After lunch, around 2pm, Mingxi and his group finally got home. Wang Sufen heard the noise and hurried out to greet them: "Mingxi, come in quickly. The troops are coming."
Mingxi was startled, and then he ran into the house. He rushed into the east room, and when he saw the two PLA soldiers standing up, he immediately stood up and saluted. The two PLA soldiers returned the salute, stepped forward and shook hands with Mingxi: "Comrade Li Mingxi, hello, we are here to tell you something important."
Seeing this, Old Lady Li quickly took everyone out and closed the door. Wang Sufen stretched her neck to look and quietly pulled
Pulling Mrs. Li's sleeve, she said, "Mom, what do you think they are doing here? Didn't Mingxi graduate?"
Old Lady Li took a puff of her pipe and was silent for a moment before she said, "I think it's better to let him return to the army. This matter is confidential, so don't ask around or ask too much."
Wang Sufen nodded repeatedly: "Mom is right, I know everything, I won't say anything more."
Mingxi and the PLA soldiers talked inside for more than half an hour before they opened the door and came out. One of the PLA soldiers said to Old Lady Li and Li Muwu and his wife, "The country has a research task that requires a group of students who graduated from military academies. Comrade Li Mingxi had excellent grades while in school and was an outstanding graduate, which was recognized by the higher-ups. So Comrade Li Mingxi was specially recruited back to the army this time." Old Lady Li and Wang Sufen looked at each other, their faces full of joy, and they nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Wang Sufen couldn't stop smiling at Mingxi's face, and immediately laughed so hard that she couldn't close her mouth: "This is great, PLA comrade, you don't know, my Mingxi has been at home for the past month and feels like he has lost his soul. This time he can return to the army and it can be regarded as his wish come true."
Mingxi looked at Wang Sufen's happy expression and hesitated to speak. Old Mrs. Li noticed something was wrong and couldn't help asking, "What's wrong?"
Mingxi looked at his family with a complicated expression: "Grandma, I may not be able to come back for many years."
As soon as he finished speaking, the smiles of the family members froze on their faces. Wang Sufen was the first to lose patience and turned her face away, shedding tears. Old Mrs. Li took out her pipe from her waist and took a few puffs. Suddenly, there was silence in the room.
Wang Sufen cried for several minutes and finally controlled her emotions. She turned around and wiped the tears from her face with her rough hands, choking with sobs and saying, "Mingxi, go with the PLA comrades."
“Mom…” Mingxi was speechless as he looked at Wang Sufen whose eyes were red from crying, and his eyes were a little moist.
"Mingxi, I know your heart is in the army. You have been in school for so many years, and I don't know what you have learned. But I know that if you go to the factory at home, what you have learned in the past few years will be wasted. Now the country needs you, so you should make good use of your talents. You have two younger brothers at home, so don't worry."
Wang Sufen has always been an honest person in everyone's mind. Her mother-in-law is the boss and her daughter-in-law is capable. She rarely makes decisions by clapping her hands at home and likes to ask her mother-in-law for help on trivial matters. No one expected that the first person to agree to Mingxi's departure today would be Wang Sufen.
Old Mrs. Li took a puff of her cigarette and said in a low voice, "Mingxi, your mother loves you and doesn't want you to waste the knowledge you have learned at home." She tapped her pipe and nodded, "Go ahead, your uncle is the same. When you arrive at the army, treat the army as your home and listen carefully to the organization's arrangements."
Mingxi nodded and looked back at the two PLA soldiers. One of them immediately stood up and said, "Auntie, sister-in-law, let's take Mingxi away now. The place he's going to is quite special, so he may seldom be able to write home, but don't worry, it's very safe there, there won't be any danger."
Old Lady Li and Wang Sufen nodded repeatedly. Mingxi didn't have much to pack. He only took a few sets of clothes and a water bottle. The rest would be provided to him when he arrived at the army.
