Flower World

He Dianying stood in front of the telephone, anxiously waiting for the call to be connected.The line was too busy, and it was almost impossible to enter the concession; and Youmei behind her was holding a handkerchief, sobbing softly.

What He Dianying was anxious about and what Youmei was crying about were not the same thing.Youmei just received a letter from Manchuria, and learned that both her father and elder brother were killed in battle.The childless sister-in-law was forcibly conscripted into the women's volunteer team and sent to the Shanghai Navy to serve as a comfort woman.According to the education she received since she was a child, it is an honor for her father and brother to die for the country, and her sister-in-law also sacrificed for the country, but a family collapsed in an instant, and the elderly mother fell to the point of being alone, which made her heartbroken.

Hero and Taozi are over one year old, and they are rolling and crawling on the carpet and fighting with each other.Both children look like their father at first glance, but with their fat faces and thick ears, they are more blessed than their father.As a grandfather, Master Mori often came to visit them and patiently taught them Japanese one sentence at a time.But they are too energetic and lively, and they yell all the languages ​​​​into a riot.

Because the phone could not be connected, He Dianying finally couldn't bear it anymore and dropped the receiver, put on her coat and was about to go out.The hero and Tao Zi sat side by side and looked up at him, with dazed expressions on their faces, because they were frightened by him.

He Dianying took the gendarmerie car and rushed all the way to the British Concession.However, outside the concession, he was stopped.

The cars of the gendarmerie are also not allowed, and the order to block is issued by the military department.He pushed the door and got out of the car, wanting to walk in, but he was still not allowed.

He was really anxious - he knew that the Japanese had regarded Yu Zhiyao as a thorn in their side.And that Song Yichen, who knows if Yu Zhiyao really sent him away?Although I haven't seen this person in the past year, if Yu Zhiyao hides him in the concession, then if the matter breaks out, Yu Zhiyao will bear the crime of beheading him!This time the concession is gone, "Is it the king's land in the whole world", where can Yu Zhiyao hide?

He Dianying has many things to ask Yu Zhiyao, and also has many things to tell Yu Zhiyao.Anxiously turned around, got into the car and headed home, since the road was impassable, he still had to keep making calls!

At the same time, Zhang Zhaoxiang got into a rickshaw and went straight to Song's house.He had lived in the concession for a long time. Although he knew that the outside world was already dominated by the Japanese, he had hardly seen Japanese soldiers with live ammunition.He is quite well-informed. The servants in his family don’t travel far all the year round. He went out to buy vegetables early this morning. He fled back in fright as soon as he went to the street. He said that there were “living Japanese devils” outside—the four years of the Anti-Japanese War, he had been living in the In the isolated island of the concession, I have never seen real Japanese soldiers.

The rickshaw driver pulled Zhang Zhaoxiang and ran forward without stopping in front of Song's house.Can't stop, there are already Japanese soldiers standing at the gate of Songzhai.Zhang Zhaoxiang glanced blankly, and saw that the courtyard door was wide open. Mrs. Song was wearing a silk nightgown and was dragged out of the building by two soldiers.In the twelfth lunar month, Mrs. Song cried so hard that she couldn't stand barefoot on the snowy ground, and was dragged out by the Japanese soldiers.

Zhang Zhaoxiang withdrew his gaze and leaned back, hiding himself in the awning, knowing in his heart that something serious happened!

The rickshaw driver turned a corner at the intersection ahead and ran straight to the back of Song's house.There is a small garden behind the Song house, and the back door is opened.Zhang Zhaoxiang knew that Song Yichen was not someone who would sit still, so he always had to try his luck again.

The rickshaw driver strode across the icy road—there were also Japanese soldiers standing at the back door.

Zhang Zhaoxiang's heart sank, and while he was confused, he only knew that this was bad, really bad!

Feng'er didn't know where his father had gone.Mrs. Song went to bed early and got up early these days. When she heard a noise downstairs, she lazily went downstairs to have a look.Suddenly there was a scream, and Feng'er, who was half awake, sat up suddenly as if she had been stabbed by a needle.

Turning over and crawling to the window to look out, she saw the yard full of Japanese soldiers.Her hands and feet shook like chaff, she got out of bed barefoot, opened the door and ran into the corridor.The door of the father's bedroom was wide open, and the bed was messy with marks of sitting and lying down. She knew that the stepmother had gone downstairs, but where did the father go?

Feng'er didn't have time to think about it, because the nanny walked over with Chengzhi in her arms, her face was pale and uncertain: "Miss, downstairs..."

Feng'er was stunned for a second, then grabbed Chengzhi with his hands, and ran out!

Feng'er walked down the small stairs at the end of the corridor, and turned directly into the large kitchen on the side of the first floor.The Japanese soldiers must have gone up the grand staircase, because the wailing of the maids rang out one after another.In a panic, she opened the window and jumped out. Feng'er hugged Chengzhi with one hand, covered Chengzhi's mouth with the other, and rushed to the back garden like crazy.The small iron gate leading to the garden was locked, and it was impossible to enter; without thinking, she turned and rushed to the fence in the yard, not afraid of her younger brother crying, grabbing the railing with one hand and going over to the neighbor's house.

