Jinling love story

Your mother pulls away.Your mother was very disappointed and scared. At this time, another person came from the city and took your mother away.Once he left, he never came back. "

"After that, your mother probably didn't know about your illness. At that time, your father had been tortured by drug addiction for many years. He tied himself to the door panel, and he couldn't move when the drug addiction broke out. He just wanted to quit drugs. Addiction. After a few years like this, after your illness improved, you went to a drug rehabilitation center, and then slowly returned to normal."

"But after the days gradually improved, your father went out to work and got into a car accident, hey. It's a hard life for you to give birth to a child." Yan Ru sighed. "The day after tomorrow is the winter solstice. Let's visit your father's grave. I have prepared all the paper money."

That night, Xia Ranjiang lay on the bed with his hands flat on his chest, staring blankly at the ceiling.Yan Ru's words played back repeatedly in Xia Ranjiang's mind, and these words also resolved Xia Ranjiang's knots to a certain extent.If the previous memory of his mother was just a concept, Xia Ranjiang seemed to have reconstructed the memory in his mind at this moment, and with the blessing of emotion and color, it was no longer just a phantom of his own wishful thinking and struggling to escape.

Xia Ranjiang reached under the pillow and touched the note.By moonlight, the words on the note were faintly visible.Xia Ranjiang knew that as long as he dialed this number, everything he had lost would come back.After hesitating for a long time, Xia Ranjiang pressed the numbers with trembling hands, but the moment the call was dialed, Xia Ranjiang suddenly became nervous and quickly hung up the phone.All that was left was an inexplicable sense of loss and the beating of my heart.

Suddenly, Xia Ranjiang seemed to have thought of something, quickly turned on the light, jumped out of the bed, squatted down and pulled out a wooden box from under the bed——Since his father passed away, Xia Ranjiang had sorted out his father’s belongings and put them all away. into this wooden box.

Opening the wooden box, Xia Ranjiang quickly found the photo album on the bottom floor.Xia Ranjiang carefully took out the photo album, sat cross-legged on the bed, and flipped through the pages.

On the front of the album are various photos of myself when I was a child.But this is not what Xia Ranjiang wants.After searching for a long time, Xia Ranjiang finally found the photo that he had seen countless times.

In the photo, my mother is just in her early twenties, with short hair, wearing a denim dress, with her hands naturally on her lap, smiling like a flower.

This time, Xia Ranjiang laughed involuntarily.However, another photo on the same page of the album caught Xia Ranjiang's attention.

In this photo, Xia Chenglu is wearing a hard hat with his sleeves rolled up to his forearms, and three construction workers are standing beside him, with the busy construction site behind him.One of them was dressed differently, even though it was summer, he was still in a suit and leather shoes, serious and unsmiling.Xia Ranjiang always felt that this person looked familiar, even the background and position of this photo seemed familiar, but he had never noticed this photo before.Xia Ranjiang touched the outline of the photo with his fingers, and found that the left side of the photo was a little raised.Feeling strange, Xia Ranjiang gently lifted a corner of the photo, and found that there was a row of small characters on the place where he lifted it.Xia Ranjiang simply tore off all the photos, and the line of words was completely revealed in front of his eyes:

"On July 7, I took a group photo with Tong Sixian's boss and fellow workers"

Xia Ranjiang only felt a bang in his head, and was a little dizzy for a while.

Xia Ranjiang flattened the photo again, carefully looking for any possible hints on the photo.Only the figure in the suit and leather shoes is clearly Tong Sixian!

A terrible thought flashed in my mind.Xia Ranjiang suddenly remembered Tong Sixian's words when he met Tong Sixian alone, and felt shuddering.

"No, no, it must be a mistake..."

Xia Ranjiang's lips trembled and he muttered to himself.Although he was denying it with his mouth, he almost believed in his heart that his father's death was not just an accident—at least, the accident was caused by Tong Sixian!

"But, he is Tong Zhe's father."

A severe headache hit, and Xia Ranjiang's head hit the pillow heavily.Closing his eyes, Tong Zhe's figure actually appeared in his mind.

