Lao Ma shook his head: "No need, no Miss, I still have to do business." ”

As his surname, he had a long horse face, swollen eyes, cheekbones on both sides were thin and protruding, and every wrinkle on his face was full of sorrow, which made people feel pitiful when they saw it. Because it was so cold, his whole face was frozen purple, and his lips were also bruised.

Wen Jianning thought for a moment: "I still have a few thick clothes there, but they are a little small for you. If you don't dislike it, put on the warmth first. ”

The old horse waved his hand again and again: "I can't help it, I will have a guest in a while, and my whole body will be hot when I run." ”

His hands were rough and broad, with thick joints, covered with chilblains, and cracked with frightening red cuts.

Wen Jianning saw that his heart was even more sour, and he made up his mind and said: "It's cold and freezing this day, and it's not a day everywhere, or a second-class day. ”

Lao Ma couldn't tell her, so he had to thank her honestly.

Wen Jianning went back to the house and began to rummage through boxes and cabinets to find clothes.

When she knew that she was coming to Beiping, Meng Li bought her a lot of thick clothes. But because she had prepared too much, there were a few things she hadn't had time to wear. Although she chose all girls' jackets, fortunately, she didn't like the bells and whistles in colors and embroidery, and they were quite plain. Then she found a thin quilt, and then she felt that it was almost there.

Wen Jianning went out with his jacket and thin quilt in his arms, only to find that it was snowing again in the sky. She walked out of the gate and saw the old horse still sitting at the base of the wall not far away, curled up in a ball with his sleeve in his sleeve to ward off the cold.

She called out to the old horse as she walked over.

The old horse tilted his head and leaned against the wall in a strange position, as if asleep.

Wen Jianning shouted a few more times to the old horse, but there was still no movement, and when he pushed again, the person was already stiff, and he fell to the corner.

She froze in place.

The snowflakes in the sky were still falling silently, covering the people in the corners. His mouth and nose could no longer exhale a faint white breath, and he had obviously stopped breathing.

Wen Jianning's nose was sour, he desperately held back the surging tears, and trembled and covered him with the thick clothes in his hand.

As soon as she covered her clothes, someone on the opposite side rushed over and shouted at her, "Let me go! Hurry up and get out of the way!" They said and jumped down, pushing Wen Jianning away and stepping forward to probe the old horse's snort. After making sure that the man was really dead, he lifted the straw mat on the donkey cart and threw the body on the donkey cart.

Wen Jianning had heard people say that because it was too cold on this day, there were too many homeless and frozen people on the streets, and he wanted to build Dadong and Asia Gongrong, and the governors above couldn't get used to seeing these dead people on the streets, so they asked people to clean up the corpses along the streets, so as not to affect the city's appearance, and these people who were lying on the streets and freezing to death would be sent to the outside of the city by a truckload to be buried.

She wondered if the former government had handled the matter so simply when these miserable people were frozen to death on the streets. But the extremely rough attitude of the two people in front of her caused her to be extremely angry, and a certain emotion that had been suppressed these days violently attacked her shaky reason, so that she had to pinch the flesh in her palm with her fingernails to keep a little calm.

Despite her best efforts, the other party quickly noticed her somewhat distorted eyes.

One of them pointed a whip at Wen Jianning and scolded, "Look at it! Look at your eyes again!"

Wen Jianning lowered his head and retreated to the wall, watching with the corner of his eye as the two people pulled the old horse's body into the car, piled it on top of the other corpses in the car, covered it with a straw mat, and dragged it away like garbage.

She desperately told herself in her heart to be patient, to be patient.

The mule cart carrying countless corpses swirled away.

The snow was still falling, Wen Jianning stiffened and didn't know how long he stood in place, until he almost turned into a snowman, then he turned around slowly and walked towards the courtyard, just in time to catch up with Zhong Hui, who was dressed and about to go out to see the situation.

She went out for too long, Zhong Hui was a little worried, and before she left the yard, she found that Wen Jianning had returned, and when she saw her lost soul, Zhong Hui was almost frightened: "Jianning, what's wrong with you, your eyes are red like this." ”

Wen Jianning only said one sentence in a dry voice: "The old horse is dead." ”

Her eyes were red, but they were dry, and there were no tears.

When asked again, she refused to speak, and entered the room alone, and no sound came out for a long time.

Zhong Hui didn't know what kind of friendship this old horse had with Jianning, but she knew that a person died, and she felt a little sad for this person.

Because of the death of the old horse, the atmosphere in their house was extremely heavy in the next few days. Zhong Hui didn't dare to disturb Wen Jianning at such a time, so she could only wait silently for her to slowly recover. It wasn't until the evening that they drank some gruel for dinner in this heavy atmosphere, and were about to go to bed early after reading a book, when they suddenly heard a knock at the door outside.

At first, they thought that someone was looking for the two members of the Qi family, but then they heard the knock on the door and kept coming, and the people in the east wing scolded and refused to open the door, so they realized that the person knocking on the door might have come to look for them.

