Twenty-third

Qiusheng's eldest brother-in-law is a searcher, the family is better but there are many families, and there are three children. The third uncle's Jinhua was married to Lilac Fort in the first year of Lilac's marriage, and her mother-in-law was married to a family surnamed Wu in Heyewan, Jinhua was also miserable, and her man died of illness in less than half a year.

The Wu family has some family business, and her father-in-law left a golden trick to follow up the bloodline of his dead son. The man recruited was the Wu family at that time, a housekeeper of a large landlord's family called Xiong Bosheng, Kong Wu was powerful, his father died early and only had one mother, and he worked in the Wu family when he was more than ten years old.

Although Xiong Bosheng is five big and three thick, his mind is still very active. In his twenties, he became a family worker, in addition to eating and living in the Wu family, he was paid 12 quintals of grain a year, which was two quintals more than other long-term workers, and there was no problem in supporting his family.

Since Qiusheng's accident, Jinhua has been back several times, going home to help her mother-in-law do some housework and help, and sometimes helping Lilac to do some chores when she beats the brown rope, and Lilac is like a sister born to a mother. Jinhua is now carrying six or seven months of children in her belly, and her mother-in-law is distressed and tells her not to run back and forth, so as not to hurt the fetus.

Wu Yingsheng gave birth to his second nephew, Shi Xuzong, and after the nephew was full moon, he took Lilac to Gangkou Township, where he worked for more than two months before returning.

On that trip, I earned five silver dollars after deducting expenses, and when I returned home, I bought a green cloth undershirt for my mother-in-law. The mother-in-law was happy in her heart, but she complained and said, "It's good that my wife is old and old, and I spend that unjust money to do something."

Since returning from Gangkou, Lilac has been working as a palm craftsman in a nearby village, leaving early and returning late. Sometimes it was dark when I got home from a long distance, and my mother-in-law muttered every time she got the cloves at the intersection, she said, "Lu Yuan, you talk to the boss about finishing work early, don't wait for a meal and come back, no matter how hungry you are in the house, you can't be hungry for the person you do."

The mother-in-law has talked about it several times, but Lilac has responded to it but only returned after dinner. The little grain grown by Xia Sheng at home is hard to feed Xia Sheng and his mother-in-law after paying the rent and completing the government's apportionment.

At that time, the situation became tense again, and the Japanese soldiers fought to Changsha again, and General Xue Yue led the national army to defeat the Japanese soldiers. Because of the war, the local government has to pay for the people, according to the rules, three Ding draws one, five Ding draws two, the only son is exempted, the uncle's family only Chunsheng is exempted, and the mother-in-law's two sons can also be exempted from the levy, and they can cope with it by giving more assessments.

It's just that the war was tight later, and there were not enough strong men, and the two sons also became requisitioned, and it happened that the Lilac family won the lottery again.

On the fourth day of the first month of October, Liu Baochang of Liujiawan came to the door with two regiments carrying guns, saying that your Xia Sheng was among the recruits, and he was limited to report to the Liujiapu Baogong Office within three days to apply for the recruitment, and if he disobeyed the law, he would be punished. At that time, my mother-in-law said all the good things, saying that my family Qiusheng had been out for two years, and there was only one man in the house, how to get it.

That Liu Baochang rolled his eyelids and bluffed: "Who knows if your Gui Qiusheng deliberately didn't return in order to avoid the country's recruitment?" He Mom, it's not that I'm embarrassed for you, it's really that the top is urging you to recruit talents! I don't want to offend people in the township, it's easy to come to the door today, and I will directly tie people up next time! ”

At that time, the mother-in-law was not lightly bluffed, and after sending Liu Baochang away, he went to the patriarch Gui Shunjian's house to ask for ideas.

After listening to his mother-in-law's account, Gui Shunjian walked around the hall a few times, stopped and pondered for a moment, and then said to his mother-in-law: "Aunt He, it is more convenient to talk about some things in the house."

The mother-in-law followed him into the back room, and after Gui Shunjian looked outside the house to make sure that there was no one else, he said in a low voice: "Auntie, I have a way to see if it works, one is to exempt one person's apportionment, and second, don't smoke strong men from your Xia Sheng brother."

The mother-in-law hurriedly asked, "Shunjian, do you have any good ideas?" Thank you in advance! ”

Gui Shunjian took a deep breath and said, "Auntie, forgive my nephew's blunt words, your Qiusheng brother travels south and north on weekdays, and it is difficult to find a reason that he will not be able to return after being trapped in Chongqing for two years." It's not that I'm guessing, it's possible that the chaotic Qiusheng brother is not there..."

When Shunjian said this, he touched his mother-in-law's heart and began to cry.

