"Uncle Chen"
The canteen owner opened the door and jumped out before the car stopped. As he walked, he took out a pack of Baita from his pocket, took out one and handed it to the old man sitting at the entrance of the alley. When Chen Qi took the cigarette, the middle-aged canteen owner immediately took out a disposable lighter. Please help with the order diligently.
On the other hand, Chen Qi silently took the cigarette and took a sip next to the flames. Then he pointed at Mazar next to him, but he didn't say anything at all. That emaciated face bore the ravines left by the years and an indescribable dullness.
The canteen owner seemed to be used to it. He sat down on the horse, pointed at Wei Ran who had just got off the car, and introduced in a loud voice, "Uncle Chen, that young man wants to buy from you." Military medal, hey, why did you hit me?"
The canteen owner who had just sat down crawled and hid a few meters away, but still couldn't escape and was hit on the buttocks by the cane in Chen Qi's hand. of chasing.
"Get out of here, you little bastard!" Chen Qi didn't wait for the shop owner to stand firm, and the walking stick in his hand and the cigarette he had just lit flew over in circles.
"Old man, old man"
Wei Ran quickly ran over, picked up the walking stick and brought it to Chen Qi's side, ignoring the man who had already raised the stick, "He is teasing you."
Chen Qi stared at Wei Ran for a few seconds and asked in an indifferent tone, "Where did you come from?"
"I"
Wei Ran grinned and carefully wiped the cane with his T-shirt. Then he took the Mazar from the opponent's hand and stuffed it under his butt to sit still. He ignored the canteen owner who was beaten instead of watching the fun, and took it from his pocket. He took out the Chinese cigarettes he bought on the road, took out one and handed it to the other party, then helped light it, and then explained, "Old man, I am just a history student, and I want to ask you something."
"I don't know"
Chen Qi took a puff of cigarette and said with a facial expression, "I am just an old farmer, not a teacher."
"Zhao Do you know Shengli?" Wei Ran asked tentatively.
As soon as the name was asked, the cigarette in Chen Qi's hand fell to the ground. But after a moment of silence, the old man bent down and picked up the cigarette, put it into his mouth again and took a sip. His tone was as cold as ever, "I don't know him, I've never heard of this name."
Wei Ran He opened his mouth, silently popped a cigarette and lit it, but he didn't ask anything. He just sat side by side with the old man who had fought side by side, smoking silently.
Not far away, the canteen owner wiped the dirt off his butt and walked over in a friendly manner. Just as he was about to say something, Chen Qi raised the cane in his hand and threw it away again.
"Hey you old man"
The canteen owner nimbly dodged the flying cane, then ran over to pick it up and put it into Chen Qi's hand with a playful smile. "My brother is at home, right?"
Chen Qi took the walking stick, but after all, he was still the middle-aged boss's assHe felt a slight but not heavy sensation on his buttocks, and then he said, "I'm at home, go get some iced watermelons."
"I'll say hello to my brother first, and then I'll Send it here."
The middle-aged boss who had a cane on his butt was not annoyed and walked into the alley with a playful smile.
And Chen Qi didn’t say anything else. He even pretended that Wei Ran didn’t exist. He slowly smoked the cigarette in his hand and kept looking in the direction of the village entrance with his old eyes. .
Wei Ran, who originally had a thousand things to say in his heart, fell silent, as if he was back in the trenches of the original position, leaning against the wall, smoking and killing time.
Before the cigarette burned out, the middle-aged boss walked out quickly with a short, thin man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties.
"Brother, this young man plans to buy my uncle's military medal."
The middle-aged boss pointed at Wei Ran and said, his tone no longer sounding like the one he had when we first met. The gentleness at that moment was replaced by a deep vigilance.
"You two little bastards, stay here for a while"
Chen Qi knocked the cane in his hand
on the red brick ground, "Triumph, let's Your wife has prepared a table of dishes, Zhenzong, hurry up and bring the watermelon over."
"Ah, I'll bring it over right away." Before the young boss finished speaking, he had already run towards the canteen.
"Dad" the man walking out of the alley looked at Chen Qi without hesitation, obviously wanting to remind him of something.
"It's okay, I'm not old yet." Chen Qi waved his hand, "Go and prepare the meal, we have guests at home."
Hearing this, the man who seemed to be named Chen Kaixuan The middle-aged man glanced at Wei Ran again worriedly, then took out his mobile phone and took a photo of the license plate number of Wei Ran's car parked on the roadside, and then walked back to the depths of the alley.
After a while, Wei Ran and Chen Qi's cigarettes had almost burned down to their filters.
