Jiangning City is like the corpse of a huge beast.
Most of a section of the city wall on the west side of the city has collapsed and no one has repaired it. The golden autumn is here, and the weeds are blooming with small flowers, some white and some yellow.
Ning Ji stood near the city gate and watched for a long time. It was rare for a fifteen-year-old boy to be sentimental, but after watching it for a long time, he felt that the entire city had really given up on treatment in terms of city defense.
The crowds near the city gate were bustling, trampling the entire road into tattered mud. Although there were soldiers maintaining order, from time to time there would still be a lot of abuse and noise due to blockages, queue jumping, etc. The team entering the city walked along the city wall.
The road along the road stretches, and the various people, gray and black, look like a colony of ants gathering on the corpse of a beast from a distance.
He remembered what his brother told him about what he was learning from his father in Chengdu last year. A road in the city can only pass so many people at the same time. If pedestrians on the road are allowed to maintain the maximum speed, when there are not enough roads,
How to expand and how to divert traffic? Ning Ji was bored and said: "Build another one. If one is not enough, build another one."
The elder brother just shook his head and looked at him like a silly child. He clasped his hands behind his back as if he knew everything: "Oh, city planning and governance is a big problem."
Who am I looking down on? My sister-in-law definitely doesn’t understand... He thought at the time.
…
"Well, urban planning and governance are a big problem."
Ning Ji sighed among the crowd and walked forward slowly.
In the past, he was often the most impatient child and hated waiting in line. But at this moment, Xiao Ningji didn't have much impatience in his heart. He followed the team forward slowly and looked at the wind in the field.
It blew from afar, blowing the thatch in the fields and the willows by the river. Looking at the tall and tattered gate of Jiangning City, there were traces of war on the dark bricks...
When at home, it is usually the mother who talks about things in Jiangning City in detail.
Their father was a man who did important things and was often away from home. When they were young, there were rumors that their father had passed away for a while. Although he returned home later, his interactions with each of his children were mostly sporadic or fragmentary.
It was telling some interesting rumors about the world, or taking them to secretly eat some delicious food. It was easy to recall, but there were not many such times.
The aunt supports many properties around the house and often has to take care of them. When she is at home, she is most concerned about the homework of all the children. Ning Ji is a poor student, and he often sees his aunt smiling and asking him: "Xiao Ji, what are your recent homeworks?"
What's going on?" Ning Ji felt guilty for a while.
The aunt never hit him, but she would talk to him sincerely, and sometimes she would press his forehead while talking. Ning Ji knew that this was a problem caused by the aunt being overworked. For a while, the aunt even tried to give him some advice.
He started a small kitchen and worked with him on homework for a few days. My aunt's academic performance was not good either. Except for mathematics, the two of them could not agree on the other subjects, so they had to go to Aunt Yunzhu to inquire.
Of course, later on, the aunt should have finally given up on the idea of having to improve her grades. Ning Ji breathed a sigh of relief. He only occasionally asked her about her schoolwork and said a few words to her. Ning Ji knew that she really felt sorry for him.
of.
Aunt Hong is the most powerful in martial arts, but has an excellent personality. She was born in Luliang. Although she has experienced many killings, her swordsmanship has become more peaceful over the years. When she was very young, she would accompany the children to play in the mud at home.
Ning Ji often felt that Aunt Hong's sword skills were becoming more and more mediocre two years ago, but after experiencing the battlefield, she suddenly discovered the terror in the peace.
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Due to her work, Aunt Hong didn't spend much time with everyone. She would sometimes look at the surrounding situation from a high place at home, and would often go around to inspect the situation at the outposts. Ning Ji knew that in the Chinese Army,
During the most difficult times, people often tried to arrest or assassinate my father's family, but Aunt Hong always guarded the family with a high degree of vigilance.
She often watched her group of children playing from a distance, and as long as she was around, others definitely did not need to worry too much about safety. Ning Ji only realized after experiencing the battlefield that the children were often not far away.
Aunt Hong, who always looks at everyone but never comes to play with them, shows how reliable her wings are.
Aunt Gua's martial arts skills are completely different from those of Aunt Hong. She rarely goes home, but because of her lively personality, she is often the king of children at home. After all, "Liu Dabiao, the tyrant in the family" is not a deserved reputation. She
Occasionally, she would bring a group of children to challenge her father's authority. In this regard, Aunt Jin'er is similar. The only difference is that Aunt Gua often provokes her father and often gets into arguments with him. Her father has to make an appointment with her to determine the specific outcome.
Solving the problem "privately" was said to take her face into consideration. When Aunt Jin'er did this kind of thing, she would often be teased by her father.
My mother is the great housekeeper of the family.
She doesn't care about too many things outside. She only cares about the lives of everyone in the family. The meals that a group of children need to prepare when they go to school, the clothes that the whole family wears every day, the bedding when the seasons change, the food for every meal... As long as
It's a family matter, and most of it is taken care of by the mother.
