Chapter 27 Twenty-seven

When the sun was setting to the west, Zhao Kejiu returned to the place where his unit was stationed.Mrs. Yan Zhongping's kindness made him extremely excited. On the way back, he made many wonderful plans for the future, but now his greatest wish is to find a quiet corner and quietly complete several necessary preparations alone. He was so excited that he almost forgot to answer when the guard saluted him. There were people coming and going in the yard inside the gate, they were all in a hurry, and the atmosphere was a bit strange, Zhao Kejiu ignored him, he was only thinking about his own business.There are currently three agencies living in this big house, and the one that Zhao Kejiu serves occupies the last one, with more than a dozen large and small rooms.The largest and poorest of them is used as a conference room.This is the quiet corner that Zhao Kejiu longed for.

Things were just as he expected, under the dim electric light, there were only dumb furniture and slogans on the four walls in this rectangular room; the party flag, the prime minister's jade photo, and two other big photos seemed to have removed Wang Gen ( 1483-1541) Ming philosopher.The word Ruzhi is named Xinzhai.Taizhou, but this was just Zhao Kejiu's vague feeling for a moment, and he didn't pay attention to it at all. He planned to hide here and write two letters: one requesting his resignation, and the other saying goodbye to Xiao Tao. She was sent to a nearby township to do propaganda work yesterday, and she is expected to return the day after tomorrow.

After successfully completing the plan, he returned to the dormitory. But in the small courtyard in front of the dormitory, he was stunned.Luggage was being moved out one by one, and colleagues in all their departure outfits were in a noisy mess.Section Chief Qian pointed and issued orders among the crowd, and suddenly caught a glimpse of the professor of classical linguistics at Zhao Kejiu University.Inheriting Schopenhauer's basic views, but disagreeing with him, exclaimed: "Hurry up and get ready, it's about to start!" Zhao Kejiu lost his mind at this time, and ran mechanically to the male staff's dormitory. As soon as he entered the door, he saw papers all over the floor, and the three sets of bed boards had turned over, but he could not find his own luggage.

He quickly turned around and went to the small courtyard again, when Xiaotao met him on the way, and shouted from a distance: "Okay, okay! Two or three minutes later and you will be left behind!" "But what about my luggage?" "I moved it to the car for you a long time ago, and it was Xiao Lu who helped!" The whistle sounded urgently.More than half of the people in the small courtyard have left.Zhao Kejiu and Xiaotao huddled in the crowd and ran to the door in a hurry, and saw five trucks lined up in a long snake, full of people and luggage. "Here it is! Come on!"

Xiao Lu greeted him loudly in the penultimate car. The three cars in front have all started at this time.Zhao Kejiu and Xiao Tao just climbed into the carriage, and their car followed suit.The dust raised by the car in front covered Zhao Kejiu and the others like a veil. Night also fell, and the first star appeared in the sky.There are more and more vehicles on the road, all going in the same direction.Sometimes there are a few lights on the side of the road, which are probably villages. After Zhao Kejiu climbed into the car, he was always in a daze.None of the seven or eight people in the car spoke.However, as the number of vehicles traveling on the road increased, people on board pointing and pointing became lively.Zhao Kejiu also looked blankly at all kinds of vehicles that came up from behind or were overtaken by others, but his heart was empty and he didn't feel anything; it seemed that his heart was tired of some thick glue, and he couldn't help it for a while. Can't melt.

"Where did you go just now? Why can't I find you?" Xiao Tao's voice came from the side. Zhao Kejiu didn't seem to hear it, and he didn't seem to understand what was said to him. It wasn't until Xiao Lu slapped him lightly on the back that he asked in a panic: "Oh? What did Xiao Tao say?" "Where did you go just now?" "Me? Arrived in Shanghai." "I didn't ask you to go to Shanghai!" It was Xiao Tao's voice again, "Where have you been since you came back?" "No!" "That's weird." It was Xiao Lu's voice now. "After the departure order was issued, everyone was anxious on your behalf, fearing that you would not be able to catch up. Later, someone said that they saw you coming back, but we searched everywhere, even in the toilet, but we couldn't find it."

