Costume Mountains and Rivers

When leaving Yan'an, Mo Qinghe took away three young soldiers who were similar to his age and had experience in lurking behind enemy lines. For safety reasons, they disguised themselves as tea businessmen and set foot on the southbound road again.

According to Lao Xie's instructions, he needs to arrive in Hangzhou within the scheduled time and find a poorly run tea house not far from the Shen family's old house. There, he will get in touch with an upline named "Hu Han", Then, under the arrangement of the local Communist Party organization, the Shen family was covered to evacuate safely.

According to Lao Xie, this stronghold has been set up for a long time, and because of Mo Qinghe's repeated assurances of Shen Peinan's position, it has been in a semi-dormant state.At present, the battle situation in Shanghai is critical, and the organization has reactivated the communication network of the teahouse. Once Hangzhou falls, these comrades will stick to their positions and launch a new intelligence war with the Japanese army. Superior communications work.

Air strikes brought the whole country into a state of martial law. The trip, which could have ended in three or four days, took a whole group of people for ten days.The further south you go, the more people are fleeing. From time to time, you will meet a small group of soldiers of the national army who have been routed from the battlefield, each with dusty faces, wearing tattered military uniforms, and walking wearily.Some hung their hands on their chests, some used branches as crutches, their foreheads were wrapped in dense bandages, and only one eye was exposed, staring numbly ahead.

Most of the railways were requisitioned by the government to transport soldiers. Mo Qinghe and his party could only wait on the platform. As the trains passed one after another, the people who came to support them flocked to the platform, throwing cans and cigarettes through the windows of the trains. After passing the condolences, there is no pride and bravery in the eyes of going to the front line, but more confusion about the future.

The defeat in Shanghai and the huge casualties made the morale of the troops gradually low. Everyone couldn't help but speculate that what the front brought to them might not be a triumphant song of victory, but more likely a final farewell to their relatives and friends.

People were coming and going on the platform, and Mo Qinghe was so anxious that he caught a soldier and inquired about his troop number. After asking all the way, he didn't find a member of Shen Peinan's troop. The answers he got were very similar. The wounded soldiers worked hard. After thinking about it, most of them just answered that they didn't know. Occasionally, some people nodded and said they were still there.

Before the question was finished, a comrade not far away suddenly knelt on his knees, punched the ground with his fist, and let out a painful cry like killing a pig. He didn't know where the dialect was, but Mo Qinghe understood what he was saying. The curse of the Japanese has become a common password across the country.Then, several of his comrades pulled him up, and the soldier walked and howled to the sky, Mo Qinghe couldn't help but look back, a comrade named Yuan Ye patted him on the shoulder: "Hurry up, be careful!" Being watched."

The wilderness is Mo Qinghe's application to the organization. The person brought out from Yan'an has just escorted a mathematician back to the motherland from Moscow. He is very vigilant. Mo Qinghe immediately understands and winks at the others. The four of them In a flash, he disappeared among the crowd who were pushing and shoving.

Arriving in Hangzhou after all kinds of difficulties, a group of people walked out of the station and followed the people all over the street carrying their belongings to take refuge out of the city. Before they could take a breath, they encountered a riot.

It was an air strike.

After a low buzzing sound, the citizens suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky one by one. They saw a silver-gray plane passing through the gap in the clouds. Screaming and fleeing, someone raised his voice and raised his arms and shouted: "Get down, get down!" The child who was too late to escape was trampled by the rushing pedestrians, and opened his mouth to cry loudly, only to hear a squeaking whistle, The plane was hit by a shell, and thick smoke billowed from the tail. With a bang, it became a big fireball in the air, dragging a long black smoke, and slowly fell towards the northwest like a broken paper kite.

The passers-by were stunned by this sight, and a high-pitched voice shouted: "It's the little devil's plane, the little devil's plane has been shot down!"

The voice was immediately drowned out by the cheers. People recovered from their panic, patted the dirt on their bodies and stood up. Because of an airplane, the people who were busy on the road became the closest partners in an instant. Everyone hugged each other and shared the news. They scrambled to report to those citizens who just ran out of the house and missed this scene. Mo Qinghe and the others joined in the fun for a while. Then, when they turned around, an old-fashioned car slowly stopped by the side of the road, and the driver peeked out the window. Stretching out his head, he cast a tentative glance to this side, his eyes wandered over Mo Qinghe's body for a moment like a slender tentacles, and then retracted.

