Hunger for a hundred years

Chapter 39 (19)
During the days when He Tuanjie sat in the dark room, He Zhongbao visited him once.Before he went, he held a member meeting. He said that something happened to Hejiapo people, and we can't shake hands.His words were quite restrained, without revealing any words such as "disgrace" and "disgrace".He entered the gate of the commune with mixed emotions of ridicule and flattery.However, as soon as he showed up, he was scolded loudly by He Tuanjie.He came out after standing for less than a minute.If he stays any longer, he is likely to come back with the scar left by He Tuanjie's fist.

From the discovery of the theft at the school, He Da and his family naturally thought of the theft at their own home.

He Ju said: "He Tuanjie must have stolen it too."
He Kou glanced at He Ju.He Da smoked a cigarette and remained silent.He still does not believe that He Tuanjie stole the school.But this is true, and He Tuanjie himself admitted it.Then, he and He Ji clearly heard He Tuanjie's family mumbling all night, Tian Ma Maliang and Hu Mian came out disheveled to urinate, so who was talking to Hu Mian?Isn't He Unity? Are there others?

He Da asked He Ji what he thought, but He Ji bowed his head and remained silent.Asked He Kou again, He Kou muttered: "There must be evidence, and no random guessing."
The matter was put on hold.

However, everyone keeps throwing things away!

The amount of bacon was getting less and less. Since he didn’t eat meat, he didn’t notice much. Until one day, he found a mouse about a foot long in the barn. After killing the mouse, he suddenly wanted to take a look. If there is no meat, let He Yue bring the kerosene lamp.He Yue stood outside the warehouse, holding hands, and He Daguang illuminated it.He Da lifted the lid of the altar, and a seductive smell of bacon came out, making He Yue sneezed and swallowed another mouthful of saliva.He Da reached in and pulled out a straw-shoe-like piece of meat, and asked He Yue to carry it, then reached in and pulled out another piece, four pieces, but it was gone!

A piece of meat is at most one catty, that is to say, there are only four catties of meat left!
He Da stood in the warehouse for a long time without saying a word.

He Yue knew that she had lost her flesh again, she was horrified.She felt the thief standing behind her.He Yue's courage is as small as her heart.

After 20 days, there was only one piece of meat left for Mr. He.

A few days later, the millet in the warehouse was also stolen.

This is simply a strange thief, he only steals a little bit at a time, if you are not careful, you will not find it at all.But that was food, no matter how little it was stolen, how could He Da not find it?

When He Da was convinced that there were no mice in the warehouse, he made an imperceptible mark on the grain pile and closed the warehouse tightly.In the past, he did not close the top board, because the bin was so high that it was difficult to open it. This time, he also closed the highest board.He didn't tell his family about the millet throwing, but just told everyone: there are mice in the house, so you are not allowed to open a warehouse.

But a few days later, the marks he carefully designed disappeared.

He Da couldn't bear it anymore, so he hid the piece of meat first, and then told the team leader about the throwing of the millet.

He Zhongbao brought someone to investigate.

Unable to find.If you want to talk about stealing, the thief has to break through the door, but He Da’s wooden warehouse is installed in the old house. The old house is not like He Zhongbao’s house with empty buildings. A slatted wooden window was left on the back wall, and the slats were not damaged at all, and no footprints were left.That is to say, if a thief wants to come in, he can only go through the main entrance.However, the He family has a lot of people, either one is in the house or the other is in the house, the thief has no chance at all. --What's going on here?
In fact, the matter is already very clear, it is not outsiders who stole from everyone, but inside thieves.

He Kou became the biggest suspect.This kind of suspicion is frightening. There is a traitor in the family, just like a traitor in a vital department in a special period, which makes people hard to guard against and makes people shudder.At the same time, it will cast a shadow of sadness on the hearts of every family member.He Ji first suspected that He Kou was dry, and he told He Da about this idea. He Da also had this suspicion, but he refused to admit it. When He Ji went to tell him his idea, he even gave He Ji a lesson. pause.However, two days later, He Da took us to the side and said mysteriously: "Pay attention to your big brother." When he told me this, I didn't understand what he meant, and asked why big brother attention?He Da swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty, unwilling to explain.For him, it was a great mental torture to explain this matter clearly.He turned around and took two steps, then turned around again, and said to me with red eyes: "It is possible that he stole the meat and food."
Regardless of whether this is true or not, when I learned this news, it hit me more than He Zhongbao demolished our house.At that moment, I stood by He Kou without hesitation.I don't think big brother can do such a thing.He is innocent, why should we doubt him? .
Soon, news spread on the slope: He Tuanjie got back some pornographic pictures from somewhere.

Just how yellow are these pictures?No one who spread the word had seen it, and everyone guessed that it was a man and a woman, both naked, doing things that only dogs in the fields in spring do.

