Twenty-first

On the day Qiusheng went to Changsha, it was drizzling. The day of March is like a child's face changing, the first two days were sunny and hot like summer, but on the 14th day it began to cool down sharply and it began to rain.

On the fifteenth, when the sky was just white and before dawn, Qiusheng packed up and went on the road. Lilac checked all kinds of items for Qiusheng over and over again, and her mother-in-law got up early in the middle of the night to make breakfast. Before dawn and breakfast, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were sent outside the courtyard gate. Lilac was reluctant to give up, held an umbrella and followed Qiusheng, and her mother-in-law saw the interest and returned to the house without words.

Lilac followed silently, and neither of them spoke, so they were sent to the lilac tree at the entrance of the fort two miles away. At this time, Lilac's feet were already muddy, and her clothes had already been wet by the rain, and she felt a little chilly in the spring cold.

Suddenly, a cold wind blew from the rain at the mouth of the river, and Lilac couldn't help but shiver. Qiusheng was a little aware, and hurriedly turned around to cover the clove with his body, the two stared at each other for a long time, and finally Qiusheng brushed the hair stained with fog and rain in front of the lilac's forehead with his hand, and whispered: "Lilac, go back!" Take good care of Mom. Lilac didn't say a word, and nodded her head a few times. Qiusheng turned around, quickened his pace, and gradually dissolved into the rain curtain until he blurred and disappeared.

The rain began to fall heavier, and Lilac returned home in the muddy fields. But Lilac would never have thought that this parting would be several years.

The day after Qiusheng's uncle and nephew entered the provincial capital of Changsha, the uncle took Xuzong and them to visit Director Liu, and the lunch was eaten at a famous restaurant in Changsha, and the section chief Yang of the provincial health department was also seated. At that time, there was a shortage of medicinal materials, and the Japanese, the national army, and the Communist Party wanted them, especially Western medicines such as penicillin, which were in short supply at the front. Penicillin is sold at a gold price, which is difficult to buy in the mainland, except for a few powerful people who buy some home spare parts from the black market in Hong Kong, ordinary people simply cannot afford to use and cannot buy.

Section Chief Yang had some ways to pour a batch of penicillin-based Western medicine from Hong Kong, and his uncle said that he asked his classmate Director Liu to get a batch. That Section Chief Yang is also ruthless, and when he gave it to Xu Zong, they made two or three times the difference, and Qiusheng was a little worried at that time, if there was a bump in such a precious thing, it would really be bankrupt. In the end, I couldn't resist the temptation of reselling and selling at least double the profit difference, and my uncle Xu Zong took turns to mobilize to do work, and finally Qiusheng agreed.

After two or three days of busyness, the goods were finally ready, the ordinary goods were loaded onto a freighter and escorted by Qiusheng and Xuzong, and the uncle and Master Liu, who had been supporting Qiusheng for a long time, took another passenger ship with more than a dozen boxes of Western medicine. When Master Liu carried boxes of Western medicine onto the passenger ship and put them under the bed, his uncle, who had never suffered before, was already so tired that he was lying on the bed because of his busy work in the past few days.

When Master Liu made a good stop, his uncle did not speak, and pointed to the seat next to him with a civilization stick to signal Master Liu to sit down. The two ships set sail one after the other, and the uncle rested after more than 50 miles, and got up to have a ride with Master Liu, and asked Master Liu's family how many people they have, whether their life is good on weekdays or something. Because his uncle is the chairman of the county council, Master Liu is a little reserved, not as open as when he was with Qiusheng and them, and he always answers when his uncle asks a question.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a little embarrassing, my uncle said, "Fortunately, Master Liu is optimistic about these medicines, and I will rest." Master Liu responded: "Speaker Yao, don't worry, I will watch my own life!" Not long after, my uncle lay down and snored, and fell asleep. Master Liu didn't dare to slack off, and sat there without blinking an eye, looking at those Western medicines.