"Oh, this? I'm in the conference room." "Ah, no one can guess this. You just hid in the conference room and slept?" Xiao Lu smiled mischievously. "No! I wrote two letters." Zhao Kejiu was forced to confess truthfully, and replied listlessly.At the same time, he mechanically reached into his pocket to touch the two letters, suddenly his brain became active, and he turned around and asked urgently: "Little Tao, why did you come back? I thought I would be able to come back tomorrow?" "We received an order in that village in the morning to transfer."

"Oh! Nothing can be imagined." Zhao Kejiu said softly and sighed. After a while, he asked softly again: "Transfer! Where are you going?" "I don't know either. No one knows, not even Chief Qian." "He probably knows something, but he just won't say it!" This is Xiao Lu's voice. Zhao Kejiu sighed again, and stopped talking. The road was getting worse and worse, and the truck was like a cradle.Most of the people in the car dozed off.Zhao Kejiu thought in his mind: "No matter where they move, I will not go with them anyway. The car will not drive all night, sooner or later it will stop for the night, and it will not be far from Shanghai. I can go to Mrs. Yan to ask for an answer. Even if it doesn't work tomorrow, maybe it won't be a problem if it's delayed a day?"

Thinking of this, gradually his eyelids could no longer be lifted. The truck suddenly shook violently, waking up everyone on board.The car stopped immediately.In the darkness, only the voices of people shouting from all sides could be heard, and the waves rose and fell from time to time.Suddenly, the sound of the train whistle was heard flying in the distance, and then the sound of the rumbling wheels became louder and louder.At this time, the noisy human voices around reached a climax, even overwhelming the sound of the train.At the same time, I saw the white light of the flashlight sweeping back and forth.

Everyone on the truck got down one after another, and Zhao Kejiu followed everyone's example.He was pushed forward in the crowd, and finally reached a relatively open place. People stopped, and it turned out that the track was in front of him. Zhao Kejiu didn't know where this was, and he didn't bother to find out; he sat silently on a pile of gravel by the roadside. The whistle was heard again.But the sound of people yelling and cursing is really earth-shattering.Zhao Kejiu looked back in astonishment, his companions had all rushed over there, and he was the only one left here.He guessed that they were also going to grab the car.He was a little panicked, jumped up and walked towards the disturbed pile over there.But as soon as he ran two or three steps, he heard a gunshot, followed by two shots in succession.He turned back involuntarily and ran wildly towards the side of the road.If you fall down, get up and run again.Suddenly, the raging shouts fell silent.The siren blew again, but this time it was a long and majestic blew, which lasted for a full minute.

