The climate in the south of the Yangtze River is considered to be a real midwinter after the winter solstice.

On the road, I saw that the brown ground had been solidified by frost, and if the soles of my shoes were thin, stepping on them would hurt the soles of my feet; Under the eaves along the street, ice edges are first seen, like rows of soldiers of different heights, waiting to be reviewed; The cold, dry air was filled with the pungent smell of gunsmoke, adding to the sporadic streets of the already depressed streets.

Zhu Yuliang's belly grew bigger and bigger like a balloon, from the original flat and round to abrupt and firm. As a result of her insistence on corrective exercises, her fetal position is continuing to move in the established direction.

"Jingjing! You're so thick! When you come to the world, you refuse to let your head fall first, and you have to land with your feet. If you are so stubborn, your mother will suffer hardship, and you yourself will also suffer. You know? Naughty ghost! Whenever the "Jingjing" in the stomach kicked her mother, Zhu Yuliang had to count down "her" a few words.

The weather is getting colder and colder, and Zhu Yuliang has put on the new cotton shoes that his mother made for her in advance this year, stepped on the slippery road, and walked to work as usual. As the saying goes: people are poor and poor in debt, and the weather is cold in the wind. Sometimes, a biting cool breeze swept into her cuffs, making her whole body shiver as if she were taking a cold shower, and immediately she had the embarrassment of urgency to urinate; Sometimes, the fierce wind made her breathless, closed her mouth for a long time, and hiccuped, as if she had pricked a long fierce son in the water; Sometimes, a gust of sand knocked her blind, and she had to lower her head and grit her teeth, and burrow forward like a fat-headed fish floating against the current......

At this time in previous years, it was the time when she and Wen Yuanfang began to prepare for the New Year's goods one after another, preparing to return to Xiaoyizhuang for the New Year. And this year, Xiaoyizhuang will definitely not be able to go back, firstly, because she is no longer suitable for squeezing the train with a big belly, and secondly, Wen Yuanfang has disappeared for ten days and a half months, not to mention letting him participate in the preparation of the New Year's goods, what is he busy with now, Zhu Yuliang also knows nothing.

Zhu Yuliang began to miss the previous few years of busy months in order to celebrate the New Year: the excitement when she rushed to buy the in-demand New Year's goods, the excitement when she returned to her parents' house with a large bag and a small bag, the joy of eating the vegetable buns made by her mother and the peanuts grown in her own field, and the joy of keeping the New Year with her brothers and sisters, and the pride that her mother showed when she and Wen Yuan received distinguished guests...... Now it's all like a dream, and there's nowhere to find it.

"I don't know where to spend the Chinese New Year this year!" She pondered this important question in confusion.

……

Throw away the old calendar and spread out the new one.

On New Year's Day, Zhu Yuliang deliberately took a day off and went to the street to buy some pork, tofu, green vegetables and peanuts, etc., because Wen Yuanfang promised her half a month ago that he would definitely come back to reunite with her on New Year's Day.

She was busy all afternoon and made a lot of dumplings stuffed with vegetables and meat, because she also wanted to send some to the Cai family. At dinner, Zhu Yuliang fried a few dishes, opened a bottle of home-brewed rice wine sent by Lou Cuiying, and waited for Wen Yuanfang to come home and celebrate the New Year with her.

She waited left and right, and when it was seven or eight o'clock, she did not see her husband. She was so disappointed and annoyed that she had to reheat the Shih Tzu tofu and eat the dinner with tears in her eyes.

At this time, Zhu Yuliang heard a rush of footsteps and entered Tongxin Pavilion, and she could hear Cai Fuguo's footsteps.

The door of the Wen family was pushed open with a "squeak", and Cai Fuguo broke in without knocking, and asked Zhu Yuliang eagerly: "Xiao Zhu, did you go to the butcher shop to buy meat today?" ”

"Yes. What's wrong? Zhu Yuliang asked in surprise.

'You're being followed!' The people of the Huang faction guessed that Wen Yuanfang was going back to Tongxin Pavilion tonight, preparing to arrest him, and he would be killed! I just came back from their set-up meeting. Cai Fu said very quickly in Chinese.

"What?" Zhu Yuliang spun around for a while, and was so frightened that he almost fell to the ground.

"You don't know, the 'Red Faction' and the 'Yellow Faction' are now fighting to the death, and both sides have guns in their hands. Just a few days ago, the two factions exchanged fire in Zhibu, and several people died on both sides. Wen Yuanfang is now the head of the 'red faction' in the Meichi area of Zhibu, and the leader of our 'yellow faction' threatens to kill him immediately if he is caught. Cai Fuguo still said very quickly. The intensity of the factional struggle in Jiyang has alarmed the above; But the situation is out of control and will not be resolved for a while. ”

"So what now? Wen Yuanfang said that he was coming back to have dinner with me tonight, but there was no one to see yet. What if he came back in the evening? Does Cai Ju know where he is now? Zhu Yuliang asked almost with a crying voice.

