Explore Chapter 27 of 'Moment in Peking' with the original Chinese text, English translation, detailed Chinese vocabulary explanations, and audio of the Chinese original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
It was July 7, 1937. The cannon fire at the Marco Polo Bridge shook all of China, and it shook Beijing as well. Mulan was spending the summer with Sunya at their home in Hangzhou. When the news came, the teacup in her hand nearly fell. War, the war she had long awaited, had finally arrived. Her heart surged with excitement, then with fear, but she quickly composed herself. She recalled a saying her father often quoted: "A restless mind harms the spirit." She took a deep breath and said to Sunya, "We must prepare."
Japanese forces quickly occupied Beijing, and the south was also in a state of panic. Mulan and Sunya decided to flee inland with their children. They packed a few simple belongings, said goodbye to relatives and friends, and set out westward. The train was packed with refugees, and the carriages were filled with a cacophony of crying, shouting, and cursing. Mulan held her young son tightly, while Sunya protected their daughter. The family struggled forward amidst the chaos.
The train moved in fits and starts, sometimes stopping for hours at a time. Outside the window flashed scenes of bombed villages, panicked civilians scattering, and the shadows of Japanese planes strafing at low altitude. Mulan felt waves of anger, but she knew this was not the time to vent. She took care of her family, sustaining their strength with the meager food and water they had. At every stop, she vigilantly scanned the sky for enemy aircraft.
When they reached Zhengzhou, they switched to a truck and traveled for several more days before finally arriving in Xi'an. The city was also crammed with refugees, and the streets were filled with people speaking in various dialects. Mulan and Sunya found a humble place to stay and settled in temporarily. Mulan planted some vegetables in the courtyard, while Sunya looked for odd jobs outside the city. Life was hard, but the family was safe at last.
One night, Mulan heard distant rumbling of artillery. She woke up and looked at her sleeping family, her heart a swirl of emotions. She thought of her old home in Beijing, the jujube tree in the garden, the bronze vessels her father had buried, Manniang, Pingya, and everything about the Zeng family. All that had become distant memories. Now, she only wished for the war to end quickly, so her children could live a peaceful life.
Mulan recalled her father's words: "Everything has its owner. No one can possess it forever." She felt like one of those bronze vessels under the jujube tree, having passed through countless owners and now arriving in a new place. She believed that as long as people lived, home would exist. She whispered to Sunya, "We will not be defeated." Sunya tightened his grip on her hand and nodded.
The war raged on, but Mulan's heart had grown strong. She knew this was not one person's war. It was the war of all China. She saw the people around her, each one like herself, gritting their teeth and persevering through hardship. She felt she was no longer the girl hiding behind her father, but a mother, a wife, a Chinese. She would stand tall amidst the storm and wait for the dawn.