Hunger for a hundred years

Chapter 2 (2)
In the fourth year of Kangxi, people from Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and Guizhou were recruited to go to Dongxichuan, and millions of people abandoned their homes, hustle and bustle like ants.At that time, immigration was divided into two routes, the north and the south. The southern route crossed the Qianjiang River from Guizhou to Chongqing, and the northern route crossed the Baihe River and crossed the Bashan Mountains to the northeast of Sichuan. Yongle was an important channel for the northern route.Every time they live in a place, they will cultivate barren hills, mow deep valleys, build thatched huts, vertical wooden houses, and live by the valley and the mountains.He Jiapo is a product of this period.Hejiapo's land was thin and food was scarce, so those who rushed in first built a stockade to prevent those who came later from going up the mountain. When they saw people coming down the mountain, they used the stockade as a barrier and shot them with firecrackers.It's a battle for land and living space.The ancient village has become a bloody note, which has been resounding among the mountains and valleys of Hejiapo for hundreds of years.However, most people in Hejiapo do not agree with this period of history. They believe that the formation of the village of Hejiapo is related to a tomb.The tomb stands in the center of the ancient village and is called "Dagou Tomb".
On that autumn windy day, Li Gao walked towards the east village with his two sons in his arms.After two bags of cigarettes, they came to a weir pond with a size of half an acre.A small road from the Yantang is the village.In the bitter bamboo forests that can be seen everywhere, there are dozens of families living scattered, and the poverty is even worse than that of Lijiagou.However, there are indeed a few wealthy families.He Huaqiang made his fortune the most. His ancestors made their fortune by planting poppies. Later, the planting of poppies was banned. As far as He Huaqiang's father's generation was concerned, his family was in decline. Fortunately, his father passed away in time. Bring it back to life.He Huaqiang said that he can tolerate everything, but he will never tolerate poverty. He believes that poverty is not only ugly, but also despicable. Therefore, he has an innate hatred for "poor ghosts".He Huaqiang's family property is comparable to that of He Heng, followed by He Kunzhang.The two families mentioned by the old bachelor, one is Yang Guangda, his wife is Gou, and both of them are in their fifties, that is, the family whose five children died of smallpox; He Xingneng wanted to marry another wife, but his family was in decline, and now he only has [-] or [-] picks of Susukida to make ends meet.

Li Gao first went to Yang Guangda's room to beg for food, but Yang Guangda just rolled his eyes and threw her out without hesitation.Yang Guangda's temper was originally withdrawn and eccentric. After the sudden death of his children, he suffered from a strange disease. He was afraid of light and people. With a gloomy face and rolled-out eyes, he also hated him at the same time. Everyone in Manpo had the surname He, but his surname was Yang, like a weed in a crop field.Li Gao went to He Xingneng's house again.He Xingneng and his wife were extremely enthusiastic, and immediately sent her two bowls of rice, Li Gao gave each of his sons a bowl, and they squatted by the threshold to eat.Li Gao thanked him a lot and was about to leave. Zhang served another bowl of rice for Li Gao to eat. Li Gao divided the rice into two and gave it to his two sons.Without saying a word, Li Tian stuffed his black fingers into his mouth, so that his throat stood up like a sausage; but Li Tian refused to eat it, and asked his mother to eat it.He Xingneng and Mrs. Zhang were so moved that they were allowed to come in, and Mrs. Zhang rekindled the fire to cook, making sure they were full.Li Gaoshi said that she had never met such a nice family after begging all the way.

Mrs. Zhang accepted her thanks, turned around and discussed with her husband, and wanted to keep Li Gao's mother and son to live for a while, and He Xingneng readily agreed.

Li Gao didn't understand what they meant, she just felt that she was a beggar woman with two mouths, and it was not easy to manage a full meal, so how could she live in someone else's house and eat idle food?She didn't understand that these two elderly people in their 60s had other difficulties.Since they have no children, they especially like children. One New Year's Eve, Mrs. Zhang cooked a table full of delicious food. He Xingneng went to find other people's children to eat. Alright, the adults will encourage the children to follow him.He found a total of twelve children and surrounded a full table.The child saw the deliciousness that he had never seen before, and a gust of wind swept through the clouds.He Xingneng and Mrs. Zhang didn't eat by themselves, they just put vegetables in the bowls for the children, but they were full soon, they dispersed with a bang, shouting "Go home for the New Year", and disappeared without a trace in an instant film.The old couple sat at the deserted Eight Immortals table, relatively speechless
Mrs. Zhang wanted to stay with Mrs. Li Gao for a few days because she liked her two children.

Li Gao stayed at He Xingneng's house for a week, and insisted on leaving.She is a very hard-hearted person, even though she has been reduced to a beggar, as long as the hunger does not make her dizzy, she will not be willing to accept food.Mrs. Zhang still wants to stay, but Mrs. Li Gao expressed her thoughts: She has to go back and order winter yams.Mrs. Zhang said that if you order winter yams, you will not be able to harvest them until next year. How will you spend the whole winter and early spring next year?When it came to Li Gao's pain point, she didn't know how to live it, but she knew that if she didn't order winter yams, it meant she would have to flee famine next year.She insisted on leaving, He Xingneng and Zhang Shi knew that it would be useless to stay any longer, so they both shed tears.

