In August, Zhao Shiwei's brothers and sisters bid farewell to Huo Ran's mother and daughter.

"What? Reluctant? The old man of the Zhao family saw that Zhao Shiwei was not high in nature all day, and asked his son with concern after dinner, "You don't have any thoughts about her, do you?" I certainly can't accept that. ”。

Zhao Shiwei hurriedly waved his hand and denied: "You think too much." I regard Sister Xie as an elder worthy of respect. I was just...... I envied Sister Xie and said that I would leave. ”

Old Man Zhao closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, he knew his son's thoughts, the country was in danger, and the husband was responsible. He studied hard abroad for five years, and naturally looked forward to serving the country with his talents, but he was forced to stay in this small county town by himself and has been depressed.

"The ancients said, 'Parents are here, don't travel far'" The old man deliberately paused, looking at his son's depressed face, this child actually played tricks with himself, and tested him with Xie Mei, and saw that his son seemed to be completely disappointed before continuing: "There is a sentence behind 'There must be a way to travel'." You have great ambition and great courage. But courage is not just looking at the sky and flying upwards with one heart, but forgetting the feet. I want you to stay at home, just hoping to sharpen your character, don't forget, you were born here, you grew up here, and this land is your roots! ”

"Father!" Zhao Shiwei stood up excitedly and walked to his father: "I didn't understand it before, but now I remember it in my heart." ”

Old Man Zhao touched his hand, "Prepare and prepare, let's go." "When the child is older, he can no longer stay by his side, and he must always be let out to roam and run into walls, so that he can really become a towering tree.

The train was crowded with people, and Huo Ran desperately held Xiyue in his arms so that he was not scattered.

"Mother, there are so many people!" Xiyue said sullenly.

Huo Ran looked down at her little face flushed, couldn't help laughing, comforted her, and said, "Soon we will be in Beiping." ”

"Isn't Beiping very big?" The sunset moon is full of innocence and yearning.

"Of course! When you get to Beiping, you can go to school too! Huo Ran** on the top of her head, this child is all Xie Mei's sustenance, and he is sensible and distressing.

A hand quietly touched the cloth bag on Huo Ran's waist, and Huo Ran turned his head directly to look at the short man, his eyes were cold and gloomy.

The short man laughed wryly, squeezed left and right, and disappeared.

"Got it?" A man asked quietly.

"No, the idea is piercing, I've seen blood, and there's a knife on my body."

"Forget it, it's all for a bite of food, you can't lose your life, remind the brothers to be careful."

The train during the Republic of China was an encounter that Huo Ran had never thought of, thinking about the pain over the years, but it was not her luck to have more experiences than ordinary people?

In the starlight, Huo Ran worked hard and calculated the things to get out of the car one by one. Cheng Lan is definitely looking for it, but the first thing is to settle down with Xiyue and find a job. It is said that the salary of teachers in the Republic of China is not low, maybe she can apply for an arithmetic teacher.

After getting off the train, rickshaws crowded at the pick-up gate, shouting and greeting business.

Xiyue was clinging to Huo Ran's body, and her little hands were sweating slightly.

Huo Ran dragged his daughter through the sea of people without squinting, looked at each other's crooked clothes, and couldn't help laughing again.

Huo Ran half-squatted down in a corner and helped Xiyue sort out her clothes.

"Satsuki, what do you say we are going to do first?

Xiyue's cute head tilted her head slightly and counted the same as her fingers: "If you want to find a place to live, you want to find a school for Xiaoyue, and ...... Find Daddy. ”

Huo Ran was very satisfied, she didn't put finding Cheng Lan in the first place.

She walked in the ancient city with the setting moon, without the easy and quick steps of later generations, without the eyes of self-confidence and hope, the streets or the ragged poor people rushing to and fro sadly, or the rich people in luxurious clothes numbly pacing with birdcages, or casually scolding everyone like foreigners driving cattle and sheep.

Huo Ran has been in the Republic of China for nearly 7 months, and she knows what period this is, but she can't experience this kind of desperate numbness in that remote and comfortable small county town and that peaceful Western medical hall.

