Chapter 75 74

Li Siye's business is still very good.Although Beiping is poor and has no food, its population is increasing.It is true that every family has laid off people; but the people of the four townships and eight towns, because they lost their property, or were burnt down by the enemy, or because they avoided the swordsman, they went to this dead city in groups like going to the market. The word "Peking" seems to teach them to feel safe.On the street, nine out of ten shops had only one or two old and weak soldiers left, while in the alleys, every yard was crowded with people.Li Siye moved the living and led the dead, almost every day he had something to do.

Although this is not idle, the old man is not very happy.He wondered why people came to suffer in this dead city.Beiping city is not a place to produce food!Sometimes, leading the coffin out of town, he heard the sound of cannon in the distance.He immediately figured it out: no wonder people fled to the city, and there are still wars everywhere!However, after a while he thought again: dodge the guns and flee to the city, but you can't escape hunger and cold!Thinking of this, he almost stood at the gate of the city and shouted loudly: "Friends, don't enter this gate, you will die if you enter!" But he didn't dare to shout, because there were Japanese soldiers at the gate.

"Hmph!" He said to himself, "everyone is afraid of death! People in the city dare not escape, they are afraid of death! People outside the city, if they go into the city, they are afraid of death! Even you, Li Si, you If you dare to shout at the gate of the city, you are afraid of death!" He looked down on everyone, and he also looked down on himself! What made him even more sad was seeing sweet potatoes growing everywhere outside the city.There is no corn, sorghum, or millet; as far as the eye can see, there are green sweet potato seedlings crawling on the ground.He found out that in all places occupied by the Japanese, within 20 miles on both sides of the railway and road, only sweet potatoes are allowed to grow.The Japanese are afraid of the guerrillas, so they don't keep green gauze tents for them.Sweet potato seedlings can only crawl and lie on the ground; the Chinese, it seems, have to crawl and lie on the ground, never able to stand up, and shoot a few shots at the enemy!

One post after another, without any change, the green seedlings made the old man dizzy.In previous years, every time he went out of the city and saw all kinds of crops, he felt happy.The tall sorghum and corn, the short millet, and the black and green edamame all smell sweet and give him some hope—this is the food for him and everyone else.Especially after the heavy rain, in the avenue lined with young crops, he not only smelled the sweet green air, but also heard the ecstatic jointing of sorghum and corn, creaking and creaking softly.It made him feel alive, and feel a few years younger. Now, he had to walk with half-closed eyes.Those sweet potato seedlings had no fragrance, no red tassels, no tassels that turned from white to yellow to red, but just crawled on the ground in such a row, which made him dizzy and anxious.Sometimes, he almost forgot the direction.

Moreover, when he saw those green and unattractive seedlings, he immediately thought of how weak sweet potatoes are: if you eat too little, you will be hungry in a short while; if you eat too much, your stomach will be sour.He is in his seventies, and sweet potatoes cannot give him a sense of warmth and health. In addition to these miscellaneous feelings, he has more painful things.Since he became the deputy head of the district, his reputation has dropped a lot as the inspector Bai collected copper and iron from house to house.Everyone knows that he is a good man, but there is an illogical logic - he dare not resist the Japanese, and he is unwilling to show nothing, so he has to murder Old Man Li!

It's even better now, he has to go from house to house to announce: "Don't throw away the tea you've drunk, every house has to donate tea on a monthly basis!" "What is it for?" he was asked. "I know it's strange!" The old man said anxiously. "Ouch," Bai Inspector came up to perfunctory: "I heard that old tea leaves are mixed with grass fodder for Japanese horses to eat; lose fire! lose fire! I also heard that oil can be squeezed out of tea leaves. Ouch, I too Not very clear!" "We can't afford tea anymore, there is no tea!" someone said. "Then, I have to find a way to get some!" Inspector Bai's smile froze on his face, and he looked like he was about to cry.

After a few days, he had to tell everyone again: "I still have to offer tinfoil packs of cigarettes on a monthly basis!" The old man was in a hurry, and said angrily to Inspector Bai: "I can't go anymore! I don't have time to run errands anymore. I still have to be scolded! Can you spare me? I will no longer be the chief of the poor village!" No matter what he said, Inspector Bai didn't nod his head: "Old man! Whoever is the head of the village will be scolded, only you old man can bear the scolding! If you praise me, they will blame me for everything they scold, isn't that okay? "

In addition to appealing, Inspector Bai also came up with an idea: since Guan Xiaohe has been released from prison, Fourth Master Li should be promoted to be the head of the district, and Sun Qi should be asked to be the deputy.Soon, he made an appointment with the deputy village head to re-investigate the household registration in order to issue a grain receipt certificate. Old man Li was not happy to be on this errand, but he felt a little more at ease when he heard that everyone had received food certificates.He said to himself: "Okay, as long as you distribute food, no matter what kind of food, you won't go hungry!" He came and went, and he said what was in his heart to make everyone feel at ease.Everyone listened, and there were smiles on their faces, and they comforted each other: "Fourth Master is right, as long as the food is paid, no matter what it is, you can survive!" Like what is the most ideal way!

