The rain was heavy and light, and it rained for a day and a night, and the three of them walked slowly for a while, and walked for a day and a night.

Because of the rain, the enemy planes did not harass them, and they began to walk along the main road. In the evening, he was attacked twice by the returning group, and once there was no one in sight, only a few shots were fired from the side crops; The second time he heard the gunshot, and saw a person in white in the sorghum field shaking for a moment, Yi Yan shouted: "Set up a machine gun, come up in the second shift!" "Two shots were returned with a bang, and the enemy ran away. They no longer dared to move along the road, but could only move far along the road, and advance step by step in the crops. At night, when the rain was heavy, the three of them walked hand in hand again. I eat a meal of fried noodles in the middle, and I also send it to my mouth while walking. In the middle of the night, the feet have turned from mud to pools, and one step down does not reach the knee, this leg is pulled out, and the other foot is sunk in, and after three or five steps, you have to stop and take two breaths. The shoes and gauze on Yu Jie's feet had long been pulled off by the mud, and she couldn't touch them. Fortunately, her feet were numb, and she could bear more than the pain, but when it was almost dawn, her stomach cramped again, and she was so cold that she knocked her teeth.

Yi Yan held her hand, felt her trembling all over, and asked softly, "What's wrong with you?" ”

"Nothing?"

"Is it a stomach problem again?"

"It's not amazing!"

Yi Yan reached out and touched her forehead, sighed and said, "Oops! You have a fever. ”

Xiao Gao said, "Stand down and rest for a while." ”

They touched a tree, and the three of them huddled together and stood with their backs against the tree. As soon as she stood down for a while, Yu Jie made two vague ** sounds, and her legs bent down. Xiao Gao called out to her, and she shivered and stood up again, saying, "I'm asleep!" ”

"I'm going to fall asleep any longer," Yi Yan said, "let's go." I'll take you and I, let's find a place to shelter from the rain and camp. If you go like this, no one can hold on. ”

They walked for about half an hour with the belt, and when the sky was bright, they saw a melon field beside the road, supporting a shack, and ran over. They screamed twice, but no one spoke, so they opened the straw curtain and bent down to get in. Except for a straw bunk and a pile of ashes burning, there was nothing. Yu Jie rushed over when she saw the grass shop and shouted, "Mom! I climbed on the grass and closed my eyes, and after a while, I made a vague **. Yi Yan picked up the ashes, and when she saw that there were still sparks, she grabbed a handful of grass from the bunk and put it on, tilted her head and blew it, and after a while she blew the fire.

"Xiao Gao, don't sleep yet," she said, pushing Xiao Gao, who was sitting on the side and napping, "change the civilian clothes in your backpack." Take off the wet military uniform and dry it, so that you will get sick when you sleep like this. ”

She also opened her backpack, took out the acting costume, woke up Yu Jie, personally helped her change into it, stretched Yu Jie's military uniform outside the door, twisted it, and sat opposite Xiao Gao to roast the fire. Xiao Gao first held his military uniform with both hands, then put his two elbows on his knees, and after a while, he let go of his hands, threw his clothes to his feet, tilted his head and snored. Yiyan couldn't bear to wake her up again, so he gently pulled her military uniform over and put it on his lap, holding Yu Jie's military uniform in his hand, adding to the fire and roasting it happily. It didn't take long for her to be surrounded by white vapor, her body was warm, and her eyelids were heavy. She dozed off a few times with her clothes up, and quickly shook her head and stood up, wanting to breathe a breath of cool air outside to wake herself up. When I got my head out of the shack, I saw a white fog, and I couldn't even see the trees on the avenue. She returned to the inside, pushed Xiao Gao and said, "No, if we all fall asleep like this, we will make a mistake." ”

Xiao Gao rubbed his eyes and looked at her with dementia, as if he didn't understand anything.

"You are in good spirits, and when your clothes are almost baked, you will go outside to sentry, so that Yu Jie can have a good rest." Yi Yan said, "I have to go out to reconnoitre, the fog is very thick outside, don't let anything happen." ”

"Hmm."

