The seventeenth year of Chu Yanguang, August 23.

Henan, Zhangde Mansion, Anyang County.

This is the hometown of Shang Yin, known as Yecheng in ancient times, called Xiangzhou in the Tang and Song dynasties, and renamed Zhangde Mansion in the Jin Dynasty.

Jangdeok is bordered by Gyeonggi to the north; South Lian Kaifeng; Leaning on Taihang in the west; Looking west to Shandong, Suying Henan and North Chong, the four provinces are known as the thoroughfare, and the soldiers must fight for the place.

In the past thousand years, there have been Pangeng Qianyin, Wuding Zhongxing, Fu Baixiang, King Wen and Zhou Yi, Ximen Leopard Casting Wu Zhiyedi, Xinling Jun stealing talismans to save Zhao, Xiang Yu breaking the cauldron and sinking the boat, and Cao Mengde Yecheng made a fortune......

Poetry: "Huanshui Anyang is worthy of its name, it was the imperial capital three thousand years ago, and the Central Plains culture was founded, and it is better to look at this than to read ancient books." ”

And in today's Yanguang years, the past of the ancient capital of the Seven Dynasties is hidden in the dust, outside the dilapidated city wall, looking at the past, there is only a trace of dry and cracked loess in sight.

The waterlogging has passed, the drought is still there, the frost is blowing, and the snow is falling. The big rogues sifted again, and the hurried officers and soldiers sifted again.

The white bones were buried in the yellow sand, and the land outside was cracked, and there was no life for a hundred miles.

But there is always a tenacious life, which grows like a weed out of the cracks in the stones.

Qugou Village.

Qu Zhu sat on the stalk with Xi'er, peeling the roots with sharp stones.

In the fields, their father Qu Dachang and their second uncle Qu Erchang were carrying water to water the fields.

After the robbers and murderers and the officers and soldiers left, Qu Dachang and Qu Erchang still returned to the village with their children, wanting to pick up that little bit of livelihood......

Otherwise, where can you go if you leave your homeland?

After planting the last bit of wheat in the ground, the Qu family usually only had some wild vegetables to eat, and occasionally they could catch one or two birds.

Qu Zhu and Xi'er have been hungry for many years. In fact, I forgot what it is to be full.

But they are still fortunate to read, after all, they still survived.

This year, because of the famine, the seeds were sown late, but the wheat can be harvested in another month, and it can be regarded as surviving another year.

The autumn wind blew through the necks of Quzhu and Xi'er, and it was a little cold.

They didn't think about the distant question of whether they had clothes to keep warm when winter came, but they just looked at the ears of wheat that had bent down a little, and looked forward to it soon until next month.

Suddenly.

A heart-rending cry rang out.

"Quick! Light the smoke! ”

"Light the smoked worms......"

Qu Zhu and Xi'er turned their heads to look, but saw their mother and a few villagers running towards them with brooms and branches in their hands.

Xi'er opened her mouth wide and said, "Wow, what a big black cloud!" ”

Qu Zhu stared blankly for a while, and suddenly howled: "Locust wow! ”

Over there, the bucket in the hands of the Qu Dachang brothers had fallen to the ground, and their eyes were full of despair.

Locusts will grow after a long drought, and an old farmer like himself should have thought of it......

But for these two old black peasants, they could not cry like the women and children.

In a panic, Qu Dachang hurriedly went to collect hay, but Qu Erchang was in a panic, his hands trembled, and he didn't even have time to make a fire.

Qu Zhu was stunned for a moment, and then threw himself on the ground to help his father pile hay.

"Quick! Heap of grass......"

Xi'er was dazed for a moment, and the next moment, it suddenly went dark.

Flying locusts cross the border, obscuring the sun.

It was dark in front of her, and there was a buzzing sound in her ears, and Xi'er was frightened, and she couldn't help crying.

The locusts hit the face and hurt and hurt.

Rustling rustling ......

The leg of the band saw slashed across her face, cutting the skin, and after a while, Xi'er's face was covered with fine marks.

She cried and lay on the ground for a while, and saw that her father had already made a fire.

Rustling rustling ......

"Quick! Hit! ”

"Smoked!"

In the drowsy color, Xi'er stood up, picked up a branch like her brother, and pounced on the locusts while crying.

……

Someone cried: "Die, die, what are you going to do?" ”

Xi'er turned her head to look, but saw that it was Aunt Yang from the next door sitting on the ground with her hair scattered.

Although smoke was raised, the crops were all gone. There is no grass on the ground.

The surrounding villagers were also disheveled, with loose hair and blank eyes. While the people were crying, they took sacks of wheat and worms on the ground.

"Kill! How do you spend this day! ”

Aunt Yang sat on the ground and cried for a while, and when she saw that everyone was pretending to be insects, she got up conveniently, undressed and went to wrap the wheat and insect corpses on the ground.

Xi'er also followed her family to pick up insects in her field.

Qu Dachang seemed to have been drained of all his essence by the locusts, and his body was even more rickety, and his eyes were pressed against the sack blankly.

There was a miserable howl all around.

Xi'er couldn't help but ask Qu Zhu, "Brother, can locusts be eaten?" ”

"Well," Qu Zhu replied weakly, "I just can't eat much." ”

After a while, there was a quarrel over there.

But the villagers are fighting for the locusts on the ground.

Another old man from the village came with a staff and howled: "Don't eat locusts, you have angered the locust god, and you will ...... next year."

Before he could finish speaking, the scrambles knocked him to the ground.

"Don't you eat worms to eat you?"

"Don't rob ......"

"This is my ......"

Xi'er listened to their quarrel and was a little dazed for a moment.

The next moment, a sack mixed with wheat, locusts, and dirt in her hand was snatched away.

Xi'er looked up, but it was Aunt Yang.

Aunt Yang's hair was scattered, and she only had a ragged single coat on her body. Her own burden was snatched away in the chaos, so she rushed over and snatched Xi'er's.

After only two steps, Aunt Yang fell on the side of the field in a panic.

Qu Dachang walked up and reached out to grab the burden in her hand.

"Brother Dachang, please, I don't have any food at home......" Aunt Yang cried.

Qu Dachang didn't say anything.

Aunt Yang said again: "The dog baby is only three years old, I beg you......"

Qu Dachang sighed and said in a low voice: "Widow Yang, I advise you, in the future, the baby at home will have to be hidden." After a while, when the wheat was finished, people had to look around for something to eat. Every year when they run away from the famine, they start eating ...... children first."

Aunt Yang was stunned.

It took her a moment to react, and she said, "Ah! He screamed and cried.

Qu Erchang couldn't bear it in his heart, and stepped forward and said, "Brother, why don't we let her have a bag?" ”

Qu Dachang shook his head and said: "On weekdays, let a little go, but now this is life-saving food." ”

"Brother Erchang, I'll be your daughter-in-law." Aunt Yang hugged the burden in her arms and begged: "As long as this bag, I will be your daughter-in-law......

"Please, you have escaped the famine, please beg our mother and son, Brother Erchang, I will let the dog baby be your son, and I will pass on the family to you......"

Qu Erchang pouted and turned to Dachang.

Qu Dachang kicked him and said, "Can my daughter-in-law eat as food?" ”