Jinghong Tower

Chapter 381 Sister Ran Remembers Me

He Ran asked with a smile: "In that case, I won't be polite. Tongcheng is a place of culture and splendor. If I don't send a talented person there, I'm afraid I won't be able to control those scholars. I will upgrade Tongcheng to a prefecture capital, and put the remaining five counties under the management of Tongcheng. Then I will send Bai Zhiyu to be the prefect of Tongcheng. What do you think?"

Bai Zhiyu, a talented man from Xiangyang, was the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Moreover, he was selected by Zhou Cangyue to go to the capital. After winning the championship, he served as a county magistrate and had experience in both the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War. This time, he followed Feng Xieying to Jinling. Originally, He Ran wanted him to stay in Jinling, but now that Zhou Cangyue mentioned Tongcheng, He Ran felt that it would be most appropriate to let Bai Zhiyu go to Tongcheng.

Zhou Cangyue still remembered Bai Zhiyu. He selected a top scholar, which made him proud for a while.

"Okay, I'll do whatever you say."

Under the candlelight, Zhou Cangyue's lips curled up with a smile.

It’s great that his sister Ran is alive and well.

He had that dream again.

He hasn't had that dream for a long time.

In this dream, Sister Ran died!
As usual, he hid behind the big tree in front of the compound gate every weekend, but he never saw Sister Ran again.

He found many excuses for Sister Ran, such as that Sister Ran's great-grandfather and grandfather had both gone to a retirement home and her family no longer lived there, and that Sister Ran had gone to work during the summer.

It was not until his younger brothers told him the news that he realized that his sister Ran had died at sea.

Like her brother, Sister Ran’s body was never found, and several salvage teams were unable to locate her body.

From then on, he would go behind the big tree every weekend and stare at the gate of the compound as he did before.

Until one day, the road was to be widened and the tree was to be cut down.

He spent a lot of money to buy the big tree.

He planted the tree in his yard.

By the way, he was already eighteen years old at that time, and his biological father was no longer able to do anything to him. Not only did he inherit the inheritance left by his maternal grandfather in broad daylight, he also forced his biological father with a knife to return all the inheritance that he had embezzled from him when he was a child.

He still remembered the ugly look of his stepmother who was hysterical and wanted to sue him, and his biological father who was kneeling on the ground crying. It was ridiculous that they wanted to use morality to hold him hostage.

As long as he has no morals, no one can use morality to kidnap him.

He stripped the couple naked and threw them on the railroad tracks. When they saw the train roaring towards them, they begged for mercy.

At the last moment, he pulled the duo off the tracks.

They crippled their hands and feet, pulled out their tongues, and threw them into busy streets thousands of miles away to beg for a living.

The best revenge on an enemy is not to kill him, but to let him live, a life of humiliation, pain and darkness.

At that time, he had a lot of money, had avenged his great hatred, and was very proud of himself.

However, his sister Ran would never come back.

His heart seemed to be missing a piece that could not be filled no matter what he did.

He mustered up the courage to meet Sister Ran's great-grandfather, the old leader who had made great military achievements.

The old commander, who was already 90 years old, smiled and patted his shoulder: "Boy, you have a good physique and are a good material for being a soldier. Which unit are you from?"

He blushed and told the old leader embarrassedly that he was just an ordinary person who had not even graduated from high school. He had never been a soldier, but when he was a child, he often went to the military compound to pick up waste.

The old commander thought for a moment, pointed to a tree several stories high, and said, "Boy, climb up this tree and jump into the middle window on the fifth floor. If you can do it, I will let you join the army."

He asked foolishly, "If I jump in, will the people in that room call the police?"

The old leader showed a childlike smile: "Hey, then it depends on your ability."

Finally, he jumped into the house and was chased and beaten all the way by the aunt in the house.

That year, he was 22 years old and was taken to a deep mountain in a military vehicle. Half a year later, he became a special forces soldier.

Later, he joined the peacekeeping force and shed his blood in a foreign country.

After waking up from the dream, he couldn't wait to see He Ran. Although all the information said that He Ran was still alive and well, he was still afraid. He was worried that it would be like in his dream, where Sister Ran was buried in the sea and even her body could not be found.

He Ran had long noticed something strange about Zhou Cangyue. She still remembered the old Zhou Cangyue, the kind of child who was bitter and resentful one moment, but could laugh heartlessly the next.

It was clearly running out from the lightning and thunder, but the sun was shining brightly without a trace of haze.

