Soul to the Rhine

Chapter 68
After seeing off the postman, Rosia returned to the house with the letter in doubt.

Maybe it was because of the cold winter and the fact that it moved around a lot, so there was a hard envelope wrapped around the envelope. On the surface, it was hard to tell where the letter came from.

"A letter came from Berlin." Rosia handed it to Werner.

He reached out and took it and opened it. Aunt Mesa was a little nervous beside him: "There won't be any mission for you to go out, right?"

Werner took out the envelope inside, glanced at it and shook his head. There was no eagle emblem unique to the army on it.He glanced at the shipping address and raised an eyebrow: "Taiwan?"

Rosia's heart skipped a beat. This familiar place name seemed to be something that immediately connected her to the far east.She jumped over immediately, and Werner handed her back the envelope in his hand.

The delivery address is Mrs. Mesa Filinos, Neutzstrasse, Berlin, Germany.

The sender is Taiwanese Anne Franti!

Anne Franti…

When she saw this name, Rosia was dumbfounded. An unbelievable but surprising emotion filled her heart. Even Aunt Mesa was so excited that she was a little incoherent.

"Is it Annie? Is she still alive?" Aunt Mesa was very happy. She came over and looked at it several times. Until the name and surname were correct, she calmed down a little: "Taiwan, what is Taiwan?"

Rosia's heart was still beating loudly, and her hand that opened the letter was shaking so hard that she couldn't control it. She barely suppressed the excitement in her heart, took out the letter paper, unfolded it, and saw that most of it was in German.There are only one or two sentences in Chinese, probably because I'm afraid Aunt Mesa won't be able to understand it when I write in Chinese.

"Cousin Mesha, it's been almost three years. How are you? Is Xia okay?"

Just after reading the first sentence, Rosia couldn't help but cry. She remembered that night in Nanjing in 1937, everything a beautiful mother did for her.She left China and came to Europe. She traveled to countless places in the past three years. She thought that her mother, who was deeply bound to her, had passed away, but she didn't expect that she was still alive. This was really something she couldn't even dream of. .

"Let's talk about me first. Luo Gang died. He died to save me. It took too long. Maybe I was too sad. I even forgot how he died. After escaping from Nanjing, I When you arrive in Hunan, you may not know this place. In fact, I don’t know it either. I only stayed here for a while, but during this time I saw countless Chinese people spilling their blood and risking their lives just to drive out Invading enemies, but by then everyone had forgotten Nanjing, and the world had forgotten Nanjing.”

"Later, I followed a group of civilians who failed to resist. There was no purpose at first. We didn't know where we were going. It wasn't until a long time later that we made a boat. China is so big that I didn't know how to get there even by boat. I don’t know which river it is, but I think of the Rhine we used to play together when we were kids, it’s so beautiful.”

"After landing, we arrived in Taiwan. It's beautiful here. Even in the cold winter, it's not too cold. It's like paradise. But I'm not happy at all. I miss Luo Gang and West Asia. I can't suppress my crazy thoughts. Every day, I wonder what my West Asia looks like, whether she has matured and whether she will become as beautiful as you. I am worried that she is lost in Berlin. Cousin Meisha, you have found her. Is she doing well? "

"...I heard that there is also a war in Europe, and it is Germany that is victorious. I will feel proud of the strength of my motherland, but in a country invaded by fascism, I feel doubly painful, with fire, guns, and gunpowder smoke. , people's blood and corpses, these have become all life. I can't imagine my motherland doing this when it invades others, if we do what the Japanese did to the Chinese in the past four years, In the not-too-distant future, there will be no more left alive in Germany.”

"The wounds of war never heal."

"..."

"Cousin Mesa, you must have found West Asia. So, can you send me a photo so that I can remember you in pain. Sister: Anne Franti."

After reading the letter, Rosia burst into tears, and Aunt Mesa leaned against her, also crying silently.

