Chapter 42 first quarter

In the early summer of 1938, the fertile land of Yuzhou was thousands of miles away.The wheat in the field will be scytheed for more than a month, just waiting for the last period of time for the fiery sun to ripen them. Central Plains town.Fourteen-year-old Liu Yingchun walked among the fields with her father.They got up early, and took the burden of tofu to a family in the country who was holding a wedding.Recently, there has been a sudden increase in the number of people holding wedding events. Those who marry a daughter-in-law, regardless of their family background, always have a wedding banquet, and tofu is indispensable at the wedding banquet.Therefore, the business of the tofu shop has been particularly prosperous recently.However, those weddings were arranged in a hurry, and the due celebration seemed to be diluted by perfunctory, but there was a gloomy and tense atmosphere surrounding the town.The news came from outside that devils came from the north, murdered, set fire, robbed things, and looked for flower girls everywhere, vicious and evil.The one who brought the news into the town was a man from Shanghai who had escaped years ago. He escaped from death and ran to the town to join his relatives, that is, Liu Si, a barber in Xitou Town.At first, the scope of influence of the news was limited, except for those families who were anxious to marry a wife or daughter, the town at that time was relatively peaceful, like a paradise without disputes with the world.The difference is that people like to flock to Liu Si's barber shop after they are free, and listen to Shanghai men talk about outside affairs.The horrible incident of murder and arson made them feel angry, and they were a little more fortunate-the devils only go to prosperous places, and this remote town may have escaped an ancient disaster.

If there were not more and more foreigners coming to the town to escape disaster, and occasionally swarms of planes could be heard buzzing and passing by the distant sky, the townspeople would still be immersed in a peaceful life. At noon one day, a bomb suddenly fell into the wheat field next to the town.There was no one in the field, only a big yellow ox lying quietly under the willow tree fell in a pool of blood.The farmers took the dead cattle to the town's market to skin and sell the meat, and the town immediately became restless.Many families have already prepared for the worst based on the experience of fleeing from outsiders—packing up the baggage and dry food that can be carried with them, and preparing to escape from the small town at any time.

Then there is the anxious waiting, waiting for the moment of escape. After a period of time, the ripples in people's hearts caused by the bomb that accidentally fell on the wheat field gradually subsided, and no other horrific incidents occurred in the town.This can easily lead to paralysis.People unpacked their packed bags and continued their orderly daily life. Fast forward to June.On an ordinary night, the heavy rain poured down, washing the ground, and hitting the eardrums of the dreamer in the middle of the night. Fourteen-year-old Liu Yingchun was woken up by noises other than the sound of rain.She walked out of the house sleepily, and was horrified to find that the whole town had become an island in the ocean, or like a ship floating in the ocean.The water continued to spread upwards and had already flooded the street.Dang, dang, dang, someone beat the gong.This is a common way to call the police when there is a critical situation in the town, such as bandits looting or the Yellow River breaking its embankment, and it was suggested by everyone to prevent the rumored devils.At this time, the flood was surging, and the sound of the gong was like a rush of raindrops falling on every dark window.The windows lit up one after another.After a while, the whole town was buzzing.

Lightning is like a fire dragon, licking the night sky with its scarlet tongue, and everything is as bright as day in an instant.The thunder rolling in the sky exploded in the dark night sky with the fleeting lightning, like a huge stone mill, rumbling and rolling over people's heads.After the thunder, the town fell into the ravages of rain again. The Yellow River burst!run! —Someone was shouting wildly. Mother! ……grandmother! —The little child uttered a terrified cry. It is too late to unpack the burden that was prepared and unpacked.People are in a mess, helping the old and the young, or holding wooden basins, buckets, or holding doors, bed boards, etc., and throwing things into the water, struggling and drifting in the rolling yellow water where the other shore is. , survival...

The rapid sound of gongs in the distance and the panic in front of her eyes suddenly woke Liu Yingchun, and she realized the seriousness and urgency of the matter.Looking down, the water has already covered her feet, and her home - the tofu shop on the edge of the town has also flooded into the torrent of yellow water.She perked up.Due to the good business of the tofu shop recently, the overworked parents are sleeping soundly, and the faint snoring is full of sad fatigue.In this season, thunderstorms are common, subconsciously they didn't care about the noise outside the house at all, they just submerged themselves in the sweet smell of soybean milk, fell asleep deeply, and slept so contentedly, the outside world seemed to be different from them irrelevant.

Liu Yingchun ran back to the house and shouted hastily: "Wake up! Wake up!" Father got up to light a match, and his dream of a stable life was completely awakened: the flood rushed in from the door, water was everywhere in the house, and some miscellaneous things floated up, such as wooden barrels, shoes, wooden shovels, gourd ladles, Broken paper, firewood stalks...they swirled in the water in panic. The family of three hurried outside.Soon, half of the earth wall of the house was submerged in the water.In a panic, my father removed the wooden door panel.Liu Yingchun and her mother held onto the door tightly, while her father pushed it forward violently.The moment the door panel floated out, the tofu workshop with mud tile structure collapsed.Father and the gray-black tiled roof were swallowed by the turbid waves, and were swept away by the torrential yellow water in a blink of an eye.

Liu Yingchun and her mother exclaimed at the same time, but her father could no longer hear her.They can only float in the water with the door panel floating... At dawn, you can see all kinds of household items and wooden rafters floating on the endless water, as well as the corpses of domestic animals and people with distended bellies.Liu Yingchun and her mother could no longer feel any fear. Their bodies were so cold and numb in the water.I don't know how far and where they drifted, and they were finally pushed to a piece of land by the flood. The sky cleared up, the pale sunlight overlooked the land, and the vast water swamp surrounded and divided the uplifted land one by one. The world was like a wrecked ship on the rocks, trapped in boundless chaos...

When the flood receded, there were victims everywhere.Ragged and hungry, they stuffed grass or leaves stained with mud into their mouths.Pulled by her mother, Liu Yingchun rushed forward blindly with the victims, not knowing where she was going.In the places where the victims passed by, the green plants seemed to have encountered a patch of locusts, and quickly disappeared in the encroachment.The earth is like the dull face of the disaster victims, flashing the withered yellow of white thorns. In this way, Liu Yingchun took her mother's hand and followed the victims to the side of a railway, after several months of grief and fear of losing their family and home, and the chaos and confusion of not knowing where they would wander. Walk and walk along the railway line.

Only now did Liu Yingchun, who had escaped from the small town in the Central Plains, realize that the outside world was just like the Shanghai man said, full of wars and chaos.She and her mother fell into danger and fear worse than floods: wars were like knives, victims were turned into fish, and the earth was scorched.At any moment, they may encounter soldiers with live ammunition, chattering, and some have a strange black beard in the middle of their upper lip.These devil-like things are the legendary devils, and they are devouring everything they want with their bloody mouths wide open.

Like frightened birds, the victims did not know how many days they could carry their heads on their shoulders.But they couldn't care less about this, because even if the devils showed mercy to them and didn't take pleasure in cutting off their heads, hunger and disease could take their fragile lives at any time.But they still fled forward in a daze.Perhaps, the constant running just shows that they are still a living thing. Along the way, many people died.Others joined the ranks. The fleeing team continued to expand, including not only people from Peiping and Shanghai, but also people from Zhengzhou and Xuzhou, and later people from Wuhan, Hengyang, and even Guangzhou... The devils are invincible from north to south, an important town for military strategists They were all reduced to the pockets of devils.The world is plunged into red blood and killing.