"I still want to take the opportunity to get a livestock or something, how can Yu Jie move forward like this? She's run out of power. ”

"I'll go! I'm an expert in this set. ”

"I'll go, this is an enemy-occupied area, and I don't feel at ease with your carelessness. If anything happens, you don't have to wait for me, just follow the road to the west. I'm looking for you on both sides of the road, and the contact signal is still you learn to call a turtledove, and I'll blow the timpani. The target is the canal bank. ”

Yu Jie had already woken up with stomach pain, and when she heard this, she got up and said, "Captain, don't bother about me, I can persevere." ”

Yi Yan helped her lie down and said, "You have persevered very well, I believe you can continue, but our speed is too slow." I'm going to think of a way, and as long as there are people, I can always come up with a way. ”

Yu Jie said: "In this way, you rest here, I'll go first; You'll catch up with me after you've rested, so I'll be a little less of a drag on you. ”

Xiao Gao said: "Forget it, how can you go alone?" Somewhere, you won't even throw a grenade. With us, we will never ask you to go on an adventure alone. ”

Yi Yan said: "I also need to go to reconnoiter the situation, we were attacked twice yesterday, and we got away with it." The enemy forces on both sides of the railway are stronger, and it is impossible to walk blindly without finding out the situation. ”

Yu Jie sighed and said no more. Yi Yan put all his things on his back, his violin on his shoulder, two grenades pinned into his belt, and a Canadian pistol in his hand, and got out of the shack. Xiao Gao sent her out, and then looked at the terrain in front of and behind the shack. Listening with his ears sideways, there was no movement, and when he returned to the shack, Yu Jie was crying with her head on her arm.

Xiao Gao wanted to get angry, remembered Yiyan's instructions to her, endured it again, sighed and sat down to pout and roast the fire.

The more Yu Jie cried, the more she spoke, and Xiao Gao couldn't help it.

"Hungry to eat, sleepy to sleep, if you have an opinion, you can cry!"

Yu Jie said softly: "I'm sorry for you! ”

"Oh my God! This is a revolution, who is sorry for whom? We can't catch up with the team, I'm sorry Mr. Chen, there's nothing else to be sorry for! ”

"I caused the fall behind this time. And because I'm tired of you, you can't catch up with the team soon! ”

"What if I win? Do you take me or not? ”

"Of course."

"You take me and I owe you a favor!" Yu Jie, who was crying, was asked and laughed by Xiao Gao.

"You are dragging your stomach and rotten feet to walk, you are doing revolution; I march with you, and I am also doing revolution. Isn't it all about overthrowing Chiang Kai-shek and establishing New China? Who owes whom a favor? If this is not the case among comrades, what should it be? I can't think of it! ”

This sentence reminded Yu Jie of some incomprehensible points in Yiyan's character.

She said to Xiao Gao: "I ask you a secret, can you tell it?" ”

Xiao Gao said: "I have no secrets from my comrades. ”

"Do you know when Yiyan memorized the words of my role and practiced his status?" Yu Jie said, "She really showed her hand that day, saving the scene was like fighting a fire, if she hadn't been on top, the whole scene would have come back for me." But I wondered, how could she be so prepared? ”

"What's the secret?" Xiao Gao said, "She memorized the words by teleprompting, and wrote down the status when she made the field notes." It's nothing more than before you get up and after you go to bed, she just practices in the rehearsal room alone. The real secret you don't know yet. ”

"And the secrets?"

"Let me tell you, not only is she preparing for your role, but she has memorized the lines of all the female characters in the play, and she has memorized all the status."

"Really?"

"She asked me to be a prosecutor and sang to me, and walked to me! She said that she had returned to the play because of the actor's temporary illness, and the soldiers who had happily come to see the play went back dejectedly. Since then, no matter what play she rehearses, she has prepared the roles played by others. Knowing who has a problem, no matter who has an accident temporarily, she can stand it! ”

"That's ......"

"Don't say what I'm talking about. She will criticize me now when she has the opportunity, and I will become a pickle for her to eat. Xiao Gao snorted and said, "I gave you a few opinions, and she also criticized me." I have my rights! The wrong opinion means that my level is not high, what is she anxious about! If you're so worried, you're not afraid of gray hair! ”

Yu Jie was very guilty, and really felt the difference between herself and Yiyan in terms of character, and she also somewhat understood how to understand the phrase "ideological transformation is not easy". In the past, when she heard these four words, she always thought that she was referring to someone else, and she gave up the comfortable life in Shanghai and went to the liberated area to work for the revolution wholeheartedly. Now it seems that it will take some effort to transform into a frank and selfless Zhou Yiyan. She looked forward to Yiyan coming back, no matter how tense the situation was, she also said what was in her heart, and seriously made amends to her, although she didn't say it, but in her heart she wronged her and insulted her.

