A Life of Attributes Starting as a Nobleman in the Republic of China Era

The rope snapped, and Su Yanqing swayed and fell onto the gallows platform.

"Someone is storming the execution ground!"

"Fire! Fire!"

The soldiers reacted and turned their guns towards the teahouse. But Yu Banlou had already left the window and disappeared through the back door of the teahouse.

At the same time, several figures rushed out from the crowd.

Chen San took the lead, rushing up to the gallows in a few strides. He cut the ropes binding Su Yanqing's wrists with a single stroke and helped her up, saying, "Miss Su, come with me!"

Su Yanqing recognized him, but didn't ask any questions and just nodded.

Chen San protected her as they jumped off the gallows and rushed towards the west side of the square. Bullets whizzed past their ears, striking the stone slabs beneath their feet and sending sparks flying.

"Stop them!" the executioner shouted hoarsely.

But the square was in complete chaos.

Li Yu, along with a few young men, mingled in the crowd, deliberately pushing their way into the ranks of soldiers. Some were pushed down, others trampled, and shouts, cries, curses, and gunshots rang out. The soldiers tried to give chase, but were blocked by the crowd and couldn't break through.

Zhou Kuaishou led the rickshaw pullers in a fight-and-retreat, pushing over their rickshaws to create roadblocks and obstruct the street. Someone was shot and fell; a nearby rickshaw puller, his eyes red with rage, swung his handlebars at the soldier.

"Hurry up!"

"That way!"

Chen San protected Su Yanqing as they slipped into a narrow alley. The alley was so narrow that only two people could walk side by side, and the pursuers' footsteps were getting closer and closer.

"Miss Su, lie down!"

Chen San pushed her down, raised his hand and fired a shot; the soldier at the front fell to the ground. He pulled Su Yanqing up and continued running forward.

At the end of the alley, a horse-drawn carriage was waiting.

The driver was a stranger. Upon seeing them, he lifted the curtain without a word: "Get in quickly!"

Chen San pushed Su Yanqing into the carriage and jumped on himself. The coachman cracked his whip, and the horse's hooves thundered as it sped off into the distance.

Inside the carriage, Su Yanqing leaned against the wall, panting heavily. A deep red mark was visible on her neck from the straps, and she spoke with difficulty, "Chen San, where's Chen Che?"

"Young Master is waiting for you," Chen San said in a low voice. "This train was arranged with the help of Mr. Richard. It's under the name of a foreign firm, so the Japanese don't dare to investigate."

Su Yanqing was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Where's Xu Wu? Why didn't he come?"

Chen San lowered his head and remained silent.

As Su Yanqing watched his expression, the color drained from her face.

"he……"

"He passed away a few days ago," Chen San said in a low voice. "He was beaten to death by Akutagawa's men on the banks of the Suzhou River."

Su Yanqing closed her eyes, leaned against the car wall, and remained silent for a long time.

The carriage traveled through the streets and finally stopped at an inconspicuous little station.

Chen San helped her off the train. A train was already waiting on the platform, its engine emitting white smoke, ready to depart at any moment.

At the end of the platform, a young man wearing a dark gray overcoat stood there.

It's Chen Che.

Upon seeing Su Yanqing, he quickly walked over, looked her up and down, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that she was alright: "Sister."

Su Yanqing looked at him, then suddenly reached out and touched his face: "You've lost weight."

Chen Che's eyes welled up with tears. He turned his head away, took a deep breath, and managed to suppress the soreness.

"Get in the car," he said. "When we get to Guangyue, someone will pick you up. Everything's been arranged there, so just relax and wait for things to calm down."

Su Yanqing nodded and walked towards the train.

After taking a few steps, she turned around and called out, "A-Che."

Chen Che looked at her.

Su Yanqing smiled, a smile exactly like the one on the gallows—faint, yet warming to the heart.

"Thank you."

Chen Che shook his head: "Sis, you don't need to thank me."

Su Yanqing turned and got into the car.

With a long whistle, the train slowly started moving.

Chen Che stood on the platform, watching the train go further and further away until it finally disappeared into the winter mist.

The wind blowing from the Suzhou River was bone-chillingly cold.

Chen San walked to his side and whispered, "Young Master, we don't know how Li Yu and the others are doing. We need to go back quickly."

Chen Che nodded, took one last look in the direction the train disappeared, and turned to leave.

The platform was empty, with only the wind still blowing.

The distant city of Shanghai was shrouded in a gloomy sky. The chaos in People's Square had just subsided; the gallows still stood there, the ropes snapped, and the person was gone.

Those who are alive must continue to move forward.

......

Three hours later, in a residential house in Pudong.

"Chen Che, thanks to you, Yan Qing was able to escape death." Yu Ban's hands were tucked into his sleeves. "Last time, I helped you wipe out the Green Gang with your ten thousand foreign guns. This time, we owe you again."

Chen Che waved his hand and sat down opposite Yu Ban: "Yu Ban, you're being too polite. Sister Su is my sister, it's only right that I save her."

Yu Ban looked up at him, a complex light flashing in his cloudy old eyes.

A charcoal brazier burned inside, its glowing embers dispelling the chill outside. A faded New Year's picture hung on the wall, the faces of the door gods Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong blurred beyond recognition. The faint sound of ship horns from the Huangpu River drifted in from outside the window, one long note followed by another.

"Have Li Yu and the others returned?" Chen Che asked.

"I just sent word that they've all been evacuated." Yu Ban pulled his hand out of his sleeve and warmed it over the charcoal brazier. "Zhou Kuaishou folded three of his brothers and wounded five others. Li Yu was lucky; the bullet grazed his ear. An inch off and he would have been dead."

Chen Che remained silent.

Three lives lost.

He remembered those rickshaw pullers, Zhou Kuaishou's lean face, and the look in their eyes when they swung their handlebars at the soldiers. He couldn't name most of them; he only knew they were Zhou Kuaishou's brothers, poor people living in the Zhabei shantytown, and rickshaw pullers who usually squatted on street corners waiting for customers.

Why are they fighting so hard?

For Su Yanqing? For a complete stranger?

Or was it just to save face?

"The rest," Chen Che said. "I'll cover the compensation for those three brothers."

Yu Ban shook his head: "No need. There are rules in the organization that the families of comrades who sacrifice their lives are taken care of by the organization."

"It's the organization's business to manage it," Chen Che said, looking at him. "It's my own business to manage it. Yu Ban, don't push it away."

Yu Ban stared at him for a long time before finally nodding: "Okay. But there's one condition: don't let anyone find out where the money came from. That bastard Akutagawa has a very keen nose."

"I know."

Yu Ban put his hands back into his sleeves and leaned back in his chair. The light from the charcoal fire flickered on his face.

"Chen Che, there's something I want to ask you."

"Please speak for the remaining half."

"Do you know that Yan Qing is a revolutionary?"

Chen Che did not answer immediately.

He had known all along. Or rather, he had sensed it even earlier. The woman who sang "Night Fragrance" on the Paramount stage, the woman who was as gentle as an older sister in his presence, the woman whose eyes would become distant when she talked about the past along the Suzhou River—she was never just a singer.

"I know," Chen Che said.

"You knew that, yet you still saved her?"

"I told you, she's my sister."