The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 159 Liang Zhu (Part )

Chen Huihong's Maybach slowly drove into the underground garage without attracting anyone's attention.

all the best.

Qin Huai put on his hat, scarf and mask again before getting off the car, making sure that even if Zhao Rong and Qin Congwen stood in front of him, he would not be recognized at first glance. Then he quickly slipped into the elevator while dragging his suitcase, listening carefully and keeping an eye on all directions.

It wasn't until he walked out of the elevator and arrived at Luo Jun's door that Qin Huai breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Shumei opened the door.

"Master Qin, the room has been cleaned for you. Time is limited, so the bed is an air mattress that we bought temporarily. Please see if it is suitable for you. If not, I will ask someone to move the bed in my room to the guest room." Zhang Shumei said.

Luo Jun's house does not have a guest room. His house only has the master bedroom, the second bedroom, the painting studio, the audio-visual room and the showroom. The servants' room is used by Luo Jun to store miscellaneous items, and Zhang Shumei, the live-in nanny, lives in the second bedroom.

Qin Huai took a look and found that Zhang Shumei had temporarily tidied up the audio-visual room to turn it into a guest room. The room was quite large and suitable for living, even bigger than his master bedroom.

"It's fine, no problem." Qin Huai said with a smile, opened the suitcase, and took out 20 kilograms of crispy biscuits and raw fruit dough from the suitcase.

This time, Qin Huai only brought a set of clothes for change besides Su Bing and Guo'er. There was nothing to pack, so he took his things and went to the living room.

Chen Huihong was already eating the fruit plate.

Luo Jun was still sitting on the sofa watching TV. When he saw Qin Huai coming out, he gave him a look, cleared his throat and said loudly: "Xiao Zhang, the same old rules, spider plant."

Five minutes later, Zhang Shumei had packed up and went out happily carrying her big bag.

Qin Huai went to the kitchen to steam some fruit for Luo Jun. As soon as he entered the kitchen, he found several bowls of ingredients on the stove.

The raw materials of tangerine peel tea.

The intention is already clear.

"Mr. Luo, would you like to make some tangerine peel tea?" Qin Huai asked, sticking his head out.

"What else?" Luo Jun said sarcastically, "Master Xiao Qin is really busy. He came all the way back just to complete the task quickly, and he was not even willing to give the target an extra bowl of tangerine peel tea."

Qin Huai:......

Which palace fighting drama have you watched recently?

Anyway, making tangerine peel tea is not a hassle, it's just a side job. Qin Huai first put the fruit into the steamer, then started to make tangerine peel tea, then searched in the cupboard, found the ingredients prepared by Zhang Shumei, and started to knead the dough.

It's a rare opportunity for me to come back, so I should make some delicious snacks for Luo Jun and Chen Huihong, so that they can see the results of my studies at Huang Ji during this period.

After learning the cooking techniques for a week, my pastry making skills improved by leaps and bounds.

Soon, when the dough is kneaded and placed on the chopping board to rise, the fruits in the steamer can be taken out of the steamer.

The tangerine peel tea still needs some time, but don't worry, the fruit hasn't colored yet. Qin Huai prepared the beetroot juice and created it randomly, keeping the time very accurate.

While the four fruits were being colored, the tangerine peel tea in the pot was also successfully served.

Luo Jun was already sitting at the dining table. Qin Huai poured three bowls of tangerine peel tea, brought them out on a tray, and sat down to eat with them.

Chen Huihong, who had been unable to wait any longer, picked up the fruit impatiently, took a bite, squinted her eyes in satisfaction, and ate it happily.

Luo Jun was unmoved. He didn't even look at the fruit on the plate. He calmly picked up the spoon and slowly drank the tangerine peel tea.

Spoonful after spoonful, this action and expression were very familiar to Qin Huai. Only a piece of newspaper was missing. This was how Luo Jun drank tangerine peel tea every morning after getting up in his memory.

After five or six minutes, the bowl of tangerine peel tea was finished.

Chen Huihong was almost done with the second fruit and looked a little full. She held the last half in her hand for a long time without eating it.

Luo Jun put down the bowl, did not take the fruit, and looked a little hesitant.

"Oh, don't hesitate. You'll get hurt whether you stick your head out or not. It's not a loss if Xiao Qin sees your memory. If Xiao Qin makes a new snack after reading your memory and helps you overcome the tribulation, then you'll gain something and live many more years!" Chen Huihong advised as someone who had experienced it.

Luo Jun rolled his eyes at her in annoyance: "You think I am you, who doesn't remember anything. Do I care about living many more years? If I die now, I will still live the same life if I reincarnate again."

Having said that, Luo Jun moved his hands, picked up a fruit, put it to his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and took a small bite.

Almost at the moment when Luo Jun started chewing, the game prompt sound rang in Qin Huai's mind.

"Ding, congratulations on completing the side quest [The Taste of Memory] and receiving the quest reward [A Memory of Luo Jun]."

Luo Jun’s last memory is obtained.

