Chen Bei met three absconding prisoners from labor camp who were wandering around Gaotupo.

Xiao Lang was still not surprised, he calmly replied: "The government is amnesty, we just came out and wanted to go back to the provincial capital, but we didn't buy a ticket, so we went shopping." ”

Chen Beidao: "That's great, great, I'm afraid the train to the provincial capital will have to wait for tomorrow, do you have a place to live." ”

Xiao Lang smiled bitterly: "Isn't this looking for?" ”

Chen Beidao: "Don't look for it, I'll take you to the Chenguang Factory Guest House." ”

The three fugitives exchanged glances, all of them happy.

With Chen Bei coming forward, the three of them successfully lived in the guest house, and they didn't even have to show a letter of introduction.

Chen Bei said: "When I go home for dinner in the evening, I will treat you. ”

Xiao Lang hurriedly said: "No need, we still have some old friends to visit." ”

After all, Chen Bei was a generation behind them, but he was just familiar with each other, and he didn't need to be overly enthusiastic, so he paid for the room for them and left.

The three of them were frightened, took a shower in the public bathroom of the guest house, shaved their faces, cleaned up their mental outlook, and went to the canteen of the guest house to have a meal.

Early the next morning, there was a knock on the door, Xiao Lang was startled, and asked vigilantly, "Who?" ”

"I, Uncle Xiao." It was Chen Bei who came, he was holding three train tickets, and he left for the provincial capital at noon.

"Thank you so much, Xiaobei." Gong Zijun was very grateful and stepped forward to shake hands with Chen Bei.

"You're welcome, three, this is what I should do." Chen Bei has the style of a father, bold and generous, and generous.

Chen Bei still invited them to eat, he knew that people who had been squatting on the labor camp for ten years were very short of oil and water in their stomachs, so they bought half a catty of pig's head meat at a high price, as well as four taels of Huaijiang Daqu, and the three of them came down with tears while eating, Gong Zijun once wanted to tell Chen Bei that he was a fugitive, but was stopped by Xiao Lang with his eyes.

After eating, it was time to get on the train, Chen Bei sent them to the train station, found an acquaintance from the railway public security department, went through the staff channel, got on the train first, occupied a seat, and chatted with the three uncles and uncles until the time of driving before leaving.

The train departed, there were not many people in the carriage, no one traveled these years, the people who took the train were either on a business trip or to visit relatives, the three fugitives talked in a low voice, Gong Zijun said: "In case of an incident, Chen Bei must be implicated, we can't hurt him." ”

Xiao Lang said: "It's useless to say anything now, go to the provincial capital to see where the wind is going." ”

The train runs in the endless wilderness, only the monotonous wheels and the rhythm of the rails, and the rape flowers bloom on both sides of the railway, and the scenery is so beautiful that you forget all your worries.

An express train passed by, and what Xiao Lang and the others never dreamed of was that it was their old friend Chen Zikun who was sitting on this train.

Chen Zikun came to Jiangbei to investigate the situation of natural disasters, and the central government did not know much about the famine situation in various places, so he sent a large number of staff to conduct on-the-spot investigations.

This time I went to the grassroots level for a private visit to Weifu, without notifying the local party committee and government, and without bringing too many entourages, there was only one secretary and two guards, all dressed in civilian clothes, and sat in a hard seat.

The train moved forward, Chen Zikun fell into the memories of the past, the years are like a shuttle, it is already the sixties, and he is also an old man with gray temples, Jiangbei is still the same Jiangbei, but things have long been different.

There are a lot of passengers on the train, some people have no seats and can only stand in the aisle, to a small station, the platform is black and oppressive of passengers, the train does not stop and rushes over, the conductor blows the whistle to maintain order, but to no avail, the door is blocked, no one can get up, some smart passengers rush to the window, snap and slap, begging the passengers inside to open the window and let them climb in.

The people in the car carried forward the spirit of proletarian mutual assistance, opened the window to let these people in, and there was also a knock on the window in the seat where Chen Zikun was, a woman with still charm, pulling two little boys, carrying large bags and dragging heavy wicker boxes.

"Help, uncle." The woman's face was full of anxiety, Chen Zikun did not hesitate, pushed the window up, the woman lifted a boy into the window, Chen Zikun took the child, the little boy was only four or five years old, very well-behaved and said: "Thank you, grandpa." ”

Then a second, slightly younger child, only about three years old, was also brought in, and then the huge wicker box, which was picked up by two guards, and could not fit on the luggage rack, so it had to be placed in the aisle.

"This sister-in-law, you can come up too." The guard held out a hand.

The woman didn't take his hand, but supported it with both hands, and got in very dexterously, with a flexible and slender body, and at first glance it was a practitioner.

"Oh, thank you so much." The woman took out a flower handkerchief to wipe the beads of sweat and beckoned to her two sons: "Daqiang, Ergong, have you called someone?" ”

"Shouted." The two boys replied crisply.

Chen Zikun said: "Sit down." ”

The guard gave up her seat very discerningly, and the woman was not polite, and sat down with the two children, thanking her again. Strangely, her accent is standard Mandarin and doesn't have any regional flavor.