"I heard that he had already escaped from Meichi and may have fled to Shengxian. If he is smart enough, he should not show up in Jiyang during this time, let alone go back to Tongxin Pavilion to find you, nor will he take refuge in Tangfeng Village and all his relatives. Because, the 'Yellow faction' has made control on these points, waiting for him to come to the door. Cai Fuguo said with a solemn face.

"Cai Ju, save him! My child and I can't live without him, what should we do if he dies? Zhu Yuliang cried and pleaded.

"Meijuan should be back soon, when she comes back, we will discuss countermeasures! It is not right for me to stay with you for a long time; Otherwise, they'll suspect I'm tipping you off. After Cai Fuguo finished speaking, he flashed into his house.

After a while, Chen Meijuan dragged her tired body back to Tongxin Pavilion from the canteen of Jiyang Middle School. After Zhu Yuliang heard the footsteps, he hurriedly cooked a large pot of dumplings and brought it over.

While eating dumplings, the three of them discussed how to help Wen Yuanfang get out of danger if he went home in the middle of the night tonight.

……

Cai Fuguo went out after eating dumplings, and after more than an hour, he returned to Tongxin Pavilion.

The temperature in the middle of the night was simply dripping into ice, Zhu Yuliang turned off the light and lay in the quilt, listening to the movement downstairs with his ears pricked up, and his heart kept "banging" and beating......

"Wrongdoer! Don't come back today! Don't come back during this time! If you come back today, I hope this plan doesn't fail! Maitreya Buddha's loving father, save us! Zhu Yuliang trembled and prayed repeatedly in his heart.

……

Sure enough, as Zhu Yuliang expected, Wen Yuanfang came to Tongxin Pavilion in the middle of the night. He was wrapped in a military coat, wore a military cotton cap, and wore a pair of liberation shoes on his feet. Indeed, this outfit is the least noticeable, because the men on the street are all dressed like this.

He quickly pulled out the key to open the door, only to find that the gate's Spiring lock was unlocked. He thought it was the door that his wife had left for him, so he swept it left and right with the peripheral vision of his eyes, and immediately flashed into the door, and carried the door and locked it gently, so as not to alarm the neighbors with the sound of closing and locking the door.

He crept to the door of his house, and was about to use the key to insert the lock hole when suddenly two men rushed out of Cai's house, and one arrow stepped up to cover his mouth and dragged him into the house.

Wen Yuanfang was shocked, and was thinking "It's over!" I was still ambushed in the end", I heard Cai Fuguo's low voice: "Don't make a noise!" You've been ambushed outside, but Xu Qingpei and I are ready to help you get out of danger. You quickly switch lines with him, then go out through the back door, go over the wall, and when you reach the fork in the road, remember to turn right, and walk on the main road and go straight to the train station. Inside this envelope are a hundred-yuan bill and a train ticket to Shanghai, and you can climb up if a train comes anyway. I've said hello to the ticket checker tonight, just show him this envelope and he'll let you in! Run for your life! Come back when the limelight is over! ”

The frantic kicking sound outside the gate made Wen Yuanfang immediately understand, and time did not allow him to think about it more, nor did he allow him to ask more. He quickly put on Xu Qingpei's coat, put on a mask, carried the envelope given to him by Cai Fuguo, climbed over the high wall of Tongxin Pavilion, and ran in the direction of the train station like the wind......

As soon as Wen Yuanfang climbed over the wall, the door of Tongxin Pavilion was kicked open...... Seven or eight men with submachine guns on their backs broke into the courtyard. At this time, the lights of the Cai family were also turned on.

The gang didn't say a word, kicked the door of Wen's house hard and ran upstairs...... They turned on the light and found that Zhu Yuliang, who was trembling on the bed, was the only one, and began to search the house. Under the bed, in the large closet...... They searched everywhere they could hide people; When he found that there was no one, he asked Zhu Yuliang viciously: "Where did Wen Yuanfang go?" We saw him enter the gate! ”

He ...... Half a month...... I didn't go home. I also...... I don't know...... Where is he. Zhu Yuliang replied with a trembling cry.

"Let's go! Go next door and have a look. Seven or eight people went downstairs with a crackle.

The door of Cai's house was wide open at this time, and Cai Fuguo and Xu Qingpei came out of the house and asked, "What did you find?" ”

"Why is Comrade Xu Qingpei here?" One of the group asked, confused.

