There were five dollars on the table, a bag of brown rice and a bag of flour under the stool beside them. Under the dim yellow oil lamp, the family of five looked at these things and the urn that they thought was very beautiful.
"Ahem, ahem, you said that Erxi is dead, and these were sent by his army?”Old Liu, whose back was already hunched, asked in disbelief.
Liu Erxi had been recruited to join the army while moving goods on the street. His family only heard about it a few days later from his colleagues who had run away.
Very few people who were captured and sent to the army could come back alive. The family treated it as if they had died outside. The family had no pain or sorrow. In this era, it was too normal for people to die, let alone a family like theirs.
However, he did not expect Liu Erxi to really die. He died fighting the Japanese. His team actually sent his ashes back and even sent compensation. This was simply unheard of. Since the war in the late Qing Dynasty, no soldier had ever paid compensation for his death.
"Yes, those soldiers said that they are the independent 3rd Regiment of the expeditionary army, no, I think it's called the 3rd Division. They said that this is the first compensation. In the future, they will give us 10 yuan and 50 catties of rice and flour every year until we die. They also said that if they recruit people in the future, families like us will have priority.”Aunt Liu tried her best to recall what she had heard today.
The family did not expect that there would be more in the future. Ten yuan and fifty catties of rice and flour a year. If the couple lived to be sixty years old, they would have to give him twenty years of gifts. How many things would they have to give him in twenty years? With so much money and food, how many soldiers could they recruit?
"Cough, cough, cough!" Old Liu coughed even louder. What he had heard today was simply a fantasy to him. How could there be such a benevolent army? In the past few decades, he had only seen an army that captured able-bodied men and scraped the ground. He had never seen an army that gave them money like this.
"Oh right, they even left us a note saying that if the amount of things sent over is wrong in the future, we can sue them. If we have any difficulties, we can also look for them.”Aunt Liu took out a note from her pocket and gave it to Old Liu.
It was a pity that the whole family was illiterate. They looked at the note but could not make out anything. Liu Xiaomei, on the other hand, had reached beside the bag of rice. She secretly reached her hand in and stole a few grains of raw rice. She put them in her mouth and chewed slowly.
She was hungry. She was hungry almost every day. Just now, she had smelled the fragrance of the rice grains and wanted to eat them. When she saw her parents and brother sitting at the table talking, she went to eat them secretly.
However, it was too quiet at night. Although she ate the rice softly, she was still heard. Aunt Liu rushed over and grabbed her, snatching the rice from her hand and putting it into the rice bag. She scolded," You're a hungry ghost. Eat raw rice. Be careful not to have diarrhea and lose your life tomorrow."”
Eating uncooked rice was very easy to cause problems in the stomach, not to mention weak children. It was very likely that they would die from diarrhea. In this era, the probability of children dying was very high.
"Wow, I'm hungry, Mother, I'm hungry. If I want rice, I want to eat rice. Boohoo, this is what Second Brother brought back.”Liu Xiaomei was crying in Aunt Liu's arms. She didn't know that her second brother was dead, but she knew that her second brother had brought back something.
A disobedient child would be beaten. Aunt Liu slapped her butt twice, and the child cried even louder.
"Yes, why not? Da Xi, go get some firewood. We'll have a meal of plain white rice today. This is my son's life in exchange for it.”Old Liu said.
That night, the family ate the best meal they had in a while. White rice with some pickles. The five of them controlled themselves and ate five catties of rice. Aunt Liu's heart ached. So much rice could be exchanged for a lot of potatoes and sweet potatoes. They could eat for a long time.
After the meal, the family immediately went to bed. They had finally eaten their fill and could not waste food. It was best to go to bed immediately so that they could save on a meal the next morning.
However, some people were destined to not be able to sleep. Da Xi and Sanxi were lying on the bed. There was no room at home. One was in his twenties, and the other was in his teens. The two of them were still sleeping on the same bed. As for the younger sister, she slept with her parents.
The two people lying on the bed recalled the meal just now. They had not eaten so much white rice in a long time. The feeling of being full was really wonderful, which made the two of them have thoughts.
"Sanxi, I'm going to be a soldier, a soldier of the 3rd regiment. If I die, I can give my family 10 yuan and 50 catties of rice and flour every year. With this money, you can marry a wife, but you have to promise me that you will take good care of your parents and little sister.”Da Xi said solemnly.
Sanxi, who was lying on the bed, sat up and said," Big Brother, you're the eldest son. You should stay and take care of your parents. I'll go. I can go and fight the Japanese and leave things for the family. Where can I find such a good thing? Let me go."”
"No, it's too dangerous. Let me go.”
"No, Boss should stay home."
Because of this, the two of them began to argue. Their voices became louder and louder, waking up Old Liu and Aunt Liu who were next door. The two of them ran over and asked the brothers what they were arguing about. Unable to hide their thoughts, the two of them told the matter and prepared to let their parents tell them who should go.
"Erxi is already dead, but you two brothers still want to fight the Japanese. Do you want to die too? "If you all die, what will happen to us? What will happen to our little sister? What a sin! What a sin! You're not allowed to go anywhere. All of you stay at home and save some money for you two brothers to get married.”Old Liu said dejectedly.
It was all because of poverty. The lives of the poor were not worth much. If they could exchange something to improve their lives, countless poor people were willing to go. They could not even fill their stomachs by working outside. They might as well go out and fight.
He used his father's authority to suppress the two brothers, and the night was quiet. However, the next morning, Sanxi woke up and found that Da Xi, who was sleeping outside, had disappeared. His big brother usually slept very soundly. He would not wake up in the morning without anyone waking him up. If he suddenly disappeared, he must have gone to join the army.
"Dad, mom, it's bad. Eldest Brother ran away. Quick, see if the police officer from yesterday is still there.”Sanxi stood up and shouted.
When Old Liu heard this, he felt that something bad had happened. He quickly ran to the small cabinet in the hall to take a look. Sure enough, the note was gone. His eldest son had secretly run out.
"Stinky brat, you really don't want your mother and father to have a good time. Go, go, as long as you don't die outside.”Old Liu stammered.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。