In February 1938 in Wuhan, snow was falling from the sky. Jing Mingchen was walking on the street. Wherever he passed, he saw refugees of all sizes, from Shanghai, from Nanjing... They were ragged, hungry and cold, huddled under the wall, staring at the hot air emanating from the breakfast shop, their eyes full of longing.
God is more ruthless than war, and always makes things worse. Snowflakes fell one after another, landing on the refugees' pus-filled pubic hair and their frozen purple bare feet. Jing Mingchen, wearing a brand new and expensive warm winter coat, felt a pain in his heart like needles.
As she turned the corner she saw a brother and sister.
He looked like he was only in his early teens. The younger sister fell asleep, and the brother held her in his arms and tried to warm her with his body temperature, fearing that she would never wake up again. The younger sister's pair of small feet were exposed, and her toes had already pushed out of her cloth shoes.
Jing Mingchen stood in front of them, and the brother showed a defensive look and hugged his sister tightly. Jing Mingchen bit his lip, turned around and ran to the breakfast shop to buy a bag of buns, squatted down and handed the buns to the little boy, and the boy let down his guard and showed an innocent smile.
While eating, he vaguely told Jing Mingchen his life story. He said that he fled to Wuhan with his parents and sister. His father was killed in a bombing on the way and his mother died of illness, leaving only him and his sister.
After finishing two buns, he was still not satisfied. He stared at the snow-white buns, but did not eat any more. Instead, he stuffed the paper bag into his arms and said, "Give it to my sister when she wakes up."
Jing Mingchen took off his gloves, pulled off his scarf, stuffed them all into his arms, stood up and walked away without looking back.
She walked and cried, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. She was crying so hard that she didn't even hear the car horns behind her until someone caught up with her and patted her gently on the shoulder.
She turned around and saw Jiang Gubei looking at her with a frown on his face, full of worry.
When she got into Jiang Gubei's car, she realized that her hands had been numb from the cold. When they were warmed up, they felt like needles pricking them. Jiang Gubei took out a handkerchief from his coat pocket and handed it to her: "Wipe your face, cat-like, did you touch the newspaper this morning?"
She quickly took out a mirror and looked at herself, and sure enough, there were streaks of ink on her face.
Her face suddenly turned red, and she hurriedly took the handkerchief to wipe her face, but her hands were too cold to move. Jiang Gubei chuckled, picked up the handkerchief that had slipped off, said "excuse me", and leaned over to carefully wipe the dirt off her face. His face was very close to Jing Mingchen, and his handsome features were magnified. Jing Mingchen didn't dare to breathe, and his eyes stared straight at Jiang Gubei's eyelashes. His eyelashes were really long!
After wiping her face, he touched her cold hands with the back of his hand: "What happened? Where are your scarf and gloves?"
Jing Mingchen replied embarrassedly: "I gave it to the street kid."
Jiang Gubei smiled: "Last time you were giving alms on the roadside and your wallet was stolen by a thief, and you were almost hit by my car. Do you dare to do it again this time?"
Jing Mingchen was a little disappointed: "Now I wish someone would steal my wallet."
"The rich have wine and meat, while the poor have frozen bones on the roadside." This line of ancient poetry pierced her heart. She consciously put herself in the shoes of "the rich" and felt full of guilt when she saw the frozen bones on the roadside.
Jiang Gubei actually understood her: "The war is not your fault. Your father is a revolutionary veteran and one of the founders of this country. There is nothing shameful about a comfortable life earned through hard work. It's good that you can sympathize with these people. If everyone like us has your compassion, this country will be better. So, don't be too hard on yourself."
When they arrived at the Army Hospital, Jing Mingchen was about to push the door and get out of the car, but Jiang Gubei stopped her and said, "Wait a minute."
She turned around, and a black scarf was put over her head. Jiang Gubei wrapped the scarf around her neck several times, and then picked up a pair of new gloves on the seat and put them on her: "To save others, you must save yourself first. It's cold, don't freeze to death."
Jing Mingchen got out of the car, waved to him, and ran into the hospital.
The large men's scarf covered half of her face, and the air she exhaled was blocked by the scarf and returned, carrying the previous owner's pleasant smell of shaving water into her nostrils. His body temperature was really high, and the residual heat remained on the scarf, almost scalding her face.
Jing Mingchen walked into the hospital with a red face. Gu Nanqiao saw the men's scarf and gloves on her and looked sad: "Do you have a boyfriend?"
The word "boyfriend" touched Jing Mingchen, and her face became even hotter.