Mo Qinghe was wearing a gray satin robe, pretending to have a mustache around his lips, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, and carrying a brown suitcase with worn-out leather in his hand, he looked like a businessman. It's just that in addition to tea samples, there are more bullets, guns and grenades in that box.Knowing that he was disguised well, he took the initiative to walk to the side of the car, threw the box in front of the car window, and lowered his voice: "We are here to collect tea, the road is not easy to travel, and we are a few days late."

The driver made an expression of sudden realization, and immediately got out of the car to shake hands with Mo Qinghe: "Boss Hu has been waiting for you for a long time."

The Boss Hu he was referring to was exactly the online Hu Han that Lao Xie had mentioned. Mo Qinghe breathed a sigh of relief, opened the car door, and the four of them got into the car one by one.

The car sped towards the Shen family's mansion, and was blown by the cold and damp wind in the south. The tense nerves of the group were finally relieved temporarily, but the driver did not smile. It turned out that during the few days of their delay, the Japanese army It was already close to the city, and the city of Hangzhou was in danger, but the comrades sent by the local CCP organization to lobby the Shen family were blasted out in batches.

The driver held the steering wheel tightly with both hands, stared at the road ahead, and told Mo Qinghe: "There is no time, and the organization orders you to get Master Shen's family to leave Hangzhou before noon tomorrow!"

In order to avoid arousing the suspicion of the Japanese spies ambushing in the city, the car only slowed down slightly at the door of the bookstore and did not stop there. Mo Qinghe saw a store owner dressed in a national flag cleaning the two couplets outside the door. Seeing the car, he turned his head slightly, the two quickly met each other, and then passed by.

The car stopped at the entrance of the Shen family's mansion. The local party organization had said hello in advance. Mo Qinghe jumped out of the car and rushed in with his people.

The grand garden of the Shen family is no longer as tidy as it was last summer. When the winter comes, the camphor trees are shivering in the north wind. The lawn is covered with dead leaves and bird droppings. A large group of servants were arguing with the old butler with their bedrolls on their backs.

Mo Qinghe remembered that when he and Shen Peinan came home last year, it was this old housekeeper who came to welcome him. After a year, he looked older and his back was even more hunchbacked. He was holding a bulging Leather bag, with a hoarse voice, persuaded everyone: "Don't stay here, the wife gave the travel expenses, go back and escape with your family, and come back when the situation is peaceful, and the place at home will be reserved for everyone!"

A girl with braids sobbed softly: "I came to Shen's house to work with my mother when I was five years old. I lost contact with my family long ago. Now there are wars everywhere, where can I escape?"

The cold and wet wind was blowing on everyone's faces, and her cries aroused the grief of parting. Several maids began to cry. Pace up and down.

Seeing that no one cared about her, Mo Qinghe bypassed the group of people and went straight into the hall.Compared with the depression outside, the inside of the house is not much better. Everything is ready for relocation. The soft wool carpet is rolled into a cylinder against the wall, revealing the smooth light blue marble floor tiles, and pieces of furniture are piled up. In one place, they were all covered with dark flannel covers, and the boxes and cages were piled up all over the floor. An old servant sat on a huge leather box, sighing one after another.

Mo Qinghe turned up to the second floor, the door of the big living room suddenly opened, a tall man in a suit flashed out from behind the door, Mo Qinghe couldn't dodge in time, almost bumped into him, looked up, both of them She was stunned, the person opposite was Shen Lisong.

"It's you?" He looked at Mo Qinghe with wide eyes, "Why are you here?"

Mo Qinghe squeezed out a smile, and stretched out his hand to greet him, but Shen Lisong didn't have this interest, he was stunned for a moment, then suddenly jumped up, grabbed his neck and pressed him against the wall, raised two eyebrows: " What are you doing here? You didn't get enough benefits from the third child, and now you are afraid that we will run away, so come here to divide the family property?"

His threat had an immediate effect. Several youths accompanying Mo Qinghe suddenly stepped forward, pulled his arm and pulled it back, forcing him to let go.Mo Qinghe coughed and gasped for breath after being pinched, but at this moment she didn't have the heart to deal with him, rubbing her neck with one hand, opened the door of the living room with the other, and strode in.

The bright and splendid living room in the past was almost emptied, and several servants were busy cleaning up the mess, holding some precious antiques in their arms, shouting beware, beware, running around wearing flowers and butterflies.The couch was still in place. Mrs. Shen was wearing a black cloth sleeve shirt embroidered with peonies, and she was sitting upright with a small shiny woolen blanket on her knees, she seemed to be angry, The family surrounded her, not daring to vent their anger.