It wasn't until the household registration survey was done that everyone knew that those over sixty and under six were not eligible to receive food! This is not something any Chinese can afford!What, no food for the elderly and children?This is simply teaching Chinese history to do a somersault and stand upside down!The greatest responsibility of the Chinese is to take care of their children; well, now the Japanese are going to starve their children to death; then, what are the middle-aged people doing alive?The people in Xiaoyangpen all thought that this was a "revolution" by bastards to the end, and they wanted to overthrow their history, ethics, morality, and responsibility all at once.If they accept this "revolutionary" method, they will become unkind and unfilial savages!

But what to do? Although Sun Qi had just become the deputy chief, he decided not to favor the Japanese.He advocated grabbing food and rebelling! "Damn it, if we don't give food to the old people, where is our filial piety? If we don't give food to the children, we will teach us to cut off children and grandchildren! This is an absolute idea, unless there are people without assholes, no one will be so ruthless! Damn Yes, in the barn, there is plenty of food in the house of the big traitors, grab it! Now that things have happened, who can care about dignity?" This set of words, said so forcefully, simply, and with reason, made everyone's cheeks turn red and their eyes light up.However, just after he finished speaking, even he and them seemed to have seen the machine gun.Everyone swallowed their saliva, and no one dared to raise their arms and shout: "Grab it!" They are Chinese, Chinese from Beiping, and they believe that if they die of starvation slowly, they will always die if they are killed by robbing food. Compared with being decapitated, a whole corpse was left!They would rather starve to death than dare to rebel!They had no choice but to take a step back and think: "Okay, the old and the young have no food, so let's share it among everyone; no one will be full, but no one will starve to death right away; isn't it a way?"

