Although it has reached the season of spring flowers, there is no trace of spring in the city of Beiping, you can see traces of Japanese everywhere, the streets that seem calm as usual, but the air is full of depression, people's faces are full of frustration, acquaintances are shaking their heads and sighing when they meet, life is getting more and more difficult, and there is a serious shortage of food. In order to survive, many people have to deal with Japanese people.

Cheng Ji Tea Shop is one of them, Jiawei took over the business of the tea shop, although he studied architecture, but he was born with the mind of a businessman, he has changed a lot, almost the same as a different person, no longer as in the past, Cheng Jiawei is calm and shrewd, although he still has a smile on his face, but these smiles are just to attract more customers, in private he smokes, is silent, and has a lot of heart.

The second elder of the Cheng family felt that he had changed too much since he came back, but he never knew why he was like this, and he tried to propose marriage to him, but he also strongly refused. The Cheng family knew the predicament of the Zhou family, and still helped them from time to time.

When Cheng Jiawei took some food and tea and came to the Mei family's courtyard, Cuiliu was pulling his son Zhou Xingwang to toddle there, and Zhou Fu was doing carpentry work on the side, looking at his wife and children happily.

"Yo, Young Master Cheng is here." Zhou Fu put down the work in his hand and greeted him.

Jiawei handed over the grain and tea to Zhou Fu, squatted down by himself, pinched Xingwang's little face and said with a smile: "Xingwang is getting cuter and cuter the longer it grows." As he spoke, he took out a small windmill from behind his back and stuffed it into Xingwang's hand.

"Young Master Cheng, you broke the bill again, every time you come, you bring something to Xingwang, it's really ...... How can we afford it. Cuiliu said with some reluctance.

"Hey, it's nothing, I like children, looking at them I think of our previous ......" His eyes were a little confused, and his thoughts shuttled back to a long time ago, those days full of laughter and dreams, but he knew that those days would never come back, every time he thought of these, he always sighed, how much he hoped to talk with Ruikang, Jiaqi, Ziyan, Yafen on campus, in the park lake boating, those beautiful and pure days are gone, all of them have embarked on their own destiny, further and further, including himself.

"Young Master Cheng, you like children so much, why don't you marry a daughter-in-law and give birth to a few yourself?" Cuiliu asked with a concerned smile, as soon as the words came out, Zhou Fu hurriedly gave her a look, Cuiliu glanced at him, ignored him, smacked his mouth and said, "Young Master Cheng is not an outsider, I just really care." ”

Cheng Jiawei stood up, pulled his clothes, sighed, smiled, and said simply: "I missed it." His tone seemed to be relaxed, but when he turned around, a touch of melancholy had quietly stained his brows.

Master Zhou is incense in front of the spirit, every time he sees the spiritual position on the shrine, he is full of emotion, he is very happy to see Jiawei walk in, every time Cheng Jiawei comes, even if he does not bring Ruikang and Jiaqi's family letter, he will chat with him a few words about Ruikang and Jiaqi's situation, he has not seen his son for many years, so any person and thing related to Ruikang can bring him some comfort.

"Uncle Zhou, Jiaqi has a letter here."

"Ah, yes, show me quickly." Master Zhou excitedly put on reading glasses and excitedly took the letter paper in Jiawei's hand.

Jiawei handed the letter to Master Zhou, and said with a smile: "My sister said that everything is fine with them, Ruikang is already a colonel, and I didn't expect Ruikang to be promoted so quickly." ”

Master Zhou looked at Jiaqi's letter, thought of Ruikang's promotion, closed his mouth with joy, shook his head and said: "Hehe, I really didn't expect that our Zhou family has been scholarly for generations, and Ruikang will be famous in martial arts." ”

"Yes, no one thought that Ruikang would be so glorious in the army, it should be said that the times create heroes."

"Yes, the times create heroes, if it weren't for this battle, I would never have imagined that Ruikang would be able to make a name for himself in the army."

Jia Wei said with a smile: "Zhou Ruikang is a man of the year wherever he goes. ”

Master Zhou sighed and laughed: "My Zhou family was ruined by this war, but I didn't expect to achieve Ruikang." ”

"So it's inconvenient for him to write to you now, it's all written by Jiaqi and brought back by a trustee, if the Japanese know that his family is in Beiping, I'm afraid you will always be more than lucky."

"Well, I understand. I understand. ”

While the two were talking, Shu Zhi ran in from the door, shouting happily: "Brother Cheng!" ”

Jiawei's eyes lit up when he saw him, this little Shu Zhi had grown as tall as himself, and his childish face, thick eyebrows and big eyes had already shown a different handsomeness.

"Heh, I haven't seen you for a few months, Shu Zhi, you have grown taller again."

Meng Shuzhi has studied in high school, and the tuition fee is funded by the Cheng family, which is what Ruikang asked Jiawei to do, Jiawei has been in his heart for many years, Shuzhi is also very competitive, his grades have always been among the best, he sends newspapers in his spare time, does odd jobs, and subsidizes his family.