Most of the people who can live here are middle-class families, and they will not cause thieves, so the black lacquered and carved iron fence is not considered high.Feng'er considers herself a hopeless person, and only wants to keep Chengzhi—the younger brother is a boy, who can carry on the family line; his younger brother's life is more valuable than his own!

Feng Ersheng's slender arms and legs were originally weak, but at the moment they were surprisingly flexible.Chengzhi was only wearing a thin fleece jacket, his little face was turning blue from the cold, and he couldn't cry because he was trembling.After climbing over the fence, Feng'er unbuttoned a few pajamas buttons, hugged her younger brother into her arms, pulled out the hem of the pajamas and tied it tightly—her waist was thin, so the front of the pajamas became a pocket, You can keep your brother in your arms.

Holding her younger brother in her arms with one hand, she had to continue running.It was too early, and the neighbor's house was dark, and he must still be sleeping.She stepped on the snow and weeds with her bare feet, and she dared not go to the street, so she could only continue to climb over the fence.Suddenly there was a gunshot behind her, and she looked back, only to see the first dawn in the sky, it was a new day.

Scared to the extreme, but not afraid anymore.She was in a trance, panting and climbing over the fence.Holding the iron railing with sweaty hands, he was frozen in an instant.After landing on the ground, she poked her head over, exhaling and pulling hard.In the end, the hand was free, but a layer of skin was torn from the palm.

When turning over to the third courtyard, an old woman walked to the back of the building carrying a basket of coal cores. She saw Feng'er with disheveled hair, and she was so frightened that she threw the bamboo basket with an "ouch".Feng'er stopped, looked at her and said softly, "Help, help."

The old lady took a few steps back again and again, thinking it was a lunatic.Picking up a big broom casually, she made a vicious face: "Get out, get out! Otherwise, I'll call someone out and beat you to death!"

Feng'er didn't say any more.Raising her bloody right hand, she scraped off the fence and continued to climb.Just at this time, a gunshot sounded, and the old lady was taken aback, dragging her broom and took two steps forward. She hesitated and asked Feng'er's back: "You——are you—"

Feng'er didn't look back.After climbing over the fence of the fourth house, she reached the main street.

The scene on the street is still the same as before, but the expressions of passers-by seem to be a little stunned—most people only learned the news of the fall of the concession after seeing Japanese soldiers on the street.

Feng'er no longer counts on others.After landing, she recognized the direction slightly, hugged Chengzhi tightly, and started to run towards Yu's mansion.Everyone thought she was a madman, staring at her bare feet and the little piece of breast that was exposed.Chengzhi turned into a heavy and cold piece of meat, and occasionally yelled a few times to show that he was still alive.

Feng'er ran across three streets.No one stopped her on the street, including the Japanese soldiers patrolling past.She's just a crazy woman, why stop her?There was heavy snowflakes in the sky, she broke through the white mist she exhaled, and finally ran to Yu Mansion.

At this time, Zhang Zhaoxiang had just arrived home, and suddenly saw Feng'er coming, and he quickly ordered someone to open the door.Feng'er knelt down in front of him with a "gudong".

"Uncle Zhang..." She was so out of breath that she couldn't speak, and her hands hugged her younger brother in convulsions, unable to separate: "Chengzhi...is going to freeze to death..."

Zhang Zhaoxiang sent the Feng'er siblings into the building.Feng'er's palms and soles were almost bloody.Lying on the ground with her eyes closed, she just panted.

Yu Zhiyao hurried downstairs, saw that Zhang Zhaoxiang had already hugged Chengzhi and was standing next to the radiator, so she knelt down to help Feng'er up.Feng'er saw him clearly with half-opened eyes, and said softly, "Father is gone... Auntie was also taken away..."

Yu Zhiyao knew that she was a step too late and could not keep the Song family.Holding the stiff and cold Feng'er in his arms, he sighed helplessly.

The sky has really changed. Now the Japanese can arrest whoever they want, and kill whoever they want. They don't even need a reason, and they don't even need to find an excuse.

The phone rang suddenly, and the sound was harsh.Zhang Zhaoxiang walked over and hugged Chengzhi with one hand, and picked up the microphone with the other: "Mansion Yu."

Yu Zhiyao turned to him, raised her hand and waved it lightly.Zhang Zhaoxiang nodded immediately, expressing his understanding: "Manager Cao, the second master is not at home, he just went out...Okay, okay, I'll go find the second master... Please go home first, this is not the time for head-to-head... yes... ...yes... ok, goodbye."

Bending down to put down the microphone, Zhang Zhaoxiang raised his head solemnly: "Second Lord, our cotton mill has been seized by the Japanese army."

Yu Zhiyao nodded—there are no eggs in a nest.