20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 664 Return to Ning'an
The Jiang family's cavalry marched slowly along the dusty dirt road.

Hai Xinnian followed the crowd silently, shaking the luggage on his shoulders from time to time and looking back occasionally, not because he was homesick, but because he was afraid that he might have dropped something accidentally.

Even though they were all junk, they were all he had, and just carrying them on his back made him feel at ease.

From the time they left Shenjia Shop until now, the horse team has been always quiet, just focusing on hurrying on their way.

Everyone could see that Jiang Lianheng was a little unhappy, and everyone knew the reason.

Since the host didn't say anything, the others naturally didn't dare to make a joke, and the already boring trip became even more dull.

Hai Xinnian had a clear understanding of the current situation. He knew that Jiang Lianheng adopted him as his son more to make amends to the Hai family rather than considering him as some kind of resource.

Whenever he thought of this, he couldn't help but squint at Zhao Guoyan.

Having left home at a young age and having no relatives to turn to, Hai Xinnian was not to the point of being nervous, but he was also confused and at a loss, and he had no idea about his future.

He only knew that his father said Boss Jiang was a capable man, so he decided to follow him and at the same time follow his father's teachings - talk less and do more.

Apart from this, as a country boy who had never seen the world, I had no other fantasies in my mind.

When the cavalry reached the afternoon, Jiang Lianheng suddenly raised his arm, turned around and said, "We are not far away, let's take a break!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, dismounted, and came to the side of the road to drink water, rest, and chat with each other.

Autumn comes early in the mountains. The leaves have all turned dark green and rustle in the wind.

No one paid any attention to Hai Xinnian, so he walked to the roadside with his horse, took out a kettle from his luggage, and was about to drink when he saw Yang Lazi and others winking at him.

"You are such a fool, don't you see that your godfather hasn't had any water yet?"

Hai Xinnian was stunned for a moment, then he quickly came to Jiang Lianheng and respectfully handed him the kettle: "Godfather, drink some water!"

Jiang Lianheng took the kettle, gulped down two mouthfuls, returned it, lit another cigarette, and seeing that the boy hadn't left, he asked, "Anything else?"

"No, do you have anything else to do?" Hai Xinnian asked blankly.

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" Hai Xinnian was puzzled and turned around and said, "Godfather, if you have anything, call me. If not, I will go back first!"

This kid is really bad at dealing with people. He is an honest man. He stood up and was about to go back.

"Wait!" Jiang Lianheng called him and pointed to the side, "Sit here!"

Hai Xinnian sat down as requested, and just sat there, like a wooden stake, without saying a word.

Jiang Lianheng couldn't help laughing, patted his shoulder and said, "New Year, don't be so nervous, you will go to Fengtian with me in the future, don't you have anything to ask?"

I thought Hai Xinnian would ask about food, clothing, housing, transportation, and livelihood, but he thought for a long time and asked, "Godfather, if I go to Fengtian with you this time, can I go home in the future?"

"Why, you're already homesick after just leaving?"

"No, if it weren't for my sister, I would have left that broken house a long time ago."

"Oh? What do you mean?" Jiang Lianheng asked.

Hai Xinnian suddenly got a little excited: "My father doesn't care about me, he thinks I'm an eyesore. My brother is the same, he thinks I eat too much and do not work enough. It's good to leave, so I don't have to listen to their nagging about poverty!"

Everyone responded, "Boy, if your father didn't care about you, he wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to get you to become our boss' godfather!"

Hai Xinnian curled his lips and muttered softly: "That's because you haven't heard what he said before!"

Everyone was curious and asked him what Haichaoshan had said before.

Hai Xinnian lowered his head, looking resentful and not wanting to explain.

Jiang Lianheng frowned, raised his hand to flick away the cigarette butt, and urged in a low voice: "New Year, if you have something to say, just say it. Don't keep half of it hidden and half of it exposed, and keep people waiting."

After hearing what his godfather said, Hai Xinnian had no choice but to confess the truth and briefly outlined the reasons.

It turned out that this boy lost his mother at a young age.

On the snowy night of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Hai's daughter-in-law gave birth to a son while traveling. Hai Xinnian was not well behaved in his mother's belly, and one arm came out first. By the time he fell to the ground and cried, his mother was already dead.

Fortunately, the eldest brother who was accompanying him ran around and asked the neighbors for help, otherwise even Hai Xinnian’s life might have been in danger.

Hai Xinnian was originally unaware of this experience, but the villagers were gossipy and the old man said that "men are afraid of the first day of the month", so they gradually started rumors that this boy had a strong destiny and had killed his mother when he was just born. He might harm many people in the future, so he had to be careful and stay away from him.

