"It's already the middle of the night, let's talk quietly, don't make noise for the fellows to rest." A female cadre reminded: "Hurry up and clean up and take a break!" ”

Seeing that the water had run out, Kikuko turned around and picked up the pot and went to boil it again.

"Fellow, let's go add firewood and boil water, you go back to the house to rest!" The female cadre came out with another woman.

Juzi shook his head and said, "Don't worry, when you arrive at my house, you are guests, how can there be any reason for you to stretch out your hands to work." ”

"Then we'll help you." The female cadre refused to leave, followed Juzi into the stove room, added water to the pot, and added firewood to the stove.

Juzi went out and came back with a bundle of firewood, and the female cadre chatted with her while watching the fire.

"My name is Li Jinxiu, her name is Sun Lianying, what is the name of the eldest sister?"

"I'm called Kikuko."

"Kikuko, what a nice name." Li Jinxiu praised casually and asked curiously: "What about the lesbian named Damei, what does she do?" There are long spears and short spears on his body, and he looks very majestic. ”

"Sister Da Mei, she's a guerrilla." Juzi replied truthfully: "I came a few days earlier than you, and the war is very powerful!" ”

"There are still women in the guerrillas?" Sun Lianying asked in surprise: "I really just knew!" ”

Li Jinxiu thought for a while and asked, "Then she came from the mining area with Zhao Tie and them?" ”

Juzi nodded and said, "Yes, it was Captain Zhao who sent her to my house and let us take good care of her." ”

"You said that she was good at fighting, but you listened to Captain Zhao!" Li Jinxiu asked with a smile: "Looking at her age, she is about the same age as you, how powerful will she be?" ”

Juzi was immediately unhappy, Shen Chen was her idol, and there was no doubt about it.

"I saw it with my own eyes, and my gun was also grabbed by Sister Da Mei." Juzi sank his face, paused and said: "You were chased by the enemy and ran into the mountains, and Sister Da Mei took a gun to fight the puppet army, blocked them, and shot one at a time, killing a lot!" ”

That's a bit of a bad thing to say. You see, one fled into the mountains in embarrassment, and the other bravely fought with a gun outside.

Kikuko didn't say that, and she probably didn't know how to say it, but the meaning of the simple words was the same.

Li Jinxiu just guessed, but he didn't doubt or look down on him, he was really choked by Juzi so much.

Seeing that the atmosphere was embarrassing, Sun Lianying hurriedly interrupted and said with a smile: "It turns out that Da Mei is a heroine, this is the glory of all our women comrades!" ”

Juzi nodded vigorously and said, "I want to be like her, no one is afraid of any devil or puppet army." Shoot it one at a time, and destroy it all. ”

"Kikuko is really ambitious." As a female cadre, Li Jinxiu, of course, would not have the same knowledge as Juzi, so she praised it with a smile, and said: "We must also learn from Comrade Damei, so that we can not only propagate the front, but also fight the enemy." ”

Juzi was simple-minded, and she was angry just now, but she was also happy when she heard these two female cadres talking.

After a while, everyone began to rest, and Kikuko returned to her room.

Although she was afraid of disturbing Shen Chen, Juzi didn't even light the lamp and went to the kang in the dark, but Shen Chen's vigilance had penetrated deep into the bone marrow, and he woke up at the slightest movement.

"Kikuko, are you done?" Shen Chen woke up, but he didn't jump up in surprise and asked lazily.

"Sister Da Mei, I've woken you up." Juzi was a little embarrassed, took off her padded jacket, and got into the quilt.

Shen Chen yawned and said, "It's okay, I didn't sleep either." It's late, hurry up and go to bed! ”

Well, Ju Zi answered, and lay down sideways against Shen Chen. Just paused for a moment, lest Shen Chen fall asleep, so he asked softly, "Sister Da Mei, what are you doing tomorrow?" ”

"I-" Shen Chen replied in a daze, "I want to take a look around the neighborhood and continue to familiarize myself with the terrain." ”

"Then I'll show you the way!" Juzi hurriedly said: "I'm familiar with this area!" ”

Shen Chen snorted and said, "Okay, thank you very much." ”

"No thanks, I'm willing to be with you." Juzi was very happy and said, "Then let's go to sleep, Sister Da Mei, you must be very tired." ”

"Okay, you've been busy for a long time, go to bed early!" Shen Chen said a word and was silent.

…………….

In the early morning, a pale gray sun hung wearily in the sky, as if winter had robbed it of its infinite heat.

Kikuko got up early and ran to the stove to cook.

Although Shen Chen was tossed in the middle of the night, he slept for enough time, basically relieved his fatigue and recovered his spirit.

