Jinghong Tower

Chapter 380 Surprise or not? Unexpected or not

Ah Qiu sighed, "I met Wang Junxi from the same village when I was in the wounded camp. When the army was stationed in Yangzhou, his wife came to the camp to see him. After I heard about it, I went to ask his wife about family affairs. Then I found out that after I left, my elder brother and my younger brother got very angry with my mother. They said my mother was too stupid to give me away without even asking for money. They also said that I had eaten for free at home for a year or two, and then I just left without a care. This is heartless.

I gave all the military pay I had saved to Wang Junxi's wife and asked her to take it back to my mother. However, a few days later, Wang Junxi came to me and handed the military pay back to me intact. When I asked, I found out that it was Wang Junxi's wife who asked his brother to send it to me.

My mother refused to accept it. She asked Wang Junxi's wife to tell me not to think about my parents' home and not to send money home in the future. Even if I sent the money back, it would not stop other people from talking, and no amount of money could satisfy their hearts.

This time when I go to the capital, I will ask Wang Junxi to ask his wife and my mother to let them know that I am safe when he writes a letter home. Anyway, my mother doesn't understand what I am doing, so it's enough for her to know that I am safe."

Xiaoli patted Qiu's hand and comforted her: "It's okay, you will be a military doctor after you finish your studies, and you will get better and better. When there is no war in the future, you can take your mother out."

That day, He Ran finally ate the noodles cooked by A Qiu. The next day, A Qiu followed He Yamin and her group on the journey back to Beijing. There were a total of ten people from the Southern War Zone who were recommended to study medicine with her. They were both men and women. The oldest was thirty-six years old and the youngest was only fifteen years old.

A Qiu rode on her horse and turned to look towards Jinling City, where the person she admired most lived.

In fact, it was only seven or eight months before she left the village. At that time, she didn't know how to ride a horse. She rode with Liuxia and was very nervous all the way. She was not only worried about falling off the horse, but also afraid of the road ahead.

But now, she not only learned how to ride a horse, she also had a goal. She wanted to become a military doctor who saved lives and healed the wounded. Even if there was no war one day, she would retire and become a doctor who saved lives.

This is her ideal.

She is no longer the abandoned woman divorced by her husband's family, nor is she the unlucky person who works hard in her parents' home and is still accused of eating for free. She is He Qiu of Ran Jun. Yes, her surname is He now.

When she got married, her parents treated her as an outsider. Later, she was divorced by her husband's family, and her parents still treated her as an outsider except for her mother. In this case, she decided to take the surname He.

After seeing off Qiu, the weather became colder day by day. After a cold rain, Jinling officially entered winter.

Xiaoli came in with the gift box. He Ran frowned and said, "Didn't I say that I won't see any guests in the next two days?"

She still has piles of documents to review.

Xiaoli smiled bitterly: "They are from the Beggars' Sect. Well, you should just take a look."

As Xiaoli spoke, she took out a piece of invitation from the gift box and delivered it to He Ran's desk.

When she heard the word "Beggars' Gang", a thought flashed through He Ran's mind. Since she arrived in Jinling, she had not received any letter from Hei Mei.

She picked up the post, opened it, and smiled.

"I'm in Jinling. Are you surprised? Do you want to treat me to a drink? If you want, come on. Tonight at 12:00 p.m., at Wangjiang Restaurant. Tell me your name and we'll see you there."

He Ran laughed out loud, Zhou Cangyue came to Jinling.

He Ran was very efficient in reviewing official documents today. At 3 p.m., Feng Xieying arrived and brought the questions for the spring examination for He Ran to review.

He Ran said, "Can I wait and see tomorrow?"

Feng Xieying: "It will be decided tomorrow morning."

He Ran: "Then I'll come back tonight and take a look. I'll have someone send it to you tomorrow morning. What do you think?"

Feng Xieying was helpless. He looked He Ran up and down and couldn't help asking, "Boss, are you feeling unwell? I'll ask Doctor Song to come and take a look at you."

He Ran didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She just wanted to give herself a night off. No, less than a night. She still had to look at these test questions when she came back in the evening.

"Xieying, I'm really not feeling unwell. A friend of mine is coming to Jinling, and I need to entertain him tonight."

Feng Xieying felt relieved, but when he left, he was still muttering, could it be that meeting a friend is more important than the questions in the spring exam?

After sending Feng Xieying away, He Ran looked at the dripping water in the corner of the house. She still didn't know where the Wangjiang Restaurant was. Wangjiang Wangjiang, as the name suggests, should be by the river.

Well, it’s not close from here to the river.

