Hunger for a hundred years

Chapter 22 (2)
On the night when He Zhongbao came back from the countryside, He Da avoided people to treat him.The place where He Zhongbao lived was the old house allocated to He Mangzi by his father, He Huaqiang, near the pond where Hedi and Xu Lian's bones were buried.He Da needs to go down the rocky ridge, and then insert a section of dirt road shaded by bitter bamboo and alder trees.When He Da walked to the door of He Zhongbao's house, he saw that the house was dark, and there was no sound, but He Mangzi's house, which lived next to him, was noisy.He Da thought, He Zhongbao must have gone to his brother's house, he hesitated for a moment, and went home, planning to wait a while to invite him.

At this time, He Zhongbao's family members were indeed in He Mangzi's house, but he himself and his elder brother He Zhongcai were hiding in their own home, talking quietly in the dark.He Zhongcai snotted and burst into tears, saying that if this continues, he won't be able to bear it.He Zhongbao persuaded him to be patient. It is not a rare thing for a country to be dominated by the east wind and the west wind at other times. A person who is three poor and three rich will not grow old. This is what his ancestors said, and it is true.I, He Zhongbao, is now the deputy head of the township. I'm going to take you first to show my gesture, but as long as I'm in control of the township, you won't suffer much.He Zhongcai was still crying.He Zhongbao couldn't see his brother's useless appearance, so he gave him an idea to learn a craft as soon as possible; a craftsman, no matter what his status is, will be needed by others, as long as others need you, you will naturally will be respected.

In Hejiapo, there was a bamboo craftsman, that is, Li craftsman, and a stonemason, and he was still Li craftsman; now, Li craftsman's stonemasons are doing a lot of work, building houses and cellars, and the dead are chiseling steles. Nothing can be done without him. Well, there are no other stonemasons, but they are not as good at his work, but no matter how exquisite his stonemason work is, people still call him Li Baijiang.As for carpenters, there are already several seventeen or eighteen-year-olds who are learning. In terms of dexterity, He Zhongcai can't beat them; there are no gardeners yet, but Hejiapo does not produce cotton. Waiting for three to five years for craftsmen from Shui County (there are as many floristers in Shui County as there were prostitutes in the old days), the work will be done after half a month at most, and it is useless to learn.After thinking about it, it is better to learn blacksmithing.There is no blacksmith in Hejiapo, but in the countryside, blacksmiths have work all year round, pots need to be repaired, machetes, sickles, hoes, plows and rakes need to be beaten. Without these tools, it is impossible to do field work.In the past, the people of Hejiapo always carried the guys up and down the hills to Dongba Town to do it. If there was their own blacksmith on the slope, who would want to run so far?He Zhongbao said to his elder brother, don't think about it, just learn blacksmith work for me honestly!
He Zhongcai agreed with his second brother's opinion, but infinite sadness and resentment filled his heart.I think back then, in the whole Hejiapo, whoever was not afraid of them, whoever did not go behind their house would have to pause for a while to smell the aroma of old salted vegetables and fried meat wafting from their "tooth-beating festival"!Now, the dog is not as good as He Da, who actually lives decently and is also the vice president, but He Zhongcai has his tail between his legs, and a child without a hairball dare not offend him; Even at the end of spring, he should be told to carry green gang sticks for people to warm up. Last winter, he carried more than 100 kilograms of green gang sticks to the countryside. The mountains were blocked by heavy snow and the slopes were slippery. I stepped on my feet and went down from Leichao Bay, almost breaking my neck
In the darkness, He Zhongcai couldn't see his brother's face, but he didn't know that He Zhongbao's face was covered with purple bumps.

Neither He Zhongcai nor He Mangzi actually inherited their father's mantle from the bottom of their bones like He Zhongbao did, nor did He Zhongbao hate him so deeply!He thinks this is a society where people and dogs are upside down.

But he didn't show his heart to the sad elder brother at all, but said flatly: "You go out quickly, I'm going to light the lamp."
He Zhongbao took less than a bag of cigarettes to light the lamp, so He Da went to invite him again.

He Zhongbao declined for a while, then followed the vice president out the door.

At that time, treating guests to dinner was like being a thief. After He Zhongbao entered the house, He Da immediately locked the door.The dishes to be fried have already been prepared, and they just wait for people to come to the pot.In the fire hall, the green gang firewood was blazingly strong, and a piece of lard was put into the pot, and then it made a sizzling noise.Usually cooking, Chen Yuexiang is reluctant to put lard, lard can exude an intoxicating meaty aroma, reminiscent of the scene of fat slices of meat gurgling in the mouth.He Zhongbao was arranged to sit in a dark corner next to Chai Yilao, so that he could cover up in case someone came by; He listened carefully and nodded, as if every word He Da said was very important and touched his heart.The fire in the green hill made their faces flush, and there was a vague joy of having a good meal, which made a mysterious atmosphere of intimacy flow between them.

