Chapter 946 Begin
Okay, so now, let's fast forward the time a little bit, but it doesn't have to be too fast forward. At best, it's jazz on a record, cutting into the blues at night, and blues should be paired with a glass of good wine.
If the bartenders had placed a cup of sweet and refreshing rose honeydew melon for everyone on the table earlier, it was light green, full of bright and high notes of summer and a hint of interesting temptation, suitable for young people to enjoy on a sunny day. A eulogy and tribute to youth on the shores of Lake Michigan.
After the drinker finished the light green drink quickly, the next drink handed to the bar was the light red Hemingway. It also had a refreshing and delicious taste, with the unique flavor of grapefruit, but this time The color of the glass of wine is different from the light green of honeydew melon, and more closely matches the orange-red of the warm red sunset where Lake Michigan connects with the sky.
So our time naturally fast-forwarded from the beautiful and bright afternoon to the warm and dozing evening.
The people on the beach along Lake Michigan's Northern Avenue are getting thinner, the blue sky like water-washed air waves no longer exists, and the blazing sun has also fallen into the setting sun, making the white beach reddish. Looking at the city from the Navy Port, you will see that the boundary line between blue and red in the sky is tinged with a psychedelic purple, smeared on the tops of Chicago's tall buildings, and wrapped layer by layer by clouds.
Such a sunset deserves such good wine. Cheng Shuangfan heard that when the great writer Hemingway lived in Cuba, he liked to fish during the day and drink in the afternoon. The most common drink was the cup of light red daiquiri that was served on the bar of the wooden house. Hemingway would drink the sunset, Compiling the stories in my mind like a tidal wave, looking for those intoxicating phantoms in the white foam.
He likes "The Old Man and the Sea" very much and also likes this short story about Hemingway, so naturally he also likes the grapefruit-colored wine called Hemingway Delicious in his hand.
It was quiet in the wooden house bar. The warm red of the sunset behind him flowed on his cheeks, casting Cheng Shuangfan's figure on the wooden bar. With his eyes closed, he picked up the cocktail glass and took a sip and then put it down. After a while, he raised the glass again. The first sip is quiet and soothing.
The Mexican bartender who was waiting for the last customer to leave sat in the corner of the bar and wiped his wine glass quietly. From time to time he looked at the silhouette of a couple holding hands on the red lake beach in the sunset, with the mighty lake breeze behind him. Blowing from the endless skyline to the shore, red gauze curtains fluttered on the water and were covered with haze. The black outlines of the trees swayed in the wind, and the white birds flew straight towards the setting sun falling into the lake.
The chairs at the bar were pulled up, but this was not a signal that the last guest in the wooden house bar was about to leave, but a new guest joining the evening drinking party at the sunset.
He sat next to Cheng Shuangfan. If you look at it from Cheng Shuangfan's point of view, you can see that he is wearing a flowery shirt. He is dressed up like a tourist who came here specially for tourism, but a real tourist would not wear a gun under his shirt. .
The lake breeze blew his shirt, revealing the carbon black grip of the Beretta M925 underneath. There was an embossed three-letter abbreviation of an unknown sentence on the iron piece: UII.
"Thank you for a cocktail like this depressed young man who works overtime." The flowered shirt raised his hand comfortably to the Mexican bartender.
The Mexican bartender stood up and started his last work of the day. No one spoke in the wooden bar, only the crisp sound of the wine flowing in the mixing glass and the trivial squeezing of ice cubes. It wasn't until a new glass of wine was placed in front of Hua Shirt, and when he held the stem of the glass with his fingers and lifted it up, Cheng Shuangfan beside him said, "You are the last one to arrive."
As he spoke, Cheng Shuangfan took a sip of wine. He closed his eyes and didn't look at the people around him, but he knew who the people around him were.
"I can't help it, boss. The plane is delayed. The plainclothes people on the passenger plane said that I looked like a hijacker and wanted to drag me through the security check again." Flower Shirt explained helplessly.
"What are you wearing today?" Cheng Shuangfan could have turned around and opened his eyes to take a look, but he still asked directly.
"You must wear shirts and shorts when you come to the beach, right? Otherwise, where would you find the atmosphere to chat with beautiful women?" The floral shirt looked down at his own attire and said matter-of-factly.
"Is this how you dress when you get on the plane?"
"Yes, I was originally going to go straight to the beach to have a beautiful encounter when I landed, but the plainclothes air marshal who was so unscrupulous said there was something wrong."
"Well, no wonder." Cheng Shuangfan nodded silently, "Lingshu, if I were in plain clothes, I would have stopped you. After all, you look like a gangster. If you dress like a gangster, you won't be blamed for others to doubt you. "
"Looks like a gangster, but has a heart as warm as gold." The flower shirt hammered his chest with his right hand, but his words did not refute Cheng Shuangfan's attack on his appearance.
"Anyway, just arrive. You are the last one." Cheng Shuangfan said.
"Are Liu Bo, Qingyuan, Chang Yi, Zoé (Zoe), Walnut and Xiang Ling all in place?" The floral shirt became loose again. He leaned on the bar with his elbows and crossed his fingers against his chin to look around. Scenery, "Where are they hiding? Not to mention hiding under the bar and preparing to surprise me?"
"There are only you and me here. They are all preparing for the mission in the temporary headquarters. You are the only one missing to get the team together. Without you, we can't start work." Cheng Shuangfan said.
"No, no, no, you act like I am the boss of the UII team." Hua Shirt immediately became humble, "I am just a screw in the team that can be filled anywhere. Boss, you are the core of our team. , without me we will all fight bloody battles, but without you, the UII team will fall apart."
