"What? Ruikang returned to Peking and left again? The hope that Master Zhou's eyes had just ignited was extinguished again, he hadn't seen his son for a long time, the son he was proud of, had high hopes, and was angry with him, the descendants of the Cheng family hurriedly reported the letter and left, leaving the Zhou family with a long sigh.

Master Zhou fell into the chair like a deflated ball, propped up the table and supported his forehead, Mrs. Zhou sat aside and frowned tightly, her son's desperate wail in the snowy night echoed in her ears again, she won Mei Ruojun, but lost Ruikang, this battle, whether she won or lost? Ruikang is married, Mei Ruojun is pregnant, and she is pregnant with her grandson, who she thinks about day and night, and Ryan has a lot of smiles on her face, and her own tricks have corrected all the mistakes and let everyone have their place.

Ruikang didn't complain a word about her, he left, got married, came back, and left again. Mrs. Zhou did not regret what she had done, because this was the fairest, most reasonable, and most perfect way she thought of, but when she thought of Ruikang, she still felt a little guilty in her heart, she didn't know how much pain her son felt in her heart, but she just stubbornly thought that this was the best arrangement, and she was for the good of everyone.

Cuiliu sat on the edge of the bed, watching Mei Ruojun drink the fetal pill, the bitter medicinal juice made Ruojun frown, pursed her lips tightly, and after drinking the medicine, Cuiliu took water to rinse her mouth, sighed and said, "Grandma, it's really not easy for you to conceive this baby." ”

Ruojun chuckled and touched his stomach: "As long as the child is safe." ”

Cuiliu nodded, took out a money bag from her arms, and handed it to Ruojun: "This is the money you used to sell embroidery last month, and Mrs. Chen wants another ten, and I will push it for you." ”

"Oh, why did you help me push, I'm bored when I lie in bed every day, and embroidery can pass the time."

Cuiliu hurriedly waved her hand: "That's not good, taboo!" Mrs. told me that you should not hold scissors or needles. Otherwise, it's not good for a child to be born. ”

Ruojun shook his head helplessly, took the money bag, counted it, and took out a few to Cuiliu, who waved her hand and shook her head: "No, no, no, grandmother, you keep it yourself." I don't want to. ”

Ruojun still wanted to stuff it, but Cuiliu refused to accept it, and suddenly his face became sad, pursed his lips and said, "Grandma, I betrayed you and the second young master, and I feel very guilty." ”

"Don't be stupid, it's all over, and it's my fault. You just told your mother, and you should have been. Ruojun said.

"Young Grandma" Cuiliu's eyes flashed, her lips opened and closed, and she wanted to speak and stopped, Ruojun looked at her sideways: "Huh? What's wrong? ”

After a long time, Cuiliu took a breath and whispered: "Mrs. Chen said that the second young master went back to the small attic a few days ago......"

Ruojun's heart seemed to be grabbed tightly, he gasped and fell on the pillow, the calm heart lake rippled again, and his heart couldn't calm down for a long time, and he asked faintly: "How is he?" ”

"Mrs. Chen said that he sat alone in the attic for a while, gave Mrs. Chen a lot of money, and left without saying a word."

Ruojun closed his eyes, everything in the small attic came to mind again, their happy time was only that short ten days, that tender and sweet morning, his body temperature, his embrace, his kiss, now turned into sour tears poured into her eyes, she did not let the tears flow out, sniffed, squeezed out a light smile.

"Mrs. Chen said that she would treat the money as an advance rent, and the little attic would always be kept for you." Cuiliu sighed, looked at Mei Ruojun sadly, and shook her head unconsciously, for more than a year, she looked at the emotional entanglement of Ruian, Ruikang and Ruojun, and quietly opened her own girlish feelings, and her heart began to become soft, delicate, and amorous, and she became more and more empathetic to the struggle and pain in Mei Ruojun's heart.

Mei Ruojun took a breath, shook her head slightly, took out some money from the money bag and said, "Make two new clothes for Shu Zhi and Xun Mei, they have both grown taller." Oh, and Shu Zhi's book fee......"