Xia Ranjiang took out his mobile phone, the phone records and information records were empty, he couldn't help feeling resentful, wondering if Tong Zhe had already known about this matter, and was no longer planning to contact him anymore.Or maybe he was already in it, but he just felt guilty, and all he did in the past six months was to make up for his own shortcomings?

"Maybe he still doesn't care that much."

☆、Chapter 21

After walking for an unknown distance, Tong Zhe was so tired that he rested on a big rock by the side of the road.Occasionally a few cars passed by, but no matter how much Tong Zhe shouted, none of them stopped.

"Damn it, what is this for?"

Tong Zhe cursed in his heart.At this time, my stomach growled uncontrollably.I vomited up all the porridge I ate in the morning, and my throat twitched from stomach acid.My stomach has been empty all day, but fortunately there are some bread and yogurt in my backpack.

Just as Tong Zhe was gnawing on the bread, suddenly there was a rustling sound from the jungle behind him.Tong Zhe turned his head vigilantly, and saw the branches with some leaves behind shaking, but did not see any suspicious objects.But in this wilderness, there is not even a ghost when you look up, the atmosphere is really weird.Tong Zhe was afraid that a monster would come out from behind.

Tong Zhe took a mouthful of yogurt, and then heard a sharp scream from behind, and suddenly burst into a "squeaky laugh". Tong Zhe got nervous, and sprayed yogurt all over his face along the straw.The more Tong Zhe heard it, the more nervous he felt. Taking advantage of his strength slowly recovering, he quickly packed his backpack and continued to move forward.However, when Tong Zhe got up, he found something was wrong.

Countless green eyes!

Tong Zhe felt that his hairs were standing on end, he had never seen such a scene before!

Tong Zhe was at a loss for a while, so he quickly bent down and picked up a stone, holding it tightly in his hand.

At this time, there were three or two piercing cries in the distance, which seemed to be orders, and a few animals jumped down from the branches.By the moonlight, Tong Zhe discovered that they were monkeys less than half a meter high.

Tong Zhe put his heart down halfway—influenced by Monkey King, Tong Zhe's favorite animal since he was a child is a monkey besides a cat.Although I have been to the zoo countless times, every time it is separated by a fence, it is impossible to get close to the monkeys.

Finally got a chance today.

Tong Zhe was secretly happy.However, the five or six monkeys in front of him seemed to be hostile, they pressed Tong Zhe in a corner, and made terrifying screams from time to time.

"Damn it, did I get robbed?"

Tong Zhe began to regret again in his heart, clutching his bag tightly.

Before Tong Zhe could react, the monkey standing on the stone rushed over with a "whoosh", and Tong Zhe instinctively threw the stone in his hand, hitting the monkey's head.The monkey screamed and hid aside.

But this seemed to anger the other monkeys, their voices were obviously much higher, and they sat in a circle under the stone, as if they were communicating with each other.

Just as Tong Zhe wanted to take advantage of the monkey's injury and turn around to run away, a huge monkey blocked Tong Zhe's retreat.The monkey jumped over in two or three steps, grabbed Tong Zhe's backpack and pulled it desperately.

"Fuck, dare to grab my bag!"

Tong Zhe was a little flustered and scared just now, but now he is a little angry.I thought the monkey was very friendly, but I didn't know that it was also doing this kind of trickery.While the monkey was still holding on to the backpack, Tong Zhe simply unloaded the bag, lifted it up and threw it hard, and with a "bang", the monkey and the backpack fell to the ground forcefully.

"If you don't come to Tong Zhe to beat the monkey, why don't you let me pass Jingyanggang?"

This seemed to have a deterrent effect on the monkeys.But within a few seconds, more monkeys gathered.However, the monkeys paid more attention to Tong Zhe's backpack, and three or two monkeys with lighter fur clung to the backpack.Tong Zhe found that he was a little powerless, and had almost no energy to spend with these robbers.

Obviously, these monkeys are all experienced criminals.Tong Zhe also instantly understood why so many cars roared by just now without any intention of stopping, probably because they were afraid of being harassed by monkeys.What Tong Zhe is now facing is a group of mountain bandits with strategies and actions - a group of monkeys is responsible for grabbing bags, a group of monkeys is responsible for distraction, and a group of monkeys is responsible for the rear.