Gui Shunjian panicked when he saw it, and hurriedly comforted him, "Don't cry, don't cry, I'm just guessing like this, I can't take it seriously!" I mean your Xia Sheng brother is single, and Qiu Sheng's death is uncertain. You talk to Qiusheng Tangke, let Xia Sheng marry Qiusheng's daughter-in-law, if Lilac's sister-in-law can't forget Qiusheng, it's okay to stay at home and fake marriage, if Qiusheng comes back and knows the truth, he won't blame you! If you can forget that Qiusheng really married Xiasheng, it is not impossible, even if you go home, Qiusheng will also understand that Lilac's sister-in-law has kept the festival for him for two years, and he has to take this road by taking the risk, and Qiusheng will marry another one in the future! As soon as Brother Xia Sheng and Sister-in-law Ding Xiang got married, I went to talk to Liu Baochang, saying that Qiu Sheng was born outside, so that Qiu Sheng's apportionment would be exempted, and Brother Xia Sheng should not smoke strong men. I'll just say that, okay, Auntie will make up her own mind! If you think it's okay, the main thing is to ask Sister-in-law Lilac if she is willing? Xia Sheng is expected to agree! ”

The mother-in-law thought for a while, then stood up and said to Gui Shunjian: "Eldest nephew, you know about this matter today, I know the heavens, you don't have to talk about it else, I have to think about it." I have to thank you for worrying about it first, and I will thank you again if I do this! When Gui Shunjian heard this, he immediately said: "Auntie, don't worry, is my nephew the kind of person who can't hold the wind on his lips?!" ”

When I returned home, my mother-in-law thought about it for two days, and felt that the method Gui Shunjian said was feasible, but she didn't know how to talk to Lilac. On the third day, when Lilac went out to do things, she called Xia Sheng, who went to work in the field, and told Gui Shunjian what he meant.

Xia Sheng thought for a long time, and finally said: "It's just that I have wronged my brother and sister-in-law, if you find an opportunity to ask her opinion first, others will not be able to talk about this matter." Ten or eight years, my brother can't go back, and I'll talk about it later. If she wants to get married, as long as she doesn't dislike me, I'll take the liberty of saying it. ”

After listening to Xia Sheng's words, the mother-in-law said, "What you want, such a good daughter-in-law as Lilac is a blessing for our Gui family, no matter whether Qiu Sheng is dead or alive, we have to find a way to keep her!" ”

After Lilac came back in the evening, when she was busy with her work, her mother-in-law said to Lilac: "Cub, Mom is a little flustered, you sleep with Mom tonight, and our two mothers-in-law and daughter-in-law will chat about some homely things to pass the time." When Lilac heard this, she hurriedly replied: "Okay, I also feel a little bored, our mother and daughter are chatting and scattering our hearts!"

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law turned off the lights and fell asleep, and the mother-in-law first talked about some trivial matters on weekdays, and when she saw that Lilac was chatting happily, her mother-in-law tried to talk about the day before yesterday, when Liu Baochang came to recruit Zhuangding. Lilac had no choice, so she asked her mother-in-law to find the patriarch and talk to Liu Baochang about whether she could be accommodating.

As soon as the mother-in-law heard that the opportunity had come, she told her about going to Gui Shunjian's house, and finally said with a cry: "Mom also thinks this method is not good, first, I'm sorry for you, and second, if I come back from Qiu's life, I'm sorry for him?" ”

Lilac was silent for a long time after hearing this, and finally said faintly: "Mom, in this life, I was born as Brother Qiu's person, and I am also Brother Qiu's ghost when I die, if Brother Qiu is really gone, I will not regret keeping the festival for him for the rest of my life." If Brother Qiu really can't come back for the rest of his life, you should have given birth to an extra girl, do you want it? ”

After hearing this, the mother-in-law hugged the clove and cried without guilt: "Mom is confused, you just pretended to be a mother, but our Gui family doesn't live with you!"

At this time, there was a jingle outside the window, and Lilac heard it and was about to get up to look. The mother-in-law grabbed her and said, "It's a risk, it's probably the cat and mouse in the house!" After a tired day, you will be sleepy sooner. ”

The noise outside the window was Xia Sheng, who was hiding under the window and listening to the foot of the wall, and accidentally knocked down the hoe under the window when he heard Lilac's statement. He hurriedly and carefully put the hoe away, and crept back to the house.

From that night on, Lilac's family never mentioned it again, and since then, Xia Sheng has more respect for Lilac. Once, when he was running away from his beard, a descendant joked that your brother has been away from home for a long time, and you have to help your brother and sister-in-law as a brother, and the fat water will not flow to outsiders! At that time, Xia Sheng was anxious when he heard it, and as soon as he lost the card, he started a fight with that person, and he also said, you can scold my ancestors, you can't insult my Qiusheng cousin!

