Traveling through 1942 with space

When the adults returned home, they saw such a tragic scene and cried heartbrokenly.

Especially my uncle, he rolled on the ground and cried, his wailing echoing throughout most of the village.

Under normal circumstances, the neighbors would have come out to watch the fun, but today no one in Nangou Village went out because the situation was the same in most of the village.

In the evening, everyone who had recovered was called by the elders to hold a meeting under the big locust tree at the entrance of the village.

According to the final statistics, more than 38 of the 42 elderly people over 60 years old who remained in the village starved to death. Now there are only four elderly people left, and they are all skin and bones from hunger.

Such bloody numbers have almost wiped out the older generation in Nanjiagou.

In the next few days, the men in the village dismantled door panels to make coffins and bury the deceased old man.

"Dad, Mom, I am an unfilial son. I have failed to respect you two well and caused you to suffer so much." Hou Yangmin brought his entire family, young and old, to the ancestral grave in the back mountain to kowtow and bury the elders.

Hou Xiaoge also knelt behind several adults. Looking up at this time, he saw that the back mountain of Nanjiagou was full of new graves and villagers paying homage. It looked very desolate and miserable.

"Dad, Mom, please rest in peace! Your son will definitely lead the rest of the family to live well.

If the children and grandchildren have the chance in the future, they will definitely come back to burn incense and worship the two elders and ancestors." At the end of the worship, Hou Yangmin led all the family members to kowtow three times in front of the newly built tomb mound as a farewell.

After kowtowed to their grandparents, the family, led by their eldest uncle, kowtowed to some elders of the same clan. They waited until dark before returning to the village.

"Brother, sister, when will father and mother come back?"

At night, Hou Xiaoge, her elder sister and her younger brother slept in the house where their parents originally lived. The younger brother looked at the cabinet at the head of the kang and recalled the years when the family lived together. He missed his parents a little.

"Little boy, our father has gone to fight the Japs. He will be back after he defeats them.

I will ask my uncle to ask someone about our mother in the next few days. My brother still has some money, and he will redeem our mother when the time comes." Hou Xiaoge comforted.

"Shuanniu, your brother is the head of the family, we will listen to him." Hou Xiazhu felt a lot more at ease after hearing his brother's plan.

"Sister, my name is Hou Xiaotong now. Don't call me Shuanniu. It doesn't sound nice." The little guy climbed up from the kang and groaned.

"Okay, okay, big sister will call you Xiaotong from now on. Lie down quickly, and be careful not to catch a cold. I have to say, the name Xiaotong is really nice." Hou Xiazhu quickly pulled the little guy back into the bed. It was already very cold in mid-September, and it was easy to catch a cold at night.

"Oh!"

"Brother, when will our father finish defeating the Japanese devils? What do you think these Japanese devils are doing here? Why are they so evil?

When I grow up, I will also fight the Japanese devils." The little guy squeezed in front of Hou Xiaoge, asking a hundred thousand questions like a curious baby.

"Wait until you grow up? The Japanese devils have been driven away long ago. But when you grow up, I can marry you a Japanese wife. Then you can fight the Japanese every day and make us Chinese proud." Hou Xiaoge joked with a smile.

"Well, I will marry a Japanese wife and beat her every day to make us Chinese proud." The little guy smiled and said happily.

In this way, after working in their hometown for half a month, the villagers could no longer stay there.

There was really nothing to eat in the village, and all the wild vegetables in the surrounding ravines had been dug up. If we didn't leave now, we would starve to death once our stored food was gone.

On that morning, several village elders went door to door to notify everyone to leave Nangou Village and continue their escape the next day. They asked everyone to pack their luggage and set out at dawn the next day.

Hou Xiaoge was very happy when he found out. He had wanted to leave for a long time. It was already autumn and winter would come in two months. If he delayed any longer, even if he arrived in Qin Province, it would be difficult to settle down and live there in winter.

To celebrate his departure, Hou Xiaoge prepared an extra meal for his family tonight.

In the afternoon, Hou Xiaoge refused his second brother's request to go with him to look for wild vegetables, and went out alone.

After being busy in the planting space for several hours, seeing that the time was almost up, he took out five mice from the space warehouse and returned home.

When he returned home and saw his elder and second brothers looking dejected, Hou Xiaoge knew that they probably had gained nothing in the afternoon.

"Brother, what's wrong with you? You hang your heads as if you were hit by frost." Hou Xiaoge said with a smile on his face.

"I've searched all the nearby ravines, but I only found less than three pounds of wild vegetables today. Most of them are inedible and poisonous." Er Huan said with a dejected look on his face.

"Heiwa, did you get anything this afternoon? Otherwise, you can only drink some wild vegetable soup tonight." The eldest cousin asked hopefully.