Before he finished speaking, Shu Zhi pushed the door and walked in, threw his schoolbag on the kang angrily, dragged his cheeks, sat there sulking, and smashed his fist on the small book table for a while, his face was full of indignation, and his mouth seemed to be cursing something.

"What's wrong?"

"Humph! The Japanese devils are here, and classes are suspended......" Shu Zhi jumped down from the kang, waved his arms and said loudly: "Those damn Japanese soldiers, those damn Japanese soldiers, carrying guns, driving cars, walked into the city with their might, and the most infuriating thing is that those traitors actually waved their flags on the street to welcome them into the city!" I'm so, I'm so mad, I really want to go up and beat them. ”

"Shu Zhi! Don't mess around. Ruojun straightened up and looked at him nervously.

"I know." Shu Zhi came to the bedside: "Sister Ruojun, don't worry, I won't mess around, I know I'm still young, but when I grow up, I must join the army and beat the Japanese and these dogs and traitors to pieces." His eyes burned with rage, and his little fists clenched tightly.

Beiping has fallen, the invaders have entered their homeland, and Ruikang's remarks, which were once regarded by his family as restless, disobedient, and irrational, have now become warnings.

"I heard that those devils used live people to test poison in the Northeast, and those people's whole bodies would slowly rot, and they also caught children, separated their stomachs and ate their internal organs......" Shu Zhi said in a colorful voice, the more Ruojun listened, the more creepy he became, and he became nauseous again, Cuiliu hurriedly pushed Shu Zhi: "You kid, what nonsense, scared the young grandmother." ”

Shu Zhi saw Ruojun's retching for a while, scratched his head, and smiled: "Yo, Sister Ruojun, I forgot that you have a little brother in your stomach, he must be scared, right?" I won't say it, I won't say it."

"Sister Ruojun!" A lifetime of sweet calls, Xunmei has run in happily, excitedly took out a lotus picture that he had just drawn in the study, under the guidance of Ryan, for everyone to see, followed by Ryan with a smile on his face, watching Shu Zhi and Xunmei chattering around Ruojun, and thinking that it would not be long before his and Ruojun's child would be born, how happy and satisfied he was, he didn't pay much attention to the Japanese entering the city, he was wholeheartedly immersed in the joy of being a husband and a father.

//

But this joy did not last a few days, and ended with the visit of an uninvited guest.

The clerks of the city hall have stopped working, and the railway workers have stopped working. Bac Ninh, Binh Han, and Binh Sui have stopped, and the long-distance buses have not started to other cities. Many of those who were about to leave panicked, as if a great calamity was about to befall them, and gradually turned from disappointment to despair. It was expected that the Japanese soldiers would enter the city and set up a traitorous regime.

When the Japanese soldiers entered the city, they would definitely carry out a massacre of the anti-Japanese elements, and some intellectuals panicked, stopped the rescue work, and burned the declarations, leaflets, registers, and books of the Anti-Japanese War, and I don't know that tens of thousands of books were burned on the same day. After leaving the school and infiltrating the houses in disguise, preparing to flee, some of the townspeople also felt uneasy, and they were confused by an unfounded rumor, and moved in large numbers, running around the streets, running along the sides of the road without purpose. (Note 1)

Guo Xingquan, I don't know when he turned into a small leader of the local maintenance association, with a leather whip in his hand, an open gown, and a belt around his waist, he walked into the Zhou family compound with seven or eight people swaggering, and he had a scar on his head with a bowl, which was smashed by Shu Zhi with a stone on that stormy night. He deliberately lifted the hem of his clothes, revealing the pistol on his waist, raised his toes, pushed away the obstruction of the Zhou family, and walked into the hall.

As soon as Mrs. Zhou saw him, her body was shocked, her face was solemn, and she frowned, Master Zhou looked at his posture and knew that he was not good, but he thought that there was nothing to be sorry for this Guo Xingquan, so he asked: "Guo Xingquan, what are you going to do?" ”

Before Guo Xingquan could speak, a sharp-beaked monkey gills, thin and lean, and an attendant named Wu San took the lead in the first step, staring at Master Zhou and shouting: "This is Captain Guo of our security team, you dare to call him by his name?" ”

Master Zhou didn't pay attention to him, just stared at Guo Xingquan.

