Wen Jianning couldn't recall exactly how she and Zhong Hui passed the investigation in horror in the next twelve hours. When confronted by Japanese soldiers armed with knives and guns, if they dodged or hesitated to answer, they would be beaten or taken away on the spot, just like the people in front of them. In those twelve hours, life and death hung by a thread, every minute and every second was torment, and even thinking about it carefully was torment.

By the time she reacted again, she and Zhong Hui were already sitting on a cargo ship. The ship departed from the port of Tianjin, headed all the way south, passing through Shanghai and Hong Kong, and finally arrived at the United States on the other side of the ocean. Today's ferry tickets are more expensive than in the past, Wen Jianning and the others took out the last money on their bodies, plus the people who sent them to help subsidize, so they barely scraped together the ticket money and fled Tianjin.

They breathed a sigh of relief when the cargo ship finally left land and floated on the waves.

But then, they had to think about the final destination of the trip.

During this period on the ship, Wen Jianning also considered going to Shanghai to defect to Mr. Qi first, but considering that it had also fallen, even if the British and French concessions were relatively safe, they did not dare to take this risk to sneak in, in case they were stopped by the Japanese themselves on the way, it was really worth the loss. They simply took a boat all the way south until they reached the wharf in Hong Kong, and then they felt safe.

finally escaped to Hong Kong, and Zhong Hui naturally wanted to go home to have a look.

She is the only daughter in the family, and this time when Peking fell, she and her parents have not heard from her for several months, which must have made them anxious. However, Wen Jianning felt that it was inconvenient to stay here for a long time, and planned to find a small hotel near the dock for a few hours, and wait for the next morning to take a boat to the mainland to find a school.

Zhong Hui refused to let her go, and repeatedly persuaded her: "It's hard to come back once, you might as well go home with me." ”

Wen Jianning hesitated for a while, but still shook his head: "You also know about my family, I don't dare to show up in Hong Kong." If someone recognizes you, I'm afraid it will cause you trouble. ”

Zhong Hui persuaded her: "Didn't you already give the money to the Wen family at the beginning, and they also published a newspaper to disassociate themselves from you, so it will definitely be difficult for you to make it public again." And it's been more than a year since you've been gone, and they may not have thought you'd come back to Hong Kong. Also, you have changed so much these days, that is, I have been with you all day, otherwise I wouldn't have recognized you. Come with me, my mom and dad will love to see you. ”

Wen Jianning touched his short hair, thinking that it was the same.

It's a big deal that she went to Zhong Hui's house and never went out again. Even if Wen Jingshu's people have the ability, it is impossible to find someone's house, as long as they are careful, it should not be a big problem.

But after all, they were still very careful to pay attention to their surroundings on the way home, for fear of being targeted.

Although it has only been a little more than a year since Wen Jianning left Hong Kong, the street scene is very different from before the war. The Japanese invasion displaced the people in the mainland, and they fled all the way south, so that this small island quickly flooded into a large number of refugees in just a few months, and the streets became more crowded.

Wen Jianning and the others took a bus through the city and came all the way to Zhong Hui's home.

Zhong Hui's image became so great that the servants of the Zhong family almost didn't recognize her.

The servants said that Zhong Hui's father had recently gone to Chongqing on official business, and that only her mother was at home.

Hearing that the maid came to report that her daughter had come back with her classmates, Mother Zhong, who was still ironing clothes in the room, shook her hand and almost threw the iron away. When she came to her senses, she staggered downstairs and saw her daughter sitting on the sofa in the living room.

The mother and daughter finally saw each other again, and immediately hugged their heads and cried.

After finally calming down her excitement, Zhong Hui's mother noticed Wen Jianning next to her. She was a little uncertain and said, "Hello classmate Jiang, did you send Zhong Hui back this time?"

Zhong Hui said helplessly: "Mom, this is Jianning, not that Jiang Xuwen." ”

Although the two had a very good relationship in middle school, because Wen Jianning rarely went out to socialize and was not good at dealing with elders, he never went to Zhong Hui's house as a guest. And Jiang Xuwen is a little couple who have ghosts in each other's hearts, and they don't dare to communicate in front of them. Until the time when Zhong Hui was sent to Peking to prepare for the exam, it was the first time that Zhong's father saw him.