"Every member is equally important, you know this." Cheng Shuangfan closed his eyes and drank, "And you play a great role in this mission, but I can't do it without you."
"Really or not?" The flowered shirt's hand resting on the bar paused lightly, but after a moment he raised his eyebrows and asked, "What, is the matter very bad?"
"That depends on how you define bad."
“Was it ever that bad in Africa like Burundi?”
"You mean the time when you were chased all over the mountain by a group of AK-wielding monkeys who were enslaved by the third generation? The situation wasn't that bad that time. The biggest problem is that Burundi's economy is too bad and the traffic is poor. It’s inconvenient, food and accommodation are also a problem, and I’m wary of being ostracized by local drug lords hiding in the mountains and forests.”
"Isn't that not bad? Those tamed monkeys are as dangerous as Deadpool. That time I came back and heard the monkeys screaming for half a month at night and couldn't close my eyes!"
"The situation this time is very complicated." Cheng Shuangfan closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "There will not be large-scale conflicts or conflagrations. After all, the mission location is in a bustling big city, so there is no need to worry about this. But the process may There are some twists and turns, and some necessary risks need to be taken, but as long as you are here, the problem won’t be too big.”
"That's good, that's good." Hua Shirt breathed out.
"If I have to say it, this situation is just like the one in Operation Congo." Cheng Shuangfan said.
The flowery shirt's originally relieved breath was immediately held back, and his expression was obscured by the shadow of the backlight.
"Can you reveal some details? For example, who is the person who took this risk? This will give me a better understanding and prepare myself in advance." Hua Shirt said.
"You can't say it." Cheng Shuangfan refused. "This is a rule. You know it. If you say it, things will change and my workload will become very heavy."
"Wait a minute. Before I flew here, Xiangling asked me for my recent weight and measurements. Could it be that I am the unlucky guy? Captain, have you already started ordering a coffin and shroud for me?"
"The bodies of members of the UII team will be flown back to their hometown after death. In principle, we have no right to arrange a funeral for you." Cheng Shuangfan said.
The flowered shirt looked helplessly at Cheng Shuangfan, who was drinking with his eyes closed, and then slowly shifted his gaze to the counter further away, where there were already 15 identical finished Hemingway cocktail glasses, including Cheng. The cup in Shuang Fan's hand is 16 cups in total.
"Captain, we all believe in you. That's all I have to say." He sighed.
"Your words are enough." Cheng Shuangfan nodded, "Be careful with this mission, and nothing will happen."
"Boss, I'm relieved by what you said." Hua Shirt's expression suddenly cleared up, and he was lying loosely on the seat, no longer as tense as before, "So the 'whisper' is over, let's take action next. What’s the first step? Or have you done everything you need to do before I come?”
"I told you, we can't start work without you." Cheng Shuangfan said, "You have a very suitable role to play in this mission, and it must be you."
"Uh, let's not call him a low-level gangster who harasses the mission target, right?"
"No. But I do need that unique temperament in you."
"Isn't that a gangster?" Hua Shizi has a clear understanding of his own temperament. This matter has been with him since the first time he took a plane and passed the security check, when he was touched five times from beginning to end by a girl with a frown on her face as if she was facing an enemy. There is no controversial value anymore.
"But I guess at least a gangster wouldn't have a suit specially made at Anderson & Sheppard. (Anderson & Sheppard, a haute couture men's clothing store on London's famous Savile Row, Prince Charles has also been wearing his pair. Buttoned suit)" Cheng Shuangfan said.
You were shocked in the flower shirt, and turned your head with eyes shining, "Boss, have you finally discovered my hidden aristocratic aura? I'm starting to look forward to this mission." He immediately became energetic and geared up, visible to the naked eye.
"I have never said that. But I like your enthusiasm for the mission. Now that you have arrived, the mission can naturally begin." Cheng Shuangfan said, "Zoe and the others are ready."
"Shall we start now? Then what should we do next? Should we try on clothes or attend a high-society dinner first? Where is my custom-made suit? Or do I have to go to the temporary headquarters to get the suit first? I hope that suit It's a lapel collar, so that I can highlight my high-profile and flamboyant aura!" The flower shirt straightened the flower shirt he had bargained for at a street stall, and he was full of energy.
"No, we have to go to the airport first." Cheng Shuangfan closed his eyes and turned his head and said, "This is the airport where you landed by plane. Now we have to go back the same way."
"What are you going to do back at the airport?" Flower Shirt thought for a few seconds, and suddenly his face trembled, "Oh, I understand, boss, do you need me to have a cool sky party like in "The Wolf of Wall Street"? I There is no problem at all, I can play the role as I am! The temperament between a gangster and a playboy can be common."
"What you think is quite beautiful. But I don't deny your last statement." Cheng Shuangfan closed his eyes and drank the last sip of wine in the glass.
When the last remaining red was swallowed, the sun on the lake finally drowned in the water, so rows of white lights lit up on the beach. But in this darkening time, there is still a red sun that has not fallen. It is Cheng Shuangfan's eyes after opening them. They are pale gold with a touch of residual red, more like the velvety scarlet of conjunctival disease than the coquettishness of lava. .
Hua Shirt was already used to this scene. When he saw Cheng Shuangfan sitting here drinking with his eyes closed, he knew what his captain was like. People like them, who see these eyes, will never be worried or afraid, but will feel a sense of peace of mind deep in their hearts.
Cheng Shuangfan lowered his eyes and took a deep breath, then coughed, and patted his back with the floral shirt. When he put down the sixteenth empty cocktail, he left a tip at the bottom of the glass. The two stood up and left the bar, with their backs to the wooden house bar. The lit white lights stepped into the dark night of Chicago.