"Have you eaten yet?" Chen Qi asked after crushing the cigarette butt.
"Nothing."
Wei Ran responded with a smile. Although his arrival seemed unwelcome, no matter the canteen owner who led the way to trick him, or Chen Qi His son's reaction also made him sigh in relief. No matter what, their concern for Chen Qi can still be seen.
"Let's have a meal"
After Chen Qi finished speaking, he stood up with a cane in one hand and the wall with the other. Seeing this, Wei Ran quickly stood up and was about to help the other party.
"No need"
Chen Qilue pushed Wei Ran away stubbornly, pointed to Ma Zha where the two of them were just sitting and said, "Just help me carry them."
p>"Okay"
Wei Ran simply let go of his hand. After the other party stood firm, he bent down to pick up the two mazaars made of wooden frames and bicycle tires, and followed suit. Behind Chen Qi, he slowly walked into the alley.
There are only two households at the end of the alley. In the courtyard with the open door on the left, you can still hear the middle-aged man named Chen Kaixuan greeting his wife to cook.
Under the leadership of Chen Qi, Wei Ran walked into the courtyard on the right. This courtyard was not big in the northern countryside. The southernmost part was a long-abandoned pigsty, and in the middle There are two leafy persimmon trees.
The only three main rooms looked a bit too low and had obviously been built for some years.
"Wash your hands and come in." Chen Qi pointed to the faucet under the persimmon tree.
Hearing this, Wei Ran honestly placed the maza by the wall, squatted under the persimmon tree and washed his hands, and then bent down and got into the house.
Except for the smoke of fireworks coming from the shop, which gave him the illusion of returning to his grandma’s house, the rest was nothing special. The simple furniture bore the same traces of time as Chen Qi himself. , except for the main room that serves as the kitchen, the two rooms on the left and right are equipped with air conditioners.
Lifting the slightly oily floral curtain, Wei Ran got into the room on the left, and then saw Chen Qizheng taking out the tea bucket from the high and low cabinets.
"Sit" Chen Qi greeted without looking back.
Hearing this, Wei Ran sat on the edge of the kang next to the round table and looked around at the surrounding layout. Wherever he looked, he couldn't see anything related to that war.
Almost at the same time that Chen Qi finished making tea, the canteen owner walked in excitedly carrying two watermelons in plastic bags.
"Uncle, I'll cut it directly."
"Wash the knife well. I cut the meat yesterday." Chen Qi ordered and then sat down minding his own business. On the wooden chair opposite Wei Ran.
Seeing this, Wei Ran fell silent again. Through the window, I watched the canteen owner find a kitchen knife from the main room with familiarity, and took out a piece of loofah pulp. The washing machine on the machine was washing it carefully under the faucet in the yard.
After a while, the boss brought the cut watermelon to the round table on an enamel tea tray, and greeted enthusiastically, "Try it, the seedless watermelon is very sweet."
"Zhenzong, go and do your business first." Chen Qi said.
"If you have something to say, I'll go talk to my brother." The canteen owner picked up a corner of the watermelon and took a bite.
He left the room without turning around.
"Try it." Chen Qigong cupped his hand, "Eat two pieces first to cool off, and we will have dinner together later."
Hearing this, Wei Ran was not polite and picked up the I took a bite of a corner of the watermelon, and it was indeed as the boss said, juicy and sweet. At the same time, it inevitably had a slight garlic smell, even though the boss had just washed it carefully.
After carefully finishing a corner of the watermelon, Wei Ran and Chen Qi, who was sitting opposite, fell into silence again.
“Don’t you ask me where I come from?” Wei Ran couldn’t help but ask.
"No need"Chen Qi responded dryly, and then sighed, "Is Shengli still alive?"
Wei Ran shook subconsciously, and after a moment of silence he replied, "I should be alive. I plan to go see him in the next two days. "
"Still alive, just alive." Chen Qi was silent for a moment and continued to ask, "Young man, who else do you know?"
"Secretary General Sun Yannian"
< p>Wei Ran paused and continued, "There are also reconnaissance squad leader Lin Yuehua, as well as Li Dali and Gao Qiang. ""None of them survived." When Chen Qi said this, there was no expression on his face, but his old voice was trembling uncontrollably.
" "Yeah."
Wei Ran nodded and said almost to himself, "They are all buried in the Martyrs Cemetery in Dandong. After I visit Mr. Zhao Shengli, I plan to go there and have a look." them. "
"Go"
Chen Qi paused for a long time, looked at the persimmon tree outside the window, and said almost in a whisper, "I'm waiting for you, waiting every day, Wait for you to come to me and take away the military medals I have here. If you don't come again, I won't be able to hold on for a few more days.