This "divide and eat" method, everyone can see that it is much softer than Sun Qi's idea, so soft that it is almost unreasonable.However, in the hearts of the people in the Little Sheepfold, this also contains a lot of humanity and wisdom. While they were talking like this, they received leaflets: "Decision at once, fellow citizens, whether to starve to death or rise up and fight! The way of life must be rushed with our blood; the way of death is to shrink your neck, close your eyes, and wait. , wait—starve to death!" Everyone can guess that, nine out of ten, it was sent to them by their old neighbor Qian Moyin.They unanimously agreed with Mr. Qian's words and became excited again.However, before long, their "wisdom" prevailed again.That "wisdom" is just like the ancient and useless city walls of Peking. Although useless, they can give them a sense of security. If neither Sun Qi nor Mr. Qian can stimulate people's courage to resist, people will find other ways to vent their grievances.They thought that Fourth Master Li was trying to deceive them. "He told us that there is food again, but he doesn't mention that there is no share for the elderly and children! Besides, he is the head of the village, probably no matter whether he is sixty or seventy years old, he can always get a share Grain! The years have changed, and even Li Siye can deceive people!" Although these behind-the-scenes attacks are useless, it seems to be a little relieved to be able to babble like this. It seems that all the problems are on Li Siye, and attacking him is enough to relieve the hatred. Old Man Qi actually went directly to Fourth Master Li. Old Man Qi, the oldest resident of the whole alley, the spiritual representative of everyone, and the symbol of longevity and prosperity, is now listed as an old beggar who is not eligible to receive food, an old starving ghost!He can't stand it! "I said Fourth Master!" Old man Qi didn't dare to look at Fourth Master Li with his small eyes; he knew that if he looked at his old friend of decades, he would lose his temper. "How did this happen? How could there be no food for me?" "Brother! Could that be my idea?" Old Man Li's "big brother" has softened Old Man Qi's heart.Decades of old friends, who doesn't know who!However, he still didn't dare to look at Fourth Master Li so that he could continue to question him hard-heartedly; the matter was too big to be passed on casually.He became cruel, his lips trembling: "Fourth Master, you have a share!" Fourth Master is a worm in the city, he doesn't get angry easily; when he heard Big Brother Qi's vicious questioning, he couldn't help but blushed, and didn't reply for a long time. Old Man Qi found Fourth Master Li's face with his small eyes, and turned away quickly, but he was also speechless. "Brother!" The fourth master smiled embarrassingly: "It's not my idea that the village chiefs everywhere have a share! Let me tell you, brother, my legs are still sharp and I can earn money. I don't want that share." Son food, save the big guys from gossiping!" Old Man Qi lowered his head slowly, and an old tear fell on the corner of his eye.After being stunned for a long time, he said in a low voice: "Fourth Master, I'm really anxious, really anxious! Otherwise...! I said, you can't refuse that ration! If you don't want it, where can I find it?" Fourth Master took a step forward and took Brother Qi's hand.The four hands that have been in existence for more than 150 years touched together. The two understood and forgave each other, and they couldn't help but shed tears. After shedding a few tears, the two old men calmed down, leaving only sadness.They want to talk affectionately about the boredom in their hearts, and talk for hours.However, no one spoke.They all came from poor backgrounds and conquered the world empty-handed, but now they may starve to death!They are no longer old heroes who have a family and a career, but two old dogs that no one feeds.They have always been well-behaved, and they have taught their children to be well-behaved. This is something they are proud of; but they are wrong. Dare to be angry but dare not speak; starve to death while alive, but dare not speak out! Usually, when they think of their age, they feel that they should be proud.Now, they see, in front of a fierce tiger, the older is the worse!The four old eyes looked at each other for a long time, and they decided that they don't need to talk about those Chen Guyu's rotten sesame seeds anymore!The glory of the past can only increase the embarrassment and bitterness of today! Back home, the more Mr. Qi thought about it, the more sad he became, and the more uncomfortable he felt.After thinking for a long time, he decided that he had to do something, he couldn't just sit in the house and wait to die!He recalled the dangers he had encountered in the past, and how he had overcome them.Yes, he must do something, because which time did he not rely on his bravery and hard work to overcome difficulties?He touched his limbs; it is true that he is old; however, he has to do things when he is old, and he cannot sit still! He took off his overcoat and tiptoed to the kitchen to find the tools he used to make a living: baskets, ropes, and poles.He didn't know if he could find them, because he couldn't remember whether they had been thrown out or set ablaze by Yunmei. Yunmei walked in softly: "Hey! What is Grandpa doing here?" "Ah—" being asked so suddenly, the old man seemed to have forgotten what he was doing.Pretending to smile, she remembered: "Where's my basket and pole?" "What kind of basket and pole?" Yunmei didn't remember having those things here. "Hmph! I've done all sorts of small businesses! In Gengzi's year, I even sold jujubes! I want the baskets and poles I used for business!" "What are you doing? Grandpa!" Yunmei's big eyes were wide open, and she didn't blink for a long time. "I'm going to do small business! I can't go far, I'm dawdling nearby; I can't pick heavy ones, I'll get some candy beans; I can earn three or fifty cents a day; anyway, I want to sell some strength, I can't Waiting to starve to death, I can't just eat your food!" "Grandpa!" Yunmei couldn't think of words for a while, she just called out, her voice was quite loud and sharp. After hearing the shout, Xiao Shun'er, Niu Zi, and Mrs. Tianyou all ran over. Surrounded by everyone, the old man said the words again, very objectively, deliberately without emotion, in order to let everyone understand: things are things, there is no need to show your teeth and claws. After listening, everyone looked at each other silently, and the little girl went to hold the old man's hand.Mrs. Tianyou knew that she had to speak first: "We can't teach you to be an old man! It's true that things are hard to handle, but no matter what we say, we have to find a way to show filial piety to you! And your basket and pole will be ruined anyway Already!" Xiao Shun'er and Niu Zi responded together: "Grandpa, don't go!" Yunmei also hurriedly said: "Wait for Ruixuan, when he comes back, we can discuss it." She turned around and called Xiao Shun'er: "Xiao Shun'er, help him, old man!" Holding and coaxing like this, everyone sent the old man to his house. Lying on the bed, the old man told the children about his previous struggle history in detail, but did not dare to mention the present and the future, because he had nothing to do with the present and the future. When Ruixuan came back in the evening, Yunmei and her mother-in-law hurriedly told him about the old man.He froze for a long time, then smiled dryly, unable to say anything. Old man Qi, strange to say, didn't tell his eldest grandson about that matter again.The grandparents and grandchildren's eyes met one place, and they quickly moved away; their lips stopped when they were about to move.As a result, everyone went to bed early, leaving all the grievances, embarrassments, and difficulties to Meng!