After the food was cooked, He Zhongbao and He Da talked softly while drinking.After drinking, it was very late at night, and everyone on the slope fell asleep. He Da made a penny torch for He Zhongbao, and sent him to the door of his house before returning.

He Da's heart was overflowing with happiness.His happiness is: now, he has the ability to thank others for their kindness.

When He Zhongbao returned home, the calmness that He Zhongcai had when he was there completely disappeared.Damn it, He Da still has meat to eat!Chen Yuexiang also fried meat with old salted vegetables. He Zhongbao was very familiar with that special smell, but he hadn't smelled it for a long time.Even though he is the deputy head of the village, he has to be more careful about doing anything than being a commoner. Don't say that there is no meat in the house. Old Yancai has the most meaty smell, and when the smell spreads through the roof, other people will smell it and gossip about him.He felt that although he had escaped the fate of his elder brother, he was wearing shackles all over his body, and he would greet a maggot with a smile, and speak kindly when he saw a dog.No, he was reduced to the point of going to Mr. He's house to eat old salted vegetables and meat!He feels that this world is not entering, but retreating, retreating to the way their ancestors first came to Hejiapo hundreds of years ago!

That night, he couldn't fall asleep for a long time, smacking the lingering fragrance left by the old salt vegetable meat, and even smacking the bitterness contained in it.After finally falling asleep, he was immediately entangled in a lonely nightmare. Black firecrackers, iron sand bombs like a net, blood flowing from the honeycomb-like holes on his body, howling, and flapping his giant wings to hold carrion The distant rock eagle. After that, the dark clouds of the nightmare gradually dissipated, and the dream became clear.At that time, he was still very young, and his father He Huaqiang was ruling Hejiapo with his strong body and hard heart.My father was very strict with them. When I was just five years old, I would go uphill to cut cattle grass and kill pig grass. If I was lazy, I would be severely punished.My father always had a dark face and seldom spoke, but he said what he said.But when my father also had tenderness, the most touching thing for the brothers was the tooth-making sacrifice. Father always gave them the best meat to eat.
As if sleeping but not sleeping, He Zhongbao's mood was erratic, but no matter what, he couldn't escape the smell of meat.He walked through the smell of meat, and slowly fixed on a certain afternoon, the brothers of them were standing at the door eating delicious old salt vegetable meat, and a dog stood outside the door——He Da, with his dirty face turning two All of a sudden, He Da stretched out his hand and snatched the piece of meat from He Zhongbao.
He Zhongbao felt anxious and woke up.He thought carefully about the scene in his dream and what happened last night, and suddenly felt that there was some kind of conspiracy hidden in it.He Da fried old salt vegetable meat, the size of the meat slices is the same as in the dream, the amount of old salt vegetables is the same as in the dream, and even the smell is not pleasant at all. Shit, He Da deliberately reminded me of What happened in the past, He Da is humiliating me!
He got up and stroked the dog-beating stick his father left him until five o'clock.

But He Zhongbao knows that now is not the time for him to use the dog-beating stick. He needs to find opportunities to continue playing tricks on his brothers, do enough tricks, and gain a firm foothold. --The opportunity came.

He Jiapo died of a rhubarb.The cow was assigned to He Zhongcai's family to be raised by the club. It was healthy, but suddenly he didn't eat or drink. He Zhongcai didn't dare to report it.According to the regulations at the time, dead cows could not be eaten, and dead cows from people with "ingredients" could not be eaten, for fear that the cow itself would be poisonous, and even worse, bad elements would release poison.However, the members of the commune were unwilling to bury a cow weighing several hundred catties in the soil, and dared not speak out.After the big pit for burying the cattle was dug, some people went to push He Kuiyuan to stop it.

The descendant of this story master, He Xiandong, is so powerful that he can scoop a bundle of live firewood weighing three to four hundred catties from Zhu's back.He has a greedy mouth and a sow's belly. He often goes to the paddy fields in Yantang to catch fish to eat. The fish with long flower needles will not be let go, and the big fish will not be disemboweled, and they will be put alive. In the boiling water, add red Chaotian peppers, the amount of peppers is several times more than that of fish. After cooking, there is only a can of red soup. He sucks the peppers, red soup and fish into his mouth together, and the fish bones are also gone. He doesn't vomit, he swallows, gasps for breath, sweats, and strips his upper body naked in winter; his stomach is even more astonishingly large. It is said that he once burned a wheat flour cake in the fire hall, and put it on the shelf. It took a whole day for the green lumps to be cooked. In order to shake off the ash on them, he picked up the wheat noodles and threw them on the stone floor, and a stone slab was broken.
He Kuiyuan has long wanted to eat beef, how can he stand the instigation!He stopped those who were using wooden poles to fuck the dead cow into the big pit, found a smooth stone slab nearby, pulled out a long knife, scooped out half a bowl of water, and sharpened the knife on the stone slab.This matter reached the ears of the president. The president is a good old man who has no idea than He Da. When he heard the news, he went to find He Da.He Da rushed to the scene and saw Kui Yuan splashing water on the gloomy blade, and asked him what he was going to do.In terms of seniority, Kui Yuan was a generation later than He Da. He raised his flat head, turned his mouth that was always black and black, and said, "Dad, you should get out of here quickly, just pretend you don't know." The onlookers Also said: "What a good beef!" He said while patting the cow's buttocks.He Da turned around silently and left.

