Chapter 2 The Grace of Saving Lives
The sky has just dawned, and everything is still sleeping quietly, dreaming of a beautiful dream that is about to end. The whole city of Tokyo was shrouded in fog www.biquge.info the stone pavements of the streets, the eaves of the roofs, and the young leaves of the trees were damp and damp with mist, and some of them were still dripping with water.
The heavy city gate was shrouded in fog, and it slowly opened with a "squeak", and the soldiers who guarded the city in shifts left a group and came again. The leader yawned and said to him left and right: "Cheer up, the culprit has not yet been found, and the commander said that the boy must still be in the city, and he will keep his eyes open and detain any suspicious person if he sees him." ”
"Yes."
A man with a saber on his waist whispered to his companion beside him, "I heard that I want to catch an eleven or twelve-year-old child, but I don't know what he looks like, there are so many children who come in and out every day, how can you catch him!" ”
The person next to him was also puzzled, "We catch so many children every day, who knows which one is, if we catch it right, the credit is not ours, if we don't catch it, the responsibility is all ours, what do you say is this!" ”
"What are you two talking about, don't stand up quickly, and be careful of your heads when you talk nonsense." The leader said that the orders of the boss were not something that they could discuss casually, and they did not pay attention to their own heads. "All stand."
"Yes."
Fifty paces away from the city gate, there were two children huddled, their faces and eyes covered with messy and crossed hair, and a few weeds stuck in their hair, shabby and dirty clothes, and a large section of their arms leaking out, and their arms were covered with dirt and dirt, and a pair of straw sandals were on their feet, and in some places the flesh had been torn apart, oozing a trace of blood, and at a glance it was a little beggar who had no place to live. Due to the hurry of the shift changers, and the soldiers defending the city were standing outside the city gate, they did not notice that there were two people sleeping under the walls of the city.
At this time, one of the children slowly opened his clear eyes, blinked a few times when his eyes were not adapted to the bright light, and then looked around, saw that it was dawn, and hurriedly pushed the other child next to him. "Sister, wake up, the city gate is open, wake up."
But the screaming child did not move, did not even open his eyes, his head fell back weakly, and his hands hung down at his sides, as if he had lost his breath.
After screaming several times, the girl still showed no signs of soberness. The boy hurriedly walked to the gate of the city, and when he saw that the gate was open, he turned back and picked up the girl and walked in the direction of the gate. kept chattering: "Sister, you hold on, we'll go find medicine now, you hold on." ”
As soon as the two of them reached the gate of the city, they were stopped by the soldiers defending the city. "Stop, what are you doing?"
The boy hurriedly explained: "Master Jun, my sister is sick, and I am going to take her to find medicine." ”
"I'm sick, why don't you look for a doctor in the city when you're sick, and go out of the city to do something?"
"Official, we heard that the incense ash of the Yin Temple outside the city is particularly effective, and those who are sick can be cured as long as they take the incense ash and water from the Guanyin Temple and drink it. Official, I beg you, let us out! ”
The incense ash in the Guanyin Temple can cure diseases, which is all nonsense. But there are also those who believe that it is mainly the poor people. If someone in the family is sick and has no money for treatment, they can only go to the Guanyin Temple to get a handful of incense ashes, mix it with water, and let the sick drink it. It's just asking for psychological comfort, it's the credit of Guanyin Niangniang to be cured, and it's fate if it's not cured. Like the two children in front of me, at a glance, they know that they are two little beggars, eating and sleeping are problems, how can they have money to treat the disease!
The soldier asked, "How old is this year?" ”
Without thinking, the boy replied, "Eight years old." ”
"I'm asking you, not her."
The little boy hesitated for a moment and replied, "It should be ten years old!" ”
"What do you mean to be ten years old?"
The little boy lifted his sister up behind him and said, "Gou Yu said that he saw me ten years ago, so he should be ten years old!" The dog is so good, he named us, gave us birthdays, and helped me teach others ......"
The soldier listened to his words, and the name of the beggar was very unpopular, so he waved his hand impatiently, "Hey, okay, let's go!" ”
The soldier waved his hand impatiently to chase them, what kind of nice names could the two little beggars have, what birthdays, not begging along the street to eat other people's leftovers, and there was a smell of stinking on their bodies, and the wind could not blow away.
The officers and soldiers let go, and the boy thanked him happily and ran forward with the girl on his back. Before he had taken two steps, a voice came from behind. "Stop."
