In the northern winter, the bitter northwest wind is like a loose horse, wreaking havoc on the desolate and barren land. The bright moon is in the sky, bent and thin and cold, like a farmer's sickle, the two ancient willows by the pond are particularly tall in the night, the nest between the branches trembles in the cold wind, and a few wails are heard from time to time! Shuangliu Village, located in the northeast of Huang County, Shandong Province, since the establishment of the village at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there have been more than 500 households since the reproduction of three or five households, the history of talents has come out in large numbers, the galaxy is splendid, during the Yongzheng period, only one door of the Liujia compound has produced three Jinshi, for a time it was passed down as a good story, and it has become a well-known ancient village in Jiaodong area!

Late at night, the village is silent, the pink lanterns hanging in the Liujia compound are swaying in the wind in the cold night, and the four big characters of the glorious family on the lanterns are shining in the candlelight, highlighting a special honor of the Liujia compound!

"Father Renzhang, put out the lantern outside the gate, it's the middle of the night, and it's a waste of candles to light it!" In the dark, Mrs. Liu said softly to Father Liu, she was lying on her side on the kang, her body curled up in the quilt, and the cold wind outside the window blew the window paper.

"Renzhang Niang, let's let it be lit, isn't it just a candle, Yizhang They joined the army the day after tomorrow and left, and they don't know what the situation will be when they go to the Korean battlefield, and it's good to feel at ease with the lantern lit at night!" Daddy Liu sat on the kang, accompanied by the sound of smoking, the cigarette pouch pot in his mouth glowed red, the moonlight shone into the house through the window, and the portraits of Chairman Mao and Commander-in-Chief Zhu were hung in the middle of the east wall, and there were two New Year paintings on both sides of the portraits, one was the magnificent Jinggang Mountain, and the other was the pagoda mountain of Yan'an, the holy land of the revolution, which was covered in the glow.

"Father Renzhang, Aidao has made more than 30 pairs of insoles for a few brothers who have joined the army in the past few days, and in order to catch up, I have stayed up all night, and my eyes are swollen like peaches." Liu Lao Niang's curled up body trembled a little, and there were tears in the corners of her eyes, whether she was reluctant to let her son go to the army or felt sorry for her daughter, she couldn't tell clearly, and she may have remembered the San'er Rites! Liu Lizhang and Liu Yizhang are twins, in the 34th year of the Republic of China, they went to the Northeast and defected to their uncle Wang Shouchen, Liu Laoniang's eldest brother Wang Shouchen has been doing business in Lushun for many years, and originally wanted Liu Lizhang to be an apprentice in the store, but who would have thought that Liu Lizhang had an accident just after he arrived in Lushun, and he was arrested by the Kuomintang army before he left the dock, and he has not been heard from since, and Liu Lizhang was not yet 14 years old that year!

Daddy Liu went to Kanto twice in order to find the medal, and finding someone in the war years was like looking for a needle in a haystack, and finally there was no way, Daddy Liu took the initiative to be a partner in the Kuomintang army for more than a month, and asked about the whereabouts of Liu Lizhang when he saw people, and the hard work paid off, he finally found out the news of Liu Lizhang, it turned out that Liu Lizhang had fled to the south with the Kuomintang troops from Yingkou, and the smoke of the civil war was scorching the north and south of the river, and thousands of people died every day, and Liu Lizhang's life and death could only be left to fate!

