for you to run back and forth." Chu Mingyu frowned slightly, "In this way, if you set up a radio station, if anything happens in the future, you can contact Shanghai in time in Nanjing."

"Thank you, Uncle Chu." Cheng Qianfan said happily.

"Don't be too busy thanking me. You can handle the radio station yourself. The most I can do here is give you an approval note and apply for a radio station license." Chu Mingyu chuckled lightly and looked at Cheng Qianfan, "Dignified French Concession's little boy

Mr. Cheng, it will be no problem to build a radio station."

…

"Stingy." Cheng Qianfan muttered.

"What did you say?"

"It's nothing, my nephew said, Uncle Chu has been thoughtful." Cheng Qianfan said quickly.

"Aren't you going back to Shanghai? Why don't you get out of here?" Chu Mingyu glared at Cheng Qianfan and said.

Cheng Qianfan chuckled and said goodbye.

After leaving the minister's office, a smile appeared on his lips. He was not worried about whether Chu Mingyu would approve the leave.

His reasons for returning to Shanghai are very good:

Over at Jiujiu Trading, this Uncle Chu gets some dividends.

…

Around three o'clock in the afternoon.

Minsheng Hotel.

"Brother Fan, you really don't need me to accompany you back to Shanghai?" Hao Zai asked again.

"I will return to Nanjing in two or three days, or in four or five days, and my concubine will no longer have to travel with me." Cheng Qianfan said sternly, "I have a falling out with that guy Su Chende, and this guy is...
To be continued...