After picking up his bag and looking back at his family, Mingxi, who had never shed tears despite the blood and sweat in the army training, burst into tears in an instant. Wang Sufen immediately turned around and went back to the house. After Mingxi left the door, she burst into tears. In fact, everyone knew that the army was the most suitable place for Mingxi, but they felt a little uncomfortable when they thought that he could not go home for many years. The depressed mood spread in Lao Li's family for many days until Mingnan successfully passed the examination of the hydrolysis plant, and then the family members smiled.
The whole country is in turmoil now. Beicha, as a remote town, has much less mobility. However, many students who do not like studying took this opportunity to strike. Some also took advantage of the fact that train tickets, food and accommodation are free and formed groups to take the train to see the world. They would go wherever they heard there was fun.
Mingbei didn't know what was going on in school, but from what he said the teachers were still teaching, but there were not as many students attending the classes. They often ran out in groups of three or five, and about ten students took the train to the capital.
Mingbei was a little tempted by the excitement his classmates described. He came back and told Old Lady Li about it. He was immediately hit by the pipe more than a dozen times and immediately stopped.
Junior high school and high school are still in class, but Zhenzhen's elementary school has completely suspended classes. Zhenzhen doesn't care about the suspension of classes at all. She can remember everything in the third grade of elementary school by flipping through the textbook once, so studying there for a year is really a waste of time.
Perhaps because the men in Old Li's family were not at home, Zhang Defu, who had been quiet for more than half a month, had been lingering in front of Old Li's house for many days. Finally, one day when Li Mingzhong took Tianhu out for a run, he brought his brothers and sons to the house.
Zhenzhen stood in the yard and sneered at Zhang Defu. She had noticed Zhang Defu looking around furtively at the door of her house in the past two days, so she sent Li Mingzhong away on purpose, just to lure out the snake and get rid of this scum as soon as possible.
Holding a stick in her hand, Zhen Zhen looked at Zhang Defu with a smile: "Hey, haven't you been bitten enough by my Li Mingzhong? You still dare to come to my house?"
Zhang Defu looked at the chubby little girl in front of him and smiled smugly: "Don't think I don't know that your Li Mingzhong has gone out, and now you have only a few women in your family. But we are neighbors, and I don't want to tear my face with you. I still say what I said last time, give me ten yuan, and give me two bags of your food, and the grudge between our two families will be written off."
When Old Lady Li and others heard the noise, they came out of the house. When they saw the seven or eight big and strong young men coming, Old Lady Li's heart sank, fearing that her family would suffer a loss this time.
Zhenzhen held the stick in her right hand and knocked it against her left hand: "Wow, the price has gone up in just half a month, you really let a dog lick your face. But there is one thing you may not know..." Zhenzhen smiled sweetly at Zhang Defu: "Look back."
A group of people turned around quickly and saw Li Mingzhong standing at the door, his eyes were fierce, like a wolf! The Tianhu of the same size next to him looked a little silly, but seeing its sharp teeth exposed when it opened its mouth, no one dared to ignore it.
While they were stunned, Guihua quickly stuffed the bean bun into Wang Sufen's arms, pulled the meat bun and pushed them into the house, then took out a butcher knife.
Seeing the three generations of the Li family fighting desperately, with two wolfhounds staring at them from behind, Zhang Defu felt a little short of breath. He swallowed his saliva and said in a slightly out-of-tune voice: "Well, we have been neighbors for many years, and I don't want to have any grudges with you. How about this, you give me five dollars and a bag of food and I will leave immediately."
Old Lady Li laughed disdainfully: "Zhang Defu, Zhang Defu, you are already in your forties, aren't you ashamed to be in such a mess? If you are willing to work hard and go to the business to pull wood, you can at least earn forty or fifty yuan a month, which is better than you going around extorting people all day long."
Zhang Defu has been a lazy guy since he was young. If he had listened to this, his whole family would not have become scoundrels. He clenched the stick in his hand and took a step forward: "Mrs. Li, I am not here to listen to your lectures. You don't have to delay. Everyone in this area goes out to work in broad daylight, but no one can save you. If you don't give me money, I will be rude."