The person carrying the little girl on his back stiffened, his face was shocked, the hands behind him slowly clenched into fists, quickly turned around, and asked anxiously, "Is there anything else wrong with the military master?" I'm going to heal my sister. ”
The man who spoke out to stop them was the leader of the city, who walked up to the two of them and looked the little boy up and down. Brushing aside the hair sticking to his face, he carefully identified it up and down, left and right for a while, and then put it down, and then looked at the little girl on his back, and seeing that she didn't react, he reached out and touched her cheek, only to feel that his hands were like touching a hot iron.
"Where to stay?" The leader asked.
The boy replied, "North Poor Street." ”
The poor people live in the North Poor Street, and many beggars also live there, because there are many ownerless thatched huts. "When will you be back?"
The boy pretended to be confused, as if he did not understand the meaning of the words. "I'll come back after drinking the medicine for my sister!"
The leader looked at the portrait on the city wall, then at the beggar in front of him, and said, "She has a fever, hurry up and take her to find medicine!" ”
The boy's clenched fists slowly loosened when he heard this, and after answering the "yes", he walked forward quickly. When he reached a place where the gate could not be seen, the little boy stopped and put down the man on his back.
The person who had been silent on his back suddenly spoke, "Don't let it go, there are officers and soldiers following us, don't look back, keep walking." ”
When the boy heard this, he continued to walk in the direction of Guanyin Temple with the person on his back. He's so tired, and he's so heavy.
After some rushing, the two finally entered the Guanyin Temple, because it was still early in the morning, and no one came to incense. The boy put the girl on the futon, looked at the ashtray on the table, and did not rush to get it, but knelt down, folded his hands, and bowed three times reverently. "Guanyin Niangniang, Ergou didn't mean to offend, but my sister is sick, I hope you will forgive me, I hope you can bless your sister with safety and health."
After the three knocks, the boy walked into the front of the desk, looked at the red apples in the fruit pot on the table, couldn't help but swallow his saliva, picked up one and put it to his mouth, looked at the golden statue of Guanyin, hesitated for a while and finally put it down, and put all the fruits in the fruit pot on the table. This is what they all thought about along the way, every step, every movement, every expression is exhaustive. If you look at the food in front of you and are indifferent, this is not like the reaction of a beggar. Then the boy put a handful of incense ashes into it, and went to the yard to scoop a ladle of water, and mixed the incense ashes, and finally brought them to the girl's face, and after a pause, they brought them to the girl's mouth.
The girl reluctantly squeezed open a crack in the corner of her mouth, and the liquid from the basin flowed into her mouth. After just two sips, the boy vomited "cough", then slowly opened his eyes and woke up. Under the invisible placket, the thumb and index finger rubbed and pinched the little boy's thigh fiercely, causing the boy to give a "whoop".
A faint voice said, "Brother." ”
"Sister, you're awake, great, thank you Guanyin Niangniang, thank you Guanyin Niangniang." The boy's face was full of happy smiles, but his half-squatting knees couldn't stand the girl's hard twisting, and he knelt down with a "bang".
The girl in her arms couldn't help but laugh out loud. "They're probably gone!"
The boy looked out the door and was relieved to see that the man hiding outside the door was gone. "It's time to go."
The two stood up, wiped the mud from their faces, and straightened their hair. When the dirt was wiped away, two white little faces appeared on the Guanyin Hall, and the dirty and lifeless eyes were shining at this time, like bright pearls in the night, who was not Moyu and Zhao Yi last night!
This morning, it wasn't dawn yet. Mo Yu ran to the house where the dog was left, borrowed two sets of tattered clothes from him, and asked Zhao Yi to change them. Zhao Yi's face is so white that even if he wears a beggar's clothes, he doesn't look like a beggar, and now his portraits are posted everywhere, and you can see it at a glance. So Moyu ran to the kitchen, grabbed a few handfuls of pot ash, and then went to the yard to grab a few handfuls of dirt, and when he looked up and saw his own chicken coop, he grabbed another handful of chicken manure, and wiped it on his face with it. At first, he was disgusted, but between dirty and alive, he still chose the latter.
When everything was changed, it looked a bit beggar-like. Mo Yu simply didn't let him wear shoes, and the beggar didn't have shoes to wear, which was more convincing. Mo Yu put a hot water bottle in his arms, which not only warmed up, but also raised his body temperature. In the cold morning, people's hands and feet are cold, and suddenly you meet a person who is very hot, and it is natural to think that he has a fever.
