Chapter 21 twenty one

Everyone didn't sleep well all night.As soon as the sky turned pale, the old man coughed loudly and kept coughing.Everyone also got up early. After Qin and sister Shuying finished washing up, they accompanied Mei to walk around the garden.Along the way, they talked about the situation after their separation.There was no great damage to the garden, except that a flowering shell fell in the pine forest and damaged two pine trees. Street traffic has not resumed.There were still squads of soldiers at the crossroads, and there were still a few sentries in the street.But a few single pedestrians can also pass through a few streets, as long as they are allowed by the sentries.

The cook of Gao's family went to the vegetable market to buy vegetables.But the gate of the city has been closed for two days, and country people cannot bring vegetables into the city, and there is nothing to sell in the vegetable market, so even if the cook uses his full power, everyone still feels that there is no delicious food on the dinner table. This day's breakfast was eaten in the water pavilion, and two round tables were placed in the middle room, with the older and younger generations occupying one table each.Although they hadn't had a full meal for two or three days, seeing the few small dishes on the table, everyone felt that they had no appetite, so they lazily took a bowl and ate a little, and quickly put away the food. The bowl is put down.Only two brothers, Juemin and Juehui, held on to their bowls and ate two bowls of rice in succession.Juexin was sitting diagonally across from Mei, and sometimes he would sneak a look or two at her, and sometimes Mei would shoot his gaze at him, and their eyes met unexpectedly.Mei buried her head or turned away, and there was a wave of fluctuation in her heart. She didn't know whether it was gratification or sadness.Fortunately, everyone was watching brother Juemin eat carefully, and did not pay attention to her actions.

"Your appetite is really good. There are no dishes, and you are still reluctant to put bowls," Shuhua said to Juemin with a smile when she saw her grandfather walk out. "You are ladies, so of course you are different from us," Juehui answered first after chewing a big mouthful of rice, putting down the bowl. "You have to eat chicken, duck and fish every meal. Do you know what we ate in restaurants when we were in school? Vegetables, cabbage, tofu, bean curd!... But now you should suffer, I hope the traffic will be cut off a little longer My God, what do you guys do?" He wanted to continue, but Juemin touched his elbow secretly, signaling him not to say any more, and he seemed to see the unhappy expressions on the faces of several elders, so he stopped and pushed back. Open the chair and stand up.

"I'm talking to my second brother, who wants you to interrupt?" Shuhua pursed her mouth, glanced at Juehui, turned her head and ignored him. After breakfast, the third brother Juexin went out to inquire about the news, and planned to visit his aunt's house.There are not many pedestrians on the street.Four or five people stood in front of each mansion, stretching their necks, looking around, or talking about current affairs.Every ten steps away, there were fully armed soldiers standing on the side of the road, and some soldiers walked slowly along the wall with their guns in hand.The Juexins walked past them without being stopped by them, and walked forward at a leisurely pace.

At the three-way intersection, five or six people stood in front of the gate, looking up to read the notices posted on the wall.Juexins also read the notice.This is the notice of the warlord announcing his resignation. The warlord said very modestly that he "is not good enough to conquer people, so he is not good enough to help change", so this war has been caused, so that "I suffer from my soldiers and my people", and now I am determined Hand over the political power and step down, so as not to "prolong the war and corrupt the local area." "Now that the soldiers are approaching the city, why don't you go down the field before you say such beautiful words?" Juehui sneered after reading the notice.

Juexin heard his words and looked around in surprise. Fortunately, there was no one around, so he was relieved. He quickly pulled Juehui's sleeve and warned in a low voice: "Be careful what you say. Don't you want to die?" Juehui fell silent, and followed his two brothers through the gate.In front of the gate of the old temple stood more than a dozen rifles, standing crossed in two piles, and a dozen soldiers stood beside them with no expressions on their faces.The door of the grocery store next to the temple was ajar, and there was the newspaper of the day there. Juexin borrowed it and read it hastily.The attitude of the newspapers began to change. Although they still spoke well of the warlord who announced his resignation, they also canceled the name of the enemy army as a rebel. They no longer called a certain rebel or a certain thief, but changed their names to a certain army commander and a certain division commander. .Moreover, the chamber of commerce and the group that supported the old ethics that sent telegrams to hurt Chen Mouni and the crimes of a thief are now sending telegrams to welcome a handsome man and a certain gentleman into the city.

More than a dozen well-known local gentlemen also sent a telegram calling on Commander Zhang to enter the city as soon as possible to "preside over the provincial government". The leader was Feng Leshan. "It's him again," Juehui sneered. "It seems that there is nothing wrong with it," Juexin said with relief.They had walked two streets and were now at the third corner. The front gate was tightly closed, and two soldiers stood guard with guns.They had no choice but to turn around and try to pass by a side alley.But just after crossing an alley and entering a main street, they were stopped by a sentry again.