According to his usual habits, Shen Chen exercised his body in the courtyard. Strength, speed, flexibility, agility, it will take some time to rely on Damei's body to reach his peak state.

The door on the opposite side opened slightly, and Li Jinxiu walked out. slept late, but as a cadre, she still had to get up early and arrange trivial things.

For example, if you eat, you can't live in someone's house and eat at someone's house. At that time, the common people were so poor that it was not easy for their families to have enough food, how could there be so much surplus food.

Whether it is the Eighth Route Army, or county and district cadres, they eat in the village or bring their own food, or eat the public grain in the village, or pay for it.

Therefore, Li Jinxiu got up early to go to the village chief to solve the problem of eating.

Out of the room, Li Jinxiu saw Shen Chen stretching out his arms and pressing his legs, and squatted down again. Seeing this action, Li Jinxiu felt quite fresh, so he stopped to watch.

Shen Chen gave a side kick, which felt very imposing, and it was also accompanied by a roar that he thought was mighty, but even he was a little deflated by the "heha" of this female voice.

With a retracted exhale, Shen Chen turned around and nodded politely when he saw Li Jinxiu.

"It's been so good!" Li Jinxiu walked over with a smile, stretched out his hand, and introduced himself: "Li Jinxiu, director of the District Women's Rescue Association." ”

Shen Chen naturally stretched out his hand and shook Li Jinxiu's hand, and said, "Hello, my name is Sun Xiaochen." ”

Li Jinxiu looked at the girl in front of her carefully, her eyes were big and bright, her face had a faint hair, and she was only seventeen or eighteen years old at most, but she was different from the peasant girls she saw on weekdays.

"Then your nickname is Da Mei!" Li Jinxiu smiled: "I heard Juzi call me that, can I too?" ”

Shen Chen shrugged his shoulders and said, "It doesn't matter, the name is a code name!" ”

Li Jinxiu still had something to do, and he couldn't talk about it for too long, so he said: "I'll talk about it when I have time, and talk more about your war, we admire it very much!" ”

Shen Chen had nothing to do, smiled faintly, greeted Li Jinxiu, and watched her walk out.

At this time, Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang got up and cooked with Juzi.

Shen Chen went back to the house to clean up, and was ready to take a walk around here after eating.

Familiarizing himself with the terrain in order to fight later was only one of his purposes. There was also an idea if my uncle's family could move here.

In the years of war, if you can survive, even if it is hard, you can endure it. In the Japanese-occupied areas, even if you are cautious, there will be times when disaster falls from the sky.

And here, in the poor countryside, even if the devils and puppet armies come, they will not be frequent, and it is unlikely that they will spend effort to occupy them for a long time.

There was not much time, so Juzi came to beckon Shen Chen to come over for dinner. This treatment, of course, is much better than that in the opposite room, but Shen Chen also gave money.

Although the uncle and aunt gave in several times, the life of the people in the mountainous areas was already difficult, and Shen Chen was insistent, so he naturally became a member of the Wang family's dinner table.

"Da Mei, Juzi said that she was going to take you around the neighborhood today?" Aunt Wang was a little uneasy, worried that if there was no other fight, Juzi would be in danger.

Shen Chen said: "I want to be familiar with the surrounding terrain, and in the future, it will be easy to fight and run." Also, I wanted to take a good look at the nearby villages. Uncle and aunt, you may not know that my uncle's family still lives in the territory occupied by Japanese devils! ”

Uncle Wang stopped his chopsticks and asked, "Do you want them to move here?" ”

Shen Chen nodded and said, "I have this idea, so I want to take a look more and see which village is suitable." ”

"Which other village, right here, Wangjiawa is the best." Uncle Wang smiled: "Don't look at the remoteness here, but the devil doesn't come to harm!" Until now, we haven't seen what a devil looks like! ”

Aunt Wang also echoed: "Yes, in this year, the picture is peace." Moreover, when the landlord ran away, he paid some public grain for farming, and there was no rent. If you don't have good land, you can't starve to death if you cultivate a few acres of hillside land! ”

Juzi also agreed, she naturally hoped to be with Shen Chen more.

After the meal was over, Aunt Wang took a few more pieces of dry food for Shen Chen and Juzi, and told her not to go too far.

Shen Chen and Juzi packed up their posts, then each carried their guns, went out of the village, and walked south first.

While walking, Shen Chen asked curiously: "Juzi, I heard that the eldest lady seems to call you Jiaojiao, is it your nickname?" ”

Juzi was a little embarrassed, and snorted: "It's not a nickname, it's called by my father and mother when I was breastfeeding." Later, it was renamed Kikuko, and sometimes they would call it the wrong one. ”

Shen Chen couldn't help laughing, poor families have children who are poor and delicate, and middle-aged daughters are naturally rare like babies.

