Zheng Jieming opened the box and found that the letter and bank card were still there, but the whereabouts of the small golden key were unknown.

"What do you mean, could it be that it's for the key?" Zheng Jieming thought suspiciously, he didn't know his sister Zheng Zhilan's intention to leave this small key, "Could it be that there is still a great property in the family waiting for me to inherit?" ”

Zheng Jieming thought about it, but didn't understand, so he simply put the box away and continued to check if the other things in the room were missing.

"This is your photo album?" Wei Zilong took out a large photo album from the lower level of the bookcase, and he flipped through it casually.

The first page of the album is a family portrait, but this is a photo of Zheng Jieming and Zheng Zhilan when they were very young, when Zheng Zhilan was slightly older, and Zheng Jieming was still wearing open crotch pants. Parents sit in the back, looking young and in high spirits.

Turning back the page, there are almost no more pictures of the family together. There are some separate photos of the siblings who are very smart, and there are also photos of the mother with two people. Wei Zilong kept flipping backwards until one of the photos caught his attention.

In this photo, Zheng Jieming obviously just had a fight with someone else, his face was blue and swollen, his left eye was swollen, and his nostrils were still bleeding.

"Who took this one?" Wei Zilong picked up the album and asked Zheng Jieming.

Zheng Jieming didn't even look at it, so he knew that he was talking about the photo of himself after being beaten.

"My sister took it." Zheng Jieming replied.

"Your sister? Ruthless enough, huh? Seeing that you were beaten like this, not to mention helping you get your wounds first, and then helping you take revenge, I took pictures. ”

"Because she was beaten like this." Zheng Jieming replied helplessly.

Wei Zilong's expression was complicated, and he coaxed the flesh on his cheeks, "Your sister? Isn't it...... That's the one..."What he wanted to say was the woman he met in Lan Yuting who came in a military vehicle and shot at everyone.

"That's right, it's her." Zheng Jieming didn't wait for Wei Zilong to finish asking, he looked at the photo and recalled the situation when he was a child, when he was playing with the children in the courtyard, he made a bet with others at that time, betting that whoever could jump from the top of the fence to the top of the coal mountain piled high by the family in the courtyard would win.

At that time, every household was burning coal, and many people piled up a lot of coal in their yards.

Zheng Jieming made a bet with the little brother in the same hospital, and Zheng Jieming couldn't remember the bet clearly.

Zheng Jieming's father was on the battlefield of the war between China and You, and the adults were always paying attention to the battlefield news and war reports, for fear that the construction of Zhongzhou for many years would be ruined, for fear that the military strength of Zhongzhou would not be able to resist the invasion of Youguo, and even more afraid that the war would spread from the border to the hinterland. No one had time to pay attention to the wild children playing wildly in the yard.

Both of them jumped from the fence to the coal mountain, and both of them threw themselves on the high coal pile, and then both rolled down from the coal pile in embarrassment, both with black faces.

Since there was no winner or loser, the two men fought in the courtyard to decide the male and female.

In the final result, Zheng Jieming won.

He returned to the house covered in coal black and scars, and entered the house head-on, but the door was not closed.

"Mom? Sister? I am back. Zheng Jieming stepped into the house, but felt that the atmosphere at home was solemn, and a strange soldier was standing at home.

He will always remember his mother's strange expression at that time, but at the same time, he will never remember his mother's real appearance. The weight of that strange expression was so heavy in his mind that his mother's normal voice and smile became more and more blurred as time passed.

It was an extremely distorted face, and it was impossible to tell whether it was sadness, sadness, or relief. She stood, facing the strange soldier, but her toes were rushing into the room, as if trying to escape from the conversation with the man.

"Mom? Who is he? Zheng Jieming didn't know what was going on, so he asked casually.

His mother did not answer Mr. Cheng.

Zheng Zhilan was also in the house at this time, she seemed to be present all the time, heard the conversation between the soldier and her mother, turned her head and looked at Zheng Jieming. Zheng Jieming noticed that there were tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Sister? What's going on? Zheng Jieming's intuition was that it seemed that something very bad had happened to his mother.

Zheng Zhilan was sad, angry, and sad in her heart, watching Zheng Jieming come in with an embarrassed face, didn't say anything, wiped the corners of her eyes, and called Zheng Jieming downstairs.

"What happened just now, sister? Is there something wrong? Something must be going on? Do you hear me? Tell me about it? Zheng Jieming was very anxious.

Zheng Zhilan didn't answer him, but asked, "You just fought?" ”

"You answer me first! I'll ask first! ”

"You just got into a fight?!" Zheng Zhilan continued to ask.

"Who the hell is that guest up there??"

"I ask you if you just got into a fight?" Zheng Zhilan finally asked.

"Yes! So what!? ”

Before Zheng Jieming's words fell, Zheng Zhilan punched him in the face.

"What are you doing??" Zheng Jieming raised his head, wiped his nosebleed, and looked at his sister with anger on his face.

Zheng Zhilan frowned and raised her fist again.

Zheng Jieming couldn't bear it, and the two sisters and brothers scuffled like this. At the end, both of them were full of colors.