So, when the leader touched Moyu's forehead just now, she had a fever. Actually, no, it was that the person's hands were too cold, and Moyu's body was just warm.
"Thank you for saving me, Zhao Yi will remember your kindness for the rest of his life." Zhao Yi got up and made a big salute.
"Thank you for letting me eat this." Mo Yu kicked the pot of black stuff far away at his feet. "You don't have to thank me, I didn't help you anything, in fact, I'm afraid, I'm afraid that you will affect our family."
Zhao Yi lowered his head, "It's me who has caused you." You...... Do you know who I am? ”
Mo Yu shook her head, "I don't know, and I don't want to know." Don't worry, I don't know anything about you. "So even if he is caught, he will not be confessed.
The children in the Houmen are precocious, but the children of poor families are not, no matter what happens to him, or what unseemly identity he has. The dynasty has changed, the country has changed, the blood has become a river, and the bones have become a mountain. If it weren't for Tanabata yesterday, the city of Tokyo would be like a dead city, and at night, even the rats would not dare to come out. Besides, in the past two days, there has been a lot of trouble in the city, arresting people and beheading, and she can probably guess a few points of his identity, but the helpers have already helped with this, so why bother to break it. They are poor people, and their lives are like ants, they are slaughtered at will, and no one will help them, so there is no room for doubt and error.
"By the way, how do you know they're following?" Zhao Yi was puzzled, they kept running forward, how did she know that someone was following behind.
"I just accidentally turned around and saw it, but fortunately I was lying on your back and turned my head, the soldier probably thought that you were bumping when you ran away with me, and my head was tilted!" Mo Yu tilted her head and acted out the sad action she had just done in Zhao Yi.
"Haha." Zhao Yi clenched his fists and bowed, "Anyway, thank you for today." ”
Mo Yu scratched her head with her hands, very embarrassed, this was the first time someone bowed to her. "You've already thanked you, don't thank you anymore, hehe. Hey, let's go!. If we are like this, those officers and soldiers must remember us, and if they are suspicious, they will be in trouble. So, when you go out, you go to the yard of another house and steal two clothes to change into. ”
"What about you?"
"I'm going to steal a piece of clothing and change my face before I can go into the city. By the way, I have some money here, which I usually save secretly, my mother doesn't know, you can take it! Mo Yu spread out the copper plate in his hand in front of him.
Zhao Yi looked at the sporadic ten or twenty copper plates in Mo Yu's hand, he had never seen such a small amount of money, and all he used in the past was silver ingots, and he didn't know what a copper plate could buy. But the twenty copper plates in front of him are the most money for him at the moment.
Seeing Zhao Yi's stunned, Mo Yu stuffed the copper plate into his hand. "Take it, although it's not much, but you can also buy a few steamed buns, I can help you, that's all, how to survive, it's up to you."
Zhao Yi put away the copper plate and looked at the little girl in front of him who was feasting with a smile, this was the first and only smile he had seen in so many days, like his mother's smile before she died, and looked at him hiding under the basket in the corner with a smile. His mother's lips moved slightly, and he couldn't really hear it from too far away, but through the shape of his mother's mouth, he knew that his mother was saying "live". So, holding the hand of the basket, he resolutely put it down, watched his mother, closed his eyes, and was dragged away by those people.
Zhao Yi turned around and walked resolutely to the door, and when he reached the steps, he turned his head again and said, "We...... Will we see each other again in the future? ”
"I don't know, but I don't think I'd better see you!" Because when we meet again, I don't know if we can be like this time...... Lucky?
Don't see you anymore. If he obeys his father's instructions and doesn't return to Tokyo, he may not see each other again in this life!
"Ji Moyu, I will remember you." After Zhao Yi finished speaking, he turned his head and resolutely walked down the steps and ran outside the temple. He's going to start running again, and he's been running all these days.
Mo Yu behind him looked at his vanished figure and muttered, "I will remember you too." "Because, this is the first time she has saved someone.
It was a foggy day just now, but at this moment, it was already bright, and the sun shone on the ground, and the fog on the ground had already evaporated. The flowers are waking up, stretching their limbs, the birds are crying and happily foraging, there are already pedestrians on the road, chariots, burden-bearers, and children. No one knew that the first people to go out of the city gate in the morning were a pair of brothers and sisters who went out of the city to seek medicine, and they did not return at this moment. No one will care what happened in the Guanyin Temple outside the city. Everyone lives their own life in peace.