In the 90s, family planning in rural areas was very strict, and at that time there was a family planning office that was specially responsible for grasping superbirths. The Family Planning Office conducted door-to-door searches in villages.

At that time, only the second child was allowed, and the baby born after my third sister was considered to be overborn. I have to pay a fine twice a year for giving birth to a baby, and my parents are a little scared of the fine. So when the fourth sister, me, and my sister were born, my parents thought about abandoning or giving them to others to raise. Fortunately, something happened at that time, and my parents still left the three of us behind. It's just that you need to pay a fine for overbirth every year.

For example, my parents, who have daughters and want to have another boy, are reluctant to have sterilization surgery. During the slack season, the township government organizes family planning offices to go to villages to grasp family planning. As soon as they hear the wind and grass, parents will find a way to hide with the baby or go directly to the village committee to pay the fine.

If you are caught, you will be arrested for sterilization and pay a fine. The people in the village were scared of being arrested, and as soon as they heard that the family planning office was coming to the village, someone would report the news. During the day, the villagers have to go to farm, and only at night will the people in the village be neatly organized, so the family planning office will usually raid at night. My mother would immediately take us to the ground, take a flashlight to light the way, and tell us as we went, "When you meet strangers, stay away, don't talk, say you don't know what you ask, and say you don't know if you ask who is going." We nodded obediently, but the Family Planning Office had never been to the field to arrest people, perhaps because it thought that the villagers would not run to the field to hide.

After the family planning office has completed the inspection and search, and the people are gone, my father will come to the field and call us home. My sisters and I walked home slowly, frolicking as we went, laughing and laughing along the way.

At that time, I didn't think it was a serious matter, I didn't have the panic of an adult, and I thought this kind of behavior of you catching me and hiding was very funny, like hide and seek. While hiding, there is also the joy of not being caught. These days of hiding and hiding have left a particularly deep memory in my childhood.

Because of the search, we had to wait in the field for an hour or two at night before we could go home, so my sister would take the bamboo mat to sit in the field and wait. It was the height of summer, and there were so many mosquitoes in the field that I couldn't sit still because I had been bitten by mosquitoes. So he and his sister jumped up and down in the ground, catching glowing fireflies.

In the grass in the field, there were many yellow lights flying and flickering. When I saw so many fireflies, my sister would point in the direction of the fireflies and shout at me excitedly, "Look! Firefly! Sister, let's go catch fireflies! ”

"Okay."

I watched as my sister stretched out her hands, slightly bent her fingers in a closed shape, and approached the fireflies lightly. When he got closer, he clasped his hands together at the firefly. If you look between your fingers, the palm of your hand is glowing, and you have caught a firefly.

I followed my sister's movements to get close to the fireflies, and as soon as I passed, the fireflies were alarmed, flying high and far away. If you don't let me catch it, I'm a little frustrated. But I still didn't want to give up, I chased the fireflies around the field, and the sweat came out, and I couldn't catch one.

My sister is different, she can often catch fireflies. When he caught it, he said to me proudly, "Sister, you see, this is a firefly." ”

I nodded and asked, "Sister, why does its tail glow?" ”

"You're still young, and you don't understand what you said."

"Do you understand that sister?"

"My sister doesn't understand either, but when we grow up, we will all know about it."

"Uh-huh."

There are a lot of things that I need to grow up to understand, so I looked forward to growing up every day at that time. And I don't know how old I am to grow up.

"This one is for you, I'll catch the other one." My sister said with a smile, and then carefully moved the firefly to my hand. I didn't know how to keep the fireflies in the palm of my hand, and I often let the fireflies fly away from my palm.

At this time, my sister will blame, "Why are you so stupid? The firefly is in your hand, and you can still let it fly away. After a word or two in front of me, my sister gave me the fireflies in her hand, and she went to catch them again. And so over and over again, never tired of it. And I was waiting expectantly for my sister to catch me with the fireflies.

When I get home, I share the fireflies in my hand with my playmates my age and boast, "My sister caught them and gave them to me." ”

The companion looked envious and said, "Your sister is so kind to you. ”

"Well, of course. This firefly is for you to play with. "I learned from my sister to move the fireflies to my friends.

If my partner doesn't hold it, I'll say, "You're stupid." ”

"Hmm." She poked her little hand and smiled awkwardly, agreeing with my words.

My companion was puzzled like me and asked, "Why does its tail glow?" ”

"I don't know, my sister said we'll know when we grow up."

"Uh-huh. We're all going to grow up. ”

The boy in the village was much smarter, and he carried a bottle with him. When I caught fireflies in the grass, I put them in bottles one by one, and then I was relieved to appreciate the fruits of my labor. It's just that the bottle is capped, and there is a lack of oxygen inside, and after a while, the fireflies inside will die and will not shine brightly. Later, when they had experience, they would catch fireflies in plastic bottles and poke a few small holes to breathe. Although he survived for a few days, he eventually starved to death.

In autumn and winter, there are no fireflies to catch. My sister took a flashlight to shine on the insects in the vegetable patch. Pointing to the insects in the field, he said to me, "This is a vegetable worm, and it eats vegetables from the field." If we do, we're going to kill it so it doesn't eat the leaves. ”

I nodded, and my sister handed me the flashlight and told me to shine on the bug, and she picked up the bug with both hands and tore it in half.

The insects were green and black, and after eating the leaves, the whole body of the insect was fat and fat, as thick as my little fingers. The exterior is smooth to the touch, and I learned from my sister to tear the worm in half, and the intestines inside flowed out of the bone, which looked a little disgusting.

Bold enough to rely on insects not to bite, I caught a vegetable bug and hid it behind me. When I got home, I called my friend and asked her to spread her hand. She thought it was something funny, and obediently opened her hands, waiting for me to share it with her.

I put my hand on her hand very quickly, and the worm began to squirm as soon as it reached her palm. She screamed in fright and hurriedly threw the worm out of her hand. I called her coward, and she glared at me and ran home.

Until my brother was born, my mother had a ligation operation and paid enough fines. We don't need to hide in the fields.