Why don’t you guys want to come back? What’s so good about that shabby place? Why don’t you want to come back?”
“They’re back.” Wei Ran felt his chest He could hardly breathe due to the blockage, "Old man, they are back, they have been back a long time ago. "
"I can't come back."
Chen Qi sighed and murmured in a tearful voice, "On that mountain top, there was not even a blade of grass growing except for stones. For eight days, the whole For eight days, I survived while retreating with victory on my back. They were all there, always there.
At night, as soon as I closed my eyes, I could see them. I screamed until my voice became hoarse, begging them to come down. Squad Leader Lin didn’t listen. He said he should defend that broken hilltop, why is he so stubborn?"
"They are back," Wei Ran said again, but his voice was much softer.
"I can't come back."
Chen Qi shook his head, "I have waited for them all my life, hoping for the stars and the moon. If they came back, they would have come to me long ago. I am also his subordinate. Bing, why doesn’t he want me anymore?”
“They” Wei Ran stopped mid-sentence, “They really can’t come back”
“They can’t come back I can't come back."
Chen Qi stood up tremblingly, left the room slowly with a cane, walked through the main room to the opposite room.
After a long time, he took He came back with a wooden photo frame. He carefully wiped the non-existent dust on the photo frame with his sleeves, pointed at the people in the black and white photo and introduced them one by one, "This is Squad Leader Sun, an old Red Army soldier who walked through the Long March." There was nothing delicious to eat, but they were squeezed in to treat the wounded first. He himself was the chief of staff and also the squad leader of the cooking class, but he was hungry every day.
This is Squad Leader Lin. He is so powerful that he has become so powerful in less than a year.Learned to use new words. He was also brave enough to touch the American trenches and grab his tongue. < /p>
Wiping the corners of his eyes, Chen Qi pointed to the two young soldiers holding each other's shoulders in the group photo and said, "Of these two people, the one sitting on the side is Da Li, and the one on the right is Xiao Gao. Both of them are Southerners
are small in stature and often pretend to be unable to hold soldiers.
Although the two of them didn't know how to speak, as long as they changed their clothes and used their hometown dialect, they still deceived the American soldiers like runaway donkeys and followed them to the ambush ring honestly. Go inside. "
"This is you" Wei Ran pointed at Chen Qi in the group photo and said with certainty.
"How young were you then?" Chen Qi rubbed the person in the group photo, who I don't know what he was thinking.
"Do you regret it?" Wei Ran couldn't help but ask.
"Why don't you regret it?"
Chen Qi sighed. , "If it happens again, I will die on that broken mountain."
"Old man, let's sing a song together," Wei Ran suddenly suggested.
"Sing. "Chen Qi looked at Wei Ran.
"Just sing that song."
Wei Ran suggested again, "I guess you must have often sang that song together." Give me a start and I'll sing with you."
Chen Qi was stunned for a moment. An uncontrollable smile gradually appeared on his old, serious and even depressed face, "Then Sing a majestic song and prepare to sing across the Yalu River.
In the farmyard shrouded in the hot summer, an old but in-tune voice and a young but seriously out-of-tune voice are full of momentum. Singing the song that had already completed the battle mission over and over again.
At the entrance of the small courtyard, the owner of the canteen and Chen Qi's son and daughter-in-law looked at each other with blank faces, and they were stunned for a moment. I know whether I should bring the prepared food in.
“Uncle Chen can also sing,” the canteen owner asked in disbelief.
“My dad can also sing. It sounds pretty good, not out of tune at all. "Chen Qi's daughter-in-law said with admiration, "I have been married for many years, but I have never heard this old man sing. "
"Where did that young man come from?" Chen Qi's son, Chen Kaixuan, said doubtfully, "I thought he had to be beaten to death by my father with a cane." "
"Don't worry about where he comes from"
The canteen owner said nonchalantly, "This is the first time in my life that I heard my uncle singing.
Chen Qi's daughter-in-law shook her head in confusion, "Don't talk about singing. When Kaixuan and I got married, I never saw the old man smiling so happily." "
"Don't talk about my dad yet."
Chen Qi's son couldn't help but grin, "That kid didn't even tune in the punctuation of any crap he sang. "
"What do you care about what he sings?" Chen Qi's daughter-in-law rolled her eyes, "Let's go back first and wait until the two men have finished singing."
"Triumph , I think you have to buy a karaoke set for my uncle."
The canteen owner came up with a bad idea, "I think the kind used by those old ladies who do square dances is suitable. This old man likes it. Sing"
"If you want to buy it, you can buy it."
