Regarding Jiang Rong's words, Qin Sanye was skeptical.

For so many years, Qin Sanye has been asking people to inquire about Jiang Sheng's news, and what happened to Jiang Sheng after he went to Xinjiang with the volunteers.

In 1950, Jiang Sheng crossed the Yalu River with a large army, and was assigned to the third company and one squad of the 818 unit of the Volunteer Army as a health officer, and went to the front line with all the members of the third company and one squad. At the end of October, the Chinese Volunteers launched the first campaign of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, using the main force of one army to cooperate with the People's Army to block the attack on the eastern front, concentrating five armies and another division on the western front to deliver a surprise blow to the enemy, expelling them from the Yalu River to the south of the Cheongchon River, thwarting the enemy's plan to occupy the whole of Korea, and initially stabilizing the Korean war situation.

The first battle was successful, and soon Jiang Sheng was assigned to the medical corps and rushed to the battlefield to save people, and they went through three battles, large and small, which lasted for a year.

A year later, because the Chinese People's Volunteers and the Korean People's Army adopted the principle of focusing on mobile warfare and combining it with some positional warfare and guerrilla warfare, they fought five battles in a row, with many night battles, and frequent changes between attack and defense, and the situation of the battle changed dramatically, that is, in the last battle, Jiang Sheng's unit was scattered, and Jiang Sheng disappeared without a trace.

and Jiang Sheng also disappeared, as well as Wang Wei of the third class.

Jiang Sheng was both civil and military in the army, and in addition to helping the wounded treat their injuries, he also wrote letters to their relatives on their behalf.

Because of the sports war, the letter in Jiang Sheng's hand could not be sent for a long time, that is, from that time on, Xiao Wu and Jiang Rong, who were far away in Beiping City, never received a letter from again.

After that battle, a soldier who was close to him dragged Jiang Sheng's medicine box out of the trench, and among the pile of burned letters, one was addressed to Qin Changqing.

However, the letter was only an envelope and had no content.

At the end of the war two years later, the surviving volunteers returned to their hometowns, but before that, Jiang Sheng had been added to the death list by the army for two full years.

Qin Sanye investigated all this clearly, and he also wanted to believe that Jiang Sheng would come back, even if there was a little hope, but the person who disappeared for two whole years without any news, apart from death, what else would happen?

Now Jiang Rong has returned from studying in Shanghai, but tells him that Jiang Sheng is still alive, and that he is in Shanghai, she has seen it with her own eyes, and is sure that Jiang Sheng will soon return to Beiping.

How could this make Qin Sanye not be surprised?

A month later, Jiang Rong took the southbound train back to school, and before she left, she told Xiao Wu that Jiang Sheng was going back to Beiping.

Xiao Wu thought that Jiang Rong was talking nonsense because he missed Jiang Sheng too much, but he didn't take it to heart, he told Jiang Rong to take care of himself outside and not worry about things at home.

The person named Jiang Sheng also left an indelible mark in Xiao Wu's heart, but the lives of the family were in his own hands, and he didn't have time to grieve, as if he wanted to forget what happened yesterday, the death of Ma Aiguo and the death of Niu Aihua.

After Jiang Rong left, Xiao Wu began to work on the construction site every day, but the good times did not last long, after the completion of the urban renovation project of the construction site, Xiao Wu lost his job because of the lack of establishment, and faced Xiao Wu was either looking for casual work with a group of migrant workers, or looking for a job again.

At that time, Zhang Xiumei could only be sick at home, coughing all day long, and the pain was unbearable.

Xiao Wu learned a prescription for treating tuberculosis from the old Chinese medicine doctor in the town, and asked Zhang Xiumei to take medicine on time every day.

The medicinal soup was very bitter, so Xiao Wu specially bought a jar of white sugar and put it at home, and told Zhang Xiumei to scoop a spoonful of white sugar and put it in her mouth when she drank the medicine.

Originally, Xiao Wu and the workshop director of the textile factory discussed that they did not go to the factory as a mechanic, but now it is impossible to go to the textile factory, and Xiao Wu can't save face.

A newspaper was opened not far from Hutong Street in Qiantang Town, and Xiao Wu remembered that Ma Aiguo wanted to work in the newspaper office before his death, so he hesitated and went to the newspaper office to inquire.

The newspaper is a small tabloid company, and the editor-in-chief is from Tianjin, and there is a shortage of manpower in the newspaper at the moment, so the editor-in-chief personally interviews Xiao Wu.