At noon the next day, the boat went to Yiyang to dock to make a middle guy, and the uncle and their ship were about to arrive first, Master Liu carefully pushed his uncle and said, "Speaker Yao, the boat is docking!" My uncle opened his eyes, got up and said, "Oh, it's time to get a good night's sleep, okay, okay, okay!" After taking two steps, he turned back to Master Liu and said, "Master Liu, you won't get off the boat, fortunately, you are guarding the medicine box, and when they come next autumn, we will bring you food after dinner." Master Liu responded: "Okay, don't worry!"

About half an hour later, Qiusheng's boat arrived, and his uncle stood on the shore of the dock and waved at them. Xu Zong and the two of them hurriedly got off the boat, and his uncle greeted him with a smile on his face and said, "Xu Zong, Qiusheng, I have asked the owner of the shop opposite to make wine and rice, let's go to eat, and we will deliver food to Master Liu later!" ”

When my uncle and nephew were having dinner, I didn't know that the one outside the store shouted, "Airplane, Japanese devil's plane!" When Xu Zong heard this, his heart became nervous, and he hurriedly threw away the dishes and chopsticks and ran out of the store to look at the lake, only to see that the clear sky was shining white, and more than ten planes with the Japanese sun flag on the fuselage were flying head-on.

Within a few seconds of the planes that swept over the lake and the moored boats dropped a string of bombs and then pulled them up and rushed into the sky, the sound of violent explosions suddenly resounded on the surface of the lake, and the smoke and flames of the hit ships were billowing and scattering, and the unhit bombs set off huge waves several feet high in the lake, and the waves that set off flapped and overturned the crumbling ships that had been hit next to them.

When everyone was frightened, three more planes rushed straight in the direction of Qiusheng and them, and the uncle looked at the Japanese plane blankly with a civilized stick and did not respond. Qiusheng Xuzong saw the bombing of Japanese planes, and hurriedly rushed over, and the two of them hugged their uncle and fell to the ground, without raising their heads, lying on their stomachs, and not daring to move. Only a few sharp whistling sounds were heard, and after a few seconds of boom, a huge wave of air fell on his body with overwhelming dust, and his ears buzzed. After less than a puff of smoke, there was a shrill machine-gun sound, and the splash of dirt fell on Xu Zong Qiusheng's face.

After a meal, there was no sound of airplanes in the air, and after confirming that the Japanese planes had flown away, Xu Zong Qiusheng shook off the dust on his body and climbed up, and then Qiusheng found that his uncle who was pressed under him had passed out of breath.

Qiusheng Xuzong was both patting and pinching, and it took a while for his uncle to feel relieved. The uncle sat on the ground with his hands propped up, his face covered in dust and looked around in horror. Behind him, more than 20 meters of more than a dozen restaurants and warehouses had already razed to the ground, smoking black smoke and blazing flames, the people on the wharf who had been hit by machine guns and were not dead were wailing and crying, the dead were lying on the ground motionless, and the people who had not been shot looked around in horror to look for them, and they dared to shout and shout in the direction of the departure of the Japanese plane.

The lake was a mess, with scattered cargo and fragments of broken ship planks rippling with the lake, and the ships far from the pier that had not yet sunk to the bottom of the lake were only left with a mast exposed to the lake, and the ships leaning against the draft of the pier leaned on the surface of the lake or by the embankment of the pier, and they were still scurrying with thick smoke and flames.

The uncle and nephew came to the shore one by one, and the freighter they were on had already capsized and sunk into the lake, and the scattered cargo fragments were scattered all over the lake, and the back half of the passenger ship that the uncle and they were sitting on had all sunk into the water, leaving only the bow facing the sky and exposing the lake. When the three of them were at a loss, suddenly Master Liu's call came from the passenger ship in the lake, "Boss Gui, Boss Cao..."

Qiusheng hurriedly shouted: "Master Liu, don't move, we will find a way to save you!"

Later, with the assistance of everyone next to him, Master Liu finally got ashore, and the river water in March was warm and cold, and Master Liu's lips were white after soaking in the water for half an hour.

At this time, my uncle asked eagerly: "Master Liu, where is my medicine, ?!!where is my medicine?"

When Master Liu heard the fire, he shook the lake water on his body, and roared angrily: "My life is at risk!" If you don't ask me how my people are, you can ask your medicine, Speaker Yao, I won't eat your bowl of rice, okay!! ”

The uncle was bored, and stood without saying a word. When Qiu Sheng heard this, he hurriedly said: "Master Liu is not angry, take off this wet clothes first, don't catch a cold!" After saying that, Xu Zong and the others found some remnants of rafters on the dock and made a fire.