Mo Qinghe stood at the door, before she could decide how to speak, the old lady suddenly raised her voice: "You all go, all of you! You want me to go to any ugly country in the United States, there is no way!"

Holding an ebony dragon-head crutch in her hand, she thumped on the ground: "Your father and I have spent most of our lives running around for the revolution, and when we get old, we finally have a place to live. No one will let me Let's go! Besides, foreigners speak foreign language, you can understand, I will be deaf and blind when I go, the old woman would rather die at home than accept this foreign crime!"

When Shen Shuzhu heard this, she became anxious: "Mom, everyone is fleeing now. Brother and Manitou have a lot of connections to get the boat ticket. If you don't want to leave, you won't leave. Isn't this nonsense?"

Mrs. Shen had a dark face and a calm attitude. Hearing that the second brother's tone was not friendly, Shen Piaoping glared at him, squatted in front of the old lady, put her hands on her knees, and persuaded: "It's only for a while. Avoid it, at most one or two years, come back after defeating Little Japan, how can it be so miserable that you want to die in another country?"

"Shanghai was defeated, and more and more people advocated peace talks. They ran to our house every day. If we don't leave, it will be a drag on the third brother..."

Mrs. Shen interrupted her sharply: "He fights his own battle! Tell him to leave me alone, even if Little Japan catches me and cooks me up, I won't even move my eyebrows!"

Seeing that the more she persuaded the old lady, Shen Piaoping's attitude became tougher, she turned her head and sighed at Shen Shuzhu, but lost her mind.

The owner and servants in the house were in a mess, no one noticed the arrival of the guests. Mo Qinghe listened to the debate and asked the rest of the people to wait at the door, while she quietly walked through the living room and went straight to Walking up to Mrs. Shen, she took off her hat, held it in her hand and saluted, and spoke in the gentlest voice possible: "Ma'am, we are friends of Boss Hu, and we are responsible for escorting you out of Hangzhou. If you are ready , we can start as soon as possible."

This was the code word the driver told him. Since the Battle of Songhu, the Shen family had had several contacts with the local CCP organizations. As long as Boss Hu's name was mentioned, they would know that they belonged to him.

However, Mo Qinghe understood that the problem did not lie in this. Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the whole family expressed considerable dissatisfaction with these people's uninvited arrival. They were expelled, and the two groups were at a stalemate, Shen Piaoping looked at Mo Qinghe, and suddenly called out.

Her astonishment aroused everyone's memory, Shen Shuzhu was puzzled for a moment, and said hesitantly: "You are the Mr. Mo who came with the third child last year..."

All of a sudden, not only the old lady remembered him, but even the servants in the room stopped what they were doing. Mo Qinghe felt a series of eyes rushing at him like sharp arrows, and he bit the bullet and kept smiling. , took out a file bag from the suitcase, and took out a power of attorney from the Nationalist Government and a letter of introduction issued by the Yan'an Government from the interlayer.

The two letters have been encrypted with invisible ink, and the surface looks like two sheets of white paper. He opened the envelope in front of Mrs. Shen, took out the coloring potion, and slowly applied it with a small brush dipped in the potion. Mrs. Shen handed it over, and said neither humble nor overbearing: "I know you are prejudiced against me, but I still hope that you can cooperate with the work."

To be honest, from the series of quarrels that happened in Shen's house last year, he could imagine Mrs. Shen's reaction even with his eyes closed, and it was exactly as he expected. After receiving the letter, he threw it out without even looking at it. He covered his chest with one hand, and pointed at Mo Qinghe with the other: "Quick, get him out quickly! This third child is too shameful, and at this time, he is still throwing some crap out of him." The people who made it come back to anger me!"

Mo Qinghe was not angry, but the young people who came with him from Yan'an were not happy. They came from poor backgrounds and had prejudices against capitalist bureaucratic families.Yuan Ye raised his hand to touch the pistol in his back, but Mo Qinghe stopped him back and shook his head slightly.

"Mrs. Shen, you are right. I am a singer. Mr. Shen is with me just for fun. According to your instructions, we have already separated. This time I came to Hangzhou to carry out my mission. I am not with him." It doesn't matter."

He felt funny in his heart, this arrogant and strong old lady had exactly the same temper as Shen Peinan, he knew how to deal with them too well, any individualistic and sentimental rhetoric would be ineffective if he wanted to convince these two people.

