Chapter 8 Eight

When Zhou Yiyan came out of the shack, it was not yet daylight.The white mist filled the space between the sky and the earth. She first walked west along the main road, trying her best to remember the woods and high crop fields she could see, and planned the retreat route in case of a situation.It was cloudy and rainy for days, no one went to the ground, the fog was thick and the sky was dark, and the cock crowed and the dog barked, and I was walking and suddenly found myself standing in front of a village. The experience of these years of marching told Yiyan that most of the poor peasant households live behind the village, and along the roads and streets are the sites of wealthy households.She walked along the side of the village to the back of the village.Just after turning the northeast corner, the sound of buckets and buckets came from a north-south alley.After a while, a young woman came out of the alley carrying a bucket.Most of the women in the enemy-occupied areas are afraid of seeing soldiers, and they shut their doors in their houses all day long, so they can't provide any information.Yiyan didn't say hello and continued walking.

The woman who carried the water obviously sensed that someone was moving behind her, so she turned her head involuntarily, and when she saw Zhou Yiyan clearly, she blurted out, "My mother!" and put the bucket on the ground.When Yiyan saw it, she hurriedly said, "Don't be afraid, you can fetch your water!" But the woman walked up to Yiyan and said, "Sister, why are you here? Look who I am?" Yiyan took a closer look, and it turned out to be Erman. "Erman! What a coincidence." Yiyan took Erman's hand and said, "Why are you here?" "My father-in-law is from this village, is your team all here?"

"It's just me." "Just you?" Erman looked around and whispered, "This is not a place to talk, come home with me quickly." Erman picked up the bucket, led Yiyan into the alley, and turned into a corner gate on the west side of the road.Erman went straight into the main room, Yiyan stood in the courtyard and looked at the small courtyard.There are three north houses, two east houses, and only the foundation of the west house, with some firewood and wood piled on it. The whole yard is tidy and orderly.There is a narrow road at the top of the west hill in the north house, which leads to the backyard.Yiyan was about to take a closer look, when there was a coughing sound, Erman's father-in-law came out wearing a single coat, and when he saw Yiyan, he said affectionately, "Son, go and sit inside."

When Yiyan entered the room, the old man gave way to the kang, Yiyan said he couldn't cross his legs, so he reluctantly sat down on the edge of the kang.The old man said that when Er Man told him how he was rescued, he really wanted to pin up a longevity tablet to confess to them.But when I think about it, they are all my son's comrades, how can I use this old method, just wait for the team to come over to express my heart.It just so happened that a large team came over in the middle of the night. They were cooking on the street, and a group of people also came from the courtyard.The old man hastily butchered the largest hen and stuffed it into the vegetable pot quietly.The squad leader found out and said that they should take it out. Erman cried and made a fuss and forbade them to take it out.The squad leader had an idea and said, "Don't take it, don't take it, let's cook it!" But he went to the company department to report.After a while, the company commander and instructors all came.Hearing that this was a martyr, they carried a dozen bags of dry food, dumped them all into the storehouse and said, "It's hard for you, sir, we are here to do our filial piety for the martyrs." The shovel, the broom's broom, cleaned up the inside and outside of the house for a while.The old man thought they could live for two days, and just watched them busy with a smile.Unexpectedly, just after finishing their busy work, the assembly number rang, and these people set off with a jar of millet rice each.Not to mention the chicken, the rest of the half pot of rice is left.The old man said that Yiyan came just in time, let's fulfill this laborer's wish soon, this time we have found the right incense owner.

While talking, the bellows in the outer room rang, the pots and spoons moved, and Erman was already cooking.Yiyan quickly stopped him and said: "Don't be busy, I don't have time to eat!" Hearing this, the old man was a little annoyed: "Why do you treat us as outsiders!" Yiyan quickly explained, telling the situation of the three of them. clear. "Finding animals and giving them away will be on my shoulders." The old man said, "Erman, don't be too busy! Take advantage of the fog, go and bring those two children back home, and leave the housework to me. "

