1942, I lived on hunting

The train was traveling very fast and rumbled along as it arrived at Xinxiang, the capital of Pingyuan Province at the time. Li Hao was in no hurry to continue his journey, so he suddenly decided to get off the train and take a walk.

Back then, Li Hao led his men to quietly sneak into the turret at the city gate, then opened the gate and entered Xinxiang City, leading a group of guerrillas to beat the Japanese and flee in panic, thus liberating Xinxiang. But now when he came back, he found that this place was completely different from what he remembered. Even the high city walls had been stripped clean. If there were not a few old buildings that he vaguely remembered, Li Hao would have thought he had come to the wrong place!

This was the only battle example that Li Hao could show off during the war of resistance against Japan, and it shocked the whole country. But later on, it was not as good as the other battles of annihilation involving hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops. His battle was just a "child-like thief-killing" and was not worth mentioning.

Now looking at this strange city, Li Hao feels a little uncomfortable due to a huge psychological gap. As the wheel of time rolls forward, he, a small figure, is destined to be lost in the crowd.

Li Hao drank a bowl of local specialty noodles in a familiar restaurant, spent a few dollars and some meat and grain coupons to buy some big steamed buns, took another look at the increasingly unfamiliar street, and then got up and went back to the station.

After arriving at the station, Li Hao was going to buy a ticket, but he heard someone talking about shipping on the ancient canal of Wei River. Li Hao asked them about it and immediately changed his mind. He had seen the Grand Canal in the south, but he had never seen this canal in the north, so he was ready to give it a try.

After leaving the station, they walked a short distance to the Wei River. Not far along the river was the dock. There were several sailboats on the dock, and a group of workers were loading goods. Li Hao looked and saw that they were loading bags of flour.

Li Hao went up to say hello and asked if he could take a boat, but was rejected. They were now a state-owned transport team and did not accept outsiders. However, they were very enthusiastic and told Li Hao that there was a passenger ship at noon that could go as far as Anyang. If Li Hao wanted to go to Qi County, he could take that ship, which was much cheaper than taking the train.

Li Hao thanked them and sat on the stone steps of the pier waiting for the boat. A few young people carrying bags and a suitcase caught Li Hao's attention. There were three men and two women in the group. Judging from their attire, they should be students. It was probably the start of the new semester and they were rushing to school.

Li Hao started chatting with him. At first he was quite wary, but later, perhaps because he felt that Li Hao was not a bad person and the waiting time was too boring, he started chatting with Li Hao.

The leading boy was named Sun Jingzhong, and he also had a younger sister named Sun Baoguo. Li Hao was impressed by the names of the two siblings. This must be a father with a bit of a story, otherwise how could he give his children these names?

Li Hao: "Are you students? Which school are you from? Are you going back to school?"

Sun Jingzhong replied: "We are all students of Anyang Normal University. We have been home for a while during the holidays. We are going back to school together. School will start soon!"

Li Hao: "Did you always take a boat to go to school or go home during holidays? Why not take a train?"

Sun Jingzhong smiled embarrassedly: "We usually take the boat in summer. We can't do it in winter when the river freezes. Taking the train is a bit expensive. My father's income is average and my younger siblings are still in school, so we save as much as we can... We took the production team's car to the city to buy things, met up with our classmates, and waited here early, for fear of missing the boat..."

Li Hao didn't mean to look down on them, but the young man was shy and didn't feel comfortable telling others about his embarrassment. Moreover, he admired the father of the Sun brothers and sisters very much. According to Sun Jingzhong, their children could go to school? That was not an easy thing!

You have to know that going to school nowadays is not like the past. Although the tuition and miscellaneous fees are not expensive, everyone is poor! In many places, the tuition and miscellaneous fees for a semester in primary schools are 2.5 yuan, and it costs about the same amount to buy books, pens and other learning tools every semester. In addition, going to school means that children cannot help with housework and farm work at home. Many parents are forced to ignore their children's education.

Even eating is a problem, why bother studying? What the hell is the point of studying!

Not only do the boys in the Sun family have access to education, but the girls are also not restricted. Sun Baoguo, a girl, can go to university. It has to be said that the parents of the Sun family are relatively open-minded.

Near noon, Li Hao took out some steamed bread from his bag and ate it with water from the kettle. The Sun brothers and sisters had no dry food, and it was not known whether they came too hastily or their family was short of food. When they saw Li Hao start to eat, they tacitly stepped back.

No matter what era it is, staring at others eating is very impolite. They also saw the steamed buns that Li Hao was eating. Those were meat steamed buns sold only in state-owned restaurants, not something they could ever dream of.

Li Hao was not stingy. He directly took out a few more meat buns from his bag and handed them to a few students who were also waiting for the boat. Everyone refused to take them. Just kidding, these meat buns are not available during festivals. If a stranger suddenly wants to treat you to a free meal, most people will subconsciously refuse the other party's kindness.

Li Hao has also been influenced by the bold and generous style of the Northeastern men over the years. You don't want to eat it? I force it into your hand, what's wrong? Do you look down on me? You won't eat it even if I give it to you?

The students were still a little naive, and had never seen Li Hao behave like this before. They could only accept the offer helplessly and chat while eating.

Li Hao: "I'm very curious, what does your father do? It's not easy to support several students these days!"

Sun Baoguo was also very proud when she heard Li Hao praising her father. In the whole village, only their family had children who could go to school, regardless of gender. He was the greatest man in her mind.

"My father was a turtle catcher, he was very good at it!... He caught turtles and exchanged them for money and food to support my brothers and sisters in their studies..."

Li Hao couldn't help but be curious. Catch turtles? Turtle? How many can he catch? How much money can he earn? How many students can he support?

As for catching turtles, Li Hao has seen it in short videos in his later life. He has also seen people using fishing rods and special anchors to catch turtles! Li Hao doesn't know the specific principle. Different trades are like different mountains. Li Hao can't understand why such a simple thing can be thrown out to hook a big turtle. Are you cheating? Why are you so good? Are you the best of the best?

Sun Jingzhong said: "My father doesn't know how to catch turtles. I have never even heard of this method. My father usually holds a harpoon and walks along the river bank all the way to the county town. He can catch some old turtles every day, and sometimes he can catch a few big fish. He sells the turtles in the county town, stays at a relative's house, and walks back from the other side of the river the next day. He catches old turtles and then comes to Xinxiang City to sell them...."