Summer heat gradually subsides

When news of the victory at Taierzhuang reached Shanghai, Ji Ruqiong was organizing documents in the attic of a rural alley.

When Yi Boyan pushed the door open and came in, she was putting a telegram marked "Top Secret" into the iron box next to her. She looked up and saw the suit he was wearing, and her brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

“I’m going to Beiping.” Yi Boyan’s voice was calm, as if he were talking about something insignificant. “I’m being transferred to the North China branch to be in charge of intelligence liaison.”

Ji Ruqiong slammed the iron box shut without warning, stood up, walked up to him, and stared into his eyes: "Why you? Don't you know what the situation is like in North China right now?"

"It's an organizational arrangement." Yi Boyan avoided her gaze and turned to look out the window. "Mr. Sheng has already approved it."

"Mr. Sheng approved it?" Ji Ruqiong laughed, a self-deprecating laugh. "Then tell me, who exactly was the person you met in the concession last Wednesday night?"

Looking at his taut jawline, Ji Ruqiong suddenly remembered that three months ago, she found a ship ticket stub to Northeast China in his desk drawer, dated the day before the Japanese army intercepted supplies in Shanghai.

But she kept deceiving herself, saying that these were all just coincidences. She refused to believe that the people who had always been by her side, who believed in socialism and the Communist Party and that they could save China, would change their minds.

"Ah-Qiong, there are some things..." Yi Boyan tried to reach out and touch her, but she dodged him.

The newsboys outside the window kept announcing the extra edition, with the "Great Victory at Taierzhuang" announcement being particularly jarring.

Ji Ruqiong looked at the fleeting struggle in his eyes and suddenly felt very tired.

When she was little, Ji Yuxing always said that she was too serious, but there are some things she can't lie to herself about.

"Let's break up," she said softly, as if it were something that had been destined long ago, but her tone was so nonchalant that it was as if she had never loved anyone.

Yi Boyan looked up abruptly, his eyes flashing with shock and a hint of panic that she couldn't understand.

"Ah-Qiong, wait a little longer, wait until I come back from Beiping..."

"Get out." Ji Ruqiong turned around, completely shutting the person out of her sight: "Don't let me see you again."

He opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing, and turned to walk out of the attic.

The moment the door closed, Ji Ruqiong slid down the wall and sat on the floor, tears finally falling.

She remembered that before Ji Yuxing went to the Northeast, he had secretly told her, "Yi Boyan is too cunning; don't trust him too much."

Back then, she blamed her brother for being overly suspicious, but now she understands that some cracks existed from the very beginning.

In the alley outside the attic, Yi Boyan glanced back at the tightly closed window and quickly disappeared into the alleyway.

The sunlight shone on his back, but it couldn't warm the chill hidden beneath his suit.

Yi Boyan had a train ticket to Beiping early the next morning. After he left, Ji Ruqiong set off for Shandong without any hesitation.

Upon arriving in Zaozhuang, we went straight to Zhang Chenglin's house.

Since Zhang Chenglin and Ji Yuxing were both away, whether it was for company or out of mutual respect, after Zaozhuang was pacified, Fengyue and Chai Feixue returned and stayed at Zhang Chenglin's house.

Upon entering and seeing Chai Feixue and Feng Yue, her usually expressionless face instantly fell, making it clear to anyone who looked at her that she was very sad.

"What's wrong?" Chai Feixue quickly came forward and asked gently, "You only went to Shanghai, why are you so aggrieved when you came back? Weren't you all happy when you left?"

Ji Ruqiong felt wronged for a moment, then sighed, and then seemed relieved as she said, "We broke up."

"Huh?" Chai Feixue was also surprised that she would suddenly say such a thing. She turned her head to look at Feng Yue standing behind her in shock.

"Why?" Chai Feixue reached out and took her hand, then asked, "What did he do to upset you?"

“He…” Ji Ruqiong had just opened her mouth when Feng Yue suddenly covered her mouth, turned around, and walked away quickly.

Ji Ruqiong blinked as she watched Feng Yue's hurried departure and asked Chai Feixue, "What happened to her? And it's only been half a month since I last saw her, how come she looks so thin? She was already quite thin, and now she looks like she's just skin and bones."

“Morning vomiting,” Chai Feixue said, turning to look at Fengyue, and said helplessly, “It’s like this when you’re five or six months pregnant, but her reaction is really a bit severe. I guess it’s because of the commotion in the city a while ago, plus her worry about Alin, and her body couldn’t take it.”

"Didn't you call a doctor to come and take a look?" Ji Ruqiong frowned, her words revealing her worry.

“I saw a doctor,” Chai Feixue sighed. “I went to see a doctor as soon as I got back. The doctor said it was normal and prescribed some medicine to prevent miscarriage, and that was all.”

"Normal what? Normal?" Ji Ruqiong was incredulous, almost cursing the quack doctor in her mind: "You've lost so much weight in just a few days and this is normal?!"

Seeing that Feng Yue had reappeared in her field of vision, Chai Feixue gently shook her head at Ji Ruqiong, and the two sisters-in-law tacitly stopped talking about the topic.

To avoid needlessly getting caught up in romantic entanglements at such a crucial juncture.

Ji Ruqiong stayed with Chai Feixue and Fengyue at Zhang Chenglin's house for three days, watching helplessly as Fengyue's "normal" morning sickness became increasingly abnormal.