He Xingneng said: "We want to adopt a child for you."
This time, it was Li Gao's turn to cry, and she said, "I've seen what's on your mind a long time ago. Normally, I would be reluctant to adopt my child, but you are good people, and you are kind to our mother. I promise you."
After speaking, I burst into tears and called my great-grandfather Li Yiwu's name over and over again.

He Xingneng and Zhang comforted Li Gao, saying that they must take care of the child.

The next day, Li Gao left Hejiapo with his eldest son Li Tian.

Why did Li Gao keep his favorite and high hopes Li Di?It's because Li Di is smarter than his elder brother, he has his own opinions in everything, and he won't be bullied if he stays in other people's homes.

My father said that after Li Gao's return to Lijiagou, he earned a lot of property.But my father only heard about it. In fact, as soon as Li Gaoshi and Li Tian left Hejiapo, there was no news, and Li Di never saw his mother and brother again.

Li Di changed his name to why.That year, he was 12 years old.

He Xingneng and Zhang Shi hope that Li Gaoshi will disappear from now on, only in this way can they fully occupy the place.Where is their most precious and cheap possession.For a time, they forbade him to go out to play with other children, for fear that the treasure would be damaged.But although He Di has a gentle image, he still has a childlike innocence. He not only wants to get close to his peers, but also runs to the mountains, digs out bird nests, looks for wild fruits, and picks up colorful feathers cut off by hunters' bullets.He Xingneng locked him at home, and would not let him out even if he cried out in the winter.He Zhi was about to be locked up and went crazy, he said that I would stop playing and go to school!He Xingneng felt quite fresh, studying?A teenage baby will soon start a family and start a business, have children, and carry on the family line for my He family. What education should I study?In Hejiapo, He Huaqiang must have made a fortune, but since his great-grandfather, no one has ever read a book!He Huaqiang couldn't even write his own name, but he bought hundreds of land properties one after another, making the land grow whatever it should grow.

This kind of comparison makes He Xingneng and Zhang feel how boring reading is.They just need to have a son, and it doesn't matter if they go to school or not.This son not only wants to take care of them until their death, but also fights with that naughty He Huaqiang; he can't fight He Huaqiang now, but he will also fight He Huaqiang's descendants in the future! .In addition, they do not allow any place to study, and there is another layer of secret worry: it is said that during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, a scholar named He Tiaoyuan came out of Hejiapo. Hua Ling, who was placed next to the examiner, put it on her head before sitting down to answer the questions.On the way back to his hometown, he bought a wooden boat of books, which he read and threw away, never forgetting.He was selected as a Jinshi, but before he arrived home, the list had been delivered.Unexpectedly, as soon as his wooden boat entered the Qingxi River, he suddenly suffered from unbearable abdominal pain and died in the boat.From this, the people of Hejiapo came to the conclusion: this place only raises "wu sticks" like Mr. Luo, not scholars. --What's more, it is said that He Tiaoyuan lived in He Xingneng's house back then!After finally picking up a son, how could he be willing to let him die halfway?
But He Zhi ignored this and threatened that if he was not allowed to study, he would immediately go to his mother and brother.

The firm character inherited from his mother made him right in his speech.

He Xingneng and Zhang had no choice but to allow him to go to school.

There is a temple three miles away, called Anzi Temple. A fire a few decades ago cut off the incense in the temple. An old scholar surnamed Yang rebuilt a wooden house there and opened a private school, with a radius of more than ten miles. Families who want to be rich and rich all send their children to Enlightenment.My father said that although the road from Hejiapo to the school is not far away, it is an old forest of thousands of mountains. The thick trees are crowded one by one, with intertwined roots and branches covering the sky. If it is winter, green mist rises from the field all day long, covering the primitive cruelty and mystery in the forest.If you stay in it for a long time, the smell of humus can make you faint.Because He Jiapo's children went to Anzi Temple to study, someone deliberately cut a road, but this year's cutting will grow longer next year, so every year has to be cut.After He Di went to school, He Xingneng was afraid that his child would get lost when he returned home. He Xingneng did a good deed: he tied a red silk on the big tree as a road sign.

He Di's ingenuity was revealed from the first day of school. He could not only memorize books, but also lecture. Mr. Yang praised his many improvisations while shaking his long and thin neck.Because of He Di's extraordinary performance, he quickly established prestige among his classmates. Those classmates who made fun of him as a foreigner and threatened to drive him out of Hejiapo not only dared not make fun of him anymore, but also scrambled to curry favor with him.He Zhi lost his virtue in being flattered.He asked He Jiapo's classmates to make a slide rod. When he was in school, he would sit on the slide rod as soon as he entered the old forest. The classmates carried him to the vicinity of the school, and then hid the slide rod in the forest. After school, he walked to Mr. He dragged the slider out of the place where he couldn't see it, and his classmates carried him back to Hejiapo. When he got out of the woods, he came down again and hid the slider.He lived like this for a year, and suddenly got "iron spot hemp", with red bumps all over his body, which were connected into a cake. In the countryside at that time, he was terminally ill, but he picked herbs himself, smashed them, and hooped them on his body. The zebra "hoop" is ready!

