Chapter 4 Honors (Four Parts)

After waiting for more than a week in confusion and expectation, in late July, Tang Ren and Li Hui, local cadres from several guerrilla detachments near the headquarters of the North Military Sub-district, put on their faces like traveling merchants, hid ammunition in the carriage loaded with groceries, embarked on the journey northward.

It was midsummer, and it was the best season for scenery outside the border. However, travelers were rarely seen along the way. The destruction of war on China was not only the loss of personnel and property. The mental state of the entire nation has also reached its extreme in the past two years. Although the Japanese put on the radio speakers of the towns along the way, the cheerful songs of the girl star Li Xianglan kept circulating, and the street book stalls were also re-stated by Peking University professor Zhou Zuoren, but the haggardness and confusion written on people's faces were far from diluted by a few songs and a few short essays. Every figure passing by the plaster was almost hunched over, but when you look back, your eyes were full of hatred, (Note 1, Note 2)

In order to avoid the Japanese inspection, the "caravan" tried not to enter the city. Even if they needed to replenish dry food, they would find a secluded place to hide the carriage first, and then send a few people to the grain store in the town to buy it nearby. They would leave quickly every time they bought it, and would never delay too much in the market.

Thanks to the vast and sparsely populated natural environment outside the country, it is not difficult to find places where carriages can be hidden along the way. The size of towns on the grassland is very small. Even if you deliberately avoid them, you can't get away from them. Not only are fake vendors such as Tang Renli, but some real travelers who take advantage of the warm weather to go north to do business will also easily not pass through the town and take a detour in the wild. They may encounter bandits, or they may not meet them. The probability of being unlucky is at most 50%. If you pass through the city, you have to pay tax once when you go out of the city gate and pay tax once again when you leave the city gate. In addition to the filial piety to traitors and gangsters, the probability of being unlucky is 100%. If you are a businessman, you know how to go.

The Japanese devils and the puppet army also knew that the vendors were unwilling to pay taxes to enter the city, so they tried every means to set up many temporary levels in the wild. However, after these levels were established, they often lost most of their functions. The traitors who were responsible for checking goods and levying taxes on vendors either became mature "family birds" and turned a blind eye to all passers-by, or were found by underground resisters to clear them, and their bodies and heads were different, thus becoming a role model for successors, so that the latter could fully understand what rules should be followed after being away from the scope of protection of the Japanese.

Travelers have always had a tradition of rushing with their companions. The more they are in a chaotic era, the more they like to keep warm. This can increase everyone's ability to resist the robbery of horse thieves, and the second is to take the opportunity to exchange information on commodity markets from various places. Therefore, even if the final destination is different, as long as there is a certain overlap along the way, they will try to get together in a bunch.

Although Tang Renli and a group of guerrilla cadres were fake vendors, in order not to attract too much attention, they could only follow the crowd. After three days on the road, they became familiar with each other with two other vendors who detoured north. Naturally, the three teams became one and walked forward accordingly.

It’s okay for other guerrilla cadres to be said that they were from ordinary families. After joining the guerrillas, they were responsible for logistics and production. Their image and temperament did not change much. They got together with the peddlers and soon became a group of people. When it was Tang Renli’s turn, it was a little troublesome. As a descendant of a Chinese “piglet”, his appearance was originally very different from those in the northern inlands. Before each meal, he insisted on being grateful to the Lord. It fell into the eyes of outsiders and became more and more mysterious. (Note 3)

Fortunately, the traffic officer Lao He had prepared for a long time. When he introduced him to outsiders for the first time, he described him as the eldest master who was bewitched by foreign monks and captured by the treasurer to inherit the family business. It could block many pairs of doubts. However, while his colleagues were moved by foreign monks, they would inevitably "induce" Mr. Tang with enthusiasm, saying that the great world is not only the kindness of parents' raising, and the gods in the east and west have their own territory. If they cross the boundary, they will inevitably have disputes, all kinds of people, and many different things are all there.

Whenever this happens, Tang Renli always listens quietly and smiles on his lips. As an adult who has experienced many worldly warmth and coldness, he knows that the vendors who are traveling with him have no malice, and from the bottom of his heart, he can feel a kind of human warmth that belongs to the same race. Although God and his elders' eyes, every soul is equal and will not be treated differently due to race and skin color, it is an absolute fact that white skin in the world is always more equal than other skins at this moment.

"But your old man still cares about you. The road to Heishi Village this year is much easier to walk than in previous years, and the goods are much easier to get rid of than last year, unless the things you brought are too wrong." After enlightening Tang Renli, his colleagues often don't forget to add another sentence, so as not to misunderstand his father and let down the old man's good intentions.

"Is that so, why is it easier to walk this year than in previous years? Did the Japanese organize the construction of roads?" Tang Renli smiled and asked casually, not because he wanted to know the answer, but simply to prevent the other party from feeling that he was rude and disliked to take care of others.

"This, your old man has never told you." The enthusiastic vendors were stunned for a moment, lowered their voices, and responded hesitantly.

"But, maybe I said it, I didn't listen carefully." Tang Renli scratched her scalp embarrassedly, and her face began to get hot, for her poor acting skills and for her curiosity.

"Oh, you are really fooled by the foreign monk." The vendors looked around. Although their voices were low, they revealed unconcealed pride. "The foreign god hanging on his chest, what can you do? Now on the grassland, this one works."

While talking, they took out a small red flag from their sleeves, shook it proudly, and then quickly took it back, "The Red Bearded Ping An flag is much better than your foreign god. Within a radius of 500 miles from the Crescent Lake, whenever you insert this flag into the car, no one dares to make trouble for you anymore. Otherwise, even if he has three heads and six arms, our Hong Master will have to cut off his bald heads together."

Note 1: Li Xianglan, a Japanese singer born in Northeast China, was spotted by the newly established Manying in 1937 and became a popular star, representing "China-Japan Goodwill".

Note 2: Zhou Zuoren, the younger brother of Lu Xun, was entrusted to stay at Peking University to take care of the school property after the July 7 Incident. Soon after, he joined the traitor government and took up a false position. During the Cultural Revolution, he died of a dismal manuscript fee.
Chapter completed!