Mei Shan had long since lost her breath, her eyes were wide open, and her eyes that had long been dull were filled with the fear of death and her infinite attachment to life. Without the support of life, her face was gray, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes appeared, making her look old and tired.

Seeing Wan was almost frightened, and crawled to hide in the corner.

Lu Jiajun and Jianyu were also a little frightened, far away, they still saw embroidery and closed Mei Shan's eyes with Wen Jianning.

With so many people in the church, it was impossible to leave the body in front of God. Mei Shan's body was packed into a crudely made body bag and placed on a wooden cart in the backyard, ready to be transported away early tomorrow morning to find a place to bury it.

After dealing with Mei Shan's corpse, Wen Jianning went back and leaned in the corner for a long time without speaking, only Jianxiu was by her side.

Seeing that she was in a bad mood, Jianxiu asked, "Are you feeling sorry for Aunt Mei Shan?"

Wen Jianning shook his head: "It's not sad or sad." ”

Her feelings for Mei Shan are very weak, even if the other party has helped her indirectly, it is impossible for her to immediately change her opinion of this person for many years. It's one thing to have no feelings, it's another thing to see the other party die in front of her eyes.

If it weren't for this war, people like Mei Shan would have survived smoothly until one day she would have been old and down. But when a war came, she could only die in a small church in such a hurry, surrounded by many inconsequential people. Wen Jianning will not feel sad about her death, but her heart will still be empty.

Seeing embroidery felt the same way, and the two leaned side by side in silence, giving each other support and strength.

It didn't take long for a few of them to finally come over and take the initiative to talk to her.

Jianwan said that after leaving the Feng Mansion that day, she was bold to go back to the Mid-Levels Villa at first, and on the surface, she had a false relationship with Wen Jingshu, but privately asked people to check the affairs of the young maids in the Mid-Levels Villa, which scared her.

Originally, she didn't know that her aunt Wen Jingshu's methods were okay, but when she saw the other party's face after knowing it, she only felt frightened, worried that she would attack herself at any time. And Wen Jingshu's attitude towards her suddenly became strange, seeing that Wan was thinking about it, she was still afraid of the enemy, so she simply ran to Mei Shan's side to live.

But when she ran, it was almost tantamount to turning against Wen Jingshu.

It is said that Wen Jingshu was furious over there, and her words would make her look good. In this way, Jianwan didn't dare to run around on Hong Kong Island anymore, so she simply wanted to cling to Mei Shan, and the two partnered to do another career.

Unexpectedly, before the business of the two could open, Japanese shells fell from the sky.

Mei Shan's villa was bombed into ruins by the Japanese army, and they had nowhere else to go but to flee in the city.

However, these days, everyone's life is not easy, and those friends in the past are either nowhere to go or closed their doors. They were staying in a hotel tonight when they heard an explosion and were forced to flee.

Halfway through, Mei Shan was hit by a stray bullet from somewhere, but fortunately she met Lu Jiajun to help carry her, and they followed the refugees around like flies, and finally came to the church, but they didn't expect Mei Shan to die.

As for Jianyu, after Wen Jianwan ran out of the mid-mountain villa, Jianyu would secretly come to see her in private, and when the war broke out, she happened to follow Jianwan and them, and then everyone fled together.

Speaking of this, Jianwan began to tremble again, and was picked up by Lu Jiajun next to her and gently patted her on the shoulder.

Wen Jianning only glanced at them coldly, and then got up and went over to help the nuns. Jianxiu behind her glanced apologetically at Jianyu and the others, and followed suit. Among this group of refugees, there are still many unlucky people who were hit by stray bullets like Mei Shan, but fortunately, no one was injured to the vital point again, but after a simple bandage, Wen Jianning no longer cared.

She and Jianxiu continued to rest in the corner, waiting for the dawn.

At some point, the roar and explosions outside finally stopped, and the inside of the church fell silent. It was dark, and the people who had been scared all night were a little tired, and there was a slight snoring from all corners.

But Wen Jianning couldn't sleep, it was dark when she opened her eyes, and it was dark when she closed her eyes, only her thoughts kept rising and sinking in the haze.

As the minutes ticked by, the sky outside the house gradually brightened.

The morning sunlight pierced through the church windows and fell on the sleeping refugees around the pewlets, and one after another woke up and looked around blankly, as if to remember that they were homeless.

A new day has come, but there is still no end in sight to this war.

Wen Jianning and the nuns had already gotten up and helped the refugees cook a steaming pot of rice soup.

This rice soup is so thin that you can see the shadows, and there are not a few grains of rice in total, although it can't fill your stomach, but at least it's steaming and makes people cheer up. After drinking the rice soup, under their repeated persuasion, the refugees finally dispersed.

Men with strength left the church to participate in the defense, and found a place to earn a stutter, and some women were ready to work to feed their families. A large number of refugees who remained in the church sought their own way out, but there were still some ignorant children who did not know that they had been abandoned here by their parents, and still sucked their fingers in the hope of drinking more rice soup.