At the moment, the eldest son Liu Renzhang, the second son Liu Yizhang, and the nephew Liu Houzhang signed up for the army again, Liu Lao Niang was full of sorrow, tears burst out of her eyes, her curled body shook violently, and she couldn't help crying, and the nerves that had been tense these days instantly collapsed, "Son, my etiquette, where are you?" Where are you? "In the past four years, my thoughts are like the Liushui River in the west of the village, under the frozen river, the gushing flow has never stopped, Liu Lao Niang uncontrollably vented her inner pain, crying louder and louder, Liu Lao Dad didn't say a word with tears in his eyes, just inhaled dry smoke vigorously, under the faint moonlight, cold face, straight nose bridge, resolute eyes, four years ago, when he learned that Liu Lizhang was still alive, he once knelt in front of the offering table in the family temple, praying that the ancestors would protect Lizhang to return alive! It has been four years now, the etiquette is still nothing, the initial luck, hope, fantasy slowly wear away, Liu Lao Niang's heart-rending crying, opened the dusty memory of Liu Dad, the voice and smile of the Lizhang continue to appear in his mind, Liu Lizhang is the most business-minded among the five sons, speaking like a lotus flower, Liu Lizhang is in order to make him a generation of Confucian businessmen and sent him to the Northeast to study business, the year of disappearance is still a child under the age of fourteen, he is lonely and drifting down the rivers and lakes, like duckweed, Life and death are uncertain, Daddy Liu only felt that his heart was as painful as a knife, but he held back his tears and did not cry, and he never shed a tear in front of people because of the disappearance of the rites, at the age of forty-three, he is not only the father of seven children, but also the head of a village, and the patriarch of the Liu clan, take this winter conscription as an example, according to the policy, he can only let Liu Yizhang sign up alone, but he still let the overage Liu Renzhang also register, on the one hand, in order to take the lead, More importantly, Daddy Liu believes that the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea is different from any previous war, it is a patriotic battle to defend New China, and the rise and fall of the world is the responsibility of every man!

Liu Laoniang's cry immediately broke the silence of the courtyard, the kerosene lamps in the west house and the east house were lit at the same time, and the eldest son Liu Renzhang, the second son Liu Yizhang, the eldest daughter Liu Aidao, the fourth son Liu Zhizhang, the second daughter Liu Xigu, and the youngest son Liu Xinzhang came to the window of the main house in turn, quietly listening to the mother's cry, and then silently wept. This is not the first time, in the past four years, as long as it is a New Year's holiday, Mrs. Liu is so uncomfortable! The old Liujia family is well-off, the Liujia compound is the first compound in Shuangliu Village, the courtyard wall of the courtyard is all made of the ashlar stone of Ye County, the courtyard is a three-entry courtyard, from south to north there are five independent courtyards, and there is a long workshop, a stable.

In the cold wind, the children were disheveled, shivering from the cold, five-year-old Liu Xinzhang snuggled in the arms of his eldest sister Liu Aidao, scared and cried non-stop, Liu Xinzhang lost his voice due to illness when he was a child, and was a disabled child who could not hear and speak, Liu Aidao wrapped him in his arms with his clothes, and comforted him softly, "Xinzhang, don't be afraid, it's good for my mother to cry." Liu Renzhang was distressed when he heard his mother's heart-rending cry, he knelt down and comforted loudly, "Mother, my mother, don't torture yourself, my third brother will definitely come back alive, you can rest assured!" When Mrs. Liu heard that the children were standing in the cold yard, she immediately stopped crying and said to Liu Renzhang in a hoarse voice, "Renzhang, quickly lead the younger brothers and sisters back to the house to sleep, my mother cried out, and I felt much better." "The courtyard has returned to tranquility, and the moon has also crossed the tip of the ancient willow, falling a little bit to the west, the vast sky, dotted with stars, a faint moon halo, the sky is lonely and everything rests, only the cold wind is still howling tirelessly, as if telling the past and present life of the Liu family compound!

"Majestic, high-spirited, across the Yalu River, peace, defending the motherland is to protect the hometown......" Liu Weiji stood on the grinding plate of the field, is enthusiastically commanding dozens of militia to sing, surrounded by onlookers of the villagers, she is Wang Shouchen's eldest daughter, just born soon after the inheritance of the Liu family compound, is the secretary of the village Youth League branch, sixteen-year-old she can not only sing and dance, but also good at dancing guns and sticks, since childhood with the third brother Liu Yizhang learned a good kung fu, thousands of people in the village, she is the only female militia, All day long, like a tomboy, he doesn't leave Liu Yizhang's side.