After a few more gossips, Yu Jie's heavy mood shifted a little, so she sat up and said, "You can sleep for a while, I'll keep guard." ”

"Alright, alright, God!" Xiao Gao held her down and said, "It's the task left to me by the detachment leader to ensure that you rest well, and I don't dare to leave my post without permission." ”

Yu Jie said that her feet were uncomfortable with the dry mud and she had to go out and wash them. Xiao Gao told her that there was a field of hemp in the south, and that there were puddles wherever hemp was grown. After Yu Jie left, she picked up the fire again, took the military uniform and continued to roast, and then she leaned forward and closed it again. A puff of smoke woke her up, and half of her military sleeve had been burned off. She hurriedly threw it on the ground and trampled it with her foot, and saw that the straw bunk was still empty. It's been a long time, Yu Jie hasn't come back yet, she must have had another stomach problem, and hurriedly got out of the shack to find her. Walking out of the shack, she raised her arm and stretched her waist first, but before her arm fell, she heard someone shouting in the east: "Child, come here!" ”

Xiao Gao turned his head to see that two Kuomintang bandits wearing cowhide hats were standing on the head of the melon field. She looked down and saw that she was wearing plain clothes, and there were no flaws to be found, so she swaggered towards the two bandits.

"What for?" A tall bandit soldier asked, holding a gun.

"Living in a melon shack, what do you say?" Xiao Gao rolled his eyes, "Look at Guabei!" ”

A monkey-faced bandit army took two steps into the field, kicked a large watermelon with his foot and asked, "Is the melon ripe?" ”

Xiao Gao saw that he was looking for melons to eat, and he had more ideas in his heart. In order to give Yu Jie a signal, lest she suddenly appear, she shouted loudly: "Hey, I said the boss of the national army, that's something that sells money, why are you kicking!" ”

"What are you calling?" The monkey kicked the watermelon out of the way with a kick in the face, "Kick the melon? Call Lao Tzu and kick people again! ”

"Hey, your national army is not calling it for robbing people!" Xiao Gao raised his voice even louder, "What kind of ability is bullying children!" ”

At this time, someone on the avenue shouted: "What's the matter?" ”

Xiao Gao looked at it and stood up as an officer wearing a big cap. Looking at it again, the shadow was long and the line was squatting underground to rest. Xiao Gao secretly shouted: "It's not good! "The first thought was to lure them away, and we must not let them enter the shack and see military uniforms and scattered objects, let alone let them find Yu Jie.

The tall bandit Jun Lizheng said: "Report to the company commander, there is a child watching melons here." ”

"Bring it, bring it!" The commander of the bandit company shouted, "What are you calling there!" ”

"Little bunny!" The monkey glanced at Xiao Gao with a slanted face, and kicked three or four watermelons in one breath angrily, "I'll settle accounts with you when I turn back." ”

The big man whispered, "If you don't eat it, forget it, what are you doing with it?" It's not easy for ordinary people to plant melons! ”

Monkey Face said, "You don't have to be nosy! ”

The two bandits escorted Xiao Gao to the main road. Xiao Gao looked at it, light machine guns, 60 guns, a whole company of troops.

"Little cub!" The bandit company commander asked, "What are you shouting?" ”

"Your boss kicks my melon, and I am not allowed to shout!"

"If you want to comfort the national army first, will he still kick?"

The bandit company commander looked at the bandits on both sides, and the bandits laughed flatteringly. Kodaka pursed his lips.

The bandit company commander suppressed his smile and asked, "Which village are you from?" ”

"North Wang Village!"

"Look at melons here every day?"

"I've been watching it for half a month."

"Have you seen the team in the past two days?"

"Nope."

"You're lying!"

"What am I lying about!"

"These footprints on the ground, the hoofs of animals, will you not see them when you live in a shack? Say! Are you pretending to be a melon watcher, or are you protecting the Eighth Route Army and not telling the truth? ”

"If you want to say that I am the eighth road, you go to Wang Village to inquire, who doesn't know my fourth son Wang Xiaozi? If you want to say that I protect the eight roads, let alone the side, why didn't I see him protect him? ”

"They've been here, why haven't you seen that?"

"Passing through the line in the middle of the night, I know which side it is? When we saw the soldiers, we couldn't hide, and we stuck out our heads to see? ”

"And you've heard about the team?"

"I hear you."

"How many of us?"

"The night before yesterday."

"How many are there?"

"How many people can you hear just by hearing?"

"To the east or to the west?"

"I can't hear it."

"Didn't you go to the melon field to eat melons?"

"It's raining in the middle of the night, who eats melons!"

The bandit company commander took out a cigarette roll and put it in his mouth, lit it, took two puffs and asked, "Last night, someone from the east saw three women coming over." There was also a bearded man who also came with dozens of communist troops. ”

"I didn't see it."

"Why didn't you see it again?"