Gu Nanqiao said with a bit of resentment: "I told Xiaobei a long time ago that people should not be so ruthless. He will definitely be looked down upon for treating the Jiang family in the way he did. Sure enough, even you believe those nonsense outside..."
Jing Mingchen tried hard not to laugh. He discussed with Jiang Gubei to cancel the engagement that day. They agreed to play the bad guy in front of each other's parents. To Mrs. Jing, they would say that it was Jiang Gubei who proposed to cancel the engagement, and to Gu Nanqiao, they would say that it was Jing Mingchen who proposed it.
"You don't know how much my sister likes you. If she knew that I took the initiative to cancel the engagement, she would kill me." When Jiang Gubei said this, there was helplessness and a rare expression of fear on his face, and he also made a beheading gesture.
Gu Nanqiao held Jing Mingchen's hand and said solemnly: "Don't believe the nonsense of outsiders. My brother is a good man."
Jing Mingchen perfunctorily changed the subject: "Well, I know everything. By the way, do you want to go to the fundraising performance of the conservation association next month? I bought the tickets."
The displaced children on the streets finally attracted people's attention. Well-known people in Wuhan launched an initiative to set up a wartime child care association, and a large-scale fundraising performance will be held in a few days.
Gu Nanqiao asked her: "Which show did you buy the ticket for?"
Jing Mingchen coughed uncomfortably, "Mingji Grand Stage, Fu Qiudi's drama performance."
After saying this, her ears turned red, but fortunately Gu Nanqiao didn't notice.
Jing Mingchen has her own little thoughts.
There were so many charity performances, but she chose to buy Fu Qiudi's ticket. The reason was actually very simple. It was not because Fu Qiudi was so famous or popular, but because she wanted to see Fu Qiudi in person.
Her mother once told her that there was something unclear between Jiang Gubei and Fu Qiudi, but they were too close. She wanted to see with her own eyes what kind of extraordinary beauty this Miss Fu, who had "something unclear" and "too close" with Jiang Gubei, had.
On the day of the performance, Gu Nanqiao suddenly had something to do, so Jing Mingchen had to find the newspaper president Mr. Shen to accompany him.
Mr. Shen's full name is Shen Bei. He is respectfully called "Mr. Zhenshi" by the Hankou newspaper industry. Zhenshi Daily is one of the few newspapers sponsored by women in Hankou. Shen Bei is a widow in her forties. She is not a native of Hankou and only came to Hankou ten years ago.
Mr. Shen was very happy about her invitation, and they sat together under the stage waiting for the show to start. Mr. Shen said that he was a fan of Fu Qiudi, and especially liked her opera film "The Peony Pavilion", but this time Fu Qiudi's show was hard to get tickets, so she couldn't buy a ticket. Unexpectedly, Jing Mingchen had one, and he was in the front row.
Jing Mingchen smiled awkwardly and didn't answer. She had asked her brother to help her get these two tickets. Are you kidding? Fu Qiudi is one of the most popular movie actors in Shanghai. If it weren't for the war in Shanghai and this charity event, how many people would be able to watch Fu Qiudi act so closely?
As he was talking, Mr. Shen hummed a line of lyrics: Flowers and plants like these are loved by people, and they live and die as people wish, so no one will complain even if they are sad...
A light suddenly flashed in Jing Mingchen's mind, as if someone had lit a match and then quickly blew it out. She asked Mr. Shen, "This part sounds so familiar, as if I've heard it somewhere before."
Mr. Shen smiled and said, "This verse originally appeared in the Kunqu opera Peony Pavilion. What's so strange about it if you've heard it before?"
Jing Mingchen shook his head: "No, I never listen to Kunqu Opera, and no one in my family likes to listen to it. I have never seen the movie "The Peony Pavilion"..."
She was just trying to figure out where she had heard this before, when suddenly the lights dimmed and Mr. Shen nudged her with his elbow: "It's time to start."
The lights dimmed completely, the red velvet curtain rose, the music started, and with a loud bang, the show began.
The name of the play is "Chinese Orphan", which tells the story of a son who was separated from his mother during the war and became homeless. Fu Qiudi played the mother and did not appear in the first act. Although the people on the stage performed very well, Jing Mingchen was always unhappy and could not raise his spirits.
The first act finally ended, the curtain dropped, and the crowd became noisy. Jing Mingchen heard footsteps coming towards her, and looking back, she saw Jiang Gubei walking towards her.
He sat down in the empty seat next to Jing Mingchen. It turned out that this seat was his.