But in this freezing Beiping, who will come to them?

Wen Jianning put on his coat and went to the courtyard to open the door.

When she passed by the east wing, she heard the sister-in-law of the Qi family scolding some inconsistencies inside, probably wanting to say that they were not clean, and recruiting men to the door at night, but her man said a few words, and then scolded her man.

Wen Jianning felt very tired after hearing this.

It wasn't until she opened the door that she saw the visitor's face and exclaimed in surprise: "Mr. Chu, why are you?"

Dr. Chu, who had left Peking as early as August, came here.

The heavy snow along the way made Dr. Chu almost become a snowman. He took off the hat on his head, patted the snowflakes on it, and smiled as politely as before: "Can you let me in first?" ”

She hurriedly welcomed Dr. Chu into the room and sat down to talk in detail.

After lighting the kerosene lamp, Dr. Chu shook his head and sighed when he saw their appearance: "When you first arrived in Beiping, you were still a beautiful girl, but now you haven't seen you for a few months, and you have become a tomboy. ”

Needless to say, Zhong Hui's serious illness and malnutrition for several months made her look haggard and her small face sallow, while Wen Jianning, who was not sick, lost even more weight. Her whole person was almost so thin that she was out of shape, her skin was tanned, she was thin and dry, and she had messy short hair, and then changed into old clothes, like a little flower begging on the street.

But they all know that now is not the time for girls to love cleanliness and beauty. As long as they can live innocently, even if they are bitten by lice and bleed, they are fine, so they don't take Dr. Chu's exclamation to heart.

Wen Jianning's eyes lit up slightly: "After you left Beiping before, did you see Mr. Qi?

Doctor Chu smiled: "Of course I did, but she entrusted me to come and help you escape this time." As for her safety, you can rest assured that she has gone to live in the concession. ”

Wen Jianning was first excited when he heard this, and then said guiltily: "This is too dangerous for you." ”

At the beginning, Dr. Chu repeatedly advised her to leave early, but she was relieved that Zhong Hui, who was sick, and it has been delayed until now, and Dr. Chu has put Dr. Chu in danger and returned to Beiping in person to help them escape from here.

Doctor Chu just smiled after hearing this: "It's for you, but it's not all." Well, let's make a long story short. In two days our men will arrange for you to escape from the city, and from there you will be transferred to Tientsin and leave by boat. Although we all want to have someone to pick you up along the way, the search for you myself is too strict to be able to do so. I can take care of you before you leave Beiping, and you must be more careful after you leave Beiping. ”

Wen Jianning and the others had already prepared for a long journey south from Henan, and it was a surprise for them to suddenly learn that Dr. Chu had a way to take a boat south from Tianjin. If they can go by sea, as long as they pass through Tianjin, they can reach Shanghai or Hong Kong smoothly, which is much safer than taking the land route.

For the danger he mentioned repeatedly, Wen Jianning and the others also knew it in their hearts.

But no matter how dangerous it is, it is better than living like this in Beiping City.

Dr. Chu repeatedly explained some precautions to them, and soon left.

The night before they agreed to leave Beiping, Wen Jianning and the two of them were on the same bed, tossing and turning and unable to sleep. They simply didn't light the lamp, and got up again in the dark to pack their things. Wen Jianning took out the grain bag hidden behind the big bookshelf and whispered to Zhong Hui: "After we leave, the rest will be left to the Qi family." ”

When they are gone tomorrow, no matter whether they live or die, they will not turn back, and these things are useless to hide. And in this Beiping City, they are only familiar with the Qi family, and only the most convenient for them.

Zhong Hui didn't have any opinions, but emphasized: "It's for the two children, not the woman." ”

Wen Jianning said: "It's all the same anyway. ”

At three or four o'clock in the morning, about the time when people were most asleep, the two of them put on their simple bags and quietly slipped out of the courtyard where they had lived for more than half a year, and went to the place agreed with Dr. Chu without looking back. When the day finally dawned, the city gate opened, and they dressed up as two country children, followed by Dr. Chu, who was also disguised and disguised, and after a strict investigation by the Japanese and themselves, they mixed out of the city. After walking for a long time in the mountains outside the city, they finally saw the man who had come to connect.

Finally, the time of separation has come.

Dr. Chu said gently to the two girls, "The road to the south is too far, you should take care of yourself." ”

He was only responsible for sending them out of the city, and later he had to return to Peking to complete his own business.

Wen Jianning and the others waved goodbye to Dr. Chu before getting into the donkey cart.

The donkey cart swayed along the path in the wind and snow. Wen Jianning and the others finally looked back in the direction of Beiping, only to see that there was heavy snowfall, and as far as the eye could see, there was a white expanse everywhere. The ancient capital behind him seemed to be buried in the snowstorm, and only a faint outline was revealed.

Farther away, even the silhouette was completely gone.

(End of chapter)