Chapter 13: Changing Guards (54)

The following days were the happiest days of the Zhou family in these years, first tidying up the courtyard in the middle, then moving the family to the backyard, and finally renovating the front pavement, removing the hall, kitchen and stairs to increase the commercial area. The previous attic was also demolished, and the store's ceiling was raised by a full one metre. After the renovation, Zhou's grocery store has a new look, with enough area, there is space for groceries to be sorted, and with the floor height, the shelves have the possibility of upward development. The most important thing is that a clearance sale regardless of the cost swept away the old goods that the Zhou family had accumulated for many years, and put out the items that were less than the cost price at a discount or even a half discount, Boss Zhou's heart was bleeding, but he knew that it was right to do so. In the past, I didn't dare to clear the warehouse because I was afraid that there would be no goods in the shop, and the empty was ugly, but now I have the opportunity to tidy up and restock, the key is today's Zhou family, not bad money.

Mo Di does not interfere with the renewal of the Zhou family's shop, and every time he goes to the Zhou family, he will not go from the main entrance of the shop, but likes to walk the back alley. Entering from the small alley behind Yunying's house in Tongxi, walking less than 100 meters, is the new back door of Zhou Shiming's house. The house before this back door was used as a gate, but when it came to Mo Enemy's hands, it was changed to a back door, which not only reduced the area of the door, but also lowered the gate pass to facilitate access. Mo Di likes the bluestone alley outside the back door very much, it is cute and narrow, and the two need to give way to each other. In the old Tongcheng Bagua City, every inch of land is gold, the land is very precious, and there is rarely a gap between the houses, otherwise there will be no farce in the six-foot alley. In front of this alley, if each family also withdrew three feet, they could make way for a thoroughfare that could pass through horse-drawn carriages, but unfortunately everyone wanted to occupy more land, so they made such an alley that was less than two feet at the narrowest point. Mo Di likes this alley, either because of the iron palm of the leather shoes, the crisp sound of slapping on the bluestone slab, echoing in the alley, or because of the depth of the alley, the desolation of the alley, or because of the artistic conception described by Dai Wangshu in "Rain Alley": holding an oil-paper umbrella, wandering alone in the long, long and lonely rainy alley, I hope to meet a girl with grievances like a lilac. She has the color of cloves, the fragrance of lilacs, the sorrow of lilacs, and she complains in the rain, complains and hesitates; She wandered in this lonely rainy alley, holding an oil-paper umbrella, just like me...... Until one time, he sent Zhou Shiming back and walked side by side in the narrow alley, because the narrow alley was almost crowded together, turned into the door of the back door, Zhou Shiming turned his face to look at Mo Di, Mo Di then knew that because of the alley, the two of them were connected, and Zhou Shiming beside him was already boiling with blood and his face was red, so in the door hole, it was logical to leave their first kiss, and after that, this alley became a harbor of their love.

The melons are ripe and falling, and one day in late November of the solar calendar, Mo Di had dinner at Zhou's house. After the meal, the old lady of the Zhou family asked Mo Di that the new house was also decorated, everything was ready, and when did she plan to invite wine. Mo Di knew that the old lady must have been prepared to ask like this, and replied that everything was up to grandma. The old lady of the Zhou family took out a yellow calendar from behind her, flipped to the end, and said, October 18 is a good day, and the sixth day of December in the solar calendar is suitable for marriage. Otherwise, we will have to wait until the nineteenth day of the lunar month, the fourth day of the second month of the solar calendar. Mo Di replied that as a soldier, the time is not up to oneself, you can tentatively set October 18, if there is no task, just do wine on that day, if there is a change, change to February 4, around the Spring Festival, the Japanese will not make any big moves, and the family is free, and the relatives at home are also free to drink. The old lady of the Zhou family said with a smile that she never thought that she would have to agree to a bad thing with the Japanese face when she held a wedding wine at home. The youngest son of the Zhou family on the side said very passionately, so if we want to defeat the Japanese invaders, we will make our own decisions. Mo Di laughed, touched his brother-in-law's head, and said, you kid, born a few years early, you must be a May Fourth youth. The youngest son of the Zhou family said with a contemptuous face, I don't learn from the May Fourth youth, I learn from my brother-in-law to fight with the Japanese with real guns and knives, and one day raise a small flag to parade on the street. The whole family laughed.

