pure white

After Wu Yingtang left, I found a stall nearby for lunch. People in Hunan love spicy food. I heard about this when I was in Cambridge. That kind of food looks a little bit, but after mixing it well, it becomes extremely spicy. After one bite, the hot fire only rushes into the stomach, and tears fall down along with coughing.

The stall owner and the diners next to him all laughed. I could understand some of the Hunan dialect they spoke. It probably meant that it was the first time for a little girl to eat Hunan cuisine, and she was not used to spicy food.

Chen Jingyu asked me to identify the place with a map, and when he pointed to Hunan, he paused, "Hunan people are very proud of their peppers." After saying that, he swiped his finger and slashed to Sichuan, "This is the same as Sichuan people. "

I took note of the geographic locations of Hunan and Sichuan, as well as their spiciness.

But still underestimated.

My face was flushed from coughing, and my lungs were about to be coughed out. The stall owner was kind enough to give me a bowl of free noodle soup. The noodle soup was made with wonton wrappers. It was milky white and tasted like wontons when I drank it—I mean authentic. The one without chili.

A lunch you will never forget.After I paid the bill, I also deliberately recognized the place and the face of the stall owner, thinking that the next time I come here, I must remember not to ask him to put chili.

At noon I turned around again, and when it was about a little faster, someone called me from behind.It sounds like it's roughly the same way as me.

"Sir, our officer will let you pass."

I turned my head and saw a lieutenant, very young, wearing a gray-blue local military uniform. He froze when he saw my face. I could guess from his face what he was thinking: Why is it a woman?

After I returned to China, I saw a lot of this kind of rude male chauvinism, which seemed uncivilized and still carried the feudal ethics of Chinese dross.I quickly thought about how to refute him forcefully later, but the next second he stood at attention and saluted me, repeating again, "Our sir, please go over."

Eh?

I was caught off guard and quickly swallowed all the words I was about to blurt out.Looking in the direction he pointed, I saw an officer half leaning on a military jeep station across the road. When he saw me, he frowned, "Lu An, long time no see."

Oh.

It turned out to be the case.

So all doubts were explained.

This is her pawn.

In fact, this is the first time that Chen Jingyu and I met again after many years. I always remember that scene, like a movie, frame by frame.

I froze there, staring blankly at Chen Jingyu showing a nice smile, straightened up, adjusted my clothes, and walked towards me step by step, just like I walked towards her in the dock area in front of the Thames many years ago when.

Chen Jingyu stood still in front of me, slightly raised the corner of his mouth, but quickly put it down, staring at me expressionlessly, "You don't know how to salute when you see the officer?"

There was no ups and downs in her tone when she said this. I haven’t seen such a serious Chen Jingyu for a long time, so that I panicked for a while, stood at attention in a hurry, adjusted my military uniform, and saluted her, "Hello, sir!"

Chen Jingyu returned the salute casually, then squinted his eyes and looked at me for a long time.

I suddenly saw the rank and position of major on her collar badge, and my heart cooled down bit by bit.

The longer she looked at me, the more I realized that she was no longer the Chen Jingyu smiling softly at me in a white shirt in the shade of the linden trees at King's College.

Chen Jingyu sized me up, and after a while, he suddenly raised his hand and made a gesture on my forehead.

I took a step back subconsciously, Chen Jingyu withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened, and suddenly said: "Grow taller."

I haven't seen Chen Jingyu for many years. The last time she saw me was when she went to Germany from Cambridge. I was only a little taller than her shoulders. Now, I'm only short of her. half a head away.

I laughed and said, "You haven't seen me for a long time, so of course you don't know that I have grown taller, just like Yingtang didn't know that I have grown up a lot compared to the time I was in Cambridge."

Chen Jingyu interjected and asked me: "So you have already met Yingtang?"

I nodded.

Chen Jingyu looked away from me, looked at the ground, and then looked to the side, I was puzzled by her reaction, she just said: "Yingtang has been transferred to the Eighth Army, Fang Zishan formed the Tenth Division, and was transferred from various places. Officer Cadre Group German Division"

I remembered the sentence written on his name plate as the deputy commander of the [-]th Regiment of the Pre-[-]th Division of the Eighth Army of the Army, "Well, the major and deputy commander, have you been promoted?"

Chen Jingyu smiled lightly, "It was the same as you a week ago."