When a group of children were still young, or when they were at home during some holidays, they would often get together with their mother. In the spring, their mother took them to play Youth League balls under the eaves. In the summer, when they were tired from playing in the yard, they gathered under the eaves.
Drinking sour plum water... During these times, mother would tell them about the family's time in Jiangning.
The courtyard with white walls and blue tiles, the small flower garden that was once carefully tended, the antique two-story building, the wind chimes and lanterns hanging on the small building. At dusk after the shower, the sky is as blue as black, and the lanterns are hung one by one.
It lights up in the yard... There are also festivals, the grand occasion of going to the market, the cruise ships on the Qinhuai River, the parade with long dragons, and the lighting of fireworks... At that time, my mother, according to my father, was still carrying two people
The stupid but cute little maid with a bun...
Of course, my mother claimed that she was not stupid. She, Aunt Juan, and Aunt Xing grew up together with the aunt. They were similar in age and loved each other as sisters. At that time, many people in the Su family were not successful, including now very, very powerful people.
Uncle Wen Fang and Uncle Wen Ding were just young people eating and drinking at home. My aunt had been interested in doing business since she was a child, so my old grandfather took her to and from the shop often, and later he also let her take charge of part of the family business.
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At that time, the aunt and mother were only thirteen or fourteen years old, and they were already exposed to these things. One year, when they were about fifteen years old, several carts of goods failed to return in the heavy rain outside the city, and several of their masters and servants risked their lives.
The rain came out, urging a group of people to go on the road. A large car slid into the sunken slope of the roadside. The people escorting the car were tired and stayed on the roadside passively, sarcastic and sarcastic at the ignorance of several girls. The aunt took her mother and
Aunt Juan braved the heavy rain to push the cart in the mud, and Aunt Xing went to a nearby farmhouse to buy hot tea and eat. A group of workers escorting the cart finally couldn't stand it anymore and helped several girls to move the cart in the heavy rain.
Carrying it up... From then on, the aunt officially started to take charge of the store. Now think about it, the aunt named Su Tan'er and the mother named Chan'er are exactly the same age as I am today.
Mother would also talk about what happened after her father arrived at the Su family. As the aunt's little spy, she followed her father shopping and walked around Jiangning City. At that time, her father was hit on the head and could not remember what happened before.
But his character has become very good. Sometimes he asks questions about this and that, and sometimes he bullies her intentionally, but it is not annoying. Sometimes, even with a very knowledgeable old man, he can talk to her.
Even though he was joking, he still managed to keep up the good work.
Then my father wrote that powerful poem, which shocked everyone, and gradually became the number one talent in Jiangning, so powerful...
The vague memories in Ning Ji's mind started when he was in Xiaocanghe, and then went to Liangshan, Zhangcun and Chengdu. He had never been to Jiangning, but the Jiangning in his mother's memory was so vivid that he could not forget it.
It took a lot of effort to remember these.
When he left Southwest, he just wanted to join in the fun, so he came all the way to Jiangning, but only then did he realize that his mother might be the one who had been thinking about Jiangning.
My mother followed her father through the ravages of the Jurchens, followed her father through wars, and experienced a life of displacement. She saw bloody soldiers and civilians lying in pools of blood. For everyone in the southwest, those
There are undoubted reasons for the bloody battles, and they are all necessary struggles. My father leads everyone to fight against the invasion, and the anger that bursts out is as majestic as a molten stream. But at the same time, my mother, who arranges the lives of everyone in the family every day, of course
She was nostalgic for the past days in Jiangning. In her heart, she may have been missing her father who was calm at that time, and she also missed the way she and her aunt rushed into the mud on the roadside to push the truck, in the rain.
, also has the youth and warmth of a mother.
Ning Ji had never experienced such a life. Occasionally when he saw the concepts of youth or peace in books, he always felt a little pretentious and distant. But at this moment, when he came to the foot of Jiangning City, he recalled these vivid memories in his mind.
, he can understand it more or less.
Wanting to return to Jiangning actually comes more from my mother's will.
He looked up at the ruined city.
My mother is still in the southwest, and I don’t know when my father will take her back here again...
After queuing for a long time, he entered through the west gate of Jiangning City. After entering, there was a messy market near the city gate - it was originally a small square, but now it was filled with various wooden sheds and tents, each with strange eyes.
The Fair Party members seemed to be waiting to sell something here, but no one spoke clearly. The Shit Baby flag was hung in the center of the square, proving that this was his territory.
Beyond the small square, there are streets that are dilapidated but relatively lively after the war. Some shops are repaired. In Chengdu, they can only be regarded as slums to be repaired. All the colors are mainly dirty gray and black. The roadside
Dirty water flowed everywhere, and most of the trees in front of the shops were withered, and some only had half of their yellow leaves. The leaves fell to the ground, were stained by the dirty water, and immediately turned black. People of all religions and professions were walking on the street.
