Hunger for a hundred years

Chapter 15 (15)
"Third wife, I don't dare anymore."
Yan Shi squatted down with tears in his eyes. "Boy, the third grandma will give you a crock pot. You go to steal other people's beans at night, bake them in a crock pot and eat them. Things in spring are very cold, and you will get a bad stomach if you eat them raw."
He Da has not heard such concerns for a long time.He passed out.

Yan Shi didn't care about him anymore, went home and brought the discarded earthen jar, put it beside He Da, and even sent him several boxes of matches at a cost.

When He Da woke up, it was already noon the next day.

After that, He Da followed Yan's words.The countryside gets dark quickly, and as soon as the sky closes, the mountains in the four fields shrink into a black spot.Those from a better family would light tung oil lamps after dark, and those who could afford food would only light on the lamps when they were threading needles and threads. Work such as chopping pigweed was done in the dark.Even if all the houses on the slope were lit with tung oil lamps, the faint light was melted by the darkness before reaching the threshold.It was at this time that He Da went to steal pea beans. In order to prevent his master from noticing, he grabbed at most one or two pea pods from each pea tree.After stealing the soybeans, he surrounded them on three sides with stones to form a simple stove, where he could get some water to boil it; there was a lot of firewood, and there were dry branches everywhere on the mountains and ridges.

The roasted soybeans are really delicious, and the tender smell of raw soybeans turns into a sweet taste.
Although it is already May, the mountains are still very cold after nightfall.He Da picked up a lot of green vines with leaves, and left some pine branches. After drying, he can cover his body to keep warm.

Soon, a man died on the slope.Unfortunately, this person was buried in the place where He Da usually lived.That night, when he fell asleep next to Xinfen, his heart was trembling and he couldn't sleep all night.The next day he moved his location, but he still couldn't sleep. Those ghost stories were active in the mountains. For a while, it seemed that the whole Hejiapo had become the home of ghosts.On the third night, He Da sneaked into the yard with his precious earthen jar.He settled behind He Kunzhang's house.He Kunzhang has a side building made of thatched huts. There are no people living in it, no pigs or cows, and not even a dog, so it is the most difficult to be found.

When he heard He Kunzhang snoring everywhere, He Da set up the stove and prepared dinner for himself.

A piece of thatch was ignited, like a fuse, and the flames rushed upwards.

But He Daquan didn't realize it, and poured the soybeans into the earthen pot impatiently.

The hut is on fire, and when the wind blows, there is a whoosh, and the fire will flourish.

There was the first cry from He Kunzhang's daughter, Chrysanthemum, in the room: "It's on fire! It's on fire!"
Then there was the sound of ping, ping, pong, pong, and the whole family of He Kunzhang got up. While holding the basin, they shouted loudly: "It's on fire! Kunzhang's house is on fire!"
Si Shan responded, murderous as terror.

The courtyards on several floors were awakened, and the entire slope was full of turmoil.With fast pace, he has already run towards this side with a basin full of water.

Like a monster, the fire swallowed up the hut in an instant, and its blood-red tongue stretched towards He Kunzhang's main room.

At this time, He Da, who was standing blankly in the corner, thought of running away.

All the adults and children on the slope got up, those who could put out the fire were fighting the fire, and those who couldn't put out the fire were giving advice.In the countryside, you can stand by and watch everything, except firefighting.Everyone knows the truth of the lips and teeth.The flames were so high that the slope was glowing red, and crackling noises were heard from time to time. The ashes that exploded rose with the flames, flew out of the sea of ​​flames, and then fell one after another. Don't dare to get close.Kunzhang's wife, Wang, was lying in the courtyard dam, crying.Kunzhang rushed in and out, grabbing valuable boxes and cabinets.One person shouted: "Don't rush to grab things, hurry up and break the fire!" Kunzhang completely lost his mind and followed others' orders. At this time, he stood on a big bench and kicked towards the gray wall.As long as the gray wall is collapsed, the fire path can be cut off, so as not to damage the main house.Kunzhang kicked a hole in the gray wall, but his foot was caught in the hole, and he couldn't get it out. The fire next to him was short of fuel, so he wrapped his foot and burned it. Kunzhang screamed and pulled his foot into his arms.

He managed to pull his foot over, it was already covered with blood blisters, and the back of his foot was poked with a long hole by the strips on the gray wall.

Everyone lifted Kunzhang from the big bench and worked together, the gray wall finally collapsed, the fire path was cut off, and the main house was saved.

Pianxia was burned to the ground.

