On the way back, Xiao Ancheng made a special stop in Zhuzhou.
He will come here once a week from now on, and it is impossible to drive again. The best way is to take a long-distance bus from Changsha to Zhuzhou, and then take a train to Hengyang.
In 1938, when the Japanese army attacked Changsha for the first time, the railway from the north of Zhuzhou to Changsha was demolished.
The roadbed is still there, but there are no railroad tracks.
As soon as Xiao Ancheng arrived at the train station, he could see that the military trains going south from Zhuzhou were almost one after another and very busy. Another point he saw was that he would only be able to stay in Zhuzhou for one night when returning from Hengyang in the future.
He took a long-distance bus back to Changsha that morning. So, he looked at a small hotel where he would stay.
Sitting in the truck on the way back, he smiled and asked: "I will come every week from now on, will you come?"
Jiang Yufeng curled her lips and glanced at him, saying slyly: "Even if I come with you, I won't find anything, so I won't come!"
Xiao Ancheng couldn't help laughing and said repeatedly: "Smart, you are so smart!"
No one would have thought that Xiao Ancheng encountered fatal trouble in Zhuzhou and almost died!
6-18
The next day, in the evening again, the fishing boat Qianqian helped the children take quietly arrived at Apengjiang Town.
Mazi still adhered to his old rule of being extremely cautious and just asked the boat owner to dock the boat on an uninhabited shore outside the town, and then asked the children to swim ashore.
He paid the boat fee as agreed, and then said with a smile: "Uncle, we all ran away from home to work. If anyone asks about us, please don't say more, okay?" As he said that, he took out two more sheets.
The banknotes were handed to the ship owner.
The ship owner smiled and looked at little Anxiang and said, "Brother, I know."
He waved to little Anxiang, then hummed: "Imana oh hey..." and drove off in the boat.
Mazi watched the fishing boat go away before returning to the woods.
Xiaoyan asked in a low voice: "What's the next step?"
Mazi looked at her, then looked back at the children, and said: "We will spend the night here tonight. We will go up the mountain before dawn tomorrow! We have to climb over the mountain behind, and there may still be many mountain roads to go. We have been
Go east and at the end, you will encounter a river called Xishui."
The official asked: "If we walk eastward like this, won't we miss it?"
Mazi said: "I specifically asked people who knew about it, and they said that the West River flows from north to south. If we keep walking eastward, we will definitely encounter the West Water River. We rented a boat there and continued walking eastward, and finally...
Arrive at Yiyang."
The official asked again: "What's next?"
Mazi couldn't help laughing, "You asked more than I thought! We'll talk about it when we get to Yiyang!"
When the children unpacked their luggage in the woods, the first thing they saw was the money bag! No one could guess what they were thinking when they looked at the money bag!
Erju hugged the money bag and said, "I have to hold it to sleep so that I can sleep!"
That night, all the children fell asleep with money bags in their arms! It seemed that only in this way could they sleep!
6-19
The next morning, the children all got up.
Mazi and Daguanren went to the town to buy dry food for the road. Daguanren also bought one thing, a backpack.
As soon as he returned to the woods, he said: "Little Anxiang, do you know how bad this is?"
Little Anxiang said: "It's a basket, I know it."
The official laughed and said, "I'm going to climb a mountain. Just sit in this basket and I'll carry you. That's great!"
Xiao Anxiang asked: "Why?"
The official said loudly: "Are you a meritorious official? You have made the greatest contribution, so I will carry you on my back! Come, sit down and start walking!"
From this day on, the children began to climb mountains.
Mazi only looked for three o'clock. In the morning, the sun rose from the east. At noon, the sun should be on his right side. In the evening, the sun should be behind them! If they knew these three o'clock, they would not go wrong.
!
There are almost no roads on the mountain. The occasional small path taken by hunters also has many twists and turns.
Mazi didn't want to take a detour, so he had to take the children to climb the mountain. When they encountered a stream, they washed their faces, took a breath, ate dry food in the stream, and then continued climbing.
At night, they slept in the forest, huddled together to keep warm.
Two days later, a river flowing from north to south stopped them. Mazi asked someone to inquire and found out that it was indeed the West River.
Mazi repeated his old trick, rented another fishing boat, and sailed down the river.
6-20
Three full days later, the fishing boat sailed along the West River, then passed through the Yuan River, and finally entered an unknown large lake.
The lake is vast and clear, with egrets flying over from time to time. The green mountains in the distance blend into the sky.
The children often do this these days, looking at the scenery outside the hatch with their mouths wide open and amazed.
Mazi was cautious and asked casually: "Boss, what's the next move?"
The boat owner said: "This is Kongjia Lake. We have to bypass Yuanjiang County in front of us, turn into Zishui from Ganjia River, and then we will reach Yiyang!"