Accidentally, Tong Zhe couldn't dodge in time, the back of his hand was scratched by the monkey, and a sharp pain hit him immediately.The hand that was tightly holding the strap of the backpack was so painful that it let go. The monkey snatched the backpack with lightning speed and disappeared into the dark woods in an instant.Tong Zhe hurried to catch up.But other monkeys blocked his way.But these monkeys seemed to relax their attack on Tong Zhe after they succeeded, they stared firmly into Tong Zhe's eyes, and retreated into the woods in twos and threes.After a while, there was another rustling, and the whole forest returned to its previous state, as if nothing had happened.

Tong Zhe was a little dazed and slumped on the rock.But thinking that there is only some food in the backpack, even if it is lost, it will not lose much.

"Oops!"

Tong Zhe just wanted to take out his phone to check the time, but when he stretched out his hand, his pocket was empty.Tong Zhe recalled the chaotic scene just now, and it must have been a monkey who stole the phone from his pocket while he was not paying attention.

"Fuck me!"

Tong Zhe's fist hit the stone heavily, and he was out of breath.At this time, a red paint sign on the side of the road attracted Tong Zhe's attention.When I took a closer look, there were a few large characters crookedly written on it: "Monkeys haunt and attack carefully".

"I fuck fuck fuck!"

Tong Zhe broke the wooden pole with one kick, smashed the sign to pieces, squatted down again, panting heavily.

At this time, there was another rustling sound in the woods.Tong Zhe only felt that his eyes were burning, and he picked up the wooden pole and prepared to meet the enemy.

"Who?"

Tong Zhe was excited when he heard the voice.Despite being physically and mentally exhausted, Tong Zhe still vigilantly clenched his "weapon"—who knows if it's a human or a ghost.

"Who's there?"

At this time, a figure appeared in the woods.A flashlight swept across and went straight into Tong Zhe's eyes.Tong Zhe suddenly felt dizzy and couldn't keep his eyes open.

"Why is anyone here so late?"

"Don't take pictures." Tong Zhe avoided the flashlight and replied.

"Oh, there is someone."

Tong Zhe only felt that there was a person standing in front of him, dimming the light of the flashlight.

"Why are you here in the middle of the night?"

With the dim light, Tong Zhe could roughly see the appearance of the person in front of him: about 50 to [-] years old, with a thick beard covering half of his face, his eyes half-closed, and the wrinkles on his forehead seemed to be newly engraved. It looks deeper in side light.

"My things were robbed by monkeys."

Tong Zhe was a little excited, but when he said this, he suddenly felt like laughing.

"what?"

"Mobile phone, and some food."

"The phone was also stolen?"

"Do you have a mobile phone? I want to report the crime." Tong Zhe asked back.

"Report?"

"If something is robbed, you must report it to the police." Tong Zhe was a little disappointed, thinking that this person came to help him. "Who are you? Why are you here in the middle of the night?"

"I am the forest guard here, everyone calls me Lao Yang."

"Then what should I do now?"

"Reporting the crime is useless. The police here won't take care of it at all." Lao Yang lowered his voice. "There are indeed monkeys in this area, and they often harm people. I also put up a sign here to remind passers-by to pay attention. Look—hey, where is my sign?"

"It was demolished by the monkey."

Tong Zhe muttered in a low voice, and quickly threw the wooden pole in his hand while Lao Yang was not paying attention.

"But monkeys generally only grab food."

"But my mobile phone was indeed snatched by monkeys."

"Don't worry, it's useless for the monkey to snatch it. It must have been thrown away. It's possible to find it back." Lao Yang patted Tong Zhe on the shoulder and said. "Hey, why are you passing here so late? Alone?"

This sentence seemed to hit a fragile place in Tong Zhe's heart, and Tong Zhe could only feel the tears in his eyes.

"I went the wrong way, and I don't know where to go now." Tong Zhe said with his head down.

"Well, it's too dangerous here. You still have to walk twenty or thirty kilometers to find the village. You can go back with me for one night and make plans tomorrow."

