The Director

Having lived through the Japanese attack on the International Settlement, Aige had known this day would come. Although the Vichy Government was Germany's puppet and the Japanese were Germany's allies, Germany's interests in Europe clearly outweighed those in Asia. Besides, in China, the areas occupied by Japan had already surrounded every concession. Especially after Japan declared war on Britain and America, the British and American concessions had long since fallen. How could Shanghai's isolated French Concession possibly last much longer?

So when the Japanese knocked on his door, drove his entire family out, and confined them together with the other French, he had been prepared for it. Even so, he still found it hard to accept.

Their quarters were not large. The family of four was crammed into one room, and the food was terrible—sometimes there was not even enough to eat. Compared to their former lives, it was like heaven and earth.

As he ate, he kept muttering about how difficult things were, looking at Wang Yan with feeling. "Wang, my friend, thank you so much. Without you, I'm afraid I would never have made it back to France. Those damned Japanese monkeys are truly vile."

Wang Yan sat across from Aige and exhaled a puff of smoke with a smile. "Enough. Just count yourself lucky. You saw what happened to the people from the International Settlement. Your conditions are pretty good now. Though you're under centralized management too, it's still better than being sent to an actual concentration camp, isn't it?"

Although the French Concession had been seized by the Japanese, the war had disrupted sea routes. The Japanese could not possibly send ships specifically to transport these people away, while France was too busy saving itself to send ships to bring them home. Yet they could not