After some conversation and understanding, the editor-in-chief is very optimistic about Xiao Wu, but Xiao Wu has not learned the arrangement and proofreading of newspapers, and he knows nothing about printing, and finally said that Xiao Wu can be admitted, but Xiao Wu will go to the printing headquarters in Tianjin to study for a year, free tuition, including food and accommodation, and then when Xiao Wu has passed the assessment, he will strive to transfer Xiao Wu to Beiping.

Xiao Wu politely refused on the spot, he came to the newspaper because of his father's wish back then, and because he wanted a stable job to make money, Jiang Rong needed tuition, Zhang Xiumei needed medicine, he couldn't afford to delay, so he could only strangle the hypocritical ideas that suddenly popped up in his head.

Xiao Wu came out of the newspaper office a little dejected, and when he saw a group of bare-chested rickshaw drivers sitting on the street leading to Dongzhimen, Xiao Wu hesitated.

Pulling a rickshaw is not only physical work, but also needs to show your head, although this work is not ordinary people can run, but after all, it is not glorious, the world has a saying, the next life is willing to give you as a cow and a horse. This rickshaw is equivalent to being a cow and a horse, and only the last resort will do this job.

A rough man who had just finished a job and walked to the shade of the trees next to the street while wiping his sweat, he pushed away Xiao Wu who was standing on the side of the road, and pulled out a banana fan from under the base of the rickshaw and fanned his face.

"Grandma's, a little four-eyed is going to run to the inner city, and he almost didn't exhaust Lao Tzu to death." The man said.

"Old Qiaotou, you have to make forty or fifty dollars this trip, right?" A thin, toothy man asked.

"Your tooth leaks and you have a deflated lamb, I almost ran my legs in one day, if I can earn forty or fifty months, I can't afford to build a house, I don't think about pie in the sky." The man, known as Lao Qiaotou, laughed and scolded, then tilted to the side of his rickshaw and spread out the mat on the spot and narrowed.

The old bridge head faced the dazzling sunlight through the shadows of the trees and saw the tall boy he had pushed away before, he arched himself and said to the tall boy, "You, come here." ”

Xiao Wu stood still and didn't move, his eyes showed the wildness that only young people have, Lao Qiaotou was a little startled in his heart, and asked, "Are you looking for a job, little brother?" ”

Xiao Wu nodded, pointed to the rickshaw and asked, "How can I pull this car?" ”

Before the old bridge could speak, the other coachmen around him coaxed and said, "You can't pull this car." ”

"Look at your body, the rich young master can't raise it like this, and he has to pant down after running a few steps."

"You have to have a daughter-in-law for such a big child, just press your body and crotch on the bed to kill a woman."

A group of people laughed, Xiao Wu also laughed embarrassedly, and a short coachman stepped forward to push Xiao Wu, shouting: "Hurry up and go, hurry up, don't delay business here." ”

The short coachman pushed Xiao Wu and saw that he didn't push it, his eyes changed, and he smashed Xiao Wu's chin with a punch, Xiao Wu's big hand gently grabbed the short coachman's wrist, and the short coachman immediately screamed in pain, and was pushed to the ground by Xiao Wuyi's feet.

"Damn, Tai Sui's head is groundbreaking, and I'm tired of it!" The coachman yelled and beckoned the rest of the coachmen to do something.

"What are you doing here? So many people bullying a child, get out of the way! The old bridge scolded, and the rest of the people looked at each other and stopped.

Lao Qiaotou beckoned to Xiao Wu, took out half a pack of Meng Jiangnu cigarettes from his pocket, and handed one to Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu waved his hand and said, "I don't smoke." ”

"You take it first." Old Qiaotou said.

Xiao Wu had no choice but to take the cigarette from the old bridgehead, and when he saw the old bridgehead pin a cigarette behind his ear, he also learned to pin the cigarette behind his ear.

The old bridge head asked: "My brother's skills are not ordinary, which martial arts have you practiced with?" ”

Xiao Wu said: "It's just that you have more strength, where have you practiced martial arts." ”

"What do you call my brother?" Old Qiaotou asked.

Xiao Wu said: "The surname is Ma, called Xiao Wu, what about you, brother?" ”

Lao Qiaotou said: "Don't be surnamed Qiao, you can call me Lao Qiaotou, or Brother Qiao." ”

"Brother Joe." Xiao Wu called obediently and sat on a stone step opposite the old bridge.

Lao Qiaotou swallowed a cigarette and asked, "My brother is looking for a job?" ”

Xiao Wu nodded and said, "The family needs money, my mother is sick." ”

"In fact, it's not that you can't pull a rickshaw, but this job is really not done by people, generally a young man of your age runs away after a few days, and the rental fee for this car is not cheap." Old Qiaotou said.