Guo Xingquan pushed Wu San away and said, "Hey, hey, I'm an old acquaintance with Master Zhou, don't shout." Wu San hurriedly nodded with a smile on his face and retreated.

Guo Xingquan grinned, "snorted" from his nostrils, tilted his neck, squinted at Master Zhou, hugged his fists very casually, and said, "Master Zhou, don't come unharmed?" It's still so rich and leisurely, leisurely. ”

The second elder of the Zhou family didn't talk, Guo Xingquan said leisurely: "Yo, it seems that Master Zhou doesn't welcome me, okay, then I'll make a long story short, I came today to go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing, there are a few things you can listen to." First, hand over Meng Shuzhi's rabbit cub to me, second, let Yanxi go with me, and third, return to me the one hundred taels of gold hidden in my cabin in the backyard. ”

"What? One hundred taels of gold?! Master Zhou stood up from the chair, his eyes widened, and he stared at Guo Xingquan's face.

"Yes, I collected a hundred taels of gold in the cabin, I'll go get it now, if it's not there," Guo Xingquan sneered at the corner of his mouth: "You stole it." ”

Old Man Zhou slapped the table angrily, he knew that Guo Xingquan was playing tricks, and wanted to knock himself hard, pointed at him and said, "Guo Xingquan, where did you get a hundred taels of gold?" You're clearly trying to blackmail! ”

"Hey, you don't care how my gold came from, but if it is lost at your house, then your family will have to pay for it."

"Hmph, if you say nothing, who can prove that you have a hundred taels of gold in our house?" Master Zhou did not show weakness, straightened up and said sharply.

"Of course there is, your wife's girl Yanxi can testify!"

"What, Yanxi?" Master Zhou was startled by Guo Xingquan's one hundred taels of gold lion's big mouth, and at this time he was thinking about Guo Xingquan's first two conditions, Shu Zhi? Wild goose? Why did he want the two of them? How many things does the Zhou family not know? He turned his head to Mrs. Zhou suspiciously, Yanxi is Mrs. Zhou's personal maid, will Mrs. Zhou not know at all? The doubts in Master Zhou's heart spread like a halo, he looked at his wife's expression, she didn't look at him, just looked ahead, turned the rosary in her hand, and didn't say a word, this is not like Mrs. Zhou, who was shrewd and capable, rigid and soft in the past.

"Go, go and call me Yanxi!" Master Zhou commanded loudly.

After a while, Yanxi hurriedly ran to the hall, but when he looked up and saw Guo Xingquan standing in the hall with a bunch of people, his face turned pale all of a sudden, his legs and feet were weak, and he held on to the door frame.

"Yo! Yanxi, then I didn't see you, did you miss me? Guo Xingquan walked up to her with a hippie smile, grabbed her arm, and dragged her to the center of the hall.

"Tell the master of the Zhou family, do I have a hundred taels of gold in the cabin in my backyard?" Guo Xingquan's hand pinched like an eagle's claw, and Yanxi's arm was numb.

"This ......" Yanxi's pale face was full of panic, and her eyes for help turned to Mrs. Zhou, seeing that Mrs. Zhou did not react, she couldn't help but shout softly: "Mrs., Mrs." ”

"Now it's time to ask you, what are you calling your wife for?" Master Zhou said sharply, his face was already full of anger: "Guo Xingquan, you let her go and let her speak!" ”

Guo Xingquan pushed Yan Xi away and shouted, "Say! ”

Yan Xi looked at the angry Master Zhou in a panic, and then glanced at the fierce Guo Xingquan in horror, and after a long time, he nodded and said, "Yes, Guo Xingquan has one hundred taels of gold in his wooden house......

"How do you know that he has a hundred taels of gold in the house? Have you ever been in his house? Master Zhou asked, he didn't believe Yanxi's words at all.

"Because I'm ...... Because I ......," Yanxi lowered her head and hesitated.

"Because she's my concubine! Huh." Guo Xingquan stepped forward and hugged Yanxi, proudly showing a fearless lewd smile. Master Zhou looked at Yan Xi in surprise, but he never imagined that what happened next would cause his world to be reversed and the wind and clouds to change color.