"What do you mean!!" Zheng Jieming was pressed to the ground by Zheng Zhilan and shouted loudly.

Zheng Zhilan's mouth moved, but she didn't say anything.

"What the hell is going on?" Zheng Jieming asked again.

“…… Dad......" Zheng Zhilan said vaguely.

"What's wrong? What do you mean!? Zheng Jieming heard Zheng Zhilan mention his father, and a strange haze swept to his heart.

"He died in battle, he was shot and died." Zheng Zhilan bit her lower lip, and the nosebleed dripped on Zheng Jieming's face. She was in the house just now, and when she first heard the news, she had already shed tears, and at this time she had a fight with Zheng Jieming, and her emotions were vented a lot.

Zheng Jieming's mind was like a thunderbolt from the sky, he was pressed to the ground, and he felt that the ground seemed to shake.

"Get out of here!! You liar!! Zheng Jieming pushed Zheng Zhilan away and rushed to the house desperately, wanting to find his mother to verify whether what his sister said was true.

But he ran into the soldier who had come to his house to report the news at the entrance of the building.

The soldier was dressed in a green military uniform with a hat tucked under his armpit.

Zheng Jieming didn't say anything, and used his small body to crash into the soldiers.

The soldier was wearing a military uniform, and he didn't do anything, just dodged to the side, Zheng Jieming's foot was stopped by the threshold at the door, and he fell a dog to chew.

The soldier bent down and pulled him up, but Zheng Jieming wanted to grab the soldier with his backhand, his fingernails grabbed the soldier's clothes, and the soldier buttoned his hat to the top of his head and buckled Zheng Jieming's wrists.

"Where's my dad!! Where's my dad!? Zheng Jieming asked the soldier.

He ...... In a good place, a good place. The soldier looked at Zheng Jieming with clear eyes and a sincere face.

Zheng Zhilan rushed back and grabbed Zheng Jieming's collar, "Follow me upstairs!" ”

The soldier let go of Zheng Jieming's wrist, and Zheng Jieming looked at the soldier with a helpless and angry expression.

"You go." Zheng Zhilan looked at the soldiers.

The soldier took off his hat, bent down slightly, and walked out of the corridor.

Zheng Zhilan took Zheng Jieming back upstairs, and their mother was sitting on the sofa.

"Mom, what's wrong with my dad?" Zheng Jieming did not dare to be wild in front of his mother, but stood in front of his mother respectfully.

The mother seemed to be thinking about something, not saying a word, not moving.

Click!

A loud sound interrupted Zheng Jieming's inquiry.

Zheng Jieming turned his head and saw that Zheng Zhilan didn't know when she took out her camera, she had just taken a photo of herself.

"Oops, my hands are shaking." Zheng Zhilan said, taking advantage of Zheng Jieming to turn his head to look at her, and took another photo.

"What are you doing...... Sister? Why take a photo ......? Zheng Jieming's mind was in a mess, and he looked at Zheng Zhilan in confusion.

"Don't ask, let Mom be quiet." Zheng Zhilan put down the camera, looked at her mother, and took Zheng Jieming, whose face was covered with blood, to the toilet to clean the blood and coal marks on his face.

Zheng Jieming can't remember what kind of person his original mother was, but what he can know is that since that day, their mother has changed, becoming a different person, leaving early and returning late, and rarely has time to take care of the two siblings.

"Where does Mom go every day?" Zheng Jieming didn't know where his mother, who had left work early, had gone now, and he hadn't even seen his mother crying.

All he knew was that every day he almost fell asleep and his mother had just come home. And when Zheng Jieming got up in the morning to go to school, his mother was no longer at home.

Only my sister was able to see her mother a few times. Her sister Zheng Zhilan took on the responsibility of taking care of Zheng Jieming, even though she still had to go to school, study, and take exams......

Until the night of Zheng Jieming's thirteenth birthday......

Zheng Zhilan ordered a very small and delicate cake for Zheng Jieming early, round, white cream with red happy birthday written on it, a circle of cream flowers around, and thirteen candles in the middle, the two of them have been eagerly waiting for their mother to come back, wanting her to light the candles for Zheng Jieming and cut the cake.

But that night, Zheng Jieming had already eaten up the cream flowers on the surface, and his mother still didn't come back.

Even the next day, she didn't come back.

"Do you need to call the police?" Zheng Jieming asked Zheng Zhilan worriedly.

"No, if she wants to come back, she will come back." Zheng Zhilan also said without a bottom in his heart.

On the third day, she didn't come back, and my sister didn't go to class that day, so she took a day off but didn't tell the school teacher the real reason. She didn't know where her mother worked, only that she was also a soldier, and she didn't know where to find her mother, so she just went around a few times at the door of the unit to which the army belonged near her home.

Day 4...... In the tears of the siblings, she still did not come back......

On the fifth day, the siblings ate the little cake coldly--if they didn't eat it, they were afraid that it would be spoiled, and in fact the cream was already spoiled.

It wasn't until the sixth day that the local police came to the door that the two siblings learned that their mother had indeed disappeared.