I make a living solving crimes.

The Hongtu Production Team was really poor.

The walls here are almost all made of loess and the roofs are covered with thatch. There is not a single decent family in the whole village.

In other words, there were no landlords in this village before the land reform.

Hongtu Village, I guess it’s not suitable for growing crops here.

Shi Ge explained their purpose, and the children in the village ran quickly and took them to the home of the old team leader of the production team.

The houses are also built with loess.

The tranquility of the farmyard is incomparable to anywhere else. Surrounded by mountains and forests, it isolates itself from the hustle and bustle of the city. When the moon is bright and the stars are sparse, the whole village falls silent.

Shi Ge carried some food in his backpack, some corn flour mixed with something unknown, yellow, white, and black mixed together.

Before Chang Wei came, he had guessed the situation in the village. He took out twenty kilograms of pure cornmeal from the huge backpack behind him and also found a few sausages.

Not to mention today, in another ten or so years, cadres will have to bring their own food or food coupons when they go to the countryside to eat.

Giving money is of no use.

When the captain's children saw the sausages, their eyes turned red, but they didn't dare to reach out to take them. They huddled at the door, sticking their heads out and drooling.

The old captain was wearing a patched grey jacket. He looked at his skinny grandchildren outside the door and sighed, "There are just too many."

Chang Wei waved his hand nonchalantly, "We are the ones who disturbed you."

If Chang Wei wasn't afraid of getting into trouble, he would have wanted to take out the flour.

At home, he only occasionally made cornmeal porridge for breakfast.

The old captain's sallow face was slightly hot. He took it and handed it to his wife. After thinking for a while, he whispered, "Make some corn steamed bread for the cadres. We can add some sweet potatoes to make some cornmeal porridge. Cut some sausages and send some to Zheng Mazi. His wife is pregnant."

Chang Wei ignored the old captain's arrangements for food and walked to the charcoal fire in the main room and sat down to warm himself.

Liao County is at a lower latitude than the capital, but the temperature is also lower, at least five or six degrees colder.

He rubbed his hands and waited for the old captain to make arrangements and sit back down before he spoke his mind.

The old captain took the cigarette handed to him by Chang Wei, picked up a piece of charcoal and lit it, muttering to himself: "It's been sixteen years. In 42, the Japanese swept the city and many people died."

The boys were silent.

During that year's sweep, the military and civilians suffered heavy losses, and the county town at the foot of the mountain was renamed as a result.

"Do you still remember the troop transfer that year?"

"I remember, of course I remember, the troops passed through the entrance of our village."

Fan Tuaner sat quietly aside. Although he looked anxious, he did not interrupt and left everything to Chang Wei.

"Do you still remember a family called Zheng Sancai in the village?"

The old captain fell into deep thought again, and after a long while he said, "Sanwa, remember, he is still my cousin."

"Are they still in the village now?"

"No longer. The Japanese raided the area and killed their way into the mountains. We all fled." The old captain took a long puff of cigarette and exhaled slowly as he spoke. The smoke, heated by the charcoal fire, rose up in curls, lingering on the roof and dispersing.

He looked at Chang Wei with his cloudy eyes, "In 42, they brought back a baby. You are here to find this baby, right?"

Chang Wei nodded and pointed at Fan Tuaner, "That's her brother."

At this moment, Fan Tuaner heard the news about her brother from other people for the first time. She couldn't help but get nervous, her fingers tightly grasping her clothes, with anticipation in her eyes.

"This girl's family is a high-ranking official." The old captain sighed, "The county has come to inquire about her twice in the past few years."

Chang Wei smiled without commenting, and when he saw the old captain finished his cigarette, he quickly refilled it for him.

The old captain spoke slowly, recalling the past as he said, "The troops were about to move and passed through the village entrance. Sanwa carried food to see them off. When he came back, there was a boy on his shoulder. Although he didn't say it, we all knew that he was a soldier's child."

"Later, the Japanese came and set fires, killed people, and robbed women. We could only hide in the mountains where there were no roads."

"Sanwa was afraid that someone would report that the child was a member of the army, so he didn't come with us. He left alone with his wife and daughter."

"People were timid at that time. The Japanese killed people with bayonets without blinking an eye. Many people were scared and told everything when the Japanese asked them questions."

Chang Wei nodded to show his understanding.

From 38 to 42, the situation of the War of Resistance was the most difficult, and countless people felt despair.

Don’t say that the common people reported it because they were afraid of death. At that time, there were many traitors.

Wasn’t Xiuqin also betrayed by a traitor and died in Ping’an County?

This was a result that had been expected. When Fan Tuan'er heard it again, she was still very depressed. Only Chang Weiqiang cheered up and asked, "Captain, do you know where their family went in the end?"

The result disappointed him. The old captain shook his head and said, "Many people left and never came back. We don't know if they are dead."

In sixteen years, there are too many variables.

Everyone sat in front of the charcoal fire in silence. Chang Wei asked many more details, but in the end got nothing.

After a while, the captain's wife came over timidly and invited them to come over for dinner.

Only Dragon Team and Shi Ge could sit at the table. Even Old Zhao, who helped drive the donkey cart, had to squat in the yard and eat alone with the captain's family.

Zhang Long curiously tiptoed to the door, stretched his neck to take a look, and came back to whisper: "I can't see clearly, they should be eating corn paste, and there is a black lump in the bowl. I don't know what it is."

Chang Wei knew without guessing that sweet potato eggs or potatoes, called by different names, are actually potatoes.

On the dining table in the house, each of them had a bowl of corn porridge, steamed corn bread, and a plate of steamed sausages.

Fan Tuaner stared at the swaying kerosene lamp for a while, then stood up, took the sausage in his hand, walked out, and without caring about anything, put most of it into the bowls of the three little kids.

"No, no." The old captain was unable to stop her, so the old woman stood up and spoke hurriedly.

"For the child." Fan Tuaner's voice was still cold.

The village is so poor now, and it must have been even worse sixteen years ago. At that time, Zheng Sancai still dared to adopt his younger brother.

No matter what the final situation is, she has to accept this love.

The little kids were frightened and held their bowls in their hands for a long time. When Fan Tuaner entered the house, they ran to the old captain and

"Master, meat."

The old captain sighed, rubbed the heads of the little kids, and said lovingly, "Eat, eat slowly."

"Ah."

"Master, you eat too."

“The meat is delicious.”

After a simple dinner, Chang Wei discussed with everyone whether to rush back to the county town overnight.

The old captain went in and lingered for a long time before coming out and walking to Chang Wei. "Officer, I don't know where Sanwa went, so I really can't help you."

"Captain, it's okay. It's been more than ten years. Let's think of other ways."

"Hey, here's a photo. It was taken by a cadre when Sanwa went to deliver food to the army. He never came back, so I brought it back when I went to clean up the house. I wanted to keep it as a souvenir. You guys can take it."

......

Today's update is late, and there are only two updates for now. I'll write another chapter after dinner.

Well, I started writing online articles on Fanqie because my parents are getting older and I always recall things from their childhood. I’ve heard a lot about them, so I wanted to write some period articles.

The original outline was well thought out, and it started writing in 58. Those who know history know that this was actually a very, very critical year. It was a big turn here, not just the next three or ten years.

Turns out I was overthinking it.

I'm still revising the previous draft today, and it's become a piecemeal mess.

Sometimes I get so angry that I want to finish it hastily and write a fantasy story about cultivating immortals, with no taboos and I can make up whatever I want.

Finally, I can't bear to give up your support and my original intention.

I don't dare to stop updating for now, I will continue to update three times a day, so don't rush me and don't be angry.