My grandpa and grandma were both born in the 1920s of the last century. They were both children of poor farmers. They didn’t have a single acre of land. For generations, they had relied on doing odd jobs for landlords to make a living. It was probably around 1938 that my grandpa

When I was young, I heard my grandmother talk about the marriages of their time. In fact, it was more about surviving and making ends meet. It was common for them to be the concubines of landlords and rich people, and to fill houses for other people's property. Of course, there were some women who were willing to be poor rather than be other people's concubines.

My grandpa and grandma were both born in the 1920s of the last century. They were both poor farm children, with not even an acre of land. For several generations, they had relied on doing odd jobs for landlords to make a living. It was probably around 1938 that my grandpa found someone to work outside. When proposing marriage at the mother-in-law's family, weddings in poor families are always simple and crude. Grandma recalled that when my grandfather asked for marriage for the second time, he rode into their house on a donkey with a big red flower tied on its forehead. There was a teenage boy in front of him, who was my grandfather's cousin.

Later, grandma rode a donkey and followed grandpa to their home. A simple wedding ceremony was completed. Grandma said: Grandpa’s cousin was only 16 years old at the time. Later, grandpa asked grandpa to find him a good girl. But on the day when grandma and grandpa got married, the young man unexpectedly fell in love with grandma’s cousin. This was originally a good thing that had the best of both worlds. However, in that turbulent era, the fate of the poor could only be left to the mercy of others.

In the spring of the next year, my grandpa’s cousin was preparing to marry my grandma’s cousin. One day, my grandpa and his cousin went to the city to buy wedding supplies, but they never came back. Later, grandma and her family went to the city to look for them, but There was still no news until one night a year later, when grandma was finishing cooking in front of the stove, suddenly a ragged man broke into the house on crutches. Grandma held up a kerosene lamp and walked up to it. It took her a long time to look carefully and realize that this man was grandpa.

Later, my grandfather recalled: a year ago, he and his cousin went to the city to buy wedding supplies. They met several soldiers on the street. They were dragged and put into a car by the gang. After half a month of bumps, they were taken to a remote mountain to repair an airport. Grandpa said that every day he saw the dark planes flying overhead and then landing at the newly repaired airport, with Japanese plaster flags painted on them.

My grandfather and cousin didn’t know where they were taken. At that time, they were blindfolded by the soldiers and sat on a large truck, which was bumpy along the way. When they got off the car, the soldiers pulled off the black cloth for them. The two stared blankly, but what they saw was the dense old forest in the mountains, surrounded by desolate people. There was a large open space in the middle of the forest. Many migrant workers were working in the open space, and many soldiers were walking back and forth with machine guns. Grandpa said that he and his cousin thought about escaping all the time. They did high-intensity manual labor every day and did not have enough to eat. If they were not careful, they would be hit by soldiers with rifle butts. Such a life was worse than death.

However, one day when they were out of work, they saw two migrant workers hanging from a scaffolding in the open space. When they came up to them, my grandfather lowered his head and squinted his eyes and saw that the two faces were bloody and bloody. They looked like they had lost their breath a long time ago. Later, an officer called them together and told them that the two people had escaped the night before and were caught. One of them fell into a nearby trap and died on the spot. The officer warned those who wanted to escape not to risk their lives for fun.

Grandpa said that a cold sweat broke out down his spine at that time. However, one night a few months later, shortly after they lay down, they heard a siren sounding outside, searchlights shaking back and forth, and there was chaos in the square. , many soldiers who were responsible for guarding them also ran over, and everyone in the house began to commotion. Soon, a few bold migrant workers opened the door and took the lead and ran out. The people behind them also ran to the square in a swarm, and everyone ran straight towards the gate.

Grandpa held his cousin's hand and ran out with everyone else. The leader tore open the barbed wire fence and rushed out. Everyone took advantage of the moonlight and rushed into the dark primitive forest. They disappeared without a trace in a short time. Not long after they ran out, they heard the sound of machine gun fire from behind. Everyone couldn't care too much and could only run forward as hard as they could.

The group of people who had just escaped were submerged by the virgin forest in a short time. Grandpa and his cousin also ran away in panic. Grandpa told grandma that some people might have been captured and some fell into hunters' traps and died. Grandpa was a hunter when he was young, although he didn't know where he was. But with amazing perseverance and vague memories, I finally found him after a month of walking. Grandpa said that along the way, he ate turf and tree roots when he was hungry, and drank mountain spring water when he was thirsty. Later, grandpa said sadly that his cousin was probably captured by soldiers and eventually executed, or he fell into a trap set by a hunter. Anyway, he would definitely be gone. After my grandma's cousin heard the bad news, she cried faintly at home. However, life had to go on. Looking at her cousin's increasingly heavy body, grandma could only persuade her to marry a good family again.

Decades passed in the blink of an eye. In 2010, my grandma and grandpa had long since passed away. One afternoon, someone called my mother and told her that my grandma’s cousin was dying. Later, my mother went to visit her old man on behalf of the whole family. However, when my mother just walked in, she saw all her children kneeling in front of the old man’s bed, wearing sackcloth and mourning, crying and wiping away their tears. The old man was lying peacefully on the bed. The mother came back and said that just when everyone was immersed in grief, a white-haired old man suddenly appeared at the door, with a man in his sixties supporting him. The old man limped to the bed of the deceased. He suddenly became emotional while lying beside the bed. Tears flowed down the old face, as if a storm had suddenly hit the dead land that had been dry for many years.

My mother said that the old man was my grandpa’s cousin, and the man supporting the old man was the child of him and my grandma’s cousin. My grandpa’s cousin ran out of the airport with my grandpa in the chaos, but they got separated halfway. Later, the cousin was chased by soldiers from behind. He was hit in the thigh and fell off the cliff. When he woke up, he found that his body was covered with various herbs, and his whole body was in heartbreaking pain. When he opened his eyes, he saw a teenage girl feeding him next to him, and an old man smoking a dry cigarette at the door.

My cousin later found out that he was hit in the thigh by a soldier and fell off the cliff. Fortunately, he was caught by a vine on the edge of the cliff and saved his life. After dawn, an old hunter passed by the cliff and rescued him. The old hunter's name was Li Zhonghou. He and his granddaughter lived in the mountains all year round. The old hunter said that his son and daughter-in-law were also captured by those soldiers as coolies, and finally died in the mountains.

Grandpa’s cousin gradually recovered under the care of the old man. However, because the bullet in his leg was not removed in time, he was left with a disability and always walked with a limp. Grandpa’s cousin was in the mountains. It took him a year and a half to fully recover. After he recovered, he said goodbye to the old man and his granddaughter, and took a large bag of wild goods prepared by the old man to go home to visit his fiancée. However, when he got home, he heard that his fiancée had married out of town with their newborn child. Later, he found his fiancée according to the address provided by his grandfather. From a distance, he saw a child playing in the mud in the yard. The fiancée next to him was holding her waist and drying clothes in the yard. Just as he was about to step forward, he saw a man leading a cow into the yard. The man saw the woman drying clothes and quickly stepped forward to stop her. Seeing this scene, his cousin took back the steps he had just taken.

Later, my grandfather’s cousin wandered all the way, wandering aimlessly, and finally he returned to the mountains. A few years later, shortly before the old hunter passed away, he married the old hunter’s granddaughter. The two lived in seclusion in the mountains for many years, and they did not move out of the mountains until liberation. Now they are full of children and grandchildren.