"Ooh, ooh, ooh."
"Ooh, ooh, ooh..."
A few somewhat harsh crowing sounds broke the peace and tranquility of the village.
Li Lin frowned slightly in displeasure, opened his eyes, and wore an entirely reluctant expression.
After hesitating for a moment, however, he lifted that warm, tattered quilt, covered his gaping mouth, yawned, and slowly got to his feet.
He swept a glance across the room. Aside from this broken wooden bed, there was only a single wooden cabinet. The room looked rather empty. Truly four bare walls.
He turned around to find his shoes, and the wooden bed beneath him let out a creaking, groaning protest, as if it might fall apart at any moment.
That worn-out quilt had been washed until it was pale white. In some places, small patches had been sewn on; in others, small holes had yet to be mended, revealing the dark, mysterious stuffing inside—who knew what had been crammed in there?
The bed was lined with dry straw for sleeping. While hardly warm, it would do—far better than sleeping on the ground.
He slipped into his old padded cotton jacket, which was covered in countless patches, licked his somewhat dry and cracked lips, hastily put on his straw sandals, and stood up.
Taking advantage of the faint light outside the window, stepping over the uneven, even pitted muddy ground, he walked unsteadily toward the door.
*Screech.*
The moment the dilapidated wooden door was pushed open, it let out a teeth-setting groan like some wild beast.
Li Lin stepped outside, and a blast of cold wind immediately struck him. He couldn't help shrinking his neck and tightening his tattered cotton jacket. He muttered to himself, "This damn weather is freezing! How wonderful it would be if I could just stay lying in bed!"
He looked up at the starry sky outside, where the horizon was already turning a pale fish-belly white, and turned back to pull the door shut.
"Sigh."
With a sigh, he let out a long breath of stale air and walked over to the adjoining kitchen.
He took two steps in one and hurried to push the door open, as if someone were chasing him from behind.
*Screech.*
*Bang!*
A loud crash rang out.
Before Li Lin had even crossed the threshold, a scolding voice came from inside: "You little brat! Every time you open the door you use so much force. Did you eat too much today? I swear this broken door's going to be wrecked by you sooner or later. Can't you open it gently? How many times do I have to tell you? You just never remember! Does this door owe you a debt or something?"
Old Man Li ranted and scolded away. Li Lin was used to taking reprimands, so he remained unruffled by insults; he was thoroughly accustomed to it.
He looked up and, by the faint, flickering light of the fire, saw his old man squatting behind the earthen stove, tending the flame.
In one hand, Old Man Li held a long-stemmed tobacco pipe, and in the other, a wooden firewood stick. Next to him rested a crutch. He was glaring fiercely with wide eyes, as if he might leap up at any second to beat the boy.
Li Lin couldn't help saying, "Dad, I'll definitely open it gently next time. I just got up, so I was still a bit half-asleep, heh heh. Don't scold me anymore."
He put on a thoroughly goofy expression.
Old Man Li let out a hum and urged, "There's hot water in the pot. Hurry up and scoop some out to wash your face. Dawdling around like that, what kind of look is that?"
"Oh."
Li Lin acknowledged the order, picked up a wooden basin from the side, set it on the earthen stove, and scooped up the hot water from the pot.
At the same time, he asked Old Man Li, "Dad, where's Mom? Where did she go?"
Old Man Li replied slowly, "Your mother got up early to dig up some food in the fields for you lot."
"Oh."
Li Lin responded, picked up the wooden basin, and began washing his face in the corner of the room.
Old Man Li continued, "Once you've washed your face, go check on Tong'er. See if she's up and tell her to get moving. Stop letting her sleep; breakfast will be ready soon. You two siblings, honestly—how old are you now? You need to learn to help share the burden around the house."
Li Lin finished washing his face and immediately replied, "I'm going, right away."
Li Lin was already eleven years old this year, and in a few days would be his twelfth birthday. His younger sister was named Li Tong, and she had just turned ten.
She had a chubby little face, though her frame was quite thin. She wore two small, upright tufted pigtails that were immensely endearing.
The old man's full name was Li Lianzhong. Both his parents had died of starvation when he was a child.
According to what the old man had told them, when he was young—only sixteen—he was conscripted as a regular soldier and served for a full ten years.
Because he was honest, simple, and lacked connections or background, after ten years he had only managed to become a squad leader. He had been on the battlefield many times and killed numerous enemies, walking out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
Later, during a battle, his legs were wounded by two arrow shafts. He bled profusely at the time, and after being wounded, he received no timely medical treatment, even continuing to participate in combat while injured.
It wasn't until the enemy forces were beaten back that he returned to camp for treatment, but by then his leg injury had worsened to the point where he could no longer walk and had to rely on crutches.
Left with no choice, he was discharged from the army, and he returned to Li Family Village with a heart full of resentment and unwillingness.
Li Family Village was not very populous, with only a little over sixty households and a population of under three hundred.
Able-bodied young men over sixteen had basically all been conscripted into the army.
In that chaotic era, there were far more women than men, and men were revered while women were lowly. Well-to-do families could afford to take multiple wives, and concubinage for the powerful and influential was an everyday occurrence.
Many people were still struggling simply to fill their bellies, and those who could afford a wife were exceedingly rare.
After all, when people could barely feed themselves, taking a wife and having children would only make life even harder.
Thus, in those days, families in good circumstances married off their children at seventeen or eighteen, while many who couldn't even put food on the table remained lifelong bachelors well into their thirties and forties.
When Li Lianzhong returned from the army, he was already twenty-seven. His family's thatched cottage had long since collapsed and vanished without a trace.
With his dozen or so taels of silver in severance pay, he built a few wooden rooms. A matchmaker in Li Family Village saw that the old man was honest and had built a wooden house, so she arranged a match for him.
The bride was from the neighboring Liu Family Village, named Liu Ermei. At the fine age of twenty-two, she was completely ordinary in appearance, yet she didn't mind that Li Lianzhong had a limp.
Later, he heard his mother say that Dad was a hero, and that those who went off to fight and kill enemies were great heroes.
"We can't abandon him just because he got hurt." For this reason, the old man always felt he had wronged their mother, feeling that he had let her suffer by following him.
Putting aside these thoughts, Li Lin walked over and stopped before Li Tong's door.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
He tapped on the door a few times and shouted, "Tongtong, are you up yet? It's already bright out, are you still sleeping in?"
A rustling sound came from inside.
Then someone replied, "Up, I'm up. Brother, stop rushing me."
Li Lin waited at the door for a moment.
*Screech.*
The door opened. A chubby little face appeared before Li Lin's eyes, sporting two small, upright tufted pigtails that looked both comical and cheeky.
Li Lin said helplessly, "Every time I have to come wake you up. Can't you have some self-discipline? Why won't you get up earlier?"
Li Tong aggrievedly replied, "Brother, I'm sleepy! On such a cold day, who could bear to leave that warm, cozy quilt?"
Li Lin sighed helplessly. "Ah, what else can we do? Who told our family to be poor? There are some things we simply have to do to lessen the burden on Mom and Dad."
"Oh."
Li Tong acknowledged this and walked toward the kitchen. Li Lin watched his younger sister's retreating back; her clothes were also covered in patches.
Li Lin's nose felt a slight sting.
He secretly swore in his heart that he must make something of himself, and that he must ensure his parents and sister lived a good life, with plenty to eat and warm clothes to wear.
Li Lin clenched his fists tightly.
A strong conviction slowly took root in his heart.
And on this very day, Li Lin seemed to have found his goal to strive for.