Besides, the riverside is very big, and we will have to look for it once we get there.

He Ran mounted his horse and left the house, while Liuxia and Jinbo followed far behind.

He Ran originally thought that she would have to make more inquiries, but unexpectedly, before she reached the river, she saw from afar the twins who had delivered the letter to her in Jinyang.

After not seeing each other for a few years, they have both grown taller, but fortunately, their baby faces are still exactly the same.

"It's you two? You're not in Jinyang anymore?"

The two hurriedly said, "To reply to the boss, the Grand Marshal said that we did a good job and wanted us to be with him."

He Ran looked around her body and realized she had nothing. She used to give these two kids something every time she saw them, but this time she didn't have anything. He Ran felt a little embarrassed.

However, she also remembered one thing. She did not bring any gifts for Zhou Cangyue. She had promised to play the role of host, so she not only did not bring any wine, but she did not even bring any money. She did not know if Liuxia and the others had any money on them, otherwise Zhou Cangyue would have to treat them to a meal.

With the twins leading the way, He Ran soon arrived at Wangjiang Restaurant.

Not to mention, this place is really hard to find without someone you know to help you.

He Ran asked, "Is this opened by the Beggars' Sect? Why is it opened here? It's so remote, customers usually can't find it."

The twins sighed, "We didn't open it here originally. Later, that place couldn't be opened anymore, and we couldn't find a suitable place for a while, so we had to open it here. We'll move away when we find a better place later."

He Ran understood that her whereabouts must have been exposed at the previous place, and she was worried about being targeted, so she changed places.

He Ran really guessed it right. The last time Zhou Cangyue came to Jinling and kidnapped Jing Lao San, although there was no flaw on the surface, for safety reasons, the original shop must not be opened. The situation was very tense at the time, and they could only find this place in a hurry, so they opened the shop here.

Just as He Ran guessed, this Wangjiang Restaurant has received no more than ten guests since its opening, five of whom were members of the Beggars' Sect.

Before they even entered the door, the twins shouted, "The distinguished guests are here, the distinguished guests are here!"

At this time, a beautiful woman with a graceful figure came out to greet him. Seeing He Ran, the woman clasped her fists and saluted: "Beggars' Sect Su Si greets Master He."

He Ran smiled and nodded. Just as she was about to speak, a familiar voice came: "Sister Ran, you're here!"

He Ran: The sun is rising from the west, why did she call me sister?

Her body is the same age as Zhou Cangyue, and seems to be a few months younger than Zhou Cangyue.

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Cangyue had already rushed in front of her. He Ran was startled and looked up at him: "You've grown so tall?"

Zhou Cangyue grinned, revealing his white teeth: "That's because you haven't seen me for too long. In fact, I haven't grown any taller in two years."

He Ran nodded. That’s right. The last time they met was in Henan, and Zhou Cangyue was wearing women’s clothes at that time.

"I didn't expect you to grow so tall. The camp bed is too small. I'll have someone make you a bigger one."

Zhou Cangyue was very happy, but also a little aggrieved: "Okay, keep your word. You haven't given me anything for a long time. If I didn't come to Jinling, would you have forgotten me?"

For the first time ever, He Ran heard loneliness in Zhou Cangyue's tone. Could Zhou Cangyue also feel lonely?

"You didn't write to me either, didn't you? When you wrote to me, I thought of you and I remembered to send you something."

Zhou Cangyue felt even more aggrieved: "You are so busy, you don't have time to read my letter."

He Ran smiled and said, "How could that be? No matter how busy I am, I can always find time. Look, you asked me out for a drink, so I came."

Zhou Cangyue smiled and nodded, his eyes sparkling like stars in the morning. "Guess what I brought you?" Zhou Cangyue asked.

He Ran thought about it and shook her head slowly: "What did you bring? Clothes?"

The last time Zhou Cangyue gave her a set of clothes.

Zhou Cangyue felt a little embarrassed. He was no longer the little black girl he used to be. He had experienced a lot and understood a lot of things.

Sister Ran is no longer the little girl who taught him to play the suona in front of the He family’s door in the tavern. His Sister Ran is the head of the He family, and she has more silks and satins than she can wear.

The clothes he sewed are not worthy of Sister Ran.

"It's not the clothes, it's this."

Zhou Cangyue ran to the back hall and quickly ran back with something extra in his hand.

When He Ran saw that thing, her eyes suddenly turned red.

This is a sketchpad. In her previous life, she had been drawing since elementary school, and she would carry it with her to classes and sketching every weekend. She has carried this sketchpad with her since she was little.

Zhou Cangyue opened the painting folder as if he was presenting a treasure: "Take a look, do you like it?"

