Rebooting 60, let's go on a rampage with the orange cat!

With the careful care of her adoptive mother, Shi Huai'an gradually recovered her health, and her adoptive father often took her running to exercise.

Huai'an was originally quite lively, and after recovering from his illness, he became mischievous again, always wanting to run around and play with the older children in the alley.

One day when she was six years old, Wang Xiuzhi prepared dinner and was about to call Huai'an home for a meal, but she couldn't find him anywhere in the alley. So, she began to search anxiously everywhere and eventually came to the riverbank.

When she arrived at the riverbank, the scene before her almost scared her to death: Little Huai'an was sitting in a large wooden tub, laughing loudly, and the tub was floating on the water! Even more astonishingly, a big boy was holding onto the tub while paddling in the river, his head occasionally popping out of the water, carrying Huai'an along with him.

Wang Xiuzhi was terrified and shouted at Huai'an from the shore, "Come back quickly..." However, little Huai'an ignored her cries and laughed even more happily.

Despite Shi Renmei's repeated warnings and attempts to stop her after they returned, Huai'an continued to do as she pleased, even sneaking off to play on the riverbank several times. Each time Shi Renmei caught Huai'an, she was always soaking wet as she climbed ashore from the river.

Faced with Huai'an's stubborn personality, Shi Renmei couldn't bear to hit him, so she could only scold him a few times before finally giving up trying to stop him. She secretly asked the older children to help look after him, and as a result, little Huai'an actually learned to swim.

By 1958, Huai'an was 7 years old.

In the fight against the four pests in the neighborhood, the elderly members of the neighborhood committee took the lead in swatting flies, mosquitoes, and catching rats. They not only led the way in every cleaning session, but also shouted at night, "Be careful with fire, pay attention to fire prevention." They also went to each household to check whether the rat traps were properly placed.

The children in the alley also organized themselves, not wanting to be left behind. But Shi Huai'an was most afraid of mice. When he saw the mousetrap in his house catch a mouse that was squeaking in pain, he was so scared that he shouted, "Dad, Mom, come quick..." and then hid far away.

Some mischievous and daring boys even tied the limbs of the rats they caught together and burned them, a method that was extremely cruel.

Shi Huai'an didn't dare to watch, so he could only wave a fly swatter to kill mosquitoes and flies, and sometimes he would follow a group of older children to pretend to be one of them and get candy.

If children hand in a certain number of rat tails, flies, and mosquitoes to the neighborhood committee, they can be rated as "advanced individuals" and receive a lollipop as a reward. This is even more tempting for the children, and they are eager to do their best.

Due to severe food shortages at the time, many places were experiencing widespread famine. Under such circumstances, food was naturally conserved wherever possible. Sparrows, which loved to steal grain, became a pest.

The school also gave students a special "sparrow hunting holiday" to facilitate their participation in the sport.

Sparrows have almost no chance of survival in such an organized and disciplined large-scale attack.

Under the command of the general manager, J City also deployed troops armed with red flags, noisemakers, and other tools to ambush sparrows in areas such as rooftops and under trees.

Wang Xiuzhi also received a task from the neighborhood committee. She and Huai'an prepared a basin and a wooden stick and hid near a sycamore tree at the entrance of the alley.

At the commander-in-chief's order, the hidden soldiers came out in full force, gongs and drums sounded, and the crowd roared.

Upon hearing the sound of gongs from elsewhere, Xiuzhi immediately started banging her basin with a wooden stick, making a loud "bang bang bang..." sound. Huai'an was the first to cover his ears with his hands and excitedly looked up at the sky.

The sparrows had never seen anything like it before. They were so frightened that they fluttered their little wings and scattered in all directions.

Faced with such a tight net, the poor sparrows were exhausted after taking flight. When they wanted to stop and rest, they found that there was nowhere for them to land. The crowd below did not give them any chance to catch their breath. On average, there was a sentry post every 10 meters to drive away the sparrows.

They can only fly until they run out of strength and then fall from the sky...

Some sparrows died instantly from the fall, while others, even if lucky enough not to die, were stunned and then picked up and killed by people...

A sparrow, exhausted and unconscious, fell at Huai'an's feet.

Looking at the fragile life, Huai'an felt a sudden pity. How pitiful and innocent this little sparrow was! While her mother was picking up other sparrows on the ground, she quickly put the unconscious little sparrow into her pocket.