Qin Huai looked at Luo Jun and asked cautiously, "Do you... have anything else to tell me?"

Qin Huai knew very well that Luo Jun must know what the content of the memory he was about to see was.

Luo Jun was silent for a long time, and Qin Huai also sat at the dining table waiting for him for a long time, but he did not open the game panel.

Finally, Luo Jun spoke, his voice a little hoarse: "Remember what she looks like, don't forget it."

Qin Huai nodded, opened the game panel, and selected [A Memory of Luo Jun].

Select Yes.

[Memory loading——].
"boom!"

Fire, loud noise, disaster.

When Qin Huai entered his memory, all he saw was devastation.

It was dark, but the burning fire made the surroundings very bright. Everywhere there were broken walls and charred collapsed houses that had been bombed, and from time to time there were creaking sounds of breaking. There was no crying or shouting for help, and it felt like all living things had vanished in the ruins.

Qin Huai looked up and saw planes hovering in the sky and continuously dropping bombs.

"boom."

In the distance, another bomb was dropped.

This was not the kind of real yet fake bombing seen in movies. This was actually happening right before our eyes, and the roar was so loud that it could deafen people's ears.

This is not a disaster movie, this is a real disaster.

Luo Jun was in the ruins, leaning against a half-collapsed dangerous wall. He stood there in the light of the fire, calmly reading a newspaper, as if everything around him had nothing to do with him. He looked so relaxed and at ease, as if he was waiting for Liu Tao to finish watching the movie at the door of the cinema.

Soon, the plane hovering in the sky flew away. Luo Jun hadn't finished reading the newspaper yet, so he turned a page and looked up at the sky.

"It's so annoying day by day."

After saying this, Luo Jun brushed off the ashes on his body and found a bright firelight to continue reading the newspaper. He would read one more after finishing one, and when the fire in one place burned out, he would move to a brighter one.

Qin Huai found it difficult to evaluate this behavior, which seemed to be similar to drilling a hole through the wall to steal light, and he didn't know what to see. After all, there was nothing around, not even a living person, so he simply joined Luo Jun and read the newspaper with him.

The two of them read the newspaper together until dawn.

Qin Huai even counted them out of boredom. Luo Jun took out a total of 22 newspapers folded into small blocks from his pocket. It was obvious that he came prepared and came out specifically to read newspapers on the night of the bombing.

Before, Luo Jun usually only brought three or four tickets when he went out.

Luo Jun slowly folded the newspaper he had just read into a tofu block, put it in his pocket, and walked towards the east.

That is the direction of the sun.

It was just dawn, and the light was not strong, but it was enough for Qin Huai to see the scene in the distance. Basically, wherever the bomb fell, there was only the debris left after the explosion.

The houses did not collapse completely. For some low houses, only broken bricks and burnt wood could be seen. For others, part of the walls collapsed but the main structure was still intact. For those who were particularly lucky, they were even intact, with only the outer walls blackened by the spreading fire.

Luo Jun walked slowly, and Qin Huai followed behind him. After walking a few streets, Qin Huai faintly heard crying and shouting in the distance.

The people who had been hiding in the air-raid shelter for a whole night finally came out one after another after they were sure that the plane had left and it was daybreak.

Some people looked at their homes that had become ruins, collapsed and threw themselves on the wreckage and cried, frantically searching for valuables in the ruins, and roared at anyone who tried to approach the ruins like wild dogs guarding their food.

Some people wanted to take advantage of the situation and robbed lone women and thin young men. They would hold wooden sticks and threaten them to hand over their belongings. Even if their pockets were already full of things that did not belong to them, they would still greedily want more.

But there are more people who call their loved ones' names everywhere, and when they see someone familiar, they rush up to ask if you have seen so-and-so, and if he is with you.

a mess.

Luo Jun obviously didn't like such crowded and chaotic crowds, and he kept avoiding people along the way. After passing through one slum after another, Qin Huai saw a small Western-style building in the distance.

Qin Huai had never seen these Western-style buildings. It was obvious that Luo Jun had left Shu and came to a new place.

The area of ​​the western-style buildings was obviously not directly bombed, but only slightly affected. The buildings were well preserved, which might be due to the terrain. Qin Huai took a quick look and felt that this area was indeed not easy to be bombed. There was a reason why it became a wealthy area during such a dangerous period.

Luo Jun walked towards the innermost three-story villa. Before he reached the door, Liu Tao rushed over with an anxious look on her face. She first looked at Luo Jun's face, not caring that her hands were dirty and black. She touched his cheeks, ears, and chin as if she was afraid that she had seen it wrong. After confirming that he was not injured, she looked at his neck and arms.

Liu Tao's hands were shaking, and her whole body was trembling with fear. She looked very embarrassed.

Her hair was messy, her clothes were wrinkled, her hands were dirty, and one of her shoes was missing. There were large beads of sweat on her forehead, residual tear marks on the corners of her eyes and cheeks, and her beautiful silk dress was cut by many small holes. If you look closely, you can see that there are many small wounds on her hands that are bleeding faintly, and sand and small stones are stuck in the wounds.

