Chapter 2: May's Fresh Flowers (Part One)

  With a beauty by his side, Lu Ming's fingers flew across the keyboard as he worked with renewed vigor. In just half an evening, he had rewritten and expanded the short musical drama "Songhua River" into a small play with over a dozen scenes and more than 700 lines of dialogue.

  The protagonist of the play is also named Tian Renyu, an old landlord who has lived in Northeast China for generations. His ancestors had more than a dozen cattle and over 300 mu of land. He lives with his daughter and two sons, living a life of luxury and extravagance.

  After the September 18th Incident, a group of Northeastern Army remnants passed through the village, and Tian Ruyu took out food and dried meat to entertain them. However, he refused to let his sons and daughters follow the army, and secretly educated his children and tenants that changing dynasties was a common occurrence, and even if the Japanese were bad, they would still have to find people to collect taxes from. As long as the Tian family remained obedient citizens, who did it matter whether they paid taxes to whom? In the past, when mountain bandits came to visit, didn't the villagers also use food and money to send them off?

  With this mentality, they welcomed the Japanese rulers. In the first month, the Japanese took away half of the village's grain, and Tian Jia led the way in handing it over. Anyway, as long as half was left, everyone could drink thin porridge, hunt and fish, and make do until next year's harvest.

  The second month, the Japanese came again to repair the artillery tower and ordered Tanaka's people to provide 40 laborers. The eldest son of the Tan family led the tenant farmers to respond to the call, but then never returned.

  The third month, the Japanese came again. Tian Ruyu received the news in advance and hid his youngest son in the deep mountains. The Japanese, led by the translator, surrounded the village, eating and drinking, and took away anything valuable they saw, including the incense burner that the Tian family used to worship their ancestors. Tian Ruyu endured it silently, only praying for the heavens to bless them and for his family to safely pass this difficult time.

  After getting drunk and full, the Japanese took Tien Yu's eldest daughter into the house. "Dad, are you still a man?" Under his daughter's indignant questioning, Tien Yu squatted on the ground with his head in his hands.

  The eldest daughter, unwilling to suffer humiliation, crashed into the wall and killed herself. The Japanese devils were enraged with shame and set fire to the house. In the flames, Tian Ruyu could no longer bear it, grabbed a kitchen knife and rushed towards the Japanese devils. He was shot dead by the interpreter and the devil soldiers.

  After returning home, Tianjia Xiaozi found the bodies of his family members in the ruins. He vowed to avenge them, singing "Songhua River", and went to Linhai Snowy Plain to find the anti-Japanese troops.

  "My home is on the Songhua River in Northeast China, where there are forests and coal mines, and vast fields of soybeans and sorghum. My home is on the Songhua River in Northeast China, where my fellow villagers live, and where my aged parents reside..."

  The structure of the story is simple, but it's very close to ordinary people's lives. The first performance after rehearsal received a full house of applause. Later on the journey, every time they passed through a slightly larger village, this play became the finale of the show, and every time the performance ended, there were audiences crying and reluctant to leave.

  Tian Renyu changed roles and played the role of a local landlord, and the role of a Japanese soldier naturally fell to Zhang Songling. In order to act like one, he also made an effort to learn many Japanese phrases from Tian Renyu, repeating each sentence repeatedly, trying his best to learn them perfectly.

  His tireless efforts were fully rewarded. Several times during the performance, he was nearly beaten by angry audience members who thought he was a real Japanese devil and hit him with bricks. Fortunately, Zhou Ju, who played the young master of the landlord's family, reacted quickly and avoided disaster several times. Screenwriter Lu Ming was delighted and hated Tian Ruyu, who played the landlord, to the point of grinding his teeth. At every opportunity, he would put on a patriarchal air and force Lu Ming's character to pay homage to him.

  The little pepper-like Liu Jing naturally wouldn't stand idly by and watch Lu Ming get bullied, so she jumped out to fight for justice. Then she fell into Han Qiu's clutches time and time again. The two part-time reporters, now the big stars of the team, were surrounded by a crowd of people asking them questions every time they performed. At the same time, the donation boxes managed by the two girls were filled to the brim with coins, silver dollars, and even rings inlaid with jewels by tearful audiences. To the point that when they passed through Shen State, several local rascals saw an opportunity to make money and, under the guise of collecting protection fees, came forward to extort them.

  "Stop singing, stop singing. It's a hot day, what a mournful sound. Don't you know this is Old Man Cui's territory? You dare to ask for food without even asking permission, do you think the knives in our brothers' hands are made of paper?"

  "You think you can snatch it from the Japanese? What kind of ability is that?! Seeing the other side rushing towards the donation box, Han Qiudeng suddenly became anxious, hugging the box with both hands and refusing to let go."

  "Get out! You think you can take it from the Japanese? Acting tough in your own home, what's the point!" Tian Qingyu, who played the landlord, was not as weak as he seemed in the story. Seeing someone threaten Han Qiu, he immediately jumped down from the "stage" and stood in front of the thugs with a fierce attitude.

  "This is the medical expenses collected for the twenty-nine brothers, do you dare to rob?!" Zhang Songling, who played the role of a Japanese soldier, held up his wooden sword and rushed out fiercely, making gestures at the bandits.