She felt a little flustered, her heart pounding. She quickly looked around and, seeing that no one was paying attention to her, pretended to be calm and called out to Xiuzhi, "Mom, my stomach hurts, I need to poop."

Xiuzhi nodded and said, "Go quickly, don't hold it in, I'll take care of things here!"

Huai'an ran home in a flash, carefully closed the door, and climbed the wooden ladder to the dimly lit attic.

The attic had only a square opening, next to a long wooden ladder. Inside was a wooden partition room, about ten square meters in size, with a height of just over one and a half meters.

Adults had to bend over to enter, but Huai'an, who was only a little over a meter tall, could stretch out freely in the attic.

A small skylight with a crack in it was the only source of light. Inside, against the walls, were piles of bundled old papers, books, jars, and other waste materials. Shi Renmei had collected and sorted these things, and once she had accumulated a certain amount, she would sell them to supplement the family income. On the other side were household miscellaneous items and some large wooden boxes containing seasonal goods.

Huai'an sat on the floor and quickly placed the little sparrow on a flat burlap sack, afraid that it would suffocate.

The little sparrow was very beautiful, with elegant white stripes covering its grayish-brown feathers and white feathers adorning its chest, making it look very fresh and cute.

It has a small, pointed mouth and a round, fluffy head, but its eyes are tightly closed, as it has gone into shock due to excessive fright and exhaustion.

Huai'an gently touched it and felt sorry for the little sparrow!

She didn't understand adult matters, only that this was something everyone was trying to do and that couldn't be disobeyed, but she didn't want the little sparrow to die; she couldn't save too many sparrows, but she desperately wanted to save the little sparrow in front of her.

And we mustn't let our mother get into trouble; we have to hide the little sparrow so that no one else can find it.

She thought for a moment, then rummaged through the pile of scraps and found an empty cardboard box. She poked a few holes in the box with scissors, folded up a piece of floral cloth and placed it inside the box, then gently put the sparrow inside.

She suddenly remembered something, hurriedly went downstairs, found a small bowl, filled it with half a bowl of cold porridge, and decided to give it a try since she didn't know if the little sparrow would eat it when it woke up.

She put the bowl into the box, and then put the box in the back corner of the wooden box against the wall, so that no one would find it, right?

This was her secret; she hadn't told anyone.

She used to participate enthusiastically in bird-catching operations, but seeing so many sparrows suffer undeservedly shocked her young heart.

She simply felt that compared to the dirty, repulsive rat, she would rather give the adorable sparrow a chance to live. Whether it was fair or not, everyone is biased, right?

The next afternoon, when Huai'an was out, she hurriedly climbed up to the attic to check on the baby sparrow. The little sparrow was already awake, staring at her with its round, agate-like eyes. As soon as the lid was opened, the little sparrow chirped and frantically flapped its tiny wings, flying around the attic. In the little sparrow's eyes, humans must have been just as repulsive and terrifying.

This greatly worried Huai'an. "Little sparrow, little sparrow, going out at this time is suicide!" But the little sparrow was too agile; Huai'an couldn't even touch a single feather.

Huai'an tried to grab it while reasoning with it: "Don't be afraid, I'm here to save you. If you fly away, you're doomed."

The little sparrow tilted its head, stood on the roof beam, and stared blankly at Huai'an, as if seriously considering whether the little girl's words were true or false.

Just as Huai'an was getting anxious, the door creaked open and her parents came home.

Wang Xiuzhi looked into the house and asked curiously, "An'an, why are you closing the door in broad daylight? What are you doing?"

Before nightfall, residents in the alleyways rarely close their doors. This makes it easier to visit each other and chat, and also saves on kerosene by taking advantage of the daylight. In the sweltering summer, it's common to see every household leaving their doors wide open at night, with people even sleeping on bamboo beds outside.

Upon hearing his mother's voice, Huai'an anxiously knelt on the floorboards and peeked out from the hole in the attic. His face flushed, he whispered urgently, "Quickly close the door, quickly close the door, please, or we'll fly out."

Xiuzhi didn't react for a moment, but Shi Huai'an saw a little sparrow fly out of the attic. He broke out in a cold sweat and slammed the door shut without hesitation.

Xiuzhi then noticed the sparrow. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she lowered her voice to shout to Huai'an, "What's going on? If the neighborhood committee finds out, it'll be terrible!"

At this moment, the sparrow got tired of flying and, seeing nowhere to escape, perched on the Eight Immortals table, tilting its head and staring blankly at everyone.