Jing Mingchen's face was a little hot, and she greeted him calmly: "Mr. Jiang, are you here to see Miss Fu too?"
Jiang Gubei had a cold expression and just nodded.
Okay, this unpredictable Mr. Wind, the wind is blowing from the north today.
Jing Mingchen felt a little embarrassed after hitting a cold nail, but fortunately, the second act started in time and Fu Qiudi finally appeared.
She caused a commotion as soon as she appeared. Although she was dressed in coarse cloth like a peasant woman, as soon as she showed her face, the whole audience burst into exclamations of "Fu Qiudi", "It's really her", "She's so beautiful". Jing Mingchen glanced at Jiang Gubei from the corner of his eye. Jiang Gubei's mouth was raised with a smile, as if he had known Fu Qiudi's popularity for a long time but still couldn't help being proud of her.
Jing Mingchen couldn't help feeling a little discouraged.
In the following time, Jing Mingchen did not watch the play seriously, she was busy looking at Fu Qiudi's face carefully, Fu Qiudi was really pretty, Jing Mingchen had seen many pretty girls, but none of them was like Fu Qiudi. The eldest sister Minglang was like a graceful peony, the second sister Minghuan was like a gorgeous rose with thorns, and Fu Qiudi was like a lily, with white petals and tender yellow stamens, with a kind of soothing tenderness.
As for myself, I am probably just like a small daisy used as an embellishment in a bouquet of flowers.
While she was struggling to compare herself with Fu Qiudi in her heart, stepping on herself in the dust, she secretly glanced at Jiang Gubei. Jiang Gubei was watching the play very attentively, and the lights on the stage reflected on his face, outlining his high brow bones and handsome nose bridge... He was from Shanghai, and so was Fu Qiudi. They probably met in Shanghai...
When the performance reached its climax, there was thunderous applause, and Jiang Gubei did not hesitate to applaud. Seeing him applauding, Jing Mingchen also hurriedly applauded to imitate him.
After watching the show, Jing Mingchen was almost exhausted.
After the show ended, Jiang Gubei stood up and walked backstage without even saying goodbye to Jing Mingchen. Jing Mingchen looked at his back with a sense of loss until Mr. Shen patted her shoulder and said, "Let's go."
On the way back, Mr. Shen praised Fu Qiudi highly: "Fu Qiudi is really good at acting. She is good at acting in movies and dramas. I heard many people sobbing in the scene where the mother and child were separated."
Jing Mingchen asked her: "Do you think Miss Fu is pretty? If you were a man, would you like her?"
Mr. Shen was surprised. "Do you need to ask? Fu Qiudi is beautiful in every way, especially her hair, which is as black as ink and as fluffy as clouds. The character just now had a pigtail, which was so beautiful. Even a woman like me was stunned by it, so charming and beautiful. Mingchen, your hair was better than hers before you had it cut, what a pity."
Jing Mingchen couldn't help but touch his shoulder-length hair: "Long hair makes you look feminine?"
Mr. Shen is an old-school person in terms of aesthetics. She nodded without hesitation: "Of course."
Jing Mingchen couldn't help but lower his eyebrows.
This year's winter in Wuhan seems to be particularly long, lasting until March.
One day in early March, Jing Mingchen walked out of the house and found that it was snowing outside. In the heavy snow, she saw people pushing carts on the street with the Red Cross logo on them, and anti-epidemic workers wearing masks. On their carts, small bodies were stacked, and snowflakes fell and covered them... Jing Mingchen seemed to have entered a nightmare. Carts were pushed past her, and anti-epidemic workers brushed past her, knocking her left and right and almost falling. Her eyes fell on the wall, where several refugees were huddled. They looked at the corpse collection vehicles coming and going, and their faces, tortured by hunger and cold, were numb, as if the disaster had taken away their perception of the world.
Suddenly she heard a shrill cry.
"Don't take my sister away!"
She turned around and saw a barefoot boy in thin clothes running towards a corpse collection vehicle, throwing himself on it and refusing to let the epidemic prevention personnel push the vehicle away. The little boy looked so familiar... Jing Mingchen ran over, and she looked at the corpse collection vehicle covered with heavy snow and saw a glaring bright red.
She staggered back two steps, held onto the wall and vomited.
The little boy's cries became quieter and quieter. He was dragged away. He and his sister were separated forever in death. Perhaps they would be reunited soon, in heaven, where there was no hunger and cold, and children's smiles were always bright.
The staff at the epidemic prevention station comforted her: "Miss, are you okay? Do you still feel sick? The dead look is not pretty."