Ning Ji asked about the direction of the Qinhuai River and walked towards it.
When she was in Liangshan, in addition to her mother who would often talk about the situation in Jiangning, Aunt Zhu would occasionally talk about things here. She redeemed herself from a shop selling people and lived in a small building by the Qinhuai River. Her father had
Sometimes she would run by that place - it was really a weird thing at the time - she couldn't even kill a chicken, so she spent all her money and set up a small stall with the encouragement of her father, who was painting on the small car.
, and the painting is very good.
Aunt Zhu had some quarrels with Auntie at that time, but after passing the Xiaocang River, the two sides stayed together, and these quarrels have been resolved. Sometimes they would speak ill of their father together, saying that he was eating rice from the bowl while looking at the pot.
However, many times he also said that if he had not married his father, his life would not necessarily have been better, and it might have been worse. Ning Ji didn't understand very well, so he did not participate in this kind of discussion.
When Aunt Zhu talked about Jiangning, she actually talked about Grandpa Qin who was sitting by the Qinhuai River setting up a chess stall. It was a very, very powerful and very special thing for my father to make friends with Grandpa Qin, because that man
The old man is indeed a very powerful person, and for some unknown reason, he became friends with his father, who was just a married woman at the time. According to Aunt Zhu, this may be because a wise eye recognizes a hero.
Of course, if the father joins the conversation, he will sometimes mention another old man who married into Jiangning City. Grandpa Kang Xian from Princess Chengguo Mansion is a bit shameless in his chess playing and has a rather unforgiving mouth, but he is an admirable good man.
When the Jurchens came, Grandpa Kangxian died for his country in the city.
The Qinhuai River, Aunt Zhu's small building, the old house of the Su family, the place where Grandpa Qin set up a stall, and Grandpa Kang's home in Princess Chengguo's Mansion are the coordinates in Jiangning City that Ning Ji estimated in his mind.
He first followed the obvious coordinates of the Qinhuai River, passing through lively streets and alleys, and also passed through relatively remote roads. The city was filled with shabby, black houses, gray walls, and the silt on the roadside was glowing.
The stench, apart from the various flags of the Fair Party, the brighter colors in the city are just the fallen leaves in autumn, and there are no more beautiful lanterns and exquisite street decorations.
When he came to the Qinhuai River, he saw that in some places there were still crooked houses, with black wrecks that had been burned into racks. There were still small sheds on the roadside, and refugees from all over occupied sections of the river.
There was a slight stench, and there were strange duckweeds floating in the air.
For a while, it seemed that I couldn't find the small building and place suitable for setting up a chess stall that Aunt Zhu mentioned.
He put on a good-natured attitude and made further inquiries at the roadside food stall. This time, he easily found out about the original residence of the inner demon Ning Yi and the old residence of the Su family in Jiangning.
"...I want to visit the inner demon's old house. Let me tell you, young man, it's not peaceful there. There are two or three kings who are fighting for it."
"Why?" Ning Ji asked innocently with his eyes widened.
"Oh, I can't explain this clearly. Some people say that it is the land of dragon prosperity. If you occupy it, you will have dragon energy. Some people say that it is good for business. It is the place where the God of Wealth lived. Take away a brick.
In the future, if you build a town house, your business will always be prosperous; in addition, it seems that someone wants to burn the place down to establish its power...Hey, who knows who has the final say..."
Ning Ji was speechless for a moment. After asking about the place, he headed over there.
When we arrived at the Su family's house, it was 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon. The time was approaching dusk but not yet. The autumn sun was lazily emitting light without power. The original Su family's old house was a quite large house.
There is a side courtyard next to the courtyard. At its peak, it housed three hundred people and consisted of dozens of courtyards. What comes into view at this time is a patchwork of courtyard walls. Most of the outer walls have collapsed, and the inner outer walls have collapsed.
There are dilapidated houses left in the hospital. In some places, tents have been set up like on the street. In other places, shops have been opened in the original houses. One of them is obviously a casino under the banner of King Yama.
There is no door head or plaque, and the original door frame of the courtyard door has been completely demolished.
Ning Ji stood outside and looked in. Many of the courtyard walls inside also looked uneven. Different from ordinary post-war ruins, this large courtyard looked like it had been demolished with bare hands.
Most of the things had been moved away. Compared to other houses around the street, it looked as if most of it had been "eaten" by some strange monster, and only half of it remained on the ruins.
And the ruins of the surrounding houses, even if they had been burned by fire, looked "complete"...
He recalled the scene when his mother sat in the courtyard and talked about Jiang Ning with a group of children during those difficult days.
Xiaochan's words were gentle, and she talked about everything she had experienced during that period of ups and downs, and about her warm hometown and destination. The little children listened.