Although the life here in the base area is a bit difficult, fortunately, the people around are kind-hearted and simple. They support each other and worry about their relatives on the front line.
The news is getting better day by day, the surrounding towns have resumed basic production and life, the war is slowly moving away, and the sense of the people of the country is getting stronger and stronger.
Finally came the day of returning one after another.
The base area is full of joy.
Because there are children, basic teaching is still offered. The war caused by backwardness has further made the leadership realize the importance of knowledge. There are not many teachers in the base area, but everyone is doing their best, and Qing Ruo is among them.
The children are also very serious, but recently, due to the successive returns, there are always children who ask for leave to go home or return halfway through the class, and their relatives can't wait to come to the classroom to pick them up.
The sound of firecrackers coming home, the yelling of relatives and friends, and the crying of joy, mixed together, the whole base area glowed with new colors and light.
My cousin's little bun has a very current name, Xingyao, and he is eight years old.
Still the same sticky Qingruo, after class, she helped Qingruo organize things in the classroom, and then helped Qingruo carry her class bag, while Qingruo held her own little hand.
Because of Zuo Shengyan's arrangement, the cousin's house and Qingruo Zuoyou lived in the same yard, and the two families were separated by a wall, and a door was opened during the last renovation.
The war was won, and my cousin-in-law had already returned to the city when the first wave of soldiers came back. He didn’t give up his previous business, and he just switched back to his identity as a military merchant when he came to the base area. when.
The cousin has already prepared the meal, and it will be served on the table when they come back.
"Where's Xiaoyou?" Turning around and seeing Qingruo and Xingyao, the cousin asked while taking off the apron and putting it on the chair.
"Going to the office again."
The cousin smiled and nodded, "Sheng Yan should be back soon, no wonder he is impatient."
Qing Ruo took the bowl, left the food for Zuo You, put it in the pot and added hot water to warm it up, "Let's eat first."
The cousin nodded, and incidentally patted Xingyao's paw, which was already reaching out to grab the vegetables. Zuo You and Qing Ruoqin, although they took him late, their relationship was no different from that of a relative, and it would be boring to deliberately wait for him to come back.
When they came to the base area, Qing Ruo and her cousin didn't know about it, but Zuo Shengyan had made an agreement with her cousin's husband before that the cousin's family came here with Qing Ruo and the others.
My cousin's husband is reluctant to part with his own business, and I don't know how Zuo Shengyan discussed with the military department. He later turned into a military business. Although the investment in the war has exceeded the income in the past few years, the income from now on is unpredictable. .
The cousin's husband and his cousin were happy before, the only fly in the ointment is that the cousin's husband has two outer rooms. Although they are kept outside, they are also a thorn in the cousin's heart. It's just that she can think about it and Xingyao is by her side. As for quarrels and conflicts.
When they left, the outer room didn't bring them with them. Although my cousin didn't ask, she probably knew that Zuo Shengyan wanted to intervene.
Adding all these things together, my cousin's attitude towards Zuo Shengyan, whom I haven't seen for several years, has eased a lot.
She didn't dislike Xiaoyou in the first place, Xiaoyou was obedient and often took care of Xingyao, and now her cousin really recognized that Xiaoyou was Qingruo's son.
The three of us ate, and Xingyao was growing up. He liked to eat meat but not vegetables. Meat is expensive now. My cousin cooks with a little meat and a lot of vegetables. Xingyao is a picky eater. To educate.
The cousin was still talking about it, and Cheng Jin came in through the door.
Qing Ruo sat with her back to the door, the cousin who was talking stopped suddenly, and the food in her mouth almost fell out.
He quickly covered his mouth with his hand, and pointed to the door with his eyes wide open.
Qing Ruo turned her head sharply, and saw Cheng Jin, who was dressed in a military uniform with a tired face, frowning.
"Ms. Xu." I haven't seen her for several years, but she still seems like yesterday. Compared to the last time she left, her hair has grown longer, and she is softly wrapped and rolled up. She is wearing a light-colored cheongsam. line.
A face, adding the traces of the years, has a more gentle charm.
As soon as Cheng Jin opened his mouth, his swarthy face became tense, and there were tears in his eyes.