Like me, that's the captain, roughly the battalion commander.I wanted to come to the military system of our army, and when I went to see Chen Jingyu again, I found that there seemed to be irony in her smile, but I couldn't figure out why there was irony in it. It should be a good thing to be promoted, so I just thought I feel wrong.

It's just a bit sad to think that I just saw him, and he left in a hurry without even saying a few words.I asked Chen Jingyu: "Do you think the three of us will see each other again?"

Chen Jingyu stood still for a while, then said softly, "I don't know."

Thinking about it, it is true that in the era of war and chaos, who can tell when we are separated and separated, it seems that I am naive.I smiled and changed the subject: "So you are the one from the military department to pick me up?"

She nodded and said: "I received the order in the morning, but the subsequent meeting was later." She was explaining why she didn't come until now.

I said it was okay, and she said, "Let's go, we have plenty of time to chat, and now I will take you to report." She looked at my military uniform, "I'll change into your military uniform by the way."

I looked down at my military uniform. I had worn it for less than two months, and it was still brand new. When I was about to raise my head to ask Chen Jingyu, I heard her say in a low voice, "The military uniform of the Central Army is so ugly."

I burst out laughing "puchi" and glared at her: "You can't talk nonsense, if your superiors find out, they will definitely punish you."

Chen Jingyu shrugged, with an innocent expression on his face: "That will have to wait until he catches him."

She raised her hand to greet the little lieutenant who was resting not far away, reached out to take off my carry-on luggage, and walked towards the jeep.

Our group of cryptography experts was directly dispatched by the Central Military Commission to Commander Chen Cheng of the Ninth Theater, and Chen Cheng dispatched them one by one. However, due to the battle in Wuhan, all experts detoured to the rear of the Ninth Theater transfer.I was supposed to arrive at the military headquarters at the end of August, but after detours and detours, it was almost the end of October when I arrived in Changsha.

On the way, Chen Jingyu gave me an overview of the domestic situation and the situation in the Ninth War Zone. When talking about the recent situation, she smashed her seat angrily and said angrily: "Wuhan has been lost."

On the way from Chongqing to Changsha, I actually learned about it through secret newspapers. The Battle of Wuhan was planned by the Military Commission as early as the end of last year. All domestic aircraft, artillery and German divisions were invested in it. Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi personally commanded it. Well, the battle lasted for half a year, so many people died, and Huayuankou was bombed by the Japanese army, but now it is still lost.

I said "hmm" and lowered my eyes, "It's expected."

Chen Jingyu was supposed to have something else to say, but when he heard my words, he stopped for a moment, stared at me, and spoke unkindly to the little lieutenant who was driving: "Forget everything you heard, even my father won't allow me." explain."

The little lieutenant straightened himself subconsciously: "Yes!"

He is very loyal.I was still wondering why Chen Jingyu was equipped with an adjutant, and I tried to recall the rank of the collar badge: two bars and one star on the red background are infantry majors, and two bamboo knots on the red background represent the staff officer.

It stands to reason that no matter which one is equipped with adjutants.

But now there is a good explanation: the little adjutant was brought from home by her.

I habitually pouted in my heart: evil bureaucracy.

There was no expression on his face, and he was still sad about the fall of Wuhan after complaining.

Chen Jingyu stayed next to me for a long time without any movement, neither said nor moved. I was afraid of this silence, so I shrank my neck and wondered if she was angry.

I know that I am a bit rebellious, and I like to fight against people since I was a child.When I was young, my father hoped that I would be as brave as a boy and serve in the army like Hua Mulan, but I preferred floral skirts and story books and poetry collections; when I grew up, my mother hoped that I could learn to marry and stay with her. Go, I'm fine. I'll go back to China by boat after graduating from university. I can't do what she said about being safe. There's no such thing as being a soldier.

When Chen Jingyu spoke again, the car had already stopped, and I was anxious all the way, even thinking about an apology, but when she spoke again, her tone was soft, which caught me off guard.

She asked, "Lu An, are you blaming me?"

The author has something to say: [Fang Zishan]: Fang Xianjue

[Huayuankou incident]: After the Huayuankou massacre, the Nationalist government gave the blame to the Japanese bombing. "Shenbao", "Ta Kung Pao", "Republic of China Daily" and others condemned the Japanese army.