"Stop, where are you going?" the thin-faced soldier asked viciously. "We're going to visit a relative who lives on ×× Street," Juexin replied politely. "I can't get through! Don't leave!" After saying these two simple words, the soldier closed his mouth.He looked at the gun in his hand, and his eyes fell on the bayonet again, showing a complacent look, as if saying to Juexin: If you don't listen to me, take a step forward, it's just such a bayonet. The Juexins had no choice but to turn around silently, walk through the alley again, and tried to find another way to go around, but after a lot of effort, there was still no way.

They decided to go home, but along the way they still had their hearts set on each other, fearing that they would lose their way back.They walked hurriedly, hoping to get home soon.There are very few pedestrians on the street, and the doors of shops and mansions are quietly closed.This sight increased their horror.Their hearts pounded as they passed a sentry, fearful that he might stop them, but the sentry let them pass.Then they finally returned home. Most of the family members are in the garden.They hurried into the garden, went to the water pavilion first, saw grandfather and aunts playing cards there, there were just two tables.

"You still have the heart to play poker," Juehui thought.Later, when he saw Juemin slipping out, he followed suit, and Juexin was left standing in front of his grandfather to report what he had heard. These news naturally brought a lot of comfort to the grandfathers.But Mrs. Zhang was still a little worried, because she didn't know what was going on at home.But it was only a short-term anxiety, for after a while she played a good hand and forgot about it again. Juexin talked to the elders for a few words, saw everyone playing cards attentively, and went out. Juexin walked out of the water pavilion and stood alone under the magnolia tree for a while, feeling bored.He seemed to be longing for something, and it was right in front of him, but he knew he wouldn't get it.He felt an emptiness, a flaw in his life.He leaned against the tree trunk in a daze, staring at the fresh green in front of him.Birds chirped in the trees.Two thrushes were wrestling sumo on the branches, and the snow-white magnolia flowers fell straight on his body, but stopped after a while.He saw two birds flying to the right, and his heart was filled with great longing.He wished he could turn into a bird and fly with them into the vast sky.He looked down at him.A few petals fell from his head and shoulders, and one was attached to his chest. He picked it up with two fingers, and put it down gently, letting it fall powerlessly to the ground.