Qing Ruo sat upright, put down her chopsticks and turned to look at him, asking word by word, "Where's Zuo Shengyan?"
There was a sense of sand in her voice, and Cheng Jin looked at her with his lips tightly pressed, his eyes were neither sad nor happy, and he shook his head.
Qingruo raised her hand to cover her eyes, she didn't cry, but her cousin who was sitting behind her was crying. Although Xingyao is small, but the children of this era are so precocious that it makes people feel distressed, he stood up without saying a word and walked to his cousin Patting her on the back, he handed the small handkerchief in his pocket to his cousin.
"Where is it?" Qing Ruo looked at Cheng Jin and said, stood up and the chair made a harsh sound as her movements rubbed against the floor, Qing Ruo repeated in a tense voice, "Where is he?"
Cheng Jin still shook his head, took out something from his pocket, didn't go forward, stood at the door and bent over and put it on the ground.
Sighing softly, "General's commendations for military achievements over the past few years will be sent to you directly by the military department in the future. Xiaoyou...I took Xiaoyou away, and the military department will arrange for him."
Qing Ruo blinked her eyes and smiled slightly, "So?"
She smiled too lightly, feeling on the verge of collapse, Cheng Jin couldn't bear it, gritted his teeth and said the last sentence, "The general's last sentence, let you marry someone who is good to you."
Cheng Jin turned and left, closing the door behind him.
The cousin stood up twitching, wanting to comfort her, Qing Ruo turned her back to her, stood up straight, shook her head, "Leave me alone for a while."
The cousin was about to go forward, but Xingyao took her hand and said in a low voice, "Mom, let my aunt be quiet for a while."
After thinking about it, the cousin nodded and stepped forward to pat Qing Ruo on the shoulder and took Xing Yao home.
There was a sound of closing the door, and Qingruo was the only one left in the room. Qingruo stepped forward to pick up the envelope that Cheng Jin had just put on the ground.
Zuo Shengyan's epaulettes represent the epaulettes of his life's honor journey, some lists of military merit commendations from the military department, and a letter he wrote to Qing Ruo.
It's too short to be a letter. 'I let you go, treat yourself well. '
Qing Ruo chuckled, and brushed his fingers across the bumpy part of the letter paper. His handwriting was heavy, with big and wild fonts, shining brightly on the light-colored letter paper, piercing the eyes.
two years later.
Qing Ruo, who celebrated her thirty-fifth birthday at her cousin's house, packed her luggage and boarded the train heading south.
The cousin and Xingyao saw Qingruo off at the station. Xingyao had grown a lot in the past two years, and the boy who was only half a head shorter than Qingruo said earnestly, "Auntie, you must pay attention to safety. You must be alone on the train." Be careful, go play for a while and come back quickly, remember to write a letter when you arrive... "
Qing Ruoquan chuckled and nodded.
Xingyao talked a lot, but he still didn't feel relieved, "It's alright, alright. Your aunt's ears are going to make you cry." The cousin squeezed into the middle of the two, held Qing Ruo's arm and patted her hand, sighing softly. He took a deep breath, "Oh, Xiao Ruo, you have to pay more attention to yourself, going out is no better than staying at home..."
For the mother and son, Qing Ruo obediently agreed.
All the way to the carriage, Xingyao helped her salute and put it away, and the cousin even greeted several other passengers in the same carriage.
As the train set off, Xingyao put his arms around his cousin's shoulders, and the two became as clear as the scenery in the train window. At the end of the picture, it was his cousin who was crying, and Xingyao was patting her on the back to comfort her.
The cousin's husband's business is getting busier, and the relationship between Xingyao and his cousin is getting better and better.
There is a small town in the south of the Yangtze River called Jingting. It has a nice name. It is the hometown of a scholar. He wrote an article about his hometown Jingting, which Qingruo needs to read in class.
The description is beautiful, the climate is suitable, the scenery is beautiful, and the people are outstanding.
At that time, Qingruo was preparing lessons in the teacher's dormitory of the school, because Zuo Shengyan said that the day would pass, and the living room door was open, so she was preparing lessons by the window, reading out the text in a soft voice without rushing.