Without thinking twice, Shi Renmei quickly took off her coat, spread her arms wide, and pounced on the table, instantly trapping the sparrow under her coat. The little sparrow stayed still and obediently under her coat.

Huai'an rushed down the stairs, almost crying, "Daddy, Mommy, don't hurt it..."

The two adults were silent for a few seconds. Xiuzhi patted her head and comforted her, "I know you are a kind and good child, but if you keep these sparrows, they will probably be discovered soon."

Huai'an nodded, gave a soft "Mmm," and then pleaded, "Let it stay for two more days, and once the sparrow is better, please let it go, okay?"

Shi Renmei gently held the sparrow in her arms and comforted it tenderly, "Don't underestimate sparrows because they are small. They are very resilient. I think it was just frightened and will recover in a couple of days. It would be bad if someone found out and accused it of 'sabotaging the Four Modernizations'."

Huai'an often saw people being paraded through the streets with placards hanging on their heads, including Uncle Li Hanchen, although his mother secretly said he was a good person.

She didn't understand, but she wasn't stupid. She didn't want to cause trouble for her family; children of that era matured too early.

Although Huai'an was a little reluctant to part with the little sparrow, he made up his mind, nodded solemnly, and said, "Then let it go tomorrow, and let it stay at home for one more night, okay?"

Xiuzhi replied kindly, "Tomorrow night, but don't act on your own. It would be troublesome if someone saw you."

Just as Huai'an nodded in agreement, there was a knock on the door from Sister Chen from the neighborhood committee: "Why is the door closed? Did you get the rat poison?"

Xiuzhi hurriedly winked at Shi Renmei, pointed to the inner room, and loudly replied, "Yes, I've received it!" before opening the door.

Shi Renmei quickly grabbed the sparrow from her clothes and hid in the room.

Sister Chen peeked out and saw Huai'an pretending to sweep the floor with a broom. She praised him, "An'an is so diligent!"

Xiuzhi said politely, "She's a good girl, please come in and sit down."

After finishing her sentence, Sister Chen looked around and asked, "No, no, I have things to do. Where's Lao Shi? I want to ask him something."

Xiuzhi was a little embarrassed and was about to explain when Shi Renmei came out of the inner room and closed the door behind her. She smiled and said, "I was just about to lie down and rest for a while. What's up, Comrade Chen? Come in and sit down."

Sister Chen looked around to make sure no one was outside, then whispered, "My daughter-in-law is in her postpartum period and we'd like to buy some more brown sugar, but we don't have enough sugar coupons. Is there any way to get some?"

Xiuzhi quickly led Huai'an into the inner room, where Shi Renmei whispered, "Recently, a manufacturer produced brown sugar that was deemed substandard due to improper storage. The company was planning to use it as employee benefits during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Each household could buy one jin (500g) without sugar coupons. Internal employees could buy two jin. You can keep mine, but please don't tell anyone."

Sister Chen nodded gratefully, "Yes, of course! That makes three jin (1.5 kg) with what I have at home, which is enough. Thank you so much!"

Shi Renmei said, "It's alright. Revolutionary comrades should help each other when they are in trouble. Go early tomorrow morning."

Sister Chen smiled broadly and said, "Okay, okay, I won't forget."

Shi Renmei said politely, "Come in, have a seat, and have some water?"

Sister Chen waved her hand, picked up the black bag in her hand, and said, "No, I need to finish distributing these quickly so I can go home and cook. I'm busy as a camel every day." She sighed, picked up her bag, and turned to leave.

Shi Renmei let out a long sigh, closed the door, and winked at Huai'an who came out of the inner room.

Xiuzhi rolled her eyes and said, "Hurry up and put the sparrow in the box in the attic. It even pooped in the mosquito net."

Huai'an squatted down with a laugh, and Shi Renmei also laughed and scolded, "This little guy is too arrogant."

Xiuzhi went to cook, while the father and daughter busied themselves catching sparrows, laughing non-stop.

Nothing happened that night. By the late hours of the next day, the entire alley was asleep, with only the stars twinkling in the sky.

The Huai'an family of three were all in the attic, gazing at the open skylight. The little sparrow had long since disappeared into the night sky. Huai'an murmured to himself, "Little sparrow, fly quickly, fly high and far away. Don't stay in the city, go find your father and mother..."

Xiuzhi and Shi Renmei smiled at each other; the world of children is still so simple and beautiful.

……