In the kitchen, Shu Zhi was cooking noodles in a small pot, his eyes kept looking at Ruojun who was sitting in the yard and was sane and sad, and the noodles in the pot were churning, Shu Zhi scooped the noodles into the bowl with chopsticks, put a poached egg in one of the bowls, brought it out of the yard, squatted beside Ruojun, and said softly: "Sister, eat something." After eating, let's go find it together. ”

Ruojun was motionless, looking at the door with dull eyes, and said lightly: "I have no appetite, you can eat." ”

"You haven't had a good meal in three days, so you won't be able to hold it out. You have to eat this bowl of noodles today, and we can continue to find Nian'an when we have the strength. ”

Ruojun slowly took his gaze back, frowned and nodded, took the bowl and chopsticks, picked up the noodles, and was just about to put them in his mouth, stopped in mid-air, and turned his head to look at Shu Zhi, this look, she was shocked, Shu Zhi's face was full of scum, his eyes were bloodshot, his eyes were sunken, his cheeks were sunken, his face was tired, and his heart was even more painful, so he quickly pushed the bowl in front of him: "You eat." ”

He shook his head: "It's yours, mine is in the kitchen, I'll go eat, you eat quickly, when you're done, we'll go out to find someone." ”

As he spoke, he stood up and went to the kitchen, put some sesame oil in his bowl of clear soup noodles, mixed it a few times, sat on the bamboo chair under the window, and ate the pickles.

The light in the room suddenly dimmed, and he looked up, Ruojun was standing there with a bowl, looking at him with a frown, her heart was very distressed, and without saying a word, she walked up and put the bowl on the table.

I walked to the stove, took a cabbage from the basket, broke a few leaves, washed it, cut it into strips, drained the water, took a small iron pot, put it on the small coal stove, put some oil, waited for the oil to be hot, patted two slices of garlic, and a little red pepper, after stir-frying, put the cabbage down, fried it, and beat two eggs with my hands and feet, put salt, made an egg cake in the pot, sprinkled the shredded cabbage on the egg cake, picked it up with a spatula, and turned it into a beautiful egg roll, and suddenly the kitchen was full of aroma, Put it on a plate, cut it into small pieces with a knife, sprinkle a little soy sauce, and bring it to the table.

She sat on the small stool opposite Shu Zhi, sandwiched two pieces of fragrant egg cabbage into his bowl, and silently lowered her head to eat the poached eggs he made for herself.

Shu Zhi smiled slightly, she was still so kind, she still loved herself, and her heart was a little more stable, at least her sanity was still sober, and her reason had not completely collapsed.

After the two finished eating, they were about to go out to continue looking for Nian'an's whereabouts, when suddenly there was a knock on the door, and both of them were shocked, Shu Zhi stepped forward and opened the door, but it was a six or seven-year-old little girl with pigtails, holding a lollipop in her mouth in one hand and a piece of paper in the other.

Shu Zhi took the paper a little confused, the girl was about to leave, Shu Zhi quickly grabbed her vigilantly, opened the paper with one hand, and glanced at the words on the paper, which was just scribbled a sentence:

"If you want to have a child, two hundred taels of gold, three days later, next to the stone well in the suburb of 'Mentou Village', pay the money and release the person, if you play tricks, cut off your hand."

Ruojun stepped forward and snatched the paper to look at it, only to feel that the world was spinning, Shu Zhi hurriedly grabbed the little girl and said, "Who gave you this paper?" ”

The little girl pointed to the mouth of the alley and said, "An uncle gave it to me." ”

Shu Zhi ran to the mouth of the alley in one breath, but did not find any suspicious people, so he had to run back again, Ruojun took the paper, and the whole person fell on the door panel, shaking his head in pain and weakness.

Two hundred taels of gold is no different from two million taels of gold to them, which is an astronomical amount of wealth. Shu Zhi helped her back to the room, and the two were silent, both thinking about how to face this cruel reality - Nian An was kidnapped!

"Hehe" Ruojun suddenly laughed dryly, startling Shu Zhi: "Two hundred taels of gold, you look up to me too much." As he spoke, two crystal tears fell from his eyelashes.

"At least I already know the whereabouts of the child, it's just a matter of money, so I'll go to my classmates to borrow it."

"Borrow? Who shall now lend us two hundred taels of gold? ”

"I think..... I want to ...... I can try it......" Shu Zhi stood up and turned to look out the window.

"Try what?"

"There is a female classmate who has always liked me, the one who gave me a watch last time, and she has a lot of assets in her family. I can ......."

"What can be? Will she lend it to you? Ruojun's eyes widened, and he hurriedly walked to his side,

"It's nothing, her father admires me too, I think if I am willing to marry her, they should help each other......" Shu Zhi hooked a wry smile on the corner of his mouth. I'm going to talk to her right now. So saying, he went out of the house.

