Globe Trekker

Chapter 13
The rain and snow have stopped, the sky is bright, and the white-capped Taijin Mountain is shrouded in misty morning mist.

The fire in the small wooden house had already been extinguished. Wu Ming, who had practiced boxing and drank wine in the middle of the night, woke up, only to feel that his mind was still full of bits and pieces from yesterday. Eyes filled with crystal tears and a delicate and trembling body.

After a long time, Wu Ming heaved a sigh of relief, propped himself up and put on his clothes and got out of bed. He came to the long-extinguished fireplace and lit a piece of pitch pine, and slowly set up dry firewood to start the fire. .

Wu Ming sat cross-legged in front of the fireplace, gazing at the flames and sorting out the complicated emotions in his mind. His heart was full of contradictions and confusion. He still couldn't figure out why he chased after him in the rain yesterday, why he sent people down the mountain after delivering the umbrellas?Is it just pity?Or a subconscious impulse?
One problem after another that was difficult to understand was entangled like a mess, and it seemed that he would never be able to figure it out. What was even more difficult for Wu Ming to accept and unable to change was that, ethically speaking, that Wang Yuehan was still his sister-in-law in this body!

That's right, Wang Yuehan is the wife of Chen Jiyao's second son, Chen Zhongkang. This matter, which had nothing to do with Wu Ming, has hurt him faintly. Wu Ming has inherited his current skin, and he also has no choice but to face the past. The shame of the deceased "mother", the crimes committed by Chen Jiyao when he was young are indeed unforgivable, and the housekeeper who killed his "mother" by driving a car. These people are all living well now, probably very well.

The spout of the copper pot on the edge of the fire blew hot steam, Wu Ming woke up from his stupor, grabbed a bowl sideways and filled it with water, slowly put it to his mouth and drank it in one gulp, keeping the memory in his mind for a long time. The desire grows stronger: "Get out of this sad place!"

Wu Ming put down the bowl, walked to the head of the bed and removed the big wooden pier, lifted the wooden board and took out the armed belt wrapped in blue cloth and the Mauser pistol, took out a ten-round clip from the leather magazine, pulled out the pistol and opened the trigger , skillfully pressed the bullet in and closed the trigger.

"Du Du! Brother Wu, I am Zheng Gang." Tian Zheng Gang's sonorous voice came from Wuwai.

Wu Ming casually inserted the Mauser pistol into his back, tightened his cotton robe and went to open the door. Tian Zhenggang's happy face appeared in front of him.

"It's sunny?" Wu Ming turned his eyes away from the outside, and welcomed the sweaty Tian Zhenggang into the room.

"It fell for a while in the middle of the night last night, and the sun came out this morning. It's just that the mountain road is slippery and difficult to walk. I'm afraid we will have to wait two days before we can enter the mountain." Tian Zhengang walked quickly to the fireplace, picked up Wu Ming and threw it on the The big guy on the floor poured himself a bowl of hot water and gulped it down. He could no longer see the restraint and politeness he had before.

Wu Ming sat between the low table and the fireplace, picked up the firewood and threw it into the stove: "It doesn't matter if you wait for two days, the successor priest of Qizhen Temple didn't come to take over. Just now, are you done with the farm work in the village?"

"Early after the Spring Festival, every family has already gone to the ground, and the more diligent ones have finished the work earlier. The seedlings in my field are almost a foot high." Tian Zhenggang put down his bowl and asked, "Brother Ang, can you bring out that Hanyang made plant?" Have I had a good time?"

"Get it yourself." Wu Ming replied lazily.

Tian Zhengang jumped up excitedly, stepped over to the wooden pier at the head of the bed in a few steps, grabbed the rifle and the canvas ammunition belt from the slot with the cover opened, went back to the fireplace and fiddled cheerfully, practiced aiming after pulling the bolt, and loaded the gun. The bullet was loaded and unloaded. After a while, this Hanyang made him play smoothly. If Wu Ming hadn't warned him that he was worried that the sound of the gun would be heard by the mountain, Tian Zhenggang would have already gone out to shoot a few shots to enjoy himself. .

After herding the sheep, the two began to cook, and after lunch they gathered in front of the fireplace again to play with guns. Their mutual affection quickly warmed up. Tian Zhenggang's address to Wu Ming had changed, and the word "Wu" in "Big Brother Ang" was unconsciously omitted. Become "big brother".

Wu Ming also learned a lot of information from Tian Zhenggang, and gained a deeper understanding of the surrounding environment, customs, and the conditions of the surrounding villages and towns.

To Wu Ming's surprise, Tian Zhenggang, who was more than six years younger than himself, was also a good hunter. When Tian Zhenggang talked about his elder brother's hunting ability, he was full of admiration, and he was unambiguous when it came to his own ability. There is no one who can overcome him.

During the conversation, I learned that Tian Zhenggang went to a private school in the village when he was five years old, practiced martial arts with his uncle since he was seven years old, and went hunting with his elder brother in the mountains when he was 13 years old. The main house was newly built in the autumn of the previous year, which he and his eldest brother earned from selling furs and wild goods over the past few years. There are almost none of the skills he knows about setting up tricks, chaining pits, digging traps, setting wood, installing iron clips, etc. Every time he talked about being proud, Wu Ming was secretly moved by the confident expression on his face.

Tian Zhenggang stayed behind. Before he went up the mountain, he told his family that he would go to Qizhen Temple to help him for a few days.With Tian Zhenggang's company, Wu Ming's life is no longer so lonely.