Chen Qi's son walked back with the food, "I'm afraid he'll beat me with a cane, what a bad idea you came up with. It doesn’t matter if you don’t let me get beaten or not. I don’t think it’s expensive to buy a walking stick.”
“Let’s go quickly, the walking stick will fly over my head if I’m too late.”
Chen Qi's daughter-in-law urged, not bothering to take care of the two old brothers who were sleeping like dragons and phoenixes, and went back to their own yard.
Just like in the tunnel shrouded by US artillery more than half a century ago, the still young Wei Ran and the no longer young Chen Qi sang a song back and forth. You know how many times, until Wei Ran's voice became hoarse, until Chen Qi's voice became hoarse, the two of them stopped one after another, then looked at each other, and each of them burst into hearty laughter.
"Young man, what's your last name?" Chen Qi asked with a smile on his face.
"Wei, the one who protects the family and the country."
"Wei"
Chen Qi thought about it for a while, and finally shook his head helplessly , "I thought your surname was Zhao, and you were the descendant of that boy Zhao Shengli. Your broken voice is exactly the same as his."
Wei Ran grinned. He took a piece of watermelon and took a bite of it. While chewing, he asked vaguely, "Old man, how long has it been since you and Zhao Shengli saw each other?"
Chen Qiyao He shook his head and said, "I haven't seen him since I came back from the war."
"I'm going to find him. Do you need me to bring him anything?" Wei Ran continued to ask.
"Just ask him, do you still need me to find a wife for you?" After Chen Qi finished speaking, he couldn't help laughing.
"Okay, I'll definitely bring you the exact words," Wei Ran promised, patting his chest.
"If you can find him"
Chen Qi fell silent mid-sentence, stood up slowly, took out a plastic notebook from the high and low cabinet, and took it out On an old-looking Parker pen, I wrote a series of phone numbers on it, then tore it off and handed it to Wei Ran.
"Young man, if you can find him, call my son Kaixuan and tell him the address of Shengli and ask him to tell me."
Chen Qi et al. After Wei Ran took the piece of paper with his mobile phone number written on it, he couldn't help but sigh. "My son Kaixuan was born in 1960. His name was given by Shengli in 1952. He said that I would definitely have a son. If I have a son, he must be named Kaixuan. In a flash, now This is the only name leftWords have become thoughts. "
"Old man, just wait for my call."
Wei Ran glanced at the three people walking towards me with food in their hands, and spoke slightly faster, "I'm sure. I'll find Zhao Shengli for you."
"Okay"
Chen Qi nodded noncommittally, "Let's go and eat. There is nothing good in our countryside. The kid knows he's in town at first sight, so don't be offended. "
"Don't blame me for eating too much." Wei Ran picked up another watermelon while he was talking, and then followed Chen Qi out of the room.
Besides Chen Qi and Accompanied by his son, daughter-in-law, and the owner of the canteen, everyone had a lively meal around a low table under the leafy persimmon tree.
At the dinner table, no matter what the three middle-aged men asked, neither Wei Ran nor Chen Qi mentioned anything related to the war.
We ate three big bowls in a row. After making some cold braised noodles and drinking a large bottle of Coke as a substitute for alcohol, Wei Ran insisted on taking the good cigarettes, wine and tea he had asked Chen Guangling to buy in advance from the car and stuffed them into Chen Qi's son's arms. < /p>
Farewell to the family, Wei Ran started the borrowed car, stepped on the accelerator and drove in the direction he came from.
In the wide rearview mirror, he saw the man standing on the roadside. The old man threw away the crutch in his hand, straightened his back, which had been bent by years, and raised his right hand tremblingly to the height of his eyebrows.
Wei Ran gently honked the horn. He stepped on the accelerator, trying to avoid the military salute that he was not qualified to bear.
Gradually, the old man who had been waiting for his comrades to return disappeared in the rearview mirror. The small village of Tong also disappeared in the rearview mirror.
In the end, there was only a flat, straight country road with trees growing on both sides.
" Next stop, it’s time to go see Zhao Shengli. ”
Wei Ran murmured to himself, secretly guessing what kind of life the other party was leading. Is he just like the depressed Chen Qi, sitting in the alley all day long, silent? Waiting for his comrades who will never come back.
"He won't still say that my consciousness is low"
Wei Ran couldn't help but laugh, becoming more and more eager. I want to ask Zhao Shengli in person for Chen Qi if he wants to find a wife for him.
————Digression————
Two-in-one update, please. Remember:, free and fastest update, no anti-theft, no anti-theft