At this time, a fortune teller came to Hejiapo, and said that Hedi was Wenquxing, a fish bigger than He Tiaoyuan, who was a Jinshi in Zengzhong. Yu, if he continues to study, he will wear a hat before he is 20 years old, and he will die in three months after wearing the hat.He Xingneng and Mrs. Zhang were astonished to hear this remark, and they would not allow He Zhi to go the way of Anzi Temple again.

He Di himself was frightened and did not insist on going to school.

He didn't know that He Xingneng specially found that fortune teller and said those words according to his will.

The son no longer went to school, so Mrs. Zhang put her heart into her stomach and looked for a matchmaker everywhere to make an appointment for her son.

When He Di was 16 years old, he got married. The woman was a person who lived in the back hill of Hejiapo, who looked at the Drum Tower. Her surname was Xu, and her single name was Lian.She later became my grandma.Father only used one sentence to describe grandma's appearance: beautiful.This overly abstract sentence is obviously not enough to explain the problem, because Xu Lian's beauty has been spread so far. Those old people who are similar to their father's age are not convinced by a new daughter-in-law who looks like a well-born, and often just say: "Hurry up with Xu Lian." It’s so damn far away!” One year, when I returned to my hometown county from other places, I accidentally read a notebook published by a local literati during the Republic of China period at a friend’s house, and there was such a sentence in “The Gate of Characters”: There are many beautiful women, such as Xu Lian, the daughter of Xu Suhe, who looks at the Drum Tower, has the shameful face of a closed moon and a mole on the corner of her mouth. She seems to be able to speak. So I was reduced to my grandma, one is poor, not suitable for rich and rich dude, and the other is high mountain, not recognized by those who pity the fragrance and cherish the jade.
Unexpectedly, He Xingneng died shortly after the engagement. Mrs. Zhang also felt deeply that she would not have much time to come, so she wanted to marry her son.Unexpectedly, only two months later, Mrs. Zhang died again.Mrs. Zhang died very strangely. After dinner, she sat down by the fire hall and dozed off. Somewhere, she carried a bucket of pig food, splashed and went out, and said, "Mom, I'm sleepy and go to sleep in the upper bunk." Well." Mrs. Zhang didn't respond, and opened her eyes and said, "When you get old, you don't have good fortune (blessings). When you sit down, you want to feel sick." Meanwhile, the third great-grandfather He Xingxiao and his wife Yan came in, and Zhang Shi greeted them to sit down, and continued to doze off.He Xingxiao dug out the fire hall and added a piece of burnt green firewood, and the fire started raging.Mrs. Yan said to Mrs. Zhang: "Such a big fire, sitting so close together, are you afraid of burning the furniture in your crotch?" Mrs. Zhang didn't answer.When He Di came back from feeding the pigs, he talked to his father and mother, and called his mother to sleep on the bed. She yelled several times, but Mrs. Zhang didn't respond.Suddenly, He Xingxiao heard a bang, and Zhang's neck fell down.He Xingxiao yelled in panic: "Baby, your mother is afraid that she will die, I just heard her footsteps crossing the Naihe Bridge!" After saying this, he went to check Zhang's breath, and sure enough, he died.

He Di cried for a while, and with He Xingxiao's help, Ann buried his mother, locked the door, and went to Lijiagou to find his biological mother and elder brother.He planned to bring his biological mother and elder brother to Hejiapo.In the past few years, thanks to He Di's help, He Xingneng bought a few more acres of land, and of course life is better than that of Lijiagou.

Wherever he went to Lijiagou, there was no trace of his biological mother and elder brother at all, and the few acres of land before had been taken by others.

He didn't say anything, and quietly went back to Hejiapo.

Hearing that He Di was going to deliver his mother and elder brother, He Huaqiang, the richest man in Hejiapo, couldn't help touching the dog-beating stick with a smooth leather surface and spots of dog blood and a few dog hairs on its head.He has used this dog-beating stick for ten years.If Li Gaoshi dares to come, He Huaqiang will drive the family away in extreme ways.Later, when He Di returned to Hejiapo alone, He Huaqiang just sneered twice and hid the dog-beating stick.
He Xingxiao said to He: "Baby, your parents are dead, so those old rules should be discarded. In my opinion, it is proper to get married as soon as possible." The neighbors all advised him like this.People who met Xu Lian said that although the girl's family is poor, she is as beautiful as a fairy, and if she continues to delay, there may be accidents.He Di has no idea at all, and everything is done according to the will of the three parents.

In the spring of the following year, when my grandfather He Zhi was not yet 17 years old, he married Mrs. Xu of Laojunshan Wanggulou.

My father, He Da, was often ashamed to talk about the married life of grandpa and grandma.

(End of this chapter)