Mazi turned around and glanced at Xiaoyan. They both nodded, they were almost there!
6-21
The next morning, the fishing boat was approaching Yiyang.
Mazi still has the old rule and never dares to let fishing boats dock at Yiyang Pier. With so many children getting off the fishing boats, it is so eye-catching, maybe someone will remember it!
He stopped the fishing boat on the deserted river bank, and the children picked up their luggage, rolled ashore, and got into a forest.
Xiaoyan asked Erju to wait in the forest with the children. If he felt sleepy, he could take a nap, but not to meet anyone else.
She, Mazi, and the officials walked into the city and kept asking passers-by for the way to Yiyang Pier.
Yiyang is a small city, no different from a village or town, except that there are more people.
The wharf in Yiyang is not big either. There are many children playing on the wharf. Porters step onto the high springboard and are loading goods onto the ship. The small restaurants on the street waft out the tempting fragrance.
They haven't had hot food for several days, and they can't help but look into those small restaurants.
When they arrived at the pier, they saw Kai Ke Eiko sitting on the steps, looking around and waiting for them.
As if they were reunited after a long separation, Beike Yingzi hugged the official and kissed him for a long time, then turned back and stared at Xiaoyan and said, "Say, what are you going to do next? We have to go somewhere!"
6-22
A few minutes later, Xiaoyan and others were standing in the waiting room of the pier, looking up.
There is a very simple map on the wall, with only a few big cities marked. But this is Yiyang, so the place names of Yiyang are also marked.
After watching it for a few minutes, they understood that the nearest big city to Yiyang was Changsha! For those who were fleeing, Changsha was the horizon! That should be their safest place!
Xiaoyan asked: "Why don't you go somewhere else?"
Mazi said: "If we go further east, I'm afraid there will be Japanese."
Beike Yingzi asked: "Boss Zhao's people won't catch up from behind, right?"
The official said: "We are so cautious! Mazi changed ships several times! It shouldn't be possible!"
But Mazi glared at them sideways and whispered: "Sue you, Boss Zhao's people will catch up sooner or later! We can only hide now! The deeper we hide, the better!"
Keikeyingzi asked: "How can we hide? We have already traveled so far!"
Mazi whispered: "Find a way to hide! Let's go to Changsha to have a look. We'd better find a hiding place!"
6-23
That night, Beike Eiko returned to the small hotel first and told Rose to take good care of her grandma and younger brother, and not to go anywhere!
She said: "We will come back to pick you up after we have made arrangements! We will hide in Changsha City!"
Rose's eyes were wide open and she didn't know what to say!
Grandma, on the other hand, was calm and said, "Okay, ya'er, come back after you feel more at ease. I'm not in a hurry."
6-24
Xiaoyan and others returned to the place where they disembarked and met the children in the woods.
Mazi walked around and confirmed that there was no one coming or going in this area.
Xiaoyan warned everyone, "Don't go anywhere! Just wait here! Erju looks around and don't be seen by outsiders! Eat solid food when you are hungry. We are going to Changsha to find a hiding place! When we find it, we will come back.
I’ll pick you up! I know!”
The children were all understanding and smiled and nodded to her together.
6-25
The next day, at dawn, Xiaoyan, Mazi and Daguanren went to Yiyang again, met with Beike Yingzi, and then took a small passenger ship to Changsha.
In the afternoon, they arrived in Changsha.
Xiaoyan and others got off the boat at the Xihuqiao Pier on the Xiangjiang River in Changsha.
They stood on the bank of the Xiangjiang River and looked across both banks, and saw that they could only hide in the east of the city.
The west side of the city is very neat, with row upon row of large and small buildings, green mountains and dense trees, and the scenery is much better.
But the area to the east of the city is different. The houses are dilapidated, the streets are crowded, and there are traces of fires everywhere. Some of the street shapes can still be seen in several main streets. As for the small streets and alleys, they are like ant nests.
There are crowded and busy residents everywhere, and even the house numbers are not complete!
They believe that no one will be able to find them if they live in such a complex and dilapidated slum in the east of the city!
6-26
Mazi took the lead, leading Xiaoyan and others, and walked eastward along West Lake Road aimlessly. In fact, no one knew where to go, so they could only wander around in this area, looking for a place to hide.
They wandered around the messy east side of the city for two days and found a lot of gains!
First, they turned from Xihu Road into Nanzheng Road (today's Huangxing South Road), strolled forward, and casually turned into an alley called Sujia Lane.
It was here that they accidentally discovered a small restaurant that was for sale.
The restaurant is not big, with about a dozen tables. Although the house is dilapidated, the kitchen facilities are fairly complete.
Therefore, Mazi came forward to negotiate with the restaurant owner about the purchase and sale of the store.
The restaurant owner was a fat man in his forties. He kept wiping his hands with his apron and looked at Mazi and others with a somewhat surprised look.