He picked up the two letters of introduction, handed them to the old man respectfully, and said in a slow voice: "You must leave here. According to the information in my hand, at the most tomorrow, the troops withdrawn from the front line will be stationed in Hangzhou. Moving south through the Qiantang River Bridge, the division's team is also inside."

Mrs. Shen snorted disdainfully, but did not interrupt Mo Qinghe's words. He continued: "The army retreats, and what they want is time. You know the position of the teacher. If he knows that you refuse to leave, he will come back to persuade you no matter what." , such a delay, the lives of tens of thousands of people may be buried in your hands."

He said so, but actually he didn't even find out about Shen Peinan's movements, everything was inferred based on the battle report, so he paid extra attention to whether his words were seen through while speaking.

After saying this, the old lady's expression obviously showed signs of shaking. Mo Qinghe walked up to her, shook the old man's hands, and said softly: "At this time, you have to listen to me, isn't this Your own interests involve the safety of thousands of people."

The old man's hand was cold and loose, wearing a gemstone ring studded with broken diamonds, which was hard on his palm. Mo Qinghe realized that the other party was abrupt, so he quickly let go of his hand, but it was just this moment of contact, his Instead, the tension disappeared. He said in his heart that the war had restored many people to their true colors. Even Mrs. Shen was just an old woman before life and death.

Mrs. Shen turned her head to look at Shen Piaoping, then at Mo Qinghe, her lips were drawn into a line, and she stopped talking.

Shen Piaoping showed joy and winked at Mo Qinghe. When the old lady lowered her head and concentrated on reading the letter, she walked to Mo Qinghe's side and whispered in her ear: "Are you really the Communist Party?"

Mo Qinghe asked in surprise: "Didn't your brother tell you?"

Shen Piaoping shook her head, Mo Qinghe sighed: "It's a long story."

Just when the whole family was relieved by the old lady's change of attitude, the two doors were pushed open at the same time, and Shen Lisong strode in with an anxious expression on his face, and said loudly: "Mom, it's all right this time, let's think about it now." Unable to leave, Manni ran away with her natal family with the boat ticket and the passage documents of the concession!"

He sat down on the sofa, crossed his legs, took a few sips from the teacup, and then slammed the cup on the table, cursing: "I've seen that bitch is unreliable, she's just taking this opportunity to get revenge on me." !"

This is an old case. The marriage between Shen Lisong and Manni, no matter their family background, education or appearance, is impeccable. It was Mrs. Shen's proud work. It ended badly.

As soon as he finished speaking, Old Mrs. Shen's complexion immediately darkened. She picked up the ebony crutch and made a gesture to hit her while cursing.Mo Qinghe was confused by the noise of people in the room, she couldn't bear it anymore, she stood up abruptly, and said word by word: "I'll find a way, please believe me, even if I try my best, I will take it!" You send it on the ship to America!"

His face was flushed red, but his eyes were shining with determination. Mo Qinghe pressed Yuanye's shoulder and ordered him to take care of his family. He took two steps back, turned and ran out.

The driver was right. According to the current situation, there was not much time left for him. Mo Qinghe took out his glasses from his sleeves, put them on, pushed down his top hat, and walked out of the ocean in three steps at a time. Building, walk across the garden towards the tea house across the street.

However, just after he reported the situation to the shop owner, drank a whole pot of Longjing tea, and waited for an affirmative answer, the Qiantang River Bridge in the south of Hangzhou, which was built less than three months ago, completed its mission. Tens of thousands of people and national soldiers were safely sent to the south bank. The builder of the bridge detonated dozens of kilograms of explosives. With a huge roar that resounded through the sky, the bridge body was cut off with a bang, gravel splashed like rain, and slowly sank into the river.

At this time, Hangzhou has become an empty city, and the doors of shops are closed. Only the elderly and infirm, as well as those who are nostalgic for their hometown and even risk their lives, are curled up at home at this moment, waiting bravely and helplessly for the fate to come. .

The teahouse has set up a crude sending facility, and the upline named Hu Han has received the news and is working hard to plan to get a ticket for the passenger ship leaving the port before noon tomorrow.Mo Qinghe stood on the street full of joy, listening to the sound of explosions in the distance, never imagined that just today, he and Shen Peinan passed by again in the same city less than a few kilometers apart .

As night fell, those tyrannical Japanese soldiers, who were as violent as mountain torrents and hungry wolves, were taking advantage of the moonlight to march towards Hangzhou City with their blood-stained bayonets in hand after a massacre that shocked the past and present in Nanjing.