Chapter 1: Mountain Dwelling (Seven Upper)

"Niu Jinbao, you stop for me!" Meng Xiaoyu was ashamed and angry, calling the name of the big cow and chasing after him. The courage of Da Niu's whole body has long been exhausted by the few confessions just now, and at this moment, when he heard Meng Xiaoyu's shout, there was a cry again, how could he have the courage to be caught up by her? Instead of stopping, he ran faster than before.

Zhang Songling was afraid that Meng Xiaoyu would fall, so he also trotted a few steps and grabbed the other party's arm: "Don't chase, he's just a child!" The more you pay attention to him, the more energetic he becomes! ”

"He, he, not as he said......" Meng Xiaoyu struggled for a while and didn't break free, raised his red eyes, looked at Zhang Songling and explained, "There is nothing between me and him, between me and him. I ......"

"He likes you, and it's not your fault!" Zhang Songling smiled very generously, stretched out his other hand, and wiped the tears from Meng Xiaoyu's face. "As the saying goes, there are women in a family, you can't meet a stalker, just cry angrily, right?! Just pretend you didn't hear it, and you won't like him anyway, no matter what he says. ”

Recently, he has been doing housework, and his hands have been polished very roughly, and they are rubbed on Meng Xiaoyu's face, like sandpaper touching flower petals. But Meng Xiaoyu's heart calmed down all of a sudden. took Zhang Songling's hand and muttered in a low voice, "I don't like him in the first place, he is stupid, like a pig with a rectum." I'm just not happy, I'm not happy that he compares himself to you. Why is he? Brother Zhang, how many devils have you killed? ”

The last sentence was asked very abruptly, Zhang Songling thought for a while before responding with a smile, "I haven't counted it myself, if you don't count the puppet army, there should be more than twenty!" ”

"With his stupidity, he can't catch up in this life!" Meng Xiaoyu was finally relieved, pursed his lips, and said in a low voice.

"What if you catch up? I don't kill devils to compare others with more ability! Zhang Songling didn't take Da Niu's words just now seriously, smiled, and shook his head lightly.

"That's it!" Meng Xiaoyu completely agrees with Zhang Songling's point of view, and is deeply proud to be able to find such a man, "Brother Zhang will not be as boring as him!" ”

Having said that, she was deeply aware in her heart that she couldn't drag Brother Zhang down anymore. Her eldest brother Zhang is a great hero who stands up to the sky, and it is natural that he wants to capture the enemy's banner in thousands of troops, instead of being chained to the barren mountains and mountains near Longquan Village, dealing with wild beasts and herbs all day long. Besides, Da Niu has now joined the guerrillas, and he may kill the devil at any time to make meritorious contributions. If one day in the future, this heartless guy really runs in front of him and Brother Zhang, showing off that he has killed more devils than Brother Zhang, won't Brother Zhang be very uncomfortable? !

He's a very, very strong guy. Even if it is still the same on the surface as it is today, do not say anything. In my heart, I'm afraid I will also feel that I have been delayed!

Meng Xiaoyu hadn't read a book for a day, and she rarely heard anyone tell stories about ancient martyrs and virtuous women. But in the depths of her soul, she is engraved with the most simple and innocent marks of Chinese women. That is, if you like someone, you will think about him wholeheartedly, and you would rather suffer all the grievances yourself than let him lose half of his scenery in front of outsiders.

Her eldest brother Zhang is a hero, and heroes must go where heroes should go. As for herself, she would rather silently watch him from behind, silently applaud everything he has done, and silently be proud of everything he has done. Therefore, she must let him get out of here as soon as possible without any worries, even if it is difficult to let go of his heart.

After sorting out the chaotic thoughts, Meng Xiaoyu forced himself to leave the hospital bed. Every day as soon as the sun rises, he takes the initiative to go out for a walk, and learns from Zhang Songling's injury at home last year, and strives to do some simple gymnastics to promote the coordination of the body and limbs.

Her illness was originally triggered by the stimulation after the loss of her father, and most of the problems were mental. When the inner state returns to normal, the various uncomfortable symptoms manifested on the outside quickly disappear without a trace, just like the remnants of snow in late spring.

Seeing Meng Xiaoyu's physical and mental state improving day by day, Zhang Songling was very happy. Every day when he came back from hunting, he didn't forget to teach Meng Xiaoyu to read a few words, so that the two could keep in touch with each other in the future. In addition to cleaning up the cave spotlessly, Meng Xiaoyu also quietly returned to the village a few times. From the ruins of his house and the vegetable cellar covered by the ruins, a lot of daily necessities and more than a dozen jars of medicine and wine were turned out.