As time went by, this kid became the scourge of the village, and everyone tried to avoid him. The Hai family could no longer stay there, so they had to leave their hometown.

People are gone, but rumors remain.

No matter where the Hai family went, they were not welcomed. They planned to rent land to make a living, but it was impossible. They could only earn some food by hunting in the mountains.

During this period, Hai Xinnian was raised by Xiao Qing.

Logically, the two are almost the same age, but poor people have to take on responsibilities early. If you happen to see a little girl leading a child in the fields, you can bet they are brother and sister.

Later, they arrived at Shenjiadian. The eldest son, who had been educated abroad, said that this was feudal superstition. Finally, he overruled everyone and decided to stay in Haichaoshan. Finally, the family had a place to live.

After hearing this, everyone nodded and said, "No wonder your father is so stubborn, it must be because of this!" He added, "But this doesn't mean he doesn't care about you, don't let your imagination run wild!"

"That's because he's old now and can't drink anymore!" Hai Xinnian said angrily, "He used to have a bad temper. He would scold me after drinking a little, saying that if it weren't for me, my mother wouldn't have died. He wouldn't stop until my sister came out and said something to him!"

"It's all just words said in anger. Did you also say he was drunk?"

"When drunk, the truth comes out. I think that's what he really thinks. This time, he doesn't have to think I'm an eyesore anymore."

"Come on, don't you see that the words your father wrote for you are so valuable that someone who doesn't know would think they are a family heirloom!"

"He did that to show off to himself, and I don't know him?"

"Sure, sure, you little brat, you don't know anything. We are too lazy to argue with you." Everyone smiled and waved their hands. "But, anyway, it's New Year's Day, why are you running around outside so late at night? If you stay at home, maybe you won't have any trouble."

Hai Xinnian took the kettle and poked the ground twice, muttering softly: "I heard from my eldest brother that my father went out to help someone settle a dispute that day and didn't come back until midnight. My mother was worried and took my eldest brother to find him, but he had the nerve to blame me..."

"What are you mumbling about?" No one could hear clearly.

"Nothing!" Hai Xinnian shook his head and changed the subject, "Where are you having dinner tonight?"

Jiang Lianheng was sitting next to him and heard it clearly, but ignored it. Instead, he held the boy's shoulders, stood up and ordered: "Guo Yan, lead the horse, my godson is hungry, go back to the county town early!"

Everyone stood up, patted their buttocks, shook off two taels of black soil, then mounted their horses and continued to march slowly towards the direction of the sunset...

At dusk, everyone arrived at Ning'an County as scheduled.

After staying in the countryside for a long time, when I first returned to the city, the streets that seemed a little deserted now seemed particularly lively.

They found a hotel to store their luggage, and then went to a nearby restaurant and had a big meal.

Putting aside other people's comments, Hai Xinnian must have had a delicious meal. Just based on tonight's meal, he no longer had any doubts about his godfather's ability.

Before I knew it, the night outside the window was getting darker.

The brothers had been busy for a month, enjoying the food and drinks, and they deserved to enjoy themselves for a while. However, Jiang Lianheng had no interest in continuing to accompany them. It happened that Liu Kuaitui and his men could not stay any longer, and had to report to the general's office as soon as possible and lead the horses back to the camp. Jiang Lianheng simply followed a few soldiers and left first.

Hai Xin was very nervous, as if he was afraid of being sold out. He immediately stuffed a few mouthfuls of food into his mouth, stood up, and said incoherently: "Godfather, where are you going? I'll go with you!"

"Sit down and eat your meal. How can I run away?" Jiang Lianheng waved his hand and said, "Guo Yan, you stay here and watch him. Lao Yuan, you follow me!"

"Godfather, come back soon!"

Hai Xinnian sat down doubtfully. It was not because he was afraid of being left alone, but because he had no money in his pocket and was worried that the shopkeeper would come to settle the bill with him later.

Seeing this, everyone teased him and asked, "Young man, are your legs and feet usually fast?"

"It's fine, what's wrong?"

"Tsk, if you want to eat a free meal, can you not run fast?"

Hai Xinnian said "impossible" but hurriedly moved the chair towards the door.

Everyone laughed even harder. Someone rolled up his sleeves and slammed his gun on the table. He said, "You still don't believe me? Look at us guys. Do we look like the kind of people who pay for food? It's better to give him a gun!" He asked him again, "Come on, young man, can you drink with us?"

"No!" Hai Xinnian quickly shook his head.

The crowd was not willing to let him go, and immediately started to make a noise, "Then learn it. How can you still be called a man if you don't drink? You'll learn it after vomiting twice. Come on, fill it up!"

Hai Xinnian was inexperienced and could not refuse. A few of the "Xiangzi" were trying to get what they wanted, but Zhao Guoyan cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "Whoever wants to drink can drink."