"I didn't wake up until these two bosses came to my melon field, and I slept all night."

The monkey face said, "Nonsense, you woke up early." ”

"I didn't run when I woke up early, waiting for you to bully me?"

"You're sassing again!" The monkey raised his fist in the face, but the bandit company commander shook his head and told him to step aside.

"Since you are a local, you must be familiar with the Tao. How far is the Xianggong store? ”

"Two miles to the land!"

"Say you're pretending to be Xiao Balu, this time it's exposed!" The bandit company commander took out his pistol and rushed at Xiao Gao, "Tell the truth! ”

The big man muttered on the side: "Who doesn't know the Xianggong store, there are still about twenty miles away from here!" ”

A group of bandits surrounded them and shouted, "Tell the truth, don't say shoot you." ”

"Who said that you are looking for someone to go to twenty miles!" Xiao Gao said while calculating, "My Xianggong store is not that far away!" ”

"How far exactly?"

"Ten miles of land is there!"

"Why do you say Erli?"

"I'm afraid you'll catch me to lead the way, get closer, and you won't have to lead the way."

The bandit company commander smiled and picked up his gun. The bandits also put their guns down.

"Kid, can you still play tricks with me?" The bandit company commander laughed, "I didn't say it, show us the way, let's go!" ”

"Just going?"

"How to get there? I also take eight sedan chairs to carry you! ”

"I'm not allowed to take a piece of dry food with me?"

"We'll have dinner in the next village!" The bandit company commander said, "There's something for you to eat!" ”

As soon as the bandit company commander shouted, the squatting bandits all stood up. Xiao Gao thought to himself: It's good to lure the bandit army away like this, so as not to expose Yu Jie, but if you don't give Yu Jie an explanation, you won't fulfill your responsibility. She pondered for a while and said, "Sir, that shack is not far from here, how much time can it be delayed?" Shall I go and get a piece of dry food, bring a hat, and bring you a big watermelon to quench your thirst when I come back? ”

"You've got a lot of ideas!" The bandit company commander bowed his chin to the big man and the monkey face, "Go with him, don't leave one step!" This kid always has to go back to the shack, is he going to make trouble, go there and take a closer look! ”

When he came to the ground, Xiao Gao said, "The field is muddy, you two just wait here, and I'll come when I go." ”

The big tall man said hello and stopped. But the monkey face said: "No, the company commander said that he would not leave one step and go together!" ”

The big man saw that the monkey's face was quite serious, so he had to follow in.

Xiao Gao entered the ground, first picked two large watermelons, and hugged one for each of the two bandits. She thought, "Hold their hands first, and if they really find out the situation, they don't have time to raise their guns, so I will clean them up with a grenade." She figured out how she could block the view of the bandits when she got into the shack, so that they couldn't find anything like a military uniform. Approaching the shack, there was a smell of burnt paste coming from inside. Xiao Gao thought to himself that the smell would dissipate slowly on a rainy day, and the smell of burning his sleeves just now was quite strong. She bent down and lifted the straw curtain and stretched her head out, and ho, not only was she choking on breath, but the room was full of white smoke, and she couldn't see anything. It turned out that she was hairy, and she didn't extinguish the fire on her sleeve just now, but now it is burning again.

The monkey face followed Xiao Gao and poked his head into the shack, and immediately coughed back and scolded: "What kind of mosquito do you smoke in broad daylight!" ”

Xiao Gao wrote the words "Go quickly, to the west" on the ground with a firewood stick, and said loudly: "Boss, the smoke is not big, come in and stay for a while!" ”

"Don't play poor, hurry up!"

Xiao Gao stepped on the fire again, and hid his bag of dry food under the grass. Thinking of ruining a few watermelons in the villager, he wrote the word "melon money" with a charcoal stick. She flipped the grenade in her hand, thinking to herself, Yu Jie will act alone in the future, and this thing should be left to her. The bandits have grenades on them, and they are not afraid that they will not be able to get them when they really need them. I put it in a prominent place. He found a collar of tattered clothes from the straw bunk, grabbed it and put it under his arm, and got out of the shack.

The monkey's face kept urging outside: "Hurry up, hurry up." Xiao Gao said: "Just say fast, can you open your eyes inside?" I haven't found any food yet. ”

They returned to the avenue. Although Xiao Gao didn't know whether Xianggongdian was in the east or west, he knew that the Kuomintang officials had always marched to the front and fought behind. As soon as he saw the bandit company commander standing at the west end, he said, "Let's go!" "Lead to the west. The bandit company commander took the lead, followed by a whole company of Americanized troops.