Mountains and seas close at hand

The gray-haired old man stood in the middle of the living room with his hands behind his back. Seeing Song Banyan and Bai Xunhua come in, the old man's cloudy eyes moved, and he looked at the two with a cold expression, like an old king of the forest. The tooth is still there, but it is no longer difficult to roar the mountain stream, and can only make a hoarse and low voice: "Eat first."

After he finished speaking, he walked towards the Eight Immortals Table beside him, walking very slowly and slowly.Song Banyan looked at the back of the gray tunic suit, only to see a Populus euphratica in the desert—although it was withered, it stood proudly in the sky.

Bai Xunhua and Song Banyan looked at each other, making up their minds to wait and see what happened.Mr. Xu took the main seat, and the two sat on the left and right respectively.

There are four dishes of cold dishes on the Eight Immortals table, namely duck with sweet-scented osmanthus, meat with crystal meat, smoked fish with five spices, and cucumber in soy sauce.

They are all small plates and the portion is not much.

Mr. Xu picked up the wooden chopsticks by himself, dipped a piece of crystal meat into the sauce dish, put it in his mouth, chewed and swallowed it, then put down the chopsticks and told the subordinates beside him: "Let them go. "

Bai Xunhua glanced at the cold dishes on the table, and according to the clothes and appearance of this old man Xu, she already had a three-pointer in her heart.Seeing Bai Xunhua pick up the chopsticks, Song Banyan also picked up the five-spice smoked fish on the plate in front of him.

"The meat from Zhenjiang is paired with the balsamic vinegar from Zhenjiang. It tastes authentic." Bai Xunhua gently put down his chopsticks and gave a polite compliment.

Mr. Xu looked at her after hearing the words, took a bite of soy cucumber and said slowly: "You young people, you have never eaten any foreign stuff."

Bai Xunhua showed a slight smile, reserved but not arrogant, and slightly bowed to Mr. Xu: "Thanks to your praise, this junior who is the standard of the state banquet deserves it."

Old Master Xu turned his head and looked at her carefully, his wrinkled face showed no expression, he was still a stern and stern parent: "As expected of Bai Zong's daughter."

Because of being too old, the fat layer has disappeared.The skin, densely covered with age spots, clings tightly to the bone, and the veins are like wrinkles in the bark of old trees.The sunken cheeks were barely covered with the opening and closing of the jaw, and the voice of Mr. Xu was like a north wind blowing through a tree hole. There was no breath of life between the roars, but it secretly contained the power to destroy the dead.

Song Banyan had a docile smile on his face, listening to the conversation between the two while eating, like the most well-behaved junior in every big family.

The kitchen must have been prepared for a long time, and the hot dishes are served very quickly.Fresh mushroom cabbage sum, crab powder lion head, Dongpo meat cubes, and chicken sauce boiled dried shredded meat were put on the table of the Eight Immortals one after another.

Bai Xunhua has a lot of business entertainment, often eats out, and has seen many kinds of banquets.Although they are all common dishes, the fame of New China's "First Banquet of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" inevitably makes people feel a strange sense of satisfaction, so some people in the official and business circles always like it.Bai Xunhua has a good memory, and he can remember it after eating it once.

Song Banyan didn't know about it, but these dishes were very appetizing.This old man Xu made her feel like a light when he didn't meet, but now he doesn't seem particularly scary, he seems like the elder in the family who likes to put on airs the most.

Of course, it's just "like".

Sitting at the same table with the elders, it is inevitable to be cautious, just eat with your head covered.The dishes are almost the same, and the staple food is served on the table: fried rice cakes, aiwowo, Huangqiao sesame cakes, and Huaiyang soup dumplings.

Song Banyan saw that there were only two pieces of each, so he couldn't make up his mind for a while.Pointing to the plate, she turned her head and asked Mr. Xu, "Which one do you eat?"

Mr. Xu glanced at her, then picked up Ai Wowo silently.Seeing this, Song Banyan smiled and picked up a piece of fried rice cake, and put it into Bai Xunhua's bowl: "It's fried, eat it while it's hot."

Bai Xunhua naturally felt much more at ease with this family banquet that was completed by the Hongmen Banquet.She lowered her eyes, picked up the rice cake and put it in her mouth. It was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and the rice was fragrant and sweet.

Song Banyan looked at Mr. Xu and said with a smile: "The rice cake is a sticky food. You can't digest it when you are old. You should eat less." As he spoke, he picked up another piece of fried rice cake and put it directly into his mouth.

Mr. Xu was cracking the cornbread, and looked at her when he heard the words. After three or four seconds, he lowered his eyelids, chewed the cornbow and said, "No wonder Xiao Shiqi fell into your hands."

Song Banyan smiled sweetly, and his eyes were bent: "What are you going to do with such useless children and grandchildren?"

Mr. Xu didn't speak, he took out a handkerchief from his tunic pocket and wiped his hands.However, while folding up the handkerchief, he whispered to himself: "It is inevitable that people will die in war."

Bai Xunhua was afraid that Song Banyan's words would go too far, annoy Mr. Xu, and make the situation tense.Before Bai Xunhua could speak, Song Banyan put a piece of Huangqiao biscuits on the plate in front of Mr. Xu, and said casually with a smile on his face, "I once heard that this kind of biscuits became famous in the 'Huangqiao Decisive Battle'." , the local people in Huangqiao Town braved the artillery fire of the Japanese army and sent sesame seed cakes as dry food to the front-line positions."

Mr. Xu looked down at the biscuits in front of him, stretched out his withered hands for a long time, and slowly picked up the biscuits and lifted them up.