Master Liu stripped off only his pants, wrung out the wet clothes, set them up with wood, and roasted them by the fire. At this time, Qiusheng found some food from the ruins of the collapsed rice shop, and he couldn't care about the dirt and gray, so he served it in a bowl. Master Liu didn't pay attention to it, he wiped the chopsticks stained with dust on his body and ate them, he was frightened just now and now he was really hungry.

At this time, Xu Zong hired two water-based boatmen to climb from the gangplank passenger ship to the top of the ship, trying to find the medicine that sank in the water. The uncle's hints on the shore were not clear, and the boatmen who had dived down returned to the roof of the cabin in vain. At this time, Master Liu's body was already roasted warm, and Chong Xuzong said: "Boss Cao, I know where the medicine is, I'll try it!!"

With the help of Master Liu, it took nearly an hour to go into the water several times and then use a hanging basket to fish the western medicine soaked in the water ashore. The medicine box had long been soaked and rotten, and the western medicines were piled up by the fire.

The uncle paid the two boatmen, and at this time the sun was already setting in the west, and Xu Zong Qiusheng and Master Liu went around looking for wood, door panels, and other materials to build a shack.

After a while, the people started to set up a makeshift shack by the fire. Carefully wipe the western medicine one by one, put it into the temporary box and basket, count and pack, and wait until it gets dark for a while. Eighty percent of the western medicine remains, and the one or two percent of the western medicine either falls into the water or is destroyed. It was the night when Master Liu, Xu Zong, Qiusheng and his servants took turns guarding the only remaining bit of Western medicine, and the uncle sighed and sighed and was tired in the shack and couldn't sleep all night.

Early the next morning, Qiusheng gave Master Liu a few dollars to buy some steamed buns and fritters to fill his stomach, and he didn't eat the dripping rice from noon yesterday to early this morning. After Master Liu left, the uncle and nephew discussed what to do. In the end, it was decided that his uncle would take Qiusheng to continue waiting for the ship to Chongqing, and Xu Zong would take Master Liu home first.

Xu Zong and Master Liu traveled all the way back to Anhua, and the next day after returning home, Xu Zong went to Lilac Castle's sister's house. Lilac was very surprised to see her eldest brother, and she came back in only ten days, which was about the same time as running Changsha in the past.

Thinking about it again, why didn't Qiusheng come back together, I couldn't help but chuckle in my heart. The eldest brother saw Lilac's thoughts, deliberately concealed what happened in Yiyang, and said lightly: "Sister, the expense of going to Chongqing is too big, and if you can save a penny, you can save a penny." Qiusheng and his uncle can send medicine to Chongqing, and Master Liu and I will come back first in Yiyang. ”

Lilac believed it, and was busy cooking with her mother-in-law to entertain her eldest brother.

When the eldest brother left, Lilac was sent to the outside of the hospital, and when he came down the steps, the eldest brother suddenly turned back to Lilac and said: "You lost the craft we learned before, and the eldest brother has been unfamiliar for two or three years, and you have to start again!"

Lilac was stunned and didn't understand what the eldest brother meant, so she replied casually: "The guy on the upper body can't forget it, big brother, you still remember your brown hangers!" If you want to put me here, I'll make you a few brown ropes if you need them. ”

The eldest brother replied casually: "Okay, I'll talk about it then!" After saying that, he didn't go back.

Because Qiusheng was not at home, Lilac and her mother-in-law were busy with farm work and housework during the day, and went to bed early at night.

It's just that the long night is long, and sometimes I often think of autumn birth.

After another month of stunned consternation, the eldest brother came to Lilac's house again, and pulled Lilac aside when he entered the door, with a somewhat dignified expression. Lilac became nervous all the time, and her voice trembled a little, "Big brother, is it Qiusheng..."

"Risk, you think too much, Qiusheng is good!" The eldest brother interrupted Lilac's speech, paused and said: "Sister, something happened to our goods when I passed through Yiyang last time I went to Changsha, and I came to tell you the first time, I'm afraid you're worried..."