Jing Mingchen did not answer him. She did not vomit because she felt sick... The people at the epidemic prevention station walked away when they saw that their consolation was ineffective. Jing Mingchen's knees went weak and he squatted on the ground, tears streaming down his face.
She squatted in the corner and cried for a long time. Snowflakes fell on her body and the cold wind lashed her cheeks. She remembered the bright red on the car. That was her scarf. She gave it to the little girl a month ago, hoping it could help her keep out the cold. However, she still died at the age of five or six.
A clear voice suddenly sounded from behind her: "Why do you love to cry so much? And you always cry on the street."
She turned around and saw the person coming in wearing a sophisticated black coat and a grey scarf. A pair of eyes under his hat were looking at her teasingly. A large black umbrella was propped above her head, shielding her from the falling snow.
He stretched out a hand towards her, and Jing Mingchen handed it to him to hold. His hand was so warm.
Jiang Gubei pulled her up with a little effort. After squatting on the ground for a long time, her feet were numb, and she couldn't stand steadily. She stumbled and fell into Jiang Gubei's arms. Jiang Gubei covered his chest and took a step back exaggeratedly: "Miss San, you are so stubborn."
Jing Mingchen wiped away his tears with the back of his hand and smiled embarrassedly.
"Tell me, why are you crying this time?" Jiang Gubei asked her.
"I saw the little girl I gave a scarf to some time ago died. Did you see it? The streets were full of cars collecting corpses. It was so tragic. They left their homes and came to Wuhan, thinking they could survive, but they still froze to death or starved to death. Why? Even the heaven and earth are so unkind that they had to send heavy snow in March. If it hadn't snowed, perhaps many people would not have died and could have survived until spring. Everything would be fine in spring, when everything grows and eating grass would give them a way to survive."
She was still sobbing as she spoke, and her speech was intermittent.
"Mr. Jiang, do you know that Officer Xiao Liang died for his country? I saw the death notice yesterday. He died in the Battle of Xuzhou. The wounded soldiers coming down from the front line told me that Officer Xiao Liang's last words before his death were: 'My wife and my seven-year-old son.'"
"His hometown is Kaifeng. He had a bad relationship with his wife and had not been home for two or three years. But he was still thinking about his home when he died."
"When I saw that little girl just now, I thought of Officer Liang's child. There has been a war in Henan. Will Officer Liang's son become a refugee like them and die? I feel very sad when I think of this. I heard that the Japanese are catching children in the occupied areas and sending them to Northeast China and Japan."
Jiang Gubei had been listening to her in silence. Hearing this, he put a hand on her shoulder and comforted her: "It will be fine. The nursery will open soon, and all these children will be saved."
Jing Mingchen seemed to have thought of a bright new path: "Yes, the nursery, I want to be a teacher in the nursery, I want to go to Kaifeng to find Officer Xiao Liang's son!"
After saying this, she suddenly burped.
She covered her mouth in panic, but hiccups kept coming out from the gaps between her fingers. The more nervous she was, the more hiccups she had. She covered her mouth with both hands and looked at Jiang Gubei in embarrassment. Jiang Gubei tried to hold back his laughter and said, "You inhaled too much cold air when you cried. This is called crying hiccups."
Jing Mingchen wished he could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.
Jiang Gubei stuffed the umbrella into her hand and strode towards the snack shop on the roadside.
Jing Mingchen covered his mouth and watched his back as he walked in the wind and snow. After a while, he came back with a bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts in his hand: "Eating some chestnuts may help suppress the hiccups."
She took the bag, took out a warm, round chestnut, and while hiccuping, she peeled out the round chestnut meat with great effort and put it into her mouth. She chewed it and swallowed it, and she felt much better.
The fried chestnuts were sweet and soft. Jing Mingchen, who was frozen, was conquered by this little happiness. She ate them one by one, forgetting everything. With a casual glance, she saw Jiang Gubei looking at her sideways with a smile on his face.
Jing Mingchen stupidly held up a peeled chestnut and asked, "Do you want to eat it?"
Jiang Gubei smiled and shook his head.
He handed the umbrella to Jing Mingchen: "I'm here, bye."
Before they knew it, they had reached the Bagong house, where Jiang Gubei lived alone. Jing Mingchen took the umbrella and watched him walk in. She was a little confused looking at his back. This man was really strange. A few days ago at Mingji Stage, he pretended not to know her and was so cold that she was sad. But now he held an umbrella for her all the way and gave her a bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts. Who said that only women's hearts are like needles in the sea? Jiang Gubei's hot and cold behavior is also very interesting.