The train finally left, carrying a large number of people, and there were still a large number of people left behind. I don’t know how many there are in the dark, but they all seemed to be tired, and they sat quietly on both sides of the track, waiting for another chance. Zhao Kejiu walked around the crowd for a long time, but fortunately he heard Xiao Lu's voice, and finally found his group.They gathered under a big tree, whining and complaining. "This is disorderly!" It seemed to be the voice of Section Chief Qian. "What if the enemy plane finds out?" "The station master is so useless, why doesn't he follow orders?" "That's no wonder he, others don't obey orders!" "Looks like we won't be able to leave tonight," said another person. "I suggest finding a place for it to sleep in the station." "Hey! You're still dreaming! The station is full of wounded soldiers, and you can't get a single toe in!" "So, what about the station master's office?" the man said unconvinced. "Okay, okay, go and see for yourself! Maybe the coat hook on the wall hasn't been preempted by someone else!" Everyone roared with laughter. Zhao Kejiu found Xiao Tao sitting alone on the root of the big tree, holding his head in both hands.He suddenly thought of the letter he was going to leave for Xiao Tao in his pocket.So the changes in the whole day from morning to now are all on his mind again.He had planned well at first, but now he is like a straw in the torrent, being swept away involuntarily, but he doesn't know whether what is waiting for him is a land of fragrant grass, or darkness and filth. smelly ditch. Standing beside Xiaotao, he asked softly: "What's going on? Where is our destination?" Xiao Tao raised his head in surprise, saw Zhao Kejiu, and replied after a while: "Shanghai has retreated! The enemy has landed in Jinshanwei." She told Zhao Kejiu the information she knew in detail: the troops were ordered to concentrate in Wuxi, and their group of political workers might have to retreat westward. The director of political training is in Suzhou, so the first step is probably to come Suzhou; no one knows what will happen in the future, but she thinks maybe they will stay in the Taihu Lake area, and finally retreat into Jiangxi. Zhao Kejiu was silent for a while, and finally he sighed and said: "Jinshanwei is very close to my home." "Oh! Well, I think of your sister-in-law. She has two children with her." "They may go to the countryside to hide for a few days, but, Xiao Tao, if I stay in Shanghai today... well, I have no idea now." "It's useless for you to be anxious!" Xiao Tao thought that Zhao Kejiu was worried about the safety of his family, so he tried his best to comfort him. "Besides, the enemy's goal is Shanghai. That small town has no military value, so the enemy may not go there." Zhao Ke was silent for a long time.What he was anxious about at this time was not his parents, etc., he felt that his parents, sister-in-law and sister-in-law would always have a solution; what he was anxious about was himself.Let's go with the army, he is really not interested, go his own way, he still has the courage, but now he hears that the army is retreating westward, and sees the traffic chaos with his own eyes, how can he not hesitate? He was about to tell Xiaotao what was on his mind, and discuss a solution with her, when suddenly Xiaolu jumped up and shouted happily: "Let's go, let's go, hurry up and get in the car!" "What are you doing in the car?" Xiao Tao stood up and asked. "Section Chief Qian decided to work around it and not wait for the train!" While Xiao Lu answered, he pulled Xiao Tao and urged Zhao Kejiu to leave quickly. The flashlight also came on.Although they immediately heard shouts of "No flashlights!", but the group ignored everyone and ran away like a gust of wind. The truck is on the road again.After bumping and walking for half an hour, I saw a light ahead, which was probably a village.The truck stopped in front of the first person's house. Section Chief Qian came out of the driver's cab, raised his hand and shouted to the people in the car: "Comrades! Spend the night here tonight. Each finds a place to sleep, each takes care of his luggage!" After speaking, he turned on the flashlight and rushed into the village; his orderly jumped out of the car with his luggage and followed him. There are only about twenty families in this village.However, what surprised Zhao Kejiu and the others the most was that almost every house was already full of uninvited guests—very embarrassing but tyrannical rout soldiers. Zhao Kejiu, Xiaotao, Xiaolu and another colleague went straight to the end of the village, and saw a detached house with lights flashing on the windows, and the open space in front of the door was devoid of the disturbance and mess that must have occurred wherever the team went. scene. "Thank goodness, we have discovered a new continent!" The male colleague surnamed Zhang said so and walked towards the room with lights.This house has four rooms side by side, only the last one has light, it seems that it is equipped with glass windows.But before he reached the front of this room, he heard a rough voice yelling "Stop!" At the same time, the shiny bayonet tip reached the chest of that surnamed Zhang. Xiao Zhang didn't show weakness, he also asked which army the other party belonged to, and who lived here?The guard didn't answer, but held his gun sideways to prevent Xiao Zhang from approaching.At this time, Zhao Kejiu and the others also came up, chattering and cheering. Someone came out of the room where the lights flickered, and a woman's voice asked: "What's up?" Zhao Kejiu heard that the woman's accent was from his hometown, so he rushed to explain the matter.The woman heard that there were two "female comrades" who couldn't find a place to live, so she looked at Xiaotao and Xiaolu sympathetically and said: "The battalion commander went to the station and hasn't come back yet, so I don't dare to call the shots." "Then, are you the battalion commander's wife?" Zhao Kejiu asked rashly. The woman suddenly faltered, neither admitting nor denying, but greeted Xiaotao and Xiaolu, "Come in and sit down, slowly think of a way." The woman was in her twenties, and she was good-looking, but her face was very haggard.She invited the four guests into the room, but she didn't "find a way" for them, and followed Zhao Kejiu word by word to inquire about the situation in her hometown.She told her parents' names again, and asked Zhao Kejiu if he knew them. "A lot of times I don't get information," the woman said with a slight sigh. "Now I can't go back, so I have to follow him." Xiao Tao and Xiao Zhang didn't know much about their country talk.Later, Xiao Zhang couldn't stand it any longer, pulled Zhao Kejiu and asked: "Have you discussed it?" "what?" "Where to live!" Xiao Zhang also saw that it was not the same thing. "Oh! Don't worry, there will be no other way!" The woman said, this time she used "Mandarin", which everyone understood. She told them that there were four rooms in total, two of which were crowded with soldiers, one of which was occupied by the battalion commander and her, and the remaining one was crowded with more than a dozen people of the size of the owner. "Including the four of you here," she looked at the position in the room, "it could have been done. However, the battalion commander is coming back soon." Zhao Kejiu and the others thought there was no hope, but the woman pointed to Xiaotao and Xiaolu and said: "No matter what, let's keep these two lesbians." The matter was decided in this way, Zhao Kejiu and Xiao Zhang went to the owner of the house to find a solution. At this time, it was past midnight, and none of the owner's family was asleep except for the children.For the two newcomers, their attitude was cold.Xiao Zhang didn't care what happened, he saw that the only place to lie down in the room was a board table, he wrapped the army blanket around his body, and curled up on the table like a shrimp. Zhao Kejiu was going to stay up all night, trying to find something to talk to his master about.However, among the ten sentences, only one or two short answers can be obtained.The atmosphere of fear, distrust, and contempt finally made Zhao Kejiu have no courage to speak again.But at least he also found out one very important point: about ten miles away from this small village is a certain town, and there is a waterway leading to Shanghai. After being dazed for a while, Zhao Kejiu woke up suddenly, and saw that the half-closed wooden door was already glowing white.He took his bag and a small quilt, walked out of the room without making a sound, took off his uniform, put on plain clothes, took out the letter of resignation he had prepared and tied it together with the uniform, thinking to himself: just let it go. How is it with Xiao Zhang? But he saw Xiao Tao coming. "Why? So early?" Zhao Kejiu asked in surprise, feeling very happy. "That battalion commander is nothing at all. Xiao Lu and I dared not close our eyes all night." Then, she sighed and said, "I feel sorry for that woman! She also went to junior high school, and she even kidnapped and lied to her." , was fooled, and now she has no freedom!" "So, what about Xiao Lu? Where is she?" "She went to the back of the house to find a latrine. But why did you change into plain clothes?" Zhao Kejiu briefly told Xiaotao about his plan, and said: "You should also get out of this terrible team! Selling plasters and being looked down upon by the people everywhere is meaningless." Xiao Tao pondered and shook his head. Zhao Kejiu suddenly thought of the farewell letter he had written long ago for Xiao Tao, so he took it out and handed it to Xiao Tao. "What is this?" Xiao Tao asked in surprise. "Leave you a farewell letter, which was written yesterday." Xiao Tao didn't open the letter, looked at Zhao Kejiu's face, and said softly, "I'm planning to go home. My home is on the west side of Yuehan Road. Xiao Zhao, you must go west in the end. We will meet again." Opportunity." "Of course. I will go to Hankou in a short time. You can ask Yan Jiexiu, Hankou Office of Guohua Machinery Manufacturing Factory, and you can definitely ask for my address." "I will also give you a communication office." Xiao Tao tore off a page in his diary and wrote the address.A small photo in the diary suddenly fell to the ground. It was taken by Xiao Tao before he started working.Zhao Kejiu picked it up and took a look, suddenly Xiao Tao snatched it away with his hands, and smiled for no reason.She looked at Zhao Kejiu for a while, and then gave Zhao Kejiu the photo and mailing address, but suddenly her hand trembled, and the fountain pen in her hand fell to the ground. Unfortunately, there was a stone here. Zhao Kejiu quickly picked up the fountain pen and saw that the nib was broken.He took out his own "Pike" and handed it to Xiaotao: "You can use this one. I can buy it in Shanghai." Xiao Tao took the pen, but took back the photo from Zhao Kejiu, turned over the back, and wrote two lines: Goodbye, not at the front, but at the rear. Zhao Ke believed twice, and said emphatically as if answering himself: "In the rear!" He handed over his uniform and letter of resignation to Tao, shook hands solemnly, and left.Suddenly he stopped and looked back.Xiao Tao caught up and raised his hands and shouted: "Don't forget to greet your sister-in-law! Maybe she doesn't remember me, but I'll never forget her! Good-bye, back!" Zhao Kejiu felt that Xiaotao's words seemed to be addressed to him, not to his sister-in-law.He suddenly felt very uncomfortable, raised his hand and said, "Goodbye, never forget!" He strode out of the village, facing the morning glow that had just covered the sky.