Then he talked about the bombing by the Japanese in Yiyang that day. Later, he told that his uncle had returned to Meicheng the day before yesterday, and yesterday he went to Luoyingzhai to find Xuzong, and told him about the situation that he and Qiusheng went to Chongqing to deliver medicine.

According to his uncle, after Xu Zong returned to Anhua with Master Liu that day, he and Qiusheng waited at the dock for three days before boarding a cargo ship to Chongqing. At that time, Japanese planes bombed passing cargo ships along the Yangtze River, and the ships stopped and stopped along the road in order to avoid Japanese planes, and the uncle and nephew went through more than 10 hardships before arriving in Chongqing.

After finding the seller, the seller saw that the packaging of the western medicine was wrong, so he made it difficult, saying that it was not clear whether the medicine was true or false, and that no one could afford to treat someone if he died.

Uncle Qiusheng couldn't tell the difference, and he didn't dare to say that the medicine had fallen into the water and re-found the box, so he had to lie and say that it was raining on the freighter, and the medicine box was wet by the rain, and they were afraid that it would affect the quality of the medicine.

To put it mildly, the person who asked the grandfather to tell the grandmother found the local health department to verify the authenticity. The uncle also secretly sent the five oceans to the doctor who identified it, and later the doctor was willing to testify that the medicine was real and there was no quality problem. The seller still refused to give up, and he was sure of Qiusheng's mentality of being eager to sell, and after some bargaining, the Western medicine was finally sold at the original agreed price of sixty percent.

Almost two of these ten boxes of Western medicine were blown up in Yiyang, and the profits from the remaining eight boxes couldn't fill the holes in the water. When the seller paid, he also said: "Speaker Yao, Brother Gui, I don't think it's easy for your uncle and nephew to go out." If it's another one, people will ignore you! Qiusheng's uncle and nephew listened to it, and they only nodded and thanked them.

After settling the payment, Qiusheng originally planned to buy some foreign flowers for Lilac and his mother, and his uncle also planned to make some officialdom friends in Chongqing. But at this moment, they had no intention of lingering any longer, and went to Chaotianmen early the next morning to find a boat back to Anhua.

As soon as they arrived at the Chaotianmen ferry, they were bombed by Japanese planes, and for a while, air raid sirens sounded everywhere over Chongqing.

Qiusheng and they were about to dodge, when suddenly a group of soldiers came from the opposite side. Seeing them surrounding and pointing a gun at Qiusheng and the two, an officer at the head said: "Now that the national crisis is at hand, the air defense facilities in front are in urgent need of reinforcement and manpower, fortunately, you can go with us to build a trench!"

When the uncle heard this, he was anxious, and hurriedly took out a cigarette to disperse the soldiers, and said, "This brother, I am the chairman of Anhua County, Hunan. It was sent by the county government to Chongqing on a business trip, and this is my nephew Lang who came with me. ”

After saying that, he handed the ID to the officer. The man glanced at it, looked at his uncle Qiusheng for a moment, and then his eyes fell on Qiusheng, and said: "Speaker Yao, you have a business trip to go first, your nephew Lang has been wronged for a few days, and our department has temporarily requisitioned it!"

When the uncle heard this, he panicked, and hurriedly took out a few silver dollars from his tunic pocket and was about to give them to the soldiers. Unexpectedly, the officer pushed away his uncle's hand to take the money, and became fierce: "The Japanese have bombed several times in the past ten days, where do you let me find someone?!" Speaker Yao, don't say that your brother won't give you face, no matter how verbose you are, even you will take it to repair the trenches! ”

When my uncle heard this, his face turned blue and he didn't dare to say anything. Qiusheng also knew that there was no way to do it when he saw it, so he had to hand the blanket with a heavy silver dollar on his body to his uncle, and confessed: "Uncle, you go home first, I will help the bosses repair the trenches and come back in a few days, and when you go home, you will say hello to the people in the house for me to report safety!"

Uncle took the blanket and put it on his shoulder, gave Qiusheng a few silver dollars he had just taken out, and confessed: "Qiusheng, you are smarter, take care of your body, uncle will go back first!"