As for Zhong Mu, she has never seen either.

She knew that she had made a joke, and hurriedly apologized to Wen Jianning.

The two sides just exchanged a few words, and before they had time to say goodbye, Zhong Hui's mother arranged for the two children to take a bath first. In order to protect themselves, they deliberately dressed up sloppily, and the smell on their bodies was even more unbearable.

After a long time, the two beautiful and clean girls walked down the stairs side by side.

Zhong Hui said that after all, it was her daughter, even if she was a dirty mud monkey just now, she could recognize it at a glance. On the contrary, the girl next to her is fair-skinned and slender, with a pointed chin, although her hair is cut very short, like a boy, but looking at her temperament and conversation, she looks like a girl with excellent upbringing, and Zhong's mother can't help but nod her head again and again.

When they were bathing, Mother Zhong had asked the maid to prepare some light and delicious meals for them, so that they could fill their stomachs first.

The two children were first hungry in Beiping, and then traveled all the way and were frightened, but now they were suddenly faced with a table full of food, and immediately devoured it.

After eating and drinking, the two sides sat down and exchanged views on what had happened during this time.

When Zhong's father hurriedly returned to Hong Kong due to an incident, Zhong Hui's mother complained a lot.

She didn't worry about her daughter going to the mainland to study with her classmates, and Father Zhong came back so early, she was just afraid that her pampered daughter would not have a good time there, and she often had insomnia at night. Fortunately, it didn't take long for Zhong Hui to send a telegram from Beiping, saying that he had been admitted to Peking University, and the couple were happy for their daughter.

However, a few days before they were happy, they suddenly heard the news of the outbreak of the Battle of Lugou Bridge.

At that time, the situation in North China was confusing, and Wen Jianning, who was caught in it, was dazzled by all kinds of gossip every day, not to mention Hong Kong, which was thousands of miles away. Zhong Hui's parents searched for newspapers in the mainland, anxiously waiting for the results, but finally received the bad news that Pingjin had fallen one after another.

At first, they were still lucky, hoping that Zhong Hui had escaped from Beiping. However, after waiting for a long time, there was no news from Beiping, and they gradually lost their hearts, knowing that their daughter was most likely trapped in Beiping.

Zhong Hui's mother fell seriously ill because of this, and often cried and complained about why she agreed to let her daughter go so far away from home in the first place. During this time, they also tried to contact acquaintances in Beiping, but due to the war, those acquaintances could not be contacted, let alone find someone to help them inquire about Zhong Hui's whereabouts. Zhong Hui's mother planned to drag the sick body and go to Beiping to pick Zhong Hui back in person several times, but they were stopped by Zhong's father.

Speaking of this, Zhong Hui's mother was afraid that her daughter would have a problem in her heart, and explained: "Don't blame your father, he didn't dare to have the plan that you would return to Hong Kong alive. The reason why he stopped me was that he was also a human being, and he was also afraid, afraid that I would not be able to hold on halfway, and that he would be alone in our family in the end. Thankfully, you're back. ”

Zhong Hui's eyes were slightly red, and she comforted her repeatedly: "Fortunately, you and your father didn't go to the mainland, there are wars everywhere over there, if something happens to you, I won't be at ease in my life." ”

"Seeing you lose weight like this, you must have suffered a lot in Beiping City. You haven't been away from home for so long since you were a child, and these days I dream every night that you call your mother, sometimes crying hungry, and sometimes covered in blood. ”

Speaking of this, Zhong Hui's mother couldn't help but shed tears again.

Zhong Hui was about to open his mouth to complain to her, but Wen Jianning, who had not spoken all the time, suddenly said softly: "When I was in Beiping, Zhong Hui still talked to me all day long, wanting to eat Hong Kong's pineapple oil again, but where can I buy authentic pineapple oil over there." ”

When Zhong Mu heard this, she immediately said: "Now that you are home, you must eat as much as you want, until you don't want to eat anymore." ”

The mother and daughter talked about stopping, crying and laughing, and finally passed the initial battle.

After listening to the experience of the two girls in Beiping, Zhong Hui's mother looked at her daughter's friend even more differently.

She knew her daughter well in her heart, and knew that if she hadn't been taken care of by this good friend, she was afraid that Zhong Hui wouldn't even survive the first few days, let alone successfully escape from Beiping in the end.

