The wolfhound did not dare to come near me and barked vigorously from behind.

At this time, I saw a farm boat not far away, so I walked cautiously, jumped down, and after standing firmly, I unfolded my clothes and shook them, and the sweet potatoes rolled into the boat one by one, and I said to the little dog proudly, "Goodbye, big smelly dog." ”

I untied the long bamboo tied to the side of the boat and prepared to hold on, intending to escape the big dog and then go ashore and walk home. As I struggled to push the bamboo into the water, a gun suddenly came to my waist from behind, and I was so frightened that I didn't dare to move.

"Don't move, boy, hold me up on the shore, or I'll kill you." ”

Such a terrible order frightened me to sweat all over my body, but I still didn't dare to move.

The gun pointed at me straightened up again on my waist, and I would immediately prop up the boat, not daring to make a sound, not daring to look at it, and very obediently and silently propping up the boat.

The group was chatting in the back, saying something I didn't understand. My heart was pounding, wondering if the beasts would cross the shore and kill me. I was so shocked that my palms were sweating, and I slowly dragged on for time.

"Hurry up!" The people in the back pushed me up again, and I had to push through quickly.

When they came ashore one by one, they didn't even look at me, and the last one was the one who pointed his gun at me, and he wiped his gun on my clothes before he came ashore, and he didn't look at me. It wasn't until I couldn't see their figures or hear their voices that my heart calmed down, and I wiped the sweat from my forehead, and I almost said goodbye.

Only then did I find out that if they look like Chinese but do not speak Chinese, they are Japanese ghosts.

From that day on, I had the intention of joining the army, and I wanted to protect my brothers and sisters in China and not let them live in fear. Although, I know that my strength is meager, but if every man in China has this kind of obsequious head, my strength will be immeasurable.

My mother would teach me to read under the oil lamp every day, but now that the fire and water are gone, only a few old candles remain, and we are reluctant to use them.

After my mother and I had eaten some gruel, we were busy in the dark. My mother was groping with housework in the moonlight, while I lay in bed and looked out the window at the moonlight hanging high above the window.

"Come on, help me bring in the firewood, or you'll be stolen tomorrow morning." Mother said, walking out the door.

I let out an "oh" and quickly rolled out of bed, stepping on a pile of soft stuff as soon as I got out of bed. I lifted my foot, pursed my mouth, and muttered, "You're a dead thing again." The little hen seemed to hear me scolding her, and clucked. When she heard the hen crow, the mother came in, put down the firewood she was holding, and said happily:

"Don't call him dead, step on a pile of for a pile of eggs, it's worth it. ”

I couldn't see my mother's smile, I could hear her laughing.

I went out with my mother, and together we carried the firewood in with the dry grass.

The next morning, I saw a group of soldiers scurrying around our dilapidated village, and I didn't know what they were doing, and at what time, I couldn't tell which soldiers were good and which were bad. My mother wouldn't let me go out, so I could only peek out of the window. They sat down in the garden of Aunt Zhang's house on the opposite hill, drank water and chatted.

I saw Aunt Zhang pointing to our house, and soon after, the group of soldiers scattered and left, and some came to our house. I closed the window with a "snap" and shouted in a panic: "Mom, the soldiers are coming to our house." ”

Mother was obviously nervous, if the Japanese ghost came, it would be impossible to die without food, but this kind of rural place had already been robbed a few days ago, and they had nothing to do when they came back.

My mother immediately hurriedly stuffed me with all the things I could use and eat, and told me to hide them in the cellar with them. Actually, it's nothing, just a little rice, sweet potatoes and a dozen eggs, but this can be eaten for many days, at least you don't have to starve. At this time, even the grass is burnt, let alone edible.

"Quick, you hide too. As my mother urged, she heard a knock at the door, a very polite one.

"Is anyone there, please?"

Hearing that the voice was not vicious, my mother's heart settled, and my body, which was going down the cellar, turned back and quickly climbed up.

My mother opened the door with a "whoosh", and the face of a soldier slowly appeared in front of me. His face was round, his expression was friendly, his body was tall and strong, and he looked mighty in a dark green military uniform, which I have always longed for. I have always wanted to join the army, I can protect my family and country, that patriotic enthusiasm is rolling in my body, maybe because of the reason why all men now go to the army, I feel that if I don't join the army, I am not a man, hiding at home to keep myself safe has no interest at all, and more importantly, I hate the Japanese Empire for killing our people like this. However, this kind of thinking was never revealed to my mother, because my mother only had one child, and I was her only one, and I knew that she did not want me to leave her.

The mother invited the soldier in, wiped the stool with her palm, and invited the soldier to sit down and pour tea.

"We are soldiers of the communist army," the soldier began to say: "Don't turn around, this time I am here in the hope that capable young people can voluntarily join our party organization, protect their families and the country together, and go into battle to kill the enemy." ”

When my mother heard this, the hand holding the kettle shook suddenly, and the sound of "ping-pong" made my heart tremble.

For a long time, the mother did not speak, did not turn around, and the hand holding the kettle did not move, and listened quietly.

"Kid, do you want to read?" the soldier asked, turning to me.

I didn't make a sound because I knew my mother didn't want me to be silent.

"If you want to study, you can choose to join the army, I can take you there, there is a military camp school in Dapeng Bay, Baoan County, Shenzhen, you can be a platoon commander if you perform well for two years, and you can study and help the country, this is a hero's performance!"

I lowered my head and didn't speak, and then I secretly looked up at my mother.

Seeing that we didn't speak, the soldier stood up with a smile on his face and said as he left, "I'll come back tomorrow!"

The mother still didn't move.

It wasn't until the soldiers left that my mother left the high wooden table where the tea was opened, walked to the dining table and sat down, pulled me to her side, and asked gently, "Tell my mother honestly, do you want to join the army?"

I kept my head down and didn't speak.

My mother seemed to understand something, she avoided my face, turned and walked out of the house.