On 3 December, just one day before the enemy entered the wedding ceremony to prepare for the distribution of the hero's sticker, the Japanese army headquarters issued the No. 575 Continental Order, stipulating that the task of the Japanese army in Central China was to "ensure communication from Yuezhou to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and use the three towns of Wuhan and Jiujiang as bases to destroy the enemy's ability to resist the war, and its combat area was roughly between Anqing, Xinyang, Yichang, Yuezhou, and Nanchang."

The 21 st Group Army Headquarters immediately ordered the Headquarters of the 21 st Group Army and its subordinate army commanders, deputy army commanders, army chiefs of staff, and principal personnel of the General Staff Office to arrive at Mabu, where the headquarters of the Seventh Army is stationed, to attend the meeting in the shortest possible time to concentrate on discussing the current round of Japanese offensives. Tongcheng, which is far away on the eastern side of Dabie Mountain, received such a high-level meeting notice for the first time, and Mo Di and Su Tingxun were both in the ranks of the meeting.

Fifteen minutes after receiving the notice, a car drove out of the guard barracks, planning to send Mo Di and Su Tingxun to Lu'an before dark. At the wharf of the Lu'an Weihe River, a fast boat has already been prepared, as long as Su Mo and the two arrive, regardless of day and night, they will set off immediately, go up the Weihe River, turn into the Xiwei River, cross the Hongdian, and arrive at Mabu.

In addition to the pioneers of the Lihuang 21st Army Headquarters, Mo Di and Su Tingxun were the first to arrive in Mabu, and when Mo Di and Su Tingxun stepped off the clipper, the sun had just risen in the east. After sitting on the boat all night, my legs were a little numb, and I stood on the dock, feeling weak for a while.

"I'm really unfamiliar with this place, although I was once a member of the Seventh Army." Su Tingxun laughed at himself and said that he was the commander of the 173rd Division before, and then the deputy division commander and commander of the 715th Brigade under He Weizhen, and the 173rd Division at that time belonged to the Seventh Army. After that, it was assigned to the 84th Army, and then from the 84th Army to the 48th Army, and then to the 7th Army, and the 173rd Division was returned to its original owner, but he was just thrown to others as the division commander. Every time he thought of this stubble, Su Tingxun felt unhappy and said: "I moved from eastern Hubei to Lu'an, and my buttocks were not hot, so I went to the deep ditch shop, and I went to Tongcheng without pulling two bubbles in the deep ditch shop." ”

"It's okay, you're not familiar with me! I stayed here for almost a year, temporarily serving as the intelligence chief of the 48th Army. Relatively speaking, Mo Enemy is much more open-minded, when he was in Mabu, completely idle, the most depressed time, but back in Mabu, he is still very optimistic, the grievances and depression of the year in today's view, is just a life process. Mo Di smiled and said, "I took the commander to eat the most famous tofu here." ”

"Shh Su Tingxun raised his finger and shushed in front of his mouth, saying, "Don't call the commander anymore, call the deputy of the army." When I got here, there was only one commander, and that was Li Pinxian. Hearing you call me Commander, this Wuzhou boy will be unhappy. In the eyes of these old Gui families, Li Pinxian doesn't have any outstanding ability, just a drill camp with better luck.

Mo Di smiled dumbly, pointed to the big trees on both sides of the wharf, and started the temporary tour guide, just when Su Tingxun followed Mo Di into South Street, he heard a report in his ear, and saw that it was the reception staff of the Seventh Army who had arrived.

"I heard Director Mo say that Mabu is a good tofu fishing, can you arrange this thing for breakfast today?" Su Tingxun asked the reception staff of the Seventh Army, and in his opinion, the Seventh Army had robbed him of his 173rd Division, and he had no one to deal with with the 173rd Division.

The reception staff of the Seventh Army shook his head and said that he was not prepared. Mo Di asked the reception staff when and where the meeting would be held, and after the reception staff told him, Mo Di asked the reception staff to send the four security personnel to the conference reception to arrange food and lodging, and he took Chief Su to walk around Mabu, and the others had not come anyway. The reception staff knew that this was once the garrison of the 48th Army, and felt that Mo was very familiar with Mabu and would not get lost, so he left after saying goodbye.

Three turns and two turns, from Xicheng Street to the small river, turn to Wenchang Palace, a shop with a tofu fishing signboard immediately appeared in front of you. When he entered the store, it was not as full of friends as Su Tingxun imagined, but it was deserted and there were few customers, and when he saw Mo Di nodding, he knew that he had not made a mistake. Mo Di walked up to the shop owner and said, I want a pot of tofu and some of all kinds of vegetables. The boss asked, how many people are there, Mo Di said two, and the boss nodded and explained.