After completely removing the embers, Kunzhang thought of a question: How did the fire start?
People held torches and went to the hut—now an open space—to check. He Da's earthen pot had been smashed long ago, but people saw a stone stove.People on the stone stove slope surrounded by three sides are familiar with it.

"Niu Ri's!" Kunzhang snapped out a few words from between his teeth.

After a while, he said again: "Tonight, he must be skinned!"
Regardless of the pain in his feet, he took seven or eight torches and said: "Please help me find someone. If I can't find it, I will pinch two catties of rice. If I find it, pinch a pinch!"
When dozens of people heard this, they all took torches and surrounded the mountain.

The mountain was brightly illuminated by pine oil torches, and there were shouts everywhere, even the other side of the Qingxi River was alarmed.

Instead, the courtyard became deserted.

At this time, a figure slipped quietly under the yellow jute tree where He Da was hiding, patted the tree, and said softly: "Hide well, don't come down, they can't find you." After saying that, he walked into a small road, but quickly returned, He warned: "Don't be afraid, don't make a sound, as long as you are caught by them, you will be skinned!"
He Da, who was hiding in the thick shade of the Jujube tree, didn't know who was talking to him under the tree, only vaguely heard a woman's voice.How could he not be afraid, his trousers were already wet with urine, and he was shaking like chaff.Fortunately, it was a big tree. If it was a small tree, as long as someone walked under the tree, it would be exposed immediately.

The people looking for him came back from the mountain one by one, and gathered in Kunzhang's courtyard.Through the cracks in the branches and leaves of the Jue tree, He Da could just see the situation in the courtyard dam.He found that Kunzhang was standing in the center with a water bamboo cane, and the courtyard was full of torches and voices.He heard someone say: "Maybe he has run away from Hejiapo." Kunzhang scolded jumpily: "He ran to the corner of the world, and I will bring him back, peel his skin, and fry his heart." !-- this cow day!"
The courtyard was bustling for hours, and they all dispersed.Kunzhang scolded alone in the courtyard for a while, but also entered the house helplessly.

The light in his room was on for a long time, probably to caress his injured foot.When Kunzhang turned off the lights and went to sleep, it was already after the third watch.

The figure under the tree appeared again, calling softly: "Come down."
He Da came down in confusion.

Standing in front of him was the young daughter-in-law who had rewarded him with food.The little daughter-in-law was one of the first people to arrive at the scene of the fire. She watched He Da climb up the Jue tree.

"Run out of Hejiapo immediately and never come back!"
He Da was still trembling, unable to say a word.

"Hurry up and go."
The little daughter-in-law pulled him and walked quickly to the path leading to Dongbachang.She was carrying a large flower basket, apparently for cover.

They walked quickly, and it was bright day, and they arrived at the entrance of Dongbachang.

"I'm going back, you run away, where are you going to run?"
He Da didn't speak.

"Why haven't you been looking for your aunts? Don't they all live in Wanggulou?"
"I've looked for it several times, but I can't find it."
"Do you know your aunt?"
He Da shook his head.He had seen several aunts when he was very young, but he had no memory of them for a long time.

The young daughter-in-law pondered, thinking, Xu Lian's sisters probably don't want to take in this nephew anymore, since they obviously live in Wanggu Tower, and Xu Lian has made such a big name, how could they not find him?It must be that they knew about He Da's situation and told their neighbors not to reveal their relationship with Xu Lian.The little daughter-in-law looked at the gray sky with dry eyes, and said firmly: "Just go to your skinny old man! No matter what you say, your mother is buried there, and your skinny old man is better than outsiders. You can't wander like this anymore. Otherwise, it won't be long before you die."
He Da looked sad, and the young daughter-in-law saw that it was caused by the mention of his aunt, and comforted her: "I can't go to your aunt now, Wang Drum Tower is so close to Hejiapo, if Kunzhang finds out, it will still happen." Catch you. Or go to Lijiagou and look for you old man—can you find the way to your old man's house?"
"Um."
"Hurry up, Kunzhang will come to Dongbachang at dawn. If I meet them on the road, they will definitely suspect me, do you understand?"
He Da walked forward obediently.

The little daughter-in-law trotted back to Hejiapo.

He Da turned around and quietly followed his daughter-in-law for a long distance before stopping, threw himself on the ground, and kowtowed dozens of times in the direction where the daughter-in-law disappeared.

The river dam is different from the mountains. The summer in the river dam is already a serious summer. The river flows loudly, the grass is green and bright, and the crops are growing luxuriantly.The sky on the river dam is also different from that on the mountain. The sky on the river dam is lower and heavier—why does the higher the mountain, the higher and colder the sky you see?Isn't it the same sky seen from the river dam and the mountain?He Da never thought about this matter in his whole life.