For these children, Wen Jianning and the others really couldn't get rid of them, so they could only take them in.

Wen Jianning stood at the door, watching the last few refugees leave the church, and then breathed a sigh of relief.

When I turned around, I realized that I didn't know when I came to her back, and asked with a flickering look in my eyes: "You are the young lady of the Feng family, is there any way for us to escape?"

Wen Jianning said lightly: "If I had a way, would I still hide in this small church?"

Seeing that Wan thought about it, it was true, and finally stopped hesitating: "We plan to go outside and have a look, maybe we can find a way out and leave this ghost place." Would you like to come with us?"

Wen Jianning glanced at her strangely: "You guys?"

Seeing Wan's face slowly turning red, she simply gritted her teeth and said, "Yes, we, me, Jianyu and Lu Jiajun." ”

Wen Jianning didn't say anything, and only asked her, "Then where are you going to find the way?"

This question made Jianwan also a little dazed, and she said uncertainly: "...... First of all, I went to ask my former friends, there should always be a way, I can't never let people leave Hong Kong Island for the rest of my life, there will always be a way to get out. ”

Wen Jianning looked at her deeply: "Then you should be more careful yourself, and I and Jianxiu will not accompany you." ”

After seeing the three of them leave, Wen Jianning told the nuns as soon as they returned to the church: "If those two girls come to us again in the future, just say that we have already left, and you don't know anything else." ”

Jianxiu asked her in a low voice, "What if they come back in a desperate way and can't find us?"

She didn't answer anything, but when she saw Xiu, she suddenly realized: "You...... I'm worried that they will go back to my aunt when they have no way out, but in this case, our aunt is afraid that she will not be able to do any good, and she may not ......."

Wen Jianning sighed: "Don't worry, if they are really desperate and go back to the church for refuge, we will meet sooner or later." ”

Not long after the two talked, Wen Jianning hurried to the hospital.

She had been delayed at the church for so much time today that it was nearly noon by the time she arrived at the hospital. Today, a large number of wounded soldiers were withdrawn from the front line, and she and a group of female students were very busy.

In the afternoon, when everyone was resting, they suddenly heard a shocking news-

The Governor of Hong Kong Island had signed an armistice and surrendered to the Japanese.

Wen Jianning didn't have the heart to take care of the injured for a while, and after asking a female student to help take care of the patient, he rushed all the way back to the church and informed the rest of the people of the news. The children were ignorant and didn't know what was going on, but the adults all looked solemn, and when they saw the embroidery, they even had weak legs, and sat down directly on the bench next to them.

After coming back to her senses, she and Wen Jianning glanced at each other, only to find that there was only a wry smile on each other's faces.

Although this day had been expected for a long time, when it suddenly came, everyone was still a little caught off guard.

Although Wen Jianning had experienced more than her, she did not expect that the siege would only be eighteen days, and she would raise a white flag to the sun herself.

But no matter what ordinary people like them thought, the Japanese army still came, and they drove into the city in a mighty truck.

Heroes died in the fire, but ordinary people could only close the door and survive.

After the Japanese army entered the city in large numbers, although they had not had time to control the situation for a while, Wen Jianning and the two of them carefully hid in the attic of the church, and they definitely did not dare to go out. The nuns also knew about the cruelty of the children and did not let the children run away.

They have been hiding for more than half a month, and this year has come to an end in such hasty chaos.

But in the blink of an eye, it was the end of January of the new year. During this period, the Japanese army naturally came to the church several times to search, but fortunately, the nuns hid them and the other helpers in a very hidden place, and the group was able to escape.

On this day, as soon as the front foot of my search left, Zhong Hui came to the church on the back foot, and wanted to find Wen Jianning to discuss important matters. But when Wen Jianning asked, she sold a pass: "It's not convenient to talk here, you and your sister will go to my house with me to talk in detail." ”

Zhong Hui said this, but there was a sly smile in his eyes.

Wen Jianning guessed that it shouldn't be a bad thing at least, although he didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in Zhonghui's gourd, he still followed her advice. After dark, the three quietly left the church and went to Zhong's house.

They hadn't been out for almost a month and knew very little about the outside world.

They saw that the streets of Hong Kong Island were littered with rubble after the war, and some entire streets were buried in rubble. It was the middle of winter, and there were many poor people who died from cold frustration, and the corpses in the corners had not yet been cleaned up. When everyone passed by, they couldn't bear to look at this hellish miserable appearance, until they saw the warm yellow lights of the Zhong family's villa from afar, and then they felt like they were back in the world.

The Zhong family's maid helped open the door, and everyone entered the living room, where Zhong Hui's parents and a stranger were already waiting.

Wen Jianning saw the guests sitting on the sofa in the living room, and immediately said in surprise: "Mr. Fang, why are you here?"

