Chapter 3 South of the Mountain and North of the Mountain (Grade 6, Volume 1)

  If there were no Japanese, the song would have echoed in the mountains forever. But now, all peace and tranquility are about to be shattered by gunfire. Zhang Songling did not want such a peaceful scene to be destroyed by gunfire, even though he knew in his heart that war would eventually reach Weijia Village, and no matter how he escaped, it was only a matter of letting the painting stay for a few more days.

  He quickly picked up the box, turned his head and went down the mountain, fleeing as if he was escaping from that long, winding song. Looking at the back of the man hastily leaving on the hillside, the girls who were singing all covered their mouths, their bright big eyes filled with astonishment. This was not the effect they wanted, if local boys encountered today's scene, they would definitely chase after them like monkeys, surrounding the sisters and running around. But that outsider, unexpectedly didn't understand a bit of everyone's song.

  "Quail sister, won't it be that we scared him away!" A round-faced little girl stomped her foot and asked her companion beside her.

  "No way, she's a girl who walked all the way from Shandong by herself. She's got guts!" The girl nicknamed Quan Zi had a goose egg face and was slightly taller than the other girls, with a more resolute look in her eyes.

  "What's going on?! He can't understand our songs at all!" The round-faced girl opened her mouth wide, with a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

  "Dead girl, have you set your eyes on him?!" Quail child smiled and replied evasively.

  "You've taken a fancy to him, have you? It was my mother, she told me to come over with everyone and take a look. They, they just...” The round-faced girl's words trailed off as she didn't know how to explain her actions, her head hung low in embarrassment, and she added in a mosquito-like voice: "Just came to see what city people are like, and if there's any difference between them and us folks around here. They don't care whether he notices or not!"

  "Right, right!" The other girls also looked guilty and blushed as they defended themselves, "We just came to take a look, see if he's really as good-looking as everyone says. We didn't have any other ideas!"

  "Haven't you seen enough?! What else are you dissatisfied with?!" Goose Egg Face Big Sister Guan shook her head, asking back in a very provocative tone.

  Upon hearing this, the faces of all the girls turned redder than peach blossoms in spring. They jumped back a few steps, chattering and complaining, "Sister Quan is so mean!" "Sister Quan is dead!" "We won't tell you anything anymore!" "He's just whiter, that's all. My mother said before, the whiter a man looks, the more unreliable he is!"

  "Dead girl, how old are you and you're already thinking of relying on a man!" The goose-egg-faced quail smiled again and gave the girls a severe blow.

  The girls were so embarrassed that they blushed and lowered their heads, each playing with the hem of their clothes. The goose-egg-faced girl smiled and playfully scratched each of their noses with her finger, then asked in a low voice: "Who else didn't see clearly just now?! Want to keep looking? Follow me, I'll help you think of a way!"

  The girls' hearts skipped a beat, and they instinctively wanted to follow the footsteps of the quail. But as soon as they thought that doing so would be equivalent to admitting to Quail Sister that they had a crush on that pale-skinned little fatty from out of town, their maidenly reserve took over in an instant, and they hesitated, pulling their feet back.

  Only the round-faced little girl who asked the question first was unwilling to retreat. She bit her lower lip with neat teeth, and quickly caught up, "My eyesight is not good, I can't see things far away. My mother said that next month someone will catch a hawk for me and drip the hawk's tears into my eyes, which can cure my eye disease. Sister Cui, wait for me, I'll go with you!"

  This excuse is clumsy and laughable, but it's enough to cover up the shame for a while. The girl called Quail was stunned, smiled and turned her head, holding the round-faced girl's hand, "Okay, Hongxia, I'll take you with me. But whether they will bother with us when we get there, I'm not responsible!"

  "He doesn't want to care about us, and we don't bother to care about him either." The round-faced girl tossed her head, and her small nose twisted into a cute little circle. "What's the big deal if he's just a bit fairer-skinned? Who cares?"

  As she spoke in a tough tone, she quickened her pace, leaving the other girls far behind. The other girls wanted to catch up, but they couldn't muster enough courage and stood among the trees, gazing wistfully for a while before dispersing with regret.

  "My mother said he's Wei Grandfather's own grandson! Quail Sister, do you think this is true?" After all, it was the first time she took the initiative to meet a man, and the round-faced girl had a small deer hidden in her heart, walking while finding topics to boost her courage.

  "It's possible, I'm not too sure!" The goose-egg-faced quail suddenly lost interest in talking and responded vaguely.

  "Isn't your uncle the vice president of the association? Didn't he tell you?" The round-faced girl was innocent and naive, completely unaware of the goose-egg face's concerns, thought for a moment, and continued to dig deeper.

  "My uncle and dad didn't get along, they rarely visited each other. If it wasn't for my aunt's urging, my mom wouldn't have let me come over to visit relatives this time!"

  "Oh!" The round-faced girl nodded, revealing a thoughtful expression. She and Quan Zi were both from Yangjiazhuang, and they had been good sisters since childhood, knowing each other inside out.

  "Hurry up and let's go, or we'll miss it again. My younger brother has been following Wei Laoye to help with the work and lives in the same courtyard as that person." For some reason, Quan Zi suddenly became talkative again and revealed her own plans and intentions.

  "Is your younger male cousin the one called Xiao Shuanzi?! From Zhao Village! I even made him cry when we were kids!" A timid little boy's figure flashed before the round-faced girl, who clapped her hands and asked.

  "You're so old now, and you still think fighting is something to be proud of!" The quail turned sideways, poked the round-faced girl's forehead with her finger, and scolded with a smile.

  "Others just want to say, haven't you forgotten about him?!" The round-faced girl stomped her foot in a spoiled manner. Then she asked with great concern, "What about your younger cousin, that little scamp, will he know we're here for a blind date? Will he secretly tell him? That would be too embarrassing, forget it, I'm not going anymore!"