The first time I saw her was different from seeing her countless times in one day. I could only eat watery soup and still couldn't help but vomit. I had to get up many times in the middle of the night to sleep. I watched as she became more and more haggard...

After discussing it, Ji Ruqiong and Chai Feixue couldn't help but tell Feng Yue those unpleasant things.

As women themselves, they couldn't bear to see things continue like this; in a few more days, people would break down.

"Why don't you just leave? What could be more important than you?"

Chai Feixue was gentle by nature, and while she was still organizing her thoughts, her outspoken sister-in-law had already rushed up to Fengyue and said everything.

Upon hearing Ji Ruqiong's words, Feng Yue was taken aback at first, then her gaze fell on Chai Feixue, who arrived late following behind Ji Ruqiong.

After exchanging a glance with Chai Feixue, he shook his head with a wry smile, his eyes full of stubbornness: "This may be the last bond between him and me."

As soon as the words of romance were spoken, both Chai Feixue and Ji Ruqiong's eyes instantly reddened.

When the story was passed down to later generations, the tale of the pampered young master and the courtesan who met and fell in love was adapted into many versions. Some criticized and condemned it, while others praised and applauded it. The only constant was the love-struck "female protagonist" who was talked about by the world. She waited and waited with endless hope, and finally, in a place unknown to the young master, she gave him a complete family.

From then on, Ji Ruqiong, in her spare time from work, began to search for various prescriptions and folk remedies, and together with Chai Feixue, she made all sorts of different foods for Fengyue, just so that she could vomit less and eat a little something.

Persistence pays off. A month later, when summer in Shandong was at its hottest, Fengyue suddenly stopped vomiting and even regained her appetite, eating more than she had in the early stages of her pregnancy.

One day after lunch, Ji Ruqiong stood under the covered walkway, gently fanning Fengyue, and teased her with a smile: "Others suffer from the summer heat and can't eat anything by mid-August, but you're different, you've actually gained an appetite."

As she spoke, she suddenly lowered her eyes, her tone carrying a hint of reassurance: "But this is good too, at least when Brother Lin comes back, he won't feel that my sister-in-law and I have mistreated you."

Having not heard anything about that person for a long time, Fengyue was momentarily stunned, then quickly realized what she meant and smiled, "Then I must thank Ah Qiong and Sister-in-law Ah Qiong."

"After taking care of you for so long," Chai Feixue said with a hint of jealousy as she walked over with a plate of sliced ​​apples, "I've become the outsider?"

The three of them burst into laughter. Fengyue looked at the two people in front of her, at the peaceful world before her, and her thoughts drifted away again...

*

After the Japanese army crossed Hebei and entered Shandong, they continued their southward advance like a whirlwind. Tan Yuanbo, Huo Shangzhi, Zhang Chenglin, and others had no choice but to follow in the footsteps of the Japanese army, heading south and south again.

Whether it was a problem within the organization or the Japanese were truly so meticulous in their calculations, they were always a step behind the Japanese army, or they would miss their target.

The central government was short-handed, and Lu Mingqian and Ji Yuxing, despite being ill and using crutches, went to the front lines to command the battle.

At the end of August, after the start of autumn, the sweltering summer finally came to an end, followed by the autumn that should have been a time of great harvest.

But there was little joy in the world. The war situation in the country was becoming increasingly tense, and the entire northern region, except for Shanghai and Beiping, had fallen to the enemy.

With most of the northern regions lost and many well-known enterprises collapsing, Jiang Yuanxing personally went to the north to acquire assets and salvage the situation.

At that time, Zhang Chenglin was assigned by Tan Yuanbo to be stationed in the southwest of Zaozhuang. When Jiang Yuanxing arrived in Zaozhuang, he made a special trip to see Zhang Chenglin.

Jiang Yuanxing was never one to beat around the bush. Upon meeting Zhang Chenglin, he stated his purpose directly: "If you promise me that you will no longer participate in factional strife or interfere in the war, all the forces in the North will be yours."

Seeing him sit down, Zhang Chenglin picked up the teapot and teacup on the table and poured him a cup of tea—even though he knew that Jiang Yuanxing would never drink such inferior tea.

"Grandpa," Zhang Chenglin said with a serious expression as he placed the teacup in front of Jiang Yuanxing, "when the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken."

After hearing his words, Jiang Yuanxing knew that he was determined to do things his own way, and his eyes dimmed.

"All of the Jiang family's power in the north is yours," Jiang Yuanxing repeated, believing the offer to be substantial enough. "Aren't you tempted?"

To everyone's surprise, Zhang Chenglin lowered his head and smiled, then spoke again with undisguised ambition in his tone: "Back then... Zhang Deyue had much more than this."

He doesn't even care about what Zhang Deyue has, so how could he possibly care about what Jiang Yuanxing has?

Jiang Yuanxing understood his attitude and his choice, and finally gave up the idea of ​​trying to persuade him again.

Zhang Chenglin is exactly like his father, Zhang Deyue; once he's made up his mind, no one can change it.

When Jiang Yuanxing left, he hesitated for a long time, but he couldn't help but say, "Remember to go back and visit your mother when you return to Shanghai."

Zhang Chenglin nodded solemnly: "Don't worry, I will definitely go."