Chapter 43 second quarter

Winter is coming.Liu Yingchun followed a small group of refugees in exile on the West Wind Road, and she could not find her mother.She didn't know how she and her mother got separated.She only remembered that at that unknown railway station, a few Japanese soldiers with guns suddenly rushed into the refugee line, and people scattered in panic under the glaring bayonets.Then there was intensive gunfire. After a long time, Liu Yingchun sat up from a pile of bloody corpses.Fortunately, she just fainted from fright and was unscathed.Looking around, there was no living figure, and the station sank into the dark night.Silence enveloped her like death.She called mother in her heart, but dared not make any sound.

A group of Japanese patrol soldiers came over, "chachacha", their leather boots stepped on the bluestone slab of the platform, and Ye was shaken tremblingly.Liu Yingchun quickly lowered her body and buried herself inside those corpses. A few beams of flashlights shone over.With the turquoise beam of light, a big fat wolfhound sniffed around the corpse.It stuck out its foul-smelling tongue, almost licking Liu Yingchun's face... In the distance, a rapid whistle sounded suddenly, mixed with messy gunshots.The patrol soldiers yelled and ran away with their wolfhounds, chasing the whistle and gunshots.

When there was no more movement around, Liu Yingchun slowly stood up from the pile of corpses.The desire to survive made her fight back her fear, and walked towards the train that was parked on the railway track with her sore legs.At dawn, she climbed onto a coal truck that was silently standing by the platform.She endured hunger and thirst lying on the pile of coal, and let the truck take her through places she didn't know the names of.She survived with difficulty, but she didn't know if her mother fell into the hands of Japanese soldiers, or even if she was still alive. A month later, Liu Yingchun followed the refugees into Gansu, far away from the Yellow River flooding area and the Japanese soldiers.They run along endless stretches of tawny mountains or the Gobi Desert.In fact, they are heading for a desperate situation.Because this area is sparsely populated, it is difficult for them to ask for food, and sometimes even bark and grass roots cannot be found on the desolate land.And after entering winter, the cold will strike like a ghost at any time.Especially at night, once someone lies down, it is difficult to get up again.The farther west they went, the fewer of them survived.

In the early winter season in Northwest China, at dusk, the sky is full of snowflakes.Liu Yingchun was still wearing the single clothes she had when she escaped from her hometown, which was already dirty and tattered, and she only wore a ragged jacket on the outside, which was given to her by a kind aunt when she was passing through a small town.She and other refugees could have stayed in the densely populated towns, but every day Japanese planes roared and circled the sky, dropping dense bombs.A place called Jingyuan suffered a major air crash caused by Japanese planes.Even if they are lucky enough to escape the air crash, other disasters may strike suddenly.The most common is the movement of soldiers in the rear, adding to the plight of the refugees.People die every day.The refugees had no choice but to continue westward blindly, towards the more desolate Gobi.

On this dusk when snowflakes suddenly fell, Liu Yingchun felt an unparalleled cold, probably hungry and cold.She hadn't eaten for two days, not even a sip of water.Gradually, her legs lost feeling from the cold and exhaustion, and she could no longer keep up with the fellow travelers.She didn't want to go anymore, and she couldn't go anymore, so she sat down in front of a dry tree stump and curled herself up into a ball. Liu Yingchun who curled up together felt much better.Slowly, the faint heat from her body dissipated in the new wind accompanied by fine snowflakes, and her whole body seemed to be frozen, unable to move at all.It occurred to her that she might be dying.She could already hear the footsteps of Death hovering above her head.But at this time, apart from the peace of mind, she didn't feel too much fear.She felt that she really should have a good rest, give up aimless running and have a sweet dream in a soft and warm place.Yes, Liu Yingchun who curled up into a ball felt a rare warmth at this time.

Liu Yingchun has never read any books. She didn't know that there was another "The Little Match Girl", a fairy tale as warm as this time, otherwise she would also see her father who was washed away by the flood and her mother who disappeared. They smiled and waved to her... After an unknown amount of time, Liu Yingchun, who had fallen asleep leaning against the dead tree stump, opened her eyes, reminiscing about the dream just now.A bunch of red bonfires came into her eyes.It turned out that it wasn't all a dream.She was also surprised to find that she was covered with a piece of wool felt.

A strange man was sitting by the campfire, eating dry food in front of the fire.Because of his thick beard, Liu Yingchun couldn't see his face clearly, nor could he tell his age.She was a little scared, and even a little hungry.She squirmed her chapped lips and shivered under the wool felt. Beard heard the movement, he looked up at her, without speaking, threw a water bag made of sheepskin.The water bag was thrown within Liu Yingchun's reach.After a while, Liu Yingchun was sure that the water bag was for her, reached out and hooked it over, picked it up and held it in her arms.Trembling, she opened the stopper and took a sharp breath, feeling a strong milky smell in her mouth.She drank goat's milk in her hometown, but the milk in the water bag seemed to be different from goat's milk, it should be horse's milk or cow's milk.

Liu Yingchun already had a little strength, she gave a difficult smile to her beard, that smile contained gratitude and some kind of expectation.She stared straight at the dry food in his hand, which had been roasted over a fire, and exuded the unique aroma of wheat flour cakes, floating slowly towards her. After eating the dry food, the bearded man said, "Sister Ga, you have been hungry for too long, and you can't eat now. Just drink the camel's milk in the leather pouch." Liu Yingchun turned her head slightly, and she saw several camels lying down not far away. At dawn, Liu Yingchun was awakened by a rustling sound.It turned out that the bearded man was driving the camel and was about to set off.He put down some dry food beside her, and the skin pouch full of camel's milk.

The ancient silk road in the morning looks so empty and blurred.After a while, Hu and his camel had gone far away, as if they were about to disappear from Liu Yingchun's sight.Liu Yingchun felt the helplessness and fear of being abandoned by the world.She stood up staggeringly, chased after a few steps, plopped and fell down again.She lay on the ground and called eagerly: "Uncle, please, don't leave me here alone. I know you are a good person, take me with you! My parents are gone, I will make it for you." A cow is a horse, as long as you give me food!" The bearded man paused for a moment, then turned and walked back.He came in front of Liu Yingchun and said, "Sister Ga, you want to be a cow or a horse for me, but tell me, what will you do?"

"I...I can grind tofu." "People in our county like to eat bean sprouts. And there is a tofu mill in the county. The owner is a powerful rich man. Who dares to compete with him for business? We don't need to grind tofu at home." "I can sing Henan Opera "Mulan", and more." "Everyone in our place listens to Qin opera, but I have never heard of Henan opera. But I know that there is a kind of opera called Henan opera outside. You escaped from Henan, right?" "I will..." Liu Yingchun covered her face with her hands and shrugged her shoulders.

The bearded man waved his hand and said, "Forget it, forget it, don't worry me by crying. You look after the camels for me. There are two little camels that are not yet full moon. They should be fine, right?" "...No problem! I used to herd sheep." Liu Yingchun wiped her tears with her sleeve, her big eyes flashed brightly. The bearded man picked up Liu Yingchun, put her on a big camel, and wrapped the piece of wool felt around her body, and she followed him on the journey westward.