The cow was cut open by He Jianshen with Kui Yuan's sharpened knife.His observation on the river beach of Qingxichang for several years has finally come in handy.To reward him for his labor, he gave him two carcass bones, and he took out two cow eggs first, and put them into the bowl that his wife He Bi had hidden in his bosom, and let her take them back happily; He Bi has been cooking for the wealthy family since she was a child, and she has a good cooking skill.

On the second day after the beef was distributed, a few people came up from Leichao Bay. Everyone who walked in the front knew He Zhongbao, and the three behind him didn't know each other, and they were all wearing uniforms.When they entered the village through Yantang, everyone was silent.

A group of four went straight to He Da's house.The door of the house was locked, and they walked along the big field ridge to the slope of the acid plow tree.He Dazheng was resting on the handle of the hoe and smoking dry tobacco. When he saw He Zhongbao coming, he hurriedly got up to greet him.He Zhongbao's face was livid, and he said to the people behind him: "Dean Yang, that's him." Dean Yang nodded, then turned his head and said to the people behind him, "Tie it up."
Everyone on the slope watched He Da being tied up and went to the village. He Zhongbao didn't even enter the house, and followed Dean Yang and others to the village.Only Chen Yuexiang didn't know that she put He Kou in a flower basket and went to Dahegou to wash the quilt and padded jacket.Chen Yuexiang came back after dark, carrying a large basket of washed clothes and blankets, with the child in her arms.People on the slope hurriedly told her the news.Chen Yuexiang strangled her back, the flower basket fell heavily, and all the clothes and quilts fell into the chicken feces, dust, and phlegm, "Mom, who on the slope didn't stab the ass hole? Why did you only arrest him?"
With Chen Yuexiang's scolding, those who came to release the letter retreated in shame.Then, Chen Yuexiang opened the door and entered the house, and threw a piece of leg bone on the street eaves, "I haven't eaten yet!"
That piece of meat was thrown on exactly one person, and that was the president.The president picked up the meat and faced Chen Yuexiang without saying a word.Chen Yuexiang was furious, and scolded: "As the president, you dare not speak out, and push out a stupid (honest) vice president, I'm so sorry!"
The president sat on the threshold, smoked a bag of cigarettes silently, put down the meat gently, and left.

Chen Yuexiang tidied up a bit, then carried her son on her back and went out. She wanted to go to the countryside in the dark, and wanted her man back!
As soon as Leichaowan walked out, he ran into He Da who was rushing back.

He Da was beaten until his face was black and blue.

Chen Yuexiang was angry and happy, spit on the palm of her hand, rubbed He Da's face, and then yelled loudly at the mountain pass, and then followed her husband home.

Along the way, He Da told about his experience going to the countryside.

After entering the gate of the township government, he was locked in a dark room. A few minutes later, two men came in and beat him when they caught him.They didn't bring a murder weapon, they just slapped him and tiptoed him. "I called Chief He, and I shouted more than a dozen times. Chief He came over, and saw two people beat me so that my mouth and nose were bleeding, and my face was green. I asked who told me to do this, and the two guys didn't dare to say anything. The township head He told them to leave. After a while, Dean Yang from the county and the two young men he brought came to question me, asking if I knew anything about cow stripping."
Speaking of this, Chen Yuexiang angrily interrupted him: "You must say you know it!"
"Where is it! I said I don't know. Dean Yang spoke peacefully and asked me about the affairs of the club. I said that I don't know anything about the club. He said that you are the vice president, how can you not know at all? Then I asked the cow again, and I said I didn't tell them to peel the cow, but just put them in the pit. At that time, the president also went to see it, but didn't tell them to eat it. The president also had a meal at the cattle breeder He Zhongcai's house. I didn’t even eat breakfast at his house. Mayor He also helped me smooth things over. Director Yang believed it and said, “From now on, you have to take care of the affairs of the society. It’s okay if you don’t take care of it for now. Learn.' The two young men wanted to make records, but Dean Yang told them not to remember. After the questioning, they released me. Dean Yang and the others went to Zhongjiaba, saying they were going to arrest a person there In the county, that man chopped off his neighbor's leg with a machete last night."
He Da felt that what he did was very beautiful, but Chen Yuexiang sighed and said, "You, I never understood it in my heart."
Everyone in Hejiapo thought that the matter was over like this, but within a week, a word was passed down from above: He Zhongcai must be fought.

The cattle raised by other people did not die, why did yours die?This is obviously not a natural death, but murder!

(End of this chapter)