But today, although Zhou Cangyue was smiling, that smile did not reach his eyes, and there was even sadness.

"Heimei, what's wrong with you? Tell the truth, don't be perfunctory!" He Ran ordered.

Zhou Cangyue was stunned. He was so stupid that Sister Ran still saw through him.

"No, what can happen to me? I'm fine."

He Ran thought for a moment and asked, "Are you dreaming again? Did you dream about something bad?"

Having said that, He Ran was thinking in her heart, if it was really related to the dream, Zhou Cangyue could have written a letter. In the past, when they were so far apart, he would have had to write several pages of long-winded words.

Zhou Cangyue's gaze subconsciously avoided He Ran's, not daring to look into her eyes. He picked up the wine jug on the table and pretended to look at the flowers and birds painted on it.

Of course, He Ran couldn't be fooled by this little trick.

She was right. The child had dreamed about something bad.

"What did you dream about? Tell me quickly. If you don't tell the truth, I'll leave!"

The test papers that Feng Xieying sent to her had to be handed back tomorrow morning.

He Ran will not indulge anyone except Xiao Ba.

Just leave.

He Ran stood up and pretended to leave.

Zhou Cangyue got anxious all of a sudden. He didn't have time to put down the wine pot and grabbed the corner of He Ran's clothes: "Don't go. I'll tell you. Isn't it okay for me to tell you?"

He was of large stature but with a small facial expression. He wore no crown, and his hair on his head looked as if it had been cut by a sword. It was short and stood up stubbornly, adding a bit of dullness to his appearance.

A small figure suddenly flashed through He Ran's mind. It also had a few stupid hairs on its head and looked silly.

The figure flashed by and I didn't have time to see his face clearly.

He Ran asked, "What's up with the hair on top of your head?"

Zhou Cangyue hurriedly tried to press down those strands of hair with his hands, but unfortunately he failed and they were still standing upright.

"It's okay. I accidentally cut it with a knife."

He Ran said seriously: "You said it was an accident, but your helmet was knocked off, otherwise how could your hair be cut?"

Zhou Cangyue laughed dryly: "It was a coincidence, really, I got into trouble by accident, but the guy who knocked my helmet off was chopped by me with a knife. I am still pretty good, really." He Ran looked at him and asked: "I was in your dream, right?"

Zhou Cangyue lowered his head. The small restaurant was silent. After a while, Zhou Cangyue raised his head and said, "Sister Ran, in the dream, you said you would protect me."

He Ran was stunned.

She said she would protect him?
This really sounds like something she would say. No, it sounds like something she would say when she was a child.

"What was I like in your dream?"

As soon as she finished speaking, He Ran's eyes fell on the painting folder, and she blurted out: "In your dream, I was carrying a painting folder like this, right?"

Zhou Cangyue shrank back, as if he was going to hide behind the big tree, and said in a voice as thin as a mosquito: "Hmm."

He Ran looked at him intently. She was carrying a sketchpad on her back, which meant that she and Zhou Cangyue were not only fellow villagers, but also fellow villagers who had once lived in the same time and place.

He Ran suddenly asked, "Does your family live in the compound as well?"

Zhou Cangyue lowered his head even lower: "No."

He Ran frowned: "Are you and I classmates in the same school?"

This time, Zhou Cangyue didn't even make a sound, he just shook his head.

He didn't even finish high school, and if it weren't for the relationship with the old leader, he wouldn't even be qualified to join the army. But Sister Ran, who has been an excellent student since childhood, is still a college student.

How could he be worthy of being Sister Ran's classmate?

Seeing that Zhou Cangyue didn't say anything, He Ran frowned even more tightly and kicked him.

"Zhou Cangyue, have you been possessed by another spirit? You look so timid and cowardly, which really brings shame to the Tiger Army!"

Zhou Cangyue was kicked and fell backwards with the chair. At the last moment, he jumped up, the chair fell to the ground, and he stood steadily in front of He Ran.

"I went to the compound to look through the trash cans and was bullied by those kids. You rushed over to protect me. You asked me to call you Sister Ran, and you said you would protect me."

He Ran was dumbfounded, she remembered!

"Are you the grandson of the old man who collects scraps?"

Alas, she should have remembered long ago that the grandfather Zhou Cangyue mentioned in the letter was so similar to the old scavenger she knew when she was a child. They both made a living by collecting waste, and they both adopted a child!
Zhou Cangyue nodded, feeling aggrieved, but also a little secretly happy. Sister Ran remembered him, really, Sister Ran remembered him!
He Ran looked at Zhou Cangyue without blinking, and suddenly laughed: "Little guy, I didn't expect that we would meet here."