Luo Jun saw Liu Tao's hand.

"What's wrong with your hand?" Luo Jun grabbed his hand and asked.

Liu Tao did not answer. Big tears fell directly from her eyes. Her lips trembled and she choked with sobs: "I thought you were dead."

"The Liu family shop you went to last night was nearly flattened by the Japanese, they said. Many people died. Even the air-raid shelter was trampled to death. I wanted to go find you before daybreak, but Uncle Zhang wouldn't let me go out. He and Li Ping went to look for you after daybreak. You never came back, and I thought you..."

Liu Tao couldn't continue talking at the end and burst into tears while hugging Luo Jun.

"Let's stop looking for them, okay? I won't look for my parents anymore. Let's go back to Shanghai. If it doesn't work, let's go further south. It's too dangerous here."

"Secretary Liu's daughter Chuntao didn't have time to run away when she went out to buy groceries the day before yesterday morning. Her leg was blown off and she had to be dragged back home to lie down and wait for death. Last night in the air-raid shelter, I heard Minister Cao's wife say that there would be more and more bombings in the future, and the devils were forcing us to do something, such as supplies. I didn't understand what they said, I only knew that Mrs. Cao wanted to leave here and go back to her hometown."

"She wants to leave, and it will definitely be more unsafe in the future. Boyan, I know you have business to discuss here, but the air raid alarm sounds every three to five days now, and you are basically not at home every time the alarm sounds. I heard Mrs. Liu say in the air-raid shelter last night that several government employees were killed in the explosion. Is it unsafe over there? Otherwise, we should..."

Luo Jun didn't say anything, but just held Liu Tao's hand to comfort her. After Liu Tao's voice stopped trembling and her body stopped shaking uncontrollably, he helped her tidy up her hair.

"Go home first and put on your shoes. There are a lot of gravel on the ground. If you walk barefoot on it, you will cut your feet."

Liu Tao followed Luo Jun home.

Compared to the small western-style building they lived in last time in Shu, the one Liu Tao and Luo Jun lived in now was obviously bigger and more luxurious, with more furniture and ornaments. There were no newspapers in the living room, so they must have been put away upstairs.

Luo Jun asked Liu Tao to sit on the sofa, and he got up to get him a pair of shoes, helped Liu Tao change into them, and then found a clean towel, wet it with water, and helped Liu Tao wipe his face and hands.

Liu Tao sat there blankly the whole time, like a doll, with a dazed look on her face.

"You don't have to worry about me too much." Luo Jun sat next to Liu Tao, "I'll be fine."

The doll's switch was turned on, and Liu Tao was awakened from her fear by Luo Jun's voice. She shuddered and looked at Luo Jun with wide eyes, as if she was trying to determine whether what had just happened was an illusion or reality.

Liu Tao looked at Luo Jun like this and couldn't control her tears from falling.

"You're crying again. You never cried before. I remember you told me that when you were a child, you were practicing body movements in a drama troupe. The troupe leader hit you with a wooden stick, and you didn't cry even when the stick broke." Luo Jun said helplessly.

"That's different." Liu Tao whispered, blinked, and shed two more tears, "I don't want to, but I can't control myself."

"Let's go back, shall we? Sister Hong sent me a letter last year, saying that the concession is very safe now. Although prices are high and food prices change every day, you found her a house and she doesn't have to pay rent. The money she and her husband earn is enough to support the whole family."

"Where is Boss Liu?" Luo Jun asked.

Liu Tao stopped talking.

"I haven't heard from the troupe owner for a long time." Liu Tao lowered her head and said, "Since he wrote to me three years ago to tell me that the troupe was moving south, I haven't received any letters from him since then."

"There are many bandits along the way, some of them have guns. The boss will definitely not take the train to save money. They may..."

Luo Jun did not give Liu Tao a chance to escape: "He should be dead."

"Now I have business to discuss, and I also said I would help you find your parents."

"If it's not safe here, is it safe outside?"

"The concessions in Shanghai are not safe either, and the areas outside the concessions are often bombed. There is a war in the north, in the Central Plains, and even in the south, bandits are rampant. The city is not safe, the countryside is not safe, and now is a chaotic time. Where can we find a safe place?"

Liu Tao looked at Luo Jun blankly.

"This is the temporary capital after all. The air-raid shelters in this area were specially dug and built. As long as you stay at home like Mrs. Cao and the others every day, there is no place safer than here. Don't listen to what Mrs. Cao says, just watch what she does. As long as she doesn't leave here, this place is safe."

"Don't worry about me. Whether I'm going to discuss business with Minister Cao or to look for someone, I'll be fine."

Liu Tao obviously didn't understand the meaning of this sentence, and it was impossible for her to understand it. She could only stare at Luo Jun in a daze.

"When we got married, I promised you that I would help you find your parents."

"I never break a promise."

(End of this chapter)