As soon as he finished speaking, the braised chicken walked out from the garden step by step. Because every household raised chickens, no one paid attention to it. When it moved to Zhang Defu's side, it suddenly jumped up with its wings flapping, and bit Zhang Defu's hand hard, and blood immediately gushed out.
Zhen Zhen smiled when she saw this: "You've gained so much weight from eating braised chicken nuggets, yet you're still jumping so high."
The braised chicken held its head high and started to peck at Zhang Defu frantically. At this time, Li Mingzhong rushed in with Tianhu. With one bite, the arm-thick stick was snapped in two. The people in the old Zhang family were shaking with trembling legs when they saw the half-broken stick in their hands.
For a while, Ji Gou and Zhang Defu's men were fighting each other. Zhang Defu's brother Zhang Dehai took advantage of the chaos and rushed over to Zhenzhen, trying to strangle her. Zhenzhen dodged to the side, and the stick was swung over, hitting him hard in the stomach. Zhang Dehai bent over, holding his stomach, his face turned pale in pain. Old Lady Li took the opportunity to pull out the pipe from her waist and hit him hard on the head a few times, which immediately made his head full of lumps.
They came over aggressively, but were beaten and fled in a panic in less than a minute. Zhang Dehai saw that his two younger brothers and eldest nephew had their legs bitten and bleeding, and he suddenly became even more timid and ran out through the door.
The people of the Zhang family were a motley crowd to begin with, and each one was more pampered and afraid of hardship than the other. When they saw Zhang Dehai running away, they all ran after him as fast as they could, and in the blink of an eye, Zhang Defu was the only one left.
He took two steps back nervously, as if he felt it was a bit embarrassing to run like this, but he really didn't have the courage to do it. Not only was the old Li family not easy to deal with, but the beasts they raised were even more powerful than each other. Feeling the pain in his leg, Zhang Defu shouted in a bluffing manner: "Just wait for me." Then he turned around and ran, but he tripped over the threshold of the gate after running a few steps. He fell down at the door like a horse, with a mouthful of mud.
A crisp laugh rang out from the yard. Zhenzhen held her belly and bent over with laughter. Guihua casually scooped two spoonfuls of water from the vat in the yard and poured it into the basin where Li Mingzhong was drinking water. She said loudly, "Hongzhong, Tianhu, come and wash your mouths. It's really disgusting to bite such dirty garbage."
Li Mingzhong immediately barked twice, as if in agreement. Zhang Defu, who had just gotten up, was so frightened when he heard the dog barking that his legs went limp again and he ran away crawling away.
Patting Li Mingzhong's head, Zhenzhen kept praising him: "You performed well today, and Tianhu is also very smart. I will go up the mountain to catch a rabbit and stew it for you two."
Li Mingzhong barked a few times immediately. To Old Lady Li and Guihua, it was just a dog barking, but to Zhenzhen, it sounded like, "Why are you looking for rabbits? One is not enough to fill my stomach. Let's go get a wild boar."
Zhenzhen knocked on its head, and waited until Mrs. Li and the others entered the house before she whispered, "It's very chaotic right now, and dragging a wild boar back will be too conspicuous. Just be patient and wait for a few days."
Li Mingzhong hung his head dejectedly, and while he was burrowing into Zhenzhen's arms aggrievedly, he took the opportunity to bargain: "Then I want to eat two rabbits, braised in red sauce!"
Zhenzhen smiled: "No problem."
When the braised chicken heard that there was food, it immediately ran over, flapping its wings and boasting: "And me, I was the first one to do it, so brave!"
Zhenzhen pushed its head down. The braised chicken was about to resist when it suddenly saw a dozen grasshoppers appear on the ground. It immediately stretched out its big feet to push them down and started to devour them.
The weather was getting colder day by day. The rice and flour jars of Old Li's family were full as usual. The two cellars were filled with cabbage, potatoes and radishes. Zhenzhen also stored various wild fruits and dried fruits. Old Mrs. Li directed Guihua to climb to the roof to collect the dried beans.