"No way!" Ruojun stopped him sharply: "What are you going to do here?" Sold yourself for money? ”

"Didn't you always want me to get married? Now kill two birds with one stone. Why are you stopping me? He frowned and tugged at the doorknob.

"Shu Zhi, I want you to get married, but I don't want you to sell your body for money. Nian'an is my son, you are my brother, I can't use my brother's money to save my son. ”

Shu Zhi turned his head to look at her, looking at her deeply, she called his younger brother one by one, and his heart was bitter and astringent, he was at ease at this time, where did he care if he sold himself, he was now afraid that the female classmate's family would not be willing to come up with money, so he didn't care about Ruojun's objections, and opened the door and walked out.

Ruojun sat in front of the window in frustration and looked at the blackmail note, especially the last sentence, "cut off a hand", it was like cutting on her heart, the blood in her heart kept dripping, Nian'an, Nian'an, maybe my mother shouldn't have brought you to this world at all, she thought dejectedly, it was a great misfortune to be born in troubled times, and with such a pitiful life experience, and now she has to experience such a terrible catastrophe.

Two hundred quantities of gold, where is she going to get it? She fell on the table and cried, and kept calling Ruikang's name in her heart, Ruikang, where are you? Ruikang ...... Ruikang ......

“…… Do you know that the second young master is now in the UK and has become a rich man......"

“…… Do you know that the second young master is now in the UK and has become a rich man......"

Cuiliu's voice drifted through Ruojun's mind...... Ah, she raised her head suddenly, wiped her tears, and looked at the window lattice in a daze, yes, Cuiliu said that Ruikang became a rich man, then he would definitely send money to Master Zhou, besides, the Zhou family has so many fields and shops, although two hundred amounts of gold is not a small amount, but the Zhou family must have it.

Ruojun suddenly saw hope, yes, yes, she quickly wiped her tears with her fingers, stood up, changed into a decent dress, and combed her scattered hair again, and she was haggard and sad in the mirror, and her eyes were swollen like walnuts.

The mirror suddenly showed the scene in the cabin of Jinyun Mountain that she would never forget......

"Seed!" "Seed!" "Seed!" …… Master Zhou's disdainful, disgusted, disgusted tone echoed in her ears, Master Zhou threw the little Nian An on the ground, Nian An's forehead hit the pillar, and he cried in pain......

As soon as he thought of this, Ruojun's heart was like a knife, and the comb in his hand stopped in mid-air...... The eyebrows were tightly twisted together, biting their lips. He once swore in front of Cheng Jiaqi that he would never have anything to do with the Zhou family again, and even if he starved to death and froze to death, he would not ask them for a penny.

However, but, now that Nian'an's life is on the verge of death, she can't take care of a lot, as long as she can save Nian'an, even if she wants her life, she will not hesitate to do it, what is the small face?

She gritted her teeth, stood up, walked out of the courtyard, and headed towards the Zhou family's compound.

//

The courtyard of the Zhou family, the big house with white walls and gray tiles, has experienced many years of wind and frost, and several places on the wall have left black water stains and a little moss, which seems to have lost some of the pride and glory of the past, and it looks bleak and cold in the cold wind, The vermilion gate is not bright, and the two half-person-high stone drums in front of the door are still * arrogant, making the atmosphere of the house seem even more lonely, and the six households under the eaves are on the columns, in addition to silently telling the history of the mansion, there is no prestige of the past.

However, the Zhou family compound is still magnificent, but you can feel the loneliness and loneliness shrouded in it from a distance, this compound and its owners, have experienced the baptism of war and personnel changes.

Mei Ruojun stood in front of the gate, looking at this big mansion that changed her life, as if she was in a different world, her marriage, her love, her grievances, her life and death, and her pain were all tightly intertwined with this mansion.

She didn't wear a scarf, the cold wind blew her face fiercely, she didn't know how long she had been standing at the gate, she had been waiting for her mind to calm down, but it seemed that she couldn't calm down the turbulent waves in her heart.

Cheng Jiaqi is writing a letter to Ruikang in the Yongmei Garden, the words are full of lovesickness, all kinds of feelings are in the tip of the pen, and her mood is also fluctuating, but her heart is full of lovesickness at this time.

"Tuk-tuk." Cuiliu walked quickly to the Yongmei Garden, knocked on the door a few times, looked very uneasy, and didn't wait for Jiaqi to call her in, she had already broken the rules and walked out of the room by herself, and said hurriedly: "The second young grandmother, the eldest young grandmother is here." ”

Jiaqi was still immersed in the emotions of pouring out her affection to Ruikang, and she didn't understand it for a while, so she was stunned for a moment, stopped her pen, looked at Cuiliu and asked, "Grandma?" ”

Cuiliu nodded: "Yes, she is standing at the gate, she looks very bad." ”

Only then did Jiaqi understand, hehe, Mei Ruojun, finally came, she knew that this woman would have to be involved with the Zhou family sooner or later.