Those soldiers didn't embarrass their uncle anymore, and took Qiusheng away.

According to his uncle, the black boat he took back to Anhua cost 3 times the usual price, endured a lot of hardships, and died nine times before returning to Anhua.

At this time, the mother-in-law, who had rushed back from outside, stood outside the door and heard it clearly, and sat down on the ground with a grunt and cried. Lilac didn't have time to think about it, so she hurriedly went out of the house to pick up her mother-in-law, and the Xu Zong sisters took turns to comfort their mother-in-law.

Early the next morning, the eldest brother took Lilac and her mother-in-law to the county seat to find her uncle.

At that time, the aunt was still counting and scolding the uncle, and when she saw the cloves coming, she stopped scolding, but her face was still ugly.

It was dinner season, and my aunt was a little reluctant to get a few dishes in the kitchen and cook them.

After a hasty meal, everyone got down to business. The uncle sat on the Taishi's chair and glanced at the uncle, and the uncle went to the study with understanding.

The uncle checked the cost and various expenses of this purchase with Xu Zonglilac. It's just that the expenses for going to Chongqing are all up to my uncle, because Qiusheng hasn't come back yet.

The expenses of returning from Chongqing were tripled, and the uncle insisted on tripling them, saying that the black boat he had worked so hard to find the next day was returned, and he was frightened and frightened all the way with the money on his back, and there was no merit and hard work. Sister Lilac looked at each other and couldn't say anything.

At this time, the mother-in-law interjected and said, "Uncle, you came back safely, so what about my family's autumn birth?"

At this time, my aunt took out an agreement from the study and said, "Grandma, Qiusheng has a few silver dollars on him, and he can't help repair the trenches, and the team will give him three melons and two dates." Besides, he is not in a hurry, he must spend a high price to take a black boat back to Anhua like my old Yao, and if there is a downwind boat, maybe the money will be free! ”

Lilac didn't feel good in her heart, but her aunt was an elder and endured it.

At this time, the mother-in-law was anxious, and her voice became louder, "Uncle, what did you say..."

The uncle was afraid that they would quarrel, so he hurriedly got up and waved his hand, stopped the aunt and mother-in-law, and said, "Don't be surprised by my grandmother, the guest in my house speaks a little straight. In this way, the few silver dollars I gave in Qiusheng will be used as his expenses in Chongqing, and the travel expenses will be calculated according to the price when he went to Chongqing. Xu Zong, Lilac, do you think what your uncle said is reasonable? ”

Xu Zong had a sullen breath accumulated in his chest and didn't know what to say, so he took a deep breath and replied: "I can do anything, the problem is to be agreed to by my grandmother Lilac??"

Lilac was speechless for a while, and her mother-in-law couldn't help but argue. My aunt is also a powerful character, and she has a lot of trouble for a while.

In the end, it was Xu Zong's work, and it took 5 more silver dollars to subsidize Qiusheng before reaching a consensus, and the uncle was still reluctant to do so. When the rest of the money was distributed after the expenses were removed, the aunt unhurriedly handed over an agreement from the first time they cooperated. Uncle picked up the agreement, glanced at Xu Zong, and said unhurriedly: "Just follow the agreement agreed before, I am three, you are three, and Qiusheng is four!!"

Xu Zong took a look, his lungs exploded, and he couldn't help arguing anymore: "Uncle, your matter is too inauthentic!" When raising money this time, it was clear that you were forty percent, and I and Qiusheng were thirty percent, but now you have no return, and you are three percent, so I'm really sorry for Qiusheng them! ”

The aunt listened to it, and shouted at the uncle with a sharp voice, "They are sisters in the end, how can you be an uncle in your eyes!" ”

In this way, the family quarreled. In the end, everyone broke up unhappily, and Xu Zong went back with Lilac's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

A few days later, Lilac Xuzong invited several elders of Grandpa Wang in the village to do it, and Qiusheng accounted for three into four, Xu Zong accounted for three into three, and Yao Zhipeng accounted for three into three. Since then, the Lilac Xuzong no longer recognizes Yao Zhipeng's uncle, and the uncle's family has completely cut off contact with the Lilac Xuzong.

End of the twentieth round