Standing in the paddy field, Hu Lin's eyes looked at the rice stubble in the field, this land rests for a few months in winter, and in spring, you can plant a season of rice. Pen~Fun~Ge www.biquge.info Although these acres of paddy fields carry his hope, there is no smile on his wrinkled face.

Although this year's two rice crops are not bad, and the tax is a little less than in previous years. But this day is not easier than in the past - the half-old boy eats the poor old man, the second and third children are sixteen or seventeen, there is a big family at the top of a meal, and the eldest is also twenty-two, and if someone in the village does a happy event, from those eyes, Hu Lin can see his desire.

But just with the ten acres of land in the family, let alone marrying a daughter-in-law for his son, even to support this big family, it also made Hu Lin sad and unsteady all night.

"Hey, when the master was alive, I'm afraid I didn't expect this day......"

Looking at the paddy fields of different sizes in this mountain col, Hu Lin, who was sitting in the field, thought of the scenery he had heard from his grandfather and father, when he was in his generation, half of the land in this village belonged to his family, and there were more than 1,100 acres of fertile land, which seemed to be beautiful, but he was rich for no more than three generations - the grandfather had eight sons, and the grandfather was the sixth in line, and when he divided the family, he was divided into more than 120 acres of land, although there were only four brothers in his father's generation, and after the separation, there were only more than 30 acres left in each family, and then he and his eldest brother and the old family were divided into three acres. There are only a little more than ten acres of land left in this family.

Fertility and Blessings......

There are many children and grandchildren, it is not necessarily rich, thinking of this, he is a little envious of Yuanpeng who wants to call him the twelfth uncle, he is the grandson of the fourth master, the fourth master has only one son, and his brother only has this single seedling, several generations down, the family is still more than 100 acres of land when the family was divided, and the uncle of the family now has to rent his land to support the family.

Looking at the mountains in the distance, now his third brother must be in the forest to catch rabbits and pheasants, and if he catches them, he can also let Chunya taste the meat, and the girl is greedy.

Smoking a cigarette pouch, thinking that in the future, my daughters will marry when they are older, and my sons will start a family when they are older, and they will have to divide the family.

"It's really not a blessing to have more sons!"

Hu Lin, who was full of melancholy, muttered in his mouth, and his wrinkled face revealed a sad face that could not be concealed. In the future, when I am old, what will I do with my sons? Is it possible to be hungry and full......

"No, you can't live like this!"

But how should you live like this?

"Chunya, look at what the third brother brought back for you......"

Hu Yuanshan, who was carrying a hare, shouted as he entered the yard.

"Mother, let's cook this rabbit today, dry these two pheasants, and eat them during the New Year, the eldest brother went to dig the nitrate, turned around and put the skin in the nitrate, and made a leather jacket for the mother to ......wear along with those few skins."

Looking at his son, Hu Lin, who was on the threshold, just smoked silently, and after thinking about it for a few months, he had already figured it out, and after knocking out the ashes of the cigarette pouch and pot, he shouted at his mother-in-law.

"Baby, go and boil the rabbit, then burn a pheasant, put more spicy seeds, put more ginger, and put more salt......"

Rabbit meat, chicken plus mushrooms and wild vegetables in the mountains converge into a big pot, piled up into a small mountain of meat that makes the family drool, not to mention the eight or nine-year-old Chunya who is still ignorant of saliva, even Hu Yuanliang, who is twenty-three years old, swallowed his saliva, but when his father didn't move the chopsticks, he didn't dare to move the chopsticks.

"Come, let's take a few sips!"

"Dad, what day is this?"

Seeing his father pouring wine, Hu Yuanliang asked.

"Nothing! Your brother and I have two sips of drink with your father! ”

Drinking and sprinkling, eating meat, while drinking, Hu Lin said about the generosity of his ancestors, for these words, Hu Yuanliang, Far East, and Yuanshan don't know how many times they have heard it, but it has nothing to do with them, since I can remember, although I have not been hungry, but the family has lived a year is not as good as a year.

After drinking a few taels of bad wine, Hu Lin looked at his sons and said.

“…… But in my generation, there are only ten acres of land in the family, your father and I have no interest, I didn't leave anything for you, this land is left by the ancestors, and I didn't lose one acre or two acres, which is worthy of the ancestors, but in your hands, your brother is more than three acres and three acres, what will I do in the future? If it is passed on to another generation, how many ...... will be left?"

Because of his wealthy family when he was young, Hu Lin had read and opened a Meng, and when he came to him, although his sons had never been in private acquaintance, he himself had taught his sons to read and write, and when he said this, the three brothers who had been smiling suddenly lost their smiles, they all lowered their heads, and no one spoke.

"I thought about it, you three brothers, just one of them will stay in your hometown, Yuanliang ......"

Looking at the second of the three brothers, who was in the worst health and had the most shy personality, Hu Lin said.

