Hunger for a hundred years

Chapter 38 (18)
When the rooster crowed twice, He Da woke us up.They all thought that He Kou had come back, and looked up, but there was no sign of He Kou.

He Da stamped the wine bottle on the table: "It's time to eat. He Ji, bring two wine bowls."
He Ji has never drunk before, so tonight, He Da wants him to drink with him.His heart was so lonely that he couldn't drink it alone.

The food is dull, and the wine is dull.After eating, the bowls and chopsticks were also confiscated, so He Da said, "Go to sleep."
We went to bed and went to sleep.

We didn't know until a long time later that after we fell asleep that night, He Da and He Ji went out quietly.

They hid behind He Tuanjie's house.

The place where He Tuan lives is a bit special, as it belongs to the middle yard as a whole, but a deep laneway separates him from the middle yard. Behind his house is a ditch (flowing down from the side of He Kuiyuan’s house) , Beside the ditch, there are dense mottled bamboos.He Da and He Ji hid in the mottled bamboo grove scattered with dog dung.

He Tuanjie's room was lit with kerosene lamps, and someone was talking in a low voice.

There is a pungent stench in the mottled bamboo forest, and it is humid. In the middle of the night, the thick fog makes people's throats itchy.He Da whispered to He Ji, "They must be gambling."
He Ji agreed with him.It's so late, a few people are hiding in the house, and they have nothing serious to do. What else can it be if it's not gambling?
At that time, although the wind of gambling had blown to Hejiapo, very few people actually took part in the battle. Everyone was poor. If there were no real gifts at weddings and funerals, they would give money. ), the maximum gift is one yuan, usually five cents, and some give two cents, and even two cents are not given, and one cent is collected, and the amount is counted; even this cannot be done, only a few or even ten Several families gathered together to buy a round of firecrackers, walked to the door of the host's house in a group, lit the fire and let the matter go.Such a poor man, how can he gamble, but the armed forces for gambling want to arrest people.Usually when everyone entertains, they mostly play the Sichuan card "Bahuzi": lose a game, and stick a strip torn from a student's workbook on the chin. , the loser cuts his hand backwards on his back, and he is only allowed to grab it with his hands when it is on.Everyone just looked at the loser's eagerness for fun. --However, although there is no gambling atmosphere in Hejiapo, there is an undercurrent of gambling. Swimming in this undercurrent are He Kuiyuan, He Tuanjie, Caigen, and a guy named Lendou in Pojiao.In the Hejiapo people's mind, gambling is something that shames the ancestors, and it is also quite dangerous.The reason why He Zhongbao indulged He Tuanjie and others to gamble was to distract them and not cause trouble for him; however, He Da thought, once He Zhongbao found out that He Kou also gambled, he would not say hello to the Weapons Department Something happened?

He Da is going to catch his son.

He Ji stopped him, "Do you know that he is really inside?"
"Where is it if it's not inside?"
"Even if he's inside, can you catch him?"
"I threw the dice to them and burned the cards to them!"
In the dark, He Ji gave He Da a hard look, and then said: "You can't afford enough losses in your life, no wonder people say you are stupid!"
He Da said nothing.If there is light, you can see the pitiful expression on his miserable face.

The white belly was exposed on the Baiyan slope, and they knew it was almost dawn.

This is the most difficult time for the night watchman. If you are not careful, you will fall asleep with the dawn.

The eyelids of He Da and his son were fighting, when He Tuanjie's back door creaked!

I thought it was because the gambling game broke up, but it turned out to be He Tuanjie's wife, Hu Mian.Hu Mian carried the chamber pot, walked to the latrine, and dumped a pot of waxy yellow diapers into the cesspit.She was wearing her underwear slantingly, and the top buttons were not buttoned, revealing her plump and round tits.

This shows that there is indeed no He Tuanjie in He Tuanjie's house, and it is He Tuanjie and his wife who are talking.

Father He and his son retreated quietly.When getting up, He Ji stepped on a pile of dog shit and almost slipped and fell.After leaving the mottled bamboo forest, He Ji ran quickly like a thief.He Da followed suit.He Da seemed to have never been so tired.