The smile gradually faded from his face, Shen Chen looked up into the distance, and remembered the woman who was really called Jiaojiao. I wonder where she is now, what she is doing?

****************************************************************************************

As the Sino-Japanese war spread to the Yangtze River, many cities in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Anhui fell one after another.

A number of party, government, and military organs, cultural organizations, and colleges and universities were urgently evacuated and quickly moved in batches to the rear of the city, the ancient town of Tunxi, Huizhou.

Those who have already migrated include the Third Theater Command of the Kuomintang Party, the Southeast Branch of the China Cultural Service Society, and countless special organs of the Kuomintang Party, government, and military.

A large number of refugees and exiles from the occupied areas have left their homes and also poured into Tunxi. The universities and middle schools that have moved in include Shanghai Law School, Shanghai University of Law and Politics, and Nanjing Anhui Middle School.

At the same time, wealthy businessmen from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai have also moved here.

As a result, Laotunxi, which is located in the mountain city of southern Anhui, suddenly became a small rear area in the southeast and became the political, economic and cultural center of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces. There are many people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the prosperity of the market makes it known as "Little Shanghai".

At this time, the three girls were walking in the bustling street with a smile, which made Chu Jiao feel like a world away.

War, killing, flesh and blood, it seems that they are all gone and do not exist.

In the Tunxi Old Street, which is more than 3,000 meters long, spanning the three roads of people's livelihood, nationality and civil rights, there are many shops and a prosperous market.

Especially in the area of Tunxi Old Street, there are more than 30 industries. There are more than 50 restaurants and restaurants alone.

The most famous restaurant is Haiyang Building, which is a banquet place for military and political dignitaries, gentry and wealthy families, and enjoys the reputation of "not reaching Haiyang Building, it is not a treat".

At that time, Haiyang Lou's xiaolong buns, Zui Lechun's eight treasure rice, Xuangong's beef noodles, Li Zhengmao's dried dried shrimp and tofu, and Lao Guang's meat dumplings were delicious and the price was fair, and they were very popular with customers.

There are also all kinds of Huizhou pastries produced by the "Tongyi" South Goods Store, which are very famous and sell well all over the world. "Chen Shufang" sauce garden refined all kinds of pickles, pickles, dried tofu, Shanghai candy, Xinjiang boxed raisins from Xiaosuzhou candy store are popular.

In particular, the famous blue Yin Dan Shilin cloth and white dragon head muslin cloth sold by cloth shops such as "Hung Kee" are very popular and loved by the public.

The "Hengdeli" watch shop opened by Zhejiang people displays all kinds of clocks and watches in the shop window, all kinds of table clocks, floor clocks, alarm clocks, music clocks and "big Rome" men's and women's watches made in Switzerland.

There are also plum dried vegetable pancakes and fresh onion pork pancakes at Zhongma intersection, which are crispy and fragrant, and they cost five cents each.

The three girls walked around the street and bought a lot of snacks before they walked into a restaurant and sat down to order food.

"Gillian - pay attention!" Yang Ye glanced at Chu Jiao with disgust, this guy, pork baked cakes in his left hand, chopsticks in his right hand, and eating without any image.

Hmm, hmm, hmm. Chu Jiao nodded her head randomly, straightened her neck, and swallowed the food in her mouth hard.

Alas! Zhao Wanjun sighed softly. In this way, it really ruined the gentle and reserved image of her daughter's family.

Choked and rolled her eyes, Chu Jiao got up and raised her hand to take the wine jug from the tray of the guy who was passing by, and took two sips at the spout, which made the guy dumbfounded.

Let's da, Chu Jiao's eyes lit up, rice wine, sweet Mimi, good.

"Count what we ordered, and settle the account together." Chu Jiao sat on the bench with her buttocks, exhaled a long breath of satisfaction, poured another glass, and asked Yang Ye and Zhao Wanjun, "Rice wine, do you two drink it?" ”

Yang Ye rolled his eyes, feeling that countless eyes were cast around him; Zhao Wanjun sighed again, but pushed the cup over and whispered, "Pour me half a cup." ”

"I drink it too." Yang Ye handed over the cup with some anger.

The three girls who left the family, who were only seventeen or eighteen years old, experienced the smoke of war, saw the disability and death, and felt like a reborn change compared to before.

And the chance reunion, this is a short-term happiness, and free from the constraints and fetters, the three girls drink a pot of wine, which was simply unimaginable before.

The eyes were confused, there were more words, and the little faces were red, and the three girls walked out of the restaurant and laughed and wandered around.

The mountain city of Tunxi, although you can't hear the rumbling cannons and can't see the smoke of the war, it still presents a different scene under the infection of the atmosphere of the whole country resisting Japan.