Traveling through an ancient military camp: Bao'er's survival song

"Mother, Mother, Second Brother has written again!" Li Baobao's mother, who was processing a large pig's head in the house, quickly shook the water off her hands, then wiped them off again before going out to greet Sanya.

Sanya is six years old now and has learned a few characters from her father, who works as an accountant. Today, while she was playing outside, she happened to run into a messenger who came to the village. The messenger recognized the girl and left the letter with her.

Sanya knew it was a letter from her second brother, and she couldn't care less about playing anymore. She held the letter and ran home.

Li Baobao's father will be back from town tonight. Li Baobao's mother specially bought a big pig's head, intending to make a stewed pig's head with rock sugar to nourish her husband. Right now, she has just put the whole pig's head into a pot of boiling water, intending to scald the pig's skin to make it easier to pluck the hair.

At this moment, Li Baobao's mother received the letter in the yard. Looking at her second son's still somewhat immature calligraphy on the envelope, she was very happy. She then handed the letter back to Sanya and walked into the house, saying, "Sanya, read the letter to your mother. I still have to deal with the pig's head."

Making braised pig's head is a time-consuming task; if we don't hurry, the kids will go hungry when their father comes home.

Li Baobao's mother used two long chopsticks to pierce the pig's head, then easily lifted it out of the pot and placed it in a large basin prepared on the stove. She then used tweezers to pluck out the remaining pig hairs one by one.

Sanya opened the letter, holding the paper, and struggled to decipher the words: "Dear Parents... um... what... I'm fine... um... what ...

Li Baobao's mother's hand trembled, and the entire pig's head, along with the large basin, overturned to the ground. The scalded pig's head rolled into the ashes in a few moments, and Li Baobao's mother fell to the ground, pale with shock, and exclaimed, "What? Something happened to your older brother?!"

"Oh, the letter says the police have been dispatched."

Li Baobao's mother scrambled to her feet, grabbed Sanya, and started to walk outside: "Let's go welcome your father. Da Bei has gone awry, what are we going to do? I was wondering why he disappeared without a trace after he left... Waaah..."

Sanya hurriedly cried out, "Mother! Mother! Pighead! Pighead!"

Li Baobao's mother no longer cared about the pig's head and shouted in a shrill voice, "Forget it! What do you care about the pig's head!"

The mother and daughter rushed out, and just as they stepped out of the courtyard gate, they bumped into Li, the village schoolteacher. Seeing that Balu's wife was pulling Sanya along with a panicked expression, Li asked, "Sister-in-law, what happened?"

Li Baobao's mother had no time to talk about these things. She said, "Something happened to the eldest brother," and pulled Sanya to leave. Sanya quickly added, "My second brother wrote to say that something went wrong with my eldest brother."

Li Xiucai noticed the letter still in Sanya's hand. While stopping Balu's wife from panicking, he reached out to Sanya for the letter. After taking the letter, Li Xiucai glanced at its contents but didn't find any mention of the eldest son's accident. He then read it carefully from the beginning, and suddenly realized something. He then asked Balu's wife, "Did Sanya read you the letter?"

By this time, Li Baobao's mother, having been stopped like this, had gone from initial panic and fear to utter heartbreak. She nodded, sobbing, only to see Li the scholar smile. Before she could get angry, Li the scholar tapped Sanya's little head, then bent down, pointed to a character on the letter, and asked, "What's this character pronounced?"

Sanya stared with her big eyes and said confidently, "It's terrible, terribly terrible! Big brother is away on a business trip!"

Li Xiucai tapped Sanya's little head again: "Remember, this character is pronounced 'chai,' and 'chuchai' means to go to another place on official business!"