He Kou didn't return home until dawn.When he stepped over the threshold, the bang of leaving work had already sounded.

He Da didn't have time to talk to him.He ran to the bottom of the orange tree to listen to the arrangements for living today.What he cared about was who He Kou arranged in a group with today.

Exactly the same as yesterday.

After going to work, He Da wanted to talk to He Zhongbao, hoping that He Zhongbao would not mix He Kou with those guys who were not doing business properly, but He Zhongbao was not there.

But Shanggong is not lonely. Everyone is discussing a big event: Last night, Anzisi School was stolen!
Not many things were lost: a ball, two quilts and an erhu.However, even if you only lose a pair of shoes, it is a loss.

He Zhongbao went to the commune to invite people.

He Da's heart skipped a beat.

"Hold on, hold on!" He ordered himself.He has already admitted from the bottom of his heart that this is what he said.

However, when He Kou came back this morning, although his face was tired, he didn't have anything in his hand!Besides, stealing the quilt is okay, but what are you doing stealing the ball?What are you doing stealing the erhu?

Thinking of this, He Da calmed down a bit.So, he walked into the crowd generously and scolded the thief with them.At this time, regardless of whether you are a thief or not, you must scold. The more you scold, the more proof you are not a thief.

After finishing work and returning home, He Da received a truly unfortunate news: his bacon was stolen!
At the end of the twelfth lunar month last year, He Da secretly killed the Nian pig.According to regulations, each household must hand over a pig to the public every year, no matter whether it is fat or thin, it must not be less than 130 catties.If only one pig is fed, half of the pig will be handed over when the New Year pig is killed.If the pigs you feed are too small and you don’t eat them during Chinese New Year, then that’s fine (but you have to pay for tax credit).Anyway, in a word, as long as you eat pork, you have to hand it over to the country, and those who dare to steal and kill the pig will be tied up in the commune.The Armed Forces Department of the commune is run by two people, one named Tian Mingliang and the other named Yan Dengke. Tian Mingliang is big and Yan Dengke is thinner, but he was a company commander in the army. The mustache on his upper lip looks very dignified. It is called Yan Beard.The two of them often went to the village to tie up people.Whenever someone is tied up, it not only brings fear to the family, but also shame.Among all the people imprisoned in the commune, those who stole and killed the Nian pig accounted for 90.00%.

As soon as the twelfth lunar month enters, the cadres of the brigade will go door-to-door to check, beat up the pig sleeping in the corner of the pen, pat its buttocks, and if the pig is fat or big, they will praise the owner a few words. The boar is delivered.There are two pigs in He Daquan, and the largest one weighs only [-] catties after being overfed. The brigade cadres just glanced at it and left.Such a pig, of course, cannot be handed over, and it is impossible for He Da to kill it to eat.But why everyone just killed it!It was He Kou's idea to kill the poor piglet. That day, He Da went to feed the pigs, poured the pig food into the trough, and stood by the pen to watch them snatch the food. He Kou came to him quietly and said : "Kill the big one to celebrate the New Year." He Da was full of anxiety, and couldn't afford to kill the New Year pig. How could he face the eyes of a large group of children on New Year's Eve!After hearing He Kou's words, He Da felt a heart-wrenching pain, "I can't see such a big pig clearly even with my glasses on, how can I have the heart to kill it?" He wiped his eyelids, and then said, "At most thirty catties of meat can be killed, go and kill it." Handing half a boar doesn't make people laugh to death?" Hekou snorted: "Secretly kill! What boar!"
The pig slaughter was carried out in the middle of the night without our knowledge.On the slope, the killing of pigs for the New Year is done by an old man in his sixties, which is also the order of the superiors. The killing of other people is not counted, and it is illegal.This old man cherishes such a right, and at the same time he can use it flexibly. He still does the job of stealing and killing pigs, but the condition is that the owner will give him three catties of precious flank meat, and the big and small pigs are all three catties; It is necessary to have a good meal of "planed soup meat".After eating the shaved meat, he would always wipe his mouth and exhort: Don't let outsiders know!Everyone's Nian pig was also invited to kill him.He Da didn't participate, it was He Kou He Ji and the pig butcher who did it together.They didn't ask for a light, and walked to the pigsty without anyone noticing it. He Kou only lit a match, and the old man aimed at the target sleeping in the corner, grabbed it with both hands, and held the pig's mouth firmly. With one move of the hand, it lifted out the canister without disturbing its companions at all.After that, he asked He Kou and He Ji to hold the mouthpiece, and he freed his hand, drew out the long knife, put the pig on his knee, and stabbed the knife in the pig's neck.The pig didn't even snort, and died quietly in the butcher's greasy arms.