From that night on, Lilac slept in the same bed with her mother-in-law until Qiusheng returned.

The next day, my mother-in-law went to Gui Shun's house. Later, Gui Shunjian interceded with Liu Baochang in the name of the patriarch, and his mother-in-law invited him to dinner, and Ding Xiang and Xia Sheng each pooled two silver dollars to Liu Baochang to end the matter of drawing strong men.

The days lasted until the winter of the thirty-second year of the Republic of China.

Just when Lilac's family thought that Qiusheng was no longer alive, Qiusheng suddenly returned.

At that time, Lilac had already paid off Qiusheng's debt to Yubi's family, and the family also spent money to buy two pigs to raise.

On the day of her return, the pig dealer came to buy pigs at home, and when Lilac was arguing with the pig dealer about the yin and yang of the scale, she suddenly touched her hair with a hand. Lilac shook her head at that time, and was about to scold when she was stunned, and the man standing in front of her and reaching out was none other than Brother Qiu, who had been haunting her for more than a thousand days and nights.

At that time, she grabbed the hand of the weigher and pulled it down, and the weighed stone smashed on the stone slab of the foot, and the weighed rod almost hit Xia Sheng's face who was carrying the pig cage. Xia Sheng saw that it was Qiu Sheng, and before he opened his mouth, the clove had already thrown into Qiu Sheng's arms. More than a thousand days and nights of longing completely exploded at this moment, tears poured into Qiusheng's chest, and Lilac cried and laughed as she chattered and fell Qiusheng. At this moment, Qiusheng was already hugging the clove tightly, and from time to time he wiped away the grass clippings and dust on the lilac's head, and he had already burst into tears and couldn't cry.

The mother-in-law, who was hearing the noise in the kitchen, thought something was wrong, and hurriedly threw away the water scoop and ran out, and when she saw that it was Qiusheng, she also stumbled over and hugged Qiusheng and cried. Qiusheng sobbed while holding the two most important women in his life with both hands and didn't let go for a long time. The pig dealer standing next to him didn't know what was going on, he stood there stupidly and looked at them, and Xia Sheng next to him squatted on the ground and sobbed.

That night, Lilac lay in Qiusheng's arms and listened to him talk about the situation since he went to Chongqing, and Lilac also told Qiusheng about what had happened at home since he left home, and confided in each other how much she missed each other. When the rooster crowed three times, the two hugged each other and fell asleep.

That night, Lilac knew what Qiusheng had gone through for so many years, and the bitterness she had suffered.

On the day Qiusheng was in Chongqing, he was dragged by the soldiers to repair the trenches, and when he was halfway there, the Japanese planes flew away and stopped bombing. When they arrived at the air raid trenches, a pungent smell of nitrate and bloody gas rushed towards them, and the trenches were blown up with craters, and from time to time we saw the dead soldiers lying in the trenches with blurred flesh and blood, and some of the dead people were still piled up by the dust that was blown up, leaving only their hands and feet exposed, and the stumps and broken arms were scattered scattered. When he walked to a turn in the trench, a soldier with a gun remained motionless with his eyes open, and Qiusheng said hello and did not answer when he passed. Qiusheng accidentally touched the man when he turned, and the man fell to Qiusheng, and Qiusheng was caught off guard and was thrown to the ground by the man. At that time, Qiu Sheng was so frightened that he apologized repeatedly: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" It was I who accidentally let me go! ”

However, the man didn't say anything, but he still pressed on Qiusheng and didn't get up from Qiusheng.

At this time, the soldier behind him turned the man aside from Qiusheng's body, stuffed most of the cigarette butt into the man's mouth, and muttered: "Brother, you are Heng Dafu, why don't you wait on the bridge for three or two days, and my brother may also accompany you to report to the throne before the case of Lord Yama."

Hearing what the soldier said, he was immediately frightened by the three souls of Qiusheng and the two souls, and he got up and ran away.

When the soldier saw that he was in a hurry, he hurriedly shouted: "Run, run, run again, Lao Tzu will really shoot!"

Frightened, Zhongqiu Sheng tripped another dead man under his feet and fell to the ground. The soldier behind him ran over panting, and lifted it up with Qiusheng's neck in one hand.

Seeing Qiusheng's frightened appearance, the soldier's morale was mostly gone, he took out a cigarette and handed it to Qiusheng's mouth, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Little brother, do you know how to smoke?" Just take a sip of a cigarette, dead man 𠼦, you'll get used to it if you've seen it twice or three times! ”

Qiusheng shuddered and took the cigarette, and the soldier lit it for him. Qiusheng squatted down and took two deep breaths, and everyone was confused. The soldier shook his head, patted him on the shoulder again, and said as he walked, "Hurry up and keep up, and if you can't finish the mission, you will have dinner when you can't finish the task!"