Tong Zhe followed Lao Yang to the depths of the woods.

"I built a log cabin in the woods."

Lao Yang led the way in front, holding a flashlight in one hand to search around, and holding a bamboo pole in the other hand to brush away the branches blocking the way. The bamboo pole hit the branches hard, making a clear "pop" sound.From time to time, there were bursts of strange bird calls in the distance, like a baby's sneer.

"Here, take one too."

As Lao Yang said, seeing Tong Zhe's nervous face, he picked up a bamboo pole and handed it to Tong Zhe.

"If there are any animals coming, use this to defend yourself. There are no large animals in this forest, and the biggest ones are monkeys."

"Why haven't you arrived after walking for so long?"

Tong Zhe held the bamboo pole tightly, and the slightest movement behind him could make him look around in horror.

"It's coming soon. Cross the river ahead and it's on the opposite side."

Sure enough, after walking for a few more minutes, Tong Zhe vaguely heard the sound of running water.Across a wooden bridge, there is a small wooden house not far from the opposite side.The faint light inside seeps out from the cracks in the wood, making it extra warm in the dark and cold forest.

"Here we are. Come in." Lao Yang pushed open the door and let Tong Zhe in.

Tong Zhe's heart finally fell to the ground.Go inside and look around.A camp bed was tucked in a corner, and next to it was a portable wardrobe half zipped.In front of him was a table that seemed to have been used for decades, with a thermos and teacups on it.

"Come on, have some hot water."

Tong Zhe was not too polite, he sipped the hot water and recovered slowly.

"You live here alone?"

"Yes, I have guarded this forest for seven or eight years."

Lao Yang sat on the wooden bench and changed his boots. A faint smell of feet wafted over, and Tong Zhe instinctively stepped back.

"Are you here to play? Lost?"

"I'm not a tourist." Lao Yang asked Tong Zhe back to reality. "I'm here to find someone."

"Looking for someone?" Lao Yang was curious.Seeing Tong Zhe wrinkle his nose, he suddenly realized something, and covered his feet with a blanket. "Are you coming from far away?"

"Nanjing."

"Nanjing?" Lao Yang frowned, thoughtfully.

"The plane will fly for two or three hours."

"Then who are you looking for?"

"a friend."

"Why did you travel so far to find him?"

"I can't live until I find him."

"Huh? You have to look hard for that."

The more Tong Zhe chatted, the more boring he felt. He originally wanted to ask Lao Yang if he knew Xia Ranjiang, but through the conversation just now, Tong Zhe felt that it was unnecessary.

"Are you sure you can get my phone back? With the phone, I can find him."

"It shouldn't be a problem. I'm familiar with those monkeys, and at most they'll grab some food. There are few fruit trees in this forest, and it's winter now. The monkeys are so hungry that they can only grab people. Sometimes they will go to the village in front of them." It is a disaster here, but there are guns over there, and one or two monkeys have been killed, and the monkeys have stopped a lot. Their lair is not far from here, tomorrow..."

"Gulu Gulu...uh..."

Before Tong Zhe could speak, Tong Zhe's stomach growled first.Tong Zhe covered his stomach with both hands in embarrassment.

"I still have a few cans here."

Lao Yang understood, stood up, and took out a box of luncheon meat from the drawer.

When Lao Yang said this, Tong Zhe really felt hungry.Even though the nurse mother has been warning Tong Zhe not to eat any canned instant food since childhood, the most urgent thing right now is to solve the problem of food and clothing.Tong Zhe didn't care about being polite, so he took it and tore it open, took out something from it and stuffed it into his mouth.

"It's delicious."

Tong Zhe burped while eating.Suddenly, I felt a pain in my knee.Looking down, there was a three-centimeter tear on the inside of the knee of the left trouser leg, and the cotton thread exposed at the cut was still clinging to blood.Just now I felt numb from the cold, but now that my body has warmed up, I realized that there is a sharp pain inside.

"Don't move, I have medicine here."

Lao Yang pulled out a paper bag from nowhere, picked out a gray-black leaf from it, tore it up, and stuck it on the wound on Tong Zhe's knee.