"Are you going home, or are you visiting family?" Chen Zikun is doing social research, so naturally he wants to ask a few questions when he sees people.

"It's also going home, it's also visiting relatives, my man is a soldier in Beitai, I took my children to join him, there is no food at home, and the army may be able to eat enough." The woman was also refreshed, and told her purpose in one word.

Chan nodded, and was about to ask something else, when the woman suddenly stared at his face, which was not very polite.

"What's your last name?" The woman asked.

"Don't be expensive, my surname is Chen."

"Chan Tsz Kun?" The woman looked surprised.

"You know me?" Chen Zikun is very strange, he doesn't know this sister-in-law.

"Oh, why did you forget me, godfather, I'm Qi Xiu, Qi Xiu from the Qi family's class, my mother is Bai Yufang, let's take a boat into Sichuan together."

"It's you." Chen Zikun remembered that it was still in 1938, after the failure of the defense of North Thailand, he was seriously injured and rescued by the Qi family class, and went into Sichuan incognito.

The floodgates of memory were opened and couldn't be contained, Chen Zikun was very interested, asking long and short questions, Qi Xiu was also very happy, saying that his mother was in Xi'an, and her body was very tough, and she had been thinking about you, and pointed to the two children and said: "This is the two boys born to me and Luo Xiaolou, the big one is called Luo Keqiang, and the younger one is called Luo Kegong, these two are your own grandsons, and the meeting gift is indispensable." ”

Chen Zikun said: "That is, it must be your own grandson, grandpa will give you a meeting gift." ”

Talking about taking out money, he is a senior cadre, how can he bring money with him, the secretary observed his words, and immediately took out his wallet and took out two ten-yuan tickets.

"Don't you dare, I'm kidding you." Qi Xiu hurriedly pushed it back, after more than 20 years, she was still so lively and cheerful.

With Qi Xiu's mother and son, the dull journey became full of vitality, and the two children were one grandfather, shouting Chen Zikun's heart was full of joy, and he couldn't help but think of his own grandson Chen Guang, and he missed it even more.

Soon the train arrived at Beitai Railway Station, Qi Xiu asked Chen Zikun where to go, and Chen Zikun said that I had to transfer to the county.

"Then let's not go over it for now, come to us when your work is done, and I'll write you an address." Qi Xiu left an address, took the child, dragged the box out of the station, and a military jeep was parked outside the exit, and two young soldiers picked up their mother.

Beitai Railway Station is a passenger and freight station, and when you get off here, there are mountain-like sacks on the platform opposite, and the bags are marked with the word wheat, which may be relief grain pulled from the province.

"Let's go, let's go directly to Nantai." Chen Zikun took the secretary and the guards and went straight to the long-distance bus station next to the train station.

Beitai to Nantai County is eighty miles, there is a long-distance bus every day, Chen Zikun and others came at the right time, hit the ticket to get on the bus, and went straight to Nantai County along the asphalt road.

After leaving the city, the road became difficult to walk, this road was still built when Chen Zikun was in power, and later the Japanese occupation period was widened and reinforced, but it has not been repaired and maintained for nearly 15 years, the road condition has become very poor, potholes, and the road of 80 miles has been walked for four hours.

The four of them lived in the guest house of the Nantai County Party Committee, and issued a letter of introduction from the province, in the name of experts from the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences to test the soil or something.

After staying overnight, Chen Zikun changed his outfit, coarse cloth clothes and black cloth shoes, a small cigarette pouch pinned to his waist, and a gray towel around his head, looking like an old peasant.

After going out and wandering around the county, he found a tractor to deliver coal into the city, and at the cost of a pack of cigarettes, the young tractor driver readily agreed and took the "old expert" and his assistant to the countryside.

The tractor driver is very talkative, he is a veteran, he drove a car for the regiment commander in the army, and after the recovery, he drove a tractor in the commune, which is an extremely beautiful profession, and the young man did not stop talking along the way, so that Chen Zikun had a preliminary understanding of the situation in the countryside.

"Hungry to death? That's a common thing, and it's not uncommon for dozens of people in a village to starve to death. ”

"There is a drought and lack of water, the crops are not harvested, and they still have to pay the public grain.

"The big cafeteria? It's closed early. ”

"Escape from the famine? The commune didn't let it, the militia guarded the intersection, blocked back those who fled the famine, and punished the cadres of the production team. ”

At the intersection in front stood four key militiamen, standing guard with rifles, verifying the words of the tractor driver.

After checking the letter of introduction, the militia let the four outsiders go, Chen Zikun got off the tractor, gave the young man an extra half pack of cigarettes, and walked to Gongjiazhuang not far away with the secretary and guards.

In 1938, the Japanese Takeshita Wing attacked Gongjiazhuang, if it wasn't for Lao Deshun, who was picking up dung, detonated a grenade and reported his life, the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army under Chen Zikun would have been wiped out.

With the calendar in mind, Chen Zikun couldn't help but hold the jade cigarette pouch, which was a relic of Lao Deshun.

"Uncle Deshun, I'm back again."