（3）

Ren Qing curled up on the bed, the afterglow of the setting sun covering her soft body. Her eyes were red and swollen, and her gaze was sloppy, and suddenly she seemed to remember something, got up from the bed, and trotted barefoot to the living room without putting on her slippers, until she saw her son on the sofa staring at the cartoon on the TV with his sister in his arms.

The son turned to look at her and smiled.

The room was well organized by her. She has a stable job, a pair of children, and a husband who works as a middle manager in a multinational group. Although they have been separated for many years, this has not affected her from becoming the envy of people in the small town.

The flowers and plants on the balcony are trying to stretch their bodies towards the last ray of sunlight today, the water in the fish tank is calm, and a few dead goldfish are turning their bellies and glowing with golden light, and the empty fish eyes seem to be looking at the children on the sofa.

Ren Qing took a deep breath, only to feel weak, and suddenly a cat meow like a child's cry came into her ears, and she frowned.

There are plenty of feral cats in the area, and they can scurry from place to place when you're not looking, often scaring children.

She walked over to the fish tank and stared at the dead fish.

Looking out of the balcony window, you can see the street downstairs and the shop across the street, and you can see the man from the typing and copying agency putting cat food in the basin again.

Looking at it like this, Ren Qing's eyes turned red again, tears flowed out uncontrollably, she raised her hand to cover her mouth, and didn't make a sound.

"Mom?"

Hearing her son calling herself, she hurriedly wiped the tears from her cheeks with her hand and turned around.

"Mom, what's wrong with you?" The son looked concerned, obviously only in the first grade of primary school, but at this moment in Ren Qing's eyes, he looked like a mature man, she couldn't help it anymore, leaned over and hugged her son, tears raining down.

"Is it because of Dad?" The son also hugged his mother, "He doesn't want you anymore, and I still have me." ”

Ren Qing laughed after hearing his son, then cried again, and then laughed again.

She wanted to tell her son that his father didn't want his mother, his father just wanted his mother, other aunts, and other sisters.

Dad would call his female colleagues late at night, his dad would take advantage of the opportunity to go thousands of miles to his aunt and sister's house, Dad would tell his aunt and sisters that he and Mom hadn't slept together for a long, long time, and Dad would tell them that he was no longer interested in Mom, but the irony was that Dad would also say in front of his colleagues and leaders that he had both children and daughters, a virtuous wife, and a happy home.

My dear son, there is no way for my mother to tell you these words.

The living room was dark, only the light of the TV set flickered on and off, the daughter was so young, she was completely attracted by the cartoons, she didn't notice her mother and brother at all, the shadows behind her flickered and small, the little face was red for a while, green for a while, and the big eyes were piglets, lambs, and dogs and kittens.

"Mom is fine, Dad is fine, don't think about it, you go watch TV with your sister." Ren Qing stopped her tears, patted her son, and stood up.

The street lamps on both sides of the street came on at some point, and several cats of different colors and sizes gathered around the red basin in front of the photocopy agency, feasting on their dinner.

Ren Qing retracted his gaze, trembled his hands, and fished out the dead fish in the fish tank with a net, and put their corpses into a black plastic bag.

（4）

The sky was about to be cloudy, the nasal cavity was filled with the choking smell of soot, and the throat was more like a briquette the size of an apricot.

There are two kittens nested next to the garbage can on the side of the street, one black and the other black and white, and if it weren't for the blood from their noses and mouths, they would have been mistaken for napping.

Several dead fish were scattered not far from them.

The cleaner frowned and put the two stiff kittens into the garbage truck.

At the back of the trash can, there is a stack of books. The top one is impressively written with the words "Strange Things of the Republic of China", and the author's signature is Tao Qiwu.

The cleaner muttered "It's a pity" while receiving the stack of books, and flipped through the top copy of "The Strange Things of the Republic of China", the first page of which read, "I have to start talking about it from 1894." ”

（5）

It has to be said from 1894.

Japan, which had experienced the Restoration, was instigated by the United States and Britain to launch the Sino-Japanese War of aggression against China and Korea.

At this time, the Qing Dynasty was weak, weak and corrupt, even loyal and brave generals could not turn the tide, the Qing army was defeated by Japan, and was forced to sign the Sino-Japanese "Treaty of Shimonoseki" to cede the Liaodong Peninsula to Japan.

This made the Russian red-haired son, who had been plotting for more than half a century and wanted to monopolize the entire northeast, sit on pins and needles, and the ruling group of the old red-haired man stomped his feet and beat his chest, discussing and discussing that even if he did a fucking battle, he would have to play with the little Japanese, which laid a deep foreshadowing for the future Russo-Japanese war, and also planted the seeds of hatred between Japan and Russia for a hundred years.

Let's say that this land, transportation, and resources are the foundation of the conquest since ancient times, and China at this time is just a piece of fat on the board, with land and resources.

And both Japan and Russia are eyeing our piece of fat. There are still many forces behind these two, and countries compete with each other, and they are unscrupulous for the sake of interests.

If you think about it carefully, this time the Japanese and Russian battles are on Chinese soil, and the white mountains and black waters are covered with scorched earth, which can make the people suffer.

How can a weak country be a country, and a weak people are not for the people.

Ten years later, on February 8, 1904, on the land of China, on the fertile soil of white mountains and black waters, Japan and Russia fought fiercely.

The fact that the neighbors were fighting in the Chinese courtyard kicked over the tables and chairs and kicked the spoons was a big joke for China, and it was even more of a shame.

And for ordinary people, it is undoubtedly the end of the world.

It is said that there is a willow city in Jilin, surrounded by mountains, a big river strings through the city, and it is located at the junction of Liaoji and Liaoji, and water and land transportation must be distributed here.

Houses were built along the river, and there were three or four hundred rooms on both sides.

The houses on the north bank of the river are sparse, the merchants on the south bank of the river gather, the fireworks willow courtyard, the wine shop, the gambling house, the pawnshop, the silver number silk village, that is really eating, drinking and having fun.

On the second floor of a small two-story building on the south bank of the river, three adults and a boy of five or six years old sat at a table by the window.

"His second uncle, you can help take care of the four boys, your eldest brother and I plan to go to Fengtian to find some work to do, and find the eldest and second child by the way, it is inconvenient to take the four boys." The woman who spoke was dressed plainly, and her clothes were shabby but clean.

"Second child, now it's just me, your sister-in-law and the four boys......" The man sitting next to the woman wrapped his braids around his head, and choked up halfway through his words, and touched the little boy's head with one hand.

For a while, it seemed that the air was frozen, and the people were involved in an inexplicable war, the family was separated while hiding from the war, the eldest daughter and the second daughter were missing, and the house where the third son was blown up was buried in the ground, like dead leaves in the wind and rain, scattered and scattered.

The second uncle sighed: "The world is chaotic...... and touched the boy's head.