"It won't hurt after one night. In this place, bumps and bumps are common. You should be more careful with your skin and tender flesh."

After eating and drinking enough, Lao Yang took out all the clothes in the closet and spread them on the floor, and lit a stove in the corner. After a while, the whole wooden house became warm.Tong Zhe nestled in the corner, hiccupped, and fell asleep deeply.

Early the next morning, Tong Zhe was awakened by bursts of cheerful bird calls, rubbed his eyes, stretched his waist, and felt refreshed.Looking around, he was the only one in the wooden house.Tong Zhe put on his clothes and left the cabin.I saw Lao Yang squatting by the river, beside an earthen stove, the blue-gray smoke curled up, and there was a burst of fragrance from time to time, which attracted one or two squirrels to jump up and down on the treetops, chattering.

"Eat something first, and then I'll find someone to take you to the village ahead."

Breakfast is a cold dish made of millet porridge and mushrooms, which is simple.Tong Zhe ate three full bowls.

"I'll help you find your mobile phone today. You go to your friend first. I'll give you my mobile phone number. You can find a phone to contact me in two days."

"Thank you, Old Uncle Yang."

"You're welcome, it's fate to meet together. It's rare for me to meet Hui people here." Lao Yang put the remaining porridge in a broken bowl and placed it on a small raised terrace by the river. "Don't forget about these little guys after we finish eating. We treat them well, and they will treat us well. Let's go, I will send you off first."

Back on the side of the main road, Lao Yang first repaired the warning sign that was broken last night, and then found a few wooden sticks and tied them with wire to reinforce them.Afterwards, he and Tong Zhe sat on a tree stump by the side of the road and waited for the bus.

"At this time, there will be trucks passing by, and several surrounding towns will go from here. They will always ask one or two places where they know your friends."

Lao Yang coughed dryly twice, took out a box of crumpled cigarettes from his lining pocket, and threw one into his mouth, his chapped lips were pursed lightly, and the cigarette fluttered up and down.

"Smoking?" Lao Yang handed Tong Zhe a cigarette.

"No." Tong Zhe shook his head.

"Well, it's a good habit not to smoke. I can't quit even if I want to. Some things, it's better not to start."

Lao Yang straightened his legs and put them on a raised pile of rubble beside him.

More than an hour passed.Suddenly, a burst of engine sound came from a distance, getting closer.Lao Yang froze with a satisfied expression just now, opened his eyes, retracted his legs, spit out the cigarette butt in his mouth, stood up, and ran to the side of the road in small steps.

A gray-blue minivan slowly stopped in front of Lao Yang.The car window was rolled down, and a head with a peaked cap protruded out of it, with a thin face, deeply sunken eye sockets, and shrewd and capable eyes.

"Lao Yang, the item is sold. Here, I give you the money, but I want to charge more agency fees."

"You kid asked you to help sell a wild product and still bargain with me."

Lao Yang took the money with a smile and counted one by one.

"Hey, I need your help with something else. This little brother is from another place. He needs to find someone. See if you can take him with you."

After finishing speaking, Lao Yang winked at Tong Zhe, Tong Zhe was taken aback, and hurried over.

"This is the address, take a look, do you know this place?"

Tong Zhe quickly took out the crumpled note from his pocket, raised his hand and sent it up.

"I know, I know, but this place is far away, it's not easy to go..."

The driver took Tong Zhe's note with a troubled expression on his face.

"Just take him with you and treat it as a good deed. Come back next time and give you a wild game."

As Lao Yang said, he drew an invisible animal with his hands.

"Okay, get in the car!"

Tong Zhe suddenly had the feeling of turning a blind eye, and the gloom on his face disappeared.He opened the door, grabbed the handle, stepped on the pedal, and stepped on it.

"Old Yang, thank you." Tong Zhe rolled down the window.

"Call me again in two days. Don't worry, the phone is definitely not lost. You will come back to pick it up when you find it. Don't worry!" Lao Yang waved his hand and watched the truck leave.