Behind the rockery in front, a figure turned out, it was a woman.She walked slowly with her head down, holding a wicker in her hand.She raised her head suddenly and saw Juexin standing under the tree, stopped, her lips moved slightly, as if to speak, but she turned around and walked away silently without saying anything.The light green lake crepe jacket was covered with a dark green satin vest, she was clearly Mei. He felt suddenly cold all over.He didn't understand why she avoided him, so he wanted to ask her to understand.He chased after him, but his steps were light. He turned around the rockery and saw some flowers and plants, but could not see her shadow.He paid attention to it strangely, and caught a glimpse of her black satin vest in the crack of a rockery on the right.He turned around the rockery again. In front of him was a small oval lawn surrounded by a few peach blossoms.Standing under a peach tree, she lowered her head and fiddled with something on the palm of her left hand. "Mei!" He couldn't help calling out, walking towards her. She looked up, and this time she didn't avoid it.She looked at him silently. He walked up to her and asked in an excited voice: “Mei, why do you avoid me?” She lowered her head, gently caressing the dying butterfly lying on her palm and fluttering its wings slightly, without answering for a while. "Aren't you going to forgive me?" His voice became bitter. She raised her head, looked at him for a while without blinking, and then said lightly: "Big cousin, you didn't do me any wrong." Only this short sentence. "It seems that you will not forgive me," he said almost mournfully. She smiled, not a happy smile, but a sad smile.Her eyes became very gentle.They kept caressing his face.Then she pressed her right hand to her chest.She whispered: "Big cousin, don't you know my heart? I have never blamed you!" "Then why do you avoid me? We have been separated for so long, and we finally met, and you refused to talk to me. How do you think I can live with it? How can I not think that you still hate me ?” he said bitterly. Mei lowered her head, bit her lip, and the wrinkles on her forehead became deeper.She said slowly: "I don't hate you, but I'm afraid to see you more, lest everyone remember the past." Juexin stared blankly at her, unable to answer for a while.Mei bent down and gently placed the butterfly in her hand on the lawn, and said in a pitiful voice: "Poor, I don't know who made you like this!" Say it.She then said: "Big cousin, I'm leaving first, I'll watch them play cards." She then walked towards the water pavilion. Juexin raised his head and saw Mei's drooping bun and the light blue foreign hair rope tied on it through his tearful eyes.Seeing that she was about to turn around the rockery, he couldn't help calling out again: "Mei!" She turned around and stood still, standing next to the rockery, waiting for him to pass. "Big cousin," she called out with concern, and raised her watery eyes to look at him. "You are even pitiful for a butterfly, am I not worthy of your pity?" He held back his tears and said in a low voice. She didn't answer, she lowered her head and leaned against the rockery. "Maybe you're going back tomorrow, and we'll never have the chance to see each other again. Either we are dead or alive, and we all seem to live in two worlds. You just have the heart to bid farewell to me silently like this?" He sobbed. She still didn't answer, just breathing rapidly. "Mei, I betrayed you.... There is nothing I can do....I accepted the kiss...forgot you....I never thought of your pain," his voice was still as low as before, but because Speaking in a hurry, it became intermittent.He took out his handkerchief from his bosom, but let the tears run down his cheeks without wiping his eyes. "I later learned that you have suffered enough in the past few years, and I brought it to you. Thinking of this level, how can I let go of this heart? You see, I have suffered enough. You can't even say a word of forgiveness. Refuse to say?" She raised her head, her eyes sparkling.She finally couldn't help crying in a low voice, and said a few words intermittently: "Big cousin, my heart is in a mess right now... Where do you tell me to start?" So she held her heart with one hand, He coughed several times in a row. Seeing her so sad, a feeling of remorse, sympathy and love suddenly hit his heart.Forgetting himself, he leaned close to her body and wiped her face with his handkerchief. She let him do this silently at first, but after a while, she suddenly pushed him away, struggling bitterly and said: "Don't get close to me like this, you should also avoid suspicion!" She pretended to walk away. "How can I avoid suspicion at this time? I already have children. ... But I shouldn't make you sad like this. People say: 'Sorrow can hurt people', you should also cherish your body." He took her hand and didn't want her to go, and said, "You see you crying like this, how can you go out?" At this time, he was just grieving for her fate, and he was completely thinking of her alone: ​​he put his sorrow Also forgot. She gradually stopped her grief, took the handkerchief from his hand, wiped off the tears by herself, and then returned it to him, saying sadly: "In the past few years, there is a day when I don't miss you. You don't know that I was in Qinmei How comforting I am to see your back at home. I wanted to see you very much when I came back to the provincial capital, but I was afraid to meet you. I avoided you in Xinfaxiang that day, and regretted it later. I can’t make up my mind either Ah. I have my mother, and you have my first cousin. My first cousin is so good, I like her too. I don't want to remind you of the past. I don't mind myself, my life is over. But I don't I want to make you suffer, but I don’t want to make her suffer. At home, my mother doesn’t know what’s on my mind, she can only use her heart to think about everything. She won’t understand my sorrow. If I live like this, it’s better It's better to die early." She let out a long sigh.Juexin pressed his chest silently, because his heart hurts too much. The two looked at each other face to face. After a while, he smiled sadly. He pointed to the lawn and said, "Don't you remember when we used to roll on the green grass? The bug bit my finger, or did you suck it for me?" Scars. We also caught butterflies in the grass and picked henna seeds. The place is not the same now?... There was another lunar eclipse, and we picked up the bench and walked in the courtyard, saying that we were suffering for the moon.  … Do you remember these things? When you were studying with me at our house, we had so many good dreams in front of a clear oil lamp! The happiness at that time was so intoxicating! How could we have imagined the ending like today ?” He showed a dreamy look, as if trying to recall the scene at that time. "I pretty much live by memory now," May whispered still, "Memories can sometimes make people forget everything. I really want to go back to my childhood when I was free and worry-free, but it's a pity that time can't be turned back. Big cousin, you must take care of your health..." Before she finished speaking, she heard someone approaching, and then Shuhua's voice said: "Cousin Mei, we have been looking for you for a long time, so you are hiding here!" Mei hurriedly took a step back, moved her body away from Juexin, and turned her head to look. Those who came were Qin and the two sisters Shuying and Shuhua.The three of them walked up to Mei, and Shuhua saw Mei's face, and smiled in surprise, "Cousin Mei, did elder brother bully you? Why are your eyes swollen from crying?" Shuhua noticed Xin's face again. , Juexin tried to avoid it, but she had already seen it, and she said, "Why are you crying too? You have been separated for several years, and now you meet, you should be happy!Why are you hiding here and crying? Mei blushed and lowered her head. Juexin also turned her head away to look elsewhere, explaining vaguely, "My eyes hurt today." " When Shuying heard this sentence, she also interjected and laughed, "It's strange, it doesn't hurt sooner, it doesn't hurt later, but when Cousin Mei came, your eyes hurt." Qin pulled Shuying's sleeve beside her, signaling her to stop talking, because Ruijue came with the child.But Shuying continued speaking in one breath, unable to stop her, and by the time she realized it, it was already too late. Hearing Shuying's words and seeing this situation, Rui Jue couldn't help feeling a little suspicious.Without saying anything, she sent Haichen to Juexin with a smile and asked him to lead him. She walked to Mei's side and said, "Cousin Mei, don't be sad. Let's go somewhere else. It's good to be calm." She intimately supported Mei around the rockery and walked out. Shuying and Shuhua were going to follow them, but they were stopped by Qin. Qin said movedly: "Let them go, they probably have something to say. I like Sister Mei very much." Although these words were addressed to Sister Shuying, they were addressed to Juexin.