Yiyan wanted to go by herself, but the old man sternly kept her.Er Man said, "I'm a real commoner. I'm not afraid of anyone I meet. I'm familiar with the roads here, and I'm more sure than you. But if you don't trust me, then talk about it." Yiyan had no choice but to write a note asking her two to come and hand it to Erman.Erman put a small basket on his shoulders, took a sickle and left.Here the old man cooks by himself, and Yiyan sits on the grass mound and pulls the bellows. The old man told her that after the army passed by the night before yesterday, the security team in this area.The self-defense group was very active.There was an order from above to tell these things to put out all their strength to intercept the New Fourth Army heading west.When the order came down, the New Fourth Army had already moved over, and the interception became nonsense, only to impress the common people.From here to the west, Jinpu Road is seven or eight miles away.Traffic police columns are stationed along Jinpu Road.The south station is called Guanqiao, and the north station is called Chenghe.There are regular Kuomintang troops stationed in both places.When the New Fourth Army crossed the railway last night, they sealed off the two stations and the enemies along the line in their dens, and the bastards didn't even dare to fire a single shot.After dawn, the army had gone out for about twenty miles to reach the river, and they fought with machine guns and cannons, which was regarded as a mission.However, in the past two days, the ordinary people passing by have been interrogated very strictly, saying that they want to catch the New Fourth Army who have fallen behind.The New Fourth Army has passed through this area several times in the past, and the railway guerrillas have also had a great influence. The common people support the New Fourth Army and hope that they can stay here for a long time.However, since the government has always been in the hands of the Kuomintang, and the countryside has not undergone democratic reforms, the common people still dare not get too intimate with the New Fourth Army in person.

While talking, the meal is ready.Millet porridge, pancakes, and the old hen on the counter.The old man put down the dining table and asked Yi Yan to sit at the table.Yi Yan said: "You should eat first, I can't eat now." The old man opened his eyes wide and said, "What's wrong with you, you've been working so hard for me?" Yiyan said: "Hurry up and eat, I have to wait for Erman and the others to come and eat together!" The old man also persuaded Yiyan, and Yiyan said: "I took the two of them on a mission, and they are still hungry. How can I bring these chopsticks to my mouth? Master, you should eat quickly."

"Yeah!" The old man nodded, "Good team, good team! This is called brotherhood. Okay, I'll wait with you." The old man had no choice but to put the chicken back into the pot, pull a grass mound to the base of the wall, and started chatting with Yiyan again.He said, Erman's adoptive father is also called a human?The child called you father, how could you do such a shameful thing?The child was sold to my house at the beginning, and if I didn't nod, he had no right to take it back.But I feel sorry for this child, and I thought to the young one, let her find another master to live with.I didn't ask for any money back, so I gave him the marriage certificate.Before leaving, he also asked Erman to take all of Erman's suitcases and luggage.

Yi Yan said: "Er Man is back this time, you two have taken care of each other, right?" The old man said worriedly: "They cheated out the marriage certificate, why can't they come here to make trouble?" Just as he was talking, there was chaos on the road ahead, first dogs biting, then chickens flying, two gunshots bang bang, bugles and whistles blared.The old man stood up abruptly and said, "No, the bandit army has entered the village. That's what happened when they came. I'll go and see." Yiyan hurriedly packed up her things, lifted her foot and walked out the door.The old man asked her, "Where are you going?" Yiyan said, "I'm going out of the village, so I can't let you grow old here." The old man said, "They're all on the front road, and you can't get out. You take all your things with you. Come with me."

The old man led Zhou Yiyan around to the west lane, and pushed aside a few stacks of sorghum stalks, revealing a flat half damper.He opened the damper to reveal the hole, and said to Yiyan: "Get down quickly! I dug this for their railway team to hide things before. Don't come out if I don't call you." Yiyan stepped on the foot sockets on both sides of the cave to the bottom, and there was already a banging sound on the door from the front.The old man pressed the sorghum stalks as they were, and promised: "Come, come!" and turned to the front yard. There is still a hole at the bottom of the cave, and people can only crawl in by bending over.Dark, damp, with a strong smell of rot.Touching it with his hands, it was dripping with water, and Yiyan backed out again, only putting the violin into the horizontal hole.

