A trace of sadness flashed in Old Lady Lan's eyes, and the image of the young man smiling and calling her "sister" appeared in front of her again.
More than 40 years have passed in a flash! If that child were still alive, he would be 60 years old now!
The memories of the past replayed in my mind like a movie, and every little moment I spent with my younger brother came flooding back to my mind like a tide.
She was born in the turbulent late Qing Dynasty. Her father was a private school teacher and her mother was born in the family of a sixth-rank official in Songjiang Prefecture. She was well-educated and diligent in managing the household.
Although the family was not wealthy at that time, it was important that we had a harmonious family and a loving father and mother.
Speaking of which, at that time, the social atmosphere still allowed men to take concubines, but after her mother gave birth to her, there was no news of pregnancy for many years.
Although my father didn't say anything, my mother often felt guilty for not being able to give birth to a son to inherit the family bloodline and continue the incense. She also tried to find a concubine for my father.
In the end, he was severely scolded by his father!
He said that he was very satisfied with having a daughter in his life. As for a son, if he was not destined to have one, there was no need to force it! After all, he was just a teacher, and there was no title or family property that he had to have a son to inherit!
In this way, their family of three lived an ordinary life for 9 years.
Unexpectedly, on her 9th birthday, her mother found out that she was pregnant again!
The following year, she gave birth to a son and named him Xingzhou.
Her younger brother Jiang Xingzhou is ten years younger than her. He has liked to stick to her since he was a child, and she loves him very much.
The little guy is lively by nature, but very studious.
Under his father's guidance, he knew most of the Chinese characters when he was three years old. At that time, the little boy always liked to sit in front of the stone steps at the door, reading a book while watching her and her mother doing needlework in the yard and chatting and laughing.
The year she got married, her younger brother was 10 years old. He cried and chased her to the Lan Mansion.
The year the Anti-Japanese War began, I had just turned eighteen.
It is the age when one is full of vigor and ambition.
One day, two-year-old Xingxing woke up early in the morning and asked to see his uncle.
Grandpa Lan is so devoted to his daughter that he can't bear to see her make mistakes!
He immediately asked the housekeeper to pack breakfast and gifts for them to take on the road, and asked the driver to take them and their daughter to her parents' home.
When she arrived, she learned from her parents that her younger brother had not been home for more than half a month.
He said that he has a lot of schoolwork at school recently and has to live on campus to catch up on his studies.
She was very puzzled at the time!
With her younger brother's photographic memory and the ability to get first place in every subject, what kind of subject could be difficult for him and require him to work so hard?
Sure enough, before noon, someone knocked on the door and my father walked in, greeted by two men in baseball caps.
After entering the door, the two men took off their hats, their faces were very heavy, and they bowed deeply to her family.
It was also from then on that they learned that A'di had joined the Red Star Organization at the age of fourteen, and had been working quietly for it for several years, actively participating in the organization's various underground activities.
This time, he was chased by the Japanese because he was trying to protect a comrade with a very important identity. After being chased into the mountains, he was unwilling to become a prisoner of the Japanese, so he was forced to jump off the cliff!
They searched for several days but couldn't find the body. They only found a woolen hat that Ah Di had been wearing that day by the river...
She, her father, and her mother couldn't accept this reality! The Lan family also sent a group of people into the mountains to search, but in the end, they found nothing!
It was not until a year later that she and her parents were forced to accept the reality and built a cenotaph for her brother.
Jiang Xingzhou also disappeared from her life since then.
She collected her thoughts and saw that Xiao Ling and Xiao Lie were both tilting their heads, looking forward to her answer.
Old Lady Lan tapped their foreheads respectively.
"Your great-uncle was as sensible and obedient as our Xiao Ling and Xiao Lie when he was little, and he was very lovable! It's a pity that he became too naughty when he grew up, and he lost himself in the mountains after entering! You must never learn from him, understand?"
Many years have passed since the incident, and Mrs. Lan has experienced a lot in recent years, so she has become indifferent to many things.
When I talk to them about it now, although I still feel bitter in my heart, I can still chat and laugh. It is not as difficult as before and I couldn't help but wipe away tears whenever I mentioned it.
Xiao Ling and Xiao Lie nodded in unison. Old Lady Lan took another sip of the hot sauce, and the corners of her lips lifted slightly. She seemed to have seen her younger brother. A little boy of six or seven years old was chasing a hen around the yard, shouting,
"Stop, stop right now! You have to believe me, I will definitely make you the best eight-treasure sauce chicken in all of China!"
In the dining car at this time.
Chef Wang Qiu felt very proud when he saw that the Eight Treasure Chili Sauce was sold out and all the passengers who had eaten it looked very satisfied!
He looked at the bowl of eight-treasure chili sauce placed next to him with satisfaction, then leaned out the window to take another look.
He muttered, "Why hasn't the old man come yet? We agreed to make this eight-treasure chili sauce this morning according to his instructions. I told him not to forget to come and try it! Did he oversleep? Fortunately, I had the foresight to save a bowl in advance. Otherwise, when the old man came, I'm afraid he wouldn't have been able to smell it!"
The disciple next to him saw him looking outside at least ten times during this period of time and couldn't help asking,
"Master, breakfast time is almost over. Who are you waiting for?" As he said this, he reached out to take the bowl of Eight Treasure Chili Sauce, thinking that it was specially reserved for them, the master and his disciple.
It was the first time he saw his master make this eight-treasure chili sauce. He couldn't help drooling just by smelling the smell and had been thinking about it for a long time!
Wang Qiu slapped the back of his hand with a "Pa!" sound, turned around and glared at him, "Get out of the way! Can't you see this is reserved for people? If you want to eat, wait until you get off the bus and go home."
The young apprentice looked aggrieved, and imitated Wang Qiu's behavior just now, looking towards the door and muttering,
"It's past breakfast time, and no one has come yet! Master, who are you waiting for? Do you think they've already eaten and won't come?"
Wang Qiu was also puzzled. He replied,
"It was the old man with glasses who came to eat at the dining car last night. He was the one who taught me this dish! He said he was craving it and said he would make it this morning and ask him to come over. I don't know what happened, he still hasn't come."
The young disciple blinked, as if he had thought of something, his eyes suddenly widened, and he slapped his thigh.
"Oh no! The man who was carried away in the middle of the night last night, could he be the old man you were talking about?"
"What's wrong? Was there an accident in the car last night?"
Wang Qiu slept soundly last night and heard nothing! He got up early in the morning and was busy preparing breakfast. He really had no idea what happened in the car last night.
The young apprentice nodded and told him the news he heard from the flight attendant in the morning.
Wang Qiu suddenly realized it! He looked at the bowl of eight-treasure chili sauce again, sighed and shook his head!
I hope I can have the chance to meet that old man again, so that he can try the chili sauce he made himself and see if it tastes the way he imagined!
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