Zhenzhen found a mountain in the suburbs of the imperial capital. Because there was no village here, it looked particularly desolate. Zhenzhen scanned it with her consciousness and found a mountain stream in the middle. The place was not big, but very flat. Zhenzhen repaired this place exactly like the space, and also left a narrow and difficult-to-find passage at the foot of the mountain for entry and exit.
When everything was ready, Zhenzhen chopped down three trees, and when she waved her hand upwards, they immediately became a towering pile of firewood. While Mr. Forgetful was sleeping soundly at night, Zhenzhen quietly moved the western-style building out. She just used a little force when she landed on the ground, so there was some movement.
I was awakened by a momentary tremor. I stood up in a daze and looked outside. It was still the familiar starry sky and dark mountain stream. I yawned and went back to bed to continue sleeping.
The next morning, Mr. Wangwo got up and cooked breakfast for himself. Zhenzhen came in with a smiling face and the newspaper of the day: "Teacher, you are awake. How was your rest?"
"Very good, very good." Wangwo asked, holding noodles in one hand and pickles in the other: "Have you had breakfast? Let's eat together?"
"I've already eaten." Zhenzhen said hurriedly: "I see that the weather is getting colder, the teacher can turn on the heating earlier." Zhenzhen pointed to a stove in the living room: "There is a stove on each floor connected to the heating of each room. My father brought a lot of firewood last night and moved it to the shed outside for you. You can move it whenever you need it.
Wangwo felt very guilty and uneasy after hearing this: "I'm sorry to bother you two again. I don't know how to repay you."
Zhenzhen smiled and shook her head and said, "How can you help others for the sake of repayment? My grandma said that I can't be that kind of person." Seeing that Wangwo seemed a little uneasy, Zhenzhen quickly changed the subject: "By the way, teacher, my dad said that he met a few people who urgently need a place to hide. I wonder if you mind if he moves in
Wangwo said quickly: "This is your place. I am already very grateful for letting me live here. Why would I mind it? Besides, it will be more lively to have someone to talk to and keep me company."
Seeing Wangwo's high spirits, Zhenzhen scratched her head a little embarrassedly: "It's just that my father is secretly asking about the situation. People don't know us and I'm afraid they won't dare to go with me. Teacher is a nationally renowned literary master. Can you write a few notes for me, and treat it as someone you invited over."
After a moment of hesitation, Wangwo understood Zhenzhen's concerns. If he had not been thinking about committing suicide at that time, he would not have easily believed Zhenzhen. After all, during the war in the early years, children could also become weapons of killing.
After living here for a few months, Wangwo was very sure through his contact with Zhenzhen that she just wanted to help him and had no other intentions, and she was definitely not an enemy spy from the other side, so he readily helped Zhenzhen write the note.
That night, Zhenzhen had taken four people and used her abilities to avoid the guards' sight and fled to the mountain in the suburbs. Zhenzhen pushed aside the weeds that were more than a person tall and led the four people through the winding cave and came to the secluded place.
I saw a beautiful western-style building standing not far away. The grass under my feet had turned yellow and dry, making a rustling sound when I walked on it. Two apple trees stood on one side of the building, and the branches were full of heavy apples. A few hens were pecking at food in the courtyard, and three or five birds were standing not far away chirping. It was a peaceful and leisurely scene.
The four people finally relaxed after a day of tension. They looked at each other, and their faces were somewhat relaxed. When they opened the door of the western-style building, Mr. Wangwo heard the sound and opened the door from the study on the second floor. They looked at each other and called each other's name in surprise.