Early this morning, He Da walked along the river.In his impression, walking along the river is very far, and then crossing the river and up the mountain, after climbing for a while, you will arrive at Lijiagou.How far is it? ──Swollen feet are their length.This is the experience he left behind when he fled to Hejiapo with Yang Guangwu and the Liu family.When he went to Lijiagou with his mother Xu Lian and younger brother He Er, Xu Lian hugged each other for most of the journey, and the journey was difficult. He did not experience it. He walked all by himself, and his feet were swollen, so he thought that as long as his feet were swollen, it was time to cross the river.But this time, his feet didn't swell from morning to night, so he didn't know where to cross the river and go up the mountain.He Da was used to spending the night in the wild, and he was not afraid, but he was hungry, and his stomach was so empty that he panicked, and then he ached, and after that, not only his stomach ached, but his whole body ached, but he couldn't point out where the pain was. where.It's a dull pain.

He squatted down, picked up water from the river, and poured water into his stomach. At first, it was very effective, but his spirit suddenly lifted after a while. It looks like it is swollen, and it walks swayingly, heavy and erratic.It’s not that there are no edible crops around, but there are terraced fields at a height of more than ten feet on the river bank. The crops under the dam mature early, and most of the peas have been harvested, but there are still peas. The peas have been dried for several days. Its stone-like hardness is a test for He Da's fragile teeth, but for him, as long as it can wrap his belly, it is his dearest relative; The child has already taken shape, and the palm-sized field corner is still planted with astringent chard that looks like the back of a frog. Jiapo's is hidden in the dense forest, but it is lit in the bright place. As long as you hold up the lamp and look over from a distance, you can see it through at a glance.This prevented him from stealing either the peas or the wheat.

He Da was afraid of going astray, so he didn't dare to move forward, so he stood by the river, hesitantly looking around.Hundreds of meters away from him, there was a light. Under the light, several human heads were shaking. They were hunched over and busy. A very strange muffled sound came from there.He Da walked over there without thinking.His whole body sent him only one message: begging.

As soon as he walked to the door, he saw a few people covered in oil, each of them had red sweet potato rice in their bowls, and they were eating with relish.The aroma of hot rice mixed with the smell of hot rotten sweet potato constitutes an irresistible temptation.He Da said, "I want to eat."
When the voice fell, people were already on the ground.

A few greasy men put down the bowl and helped He Da up, before they had time to ask questions, they scooped up a big bowl of rice for him.

Before the chopsticks were delivered, He Da had already grabbed a handful and stuffed them into his mouth.

This is an oil-pressing workshop, using crude tools such as wooden poles and stone fans to squeeze tung oil and vegetable oil.Those few workers are all local farmers, and the workshop was built by them with raised funds.

The workers let He Da have a full meal, asked about He Da's life experience, asked a few times but didn't answer, and saw that he had fallen asleep sitting up.

They put He Da on the floor and slept with them.In the workshop, there are piles of tung seeds. The so-called floor shop is to spread a mat on the tung seeds.

The next day, He Da had breakfast and asked how to go to Lijiagou. The workers showed him the way, and then they moved buckets, set up poles, and pressed stone fans.He Dao thanked him and walked downstream along the river.It turned out that he had traveled more than ten miles.

After eating two full meals, He Da seemed particularly energetic, and found a place to cross the river easily. After crossing the river, it seemed that he did not climb for long before reaching Lijiagou.

Yang Guangwu's housing has not changed at all.He Da walked to the door anxiously, and saw that the wooden door was locked with a big iron lock.This big iron lock was brought by his mother Xu Lian from Hejiapo.He Da looked in through the crack of the door, and saw a mess inside, red, black, and white chicken droppings were randomly scattered on the straw stool, and there was a board of pig grass by the side of the stove, which was placed horizontally on the pig grass board. The knife is clearly used for cutting vegetables; the edge of the stove is not slippery, and sometimes there is a white line, which is the soup shed when decanting rice.This situation made He Da think of his mother again.When Xu Lian was there, although she was equally poor, the house was always clean. Even if she was beaten by Yang Guangwu and couldn't get up by herself, she still ordered He Da to clean the house. After Xu Lian died, The tidy Yang family turned into a kennel, and Liu entered the house, relying on the nature of a woman to make a difference. At least, there would not be so many chicken feces on the straw stools.

The present situation can only show that their lives are getting worse day by day.

(End of this chapter)