Shu Zhi poured himself a glass of water, blinked his eyes while drinking and asked, "How is Brother Ruikang, how is Sister Jiaqi, and is there any news from Sister Ruojun and Brother Ding?" ”

His series of questions stumped Cheng Jiawei, but Master Zhou smiled happily: "Your eldest brother Ruikang is already a colonel." ”

"Hey, that's awesome!" Shu Zhi clapped his hands excitedly and said with a smile: "Brother Ruikang is really amazing. He must have killed a lot of devils on the front line. ”

"Well, your sister Jiaqi is also very good. However, there is no news from your sister Ruojun and Brother Ding. Jia Wei said truthfully.

The smile on Shu Zhi's face disappeared suddenly, his face sank, and his brows were locked.

Master Zhou's heart was also a little heavy, he looked up at Ruian's spirit card, shook his head, more than a year, Ruojun and Ding Xiaohui have no news, the war is raging, the army is in chaos, the world of bandits and thieves is rampant, and when Mei Ruojun left, he was seriously ill.

Although Master Zhou sighed, he was not very sorry, he neither wanted Mei Ruojun to see Ruikang, nor did he want Mei Ruojun to remarry Ding Xiaohui, he would rather Mei Ruojun die of illness like this, but it was clean, saving some face for the Zhou family, and also keeping a festival for Ruian.

Jiawei knew that Ruojun and Ding Xiaohui went to Chongqing to find Ruikang, and he didn't want them to succeed, he didn't want his sister's marriage to be complicated, but he hoped that Ruojun and Ding Xiaohui could get married, form a family again, and live a good life.

Mei Ruojun has always been an embarrassing person, a right and wrong person, everyone has different judgments and expectations for her, and she herself is like a lonely boat in the red dust, let fate tease.

Everyone paused for a moment, and Cheng Jiawei suddenly said: "Oh, a few days ago, several Japanese officers and soldiers came to our tea house to buy tea, followed by a bunch of traitors and lackeys, it is not surprising, hey, I didn't expect that Guo Xingquan, who used to eat and drink in your family, was also inside." I really didn't expect that he is getting better and better now, except for nodding at the Japanese, he can shout in front of those traitors. I look so fresh. ”

"What! Guo Xingquan: Is he still in Beiping? Meng Shuzhi stood up from the chair and raised his thick eyebrows: "Where is he?" ”

Jia Wei hurriedly pulled him down: "Hey, how can you kid be like a cannonball, I know you want to avenge your sister, but he is now covered by the Japanese, and there is a large group of dogs and legs to follow, you can't get close to him at all." Don't do something stupid and lead to death. Even if you don't want to live, what about the people around you? ”

Shu Zhi looked at Master Zhou, looked at the prosperity of the toddler in the yard, and Zhou Fu and Cuiliu, he fell silent.

Jiawei said: "It is not too late for a gentleman to take revenge for ten years. I'll keep an eye on you, he won't be able to run. But you can't be reckless, you know? ”

"Hmm!" Shu Zhi nodded.

"Okay, okay, take your homework out and show me, your big brother Ruikang takes care of it, let me check your homework."

Shu Zhi thought of the tragic death of his sister Xunmei, and Ruojun was almost humiliated on a rainy night, so he couldn't wait to peel and cramp that Guo Xingquan, and his heart was still depressed.

But he also knew that this matter could not be rushed, and could only be planned slowly.

Shu Zhi took out the homework book from his schoolbag and asked in his mouth, "By the way, did Sister Jiaqi send a photo of Xiao Dingbang?" ”

Jia Wei chuckled in his heart, looked at Master Zhou with flickering eyes, and said with a smile: "Yes, Uncle Zhou is watching." ”

Master Zhou took the photo of Xiao Dingbang and looked at it again and again, and always felt that Dingbang was not very similar to Ruikang, and he was not very similar to Jiaqi, but he was not suspicious, and he always thought that the child was young and might not have grown yet.

Shu Zhi took the photo, looked at it and smiled: "Ha, this kid is so cute, chubby, but he doesn't look like Big Brother Ruikang." ”

As soon as Shu Zhi said this, the doubts in Master Zhou's heart spread a little, and he took the photo back and looked at it again and again, Jiawei knew that if he sat down again, he would inevitably be asked by Master Zhou to break the casserole and ask to the end, so he quickly got up and said goodbye.

//

In early summer, Jinyun Mountain became colorful, the mountains were full of flowers, Ding Xiaohui opened a small vegetable patch behind the cabin, his sleeves rolled high, his shirt was open, and he was rummaging around with a hoe.

Ruojun has been three months pregnant, under the care of Ding Xiaohui, this pregnancy is very stable, she took a glass of water and a towel in her hand and stepped forward and smiled: "Rest, drink saliva." ”

Ding Xiaohui stopped, wiped the sweat from the corner of his forehead with his forearm, looked at her with a smile, took the towel and wiped his face, and said, "Blame me for not thinking about it earlier, if I thought about it earlier, I could have planted a lot of things this year." But now you can grow some easy vegetables. In a few days, when I have time, I'll build a fence here and buy a few hens that will lay eggs, so we can have eggs to eat, okay? ”

He drank water and pointed here and there with his fingers, imagining their future home.