In the spring and summer of 1937, there was a severe drought in the Yizhong Plain.In May, the bottom of the Hutuo River dried up, and the hot wind rolled the yellow sand and dried the red water willows growing on the river beach. Cottongrass and other variegated florets bloom at night and wither by day.The farmers said: Don't look at the current drought, it must be a year of floods.But until the beginning of June, the rain had not yet fallen, and the merchants who had returned home from Beiping and Baoding brought the news of Japan's invasion of North China to the countryside. Farmers in Ziwu Town, Hebei Province, rested at noon in the shade of trees on the embankment in the north of the village.Under a big elm tree at the corner of the embankment, there are two young women spinning thread facing each other.Judging from their looks and clothes, they all look like two sisters, the younger one is sixteen or seventeen years old, and the older one is no more than twenty-seven or eighty-eight.My sister's face is yellow and thin, and her eyebrows and eyes are a little sad; however, the excessive hope and premature enthusiasm have been fully revealed in the younger sister's expression and behavior.

The leaves above their heads were motionless, the cicadas were screaming anxiously, and the rustling sticky insect excrement fell to the ground. There is a small car in the distance, among the tall and short, yellow and green crops, the red mud and the car's feet are flashing.Two big black-headed mules ran with their tails flicking in the scorching midday sun. The two women looked at each other, and the elder sister said: "Someone's gone home again!" "I wonder if it's my brother-in-law?" The younger sister stood up. "You don't miss our father?" said the sister.

"I don't want anyone, but I can't come back!" The younger sister raised her heels, looked carefully for a while, then sat down and turned the spinning wheel, and said to herself, "What a disappointment! That's the Taipan's car. It's going to Baofu." The head of the family came back dead. None of our people will come back, and I don’t know if we will come back this year.” The car ran to the edge of the village and drove into the gate of the village in front of them.A lot of Shi Laochang jumped down from the front shaft, waved the long seedling whip with red tassels, and greeted with a smile.The young master showed a foot in black silk stockings, and he also poked his head out of the car to look at them.They bowed their heads.

The two sisters' surnames are Wu, the older one is called Qiufen, and the younger one is called Chun'er.The eldest is married, and her husband's family is Wulongtang. Wulongtang is a small village close to the south bank of the Hutuo River. The river flows from the southwest.The residents of Wulongtang built a high embankment and nailed piles at the corner of the river. This is a famous dangerous embankment of the Hutuo River. The flood has leveled this small village many times: either swept away everything in it and swirled into a deep pit; or rolled yellow sand and silted up the highest roof in the village.The small village was not conquered by the flood. Whenever the embankment was in danger, with the sound of a gong, all the men, women and children of the village immediately stood up on the embankment.They used all their strength and materials to block the dangerous openings. They took down doors and windows, beams, wood, bricks and tiles. The women brought cabinets, tables and chairs, and blankets and kang mats.Legend: One year, when all strength was exhausted, everything was used up, and the hole still couldn't be blocked, five young people jumped into the big stream, lay flat on their backs, and called people to fill their bodies with soil. Block the flow of water.

They saved the life and property of the villages in this area, and the people built a big temple for them, which is called Wulongtang.Over time, it became the name of the village. This small village stands on the plain, but actually lives in the dangerous sea.The people's life is very hard. Over the years, the population and households have increased very little. Every year, the house was washed away by the flood, and before the water was withdrawn, they helped each other to burn bricks, plan trees and saws, and build a new house.The foundation of the house is stronger, the wall is thicker, and the roof is higher than the one that was washed away.Their houses have no courtyard walls or foils. They are all lonely northern houses. From a distance, they look like small towers one after another.The steps are very high, walking from the yard to the house is like going upstairs.

Autumn Equinox's father-in-law is Gao Sihai, who is sixty years old now.The villages in this area are fond of musical instruments, and the old man learned to play the bassoon since he was naked, and soon became a good player.When he blows the bassoon, pedestrians ten miles away can hear it. Boatmen sailing on the Hutuo River at night, listening to his bassoon, will forget the hardships of the journey.His big pipe can win over the audience of a big show, and can make a group of monks and priests face the music on the altar, like a thrush who has been defeated in battle, with their wings spread and their heads bowed, not daring to speak.

The old man is not only a musician, but also a well-known enthusiastic person and organizer of village activities. Ten years ago, there was a peasant riot here. The riot started in Gaoyang and Lixian. All villages raised red flags and held meetings in the fields.It was the first time that the red flag appeared on the plains, and it was enthusiastic and clear. Gao Sihai, his eighteen-year-old son Qingshan, and his seventeen-year-old daughter-in-law Qiufen all participated. Because of his bravery, Qingshan became a leader. But only a few days later, the riot quickly failed.One hot day, the rioting peasants retreated to the embankment and planted the red flag on the top of the Wulongtang temple.

The peasants made a last stand, and Gyeongsan was wounded in the chest.At night, Gao Sihai asked a confidant to put him and a middle school student named Gao Xiang in the village in the bilge of a small boat and escaped. In such a chaotic time, there were only two people who sent Qingshan away.The old father, holding the small window of the cabin, said: "Let's go! There is a way to survive wherever you go! Tell them to wait!" He helped to push the boat away and went back.He also wants to help those peasants, those comrades who have fought together and are now defeated, and bury the comrades who died in the field.

Also seeing off was a seventeen-year-old girl at Autumn Equinox. When her father was talking to Qingshan, she was standing on a far embankment. The black clouds from the west mountain covered half of the sky and no one could see the stars. she.When the boat was about to reach the middle of the river, she ran down and threw a small package in her arms into the window of the boat like a shuttle.Qing Shan, who was lying in the cabin, touched the small bag, leaned over the window and called out. Autumn Equinox didn't speak, she just walked along the river beside the boat, when the rain came, the dense raindrops the size of copper coins made the river water slap.The northwest wind was blowing the boat, a bright flash, and then a thunderstorm.Bright and clear, she rolled up her trousers, folded a ripped bag she brought into a triangular hood, put it on her head, covered her thighs, and followed the boat for ten miles.

The wind and rain tempered the seeds of revolution, buried it deep in the ground, and told it to wait for the next spring, when the situation will rise again... Qingshan went out, and there was no news for ten years.The student who escaped with him was arrested in the Shanghai factory, and he was sent to Peiping to be imprisoned last year. Only then did he receive a message that Qingshan had gone to Jiangxi. Gao Sihai only has four acres of land, all of which are lying on the river beach. Every year after making troubles, he collects some small black beans.He built a hut on the embankment, set up a pergola in front of it, and opened a teahouse to sell big bowls of noodles.Here is a small ferry.

On the autumnal equinox, the noodles are rolled out, and the father-in-law pulls the bellows.The old man fetched sweet water from afar from the village, sold it to customers, and asked passing sailboats to bring some cheap ballast from Zhengding, so as to earn food and drink for the couple. The autumn equinox is around the hut, and vegetables are planted. The hut has a small window that opens to the south. Putting lights on the window sill at night is the guidance of the boatman.She planted a loofah in front of the small window, and the grown loofahs hung down from the thick leaves and hit the ground.I also planted a row of sunflowers in the southwest corner of the hut, and asked them to stand by the river, thinking about the passers-by in the distance... Every spring and summer, when the bottom of the river is dry and the ferry is idle, the autumn equinox tells the father-in-law not to He forgot to water Wangrilian and loofah, and returned to Ziwu Town to help his sister spin and weave.