That day, Qiusheng and many of the strong men who had been brought in worked all day under the watchful supervision of the soldiers with guns, and had dinner in the open space next to the air-raid shelter. There are hundreds of people who are pressed by the black, and the steamed buns that are piled up like a hill will be gone for a while.

An official looked around, slowly walked to the high place and said loudly: "Fellow villagers, brothers have worked hard! Don't grab it, the steamed buns are enough, I'll call someone to bring them right away! After a while, I really brought four baskets of steamed buns.

Qiusheng was tired all day and was really hungry, so he ran over and took two steamed buns, put a bowl of soup in the soup bucket next to him with a bowl, and sipped the soup.

After a short rest after eating, the soldiers drove them all into the bomb shelter. Chaotic Zhongsheng secretly asked a junior next to him, why.

The latter replied that these soldiers were afraid that we would run away, and that they would not find anyone to help them repair the air raid trenches tomorrow. After walking a few steps, the latter said, I have stayed here for three nights, hurry up and keep up, maybe I can find a good place to sleep, and I will be in better spirits tomorrow.

Seeing this, Qiusheng hurriedly followed the latter into the cave to find a place to rest. Listening to that posterior accent, Trump mixed with Hunanese.

The bomb shelter was large, warmer inside than outside, with many branches in all directions, and there were light bulbs on the walls of the cave that only found in the city. It's just that there are a lot of people, and the cave is filled with the sour smell of sweat. Because it was still early, everyone sat on the ground and climbed the mountain.

The descendant who was with Qiusheng said to Qiusheng, brother, I will help you go to the doorkeeper to ask for a blanket, and you will catch a cold if you fall asleep in the second half of the night. Qiusheng was very grateful and said that there was a brother Lao. After a while, Hou Sheng took a blanket and threw it to Qiu Sheng, and said, "The two of us will be next to each other tonight."

After saying that, Housheng sat down next to Qiusheng, looked at Qiusheng with some surprise, hesitated for a while, and asked, "Brother, where is Hunan?" What are you doing in Chongqing? Qiusheng looked at the descendant and replied: "I am from Anhua, Hunan, and my brothers with an accent are also like Hunan?"

When the latter heard this, his body moved unnaturally, and he stopped for a few seconds and nodded his head as a tacit acquiescence.

Qiusheng met his old acquaintance in a foreign country, and his head came up, so he opened the conversation and talked about his own experience.

When Qiusheng talked about Luoyingzhai and Lilacs, Hou Sheng, who was still listening carefully, stood up suddenly, stared at Qiusheng with some excitement, and his mouth was closed one by one.

Qiu Sheng hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?" ...”

At this time, Hou Sheng had already squatted down and grabbed Qiusheng's arm and shook it, and said in a somewhat surprised voice: "You are a man with a man, you are an uncle with a man?" ...”

After some conversation, Qiu Sheng realized that this descendant was Wang Ziyang, who secretly went to Wulei Cave to bring him food.

At that time, Ziyang went to Majitang to find his superior leader, Yang Special Agent, Yang after Wulei Cave and Ding Xiang, who was the superior leader before his father was killed, and Ziyang and his father's return to Anhua was the task he arranged. Ziyang begged along the way to Majitang, but did not find the commissioner. Uncle Yang's landlord was a former member of the peasant cooperative, named Zhou Yongguang, who told Ziyang that Yang had sent special agents to Liuyang to contact and mobilize local miners, peasants and other revolutionary activists to respond to the Pingjiang uprising launched by Peng Dehuai, the head of the Hunan army. At that time, Ziyang was young and couldn't find an organization, and he was lonely. That week, Yongguang saw that he was pitiful, took him in, and told others that he was a distant cousin, and his parents died and came to him. Three years later, Zhou Yongguang introduced Ziyang to Yiyang to learn a scale maker, and after studying there for a few years, Ziyang left his teacher and started this business.

In the 27th year of the Republic of China, he went to Wuhan to beg for a living, and in August and September, when the Japanese soldiers began to besiege Wuhan, Ziyang came to Chongqing with the refugees. He built a shack at the foot of Chaotianmen Mountain in Chongqing, and usually walked through the countryside to make a living as a scale. As a result of the recent repeated bombing of Chongqing by Japanese planes, all kinds of war-ready facilities and civilian houses in the streets were destroyed. Chongqing's local authorities recruited strong men for labor and repaired and strengthened all kinds of war preparedness facilities, and when there were not enough people, those who served as soldiers were arrested everywhere to replenish their numbers.

Early in the morning three days ago, in the shack, the soldiers brought here from the bed to repair the air defense trench.

End of the twenty-second round