Early the next morning, when He Ju went to feed the pigs, he suddenly disappeared and ran back to report in amazement. As a result, He Kou slapped the pig. From this, we knew that the pig had been killed.Seriously, none of us are happy because we can eat pork during Chinese New Year.He Ben even started to cry.But things have come to this point, we have to unite as one and continue to do face-saving work. He Ju and He Yue still get such a big back of pigweed, or carry a bucket full of pig food to the pen.The little pig was not depressed because of losing his companion overnight, but seemed very excited.No one noticed that we had killed the New Year pig. After the Chinese New Year, when someone finally asked about it, we all said: The pig was lost.He Kou also scolded for a long time, saying that some idiot must have stolen the pig and ate it.
In this way, when bacon is stolen (in fact, it is meat cured with salt, because they dare not hang it on the fire hook to smoke), except for quietly mourning, they dare not even fart.

Not much meat was stolen, and the rest was still curled up in a jar deep in the wooden warehouse.But for our family, it was already an earth-shattering disaster.

Who could have done this?
That night, He Kou miraculously did not go out. He Da and we were quite satisfied with his performance. The family suffered a disaster, and he still wanted to protect it together.The whole family sat around the firepit. There was no fire in the firepit. There was a small oil lamp on the stove. Everyone's faces could not be seen clearly, and they were all full of mystery.It was in this atmosphere that our mysterious suspicions began.One by one was clicked, and one by one was denied, and the result became more and more chaotic, and it was impossible to locate.In Hejiapo, there are many people and families who have a history of stealing. Which family did not steal during the catastrophe that caused the deaths of Li Baijiang and others?It's just that at that time it was stealing from the collective. In people's minds, stealing from the collective was not considered stealing.

The family discussed until midnight, but to no avail.In the end, He Da, He Kou, and He Ji formed a three-person secret investigation team.

They visit from house to house, pretending to be careless, but searching other people's houses with their eyes like a mountain mirror, to see any changes in other people's expressions, and if there is anything suspicious at home, they will come back to discuss, if everyone agrees If someone stole it, report it upwards.This is how the villagers look for their lost things.In fact, everyone understands that seeing someone coming from the owner’s house, regardless of whether it has anything to do with this matter, is unusually enthusiastic, and intentionally or unintentionally takes the owner to go around his house, so that the owner can see clearly, so as to eliminate the suspicion of himself. Suspect.At this time, even if He Da went to He Zhongbao's house, he would warmly welcome him.

Like the theft of Anzisi School, nothing was found.

Time just passed.Two months later, the theft case of Anzisi Primary School finally came to light.

There were three teachers in that school, one surnamed Li, one surnamed He, and one surnamed Wu. Teacher He was from Hejiapo. Teacher Wu was transferred from the village next to Niujiaoxi Bridge. Teacher Li lived in Yanghou Mountain on the other side of the river. furthest.Mr. He goes home every day. Although Mr. Li is the farthest, his family is the poorest. Many times, especially during the busy farming season, he has to rush home after school to do farm work. In this way, Mr. Wu is basically the only one who lives on campus.After the theft, Mr. Wu often went to Hejiapo and Zhouzisitai. Everyone knew his purpose. In addition, he was the teacher of the students. Good He Tuanjie, Mr. Wu can let him shoot one shot at a time, and even play blind chess, often after more than ten moves, He Tuanjie will surrender), so the people of Hejiapo are very enthusiastic about him.It is not surprising that He Tuanjie's home is not Mr. He's house, but He Tuanjie's home, because He Tuanjie often goes to school to play chess with him at night. They are not only chess friends, but also close friends.