The four people Zhenzhen brought back were Su Weiran, a famous painter. His classic paintings were often sold at high prices of hundreds of millions in later generations. Zhenzhen felt that he was definitely a national treasure. Another one was Xie Shurang, a Peking Opera master. Xie Shurang's father was one of the biggest stars in the Republic of China. As his youngest son, Shurang was not only extremely talented but also inherited his father's true teachings. At a young age, he became one of the new four famous actresses. The third person was Xu Mengguo. He was not only an archaeologist, but also a scholar. Many of his poetry collections were circulated and became classics. The last one was a woman named Yan Baozhu, who was also a famous Peking Opera master and was also good at Kunqu Opera. She was the apprentice of Xie Shurang's father. Xie Shurang had to call her "senior sister".
They were all discovered by Zhenzhen when they were writing suicide notes in despair. They were all on the brink of despair. If they hadn't seen the self-written note and the familiar signature, they would never have gone with a child.
The four of them sat on the sofa, their tired bodies relaxed, and they felt the aches all over their bodies. Wang Wang had also experienced that, and he immediately said with experience: "Hurry up and take a bath, have a good meal, and then relax and have a good sleep."
There is hot water in the bathroom. When Zhenzhen was in the space, she used hot spring water to bathe. When the western-style building was moved here, a hot spring was moved here. It is directly connected to the tap water in the previous bathroom, so there is steaming hot spring water at any time. The water in the kitchen is used for eating and drinking, so Zhenzhen connected it to a mountain spring here, which is not only very clean and hygienic but also tastes clear and sweet.
There were many bedrooms on the second and third floors of the western-style building. Su Weiran and the other two found a room on the second floor and settled down there, while Yan Baozhu lived on the third floor. Zhenzhen checked the food reserves in the western-style building and was very grateful for the original owner's wealth. The storage room was filled with bags of rice and flour, which were probably enough for these people to eat for a whole winter.
With her selfless care for them, Zhenzhen left with peace of mind. She was busy shuttling between the Imperial Capital, Tianjin Capital, and Magic Capital every day, buying and picking up a lot of things. Sometimes when she saw the things that the guards had taken back, she would secretly take them all away and put them away separately, preparing to hand them over to the country later.
Two years passed in a blink of an eye, and another spring came. Just as Zhenzhen had said, Mingdong worked on the farm for half a year at Anbei Farm. The previous school was renamed Anbei Agricultural School, and Mingbei was arranged back to teach soil and fertilizer science to the workers, peasants and soldiers sent from all over the country.
After nearly a year, Mingdong returned to school without much time to express his feelings. He quickly wrote a letter to his family to say he was safe. The school still assigned him the same single dormitory. Mingdong wiped the dust, took down the curtains, washed them and hung them back up. The dormitory was clean and tidy again. Mingdong felt like home.
Anbei is not far from Beicha, so Mingdong's letter arrived in a few days. Mingnan hurriedly rode his bike to the post office to pick up the letter. As soon as he entered the door, he shouted: "Grandma, sister-in-law, my elder brother opened the letter."
Upon hearing this, the family members put down what they were doing and surrounded Mingnan, urging him: "Hurry up and read it. Is it your elder brother who has come out?"
Mingnan opened the envelope and quickly scanned it, nodding happily: "My brother is back to school as a teacher again."
Old Lady Li slapped him on the head and said, "Stop wasting time and just read what you wrote. I don't want to hear your summary."
Mingnan didn't even dare to rub his head, and he recited the letter with joy. Guihua cried and laughed when she heard it. Wang Sufen pushed her away and said, "Why are you crying? Good days are coming."
Mingbei recalled that what Old Lady Li had promised was absolutely correct, and looked at her in shock: "Grandma, you are so capable, your guess is so accurate."
Old Mrs. Li had a smug look on her face: "Otherwise, how could I be your grandmother?"
The author has something to say: As for the matter of hot springs being connected to water pipes, we won’t verify it, otherwise I will cry, hahaha!
There are many heartbreaking parts in this period of history, especially when I was searching for a list of famous people who committed suicide during that period. I haven't finished reading them all, so I'll just leave them in the article to satisfy you. Some of the characters are original and some are fictional, just know them. I won't go into this part too much later, let's continue to live our lives!
Thank you to all the fairies who voted for Overlord this week. I bow down to you!
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