Thinking of this, she said gently: "Jianning, I used to hear Zhong Hui talk about you as a good friend, but today is the first time I have seen you. Zhong Hui is an only child, and she has no brothers and sisters in the family. During this period of time in Beiping, thanks to your extra care, our mother and daughter were reunited. If you don't dislike it, I don't know if you'd like to recognize me as a godmother and call me a godmother. ”

Wen Jianning reacted quickly, and immediately shouted: "Godmother." ”

Zhong Hui laughed beside him: "It's okay now, shouldn't you call me sister." ”

Wen Jianning turned his head directly and said, "Godmother, you see where she has a sister." ”

They deliberately gag, and it wasn't long before the big and the young were laughing in the living room. Their laughter finally dispelled the gloom that had hovered over the villa for months, and gradually dispelled the gloom of the past three months.

......

Wen Jianning stayed like this at the Zhong family.

When they escaped from Beiping, it was the end of November, and it was already December when they went into hiding and returned to Hong Kong. In a while, the mainland school will also have winter vacation to prepare for the New Year, and she has nowhere to go but to continue to stay here.

Although more than a year has passed and her appearance has changed, Wen Jianning still doesn't dare to go out easily, staying in the Zhong family all day long and refusing to go out, and only learning about the outside world through the words of the Zhong family's mother and daughter and the servants and the newspaper on weekdays.

But Zhong Hui is different from Wen Jianning, she can't be idle, and she went out the next day after returning to Hong Kong.

She went to see Jiang Xuwen first. The two have not seen each other for more than half a year, and they have lost contact for several months in the middle.

Soon after Jiang Xuwen returned to Hong Kong, his mother's illness gradually improved. But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard the news of the fall of Beiping, and regretted why he didn't wait until he left, but it was too late to say anything at this time. Impulsively, he almost bought a ticket to return to the mainland, but everyone arrived at the pier, but was still stopped by his family.

Wen Jianning frowned when he heard this, but Zhong Hui next to him said: "It's rare for him to have this kind of heart." ”

She wanted to persuade her friend a few words, but in the end she only sighed slightly.

finally returned to Hong Kong, and Zhong Hui had to see Jiang Xuwen almost every three or five days. However, falling in love is only one of the reasons why Zhong Hui goes out, and she is more often a guest.

When the war broke out in the interior, a large number of refugees came to Hong Kong to escape the war, and along with it a large number of outstanding figures in the fields of education and academia, including even professors from the Department of Literature of the United University who came here to recuperate. Hong Kong's relatively relaxed cultural environment is undoubtedly a paradise for them. Less than half a year after the outbreak of the war, the standard of newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong has improved rapidly.

The Zhong family has a wide network of contacts in Hong Kong's cultural circles, and some of the elders Zhong Hui knows have direct contact with these people, so Zhong Hui has many opportunities to visit and ask for advice. Although Wen Jianning also wanted to go with Zhong Hui to visit those people, he still didn't go with him in the end. There must be people coming and going in the homes of these celebrities, and if they are seen or spread to Wen Jingshu's ears, she doesn't dare to take such a risk.

But staying at home also has the advantage of staying at home.

She stayed alone in the room to look at the writing and writing, but let her mood slowly settle down, and she had time to do something that she was not in the mood to do before. Before in Beiping, she was busy taking care of Zhong Hui, taking care of housework, worrying about the situation, and was always worried, almost no mood and strength to write anything again, and even stopped writing in her diary.

Now that she has escaped life, she naturally has to pick up the pen again.

When she met with the editor-in-chief Tan for the last time that day, she was told that she did not allow the people of Beiping to submit articles to literary and artistic newspapers and periodicals in other places, let alone newspapers to publish relevant articles, because she was afraid that the situation in Beiping would be known to the outside world after the fall. Since she finally escaped from Beiping, she naturally wanted to try to use her pen to describe that situation and tell the world what she had seen and heard.

However, I don't know if it's because of the rustiness of this time, she picked up the pen several times, but she still couldn't write it. The pen was too light, and the people and things that could not be written down were too painful, Wen Jianning pondered for a long time, and finally had to put down the pen first.

She had to wait a little longer, think about it again.

(End of chapter)