"You three brothers, you are the eldest and the oldest,"

Hearing his father shouting to himself, Hu Yuanliang hurriedly raised his head, and when he was about to speak, Hu Yuanshan on the side said.

"Dad, I'll go out with my eldest brother, and my second brother will ,......be weak when he is young."

"The Third ......"

Seeing that the second brother wanted to speak, Hu Yuanshan interrupted him casually.

"Second brother, your temper is not as weak as Chunya, it's not that I look down on the second brother, you are also angry with others when you go out, no, no, dad, I'll go out, I'll go out with my eldest brother......"

Saying that, Hu Yuanshan sandwiched another piece of meat, the meat was more flavorful than before, but he couldn't eat any taste, he knew that his father was going to split up today, not to split up, but like that little bird, his wings were stiff, and he was about to fly out.

"The third, I, I ......"

Hu Yuandong, who was said by his brother, suddenly burst into tears, and he was shy, and he just muttered.

"Dad, we don't separate, we don't divide families......"

Hu Yuanliang, who had been silent, was silently eating meat and drinking wine, he was not wrong in his words, he knew that his father had already made a decision, and this family, if he didn't do this, someone would have to starve to death in the future.

"The land in this house will not be divided, your father and I have not saved much in this life, and there are still dozens of taels of silver hidden in the house, when the time comes, you brothers will be half of them, and you will go back to the city to find a job to do......"

As he spoke, Hu Lin looked at his eldest son again.

"Liang, what do you have to say!"

"Daddy!"

Putting down the chopsticks, Hu Yuanliang looked at his father and said.

"I think this silver should be left to the second child, Dad, listen to me......"

For fear that his father would think he was angry, Hu Yuanliang said.

"A while ago, I went to the market and heard that there is a recruiting station in the county, and if you become a soldier, you can get a military salary of 6 yuan a month......

"Soldiering?"

His son's words made Hu Lin immediately shake his head and say.

"No, no, it's not possible to be a soldier, we won't eat the severed head meal, even if the family doesn't divide it, we can't eat it......"

"Dad, I know what I want to do, do business, I can't do it with the third child, I can't be a buddy, who wants it at my age? After a few years as a soldier, you can earn a few hundred yuan in military salary......"

When Hu Lin heard this, his whole person suddenly became depressed, this was not what he had thought at the beginning, and he immediately shouted loudly:

"Y-What are you crazy about? Isn't it possible that you are annoyed with your father? ”

He immediately got into an argument with his son. When he saw the boss's black eyebrows twisted into a line, he tried his best to suppress the anger in his heart and said.

"Yuan Liang, since ancient times, it has been said that good iron does not hit nails, and good men do not serve soldiers. This division is a last resort, just like your Jiu Uncle's family, isn't he also divided, Yuanji went to the city to be a buddy, he went there, and the father and mother at least know that he is there, but if you become a soldier, then you will have to run around and wander around, how can I, me and your mother sleep at night? ”

However, Hu Yuanliang's determination has been decided. He looked at his father, lowered his thick black eyebrows, and said in a deep voice:

"I have to go."

Hu Lin, who knew that the eldest was a donkey, looked at the third child and tried to persuade the third brother to persuade his eldest brother. But his gaze was exchanged for the echo of the third child on the side.

"Big brother, I'll go with you, I've long wanted to go out and see what it's like outside the mountain......"

Hu Yuanshan's eyes sparkled under his eyelashes, looking at his two sons, Hu Lin was almost speechless in shock......

“…… Applicants must be between 16 and 22 years old and not more than 26 years old; The height must be 4 feet 6 inches or more, and those with weak physique and eye diseases and dark diseases are not accepted; Those who have bad habits or commit crimes will not be accepted; And try to recruit literate soldiers......"

Hu Yuanliang, who was at the county recruiting station, looked at the notice on the bulletin board, he already knew these standards from Li Zheng, and even deliberately practiced at home for half a month - lifting fifty pounds of stone locks in each hand, and running twenty miles in half an hour, and so on.

"Third child, can you take your insurance book with you?"

When he was about to walk into the recruiting station, Hu Yuanliang looked back at his younger brother again, the letter of guarantee was signed by Li Zheng, in order to let Li Zheng sign this letter of guarantee, his father spent a full six taels of silver, and this silver must be spent, if he and his brother become deserters, not only will his father go to prison, but Li Zheng, who guarantees that they are children of a good family, will also follow to prison. If you don't spend some money, Li Zheng won't cause trouble by himself.

"Bring it, take it, brother, you say ......"

His eyes had been staring at Hu Yuanshan, who was guarding the gate of the recruiting station, and when he looked at the clothes on that person, his eyes were even brighter.

"You say, if we become soldiers, can we also wear these clothes and shoes, which are made of leather?"

"Then we have to wait for our brother to test this soldier!"

Hu Yuanliang told the third child.

"You can stop for a while, don't talk so fast and so much, if you offend the officer, maybe, this soldier will not be a ......" (To be continued.) )