It is hot and cold, sometimes like the north wind and sometimes like the south wind. It is really a "Mr. Monsoon".
And... is it true that he and Fu Qiudi are together...
Jing Mingchen was melancholy for a while, then turned and left.
Jing Mingchen's telling Jiang Gubei that she wanted to be a teacher in the nursery was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. By the beginning of May, when the Hankou Temporary Nursery was officially established, she was already a teacher in the nursery.
In order to become a teacher, she had a big fight with her mother. Her mother scoffed at her enthusiasm: "What kind of teacher is this? It's just a babysitter! Do you think all children are cute? You're so annoying that I wanted to throw you away when you were a child!"
Seeing that Jing Mingchen was determined to go, his mother changed her words: "Do you know how troublesome it is to take care of a child? What can you do? You have been needing others to take care of you since you were a child. You are still a child yourself. Don't go and cause trouble for others."
Jing Mingchen was waiting for her to say this! Her mother didn't know that during those years at Jinling Women's University, she learned more than just book knowledge. When her mother got up the next day, she found that her little girl, who had never touched a single grain, had already prepared breakfast for the whole family and had also mended the chair cover that had been torn yesterday, although the stitches were very poor.
The mother had no choice but to surrender, but she was still trying to be strong: "Go for two days and you will know that things are not as simple as you think."
The father was very pleased: "My little girl has grown up."
Unable to balance both tasks, she quit her job at the newspaper and told Mr. Shen that it was a pity, but he still encouraged her.
Most of the children in the Hankou Temporary Nursery were little refugees from the streets of Wuhan. Jing Mingchen went out of his way to look for the little boy who had lost his sister, but he couldn’t find her.
Just as her mother said, things were not as simple as she thought. These little refugees picked up from the streets were young and ignorant, and they were not "civilized people" like her who had received Western education. Some of them did not even know basic hygiene. Jing Mingchen was so busy every day that he never had to work and his hair was unkempt.
As the first nursery in Wuhan, the opening ceremony of the Hankou Temporary Nursery was very grand. Before the opening, some colleagues in the nursery were very nervous and said they hoped that everything would go smoothly tomorrow without being disrupted. Jing Mingchen felt very strange and asked, "Who would come to disrupt it?"
Only then did she realize that not everyone thought the establishment of the nursery was a good thing, because the initiator of the nursery was from the Communist Party, and many opponents viewed the nursery as a thorn in their side.
Jing Mingchen was confused. She tossed and turned all night, but she couldn't figure it out. The Japanese had reached her doorstep, so why were people still fighting among themselves?
The opening ceremony was held as scheduled. Jing Mingchen held the youngest child, who was less than two years old, and stood at the end of the line waiting to enter. She stood on tiptoe and stretched her neck to look inside the venue. The venue was already full of people, including politicians, businessmen, media people, foreign guests... There was no doubt that everyone sitting here today had to pay.
She saw Jiang Gubei, who was sitting in the front row in a suit and tie. She would probably pass by him when she entered the venue later... But, was the graceful and charming woman sitting next to him Fu Qiudi?
Jing Mingchen turned around and glanced at her own reflection in the glass window. She had a plain face without any makeup, and her hair was messed up by the child in her arms. Well, let alone a little daisy, she was not even as good as a dogtail grass now.
She nervously smoothed her hair and tugged at her clothes.
After the person in charge finished speaking, the group of refugee children began to enter the venue. Jing Mingchen followed at the end of the group. The further she walked in, the more nervous she became. How desolate it was. Jiang Gubei was about to see her like a down-and-out old woman, and next to him sat a peerless beauty!
Jing Mingchen walked closer and closer to Jiang Gubei in panic. Jiang Gubei finally saw her and nodded slightly to her.
Jing Mingchen was happy. She waved to Jiang Gubei, but suddenly she smelled a smell of urine, followed by the sound of water dripping.
She felt a sticky wetness on her hand under the child's butt.
The little thing peed! Just as she walked past Jiang Gubei!
Fu Qiudi is full of the fragrance of flowers, but I am full of the stench of urine.
Jing Mingchen was about to cry.
But somehow the team stopped. Jing Mingchen stopped in front of Jiang Gubei holding the diaper, allowing Jiang Gubei to witness her embarrassment in its entirety.
She lowered her head and dared not look at anyone until a handkerchief was stuffed into her hand. She raised her head and saw Jiang Gubei looking at her with a smile in his eyes.
Jing Mingchen blushed. The team finally moved. She breathed a sigh of relief, turned her face away, and ran away in a hurry with the child in her arms.