The European battlefield is not as cruel as the Asian battlefield, and it has not lasted that long, but everyone has felt what war is like.Rosia has experienced many thrilling scenes. She understands the horror of the battlefield too well. However, a woman crawled out of hell alive, but she lost her husband, left her daughter, and walked away alone in a foreign country. Apart from longing, there was nothing. I can't do it, what kind of cruelty and cruelty, what kind of life of a walking dead is this.

Pino didn't understand the emotional exchange between them, and tugged at their sleeves in confusion, while Werner had already stepped away like a gentleman, leaving them some space.

Aunt Mesa wiped her tears and said with a smile: "Sia, this is really good news, there is no better news than this. Beautiful Christmas, and God, then, let's quickly reply to Anne who has been waiting for so long Well, send me two photos by the way."

"Well, I'll get the letter paper." Rosia sniffed and ran upstairs.

There is no better news than that a person is alive. No matter what, she is still alive.

The letter paper, pen, and ink were all ready, and the two of them lay on the table to discuss how to reply to the letter.

Aunt Mesa and Annie's mother have not seen each other for nearly 20 years. They only say hello to each other and reminisce about the past, trying to write down some happy things.The German words are relatively long, taking up most of the letter, and the foot bindings of Aunt Mesa and the Emei old lady tend to get longer and longer.

Rosia could only pick up another piece of paper and think about how to reply.

In fact, she only had a quick glimpse of her mother, Annie. She had just passed through at that time, and she was still in a state of confusion, unable to recognize who was who.Later, every time she thought about it, she couldn't remember what Annie looked like, and could only have a vague impression of her mother.

However, the lack of contact did not cut off the bond between the two. Maybe it was because of the original owner, maybe because of blood relationship. Anyway, she still had deep feelings for this mother whom she had barely met.

Is it safe anywhere in China during World War II?I guess Taiwan is not safe either.

She tried hard to recall the history she had learned in high school. Chinese history was naturally richer and more detailed than what she had studied abroad. However, she sadly discovered that the Asian battlefield was a complete mess. There were no organized battles. The entire country was full of Japanese. , the whole nation is fighting against the war. There are flames of war and smoke everywhere. If you open a history book, you will see that they are all densely packed with small swords representing battles. There is no loophole to exploit.

As a result, Taiwan is a relatively safe place.

Regarding this heavy topic of survival, Rosia could only tell her not to leave Taiwan, not to participate in partisan wars, and if you can follow antiques, follow more antiques, and be as shameless as you can, even if you miss your husband, you can’t When I return to Nanjing, if I have to return to the mainland, I have to do so after the reform and opening up.

All that's left is to explain a little bit about yourself.

Rosia said that she studied medical nursing and could now be a doctor or a nurse. She also highlighted a few good friends. Finally, she emphasized that she and Aunt Mesa took in a lovely boy and lived together for almost a year. They are already each other's relatives.

When it comes to her future life, Rosia herself has no plans. She can only say that it depends on what happens in Europe in the future. Maybe she will return to her country, or maybe she will stay here.

As for photos, she really doesn’t have them.She has been in Europe for more than three years. To be honest, she has never seen what the cameras of this period looked like. Is it really like the one in the movie Schindler's List?

The morning passed and the whole family went out to take pictures in the afternoon.Speaking of which, all of them are good-looking. Aunt Mesa is a beauty, Werner is a handsome boy, and even Pino has inherited the excellent genes of Henry and Bello, making him cute and adorable.Rosia's looks are okay, Asian and European mixed races generally have a more mixed style.

The Christmas photo studio is not closed. On this grand day, most people hope to capture the most beautiful images of the year, so there are many people in the photo studio.If they didn't speak German, it was more than enough for them to pass themselves off as French.

Good looks are popular everywhere, and the female photographer who took the picture quickly left a line of waiting people and ran to them.

The three of them stood or sat, placing the little Pino in the middle, and took a dozen photos in succession before Aunt Mesa stopped still.