Tong Zhe let out a long sigh of relief.Thinking that it would be possible to find Xia Ranjiang in a short while, my heart opened up a lot.

"Brother, why are you going to Shihe? Are you a foreigner?"

The driver turned his head and found that Tong Zhe had been looking out the window in a daze, trying to chat with Tong Zhe in broken Mandarin.

"Go find someone."

Tong Zhe sat up straight, and suddenly found that he was not wearing a seat belt, so he quickly put it on.

"I'm from Nanjing."

"Nanjing." The driver seemed to be in a good mood.

"You know. Lao Yang doesn't even know."

"He." The driver raised the corner of his mouth and smiled. "How could he not know that he was working on the Nanjing construction site before, and there was an accident at that time, and two of the three people died, so it was his life. But since he came back, this person's brain has started to be a little bit out of order, and he has been working hard. Playing as a bachelor, he started guarding the forest again. But this person is kind-hearted, not only good to people, but also good to the cats and dogs in the forest."

"That means he has a good brain." Tong Zhe frowned.

"Hey, speaking of Nanjing, it seems that many of our people's ancestors are from your place."

"Ok?"

This sentence stirred Tong Zhe's nerves for a moment: Tong Zhe vaguely remembered Xia Ranjiang saying something similar, but he was not sure what occasion it was.Did you find the place?

"It's the village you mentioned. I heard that the troops from Nanjing came here decades ago. They didn't go back after the war and stayed here. What kind of army is it called..."

"Expedition?"

"That's right, that's right, it's the expeditionary army, it's the expeditionary army. At that time, it went out from us and fought against Myanmar. There are many cemeteries near here, where those soldiers were buried." The driver was chewing gum. , said while recalling.

"Hey, hey, look at the foot of the mountain ahead, there is a cemetery over there, many of them are from the expeditionary army back then."

As soon as the car turned a curve, the driver took a closer look and quickly pointed to the distance ahead.

Following the direction of the driver's finger, Tong Zhe saw an irregular-shaped open space at the foot of the green mountain in the distance.Under the sunlight, the open space glowed white, and a few black and blue tombstones could be faintly seen inside.Although the tombstones are scattered among them, they all face northeast without exception.Tong Zhe suddenly understood the intention - isn't the northeast of this place exactly Nanjing! ?

"Chewing gum or not?"

The driver grabbed a handful from the box on the left and spread it in front of Tong Zhe.Tong Zhe tilted his head for a long time without responding.

The driver looked at Tong Zhe suspiciously, then looked at the things in his hand, and immediately took them back—a piece of unwrapped condom was lying between three or two bags of chewing gum, with a small half exposed.

"Sorry." The driver scratched his head in embarrassment. "It's necessary to go out, it's necessary to go out."

"It's all right, all young people, understand, understand."

Tong Zhe smiled while nodding, seeing the driver happily chewing gum, he suddenly felt a little sick.

"What kind of goods are you pulling here?"

After 10 minutes of silence, Tong Zhe deliberately brought up a topic to chat with the driver.

"The back is some wood. It's used by the furniture factory. It's only pulled like this once a week." The driver said lightly, and suddenly remembered something. "Hey, tell me who you're looking for, maybe I still know you."

"It's called Xia Ranjiang. The summer of summer."

"There aren't many people surnamed Xia around here...but we're almost there, so I'll ask you around. There's no one here, and many of them have gone out to work, so you'll know when you ask."

The van turned another corner.Tong Zhe only felt that the truck was accelerating downhill.At the beginning, the towering mountains and dense forests on both sides of the road gradually turned into low tile-roofed houses and street lamps, and there were more people on the roadside.Tong Zhe felt a little emotional. He was still fighting with monkeys in the wild last night, and entered the familiar civilized world early this morning. These few hours seem to have traveled back to the past and to reality.

"I'll take you here. My name is Yang Lu, see you later."

"Thank you...Hey, why are you all surnamed Yang?"

"Lao Yang is my uncle. Goodbye." The driver drove off at full speed.