When Zuo Shengyan left, not long after she started reading, he stood at the door of the room and listened to her finish reading the entire text.
Then she told Qingruo that this place must be beautiful.
Qing Ruo nodded in agreement, "If possible, I would like to live there in the future. It is very comfortable and suitable for life."
At that time, Zuo Shengyan just nodded and didn't say anything.
Jingling is a small water town, the train station changed the car, and the car changed to the boat.
The rivers and lakes are connected into one piece, large and small arch bridges, and lotus flowers connect the city.
"Are you a local from Jingting?" Qing Ruo sat on the bow of the boat with the box at her feet, raised her head and asked the rowers.
The simple man nodded, "I've been here since I was a child."
"I want to ask you something." Qing Ruo said with a smile, "Just a year or two ago, did any strange man move here alone?"
The rower thought about it seriously, and after a while he gave the answer, "Yes, that man is tall, strong and good-looking. I heard he was a soldier and beat devils before."
The reverence in his tone was undisguised, Qing Ruo smiled and nodded after listening.
"Alas, it's a pity that he's a cripple, otherwise he wouldn't come to our town to work as a carpenter after beating Takako."
"Big sister, are you looking for him?"
Qingruo smiled brightly, "Yes, my husband."
"!" The frightened rower almost dropped the oar in his hand into the water.
Afterwards, he said some more words, and the sincere and kind-hearted boatman took Qingruo directly to the nearest landing place, "Big sister, go straight this way, there is a carpentry shop without a brand name that is your...husband's shop. "I'm still a little surprised, but it's worth mentioning this title.
Qing Ruo thanked her with a smile, and went ashore with her suitcase.
In the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River, the roads are not wide, but they are very clean. The road paved with bluestone slabs is as clear as wearing shoes with a little heel, and the sound of rattling along the way is like a movement.
A very ordinary carpentry shop, there are several large wooden shelves in the shop, and the items on them are also ordinary objects.
The store door was wide open, but there was no one in the store.
"Da da." Qing Ruo stood at the door and knocked on the door.
no respond.
Qingruo pursed her lips and entered the store, put the box beside her casually, and walked all the way to the yard behind the store.
Someone is in the yard, one foot is covered with a metal brace from the sole of the foot to the knee, wearing loose dark overalls, with short hair, showing a tanned neck, sitting on a chair , on the workbench in front of him was a piece of wood being polished.
She didn't hide her footsteps and walked all the way towards him.
The movements in Zuo Shengyan's hands stopped, and he didn't turn around. The strong feeling made his heart beat violently, hitting his chest as if the whole world was filled with heavy heartbeats, and the eardrums were so painful.
Qing Ruo smiled lightly, put her hand on his shoulder, "Are you sure you don't want to look back?"
He didn't have the strength to hold the thing in his hand, and his whole body was limp, but his back was still tense, like the cold and hard workbench in front of him.
Qingruo squatted down, stretched her arms around his waist, and sighed, her soft tone was full of distress and longing, as if to blame a playful child who didn't go home, "Whatever you run, you don't care what you look like." It doesn't matter what you are afraid of."
Zuo Shengyan turned around stiffly and saw her, and his mind went blank for a moment. He had imagined countless scenes, and every day he opened his eyes and thought of her, and he thought of her when he closed his eyes.
A lot of it was her sudden appearance, and more of it was that she became someone else's wife, holding someone else's wrist and laughing at Yanyan.
Now, suddenly at a loss.
Facing death once, at that time, what he thought about was her, and what he thought about was what she would do in the future.
But now, Zuo Shengyan's whole body was more sore than when he was about to die, as if every cell couldn't wait to gush out some liquid to vent the emotions that were about to boil.
Tentatively, probably to determine if this was a hallucination caused by his longing, Zuo Shengyan raised his head and landed his palm on her hair.
His shiny black hair was stained with sawdust from his palm.
He was finally sure, he thought he was going to cry, but no.
Zuo Shengyan hugged her back with both hands, not very strong, just holding her in his arms.
Opening your mouth is like a gentle force that embraces life after spreading through an infinitely extended time. "You came."
**
Me, He De He Neng.
Qingruo, you are here.
—[Black box]