The guest was over fifty years old, wearing a black robe, and was polite, and it was Fang Minghe, who he hadn't seen for many years.

Fang Minghe is her original Bole, the two first got acquainted because of "Sing Tao Miscellaneous Conversations", when Wen Jianning was still young, when she tried to submit, she was discovered by Fang Minghe, and later the other party gave her some guidance on writing.

This correspondence lasted for about two or three years, until she suddenly fled Hong Kong Island to study in the mainland, and the two broke off contact. At the end of last year, when she participated in some social salons, she heard that he had already resigned as editor-in-chief and went to the mainland to run a newspaper, and she was still regretting that she could not see this senior again and thank the other party well, but she didn't expect to meet at Zhong's house today.

The two sides sat down and talked freely, and Wen Jianning realized that Mr. Fang had a mission to find the Zhong family this time.

Since the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Hong Kong Island has become a refuge for celebrities from all walks of life. Due to the sudden outbreak of war, the people did not have time to retreat, and a large number of high-ranking officials, dignitaries, academics and celebrities were stranded on the island. Except for the second uncle and Feng Ling, who were on the plane they were on, the others who didn't have time to escape were all stranded on the island.

The inland side has been very concerned about the situation on Hong Kong Island, and in order to prevent these well-known people from being brutally murdered by the Japanese invaders, they have launched actions to rescue well-known figures in the cultural circles. With Wen Jianning's current reputation in the domestic literary circle, this time he is naturally among the "rescuers". As one of the persons in charge of the rescue activities, Mr. Fang found the Zhong family for help, and then met Wen Jianning again.

Hearing that there was finally hope of escaping, Wen Jianning was both excited and a little embarrassed and asked, "Can I leave with my family, you can't let me leave my family here at this time." ”

Mr. Fang smiled: "Of course you can, but it's best not to bring too many people." It is very likely that we will have to leave the island by small boat, and if there are too many people, it will not be good to attract the attention of those who are interested. ”

His meaning is obvious, it is best to only bring relatives and family members, and others are just afraid that they will not be able to take care of it for the time being.

Wen Jianning was stunned for a moment, but still thanked the other party repeatedly.

After sending Mr. Fang away, only their own people were left in the house, Zhong Hui glanced at her face and asked, "It's hard to leave, why do you see that you don't have a smile on your face?"

Wen Jianning hesitated for a moment and whispered, "I'm thinking, what will happen to the rest of the Feng family if I leave like this." ”

At that time, she thought that by placing Aunt Zhou and them in the Repulse Bay Hotel, she could at least take advantage of the situation to keep them safe, and now although they have no worries about their lives, she is afraid that it will be difficult for her to pass the news to them in time and take them away.

Zhong Hui sighed and said, "You, why are you still such a temperament that no one can let go." If you want me to say, you haven't passed the door of the Feng family yet, so you can do this for their Feng family. If I were Feng Yi, I would definitely treat you as an ancestor when you go back. ”

Wen Jianning subconsciously defended himself: "I'm actually not all for Feng Yi...... Well, whatever you want. ”

She only started with this, and simply stopped explaining.

In fact, Zhong Hui was right, she was willing to stay, maybe because she cherished those ancient books, maybe out of morality, she couldn't bear to give up Aunt Zhou, but the root of all this was still in Feng Yi.

Thinking of Feng Yi, she lost her mind for a short time, but soon forced herself to leave him behind.

Zhong Hui smiled: "You can leave with peace of mind, as for the affairs of the Feng family's aunts, leave it to me to help." ”

Wen Jianning said in disbelief: "You are not ready to leave, and you still want to stay here?"

Zhong Hui smiled and said euphemistically: "I'm afraid that I won't be able to leave for a while, and if I don't say anything else, I always have to help send a few more groups of people away." ”

She had already discussed with Jiang Xuwen and planned to let Zhong Hui's mother and the Jiang family escape from Hong Kong Island first. As for themselves, they still have important things to do, and they have no intention of leaving for the time being.

When he said this, Zhong Hui's expression was calm and determined, as if he was just talking about an ordinary thing. She is no longer the girl who used to ask Wen Jianning for help with an idea for everything, and now she has a lot of ideas in her heart.

Wen Jianning looked at her, and unconsciously lost her mind, until her voice came from her ears again: "...... The rest of the Feng family, how can I help arrange it, so that you can rest assured, right?"

She suddenly came back to her senses and handed over the person to Zhong Hui to help take care of her, so she was naturally relieved. Just listening to the meaning of Zhong Hui's words, she will stay on Hong Kong Island for a long time. Wen Jianning was really worried about her, so she couldn't help but persuade: "The control of the Japanese army will only become stricter and stricter, you and your uncle, as well as Jiang Xuwen, still have to leave this place of right and wrong as soon as possible." ”

Zhong Hui just nodded and smiled, and didn't say anything more.

(End of chapter)