Chapter 28 Twenty-eight

The day before sailing, Baoqing went to say goodbye to his elder brother.Early in the morning, he ran to Nanquan Hot Spring, climbed up the mountain, and arrived at the ruined grave, crying to death.After crying bitterly, he felt better.It was as if crying to the closest elder brother, the tears washed away all the sorrow and suffering of the long eight years. What hurt him the most was Xiulian.The elder brother loves her as much as he does, and guards her like a father.If he had lived to this day, how could she have ended up in such a mess, and lost such a shame!The eldest brother's grave is on a grassy hillside. Baoqing knelt in front of the grave, thinking that he should ask his elder brother to forgive him for not taking good care of his child.After telling what was in his heart, he begged the wimpy for forgiveness, and begged him to bless the whole family.After burning the paper, he returned to Chongqing.

I told my eldest brother all the grievances, and Baoqing felt a lot more at ease.Like a young man, he packed his luggage vigorously.Second Grandma always wanted to make trouble. She wanted to take everything away, from teacups to tables, chairs and benches.Baoqing's solution is to give these things to those who help in the bookstore as a souvenir for them.Xiulian and Dafeng packed up all the things the two children needed along the way.For such a long journey, it is easy for adults to say, children can't have nothing, there are many things to prepare for. After packing up, Xiulian picked up the child and went to the street, wanting to see Chongqing for the last time.Having lived in this mountain city for many years, I was really reluctant to leave.She went out, and the child took her hand and staggered beside her.She knows the past and present of every house.She saw with her own eyes that the original tall and beautiful new-style buildings were blown into rubble by enemy bombs, and temporary sheds were erected on the ruins.She thought bitterly that the war had changed the city, and it had changed herself.

High on the mountain, the air-raid shelter has a big black mouth, as if a large drop of ink has accidentally dripped on a landscape painting.How many days and nights she had spent in those holes!She seemed to smell the suffocating musty smell again, and heard the hiss of shrapnel flying across the bomb when it went off.It's the war that drives people to that horrible place, where a lot of people get worms or whatever.My dear uncle was also killed, but she was still alive.She tried her best to hold back her tears, feeling that she and her nameless little girl would be better off dead than alive.

She didn't want to watch anything anymore, but she still missed it and didn't want to leave.This mountain city has an indescribable attraction to her.Why?She suddenly remembered that it was because she lost her virginity in this place and became a woman.she began to cry.Conscience came to blame her again, why didn't she go to Nanquan Hot Spring with her father to visit her uncle's grave? She picked up the child and continued walking.The street has changed.Thousands of people planned to go back down the river and set up stalls on the street to sell things they couldn't take with them.Things are really cheap.Some people came from the countryside and wanted to pick up some bargains.People in the city were also snapping up things, and it turned out that the returning refugees got a few dollars more.

Seeing people bargaining, Xiulian couldn't help thinking that she was just like those second-hand goods at the stall.She was worn, worn, and worthless now, like a broken bed, or a pair of worn shoes. She suddenly had an idea, quickened her pace, and went to a corner of the street that she was very familiar with.She wanted to see the hut where she and Zhang Wen lived.That's where she got her family, that's where she was imprisoned.There she was, a taste of hell for a woman.She stopped, remembering what happened to her.She couldn't move her legs and her heart was beating unbearably.The child became heavy in her hands and she put it down.In that hut, her love was disillusioned, and all that was left was the pain of being abandoned and tortured.She can forget other things, but she can't forget this hut.Every piece of bamboo on the furniture, every piece of clothing, the Sichuan embroidered quilt, the hole in the ceiling, and all the abuses she suffered in this room, she will never forget until the day she dies.Everything has been deeply *Bi Ye  trouble small*

She picked up the baby and forced herself to keep going.Walking to the entrance of the alley, I was already sweating profusely.The alleys looked dirty and narrow.She put down the baby, bent down, and kissed her warm little head. Oh, go in and see that cabin!Are those big mouse holes still there?Does anyone live in it?She went through the gate and looked towards her former cabin.Is there anyone in there?The door of the hut opened slowly, and a young woman came out.She was wearing a red cheongsam with heavy makeup on her face.Xiulian turned around, hugged the child tightly in her arms, and stumbled out.Well, there's another young woman living here, a prostitute perhaps, or a newly married woman of course.Alas, whoever she is, women are alike, weak and useless.