Tong Zhe felt cheated, but he couldn't tell what he was cheated.Standing on the side of the road in a daze for a while, he glanced at the address on the note and looked around. His sixth sense told him that Xia Ranjiang was nearby, but he really didn't believe that Xia Ranjiang lived in such a place. The place—it's not because the place is dilapidated and backward, it's just that the first feeling made it difficult for him to bind Xia Ranjiang's 20 years with this environment.

"This should be the right place."

Tong Zhe thought in his heart that he was cheering himself up.Stretching, touching the 30 yuan in his pocket, he walked forward confidently.

At this time, a tricycle passed behind him, and the engine made a loud noise. Tong Zhe was so startled that he hid on the side of the road and almost fell down.

"Damn it." Tong Zhe just turned around, and the tricycle had long since disappeared.

What Tong Zhe never expected was that Xia Ranjiang was sitting in the tricycle.

Today is the winter solstice.Xia Ranjiang and Yan Gu prepared the sacrificial items early in the morning.According to family tradition and Aunt Yan's instructions, Xia Ranjiang tied the ingots with silver paper the night before and tied them into strings with ropes.In the morning, Yan Ru prepared a little each of dried tofu, meatballs, fish pieces, etc., put them in porcelain bowls, carefully placed them in bamboo baskets, and covered them with white cloth.After everything was ready, Yan Ru put on new clothes and went out with Laxia Ranjiang.

After getting off the tricycle, there were already many people in the cemetery.The smoke and fire from piles of paper money rolled together with the morning mist, and the air was suffocatingly turbid and heavy.The writing on some tombstones has been blurred, and it seems that they have not been repaired for a long time.There are also some tombstones that have just been erected, and the wreaths placed around them still have a desolate color, flipping up and down against the cold wind.A checkerboard-like cemetery is crowded with people.But everyone seemed to be silent as if they had made an agreement, except for the occasional mourning.

This is Xia Ranjiang's first visit to his father's grave on the winter solstice.Xia Ranjiang stood in front of his father's tombstone, and there were still some remains of the sacrifices placed earlier.Xia Ranjiang knew that Aunt Yan had been renovating his father's tomb all along, and it was Aunt Yan who visited his father's grave three times a year.Thinking of this, Xia Ranjiang felt grateful, and couldn't help feeling sad.

"Hey, who put this bouquet of flowers?"

Just as Xia Ranjiang was half-squatting and cleaning the open space in front of the tombstone, and was about to remove a bunch of faded plastic flowers next to him, Yan Ru muttered something in a low voice, which caught Xia Ranjiang's attention.

"Didn't you put this?"

"Probably not, I did let go of flowers before, but this is new and not mine." Yan Ru frowned. "Could it be that your father has friends here?"

"it's me."

Although the voice was deep, it was like a flash of lightning on a sunny day, directly hitting Yan Ru deep in his heart, instantly activating the dusty memory.Yan Ru was stunned.

Seeing Yan Ru's startled expression, Xia Ranjiang suddenly felt something was wrong.He got up and leaned out, only to see clearly who was speaking just now through the smog.

A middle-aged woman stood in the aisle.Although she is about the same age as Yan Ru, it is better to say that this is what this age should look like, but Yan Ru has already shown her old age due to years of hard work.A middle-aged woman with chestnut curly hair hanging down her shoulders.The upper body is covered with a dark red woolen coat. The black gradient color block on the chest of the coat is decorated with beige and golden anchovy tails and branch and leaf shapes, which are gathered along the gemstone buttons and extend to the hem.On the right wrist is a custom-made bag inlaid with gold, which hangs naturally at the waist.The middle-aged woman was wearing black sunglasses, the frames of which rested on her pale cheekbones, and the lenses covered almost half of her face.

Xia Ranjiang was also stunned for a moment, feeling an inexplicable feeling in his heart for some reason.

"you are?"

"Jihong?" Almost at the same time, Yan Ru cried out a little.

Like thunder on the ground, Xia Ranjiang was completely stunned by this name.The "Mom" deep in my soul has been imprisoned for more than ten years, but now I broke free and squeezed in my throat, but I forgot how to make a sound.Xia Ranjiang wanted to go up to him, but his body didn't obey, his hands trembled, and just as he took a step, his feet went limp and he almost fell to his knees.Suddenly, like a demon possessing himself, Xia Ranjiang slowly raised his head, his red eyes filled with tears, his temples were bulging with veins, he gave Yi Jihong a vicious look, turned and ran away.