The news reached He Zhongbao's ears. He pretended not to hear it. He quietly walked up to He Da while he was on his way to work. As soon as he sat down, he suddenly asked, "Brother He, you heard that He Tuanjie brought hooligans here." Is there anything about pictures?" He Da was surprised and couldn't explain clearly.He's telling the truth.He Zhongbao said faintly: "I heard that He Tuanjie and He Kou made those things together!" He Da was stunned and became like a log. After waking up, he wanted to ask what happened, but He Zhongbao got up and left.

When he came home that day, He Da felt that the cold war between him and his eldest son had to end no matter what. He asked He Kou straight to the point: "Tell me honestly, what tricks have you made during this time?"
He Kou was very surprised, but that expression was only for a moment. He coughed twice, and replied viciously: "What tricks have I made? I am a cow and a horse for the family!"
This is not an exaggeration. Recently, he has indeed been more diligent than ever before. He often has to work on the slope for a long time after work is over.Since Bai'er was killed, our family has never raised cattle. When we were a big collective, the countryside didn't raise cattle, so there wasn't much private work to do. Hekou not only cut firewood, tended his private plot, but also hunted pigweed and pigs. As long as there is a woman in the family, such work as grass will not fall on the head of a man. This is the rule of Hejiapo.He Ju and He Yue used to make it in our family.

He Da didn't say another word.He Kou gouged out his eyes, got up and went out.

That day, he didn't come back for dinner again.

Since then, life has returned to the previous state. He Kou used his home as an inn, and came back when he was eating and sleeping;As long as he goes home, he always has a dark face, as if everyone in the family is his enemy.

At the same time, the food at home is decreasing again!

He Da got angry and didn't care about He Kou's face anymore. One day when we were eating, he said loudly to us: "There are thieves in this house! Our family has never had thieves in generations. Now that there are thieves, how much do you want?" Eyes!"
He Kou was holding a bowl of glutinous rice paste, squatting on the threshold to drink it, and after hearing He Da's words, he knocked his chopsticks on the edge of the bowl, and the scorched yellow stars splashed everywhere, "Is it true that everyone is a thief?" clear!"
"I just don't understand!" He Da stomped his feet on the stone cover of the red sweet potato pit, and most of the bowl of glutinous rice paste swayed out. food.

"I don't understand. Stealing other people's peas and buying their houses, and almost being beaten to death, is it considered a thief?"
He was so angry that he just wrinkled his nose, and it took a long time for him to say something: "I stole it, but it was my life! If I don't live it out, you are a prodigal? Huh, there is someone like you in Hejiapo? Zhou Zisitai Is there someone like you? Is there someone like you in Dongba Commune?"
He Kou jumped down from the threshold and approached He Da: "You say I'm a thief, what evidence do you have? I can't give any evidence, Lao Tzu"
"You pretend to be me?" He Dabao knelt down with a bang, kowtowed like pounding garlic, and called out repeatedly: "Laozi, Laozi, Laozi!"
The whole house was full of smog.

On the stone sill by the dam, He Guanghui popped out one, secretly peeking this way.His mother Wen's head also popped up, and angrily pulled her son down.

He Ji tried to persuade him for a long time, but Liang came over to persuade him again.Liang said: "What's the point of making people laugh at such a ruckus?" So, the two fell silent.After Mrs. Liang left, both He Da and He Kou were extremely tired. One fell asleep curled up in Chai Yilao, and the other lay down in the townhouse (a shallow floor between the ground floor and the second floor, less than one meter high). on the bed.

As soon as He Kou arrived at the town house, he said loudly: "I know that you suspect that I have stolen something, and you need to produce evidence. I will fight with anyone who has no evidence for chewing!"
There was no sound in the kitchen.

After a while, we heard He Kou's crying, which was so penetrating that it seemed to soak out from every corner of the room.It was getting late, and the objects in the courtyard dam were blurred and shaky.Great fear.Unresolved loneliness.
After a while, He Ju quietly asked He Ji: "Second Brother, do you think he stole it?"
"Only he knows."
He Ju's and He Ji's voices were quiet enough, but He Kou actually heard it. He rushed out of the town house, and the wooden boards made a cracking sound as if they were breaking.My heart tightened, thinking that he was going to come out to beat people again, but he rushed to the door and only stared at us fiercely.I clearly saw the change in his eyes, he seemed to eat us with his eyes, but slowly, his eyes were like a sharpened sword, cowardly and sad because of his own incompetence, and finally into a deep loneliness.He finally returned to the back room, without crying or sighing, just howling dryly: "I didn't steal it! I didn't steal it!"
He Yue who was sitting next to me tugged at my sleeve and said softly, "Brother is so pitiful, he must not have stolen it."
Among those present, I am afraid that only He Yue and I believed that He Kou was innocent.

But soon, He Kou completely exposed his bad behavior.