"Hey! I'm reporting to my boss, why can't I be here? If I had a phone, I wouldn't have to run it in the middle of the night. People are frozen half to death! Didn't everyone sleep tonight? I'm too embarrassed to sleep at home! Hehe! Xu Qingpei pulled his military coat and said.

"Didn't you say yes? If I find Wen Yuanfang entering the door, I will turn on and off the light three times to report to you. You're too grassy, aren't you? Look at it, kick the door like this! Tomorrow you must send someone to fix it; Otherwise, when the time comes, let people go, don't blame me! ”

The gang saw that they had been waiting for the rabbit all night to no avail, so they had to drink a cup of tea at Cai's house and disperse.

……

"You can always tell me why you saved the enemy by now, right? Do you let your little brother die? After Xu Qingpei saw that the people of the "Yellow Faction" were gone, he asked Cai Fuguo straight to the point.

"Treating enemies doesn't necessarily mean ruining people's families! What I hate most is the practice of killing everything and leaving no stone unturned. I don't want to see the swords and swords in the Tongxin Pavilion that make some people heartbroken. Knowing that you will be sent to death when you come to the door, you have to risk death to go to an appointment with your wife, can you do it with such a love species? Cai Fuguo replied with mixed feelings.

"But you are soft-hearted now, and when you are in the hands of others, they may not be merciful to you! said that I would help you destroy the Three Kingdoms and rule the world, but when it came, the two of them were released and returned to the mountain. I really don't understand you! Xu Qingpei said dissatisfied, and he didn't even bother to use the honorific title "you".

"I repeat, I don't want to see people die, this is called do not do to others what you do not want to be done to yourself, it is also called a rat trap, you understand? I just want to see their wives separated and depressed to the end of their lives, which is called revenge and not revenge, do you understand? In the future, if the two of them are in our hands, you must make sure that they are safe, you understand? Cai Fu's Chinese language is gentle, showing a rare temptation to Xu Qingpei.

"I don't understand, the person I don't understand the most in the world is you. I only know that you have clear grievances and hatreds, excellent ability, and righteousness of your buddies...... But I've never seen a slimy man like you, a man who takes women seriously like this, a man who is so contradictory and tangled, loves someone inexplicably, hates someone inexplicably, in short, inexplicable; And my pig is even more inexplicable, but in my eyes there is only one master, you tell me to face east, I dare not face west, I don't know what I owe you in my previous life! Xu Qingpei said angrily.

Cai Fuguo laughed after hearing this: "People are inexplicable, you yourself say that you are inexplicable, right?" If people are not inexplicably wonderful, they are immortals. All right! If you follow me, I will naturally not let you suffer; Since we are destined to be brothers, let's keep doing it! Since we are all inexplicable, let's heed the call of our hearts and continue to be inexplicable! Oh, by the way, let's not do it after the business of the Material Bureau, stop immediately! The money is enough for us to make some money in the future, and more will be a disaster. Do you understand? ”

"Understood! Oh, my waist ...... I've never climbed such a high wall when I've grown so big, and it hurt so much that I had stars in my eyes when I fell down just now. ”

"Let me see, I'll put some plasters on you!"

It is said that when Wen Yuanfang ran to the train station, a train was about to arrive, and the passengers were receiving tickets to enter the station. He looked behind him and saw that there was no one chasing him, and quickly took out the envelope and flashed it at the ticket inspector. The ticket inspector pretended not to see it and let him go.

He saw that a train from Guangzhou to Nanjing had entered the station, so he desperately squeezed into it. He was tired, hungry, and frightened, and his thoughts were in a mess...... At this point, he just wanted to find a safe place to sleep first, and then slowly clear his mind......

Because his ticket is not this one, naturally there are no seats. So, he found a seat without luggage, got in, closed his eyes, and lay down on his back...... In the early hours of the morning, he woke up from the cold, shivering with cold, and his stomach was hungry. He thought to himself: Xu Qingpei's coat is not as warm as his military coat.

In the morning, Wen Yuanfang was really uncomfortable, so he had to climb out from under his seat. As soon as he saw that the station he stopped at was Shanghai, he didn't want to get off in Shanghai. Because, he didn't want to go to his cousin Wen Yuanzhen when he was down, although he had a relationship with this cousin since he was a child.

Do you want to go to Xiaoyizhuang? But when he thought of the seventy or eighty people living in his father-in-law's narrow bungalow, he was terrified. Besides, he didn't want his parents-in-law and his wife and siblings to see his death.

Wen Yuanfang decided to get off in Changzhou, after all, there was still his unfinished love there. So, he went to the fare car to renew the ticket to get off in Changzhou.