Yiyan stood leaning against the cave wall, listening to the movement ahead, unscrewed the iron caps of the two hand grenades, untied the trip ropes, and cocked the pistol. Across the three main rooms, what happened in the front yard could not be heard clearly, only a few words of scolding could be heard occasionally.Then the footsteps moved into the house, and the voice came to the cellar.The bandit army asked the old man how many people were at home?The old man said alone.The bandit army slapped the old man twice and said, "One person! Why are there two pairs of chopsticks on the table?" Finished!" "Who are you waiting for?" "Wait for my in-laws, my girlfriend has a baby, and my in-laws will pick me up today." The bandits stopped asking questions and started searching inside and out.Footsteps approached from far to the top of the cellar, and the sound of Lin Ju being poked with a bayonet was heard.Zhou Yiyan's nervous system tensed up, and he aimed the loaded pistol at the entrance of the cave.At this time, the rooster suddenly crowed "cluck, cluck, cluck" in the front yard, and one bandit said: "No, the old man let the chicken go!" Things, didn't you see that old ghost was grinning when we walked back!" The two hurriedly ran back to the front yard.Only then did Yiyan put down the hand holding the gun again.There was another sound of beating and cursing in the main room. "Old Communist Party! Why did you let all the chickens go?" "Hey, what you said is weird! Who doesn't let the chickens out to look for food during the day." "Catch me back!" "It's everywhere, I'll catch it!" "Don't care about that! If the bosses want to be the best at your place today, they have to eat chicken. Don't want anything else. Try it without chicken and see if your house will be ordered?" "For stuttering, is it worth it? Your boss just wants a chicken, so I'll just give you a chicken!" Hearing the sound of the pot lid moving, the two bandits shouted again. "Old man, you have to tell the truth this time, who is the chicken stewed for? Who eats the chicken?" "Didn't you just say that the aunt is in confinement, who doesn't cook a chicken? The boss wants to eat it, just eat it, don't scare us with insults, the common people can't stand the scare!" At this time, there was a sound of footsteps, and more bandits entered the main room.Then I heard the sound of punching, laughing and cursing, howling ghosts and howling wolves, and a foul atmosphere. As soon as he relaxed, Zhou Yiyan felt sleepy.She stretched her legs into the horizontal hole, leaned her back against the wall of the hole and wanted to close her eyes and rest for a while, and fell asleep as soon as she leaned her head against the wall.Later, she was awakened by the sound of stalks being moved overhead.She aimed the gun at the hole again, but a black clay pot stretched out from the hole.The old man said in a low voice: "They have left and haven't left the village yet, so please feel wronged for a while. I'll bring you some food first." The stewed chicken was used as a bait to divert the attention of the enemy, and the old man cooked a bowl of millet rice with pumpkin for Yiyan. It wasn't until the middle of the afternoon that the assembly call was blown on Qianjie.Only then did the bandit soldiers leave the village sparsely. Yiyan returns to the house, and Erman has already returned.Putting two sets of military uniforms and a grenade in front of Yi Yan, most of one of the jackets was burned. Yi Yan asked, "Where are people?" Erman said: "I didn't see it. Not far from the village, I saw the Kuomintang army heading here, so I turned on the trail. After walking a little bit more, when I arrived at the shack, no one was seen, so I threw it away." These things. There are a few words written on the ground, I don’t know them, but I traced them down anyway, what do you mean?” Erman turned over the half-burned military uniform, and she used charcoal to trace the appearance there according to the words on the ground. "Xiangxi, go quickly." Yi Yan said, "They found out the situation and moved to the west. They left these words for me to read." Erman said, "Why did you throw away the things, so you're not afraid of being picked up by others?" "The situation must be very urgent, otherwise it will never be too late to bring weapons. Okay, I know they can go west, and Yu Jie is sick and can't go fast. I can catch up with them soon!" Yiyan is about to leave, but Erman and the old man are holding on to her.They said that it was broad daylight and the enemy team had only left the village for a while, and they didn't know if there were any follow-up troops behind them, and they could never go on the road alone.It's better to be patient and rest for a while, recharge your energy, and chase them after dark, and you won't be slow. Yiyan had no choice but to stay and go to Erman's room to rest. Erman lives in the east room.The mats were bare, the floor was bare, there were no decorations, but they were neatly tidied up.Yiyan felt restless on the one hand, and fell asleep in the cellar on the other hand, but couldn't sleep anymore, so he and Erman started chatting.She told her life experience, and the more Erman listened to it, the more sad she became, and she held Yiyan's hand and said, "I thought it was my life that was suffering. It turns out that there are people in the world who are suffering more than me." Yiyan said, "Old Society, how many of our women’s fates are not bitter!" Erman said: "You revolutionaries are good, you serve in the army and fight in wars, and you can't bear the anger of men." Yiyan said: "This is thanks to the Communist Party. Without the leadership of the Communist Party, what would we have done? The Communist Party's revolution will not only liberate the suffering workers and farmers, but also liberate us women." "I understand. My man told me that when he was alive." Er Man smiled sheepishly. Yiyan asked Erman, "How do you plan to live in the future?" Erman sighed and said, "I don't know either. Anyway, my father-in-law won't kick me out, let's just count it as a day!" Yiyan