It was a Thursday, after breakfast, I went to school.As soon as they walked to the school gate, they heard loud quarrels coming from the big classroom.That voice came from Teacher Wu and Teacher Li.Because of poverty, Mr. Li never started a business with Mr. Wu, let alone go to Hejiapo to buy dogs to eat with him.Mr. Wu looked down on Mr. Li very much, and he was overwhelmed by big and small matters.In Anzisi Primary School, Mr. Wu is the only public teacher and the natural principal. He has the qualifications to suppress others.Unexpectedly, Mr. Li is a person who refuses to admit defeat. The degree of seriousness and responsibility in teaching is second to none in Dongba. Moreover, his Chinese class is better than Mr. Wu's, and his arithmetic is not weak. The grades in the class are always among the best. Although Mr. Wu is recognized as a competent teacher, the grades of the students are not higher than the top five. As a result, there is a grudge between them.This grievance is deeply rooted, and if something goes wrong, Teacher Wu will quarrel with Teacher Li.Whenever there was a quarrel, Mr. Wu would humiliate Mr. Li by saying that he was poor.

They quarreled today because Teacher Wu blamed Teacher Li for leaving the students late yesterday, and they couldn't do farm work when they went back. The parents had objections.Mr. Li is teaching the graduating class, and he vowed to let at least three students enter the county's key middle school, which is the Sunshine Middle School on the peninsula; since last week, he has never been home, and he always ends school after dark Seeing the students coming one after another, Teacher Li wanted to retreat and arrange for the students to attend class, but Teacher Wu refused, saying that the class was late yesterday and that students should be allowed to rest today.The students were naturally happy, and it didn't matter whether they were still arguing or not, they left with a coax.I walked home alone across several field ridges.I know that Teacher Li will not be sad because Teacher Wu scolded him, but he will definitely feel pain because the students leave.Several times, I almost turned back, but what's the use of going back alone? What I don't understand is that almost all the parents of the students think that Mr. Wu is better than Mr. Li. Some parents even laugh at Mr. Li with Mr. Wu. Teacher, even if Teacher Li is teaching his own children.

I entered Yuanba with such a sad mood.

There was no one in the courtyard.A few lonely chickens squatted on top of the orange and apricot trees beside the courtyard dam, curled up lazily.The big yellow dog raised by He Zhongbao's family came up from his yard and stretched out to sleep under the eaves of Liang's street. Hearing people's voices, it raised its head vigilantly. Seeing that it was an acquaintance, it lay down and closed its eyes again. .This is a strange dog. It has been sleeping in our courtyard since some time ago, as if it was a spy sent by He Zhongbao.Those messy firewood and blue-gray tile-roofed houses, with a touch of sadness, scattered melancholy in the courtyard.quiet.It was so quiet that it made people panic.

I walked to the door, squatted down habitually, and reached into the hole to touch the key.There is no key.But the big black lock on the door was clearly locked.I thought, someone must have taken the key away because he was afraid that the house would be stolen again.I felt even more bored and sulked faintly, and sat on the large yellow barrel by the door and waited.Inadvertently, I glanced at the big lock, and suddenly found that the lock pin was not inserted into the lock hole, but the lock body was turned in a different direction, so I couldn't see clearly; moreover, the door and nose were not hooked.

I push the door and go in.

I want to use this time to read a little book.A few days ago, I secretly found a book called "Cold Night" from He Ji's room. The background of the book is unfamiliar to me, but the atmosphere and emotion are so close to my life.No one bothered me, and the adults all went to work.I suddenly fell in love with this morning.

The book was placed in the town house, and I ran to the town house as soon as I put my schoolbag away.

As soon as I stepped on the high threshold, I was almost scared to death.

In the wooden warehouse on the left, a human head suddenly popped up!
"How early is it, why did you leave school so early today?"
The human head spoke.I could hear He Kou speaking.

He Kou turned out of the wooden barn with an extremely nervous expression on his face.

I understand everything.

"I didn't steal it"
He Kou, who was so cruel to us before, murmured to me.He was limp and hunched.

"Brother, why are you doing this? You took things out, and who did you give them to?"
He Kou hung his hands down, tears gushed out of his eyes and dripped down his round face.

"Third brother is in this house, only you are good to me, I understand in my heart. You won't tell it?"
I looked at the crying big brother.I know my eyes are precocious, with disdain.I already look down on my big brother.

"Just tell me where you stole the food, and I won't tell."
He Kou lowered his head, and when he raised it up, there were no tears in his eyes, but red veins in his eyes.His cheeks were also clenched.

He is going to hit me.This sparked my anger. "If you don't tell me, I'll sue Dad!"
He Kou stared at me for a while, the red veins in his eyes gradually faded, and deep sadness was hidden in the dim pupils.He didn't reply to my words for a long time, and I didn't want to force him anymore. I said, "As long as you don't steal anymore, I won't tell anyone."
After all, I went under my pillow and took out "Cold Night". I wanted to take it to the kitchen to read it, but after thinking about it, I lay down on the bed and read it.

I heard He Kou close the barn, walk out with tired steps, and took down the sickle from the sickle rack.When leaving the kitchen, he carefully closed the door.

My tears burst forth.I don't know why I cry, I just know that my elder brother has become a loser. Before, would I dare to go into the house and lie down on the bed to read in broad daylight in front of him?Now, not only does he dare not criticize me, he is also afraid of me.Instead of being happy about it, I feel sad.

(End of this chapter)