Jiaqi put down the pen in her hand, leaned back in the chair, and said coldly: "She has remarried, and she is no longer the eldest and youngest grandmother of the Zhou family." ”

"This ......" Cuiliu was quite embarrassed.

"What's the matter with her?" Jiaqi still asked coldly.

"I don't know, she didn't say, she just stayed at the door, I asked her to come in, and she wouldn't."

Cheng Jiaqi looked at the letter on the table that had just been sent from the UK, the corners of her mouth twitched, and said:

"Since you have come to the door, there is naturally something to do, so you can invite her to come here. By the way, the old man is not well, so don't tell him. ”

……

Stepping into the courtyard of the Zhou family again, Ruojun's mood can only be described by excitement, but this excitement is full of sourness, she was just eighteen years old that year she was welcomed into this compound by him, but was forced to keep a distance from him, although the building in the courtyard is much older, there are many more scars, but it is generally intact, carved beams and paintings, gorgeous and beautiful, perhaps because of the withering population, the courtyard is also a group of winter, there is no lively scene in the past.

Hall, dining room, flower hall, side hall, study, chrysanthemum garden, Yongmei garden, Yilan small building, sheep intestine path, banana tree, begonia flower, rockery, bamboo fence, if you revisit the old place, I just feel that everything is like a dream. Ruian, Ruikang, Mrs. Zhou, Master Zhou, Shu Zhi, Xun Mei......

Cuiliu accompanied Ruojun all the way, and asked uneasily: "Grandma, have you encountered any difficulties?" ”

Ruojun just frowned deeply and nodded.

Cuiliu grabbed her and said: "Grandma Da Shao, listen to me, the second young grandma has changed a lot, and she is simply two people before she got married, how enthusiastic and cheerful she was before, but now she is always cold." Ahem, she's in charge now, and I guess she'll show you a face later, so you'll have to be careful. ”

Ruojun nodded: "She should be angry with me and hate me, I know." ”

After many years, Mei Ruojun finally stepped into the Yongmei Garden again, it was almost dusk, the light was soft, and the orange-red sunset dyed the clouds in the sky red, an intense and profound color.

Mei Ruojun did not immediately walk into the house, but walked to the dozen or so budding plum trees, gently stroked their bark, she was a little surprised, the Japanese actually did not cut these plum trees as firewood, ten years, these plum trees in the wind and rain years, actually more and more thick and straight.

"What? Are you nostalgic for the past? Cheng Jiaqi's voice sounded behind her, Ruojun was startled, turned to look at her, it turned out that she was also haggard and pale, although her makeup and clothes were still much better than Ruojun's, but on the faces of these two women, no one smiled, and no one was happy.

Mei Ruojun still can't hold her head up in front of Cheng Jiaqi, after all, Cheng Jiaqi is the upright Mrs. Zhou Ruikang, and what is herself? She can't even find her own suitable title, Jiaqi has only loved Ruikang from beginning to end, and her own, there are already three men before and after, and now she is still entangled with Shu Zhi, who is ten years younger than herself, and she is not as good as Jiaqi in terms of identity and conduct.

In front of Cheng Jiaqi, Ruojun is humble, inferior from the inside out, Jiaqi is noble and pure, and he violates all etiquette and morality.

"Jiaqi, I'...... I have something to ask of you. Thinking of Nian'an, she had to temporarily let go of her inner inferiority complex and guilt, and face Cheng Jiaqi with her spirit.

"Come in." Cheng Jiaqi turned around and entered the room.

In fact, this is Ruojun's first time stepping into this room, Ruikang's room has always been her forbidden place, she slightly swept the decoration in the room, elegant and elegant, just like his person.

"You may be seated." Jiaqi said, bringing her a cup of tea.

Ruojun didn't dare to sit, just stood there, trembling his lips and said: "Jiaqi, something happened to Nian'an, he was kidnapped, they asked for two hundred taels of gold before they were willing to release him, I really have no choice but to come and beg you." As he spoke, he took out the note left by the kidnapper from his pocket and handed it to Cheng Jiaqi.

Jiaqi was very surprised, hurriedly put down the teapot, took the note, trembled in her heart, and asked urgently: "How can this be?" ”

Ruojun saw the care and worry in her eyes, and hope ignited in her heart, thinking, sure enough, Jiaqi is still kind and compassionate, and she will definitely not die without help.