As soon as he sat down on the seat by the window, two more people walked in from outside the door, and Mo Di immediately stood up, greeted him, and said, "Brother Yongcheng, why are you here too?" Wei Yongcheng paused for a moment, hugged Mo Dou, and said with a smile: "When did your kid arrive, he hasn't forgotten this family's tofu fishing!" ”

I thought that Mo Di was idle in the military department, and often came to this tofu fishing with Wei Yongcheng and Li Baicheng to eat breakfast, and the evaluation of this tofu fishing was not low. Unexpectedly, when they came again after leaving Mabu, the two of them thought of the same store.

Coming with Wei Yongcheng was Xu Qiming, chief of staff of the 21st Group Army Headquarters, and the forty-seven-year-old chief of staff Xu smiled and pointed at Mo Di and said, "If you don't guess wrong, this should be Mo Tianzong." ”

Mo Di looked at the shiny rank of lieutenant general on the other party's shoulder, guessing who the other party was, there are many lieutenant generals in the 21st Group Army at this age, it is a little difficult to guess, however, Xu Qiming's accent gave Mo Di a gap to break the problem, Xu Qiming is a native of Zhaisha Town, Liujiang County, and the accent of the Zhaisha people is eighty percent the same as his Baishou accent, in the 21st Group Army, there are many people of this age, and there is only one accent at this age, that is Xu Qiming.

Stand upright and salute. "My subordinates have seen Xu Shenza!"

Hearing Mo Di's words, Su Tingxun also stood up and walked over, and when he saw Xu Qiming, he immediately stood upright, raised his hand and saluted, and said: "The lowly Su Tingxun has seen Xu Shenzao." ”

Both of them are lieutenant generals, Mo Di is interested in making comparisons, not to know, one is more frightened, when Li Ghost meets Li Kui, all the truth is big. The gold content of Su Tingxun's lieutenant general is really different, although it is similar, but there is nothing to hide if you pay attention to distinguishing it. First of all, the shape is different, the interpretation of the triangle diamond, Gui Jun's is a golden five-star, and the color of the gold plating is also different, the interpretation of the lieutenant general's triangle diamond has a shadow, while Gui Jun's is a flat plate.

The four of them walked to a table, and at this time, a pot of tofu ordered by Mo Enemy was also on the table, thicker than tofu flowers, thinner than water tofu, carefully clamped with chopsticks, can clip out the block, and then use a little more force to crush it immediately. Mo Di used a spoon to fill four and a half bowls in four small bowls, at this time, the shopkeeper sent a large number of various foods on a tray and placed them in front of the four people, among which there were sweet and salty, spicy and sour, some vegan, some red and green, which made people appetize at a glance. Mo Di took the lead and put a few of the snacks into his bowl, and the white and tender tofu suddenly became colorful. Wei Yongcheng said: "Each takes what he needs, each according to his love, tofu is tasteless, and it can be changed into a hundred flavors, this is the classic of tofu fishing." ”

Xu Qiming likes sour and spicy, Su Tingxun likes spicy, and they are mixed according to their tastes and feasted.

"You're here early in the morning?" Wei Yongcheng asked Mo Enemy.

Mo Di nodded and said, "After a night's boat ride and a night's journey, you arrived yesterday?" ”

"Xu Shenzuo and I are the vanguard troops, and Commander Li and Deputy Zhang will not arrive until tonight." Wei Yongcheng said.

The big guys have to be at the end to make their appearance, otherwise they won't be shown to be important. In that case, you can have a good rest today.

Near noon, Su Zuxin and Yang Zanmo, who rushed from the deep ditch, arrived in Mabu, and it was not until the afternoon that Mo Shujie, the commander of the 84th Army, and Zhang Guangwei, the deputy commander of the army, arrived from the mall.

On December 5, the meeting officially began.

On December 6, the Japanese army, which had issued the 575th continental order, was no longer alive, and the conference lost its theme.

On 7 December, just as everyone thought that the Japanese had made a false shot and were about to dissolve the meeting, in the early morning of 8 December, a news that shocked the world reached Mabu that the Japanese army had attacked Pearl Harbor.

All of them have one thought: the Japanese are crazy!