It took her a lot of effort to get out.The house seemed to be tied to her by an invisible chain.The image of Zhang Wen appeared in front of her eyes.She hates him.What if he suddenly appeared and asked her to go with him?She came out in a hurry, and the child jumped up and down in her arms.Run and never see him again!She waited until she couldn't run anymore, then stopped to take a breath, and turned her head to see if he was chasing her.She was surrounded by bombed-out mountain cities.The city can be rebuilt, but her old purity can no longer be restored. Approaching the bookstore, she regained her sanity.What a wild idea!Nothing can destroy her as long as she does not destroy herself.She may be too weak, young and ignorant.But she also has strength and courage.She is not afraid to face life.She raised her head suddenly and looked up at the sky.There will still be happiness.She was determined to strive for happiness, and to make herself worthy of being a happy person.

She kissed the child. "Is mom pretty?" she asked. The child giggled and muttered: "Mom, Mom." "Is Mom brave?" "Mother!" "Can we have a good time?" The child laughed, "Mom!" "Let's go to see the world together, to Nanjing, to Shanghai. Mom will sing the big drum and earn money for you. Mom is not afraid of anything." When she got home, she was calm and smiling.Baoqing stared at her for a long time.Something must have happened to her.Who are you in love with again?Get on board, the sooner the better. They are on their way again.The small steamboat was full of people.Everything is the same as it was seven years ago.Luggage was piled high on the deck, and people crowded around, swearing because they couldn't find a place to stay.No one could go into the dining room, so the waiter had to bring the food where people were standing.The chimneys sprinkled the deck with soot.The children cried and the old people complained.

The only difference is that the passengers are no longer afraid.The battle was over, and that was the most important thing.Even the Three Gorges is not scary anymore.Everyone on the boat hopes to get to the Three Gorges soon, because it is close to Yichang, and it is getting closer and closer to home. Everyone is very happy.People in the north think there that they will soon be able to see the great plain along the Yellow River and smell the smell of loess baked by the sun.That is their hometown, their paradise.Southerners think that the flowers in their hometown have already bloomed, and the dense bamboo forest is thick green.Everyone sang, drank, and punched.

But Baoqing is a different person.He is not as sharp and active as he was seven years ago.Time has left its marks on him.His temples were already grey, his face was thin, his eyes were getting bigger and his cheeks were sunken.However, he still walked around as much as possible, greeted his companions on the same boat, and joked a few words from time to time.He often sits on the deck and watches Xiulian and her child.Seven years seemed to have passed a lifetime, how much hardship these seven years had brought her! It was too dangerous to walk through the Three Gorges at night, and the boat anchored at the foot of a mountain.On the top of the mountain is Baidi City, and Baoqing's family can see it from the boat.