All four of them took individual photos, but Werner didn't seem to like taking photos very much. He had the fewest photos, but Aunt Mesa still picked the most handsome one among them, put it in an envelope, and muttered: "No." Knowing whether Anne’s aesthetics have changed, she will definitely think Werner is very handsome, and he is a perfect match with Sia.”

"..."

After sending the letter, the four of them walked slowly along the street. When they passed the fountain square, they found that there were many dancing people there.

Paris often snows before Christmas, but because it is in the center of the country, the snow is cleared relatively thoroughly. There are many trees around the square and there is a little greenery. If you ignore the cold weather, it is almost like spring.

Except for the avenue occupied by German officers, the rest of the area was basically filled with French apartments.German officers are generally busy with tasks and do not often appear here. Therefore, this small fountain square is often full of French people.

There are many pigeons in the square, and many people will feed them bread crumbs or grains here, so they are not very afraid of people. Even if people come to them, they will not fly away, but will circle around people.

Pino was very excited. He broke away from Rosia's hand and ran over, blending in with the dancing adults and children.He usually stays at home with Aunt Mesa and has no friends of the same age. Although he is well-behaved and sensible, he is still just a five-year-old kid at heart.

Rosia couldn't bear to take him home, so she followed him. Aunt Mesa stood there for a moment and then ran over. Only Werner stood politely on the outside and did not break into the circle of women and children.

Pino held one in each hand and excitedly circled the fountain, making wild gestures with the children around him.

"Aunt, sister, look, the fountain is so high!"

"It's so cold, why doesn't it freeze?"

Rosia didn't know how this was done. She couldn't see anything when she got closer. She was about to step back when she suddenly heard a roar from behind.

There was a loud and dull sound, and the crowd subconsciously stopped.

"What is that sound?" someone asked around.

"Who knows, maybe they are setting off fireworks again, aren't they set off every Christmas?" a woman said nonchalantly.

Rosia felt that the sound was familiar, but it was not the sound of a bomber. It seemed that it had sounded in her ears not long ago, but she couldn't remember it.

"No, the sound of the fireworks is not that loud. I always feel a little panicked." The woman called the child to her side and hugged her, feeling a little uneasy.

"Don't think too much. This is the center of the Sixth District. How could something happen? Besides, think about the people living next to us. Who dares to act wild on them?"

Rosia's ears were filled with the voices of these two women. She looked around and saw that some people in the square had indeed noticed the movement just now, but there were also people who continued dancing indifferently.

She glanced at Werner not far away. His expression was slightly solemn. One hand was already on the gun at his waist, and then he suddenly pressed his hand in this direction.Rosia reacted quickly and immediately understood what had happened. She immediately reached out and picked up Pino in her arms. She lay down on the ground and yelled at Aunt Mesa who still didn't understand: "Lie down quickly!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was another explosion in his ears, and flames shot into the sky not far away, in the direction of the apartment of the German officers.

Aunt Mesa was pulled by Rosia and fell to the ground. The women who were arguing before were stunned at this moment. They stood on the ground blankly, looking helplessly in the direction of the fire.

"Don't stand still, lie down quickly!"

"No, it's so far away. Their guns can't reach here. Let's go home quickly." The woman didn't listen to Rosia's advice and turned around and ran back.

As soon as he ran two steps, a laser beam hit him, and then there were stray bullets flying across the entire square. Several women who had no time to leave were directly hit and fell to the ground. The children cried. The sound instantly spread under the fountain.

Pino was trembling under Rosia. Aunt Mesa had never experienced such a scene before. She was usually fine. But at this moment, the fear of unknown dangers had spread all over her body. She had already lost her mind and was not as good as Rosia.

"Pino, don't be afraid, my sister and aunt are both here."

The sound of gunfire has not been heard in Paris for a long time, and even the people in the [-]th district have never seen what a gunfight looks like. This moment has changed forever. Even though some people already knew that the target was a German officer, they were still frightened. At a loss.

"Where's Werner? Where did Werner go?" Aunt Mesa suddenly asked.

(End of this chapter)