Jing Mingchen came to the nursery with one purpose, which was to go to Kaifeng to find the son of Officer Xiao Liang. She waited and waited, and finally got the chance.
The nursery drew up a plan to go to the war zone to rescue the children, including the Kaifeng area.
Upon hearing about the plan, Jing Mingchen immediately raised her hand to sign up. However, when she mentioned this matter at the dinner table at home, she was fiercely opposed by her mother.
The mother slammed the bowl on the table and said, "No way! You volunteered to be a nanny to take care of other people's children, but you also want to run to the war zone? Do you know what's going on in Henan now? It looks like it's about to be lost, Kaifeng will be occupied by the Japanese! What are you going to do? To die?"
Jing Mingchen said anxiously: "I have a friend's child there..."
The mother interrupted her: "You are only thinking about other people's children. Why don't you think about the fact that you are also someone else's child?"
Jing Mingchen wanted to say something else, but her brother Mingyu held her arm and winked at her, stopping her.
Jing Mingchen didn't dare to say anything more.
She made up her mind and decided to sneak away in the middle of the night without asking her mother for permission. She couldn't chase her to Kaifeng, right?
However, she did not expect that no one knows a girl better than her mother. When she wanted to slip away in the middle of the night, she found that her door was locked.
Jing Mingchen regretted it so much. If he had known this earlier, he would not have told his mother about this!
She sat on the bed, watching the daybreak. It was already 7:30 and there was a commotion outside the door. Everyone must have gotten up to have breakfast. She banged on the door: "I want breakfast!"
My mother's full-throated voice came from downstairs: "You won't die from skipping a meal!"
Her mother wanted to cut off all her chances of escaping. She must have asked people and found out that the train to the nursery would leave in the afternoon. As long as it was afternoon, once the train left, she would be left with nothing to do!
Jing Mingchen watched the hands of her watch turn quickly with an empty stomach, and the departure time for the nursery was getting closer and closer. She heard the shouts of "Hongzhong" and "Facai" downstairs, and knew that her mother was afraid that she would run away and not even go out to play mahjong, so she simply recruited a group of people to play at home, and the mahjong table was probably at the foot of the stairs.
Suddenly, she heard rhythmic knocking on the wall.
Living next door to her is her second sister Minghuan, but she works for the government and has been very busy lately and has not been home for half a month.
The movie poster hanging on the wall was suddenly lifted up, and a rolled-up piece of paper fell to the ground. There was a hole in the wall, which she and her second sister had secretly dug when they were young without telling their parents.
Jing Mingchen hurriedly picked up the note, on which was written a line of words: Go through the window, someone will pick you up on the second floor at 2 pm and take you to the train station.
It's my brother Mingyu's handwriting.
Jing Mingchen ran to the window and looked down. It was not that she had not thought about going out through the window, but because the house she lived in was five stories high, she gave up the idea. Now Mingyu said that there would be someone to meet her on the second floor, that was perfect. She lived on the fourth floor and only needed to go down two floors and pick up the bed sheets, which was just the right length.
She listened attentively to the noise downstairs, stared at the clock, and was busy cutting sheets and tying ropes with her hands.
It's two o'clock!
She opened the window, and the warm spring breeze rushed in, blowing the wide sleeves of her cheongsam. For a moment, she suddenly felt a little bit excited like a girl running away from home to meet her lover. She thought of "Romeo and Juliet", and couldn't help reciting the lines in the script while crawling down the bed sheets.
"Noisy love, passionate hatred, everything made up out of nothing, heavy frivolity, serious arrogance, neat confusion, leaden feathers, bright smoke, cold fire, exhausted health, ever-awake sleep, negative existence! I feel that love is just such a thing!"
As a result, she was too proud of herself and the bed sheet hit something, and she began to swing like a hanging basket tied to a rope. She was so scared that she grabbed the bed sheet tightly. Fortunately, the window on the second floor opened in time, and a pair of hands reached out to hold her legs and carried her into the room.
After shaking for a long time, Jing Mingchen finally saw his face clearly until he stood against the man. "Hey, it's you? Where's my brother?"
Jiang Gubei pulled her downstairs and explained, "Your brother was in the office this morning, sighing and talking about the war in your family. It just so happens that I'm taking the train to Kaifeng today, so I'll do your brother a favor."
After Jiang Gubei took over Jiang's company, Mingyu was highly valued and is now Jiang Gubei's secretary.
There were less than two hours left before the train departed, and they rushed to the train station. Jiang Gubei asked Jing Mingchen, "Did you bring enough clothes? The situation over there is very bad, and you may have to stay there for more than half a month."