Although He Tuanjie is hated by the people on the slope, but in the whole Hejiapo, no one can talk and laugh with Teacher Wu all night like him; he also asked Teacher Wu to get a trumpet, Said he could blow it, Mr. Wu got one dubiously, and He Tuan turned out to be really good at blowing it.He learned it from a suona team in Wanggulou.The suona team is famous far and wide. In the mountains and beyond, anyone who holds weddings and ceremonies invites them to join in the fun. He Tuanjie is a person who likes to join in the fun, and likes to make friends with people with different teachings and teachings. Teacher Wu taught He Tuanjie to play the erhu , He Tuanjie taught Teacher Wu to play the trumpet.It can be said that He Tuanjie is not only Teacher Wu's lonely partner, but also his opponent in communication.He Tuanjie now has a son named Jun, who is three years old. Whenever Mr. Wu came, he would play with him.He Tuanjie always drove his son away to prevent him from getting his nose on Mr. Wu's clean clothes.He also went to the slopes to buy dogs everywhere, and fought with Mr. Wu and He Kuiyuan. If He Kou was willing to participate, he would join in too, but He Kou didn't join in often, and his father and brothers and sisters couldn't get enough to eat. Woolen cloth
No matter how deep the relationship between He Tuanjie and Mr. Wu is, after one or two months of observation, Mr. Wu still came to a conclusion:
He Tuanjie stole his things!

The people on the slope were afraid of unity, but Mr. Wu was not. He told many people what he thought.

No one didn't believe it, except He Da and He Ji.

That night, from the middle of the night, He Da and his son stayed outside He Tuanjie's house until dawn.They clearly heard what Hu Mian had said to He Tuanjie all night, how could it be that He Tuanjie stole it?

Could He Tuanjie commit the crime in the first half of the night?
Impossible, because according to Mr. Wu, his things were stolen in the middle of the night. After he slept until the cock crowed twice, he suddenly remembered that his sick mother asked him to go back after school. He got up and filled the flashlight. Two new batteries and off to go home.In other words, his things could only be stolen in the middle of the night.

When this word reached He Da's ears, He Da said firmly, "He Tuanjie wouldn't do that."
However, Mr. Wu firmly believed in his own judgment. A week later, he came to Hejiapo again when the sky was full of sunset.He Tuanjie had already noticed that, seeing Mr. Wu approaching with a smile on his face, he deliberately hid.He felt that Mr. Wu was not loyal enough, and he was extremely suspicious, and he shouldn't be suspicious of me, He Tuanhe!Teacher Wu shouted for unity, and his son Jun said: Dad has gone uphill.Teacher Wu just needed his absence.Teacher Wu said to Jun: "My dear son, if you let me kiss your cheek, I will give you a toy." After finishing speaking, Teacher Wu took out a colorful little ball.

When Jun saw it, he said disdainfully, "My family has it too, and it's even bigger than yours."
"I do not believe."
"Little Jiji lied to you."
"You have to take it out and I'll see it before I believe it."
Jun ran into the house and took out a ball as expected.

This is exactly the ball the school lost!

This incident caused an uproar in Hejiapo and even Dongba Commune.He Tuanjie was tied into the commune by Tian Mingliang and Yan Huzi, and squatted in a dark room for half a month. When he came back, he returned the ball and the erhu, but there was no way to return the quilt. It has been transformed into shoe uppers and trousers by Hu Mian for his son.

Mr. Wu recognized that his quilt was made of the uppers of the shoes worn by the army.

Teacher Wu cherished his friendship with He Tuanjie and didn't ask him to pay for the quilt.

(End of this chapter)