Wu Ming seized the time to go to Qizhen Temple, and together with the industrious and strong Tian Zhenggang, he cleaned the Taoist temple for the coming master Chengzhi, prepared enough firewood, cleaned the stove and kitchen, and took care of the two children left by Xiao Chengyuan. A dozen sheep.

At noon the next day, Taoist priest Chengzhi finally led two young apprentices and two handymen to Qizhen Temple.

The 31-year-old Daoist Cheng Zhi is short in stature, with two beautiful mustaches. He has a solemn face and doesn't talk much, and his conversation is elegant and polite. It was clean and tidy, and the words of thanks kept coming, and Wu Ming was told to come and get together with him at any time if he had time.

Wu Ming politely agreed, and after leaving, he returned to his hut, letting go of all the worries in his heart, not to mention that Chengzhi is the big apprentice of Taoist Master Bingzhen, and he is brothers with Chengzong and Chengyuan. From the point of view of people's entrustment and loyalty, there must be a beginning and an end.

On the third day, the weather was still sunny. Wu Ming and Tian Zhenggang, who had prepared everything, quietly entered the mountain.

For Wu Ming, going to the mountains to fight wolves is to get in touch with marksmanship, test the experience of practicing spears alone during this period of time, accumulate experience and increase the ability to save life in the future, and it is also a kind of release and release of tension. He needs to pass high-intensity To temporarily forget the complicated emotions in my mind.

. . . . . .

In the West Garden of the Chen Family Courtyard in Huanggu Town, Wang Yuehan, who had been ill for several days, was relieved a lot. She ordered the servant girl Xiaozhen to open the window that had been closed for many days, her eyes glanced at the deserted garden, and finally she gazed at the Taijin Mountain in the distance for a long time. Without moving, a pair of big eyes appear bigger because of the thin face.

The second young master of the Chen family, Chen Zhongkang, rushed to Nanchang after the Spring Festival to take up his post. He did not bring his sick wife with him. The Chen family also knew that after the several riots in Yiyang last year, the situation from Shangrao to Yingtan was very unstable. The gunshots in the county and the town continued to be rampant, and the daughter-in-law Wang Yuehan was frightened and ill a few years ago, and she was ill. A few days ago, she went to Qizhen Temple to pay her vows and was hit by a sudden wind and rain. Wang Yuehan and the maid Xiaozhen who rushed to Nanchang had no choice but to stay.

The old man of the Chen family, Chen Jiyao, is quite satisfied with his daughter-in-law who has a graceful temperament. The daughter-in-law comes from a famous family, is well-educated, respects the old, loves the young and treats the family well. Personally, I have seen the smile of my daughter-in-law, and she always seems to be preoccupied.

The eldest wife and the second wife of the Chen family were very dissatisfied with their daughter-in-law. They believed that although the daughter-in-law was born in the Wang family and was a cultural person who had received a new type of education, she was still so inferior compared to her son who had come back from abroad and was promoted step by step. For a long time, there is no reason to be serious about her identity, and this daughter-in-law is frowning all day long, not happy at all, she doesn't look like a Vanves person in any way, the two wives even reached a consensus in private, waiting for a year and a half , and marry two concubines to the only remaining baby son of the Chen family, so as not to disturb Wang Yuehan's sick body and sad face.

Only the third wife, who is over 30 years old, has no objection to the young and beautiful daughter-in-law. The third wife comes from a rich merchant family, and her family background is not high, but she can read and write since she was a child. The sick daughter-in-law went to ask for peace every morning to feel comfortable.

Since Wang Yuehan entered the Chen family, the third wife visited Xiyuan every two days, chatted with her daughter-in-law, discussed ancient poems, discussed the booming New Culture Movement, and listened to Chen Jiyao from time to time. While talking about his daughter-in-law, who is intelligent and gentle on the outside and strong on the inside, she is a rare talented woman.

Generally speaking, Wang Yuehan's life in the Chen family was not very easy. Although Wang Yuehan, who lost her mother since childhood, was weak on the outside and strong on the inside, but no one knew the loneliness and pain in her heart. She married Chen Chen under the control of the two families. Zhongkang's marriage was a sensation. The outside world generally believed that the two were a match made in heaven. There were many admirers and jealousy, but how many people could understand the joys and sorrows.

For his father-in-law Chen Jiyao, Wang Yuehan respected him very much, and for Chen Boan, the eldest son of Chen who devoted himself to the national revolution and died in the battle of Wuchang, Wang Yuehan respected him very much. Only his uncle Wang Daohan's arranged marriage and her husband Chen Zhongkang, who was full of new words and flashy, did not respect him. I have a little favor, but it's too late to regret.

This tormenting sense of powerlessness made Wang Yuehan's pain grow day by day, but he had nowhere to vent it until he accidentally saw Wu Ming.

Seeing Wu Ming for the first time, Wang Yuehan was shocked. Not only did Wu Ming look exactly like the same person as the admirable photo of the Whampoa hero Chen Boan hanging on the wall of the Chen family lobby, but he also looked seventy percent like his father-in-law Chen Jiyao. It was purely a coincidence, Wang Yuehan never believed it.

What's more, from the first time I saw Wu Ming, Wu Ming's handsome and indifferent temperament, as well as his profound and slightly sad eyes, instantly touched Wang Yuehan's heart. The throbbing feeling in her heart became more and more intense, especially after Wang Yuehan was rescued by Wu Ming at a critical moment, this feeling became more and more intense. When Wu Ming gave her an umbrella in the heavy rain, her emotions and emotions could no longer be suppressed.

She often thought, what is Wu Ming doing now?This feeling grew day by day, causing her torment.

(End of this chapter)