Early the next morning, the captain spoke.There is something wrong with the machine, and it will be repaired here for two days. On the evening of the third day another boat came and stopped nearby for the night.Bao Qing walked over to see the boat, and most of the passengers were going to go up the mountain to see Baidi City.Baoqing had already been there the day before, so he didn't go with everyone.He turned around and walked back, walking slowly along the river bank, with his hands behind his back, thinking about something on his mind.After a few steps, someone tapped him on the shoulder.When he turned around, his eyes widened with joy.In front of him stood the playwright Meng Liang.Be beaming, with a smile all over his face.He said he was on the same boat that came just now.He was extremely thin, like a skeleton, and it turned out that he had just been released not long ago. "Victorious," he said with a smile, "so they let me go. You ask how I got out, but I think it's more important to find out how they got me in." Baoqing nodded. "I never understood why they wanted to arrest you. What crime did you do? I wanted to save you, but no one would say where you were locked up." "I know. My friends were worried about me, but those who kept you Those I've taken to prison should be worried...they're numbered—" Neither of them spoke.Bao Qing thought about the torture that Meng Liang encountered.The quietly flowing river, the fragrance of the weeds and the clear sky calmed their minds. Baoqing asks Meng Liang to see Xiulian.He blushed and told Meng Liang that she already had a child.Meng Liang didn't find it strange.He said: "I'll see her later, poor little thing. She's in prison like me. I'm in a real prison, she's in a mental prison." Baoqing sighed. "I really don't understand her, and I can't persuade her, and I can't give her advice. I'm most worried about her. The eight years of the Anti-Japanese War were turbulent. An artist like me is considered lucky and has a good life. Many people who are more capable than me are not as good as me. Only Xiulian, she has really become my heart disease." "I understand," Meng Liang stood up and stretched his legs. "Good brother, your behavior always follows the trend, but you don't realize it." "Give me an analogy." "You refused to sell her, which is a good example. But that was not your idea. The times have changed, and you have to change with it. My sister-in-law thinks that buying and selling people is nothing, because the times haven't touched her. Today is still There are many people who have not been touched by the times. The sentence that my sister-in-law often said, "If you are in the Jianghu, you are all hard-working people." Someone said it 800 years ago. But she is still saying it, as if it is very fresh. You see, you are better than her, you are ahead of her." "You say that, I really want to thank you!" Bao Qing nodded. "Look at this river," Meng Liang continued, "some fish will swim along the river, while others just know how to hide in the crevices of rocks and never move." "There are such fish." Baoqing said. "My sister-in-law didn't move at all. You moved forward, knowing that it was wrong to buy and sell people. But you only moved forward a little. In other respects, you became a fish lying in the cracks of the rocks, not moving at all. You don't I am willing to admit that Xiulian needs love, so you can't guide her. Xiulian needs love, and if she doesn't get it, she will be distressed. The first man she met lied to her... She thought it was love. It is not easy to distinguish between love and lust. It was you who introduced Zhang Wen to her... If you know that love is not shameful, you should have a frank talk with her and lead her to the right path. As a result, you spent a lot of time It's too bad to put your wrists on her, just like you usually do to fellow entertainers. You lost the battle because you didn't understand that the times have changed. Xiulian was very brave and wanted to break through, but I was punished by the law of nature. Second brother, you and she are both involved in the vortex." Meng Liang pointed his finger at the vortex in Jiang Xin. Bao Qing leaned forward, wanting to take a closer look at the river passing by. "I hope she can come over safely." "Tomorrow we will cross the Three Gorges," Meng Liang said. "There are many dangerous shoals. An experienced pilot can take a boat out of the most dangerous shoals safely. So I said a long time ago that we must send Xiulian goes to school. When she has knowledge and experience, maybe she won't lose her way in the vortex of life. I'm not helping, I'm really sorry. I didn't expect the school to be broken down like that. Like Xiulian Such a girl, of course, cannot bear that insult. I am very sorry to see her. I treat her as my own daughter. But, though I did not mean to, I have been the source of her misfortune." After a long silence, Baoqing asked: "Do you think that if Xiulian went to that school, she wouldn't cause any trouble? Wouldn't young people who talk about love and freedom not make mistakes?" "Love tragedies can happen anywhere in any era," Meng Liang said, "and it's not just Xiulian. With knowledge and experience, it will help her, but there is no guarantee that tragedies will not happen. Don't think that Xiulian gave birth to a child." My child, everything is over. Her love this time is also a lesson. After suffering, her mind will grow. Losing her body does not mean that she cannot make further progress. You just need to enlighten her and encourage her. She, she will regain her self-confidence and self-esteem." Meng Liang stared at Bao Qing, as if afraid that Bao Qing would not believe what he said.He unbuttoned his shirt, revealing scars. "When I was in prison, they treated me like this. It was burned with incense." Baoqing was taken aback.Meng Liang went on to say: "The scars have healed, and I am still me. I still want to write a book and say what I want to say. These scars are not shameful. I did not surrender to the evil forces just because I suffered for a while. They If I am not arrested, I will continue to work. As long as the liberation of the people is ushered in, I am not afraid even if my bones are ground and sent to the fertile fields. In a sense, Xiulian has been The hurt is similar to what I suffered. I told the truth, so I went to jail. I wrote what I believed in, so I was tortured. Xiulian wanted to rearrange her life according to her own desires, but the result Well, they were punished too. A new era will come, but before the new era comes, many people will die." Meng Liang stopped and took a breath.Bao Qing raised his hand, wanting to touch the scar on his chest.But Meng Liang quickly buttoned his shirt. "I'm fine," Meng Liang said. "Xiulian has been punished. Not only do you have to pity her, you have to try to understand her. She is very smart and enterprising. If you can understand that she is just a victim of the times, you can Encourage her, educate her, and renew her hope for the future. Don't be afraid of Zhang Wen. He and his kind will eventually be wiped out. The combination of him and Xiulian is a conflict between two different forces Look!" He pointed to the river, "There is a fish and a mouse spinning in that vortex. The mouse will die soon, but the fish will swim out of the vortex and live. Of course, the mouse may also jump out If Zhang Wen and his kind of people continue to exist, our country will be over. As long as China has hope, Xiulian will be happy in the future. It may not be easy for her to get happiness, but you and I will definitely You have to make good plans for her and guide her on the road to happiness." The setting sun sprinkled a golden afterglow on the river, illuminating a small whirlpool brightly.Baoqing seemed to see Xiulian's smiling face in it, and the water plants rippling around her face looked like her two braids.He hummed the two sentences in Gucier: The waves behind the Yangtze River push forward the waves ahead, and a new generation replaces the old.