Hunger for a hundred years

Chapter 47 (4)
His words were mysterious, but his face was glowing with sickly happiness.

"Daddy, it's me."
A childish voice suddenly sounded outside the door.

He Da was startled, and the clothes he was wearing were also startled, and slipped to the ground.He Ben and I leaned close to his side.

"Daddy, I'm a dog."
He Da yanked the door open.

He Jiangao's son Gou really jumped forward like a dog.

He Da quickly closed the door.

The dog knelt on the ground and kowtowed to He Da.

He Da grabbed him, "Baby, what's the matter?"
"My father is old" (In the Qingxi River Basin, "old" is a taboo word for death.)
The dog has no tears, but mature sadness and imperceptible indifference in his eyes.

He Daxiang was struck by lightning, with his head raised high, as if a poor sculptor had put his head on his body.

"Your dad...why did he die?"
"Hanged. Before he hanged himself, he asked me to call you. He had something to say to you. Mom didn't let me call, because he was afraid that the work team would suspect you. Dad entered the back room, and after a while, he..."
He Da told us to go to bed quickly, and without saying anything, he pulled the dog and plunged into the darkness.

Here, Yan Huzi led a team to guard Zhu's board overnight. At dawn, he heard that He Jiangao was dead. "This is committing suicide in fear of crime!" Tian Mingliang shouted angrily.He told Yan Huzi, He Zhongbao, and He Tuanjie not to rush into the mountains to dig pits and find valleys, but to go back to the village to hold a member meeting.Tian Mingliang firmly believed that no one had the guts to go into the mountains and steal the millet at this juncture.

The members' meeting was still held in He Jiangao's main room, and He Jiangao's body was parked in the middle, and his wife, family and children stood on both sides of the body in sackcloth and mourning.Despite the hoarse shouts of Tian Mingliang, Yan Huzi, One-eyed Secretary, He Zhongbao and others, the meeting was extremely dull.

When Tian Mingliang announced the adjournment of the meeting, He Da suddenly stood up and said shortly but firmly, "Jiangao didn't steal Guzi!"
The stone was shocked.All the people stayed for a long time.In the eyes of those cadres, He Da is simply a jerk!The Gu family has already explained the location of the hidden millet, and you still say that he didn't steal it?Take a ten thousand step back, even if He Jiangao really didn't steal it, but more than 200 kilograms of public grains are missing, there must be an explanation. He Jiangao committed suicide, which is the best explanation in itself, but now you say it wasn't him, a jerk or something?
"Why do you say it's not him?" Tian Mingliang asked He Da with sideways eyes.He has a wide face with Chinese characters. Some people say that Tian Mingliang's face can draw a map of China.

"He doesn't have the guts."
"Who do you think has such courage?"
"I don't know. I didn't believe he stole it from the beginning. I should have told him my thoughts a long time ago and let him know that there are still people in this world who believe that he is a good person. If so, he wouldn't have hanged himself. Even if he wanted to Stealing, he doesn't have the courage."
Due to the pain, He Da spoke intermittently.

He Zhongbao walked up to He Da, "You mean only the brave dare to steal?"
He Tuanjie stared angrily at He Da, and then at He Zhongbao.In terms of courage, who in this He Jiapo would dare to compare with He Tuan except He Kuiyuan?What do they mean by this?
He Da said, "I didn't say that."
He Zhongbao asked again: "Are you so bold?"
"Me neither."
Tian Mingliang quickly interjected: "I can't see it! Don't you dare to steal that ping of wheat on the beam!"
The atmosphere became tense all of a sudden, He Da said: "Don't you guys force me to go to Jiangao too!"
Everyone was silent, and after a full 10 minutes, Tian Mingliang shouted in disgust: "The meeting is over!" He walked out of the venue first.

Yan Huzi, the one-eyed secretary, He Zhongbao and He Jianshen stood up one after another.

The members of the commune, one by one, gradually dispersed.

The mist in the early morning floats from Wanggu Tower and Yanghou Mountain on the opposite side, and pours into the main room.He Jiangao's pale and thin body was swaying in the mist and morning wind.The filial piety on his wife and children was also like a cloud of fog, covering him layer by layer.

In the gray and dead atmosphere, He Da whispered: "Dude, you didn't steal it!"
After Tian Mingliang walked out of the venue, he personally took people to dig a pit under Zhu's board to search for valleys.

Many people went, except for the cadres of the working group, the brigade, and the production team, most of the people on Poshang also went.

In the history of human development, food is always more important than dead people.

He Jiangao's private chaishan is not big, according to Jiangao's own statement: it is as small as a buttock.Go down the ugly stone basin, bypass the rock cut where the child's body was placed, and go into the mountain for tens of meters, and you will arrive.At that time, there were tall pines, cypresses, sweetgum, or fir trees in the chai hills of the public house, while the private chai hills were full of short shrubs, and the tallest ones were green gang trees, so they could be clearly seen at a glance——
There is a big hole that has been dug long ago!
On the edge of the big pit, a few full grains were sparsely scattered.

Obviously, the millet was taken away by someone!
Damn, isn't it such a short time?What kind of audacity is it? !

Tian Mingliang walked away without saying anything.

Yan Huzi waved his hand and shouted: "Go back, go back all of them!"
The members followed suit and walked back.

The member meeting was held again, and the location was still chosen in He Jiangao's morgue.

This time, it was to find out who was not present at the early morning meeting.

There was no way to check, there was no roll call at the meeting early in the morning, and the weather was foggy, so we couldn't see clearly; besides, everyone just got out of bed, who paid attention to whom?

In fact, for the cadres in charge of investigating this matter, it doesn't matter whether they can find the head or not. As long as they confirm that He Jiangao stole the millet in the public warehouse, they will not take any responsibility for He Jiangao's death. .

Gu didn't understand what was going on until the meeting was over: what?Someone dug a hole in her own firewood mountain?Grain scattered around the pit?

She yelled twice: "No stealing, no stealing" and then she fell back and passed out.

He Da helped several women pinch Gu's tiger's mouth and Renzhong, and finally rescued her.But He Da was also puzzled. You said that a hole was dug there and the grain was buried. Someone really went to dig the hole and found the grain, but why do you say that you didn’t steal it?

This matter has finally become an unsolved case.

He Jiangao was sent up the mountain by He Da to be buried next to his daughter's grave.During the two major famines, He Da buried a good friend respectively, and these two good friends—Li Zhujiang and He Jiangao both committed suicide!There is only one life, and losing one's life is an extremely tragic thing anyway, no matter how humble and humble, one still desires to extend one's life, "It's good to be alive!" Luo Gonglu sighed in common. Now, two of the three have left. These two people not only love life, but also love their families. hit the road.
Drought and hunger did not ease because of He Jiangao's hanging.At the strong request of the members, all the millet in the public warehouse was taken out and divided.On the day when the warehouse was opened to fetch grain, none of the Hejiapo people who were studying in Anzisi Primary School went to school. When the weather was bright, the whole village, old and young, gathered around the public warehouse in Zhongyuanba to wait.The public warehouse with blackened walls and covered with cobwebs has become the most brilliant gem in the eyes of people on the slope.Everyone's lips are wriggling involuntarily, and everyone is imagining: if you share the millet with your hands, you can have a full meal at noon!The belly, which was originally attached to the back, also automatically separated from the back at this time, protruding forward, ready to eat the full meal.

Everything is quiet.Food is the only gold in this world. In front of food, even if He Kuiyuan and He are united, they all show due dignity.At about ten o'clock in the morning, He Zhongbao asked the custodian to bring the key and opened a large iron lock.At this time, people flocked to the door to see how much grain was inside: in that corner, there was a pitiful pile of shiny yellow grains, no more than three hundred catties at most.

At this time, someone started to scold.Of course it was He Jiangao, the dead ghost.Although Gu finally retracted her confession and said that she did not steal, who would believe it?Think about it, He Jiangao's family stole more than 200 catties with just this little grain, which is half of the total!

However, when the total amount of grain was weighed and the per capita level was calculated, people stopped scolding; although the per capita level was less than three catties, is three catties still small?Three catties is a lot!When someone finally got the food, the nearly exhausted blood rushed up, flushed with excitement, and happily yelled at the old people and children at home, and went home together.

In the next two days, except for the dogs who couldn't eat food, they kept barking in pain and grievance, and there was no human voice on the slope.In the middle of the night, there was an occasional human voice, which was the crying of the Gu family.On the slope, only the Gu family did not share any food.

But only two days later, people came out of their homes again, carrying flower baskets, holding some hoes, and walking to the depths of the mountain with blank eyes.The mountain has been peeled off a layer of skin, but what can they do? If they don't cut the flesh and bones of the mountain, how can they survive?Now, the millet in the public warehouse has been divided, and people have no hope. The only hope is the mountain and the land that gave birth to them.

Many years later, I lived in the provincial capital. Every night when the people were quiet, I would stop what I was doing and sit in the study and think about my hometown. I would ask myself this way: Am I grateful for the mountains and rivers of my hometown from the bottom of my heart?yes i appreciate that.However, my hometown has given us so much suffering, why should I thank her?That's because, at that time, my hometown was a pale and emaciated mother. She was overwhelmed with so many children. She could have left us alone, but she didn't. She struggled to keep us alive; Some people were killed, but most of them survived!For this alone, I have no reason to forget my hometown.The land of my hometown has the breath and emotions of a mother. When the person in her arms dies, we should not only be immersed in the sorrow for the deceased, but also think about those helpless eyes and thin arms. and shriveled breasts.For those who have never experienced hunger, it is difficult to imagine the feelings of the hungry people after seeing the land where they live have been peeled off several layers of skin.Pain!The land gave everything, but we were powerless to cherish her.It is this kind of pain that constitutes the reason why the more people come from remote and poor places, the more they miss their hometown
When the mountains and mountains could no longer squeeze out a drop of milk, the government began to distribute relief food.

Relief food was transported thousands of miles from the Northeast, mostly corn. Although it was only a few catties per person per person, with a large pot of water, after all, people could smell the fragrance of food.Before distributing the relief food, each team held a member meeting to select a very poor household, and the extremely poor household enjoyed one-third more than other families.The extremely poor households in Hejiapo are without exception He Jianshen's family.There is almost no need for selection, as long as you look at the clothes that the men and women of his family can't hide their shame, the members will have nothing to say.As time went by, the poor reputation of He Jianshen's family far surpassed that of He Da. They became famous not only in Laojun Mountain, but also in the entire Dongba Township. Know that his family is poor.It was a good time for his two sons and two daughters to eat (Cai Gen was separated out because he beat his mother He Bi at that time, but he did not open a separate account, so the relief food could only be distributed to Jianshen's family. I still eat with them), although He Jianshen and his wife are over 50 years old, but few people on the slope can compare in appetite.Jianshen can eat seven large bowls of glutinous rice balls in one sitting. His wife He Bi has a wide mouth. Due to the loss of her front teeth, her cheeks look like part of her lips.Being able to eat is one of the reasons why Jianshen’s poverty spread far and wide; the other reason is that He Dazai tried his best to hide his poverty. He was like a tired and desperate driver, who clearly knew that he couldn’t push it up, but he tried his best to push it up. Jianshen was different when blocking the car from sliding down. He was afraid that others would not know that his family was poor.

Although Jianshen's family received one-third more relief food than others, they were the first to finish the food.After the corn was carried back, He Bi led the family to push and grind until the family was fed up to the point where they were not willing to let go.For seven or eight consecutive days, his family must have two major characteristics: one is that He Jianshen had diarrhea. He ran to the pigsty alley more than ten times a day, unfastened his belt while running, and made a sound like a rock avalanche when he squatted down. Early in the morning, the sound was enough to wake up the whole people on the slope. Sometimes, the "chicken intestine belt" around the waist became a knot, and he couldn't untie it in a hurry, and his desperate curses sounded from the mountains, rivers and valleys; Every time he finished eating, He Bi ran from the east house to the west house, with smooth lips, squirming cheeks, smiling happily, and went door to door asking how the food was processed.

However, He Bi's happy smile did not last long.

No matter how poor the people on the slope are, the tradition of helping each other has never stopped when others really can't survive.In the past, He Bi would carry his son every now and then, and go to each house to borrow food.She has a whole set of ways of borrowing food, sitting by the fire hall, whether you make a bad face or scold your mother, if you don't pour something that can survive into her bag, she won't leave.I'm afraid she doesn't know how many households she borrowed food from.She didn't know, but the person who lent her the grain was clear. Once the grain was lent out in those years, the grain became the child of the master's family in exile, and he was always concerned about it.Now that the relief food has been brought back, and Jianshen's family has more than others, He Bi should pay off the debt, right? ──Actually, no one expects her to repay, but they just can't get used to the sound of He Jianshen's diarrhea, He Bi's glib mouth and her extremely happy smile.

One day, whoever took the lead, more than a dozen people came to the eaves of her house with utensils, large and small, and asked her to pay back the food.

At this time, Jianshen and his children often huddled in the house, and only He Bi sat on a bench on the street eaves, with a sieve in front of him, and in the sieve were rags and trousers. She groaned as she sewed.What suppressed her groaning was the shouting of the accountant one after another:
"Give me back my catty of corn."
"Give me back my bowl of pig roots."
"Give me back my bucket of old baby garlic."
"Give me back my two pieces of Rulang bark."
Some not only brought utensils to hold food, but also brought small scales to show their strong determination to return the food.

He Bi kept her head down, and moans flowed from the tip of her needles like strands of rags.It was a helplessness beyond pain.She couldn't speak a word, she could only groan to show to the debt collector: I really have no choice.

One day, He Kou hurried back from the middle courtyard dam and said to He Da, "I'll go to Jianshen's father to pay back the food!" After that, he brought the wooden bowl that all our brothers and sisters used when we were young, About to go out.He Bi once came to borrow a bowl of corn seeds.

He Da grabbed He Kou: "Don't go!"
He Kou said, "They have all gone."
"They are their business!"
No matter how much He Da tried to stop him, He Kou still went.

(End of this chapter)