  As she spoke, she covered her scorching little round face with her hands and opened her eyes wide to peek out through the gaps between her fingers.

  "Suit yourself!" replied the elder sister of the quail, quickening her pace for no reason.

  "Wait for me, wait for me!" The round-faced girl quickly put down her hand and chased after him, "I'll go with you, I promised, okay? I'm going with you, not for myself! Don't push everything onto me later!"

  Goose egg face swift white round face red glow, again holding the latter's hand, the expression on her face can't tell whether it's sly or joyful. The two sisters often walk mountain roads, their footsteps not a bit slower than men's. Before long, they had already arrived at the ancient temple that was requisitioned as the Iron Blood Society's command center, looking around cautiously before slipping in through a side door.

  "Who?! Halt, don't move!" A sturdy-looking young boy about half grown immediately came running over with a wooden stick in hand, loudly questioning.

  The two sisters were startled, quickly stopped in their tracks, and after taking a closer look at the half-grown child's appearance, they immediately raised their eyebrows and launched a counterattack in unison, "Damn little brat, what nonsense are you yelling about, trying to scare people to death!"

  "Quail sister, Little Red Cloud, how did you two come here?!" The half-point little boy, known as Zhuāngzi, quickly put away his wooden stick and asked with a somewhat flattering expression.

  "Are you saying I'm not allowed to come in?!" Before the quail could speak, the round-faced girl Hongxia hastily responded. "This isn't some imperial palace, are people not even allowed to enter?!"

  Xiao Dangzi was scolded and felt wronged, rubbed his nose, and explained in a low voice: "It's true, it's Master Wei's order, no idle people are allowed to enter. This is the front yard, if you go to the back yard, there are still people pointing guns at you!"

  Upon hearing that it was Old Military Advisor Wei Ding's order, the two girls immediately didn't dare to question it. Within a radius of ten miles and eight villages, almost becoming a holder of the highest degree in the imperial examination, Old Wei Ding is like a half-god existence. As long as he says something, no one dares to disobey easily.

  Just as I was feeling depressed, I suddenly heard a very pleasant voice coming from the west wing of the house, "Shuāng zi, who are you talking to? What's going on?"

  "Talking to my sister!" The half-grown boy, Zhangzi, hastily replied while waving his hands at the two sisters, signaling them not to make a fuss. "My sister brought my cousin over to visit relatives and heard that I was learning from Old Man Wei, so they came over to take a look!"

  "Ah!" The people in the house fell silent, and then another wave of abacus bead sounds came. Clickety-clack, very rhythmic.

  The girl with a goose-egg face and a round face pricked up her ears to listen for a moment, lowered her voice and asked Zhang, "Is it, is it Director Zhang, Deputy Commander Zhang? The one who came from the big city in the south?"

  "Not Zhang's deputy, who else!" The half-grown boy Xiaozi immediately became spirited. "He has skills, Old Man Wei wants to calculate the accounts for half a night, he flips through the abacus, and in the time it takes to eat a meal, he can figure it out clearly. The day before yesterday, my sixth uncle came over to collect things, as soon as he reported the number of people, his side had already said how many catties of rice and how many bullets they should receive. Without even firing a shot!"

  At the age of twelve or thirteen, it was a time when one adored heroes. Zhang Songling could write and calculate, and he could also shoot with both hands, meeting all the heroic standards in Xiaozi's heart. Without the need for Quan'er and Hongxia to cheer him on, he began to talk endlessly about the exploits of the person in the western wing room, praising Zhang Songling to the skies, saying that if one missed him, they would regret it for the rest of their life, as if he was a rare talent.

  Xiaoyuan's face turned red with excitement, her eyes shining brightly as she listened. She couldn't wait to rush into the house and make Zhang Songling remember her appearance. Gaodan, who was slightly older and more composed, listened for a while to Zhao Biaozi's words, furrowed his brow, and asked in a very soft voice, "Why did Grandpa Wei only let him be a deputy squadron leader? Isn't he very capable?"

  "What do you know?!" Hearing someone questioning his idol, Zhao Kuizi stood up straight and loudly argued, "Old Man Wei said that the road must be walked step by step. You guys don't see that he's just a deputy squadron leader now, but when the protection teams from Zhaojiazhuang and Xujiazhuang merge over, Old Man Wei will merge all the squadrons into two large teams. At that time, Zhang Gege will at least be a deputy team leader, managing four squadron leaders under him!"

  The two village protection teams of Zhao and Xu merging with the Iron Blood Society was not something the girls were interested in knowing. However, from Zhao Xiaochuan's words, they knew that as long as Wei Grandfather had a say in the Iron Blood Society, Zhang Songling's future would be very promising. Thinking of his refined face and sunny smile, the two girls' hearts beat faster. They looked at each other, took a deep breath, and suggested, "Why don't we... why don't we sneak over there and take a look? See what he's thinking, see how he plans to make his move?"

  "Hmm! My mother said that from now on, if you want to manage the household, you must learn to use an abacus early!"

  Encouraging each other, the girls pushed aside Zhao Xiao and tiptoed towards the west wing window. Through the wooden window lattice, they quietly cast their eyes on the face of the person inside. Handsome, dashing, with a hint of masculine determination at his temples. Such a boy, within a hundred miles around, had never been seen before.

  How can I get him to notice me? How can I get this burden next to me to take the initiative to retreat? If I had known, I should have come alone. Before the girls could sort out their chaotic thoughts, the abacus sound in the room suddenly stopped, and then that handsome face suddenly lifted up, asking towards the window: "Shuāngzi, what's going on?! The grain on the account, how did it suddenly increase so much?!"