The medicinal wine had been stored in the cellar for many years, and it was soaked in ginseng, deer antler velvet, snake gall bladder and other valuable medicines. Uncle Meng was usually reluctant to drink it at all, and only planned to take it out to support the façade on the day of his daughter's wedding. But now, the entire Longquan Village has been burned to the ground by devils, and the neighbors are so dead that they can escape, and even if his daughter gets married, she can't invite any guests.

"When I go to the market one day, I will sell it with the skin, and I will come back with some money to rebuild a smaller house for you in the mountains!" Zhang Songling was not very interested in alcohol, so he put forward a practical and feasible way to deal with it. Through his usual conversation with Meng Xiaoyu, he had learned that the other party would stay in the mountains for at least two years to guard the tomb of Uncle Meng and Aunt Meng. The cave barely survives in late spring and summer, and in winter, it doesn't stop any cold. If you live in it for a long time, you will have to fall ill if you don't freeze to death.

"I'm over there in Xiajiagou, and I have a distant aunt!" Meng Xiaoyu smiled and shook his head to deny the proposal. "In the winter, I would go to her house for a while."

"Xiajiawan?!" Zhang Songling had never heard of this place name, but based on the fact that no relatives showed up at Uncle Meng's funeral, Meng Xiaoyu, an aunt, may not have a very good relationship with her.

"Well, it's more than 200 miles from here!" Meng Xiaoyu nodded and added in a low voice, "My aunt is a sister-in-law, who knocks on wooden fish every day to chant Buddha. I didn't want to pay attention to what was going on outside the temple. So when my father was buried, I didn't ask anyone to bring her a letter. But as long as I bring enough rations for myself, she won't drive me out of the temple! (Note 1)

In this way, it also made Zhang Songling feel more at ease. After thinking about it, he said with a smile: "Then change some money to carry with you, so as not to be handy when you need to use it." Your aunt loves you again, after all, she is not the presiding officer of the temple. You donate some sesame oil money, and she will have an excuse to settle you in front of her peers! ”

"There are three people in the small temple, and the other two are a generation later than her, how can there be so many words!" Meng Xiaoyu smiled again, and a faint warmth welled up in her heart. She doesn't need Zhang Songling to do more for him, it is enough to think about her and live a better life for her. "It's you, you need to bring some extra money. After all, I still have to go to the 27th Division, and I can't beg for food! ”

"I'm a big man, it's always easy to do!" Zhang Songling refused with a smile, "It's really not good, so I went to my father's business partners, borrowed a few travel expenses from them with an IOU, and I can always borrow it!" ”

Meng Xiaoyu always thought more about Zhang Songling than for himself, shook his head, and retorted in a low voice, "How can it be so easy to find the chaos outside?!" ”

"No matter how chaotic the war is, someone has to do business. Otherwise, wouldn't everyone starve to death?! Zhang Songling smiled again, his face full of lightness. If they won't give it, I'll pay with the bullets! ”

"Just you?!" Meng Xiaoyu didn't believe that Zhang Songling would do the trick of robbing the house, and rolled his eyelids at him.

"If you're in a hurry, will the rabbit still bite?" Zhang Songling tried hard to pretend to be fierce, "Anyway, it's not that I borrowed it and didn't pay it back, they went to my father with a note, and they will definitely be able to get the account back!" ”

The two of them talked about it, and made specific arrangements for some of the preparations before and after respectively. No one showed too much reluctance, and everyone actually understood in their hearts that it would take a long, long time to meet again, even forever.

Most of the medicinal liquor has been included in the scope of selling and repaying money. But there were two relatively small jars of black porcelain wine, but Meng Xiaoyu insisted on staying, "These two jars are kept to worship my father, and after you kill the traitor surnamed Zhu, let's go and give it to him to drink." ”

"Okay!" Zhang Songling has always been grateful to Uncle Meng for his rescue and guidance in marksmanship, and agreed to Meng Xiaoyu's request very happily.

"Tomorrow you don't go hunting, help me get all the skins at home. I found a packet of foam from the cellar that I used before! The price of salted cooked skins is two percent higher than that of raw skins! Like a housewife, Meng Xiaoyu naturally dictates to men.

"Okay!" Zhang Songling agreed with a smile, "The branches of the pine trees that I cut down some time ago are almost dry, and I just made a stronger gate for the cave!" ”

Originally, the "gate" used to seal the entrance of the cave was made of thin branches. It is good to keep out the wind, but it cannot keep people and beasts at bay. In order to live after his departure, Zhang Songling had to make a stronger gate to the cave again, although he had no knowledge of carpentry work before.