"How much?" Xiao Wu asked.

The old bridge head stretched out his right hand and said: "If you rent it, you will get 500 yuan to buy the car, except for the car wheel company, you will bear the responsibility for the rest of the breakdown." ”

"It's so expensive." Xiao Wu whispered.

Lao Qiaotou said: "Novices must be renting a car to try, the normal road is from Hutong Street to Dongzhimen, charging a dollar, the more remote the more expensive." Brother won't hide it from you, I pulled a single business today, to the inner city, at least thirty miles away, I asked him for thirty yuan, that person is a big family, don't want to walk naturally don't care about me, but this thing is not every day, brother see that you are a real person, I can trust you, if you really want to do it, I will try this car for you for two days, if not, brother will help you think of a way to make money. ”

"Thank you, Brother Qiao, I use your car to delay your business, I'll go to the rickshaw rental company to ask, if you can do it, rent it for a month." Xiao Wu said.

"That's okay, my brother doesn't force you, you go south along this street, turn left after three major intersections, and the rickshaw rental company is over there."

Xiao Wu thanked him, and went to the rickshaw rental company in the direction pointed by the old bridgehead, and as soon as he arrived at the door of the company, he saw a young man in a yellow coat coming out of the company, followed by five or six fierce people.

The young man had a fat head and big ears, Xiao Wu felt familiar, and he didn't dare to recognize it for a while, but the young man recognized Xiao Wu at a glance, he pointed to Xiao Wu and said: "Brother Xiao Wu, I am Wang Hu, you are at the same table, the little fat man who brings you snacks every day and loves to cry!" ”

"Wang Hu?" Xiao Wu meets his former friends. "Where have you been all these years, I can't see anyone when I go to your house to look for you."

Wang Hu said: "Hey, my family moved away when I graduated, and I always said that I had time to go to Sanlitun to find you, how is the little fifth brother doing now?" ”

Xiao Wu scratched his head and said, "Isn't this coming to the rickshaw rental company to take a look, you used to work at a construction site, why are you here?" ”

"This company is opened by Brother Hu's family." A young man next to him said with a slight smugness.

Xiao Wu heard the young man's words and had mixed feelings for a while, and then he realized that when they were young, Wang Hu could give him a lot of rickshaw tickets.

"Little Fifth Brother, the person I admired the most back then was you, without you, I wouldn't be where I am today." Wang Hu patted Xiao Wu's shoulder and said loudly. "Brothers, call out the fifth brother, if you people really fight with the fifth brother, ten people are not the same!"

Wang Hu's younger brothers called Fifth Brother one after another, with a certain playful look in their eyes, and Xiao Wu said: "Wang Hu, we haven't seen each other for many years, why don't you find a place to have a drink." ”

"No, little fifth brother, there are people making trouble in the neighborhood in the southern suburbs, I have to go and see it quickly, and I will look for you when I finish dealing with it." After Wang Hu finished speaking, he shouted towards the door: "Old Tan, my classmate is looking for a job, you arrange a good position, and I will leave first." ”

After Wang Hu finished speaking, he left with a group of people in a menacing manner, Xiao Wu was stunned in place, and soon a housekeeper with a master's hat came out of the door, he led Xiao Wu into the door, beckoned him to sit next to a square table, dragged the teapot with one hand, and pushed the pen and contract page on the table to Xiao Wu with the other hand, and said: "Since it is a friend of the boss, then I won't ask more, you look at the lease contract, fill in the name and address, pay a deposit of fifty yuan, and then pay a lease fee of fifty yuan, take the map to familiarize yourself with the road conditions, You can come and get your car to work in three days, oh yes, you're familiar with the town of Qiantang and the surrounding towns, right? ”

"Familiar, the general road will not be wrong." Xiao Wu said as he filled out the contract.

Steward Tan snorted and said: "The boss's hair also came to rent a rickshaw before, and he was so tired after three or five days of work, I see that your body is okay, but I have to support you in advance, and the rent of less than a month will not be refunded, and the deposit will not be refunded." ”

Xiao Wu had to nod and agree, he turned over the money on his body, it was not enough for a hundred yuan at all, Steward Tan said that it was okay to pay it in three days, and Xiao Wu had to go home first, just thinking about whether to pull a rickshaw.

Xiao Wu walked to the door, greeted the dazzling sunlight outside, remembered Wang Hu's high spirits just now, felt aggrieved, and hurriedly returned to Sanlitun.