A Chinese who accidentally bumped into a foreigner was surrounded in the middle, punched and kicked, he wailed loudly, and no one around him stopped, and they all turned a blind eye and continued to walk their own way.

The trembling little hand reminded her that now she was not just Huo Ran, but also a mother. She closed her eyes fiercely, turned to leave, and couldn't bear to go away after all, Huo Ran quietly hid in a shop.

"Alas, it's the first time I've seen the eldest sister." The owner of the shop sighed and said, "We've been living here for a long time, and we're used to seeing too much." ”

Huo Ran bowed his head and was silent.

She watched the man being beaten from screaming loudly to begging for mercy, and the foreigners left happily.

Huo Ran was about to go out to help the injured person, but he didn't think that the person who was lying on the ground just now rolled on the ground and got up from the ground, spit out a mouthful of blood with a smile, and said triumphantly to the left and right: "This foreigner is stupid, he thought that the uncle would stop when he died, haha Uncle I lied to them, this beating, especially the beating of foreigners, I am an expert!" There was laughter one after another, and there was no more silent killing when he was beaten in front.

Huo Ran stopped, and his heart was churning with sorrow and sorrow.

"Mother, why is that uncle laughing? Doesn't he hurt? Yuzuki asked curiously, pointing to the man in the middle.

"Because he is proud, he laughs; Because he got used to it, he forgot about the pain. Huo Ran muttered.

Xiyue was puzzled: "What are the habits of being beaten?" How can the pain be forgotten? ”

Huo Ran asked himself in his heart, yes, why?

Huo Ran and Xiyue shuttled through the alleys, looking for his friend's address bit by bit according to the address given by Zhao Shiwei.

"Catch him!"

"Bastard! Fast! Don't let him run! ”

A few awkward sounds of Chinese came, and Huo Ran was shocked, it was the feeling of foreigners speaking Mandarin that they often heard on TV in later generations!

Huo Ran looked around, she was at an intersection, a door on the left was half-hidden, she no longer hesitated, and dragged Xiyue to hide in. Seeing that there was no one in the yard, she unceremoniously hid behind a pile of broken baskets, and carefully looked out through the crack in the door.

A young man who looked like a student appeared at the intersection in a bit of a panic, Huo Ran gritted his teeth and opened the door to greet the startled person.

The man did not hesitate when he heard the sound of an approaching chase from behind, and also got into the yard.

Huo Ran thought for a while, opened the door decisively, ran a few steps and fell at the intersection with an "oops", "Rushing to reincarnate or your mother is dead, don't look at the road, dare to hit the old lady!" Phew, damn thing"

patted the soil on his body, Huo Ran crossed his waist and scolded.

As he was scolding, five Japanese soldiers in military uniforms ran in front of him, and Huo Ran trembled timidly and limped to make way.

"Stop!" A Japanese soldier walked up to her and spoke in broken Chinese: "Madam, do you need help?" ”

Huo Ran smiled flatteringly: "No, no, no, don't bother you!" It was just a hairy boy who hit me. ”

"Oh, he ran away?"

Huo Ran spat a little indignantly: "The man who didn't plant, if he didn't run fast, he must let him lose money, the clothes I just bought!" Huo Ran cried twice, suddenly remembered that there was someone around him, and quickly put away his tears.

"This is something that must be apologized and compensated. Where did he go? The soldier asked.

Huo Ran said greedily: "Compensation? I bought this dress for ten yuan, and by the way, my wallet is gone! Huo Ran slapped his thigh and said with some excitement: "That must be a thief pretending to be a student!" I have thirty ...... in me No, it's forty oceans! ”

The soldier was a little impatient: "Tell me quickly, which direction did he go?" ”

Huo Ran shuddered and pointed in the direction of the west in fear.

"Let's go!"

A soldier whispered, "Will there be fraud?" ”

"The people here are afraid of death and greedy, go!"

"Yes!"

Confirming that no one came over, Huo Ran quickly returned to the room on the left.

Before she could push it, the door opened automatically.

Xiyue, a male student, and an old man with gray hair and a shawl, stood behind the door and watched her.