"Wei Ji, stop singing, let everyone rest for a while!" While speaking, Wang Shouwu, secretary of the party branch of Shuangliu Village, came to the team with a stack of forms in his hand, he was thirty-five or sixteen years old, not tall, very sturdy, walking fast and steady, speaking loudly, with Wang Shouwu's shouting, the field suddenly quieted down, Liu Weiji jumped off the grinding plate, and said to Wang Shouwu with a smile, "Secretary Wang, you still stand on the grinding plate to give instructions, so that the people standing behind can't see you." Wei Ji teased Wang Shouwu's height in public, causing everyone to laugh, Wang Shouwu glared at Wei Ji, leaned over and stepped on the grinding plate, ready to inform everyone of the list of the winter conscription that was reviewed and approved by the superiors, Wang Shouwu was not stable, Wei Ji asked anxiously, "Secretary Wang, has my application been approved?" "Since the conscription notice came down, Liu Weiji pestered his uncle Liu Lao Dad when he had nothing to do, begging him to agree to sign up for the army, more than a dozen militia members of the appropriate age in the village have signed up, but Liu Lao Dad did not agree to Wei Ji's registration at the beginning, the reason is very simple, she is the daughter of her brother-in-law Wang Shouchen, although she has passed to the Liu family compound, but after all, it is not the flesh and blood of the Liu family, and then Liu Weiji was so entangled that she really had no recruitment, so she reluctantly agreed to sign up, in fact, Liu Weiji's application has been pressed in the hands of Liu Dad, and it has not been reported at all, He is very fond of this niece, obviously a daughter, but he has a man's ambition, everything is good, and he wants to be the first!

"Wei Ji, your application was not approved by your superiors, mainly because there is no quota for female soldiers in this conscription, so let's strive for the next batch!" Wang Shouwu dealt with Wei Ji according to Father Liu's instructions, although such a result had long been expected by Wei Ji, because the third brother Liu Yizhang told him that this conscription only required men, but she still hoped that a miracle would happen, and Hua Mulan would join the army for her father, why can't I Liu Weiji? Now that she knows the conclusive result, Liu Weiji feels extremely lost, which means that she is separating from her third brother Liu Yizhang.

"Sister Wei Ji, don't be sad, it's better if you don't approve it, Brother Yizhang joined the army and left, if you leave again, I won't even have a partner who can talk in Shuangliu Village!" Wang Hui hugged Wei Ji's waist and comforted gently. Wei Ji still couldn't help but complain, "Xiaohui, your father is not manly, and he is still the village party secretary, he is clearly a big puppet!" Liu Weiji's words Wang Shouwu heard it clearly, thinking that this little girl knew that it was Daddy Liu who did not agree with her joining the army, and she didn't dare to find Daddy Liu to be angry, but he used me as a punching bag, he glared at Liu Weiji fiercely, Liu Weiji didn't care, pouted and looked at Wang Shouwu, and then whispered in Wang Hui's ear, "Xiaohui, I didn't become a soldier, don't be in a hurry to gloat, my third brother Liu Yizhang will be a soldier tomorrow and leave, in the days to come, it's strange that you don't want to cry!" ”

Wang Hui listened, her face was as red as an autumn apple, she gently beat Wei Ji, but her eyes unconsciously glanced at Liu Yizhang in the distance, Liu Yizhang stood at the back of the militia team blankly, he was indifferent to what happened in the field, from the moment Liu Lao Niang cried last night, his heart has never been calm, he knows that his mother is crying for the third brother Lizhang, but he is worried about himself and his eldest brother, all of a sudden the two sons are going to the front line to fight, the mother's mood can be imagined, it is inevitable that sadness comes from it! Liu Yizhang knew in his heart that although the eldest brother also actively signed up, he was obviously overage, Jiang Fengyi, the head of the county armed forces department in charge of recruitment, but his father's irreversible friend, he would never agree to the eldest brother to join the army, and his father knew it, and he also reported the name of the eldest brother, which should be a high profile of the father as the village chief and patriarch...... Liu Yizhang was immersed in his own reverie, and suddenly heard Wang Shouwu say loudly to the militiamen, "The militia in the village pay attention, the approval results of the superiors for this conscription have come down, and I will start to roll call now. The field suddenly quieted down, Wang Shouwu began to name names, Liu Yizhang, Liu Houzhang and other thirteen people were officially approved to enlist in the army, only Liu Renzhang and Liu Weiji were defeated!