He Ran smiled and nodded. She liked it, she really liked it. Even the color of this sketchbook was the same as the one she had memorized.

"Isn't it hard to buy cloth of this color?" He Ran asked.

The dyeing technology in ancient times cannot be compared with that of modern times. Uncommon colors like this one are difficult to buy, and may even be impossible to dye.

Zhou Cangyue rubbed his head and laughed: "I met him by chance."

He didn't say that he had put in a lot of effort, going up the mountain to pick herbs for dyeing cloth, and having the people in the dyeing factory try many times before they could dye the cloth to this color.

In that dream, Sister Ran was carrying a sketchpad of this color.

She must like this color.

“I like this gift so much.”

He Ran held the sketchpad tightly in her arms.

Zhou Cangyue smiled with his eyes curved. Sister Ran looked so beautiful when she was happy, just as beautiful as in his dream.

Fourth Sister Su brought the food herself, along with a pot of wine.

Zhou Cangyue: "One pot of wine is not enough, let's have a jar first."

He Ran smiled and said, "With your alcohol tolerance, you'll be knocked out with just one glass."

Zhou Cangyue: "I have practiced it now, and I can drink at least three cups."

He Ran laughed loudly, and suddenly she said, "Hei Mei, I found my brother."

It has been a long time since anyone called him "Hei Mei", but Zhou Cangyue's attention was all on what He Ran said.

He was stunned: "Your brother?"

He Ran looked at him and said word by word: "Like you, I also had a dream. In the dream, I had a brother, parents, grandfather and great-grandfather, but later, my brother died and even his body could not be found."

Zhou Cangyue's heart was pounding. In his dream, Sister Ran's brother also died.

Yes, he found out secretly that Sister Ran’s brother died in a plane crash.

Although he told Sister Ran about his dream in the letter, he did not tell Sister Ran that she was in his dream.

He was embarrassed, it was so shameful. He hid behind the tree every day to peek at Sister Ran. If Sister Ran knew, she would definitely look down on him.

So, he didn't say anything.

But now, Sister Ran took the initiative to talk about it.

Did Sister Ran also have that dream?

Did he and Sister Ran have the same dream?

No, the dreams are different, but the places in the dreams are the same.

Is he in Sister Ran’s dream?

By the way, Sister Ran said she found her brother?

"You mean, your brother is here too?" Zhou Cangyue asked.

He Ran nodded: "Yes, my brother also had the same dream. He knew that he had a sister like me."

He Ran was frank with her fellow villager Zhou Cangyue.

Zhou Cangyue was overjoyed. This was what it meant to meet an old friend in a foreign place.

Sister Ran's brother is an idol worshipped by all the children in the compound. Sister Ran and her brother are the two most outstanding people in the compound, and he also benefits from it. With Sister Ran around, those children dare not bully him.

"Where is our brother? Can I see him?"

He Ran: "Who says you are my brother?"

Zhou Cangyue touched his nose and reminded himself again and again that he must not blush, he must not blush.

He Ran was puzzled. Didn't Zhou Cangyue say that he could drink at least three cups now? Why was his face as red as a monkey's butt when he hadn't even finished one cup?
"My brother is very busy. I'll introduce him to you when I have the chance."

Talking about her brother, He Ran's eyes lit up, as she felt like she had a brother again.

Before coming to Jinling, Zhou Cangyue had a lot to say, but now that he was really here and really face to face with He Ran, he didn't know what to say.

He Ran spoke first: "By the way, why did you suddenly come to Jinling? Did the Later Zhou Dynasty reach out to you?"

Zhou Cangyue was stunned. What is the Later Zhou Dynasty? Is now the time to talk about the Later Zhou Dynasty?

What a bummer! Why mention them?

Seeing that Zhou Cangyue didn't answer, He Ran asked again: "Is that Wang Hao? Has Nong Liuniang not killed him yet?"

Zhou Cangyue: Because of what you said, I will kill Wang Hao when I go back.

"No, no, Wang Hao has been in a difficult situation recently because of Nong Liuniang, so he has no intention of competing with me for territory, so I have been free. I originally just wanted to visit Tongcheng, but then I thought, since I am already in Tongcheng, it would be a pity if I don't come to Jinling to have a drink with you, so I came."

He Ran thought of the six counties of Tongcheng that he had to take away from Duke Dingguo, and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"What's the current situation of those six counties? Have any officials been sent there?" He Ran asked.

"Sister Ran, you should take over these six counties. You have trained so many people, and you can just assign a few of them to manage them. Unlike me, the people I have now can only fight wars, and none of them can be local officials."