asked: "Will that porter stop making trouble? Can the traffickers end like this?" Er Man said, "I'm not afraid of whoever comes and I will tear it apart! Last time I suffered the loss of not being on guard. I will be more on guard in the future, and they won't be able to reach me." Yiyan said: "Who are they? They are the whole; what about the Japanese society! You can't compete with one Erman, ten Ermen. If you want to truly stand up and become the master, you have to follow the Communist Party to start a revolution like your man!" " Er Man smiled and said, "Can I have your skills in both civil and military skills?" Yiyan said: "I haven't been trained in the revolutionary army! Before I joined the revolution, I was not as good as you. That day I saw you yelling and cursing, chasing after the traffickers, and I thought to myself, this woman You really dare to fight, if you want to join the army, two years of training will be much more promising than me." Erman bowed her head in silence for a long time, her eyes were red and she said: "I can't leave, the old man is the only one left in this family. If you don't watch life and death, you can't do it for my own pleasure, so leave the old man behind. I'll bear with it." , it will be safe for us to serve other people, I will find you." Yiyan asked Erman, "Do you still want to find someone else?" "I can make up my own mind, so what do you want to do?" Er Man suddenly smiled and said, "You female soldiers spend all day in the hail of guns and bullets with the male soldiers, probably no one has time to think about these things, right?" Yiyan smiled and said, "I seldom think about it, very little! But it's not at all!" Erman put his mouth close to Yiyan's ear and asked, "What's the matter? Have you found someone you like?" Yiyan felt that he had slipped away, blushed, and said in a low voice, "You're still young, how can there be..." "No time to even think about it? I don't believe it." "There is room for thinking..." "What are you thinking about? You have to think about someone, right?" "whee!" "Who?" "Who?" Yiyan blushed and said, "He's also a soldier!" After speaking, he leaned on Erman's shoulder and laughed. After dark, Yiyan was on the road, and Erman sent her four or five miles away.A gust of wind is rushing, and it looks like the sky will change again, Yiyan urges Erman to go back.Er Man reluctantly said, "Come and see me when the team comes over again." Er Man walked back slowly, feeling an empty sadness in his heart.She hadn't talked and laughed so freely with people for many years.From childhood to youth, the only company she had for laughing and playing was her brother-husband.With that person gone, she also lost the bright and cheerful life in her life forever.There was neither someone to joke with nor the mood to joke.This place has not yet been liberated, and the widow's house is not allowed to see smiling faces, nor is it allowed to laugh.She spends all her youthful vigor in labor and enjoys a little satisfaction in life from fatigue.This female soldier had been here for a day, and for some reason, she was pulled into the atmosphere of a normal person's life and let her see another world.This world is full of sunshine and vitality, and people form groups with the most frank, sincere, selfless, and mutual kinship.When Yiyan is in front of her eyes, all of this is real, visible and tangible; once Yiyan is gone, they all follow her, and everything becomes distant and illusory again. When she returned to the village, it was late at night, and when she passed the back window of her house, she found that there was a light on.It has never been so late to light the lamp. Maybe the father-in-law is worried and is waiting for her.Walking a few steps and turning into the alley, suddenly there was a donkey braying from her yard.Startled, she stood still, for twice in her life she rode a donkey, and both times brought her terrible misfortune.An ominous premonition forced her to turn around and walk out of the alley again, standing next to her back window to listen to the movement inside. "You've seen the east room and the north room, and there's no way to hide people there." It was the father-in-law's voice that snorted angrily, "What are you still doing here with me?" "Someone saw you enter your house!" It was the porter's voice, "You don't have a marriage certificate in your hand, and if you hide her, you will be abducted. If you don't hand over the Erman, let's go to the county government office to talk!" "Sue where you fall in love!" The father-in-law said, "I'm waiting for you, now you get out!" "Don't be angry, don't be angry." The trafficker said in a long voice: "There are people and things are going on. Let me see that it is better to hand them over as soon as possible. If you come and leave, why bother the government?" Er Man poured cold water over his head like a basin, trembling with anger and hatred all over his body.Not daring to stay any longer, she hurried north and hid in a deserted pigsty. It took another half an hour before she heard the door of her house.Then the two talked in low voices, walked out of the alley, and walked out of the village. Er Man still didn't dare to call the door of her own house, so she went around to the west wall, grabbed the top of the wall with her hands and turned into the courtyard.As soon as his feet landed, the father-in-law in the main room asked angrily, "Who?" Er Man whispered, "Don't shout, it's me!" The old man rushed out in a few steps, grabbed Erman's hand and said, "Son, just now..." "I see." "Then hurry up and leave!" "I don't worry about your old age." "Stupid thing, which one of us can take care of whom in this world? Hurry up and go after that female soldier." "I'm leaving, they won't trouble you?" "It's even more trouble if you don't leave. It's getting dark, and I'll see you off for a while. Don't move the door latch, and climb over the wall to get out." The old man climbed over the wall first, took Erman from the outside, walked out of the alley, and went west.At this time, it rained again the size of beans.