"Xia Ranjiang, Xia Ranjiang..."

Only then did Yan Ru realize it, but Xia Ranjiang had already run away like crazy.The followers behind Yi Jihong followed.

"Yi Jihong, you...why did you come here without saying hello?"

Yan Ru was a little bit reproachful, but also a little bit worried, standing on tiptoe from time to time and looking in the direction where Xia Ranjiang was escaping.

Yi Jihong didn't speak, put the handbag aside, squatted down, took off the gloves, and carefully collected the silver ingots that Xia Ranjiang tripped and spilled on the ground.He took out three sticks of incense from the bamboo basket and lit them on the clay altar in front of him.He took out paper money from under the white cloth, lit a corner, and threw it into the pile of ingots. Suddenly, a puff of green smoke rose, and then a ball of flames burst out from the gap, and the flames swallowed everything.

"Come on, it's dirty here."

Yan Ru gave Yi Jihong a space, squatted on the side, and after placing the sacrificial offerings, he kept adding paper money to the fire.

The two were silent.The unburned firecrackers in the fire pile exploded from time to time, and the bottom layer of ashes rose up with crackling sounds. Waves of heat hit the air, and the air was filled with gray-black powder, which stuck to Yi Jihong's hair.But Yi Jihong remained unmoved, still maintaining a half-squatting posture.

"Chenglu, I'm here to see you again."

Yi Jihong spoke suddenly, murmured to himself, and sighed again.

In less than half an hour, all the paper money I brought was burned out.Yan Ru poured the sacrifice on the open space and put away the dishes.

"Let's go." Yi Jihong said.

Outside the cemetery is a downhill path lined with pine trees on both sides.The two walked in silence.

"Didn't you say you won't come back?" Yan Ru broke the silence.

"But I had to come back."

"You made the previous calls?"

"Yes."

"Didn't you say to wait for Xia Ranjiang to take the initiative to call you? How can he bear it if you appear so rashly?"

"Strict Ru." Yi Jihong stopped. "I've been away for more than ten years. You know why I left. Everything here has already broken my heart, but the only thing I can't let go of is my son Xia Ranjiang."

"You are really, sorry for him. Do you know how much he has suffered in the past ten years? You never showed up. You just left like this. Of course, Xia Chenglu was wrong, but you are a mother. "

"I have my reasons."

"Difficulties. Who doesn't have difficulties. People are born with difficulties." Yan Yun sighed long, trying to ease his excitement. "Fortunately, Xia Ranjiang is promising now, and he is also a young man. He will have a bright future in the future. I believe that Xia Chenglu knows something underground, so he should feel at ease."

"It's also hard work for you to take care of it for more than ten years."

"Because he is Xia Chenglu's son."

Yan Ru's voice suddenly increased, and he seemed to realize that he was out of control, and the eyes that were staring at Yi Jihong suddenly became a little flustered.

"Forget it, the past is also in the past. Tell me, why did you come back this time?"

"I want to take Xia Ranjiang away."

"Take him away?"

"Yes. I want to take him away." Yi Jihong stopped walking. "I'm ashamed to say that. I never knew that he went to university in Nanjing. After I left more than ten years ago, I didn't go back to my natal family. You also know that I broke up with my natal family after I came here. I went to Shanghai. I found a restaurant there, worked as a waiter, and took an exam as a lawyer. Later, I had the opportunity to go to the United States, and now I have my own law firm in New York and Shanghai. I just came back from a business trip that day and saw the news on the hotel TV, reporting that Xia Ran Jiang won the debate competition. Don’t mention how excited I was at the time. I went to Nanjing from Shanghai immediately. But I didn’t know until I went to his school that he had already returned home, so I came here again.”

"But Xia Ranjiang has a stubborn temper, just like his father. I'm afraid it won't be easy for you to take him away."

"I know that." Yi Jihong smiled faintly. "So I need your help.