I make a living solving crimes.

The streets of Kawato.

The lights, tree shadows, and crowds of people were reflected on the glass and passed by quickly.

The car was a bit old, and the seats were re-covered with fabric, but the cushions were no longer soft, and the shock absorbers had loosened over the years, so sitting in them was not as comfortable as in the powerful Pontiac.

This car was a Ford that was temporarily allocated from the Investigation Office. Du Ye was in the front at this time, driving attentively without saying a word.

He was already handsome, and he became even more handsome after getting married. Standing together with Chang Da who was sitting in the passenger seat, he looked like a perfect match.

Chang Wei took Chang Xiaoman to sit in the back seat. The little girl looked at the streets outside excitedly. Light and shadows slid across her face from time to time, leaving an orange light.

As Chang Wei's sister and niece, the Investigation Office would certainly not be stupid enough to not even invite them.

"Is Director Hao usually so enthusiastic?" Chang Wei asked.

Du Ye nodded gently and said seriously: "They support our work very much. Apart from the tight budget and food, they are willing to meet all your requests."

"Is food in Sichuan Province very scarce now?"

"Well, it can be said that it is extremely tense. We just mobilized food to Shanghai not long ago... Team leader, there is a lot of resentment among the local people."

"This is inevitable, but Shanghai is a place of reputation, so we still have to protect it." Chang Wei did not say anything that would affect unity.

But judging from his expression, he might not really think so.

Chang Da turned her head and looked at Chang Wei and said, "Life here is much harder than in the capital. It's not so bad in the city. A few days ago during the Qingming Festival, Du Ye took us out for an outing outside the city. The whole mountain was full of people digging wild vegetables. They were all very thin, and... there were not many elderly people."

There were family members in the car and the atmosphere was relaxed. There were some things that Du Ye was not comfortable saying directly, but Chang Da did not have too many concerns.

Chang Wei's heart suddenly became quiet.

There are also people digging wild vegetables in the capital, but most of them are elderly people or women and children who are resting at home.

There are not many elderly people, either they can’t dig or there are no elderly people.

In the previous life, this place and the Central Plains paid the most.

In particular, we also had to supply the anti-insurgency troops in Shannan, which put a huge pressure on us.

We had dinner in the cafeteria of the Investigation Office. As Director Hao said, it was just a simple meal with tea.

Apart from a fish and twice-cooked pork, there was no other meat on the table.

Chang Wei is a very picky eater, he can almost be said to love meat, but he can also be a very casual person, he can eat kimchi with rice.

He enjoyed the meal very much, and chatted with Director Hao while eating, making it a very enjoyable experience for both the host and the guest.

When he was in Guangzhou, he had already started to pay attention to eating problems. In public, no matter how greedy he was, he would try his best to restrain himself.

These are difficult times after all.

If Director Hao dares to prepare a table of chicken, duck, fish and meat today, he will turn around and go back as soon as he enters the door.

That's not hospitality, that's murder.

After parking the car in the yard, it was still early, so Chang Wei went into the house, got a coat, and went out through the back door, walking casually alone. Chang Da pursed her lips, and Du Ye immediately understood and followed Chang Wei silently.

At that time, Sichuan Province was not yet the international metropolis in the southwest that it would become in later times. Apart from the main street, most of the alleys were deep and quiet, with only the houses on both sides having dim lights on. Occasionally, voices could be heard from the gaps in doors and windows, dogs barked in the yard, and cats leisurely walked out from the shadows of the alleys.

Such a scene does not show any peaceful and tranquil life.

Compared with the endless black night, those lights seemed to be swallowed up at any time.

These lights are crowded together, seeming to keep each other warm and stay burning in the wind.

Walking north along the street lights, I unknowingly arrived at the Nanjiang River.

At a dock, many men were carrying shoulder poles with a bundle of hemp ropes tied to them. They gathered together, smoking their pipes and waiting for work.

The weather in May was still chilly at night, but most of these people only had one piece of clothing on, with the shoulders patched up with many layers of padding.

Perhaps it is the locals' optimistic attitude that makes them smile even though their lives are visibly hard. Some of them even gather together to play a kind of long strip of cards.

Chang Wei did not stop and strolled along the river bank.

The waterlogging in Sichuan is serious. No one dared to live here in the early years for fear of being flooded by the river water. Now no one pays attention to it and the embankments are only averagely built.

There is a lonely old house on the side of the street. It seems to have been forgotten by time and stands there quietly.

There is a fence made of small yellow bamboo in front of the door. The yard is clean and there are no weeds. Even the rough stone mill and the bluestone door sill are free of moss.

The lights from across the street shone over. On the stone steps in front of the door, an old man sat quietly, looking up at the sky, with a shiny cane beside him.

"This gentleman's surname is Wei." Du Ye saw Chang Wei lingering for a long time, walked over quietly, and whispered, "He is 65 years old this year, and he is a widower."

Chang Wei retracted his gaze, took out a cigarette and lit it, "How do you know him?"

"Chang Da knows him." Du Ye took the cigarette and explained. Seeing Chang Wei's curiosity, he continued, "Uncle Wei often goes to the vegetable market to pick up rotten leaves. Chang Da has seen him several times when she was buying vegetables. She often comes over to give him some food."

Chang Wei nodded. He was not surprised that his elder sister could do such a thing. He looked at the old woman and said, "Sixty-five and still alone. Is there no one to take care of you?"

Du Ye sighed heavily, "I heard that the street office was in charge before, but food has been tight since this year, so there is much less that can be allocated to him."

"He has never been married?" Chang Wei looked at the neatness of the courtyard and didn't think this was the life of an old bachelor.

"My wife died of illness a few years ago." Du Ye carefully looked at Chang Wei's face, pursed his lips, and said softly: "He also had four sons who went to Sichuan to fight against the Japanese. They all died in the war."

Chang Wei's heart skipped a beat.

Two words kept echoing in his mind: Sichuan Army.

"His wife is illiterate. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, someone came to deliver a death notice. Uncle Wei didn't dare to tell his wife, so he said it was a letter from his son, saying that the war had been won and he would be back home. His wife sat on the stone steps every day waiting, but in the end she never got the chance."

Chang Wei's heart sank.

I really don’t know how the old man managed to survive all these years.

His life, like this old house, is full of traces of time and endless loneliness.

"The Japanese didn't reach Sichuan Province, but the casualties here were also very tragic. It is said that after the war, almost every family was in mourning." Du Ye sighed. This was something he didn't know before he came to Sichuan Province.

I didn't expect that this was one of the places that paid the greatest price in the anti-Japanese war.

He found relevant data in the Investigation Office.

Sichuan Province recruited more than 340 million workers. The country spent a total of 14640 trillion yuan on the War against Japanese Aggression, of which Sichuan Province alone bore about 4400 billion yuan.

Sichuan Province also contributed the most grain. From 1941 to 1945 alone, a total of 8228.6 million shi of rice were collected, accounting for 38.75% of the total rice collected nationwide and 31.63% of the total rice and wheat collected nationwide.