Jing Mingchen patted his small suitcase with a red face, thinking to himself, this really looks like elopement.
She couldn't help but complain again, blaming herself for being too impulsive at the beginning. She only realized that the other party was a good man after she broke off the engagement. Now, she could have been the wife of Xiao Jiang openly, but now she could only imagine eloping in her mind. What else can she do? She broke off the engagement herself, and she had to bear the consequences even if she cried.
The car was getting farther and farther away from the Jing family. Jing Mingchen looked back and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Arriving at the train station, their train was about to leave in ten minutes. Jing Mingchen found the large group and sat down. Jiang Gubei waved at her: "I'm in the box over there. If you have anything, come find me there."
The train started. She leaned against the window to look at the scenery outside, blushing as she recalled the moment when Jiang Gubei hugged her legs with both hands. Before she knew it, it was dark.
Normally, her family would have had dinner at this time. Jing Mingchen rubbed his stomach, feeling very hungry as he hadn't eaten anything all day.
The flight attendant came over and called her name: "Are you Miss Jing Mingchen? The guest in the box over there wants to see you. I hope you can come over."
Jiang Gubei is looking for her?
She followed the man through the noisy carriage to the door of the compartment, pushed it open, and the aroma of food instantly filled her nose.
Jiang Gubei was leaning on the bed reading a newspaper. When he saw her coming, he said, "Your brother asked me to take care of you. Eat something. I heard that you were locked up by Mrs. Jing for a whole day and didn't have breakfast or lunch."
Jing Mingchen's stomach growled in response. Jiang Gubei chuckled, then realized that it was impolite. He coughed lightly and covered his face with the newspaper again.
The meal in Jiang Gubei's box was already very sumptuous for a train trip. Jing Mingchen was so greedy that his eyes turned green, but he had to consider the presence of a strange man and didn't dare to eat too much. Fortunately, Jiang Gubei stood up and said, "I'm going to chat with my friends. If you don't mind being in the same room with a strange man, you can sleep here tonight."
As soon as he left, Jing Mingchen immediately began to eat voraciously, feeling relieved.
Suddenly the door was pushed open again, and Jiang Gubei's voice came from behind: "By the way, your brother told me..."
Jing Mingchen stood there with a large piece of pork knuckle stuffed in his mouth, not daring to look back.
After a while, he quietly retreated and closed the door.
When Jiang Gubei returned to the box, Jing Mingchen had already fallen asleep.
She lay on the sofa, curled up like a little cat, and the thin blanket that had been covering her had fallen to the ground. Jiang Gubei walked over quietly, picked up the blanket on the ground and gently covered her with it.
As if she had sensed footsteps, Jing Mingchen's eyelids struggled for a moment, leaving a crack. After a long time, she mumbled something unclear and closed her eyes again.
After several days of trekking, the train finally arrived in Kaifeng, and Jing Mingchen parted ways with Jiang Gubei at the train station. Jiang Gubei went to do his business, and Jing Mingchen followed the other members of the rescue team to the station arranged for them by the Battlefield Youth Service Corps.
As soon as he settled down, Jing Mingchen couldn't wait to run out to find Liang Tingyue's son.
There was continuous gunfire outside Kaifeng City, and the city was in chaos. Jing Mingchen stopped an old lady to ask for directions. The old lady was shocked: "Are you from another place? What are you doing in Kaifeng at this critical moment? Everyone in our city is running south for their lives!"
But she still showed Jing Mingchen the way. However, when Jing Mingchen arrived, he found that the alley was empty and no one lived there, including Liang Tingyue's family.
This is the address of Liang Tingyue’s home in his memory. Perhaps after the war, his wife and children moved to a safer place.
This was a problem. Jing Mingchen only knew that Mrs. Liang's surname was Chen and her given name was Zui. Her family was engaged in winemaking. It was because Old Master Liang often went to the Chen family's winery to buy wine that the marriage was arranged with the Chen family. Liang Tingyue's son was called Liang Congwen.
With just this little information, searching for two people in the chaotic city of Kaifeng is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
In the next few days, Jing Mingchen and his teammates went to the streets to pick up children and inquire about the whereabouts of Chen Zui and Liang Congwen, but found nothing.
It was not until the fifth night when she was feeding her child rice porridge at the base that someone suddenly came to see her.
She put down the bowl and ran out. To avoid being a target of bombing, all the lights in Kaifeng were turned off. It was dark, but there was a little light not far away in the darkness. She ran towards the light. It was Jiang Gubei. The light was the cigarette he was holding in his mouth.