Zhou Cangyue straightened his chest and said, "I am taller than you now."

"Yes, you have grown up and are not a little kid anymore." He Ran smiled again.

In that life, she only knew that the scavenger's child was adopted by his biological parents, but she never expected that those so-called parents were actually a pair of beasts.

"By the way, since I am in your dream, have you ever dreamed that I was dead?" He Ran asked.

Zhou Cangyue nodded heavily: "Sister Ran, don't go to the beach, don't go to the river, don't go anywhere with water, okay?"

He Ran, you reminded me too late.

"Heimei, have you forgotten that you are my savior?" He Ran joked with a smile.

Zhou Cangyue opened his mouth suddenly. Yes, how could he forget that the first time he saw He Ran in this life was in the Yellow River.

His sister Ran almost died in the Yellow River!
So, Sister Ran really can’t touch water!
Fortunately, he is a good swimmer, otherwise Sister Ran would really not be saved.

He Ran said seriously: "I will be careful and avoid going to places with water if possible."

Of course she has to be careful. What if she is reborn again? Wouldn't all the empire she has fought so hard to conquer be lost? Would she have to start all over again?

"Don't be afraid, I'm good at swimming, Sister Ran, I'll protect you!"

Before he finished speaking, Zhou Cangyue's face turned red.

He is so shameless that he actually wants to protect Sister Ran.

He Ran didn't care and laughed out loud.

The laughter suddenly stopped, and He Ran asked, "Are my family members okay?"

Zhou Cangyue felt a little guilty, as he had only met the old leader of Sister Ran's family.

"The old leader was 100 years old when he died. It is said that he went to watch a military song competition during the day. The next morning, when the nurse woke him up, he found that he was already dead."

He Ran was stunned for a moment. Yes, it has been so many years, she has lived two lives, and her great-grandfather is that old, of course he must have passed away.

"Where are the others, my grandpa, and my parents?" He Ran asked impatiently.

Zhou Cangyue shook his head: "I'm sorry, I don't know."

He died in the second year after the old leader passed away. He had thought about visiting Sister Ran's family after returning to China, but unfortunately, he was unable to go back, and his body was not found, and even his ashes could not return to his homeland.

He Ran suddenly realized that she had overlooked something. She thought of herself and her brother, and asked, "You didn't die of old age, did you?"

Zhou Cangyue felt wronged again, and Sister Ran just remembered him.

"I joined the army, a special forces soldier, thanks to the relationship with my old leader. Later, I joined the peacekeeping force and died."

He Ran felt a sense of sadness at heart. Her brother was a military ace who wanted to serve his country, but he died on the way to Beijing for training. And she grew up in a military compound and aspired to be a soldier since she was a child, but she died on a beach.

The little boy who was bullied back then later became a problem teenager and a street urchin, but eventually died in a hail of bullets.

He Ran raised her arm and touched the ahoge on Zhou Cangyue's head: "Hei Mei, good job, Sister Ran will never kick you again in the future."

Zhou Cangyue: "It's okay, you can kick me if you want. I've practiced it before, and my lower body is very stable."

He Ran asked, "How many days will you stay in Jinling?"

Zhou Cangyue held up three fingers: "Three days."

Originally he was planning to leave tomorrow. Although there is no war to fight at the moment, he is not idle either. The road is paved with thorns and he cannot relax.

He Ran smiled: "Okay, then I'll treat you tomorrow. You should come to Renyi Mansion tomorrow. I live there now. I'll treat you to a working meal with extra dishes!"

The good thing about fellow villagers meeting each other is that they can say whatever they want to say without Chinese translation. For example, others may not understand the word "working meal", but Zhou Cangyue will definitely understand.

He Ran thought of one more thing: "Oh, there is one more thing. I will find time to tell you tomorrow. I don't have time today. I have to go back to correct homework."

Zhou Cangyue nodded repeatedly. Oh my God, Sister Ran invited him to dinner, and even ate at Sister Ran’s office. Sister Ran really didn’t treat him as an outsider.

If he had known that telling the truth would have such an effect, he would have said it earlier.

Of course, he would not tell Sister Ran that he was secretly hiding behind a tree and peeking at her.

I don't know what happened to the tree.

Before he went on his mission, he left a suicide note, donating all his property to the country, and the tree also belonged to the country.