Shajiabang: My Lifelong Brother

"My Brother for Life" In the 20th year of the Republic of China, spring was cold and freezing, in the French Concession in Shanghai. There is a new young man in the patrol room named Zhou Huaian. Wearing an ill-fitting police uniform, he stood at the intersection of Xiafei Road, watching the tram jingling past and the rickshaw driver breathing heavily under the sycamore tree. He was twenty years old and had just graduated from the police academy. He thought that being a police officer meant catching thieves, managing traffic, and helping old ladies find cats. It wasn't until his third week on duty at Waibaidu Bridge that he met Chen Mo. It was a drizzly morning. Chen Mo hurried across the bridge carrying an old suitcase. The lock of the suitcase was not fastened, and documents were scattered on the ground. When Zhou Huaian bent down to help pack it away, he caught a glimpse of the Japanese seal in the corner of the document and several vague military map manuscripts. He raised his head and met Chen Mo's deep eyes. "Thanks, brother." Chen Mo took the box, his fingers trembling slightly. It was the spring of 1931. The Japanese had not yet invaded Shanghai, but the Japanese community in Hongkou was already like a country within a country. Advertisements for "Rendan" began to appear on the streets, which were said to be the location markers of Japanese spies; late at night, mysterious radio signals often flashed across the Huangpu River. Three months later, Zhou Huaian met Chen Mo again while investigating a theft case at a dock warehouse. This time, Chen Mo's identity is that of a trading company employee, but his mouth has calluses from long-term use of guns, and he speaks German more fluently than Shanghainese. The case was eventually concluded as "internal theft", and the superior warned Zhou Huaian not to delve further. Zhou Huaian began to secretly investigate Chen Mo, but during the tracking process, he accidentally saved his life from a Japanese ronin. The two of them were covered in blood and hid by the Suzhou River.