She looked up at Jiang Gubei: "Why are you here?"
Jiang Gubei put away his cigarette: "I found the address of Officer Xiao Liang's widow."
He pulled a note from his pocket and handed it to her: "It's right here."
Jing Mingchen was deeply moved: "How did you know I was looking for this?"
They haven't seen each other in the past few days.
Jiang Gubei smiled softly: "I heard that there is a girl from another place on the streets of Kaifeng these days. She asks everyone she meets if they know a lady named Chen Zui."
Jing Mingchen's face was a little hot, and she muttered unconvincedly: "Why can't I find it?"
Jiang Gubei didn't answer, but just looked at her with a smile.
Jing Mingchen asked him: "Do you want to go see the children?"
Jiang Gubei refused her: "No, I don't have any money."
Jing Mingchen's face flushed. She knew that Jiang Gubei had pledged to donate a hundred children and a large sum of money last time. She also knew that because the government funding was insufficient, businessmen and celebrities had become fat sheep in the eyes of the nursery. She hurriedly explained: "No, I just want you to visit, not to ask for money..."
Jiang Gubei burst out laughing: "I was just kidding. I have things to do, so I won't go to see it."
Jing Mingchen said awkwardly: "Okay then, goodbye."
She watched Jiang Gubei's figure walking away. He lit another cigarette. The faint light on his lips was as dazzling as the morning star in her eyes.
The next morning, Jing Mingchen found Chen Zui's home according to the address given by Jiang Gubei.
There is no place in Kaifeng that can be considered truly safe nowadays. Chen Zui lives in a small alley near the suburbs. Jing Mingchen met a little boy outside the alley, who was squatting at the entrance of the alley, playing with stones out of boredom.
Jing Mingchen asked him: "Little friend, do you know..."
The little boy raised his head, and the moment he saw his face, Jing Mingchen's heart softened. He looked so much like Officer Xiao Liang, he must be a literary man.
She squatted down and asked him, "Are you Congwen? I'm your father's good friend. Can you take me to meet your mother?"
Congwen stood up shakily, stared at her for a while, turned around and ran into the alley, shouting loudly as he ran: "Mom! Dad is here to find us!"
Jing Mingchen followed him inside. Chen Zui's house was a small courtyard with wine jars piled up in the courtyard, exuding a scent of wine, mixed with the smell of gunpowder in the air, intoxicating and funny. Congwen ran into the house, Jing Mingchen didn't dare to act rashly, and just stood in the courtyard waiting for someone to come out.
After a long time, the door was pushed open and a young woman walked out gracefully.
She was completely different from what Jing Mingchen had imagined.
Jing Mingchen originally thought that the daughter of a wine shop owner who had a bad relationship with Officer Xiao Liang should be rough and fierce, but he didn't expect that the woman in front of him was dignified and beautiful. The war had been going on for many days. Like other people in Kaifeng, she had been hungry for a long time and was so thin that she was skinny. The cheongsam she wore was also very old, but it was washed very clean. She had a proud face and light makeup on her face.
Oh, it took her so long to come out, it turns out she was putting on makeup in there, Jing Mingchen thought secretly.
Chen Zui looked at Jing Mingchen with a defensive and harsh look. Jing Mingchen hurriedly explained his purpose: "I am a friend of Officer Xiao Liang. Kaifeng is about to be lost. I came here to pick up Congwen and take him to Wuhan."
Chen Zui flatly refused: "I don't agree."
She pulled the child over and hugged him tightly: "My child, you must be with me even in death. I can't let anyone take him away."
Jing Mingchen stepped forward and persuaded her: "Sister-in-law..."
She didn't expect Chen Zui to grab her face. She was startled and took two steps back and fell to the ground. Chen Zui seemed to be crazy. He grabbed the broom under the tree and hit Jing Mingchen, shouting "Get out" at the top of his lungs. Jing Mingchen covered his face with his hands and sat on the ground, backing away until he heard a stern shout: "Enough!"
Jing Mingchen put down her hands that were covering her face, and a man grabbed Chen Zui's wrist to stop her. It was Jiang Gubei with a frosty face.
Jiang Gubei pulled Jing Mingchen up, grabbed Jing Mingchen's arm with one hand and protected her behind his back, and said to Chen Zui in a deep voice: "Mrs. Liang, my fiancée is a teacher at the Hankou Nursery School. She came to the north to save the orphans of soldiers regardless of her life. She didn't want to take your child away. Please don't be hostile to her."