Three years.
Three years is neither a short nor a long time. The war is still going on, but there are signs of it dying down. In the winter of the previous year, the Nationalist government had almost lost control of all of North China. Mingyu and his brother-in-law both said that the war would be over soon, and after the war, they would probably enter a whole new era.
More and more Kuomintang generals were being instigated by the Communist Party. Jing Mingchen once privately asked Xiao Sanzi whether his superiors had any plans to surrender to the Communist Party. Xiao Sanzi just shook his head. Jing Mingchen quietly asked him what his plans were, and he just shook his head.
In the past three years, Mrs. Jing and elder sister Minglang have introduced other candidates to Jing Mingchen, but Jing Mingchen rejected them one by one.
"Mr. Jiang and I once made a seven-year agreement, and he fulfilled it. Since he fulfilled this seven-year agreement, I should keep my promise and give him my life. Whether he is here or not, I have already promised him my life, and I will never give it to anyone else."
In the past three years, Lian Congwen has grown up. He fell in love with a girl from school . The two wanted to get married, so they came to ask Jing Mingchen for his advice. Jing Mingchen smiled at the young couple and said, "Marriage is a good thing, but the prerequisite is that you know each other well enough."
Congwen's girlfriend asked innocently, "What does it take to know someone well enough?"
Jing Mingchen smiled and answered her: "From the first time we met to the first time we held hands, there should be at least a whole summer in between."
They first met at a dance in the summer of 1937. She was full of prejudice against him and rejected a good marriage opportunity. In the spring of 1938, he met her crying in the snow on the streets of Wuhan and reached out his hand to her. His hand was as warm as a stove.
"We want to watch a movie together."
They met in troubled times and had known each other for ten years, but had been separated for most of the time. He was busy with his business and she was busy with her education. They had never watched a movie together until 1945, after the war, when they went to the cinema together. She remembered the name of the movie was "Modern Woman", but she could not remember the content of the movie. She only remembered that under the light of the big screen, his face was so handsome, so handsome that she almost liked him crazy.
"We want to dance together."
Yes, they had danced together, danced reluctantly together in Wuhan, danced the dance of returning victoriously together in Chongqing, Yi Minggong died for his country in 1941, and he had also danced with her on behalf of Yi Minggong, the dance that she owed him.
"We must support each other through thick and thin."
In 1938, she went to Kaifeng to rescue refugee children. She was left alone to return to find Congwen. Fortunately, she was rescued by Jiang Gubei. The two of them crossed the continuous bombardment and returned to Wuhan. In a dilapidated temple outside Kaifeng, Jiang Gubei had a fever at night. She pulled off the cloth curtain on the car to wrap him up and held him through that difficult night.
It was also in the year 27 of the Republic of China. It started raining on the mountain road to Leshan Nursery. He carried her on his back and she held an umbrella for him. She said to him, "I never want to see you get wet in the rain again."
"We must live and die together."
In the 29th year of the Republic of China, he died on the Huitong Bridge. Everyone said that he was dead, but she didn't believe it. She ran to Yunnan alone to look for him, and finally found him. People said that she had traveled thousands of miles to find her lover. Some people laughed at her, some people praised her, but she didn't care about it all. She only cared about that person's life or death.
In 1942, she was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation and tortured to force her to give testimony that was unfavorable to him. She would rather die than put him in danger, and in order for her to escape safely, he was willing to hand over the foundation he had worked hard for ten years.
"To bear the secrets."
In 1930, his younger brother was killed on the Burma Road, but he had to bear the huge secret alone and could not tell his family. Under the ginkgo tree outside the Bei Mansion, she once held his secret in one hand and put it in her chest, saying to him, "Mr. Jiang, your secret will be kept by me from now on."
In 1941, her sister was secretly murdered by the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. She did not dare to tell her family. Under the crabapple tree by the Qingyi River, he once gave her a light kiss and told her, "Ms. Jing, your secret is now in my custody."
"Sharing the sweetness."
In the 28th year of the Republic of China, she sat on the back of a cow and sang a folk song for him among the fields in Leshan.
In the 29th year of the Republic of China, among the wild grasses of Yunnan, he opened his arms to her and said, Mingchen, you can take your time to return home when the flowers are blooming on the roadside.
In the 30th year of the Republic of China, he once said to her, I want you to know that no matter when, there is always a light on for you.
In 1942, he cut her hair short, making her feel for the first time that short hair could look pretty good.
In the 32nd year of the Republic of China...
In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed, the past is gone, but the feelings remain, however, where is the person?
Jing Mingchen never thought that he would be able to see Miss Guan again in this life.
Miss Guan came to visit the Jing family one day in March.
When she came, Jing Mingchen was in the study. The maid led her directly to the study, and Jing Mingchen saw her as soon as he raised his head.
Jing Mingchen rubbed his eyes before he was sure that the person in front of him was undoubtedly an old friend.
Compared to the past, Miss Guan's appearance has not changed at all, she is still as bright and charming, wearing the most popular cheongsam, showing her graceful figure, and a brand new woolen coat. It is obvious that in this sensitive period of soaring prices, Miss Guan is still living quite well.
She had heard news about Miss Guan over the years, and naturally, it wasn't good news.
Her reputation remained the same, a seductive vixen who could make a man live and die for her with just one flirtation.