When everyone heard this, they stopped trying to persuade him.

…………

The moon rises over the eastern mountain, west of Ning'an City.

Jiang Lianheng, Liu Kuaitui and others first sent the troops and horses back to the camp, and then went to the general's office in the west of the city together.

It has been nearly a month since we last met, and I don't know whether Zhang Xiaokun has returned. Anyway, as soon as I approached the gate of the government office, I heard a loud and chaotic noise in the yard. Some people were singing, some were laughing. Although there was a wall between us and I couldn't distinguish clearly, I could still hear that there were quite a few people in the yard, and it seemed that they had been making noise for a long time.

A few people walked up the steps. The guard recognized Jiang Lianheng and naturally did not yell at him. Instead, he smiled and greeted him, "Hey, Boss Jiang is back?"

Jiang Lianheng nodded, handed him a cigarette, and asked with a smile, "Is General Zhang here?"

"I'll do it myself, I'll do it myself!" The guard struck a match, lit a cigarette and said, "General Zhang has gone to Hunchun Prison for execution and will be back in two days. Before he left, he specifically told us to wait here if Boss Jiang comes back, because he wants to discuss something with you when he comes back. Hey, Boss Jiang, don't stand outside, come in and sit for a while?"

As he was speaking, there was another burst of ghostly howling in the yard.

Jiang Lianheng frowned and asked, "General Zhang is not here, why are you still making so much noise?"

"Well, today's noise is considered good. The previous two days were even more outrageous. I wanted to lift the roof off the house!"

"Who's in there?"

"No way to tell!" The guard waved his hand impatiently, then pushed open the door and said, "Boss Jiang, you should go in and take a look yourself!"

Without him saying anything, as soon as the vermilion-painted door opened, Jiang Lianheng immediately heard a melody that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

The reason why it is familiar is that Jiang Lianheng had heard this melody before and was deeply impressed; the reason why it is unfamiliar is that Jiang Lianheng has not heard it for a long time, at least twenty years.

It was a foreign military song that had been heard in every important city in the three provinces of Kanto as early as the Gengzi Year, showing off its military might wherever it went.

Jiang Lianheng subconsciously stopped and turned around to ask in surprise: "Is there a Maozi here?"

The guard shrugged his shoulders and said with some disdain, "General Zhang recruited them, and they are getting spoiled." He then asked, "Boss Jiang, are you going in? If not, I have to close the door, otherwise it will have a bad impact."

Jiang Lianheng couldn't resist his curiosity, so he immediately stepped over the threshold and walked into the compound of Ning'an General's Office.

As soon as I raised my head, I saw a dozen White Russian officers gathered in the center of the yard in a wild manner, holding pickled ham in one hand and vodka in the other, arm in arm, singing and dancing, chattering in their mouths, and I didn't know what they were saying. They looked crazy.

People often say: Drink while you can.

These Russians are different. They have completely transcended the realm of enjoying life in the moment. They look more like they are in ecstasy after surviving a disaster, or reveling on the eve of doomsday, wishing they could drink themselves to death on the spot.

Seeing the door of the general's office open and a stranger breaking in, one of the White Russian officers immediately drew his "service gun" and started yelling. Although no one could understand what he said, it was definitely not something nice.

The guards hurriedly stood in front of Jiang Lianheng, gesticulating and saying, "No, no, no, he, General Zhang, is a friend! A good friend!"

The White Russian officer understood, and threw his "service gun" behind him with a flick of his hand. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a fucking piece of ham!
"Ah, friend!"

The White Russian officer put on a big smile, staggered over, hugged him, and gave him a firm kiss on the cheek.

Liu Kuai Tui shuddered all over, wiped his face quickly, and cursed: "No, why the hell did you kiss me?"

I hugged the wrong person, don’t mind.

The White Russian officer put one arm around Jiang Lianheng and the other around Liu Kuaitui, and walked towards the yard laughing.

Jiang Lianheng smiled uncomfortably and said casually "Ha le Shao" - that was all he knew.

Unexpectedly, the White Russians' eyes immediately lit up, and they handed him bottles of wine, saying, "Friend, vodka, friend!"

Jiang Lianheng looked at the shiny mouth of the bottle, but he didn't take a sip. Instead, he asked, "Are you familiar with General Zhang?"

The White Russian didn't quite understand, so Jiang Lianheng had to ask again: "General Zhang, Zhang Xiaokun, long-legged, tall guy! Are you, friends?"

"Oh--"

Several people drew out an exaggerated long tone, burped, and said in unison: "My father is Zhang Xiaokun, and I am Zhang Xiaokun's Maozi!"

(End of this chapter)