"I won't tell you, for fear of upsetting you. Look for yourself." Hou Xiaoge took off the backpack and placed it in front of the two men.

When the two heard Hou Xiaoge's tone, they knew there must be something good, so they quickly untied the burlap bag covering the backpack.

"Fuck!"

"So many rats, and a lot of wild vegetables."

The two were surprised when they saw half a basket of wild vegetables and five mice weighing more than one pound on top of it.

"Second brother, hurry up and lock the door." Hou Huanying grabbed the backpack, swallowed his saliva and quickly told his younger brother to close the door.

"Oh!"

Erhuan was stunned at first, then quickly ran to bolt the door.

A few days ago, because I had to make a coffin for an elderly person in my family, I worked very hard and ate a lot, so a lot of food was consumed at home.

In the past two days, my second aunt and my younger sister-in-law have started to save money, eating only one 200-ounce pancake and a bowl of wild vegetable soup a day. Especially my eldest cousin, who is at the age of growing up, he is so hungry that he doesn't even have the energy to walk.

Now when I see a mouse, I want to eat it raw!

By the time Erhuan had bolted the door, his eldest cousin had already run into the kitchen carrying a backpack.

At this time, my uncle and several others were pounding bark powder, and my second aunt and younger sister-in-law were cooking. When they saw Hou Huanying running in excitedly with a backpack, they stopped in surprise.

"Boss, why are you in such a hurry? Wolves are chasing us." Hou Yangmin asked his eldest son when he saw his anxious look.

"Hehe! I'm just very hungry. Look at what Second Aunt and Young Aunt are doing." Hou Huanying said with a smile.

"You are a starving ghost! We have to set out tomorrow. Your second aunt and younger sister-in-law are preparing dry food. Please wait a while before eating." Hou Yangmin scolded his son in a bad mood.

"Dad, can we have an extra meal tonight? Heiwa brought back some goodies." Hou Huanying handed the backpack to his father in a servile manner.

"Heiwa is very lucky. He knew we would set out tomorrow, so he caught the mouse tonight.

OK, we'll have an extra meal tonight, and I'll ask your second aunt and the others to cook all the rats." Hou Yangmin was also very happy when he saw the five big rats.

In the evening, the family had a sumptuous meal after a long absence, including rat meat soup and a two-liang multi-grain cake for each person.

"Heiwa, you are the hero today. I'll give you a few more pieces of meat." The aunt praised.

"Hehe! Thank you, aunt." Hou Xiaoge said with a naive smile.

"You kid, you're so cultured, pretending to be cultured in front of your aunt. Why are you being so polite? Take the bowl and get out of here." Hou Cuihua scolded with a smile and made a gesture for asking for a beating.

This litter of mice was raised by Hou Xiaoge, and they were actually no different from ordinary rabbits. If they were roasted mice, it would be fine, but Hou Xiaoge couldn't get over the white mouse meat soup.

Back in the room, Hou Xiaoge kept the pancakes and shared the broth with his younger brother and older sister.

"Heiwa, what are you doing? Eat your meal quickly, ours is enough." Hou Xiazhu said angrily.

"Sister, I secretly roasted a mouse outside today and ate it. You and me can share the broth. I'll just have a pancake." Hou Xiaoge said as he touched his brother's head while he was eating voraciously.

"That won't work either. You are the pillar of our family now. You should eat more." Hou Xiazhu looked at his younger brother with a greedy face and pushed the bowl in front of Hou Xiaoge with a stern face.

"Sister, don't refuse, just eat if I tell you to.

Didn't you notice that the rats I brought back today were all the same size? I'm telling you, I ate the big rat that led the pack.

That thing weighs more than two kilograms, not counting the tail, and is as big as my little arm. I ate so much, but my stomach is still full now. If you don’t believe me, just look.” After doing the whole set, Hou Xiaoge took off the top to show the elder sister.

Hou Xiaoge has been eating and drinking well in the space recently. Although his body has not recovered to its strong state, he is no longer thin. When he takes off his shirt, his ribs are no longer visible.

Seeing that his younger brother was indeed not pretending, Hou Xiazhu picked up the bowl and divided the broth between himself and his younger brother, but gave most of the meat to his younger brother.

When the little guy saw the elder sister pouring broth for him, he didn't refuse, but still looked up and said thank you to Hou Xiaoge and Hou Xiazhu, then he continued to eat.

These were all taught by Hou Xiaoge. Although he has no excuse to teach his younger brother to read now, Hou Xiaoge has always been teaching his younger brother the most basic etiquette and manners.

…………

"Heiwa, I went to the village these days and asked someone to inquire about your mother, but there is no news yet.

We will set off tomorrow, and I will ask the villagers to stay in the township for two days. If there is still no news by then, we will have to leave." After dinner, Hou Xiaoge was called over by his uncle to explain the news about his mother.