But the only thing that surprised Jing Mingchen was that he heard that she and Director Ye .
It was Director Ye of the Three Youth League who came to Leshan Nursery School to investigate the "student movement incident" that year. Over the years, Director Ye has been promoted step by step and is no longer the mere director of the Three Youth League that he used to be. It is said that he now has great influence in Shanghai, and the lives and deaths of many people are controlled by him.
She didn't understand why Miss Guan got involved with Director Ye. She even left Leshan Nursery School to avoid Director Ye. She still remembered that Miss Guan said to her before she left, "I just don't want to be promiscuous with this person." When she said this, her expression was so determined.
When they met again, she couldn't help but ask this question: "I heard that you and Director Ye are very close, why? Don't you hate him very much?"
Miss Guan lit a cigarette skillfully: "Silly girl, the angry words in the past are fine, people have to live. He is no longer the same as before, he has money and power, it doesn't matter who he follows, he is still young and handsome after all."
She blew out a smoke ring lightly, which rose into the air and slowly dissipated. Jing Mingchen knew that she didn't want to talk about this topic anymore, so he had to remain silent.
Miss Guan stretched out her hand towards the manuscript paper on the table. Her nails were stained with bright red nail polish, as red as the blood on her heart: "Oh, A Tale of Two Cities, you are still reading it."
Yes, she is still translating. She once promised Jiang Gubei that she would translate a Chinese version of "A Tale of Two Cities" for him.
Whether he was there or not, she would always finish reading this book. This was her promise to him.
Miss Guan turned the pages one by one. She raised her head and smiled at Jing Mingchen: "You turned the pages very well."
She put down the manuscript and stood up: "I came here today just to see you. I have seen you. It's time to go. Take care of yourself."
When she reached the door and put her hand on the doorknob, she suddenly turned around, smiled at Jing Mingchen, and said, "That year I said there was a passage in A Tale of Two Cities that I really liked, but you interrupted me before I could say what it was. After thinking about it, I decided to tell you what that passage is."
The sun shone in through the window and fell on the door. She was enveloped in the sun, like an ambiguous dream that was gradually forgotten after she opened her eyes. She could only hear her soft recitation like a dream: "Only women have such people. For the sake of pure love and admiration, they are willing to be slaves, serving their lost youth, serving their born beauty, serving their unfortunate good education, and serving the glorious future they never had in their miserable lives."
This year has passed quickly. March has passed quickly and April is already halfway through.
In late April, a tremendous earthquake occurred across the country.
The People's Liberation Army launched a battle to cross the Yangtze River, from Jiangyin in the east to Hukou in the west, vowing to break through the thousands of miles of natural barriers and take Nanjing directly. They were unstoppable and captured Nanjing in just two days, and planted the red flag on the roof of the Presidential Palace. After the liberation of Nanjing, the People's Liberation Army radiated attacks across the country with Nanjing as the center. Within a month, the three towns of Wuhan ushered in a new era.
In mid-May, the three towns of Wuhan were liberated, and the whole of Wuhan was boiling like a pot of water. The streets, trees, and shops along the streets were crowded with people waving flags to welcome the People's Liberation Army into the city.
Jing Mingchen, his mother, sister and brother stood on the top floor of the Jing family's house and looked down. They saw the green army pouring into the city like a torrent. People were waving flags and shouting and dancing. Even though the children knew nothing, they were addicted to the excitement. They shouted louder than the adults and waved flags more vigorously than the adults.
Jing Mingchen watched all this with a slight smile, and she thought of her third son and second sister.
Xiao Sanzi and his superior did not surrender after all. Not long ago, he and his superior evacuated their base and flew to Taiwan.
If my second sister could live to this day, she would probably be seen in the team entering the city. I wonder what my second sister, who is always dressed in gorgeous clothes, would look like in the PLA uniform.
Her eyes moved among the crowd, and suddenly, she was stunned.
As if she couldn't believe it, she rubbed her eyes hard.
After a moment of stunned silence, she suddenly pushed away the people around her and ran downstairs like crazy.
Her mother, elder sister and brother didn't understand what was going on, but fearing that something might happen to her, they quickly followed her.
They followed Jing Mingchen downstairs, ran out of the Jing family's gate, ran to the street, followed her through the revelry crowd, and finally caught up with her under a tree.
However, the moment they caught up with her, everyone was stunned.
Under the swaying green trees, Jing Mingchen and a person looked at each other. Both of them seemed to be under the spell of a witch in a fairy tale, and they just stood there looking at each other stupidly.
Until the person standing opposite Jing Mingchen smiled and stretched out his hand to her. In his stretched palm was a crabapple bookmark: "I brought you the crabapple flowers in Leshan in March."
The time goes back to that night in June in Shanghai in the 35th year of the Republic of China.
Finally, Jiang Gubei redeemed the bracelet from the owner of a jewelry store. He got in the car and returned to the hotel. He had to rush back to Wuhan early the next morning. After all, the wedding was in the next day.
He sat in the back seat with his eyes closed and rested. Suddenly, Ah Da whispered, "Sir, something is wrong. Someone is following us."
The car had now entered a deserted alley when a car suddenly appeared in front of them, blocking their way. Jiang Gubei looked back and saw a car approaching from behind.