He looked and looked again and again, as if lost in memory, and said in a low tone, almost to himself: "... Comrade Tao Yong and I led the Jiangsu and Anhui detachment from Tianchang to the city of Taizhou, where we finally saw General Chen Yi, and General Li Yu, everyone was young at that time, and they were all revolutionary comrades...Han Deqin had 4 to 5000 people, and we only had a total of more than 33. I, and Tao Yong, took the three verticals and guarded the Yellow River Bridge. I still remember that at night, the mills and biscuit shops in the whole town were lit up, and the common people pushed small carts to deliver them to us one by one. At the end of the fight, the [-]rd Division was completely crossed. We caught Sun Qiren, and he and I said he can sing the Huangqiao Shaobing song."

After Song Banyan gnawed on the biscuits and listened to them, his heart smirked, and he casually said as if chatting, "I'm sure it's not as delicious now as it was then."

Her words seemed casual but they deserved a beating. Bai Xunhua's heart skipped a beat, and she secretly became nervous: How did Ban Yan become so reckless?Could it be deliberate, it would be too unscrupulous.

Bai Xunhua knew Song Banyan very well by asking himself, but sometimes he still couldn't figure out what she was thinking. He only knew that her mind was hard to fathom, and she couldn't guess it with normal people's thinking.

Mr. Xu took a deep look at Song Banyan, put the Huangqiao biscuit in his hand into his mouth, took a bite, chewed and swallowed slowly: "It's not as delicious as it was then, the taste is not right."

"Things are right and people are wrong." Song Banyan smiled, "Didn't the older generation say that good brothers went to the mountains together, went to the countryside together, and carried guns together. The comrades-in-arms of your era really ate together and lived together. Together, work together, die together. Now that Mr. Ji Lianggong Ji is gone, you must be eating sesame seed cakes by yourself, it must not be a bad taste."

Mr. Xu put the biscuits he took a bite of back into the plate, and said with a firm expression, "Small smart."

Song Banyan still had a gentle smile on his face, but his heart skipped a beat. Fortunately, he reacted quickly without revealing any flaws: "Your father is really good. Our army's stretcher team can hold poles and capture American soldiers. How can you hold a gun? I just look down on people with shovels.”①

She was young, but the anecdotes about the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea came out of her mouth.Old Master Xu looked at her, his sharp sword eyebrows relaxed slightly.The hard and cold expression unique to soldiers, polished by the rain of bullets, suddenly stretched at this moment, showing the kindness of this old man who knows his destiny by ear.

Bai Xunhua watched quietly, his expression remained as if nothing had happened from the beginning to the end.But she knew in her heart that this secret fight between you and me has come to an end for the time being, or it can be said that it has really begun.Song Banyan's ramblings were for the sake of clichés.But this old man Xu cooperated so well, and easily revealed his old background, not to mention the truth, but the motive behind it is intriguing.

Mr. Xu stood up, and walked out with his hands behind his back: "Come on, drink a pot of tea with the old man."

Bai Xunhua and Song Banyan looked at each other, they got up together and followed behind him.The three of them walked slowly towards the small living room one at a time, as if they were filial granddaughters patiently accompanying the old stubborn grandfather.

"Okay, what kind of tea do you like to drink?" Song Banyan asked with a smile, but he was secretly planning.

Unexpectedly, this old man Xu, who eats both black and white and has a hand that can reach the sky, is actually a soldier, and according to him, he is still an old Red Army member who participated in the War of Resistance Against Japan.Not only that, but just now I tried with Mr. Ji, and it was obvious that the two knew each other.There is no doubt that Mr. Xu was indispensable in the case of the Zijin Mountain air-raid shelter back then.

Mr. Xu walked with his hands behind his back, and when he heard this, his footsteps paused, as if an old man was unresponsive: "Sword."

"Sword of Tianzhu Mountain." Song Banyan suddenly realized, and explained to Bai Xunhua, "Tianzhu Mountain is the 14th cave of Taoism. The name Wanshan. The abbreviation of Anhui Province as "Wan" comes from this..."

Song Banyan was chattering in the back, while Mr. Xu walked in front with his hands behind his back, his expression seemed to be listening attentively as usual, but a cold light flashed away in those old and cloudy eyes.

The small living room is also extremely simple, just a set of three wooden sofas with a coffee table.There is a pot of green plants in the corner, and there is a filing cabinet against the wall.In addition, it is a set of old-fashioned office desks and chairs.

This is not like the living room of a luxury yacht, but rather like an office in the 60s and [-]s.

Song Banyan took a glance and sneered inwardly: The lost ones are definitely not the most cherished, but the lost ones must always be the most missed.

Mr. Xu took some tea leaves from the mahogany tea pot and slowly put them into the enamel tea cup.The police officer waiting on the side picked up the kettle and filled it up, then put the kettle on the ground beside the coffee table, left the small living room and closed the door.

Seeing him leave, Song Banyan leaned over from the sofa to pick up an enamel teacup, and kept changing hands as he asked with a smile, "Old man, you worked so hard to call us over, isn't it just for this meal? But I heard that you have three thousand boys under your command, so it's possible that you don't have a single one to drink tea with you?"

Mr. Xu picked up the teacup, blew it lightly, took a sip slowly and said: "There are many people who can drink tea and eat with the old man, and you are the only one who can get the holy wooden Mandui for me, Xiao Song."

The author has something to say: ①On the evening of October 1950, 10, Qu Hongyi, captain of the 30rd Battalion of the Stretcher Detachment of Ji’an County (now Ji’an City), Jilin Province, led a stretcher detachment to the front line of North Korea, passing by Xiashuidong, Chushan County When he met a group of scattered American and puppet troops, Qu held up his shoulder pole and shouted in Korean: "Give up your guns and don't kill! Be lenient to the prisoners!" The enemy was stunned and immediately raised their hands to surrender.Captured 3 American and puppet soldiers and won first-class merit.

This shoulder pole is now displayed in the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution.