The Ladder of Love (Part II) Zhang Baotong 2017.10.10

At this time, Xiu Gu was already standing in front of the door, and the roof of the thatched house next door had been blown away by the wind. I handed the child in my arms to Aunt Xiu, and hurried to lift the collapsed thatched hut so that I could pull out the children who were crushed under the straw shed. By the time the children were pulled out from under the hut, the rain had begun to fall heavily. So I said to Aunt Xiu and the children, 'Run to the cave.' So, the children ran with Xiugu towards the cave.

I hurriedly picked up the futon and ran into the hole. Running into the hole, I put the futon on the stone nest of Chung Mi, and ran back to the collapsed thatched hut to carry the children's bedding. However, the floor of the cave was very dirty and damp, and I could not lay the bedding directly on the ground, so I said to Xiugu, 'Come with me and bring some thatch.' Xiugu said to the eldest Yuqin and the second Yuxia, "Let's go, bring some hay with Dad." So the four of us ran to the place where the thatched hut had collapsed, and carried the thatch, which had not yet been wet by the rain, to the hole. By the time we had run two round-trips, it was already raining heavily. We turned on the flashlight, shone it on the ground, and began to spread the hay on the ground, and then the futon on the thatch. Everyone huddled together and went to sleep.

We never slept together with the kids. Now that they are sleeping together, the children are scrambling to burrow into their mother's quilt. I slept on the side, and the kids were huddled with their moms affectionately.

It rained all night and didn't stop in the morning. Because we didn't sleep well last night and it was raining again, we couldn't get up together. But after lying down for a while, I got up quickly, got dressed, put an old garment over my head to keep out the rain, and ran out.

The rain was already much lighter, but the ground was very muddy. I stepped on the grass and ran to the place where the thatched hut had collapsed, and saw that the foundation of the thatched hut had been blown off by the wind, and the thatch was soaked in rainwater and was rotten. Obviously, this thatched hut is completely irreparable.

Since the thatched hut could no longer be used, they had to live in a stone cave. So, Xiugu and I began to clean and tidy up the contents of the cave, and reinforced the entrance of the cave, sealing the door with branches and leaves to prevent the wind from blowing into the cave. Because the door of the cave was originally blocked by a fence, and there were many large holes, and the fence could only block the lower half of the opening, but the upper half of the hole was open. At night, the wind can blow directly into the hole.

I wanted to make a strong gate for the entrance of the cave, but it rained for several days, and it was difficult to go out in the rain to cut down trees and do work, so I had to wait a few days. However, on that very night, something terrible happened.

Late that night, when it was still drizzling, I heard a thunderous roar in front of the cave. The voice was eerie, not only echoing in the cave for a long time, but shaking the earth. We were all awakened by scare. The children hugged Xiu Gu tightly and trembled. I heard it like a tiger's voice, for the other beasts did not have such great movement, nor did they have such great courage. I think it might be passing by looking for something to eat, and if it finds that there is nothing to eat, it will leave quickly.

However, it was not as I had imagined, and instead of leaving immediately, the tiger went up from below to the mouth of the cave and slapped the fence with its paws. Xiu Gu and the children screamed in fright and buried their heads in the quilt.

As for tigers, I used to hear that before the liberation, some people went up the mountain and were eaten by tigers, so after the liberation, almost no one dared to go up to the mountain again. I shone my flashlight at the entrance of the cave, and I saw a tiger the size of a buffalo, roaring with its mouth wide open and baring its sharp teeth. Xiugu and the children screamed in fright. I got up quickly, shone my flashlight, took the machete from the basket, held it in my hand, and thought to myself that if it dared to enter the hole, I would use the machete to cut it at its head.

But I held the machete in my hand and guarded the front of Xiu Gu and the children, but I did not dare to approach the entrance of the cave, for fear that the tiger would break the fence at the entrance of the cave and enter the hole. In the past, I heard that tigers are afraid of fire, but the tiger in front of me is not afraid of fire. I dangled my flashlight in its eyes, but instead of being scared away, it angered it. So, I asked Xiugu to get up and light the fire. On the one hand, it can intimidate the tiger, and on the other hand, it can also give us courage. When Xiugu came out of the quilt in a single garment, she grabbed a large handful of thatch from under the quilt and piled it at the entrance of the hole, and piled some firewood on the thatch, and then took up the oil lamp, poured some kerosene, and lit a match. The fire burst into flames. Smoke poured into the cave, but by the light of the fire, the tiger's hideous face could be clearly seen.

I even burned a large stick of wood and used it as a torch to reach out to the tiger, but the tiger did not back down at all. It scared me. Apparently this is a very bold tiger, it is not afraid of people at all, and it is not afraid of fire. People are most afraid of the kind of tiger that is not afraid of people. I asked Xiu Gu to burn the fire bigger. Soon, the fire became a raging fire. I took the torch and kept shaking it in front of the tiger's eyes, and as soon as it rushed into the hole, I swung my knife and slashed it.

I confronted the tiger like this, and after about half an hour, the tiger roared and slowly retreated. I walked to the entrance of the cave and shone my flashlight on it as it slowly left, and I was greatly relieved. When the tiger was far away, I took off my cotton coat and went into the quilt. Xiugu put her arms around my neck and said, 'Oh my mother, she scared me to death. When the children heard that the tiger was gone, they peeked out of the covers, but they insisted that their mother sleep with them in their arms, because they were terrified. Xiu Gu said to the children, 'Don't be afraid of Daddy's here. Actually, we ourselves are very scared. That night, Xiugu and I barely slept all night, and let the fire burn all night.

When something like this happens, not only do we feel scared at night, but we all feel scared during the day. Xiu Gu said to the children, 'You are not allowed to go out of the cave for a day. For the safety of the children, Xiugu and I hardly dared to leave the cave, even if we went out, we didn't dare to go a little farther away. ”

At this point in the story, I saw that Aunt Xu had begun to feel sleepy, so I said to Uncle Liu, "Aunt Xu is sleepy, you should go to sleep." Uncle Liu helped Aunt Xu into the back room together. Because I had just finished listening to Uncle Liu's story about the tiger, I was really a little scared, and I didn't dare to stand on the edge of the house anymore to look at the scenery, but hurriedly urinated in front of the house, then went into the house and began to sleep.