The two used their respective abilities to arrange and plan for each other. Before I knew it, another half a month had passed. On this day, Zhang Songling was outside the cave to deal with prey with the help of sunlight, but from a distance, he saw the guerrilla leader Wu Nan walking up the mountain.

"Brother Zhang, what happened a few days ago is really not for you!" Wu Nan's legs and feet were very neat, and he walked to Zhang Songling's side in three steps and two steps, grabbed the hind legs of the prey, and started to fight for him. "I didn't know what they were messing around with at the time, so I didn't come to make amends to you. Now that I've criticized them in public, I promise they won't dare to trouble you and Xiaoyu again! ”

"No hassle!" After he left, Meng Xiaoyu still had to live in the sphere of influence of the guerrillas, so Zhang Songling would not express any dissatisfaction regardless of whether he had any thoughts in his heart, "Da Niu They are just a group of children, and Xiaoyu and I don't go to our hearts at all!" ”

"It's like you're a lot bigger than everyone else!" Wu Nan was so angry that Zhang Songling pretended to be old, "You're not even twenty this year!" Can you pretend to be a little more old-fashioned? Don't turn your head, it's a weak heart! ”

"I'm twenty-one, but my face is tender!" Zhang Songling lied, dropped his prey, and stretched out his bloody hand with a smile, "What kind of wind blew you over again?" Isn't the information I gave you last time useful? ”

"It's so easy to use, that's why I came here to thank you as a teacher!" Wu Nan smiled and stretched out his hand, shook hands with Zhang Songling, and was taken the opportunity by the other party to wipe a hand of blood, "In addition, there is one more thing that needs to be notified to you immediately." I didn't think it was appropriate to let someone else pass the word, so I ran over myself! ”

"Have you figured out the law of Zhu Er's actions?!" Zhang Songling immediately thought of the previous agreement between the two parties, and asked with a little surprise.

What answered him was Wu Nan's embarrassed laughter, "Hehe, hehe, I even set the time and place to start, but something suddenly happened recently!" ”

"What's wrong?!" Zhang Songling was stunned and frowned vigilantly. So far, the guerrilla leader Wu Nan has made a very good impression on him, and he really doesn't want to think of the other party's words and untrusted.

"That Zhu Er, Zhu Er....." Looking at Zhang Songling's honest eyes, Wu Nan felt more and more embarrassed, "That Zhu Er ran away"

"How so? Could it be that someone leaked the news? Zhang Songling's brows immediately furrowed deeper, glanced at Wu Nan, and asked in a deep voice.

"I don't know, we're looking for who told him!" Wu Nan shook his head, his face full of apologies, "But it's also possible that he has done too many bad things himself, and his heart is empty." Recently, Nanjing has also been engaged in hoeing and rape operations. In Taiyuan City, several traitors who committed heinous crimes were killed! ”

"Do you know where he went?" Zhang Songling was incapable of interfering in the internal operations of the guerrillas, let alone in the affairs of Nanjing. However, he would never let the enemy run away so easily, thought about it, and continued to ask.

Wu Nan hesitated for a moment and replied in a low voice, "It seems that I went to the Black Stone Village in Chahar!" ”

"Blackstone Village?" Zhang Song groaned and repeated. It was a very strange place name, but it seemed to appear more than once in his memory. "Is it more than 300 miles north of Chifeng, and there is a big salt lake nearby?"

"Yes, that's it. At present, the Japanese are inciting traitors over there to engage in Manchurian and Mongolian autonomy, and the surnamed Zhu has spent money to go through Li Shouxin's path and has been transferred to become a county magistrate! (Note 2)

"It's a mix of Mongols and Han Chinese." Zhang Songling finally found the information of Heishi Village in his memory, and added in a deep voice, "Our guys have to follow the caravan over there every year. It is said that the area around the county is covered with large black stones. Each piece is the size of a car! ”

Too familiar, too familiar to be any more familiar, though he had never been. As a hunter, he will not give up the prey that catches his eye, no matter whether the other party escapes to the ends of the earth or the cape.

Note 1: Sister-in-law, nun.

Note 2: Li Shouxin is a famous traitor. He once took refuge with the Japanese as the vice chairman of the puppet government of Mongolian autonomy, and personally went to meet the Japanese emperor. After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, he became the commander-in-chief of the Tenth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army. He was extradited from Outer Mongolia in 1950 and granted amnesty in 1964.