  Several other students rushed forward, shielding Han Qiu and Liu Jing behind their chests. The stage was suddenly in chaos, with the audience who had been immersed in the story rushing over and shouting loudly at the thugs: "Shameless! Are you capable of going against the Japanese? Bullying a few student kids is what you're good at?"

  It's unclear whether they were afraid of offending the crowd or still harbored a shred of shame, but several notorious thugs who usually lorded it over others actually blushed for once, pulled down their hat brims and slunk away with their tails between their legs.

  "Fellow countrymen, we have 450 million people, while the number of little Japan is only one-tenth of ours. As long as we unite and face outward together, we can drive them out of North China and out of the whole country!" Fang Guoqiang saw that public opinion could be used, stood up again, and led the shouting of anti-Japanese slogans.

  "Unite and face outward! Unite and face outward!" The surrounding crowd was stirred up, repeating the anti-Japanese slogans over and over again.

  "Drive Japanese devils out of China!"

  "Defend Pingjin, defend North China! Defend our homeland!"

  On the second day, accompanied by exciting slogans, the Blood Flower Society's team continued to head north. The three carters were also affected by everyone and drove the carts exceptionally fast. Only after passing through Baoding, the old highway gradually became congested. Large batches of refugees, carrying the last bit of property from their homes, hastily walked south along the highway.

  "The Japanese devils are about to attack Beiping! Where are you students going?!" In the midst of a crowd surging southward, three horse-drawn carriages moving against the tide stood out. Soon, some fleeing elderly people noticed that the direction of the carriages was wrong and stopped in their tracks, kindly reminding them.

  "We're going to Beiping to join the Anti-Japanese Student Army!" Tian Renyu announced proudly from his seat on the cart to the refugees.

  "Where are you going?!" The kind old man was stunned, and then asked in a loud voice, "Don't go! Don't go! Listen to me, hurry up and take the bus back home! The Japanese devils are fierce, even the 29th Army can't beat them. What can you few students do? Listen, don't show off, hurry back home!"

  "Yes, yes! Don't show off anymore, hurry back home. The Japanese have planes and cannons, you'll just be throwing your lives away if you go up there. Go back, hurry back!" Many kind-hearted old people stood beside the horse cart, advising them in a flurry of words.

  Their advice, of course, came from a good intention to protect the young people. However, it made those who heard it blush one by one. "You old man want to escape? Just escape yourself. See where you can still escape to. We..." Tian Qingyu raised his head, with a proud face, "Even if we die in battle, we must face north."

  "I'd rather die in battle than be a slave to an invading country!" Han Qiu flipped over from the back of the carriage, laughing and leaning his head on Tian Qingyu's shoulder. "You hurry up and leave by yourself, don't worry about us. When the country is in danger, someone has to take the lead. Otherwise, even if everyone retreats to Cliff Mountain, what can they do?"

  The cliff is where, the old people do not know. It must be a very, very far place. But this determination on the faces of young men and women made them dare not speak again. Silently making way for a road, seeing off the horse-drawn carriage against the flow of people. Until they walked very far away, someone shook their head and sighed, "This group of foolish children, alas! What a pity!"

  "I don't even know whose young master or miss they are, all dressed up so neatly, but they don't understand the situation!" The surrounding refugees sighed and echoed in agreement.

  "At times like these, we can't turn back!" Fang Guoqiang's heart was once again stimulated by the numb masses, standing on the carriage, one hand holding Lu Ming's shoulder, shouting loudly, "We can't let people say that we only know how to stir up others to go to the battlefield and die. We hide in a safe place and speak empty words! We want to let future generations see, how many men of honor are there on this vast land of China?! Even if we all fall today, there will still be tens of thousands of compatriots who will stand up, trampling our hot blood, advancing forward under the enemy's artillery fire..."

  In the carriage, no one paid attention to what he was saying anymore. All members of the Blood Flower Society, including Zhang Songling who joined later, understood that war was imminent and closed their lips, thinking quietly about their concerns. Lu City, Provincial City, the old locust tree at Xiangzi Mouth, the pork butcher shop that emitted a bloody smell all year round, and also, also, the ironworker uncle who liked to take advantage of others, his two half-sisters at home...

  "If I die in battle, I wonder if Father would be more heartbroken or proud?" Suddenly thinking of a complicated question, young Zhang Songling opened his mouth and let out a bitter laugh.

  His own father was like the old landlord in a play, and he figured that without experiencing a family's downfall, he wouldn't understand his son's thoughts. Relying on his understanding of his old father, Zhang Songling firmly believed this point. However, he hoped that his father would never have to understand him. Never!

  Shaking his head, he continued to look around. Suddenly, he saw Lu Ming's slender white fingers intertwined with several other delicate fingers. It was Liu Jing, and he was taken aback, quickly turning his head away, not daring to look. But then he happened to see Han Qiu leaning sideways, burying her black long hair into Tian Qingyu's chest.

  Suddenly, Zhang Songling's heart seemed to have been blown into a gust of wind, and he smiled lightly.

  In early May, the air was filled with the fragrance of flowers.

  Wine slave note: Why is nobody speaking in the comment section? Is it that you don't like to read, or are you all reading pirated copies?! Please, new books need support.