Chapter 13 The second quarter is in Wuhan

I left the house with fifty dollars in my hand.In retrospect, how useful the fifty yuan was at that time!It took me from Jinan to Hankou, and I still had money to give Mrs. Bai a piece of clothing—Bai Jun’s new wedding. Bai Jun was my classmate in middle school.In Wuhan, there are two other classmates, Zhu Jun and Cai Jun.Before long, I saw them.Cai Jun also gave me a coat.I have a house, I have clothes, I have friends: "What will I do?" It's a good decision.Since I dared to come out with only fifty yuan, I must believe that I have the ability to earn a living.My capital is myself.As long as I don't be lazy and work hard with my pen, I will have food to eat.

Put the smaller Nanjing and the smaller Shanghai together, put them on both sides of the river, and that is Wuhan.Wuchang is very quiet and easy to recognize - with the Snake Mountain like the back of the city, it's hard to lose your way.Hankou is almost as noisy and chaotic as Shanghai, but it does not have the quietness in the busyness of Shanghai, and the cultural undertakings and atmosphere of Shanghai.It is purely a commercial port. I am used to living in Beiping, Jinan, and Qingdao. I don’t even like Shanghai very much, let alone Hankou. Thinking about it today, Hankou hardly left any impression on me.Although the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuchang is so ugly, and although there are not many beautiful places in Wuchang, I have not completely forgotten it.Eating tea outside the plum grove on Snake Mountain, rowing a boat at the foot of Luojia Mountain, and taking a walk on the campus of Huazhong University all made me feel comfortable and happy.

Especially worthy of nostalgia is the old Tiancheng Hotel in Wuchang.This is an old name.The shopkeeper and most of the guys are from Hebei.We recognized folks.Every time I pass by there, I get the most affectionate greeting, and their famous Erguotou and Bichun can never stop me from drinking enough. Although Hanyang is small and dirty, there are historical sites: Guiyuan Temple, Yingwu Island, Qintai, and Lu Su's Tomb are all there.Except for the Guiyuan Temple, these monuments are still in order, and the others are dilapidated, which makes people sad. Hanyang's arsenal has a history.It has attracted many air strikes to the three towns of Wuhan, and it has also suffered many bombs.

The weather in Wuhan is not pleasant either.It is very cold in winter and sometimes it snows very thickly.The summer heat is so hot that people have nowhere to hide.Wuchang, because it is more open, sometimes there is a gust of wind.Hankou is like a big stove.There were few trees, house after house, no open space except the street.The sunshine of poisonous flowers shines on the bare asphalt road, which is daunting. The hotter it is, the more mosquitoes.In a room on Qianjia Street, I used to guard a large glass window in the evening.On the window I smashed three publications and shot down hundreds of small planes.

There are also many centipedes, which are scary.I sprinkled realgar under the mattress, under the box, and under the pillow; although I don't know if this can really keep away the poisonous insects, but with this device, I can sleep more peacefully.One day, a small postal roll was torn apart, and a centipede jumped out of it! When it comes to food, there is nothing special in Wuhan.Except for a few types of Yancha like pearl balls, the cooking style is similar to that of Jiangsu restaurants - all dishes are added with stewed powder and sugar, which is neither particularly delicious nor too unpalatable.As for putting glutinous rice in the siu mai, it is really embarrassing for the old man in the north!

In Hankou, my first article was for Ta Kung Pao.Immediately after, several friends asked me to write a manuscript.Well, my life can be out of the question. How about continuing to live in Hankou?Or go elsewhere?I can't make up my mind.On the 21st, the government ordered the capital to be moved to Chongqing.On the 22nd, Suzhou fell.People in Wuhan are extremely disturbed.Everyone's uneasiness also naturally affected me.My luggage is simple, my "cargo" is light, and I like to see more new places, so I am willing to go again. I telegraphed Brother Zhao Shuicheng, and he telegraphed back to welcome me to Changsha.But my friends in Wuhan didn’t want me to leave them just after I arrived; I’m good at making friends, so I was hesitant.

At Huazhong University in Wuchang, there is also a good friend of mine, Professor You Zecheng.He not only forbade me to leave, but also gave me his house and bed and taught me to live there.His residence is in Yunjiaqiao - what a beautiful place name! ——The place is quiet, the food is good, and there are many books.Comparing Wuchang with Hankou, I like Wuchang because Wuchang is like a quiet Chinese city, while Hankou is a smoky wharf that is neither central nor western.Yunjiaqiao is the quietest place in Wuchang, so I decided to move there. Mr. You has other plans.If the current situation is not too bad and the school is not closed, he is very willing to ask me to teach in Huazhong for a few hours.

However, when I visited Central China for the first time, I encountered an air raid. At that time, Wuhan’s air defense equipment was very simple.Most of the alleys in Hankou are erected with logs and piled with sandbags.A light bomb would also bring down a wooden frame, but sandbags are enough to crush a person.Easier than this is to run into the concession.There are not even wooden sandbags in the concession, but everyone guesses that the Japanese will not bomb the concession-this is a psychological air defense method.In Wuchang, some places have dug holes in the ground, propped them up with wood and covered with sandbags, which is as unsafe as the method in Hankou.Some people, as soon as there is an alarm, run to the Snake Mountain and hide in the woods.This, as long as the machine guns are fired, many people will be lost.

Huazhong is better, nothing.My friends and I hid in the cellar of the library.The imitation caused the Japanese to suffer a lot.If the Japanese had thought of blowing up military, political, or industrial centers without waiting for Germany to attack Poland and London, many of my friends and I would have died in Wuhan long ago.However, the Japanese only sent a few planes at that time, no more than twenty or thirty planes.If they don't raid, we don't care about air raids.In the cellar we felt strangely safe. Soon, brothers He Rong, Lao Xiang and Wang Yun all came to the Gospel Church in Qianjia Street, Wuchang.Mr. Feng and his friends welcome us to Qianjia Street.There, too, the place is quiet and there is a fairly large yard.He Rong and Lao Xiang plan to compile a popular publication; I will go and help them a little.So I moved from Yunjiaqiao to Qianjia Street, and gradually forgot about going to Changsha.In exile, I used to make my home everywhere, and I could live in places where I had friends; I just stayed in Wuchang like this.

-------- ①It should be Qianhu Street.