Hearing the knock on the door and the shout, Yu Hua frowned slightly and felt doubtful. He put down the medicine bowl, picked up the dagger placed by the stove with his right hand, and walked straight to the door.
"Who is it?" When he came to the door, Yu Hua held a dagger in his right hand and shouted towards the door. In this fucked-up era, one must be on guard against others.
"Master, we are on the run from famine. Please do me a favor and give me something to eat." When the people outside the door heard Yu Hua's voice, they seemed to have gained energy and strength in an instant, and their words were full of desolation and pleading.
When Yu Hua heard this, he became even more vigilant. Although the refugees fleeing the famine were pitiful, there were many perpetrators, not to mention that they were separated by a door. Even though he knew the words were true or false, he said: "You should leave, my house has no food."
"Master, please, my brother and sister have not eaten for three days. My sister has caught the cold and is unconscious. Please give us something to stutter. I will kneel down and kowtow to you." Outside the door.
The man refused to leave and kept begging. After he finished speaking, there was a dull sound of kowtows.
This man seemed to be really kowtowing to the gate of Chongwen's house and kowtowing to Yu Hua.
Hearing the dull banging sound in his ears, Yu Hua took a deep breath. Various records and related information about famine refugees came to his mind. He couldn't bear it, thought about it, and said: "Stop knocking, you can retreat to the door now."
One foot away."
"Yes, yes, sir, I will retreat immediately." After hearing Yu Hua's words, the people outside the door immediately agreed and retreated to a distance of ten feet away from the door.
"Master, I'm ready to retreat." A few seconds later, the man's voice came from outside the door again.
Yu Hua held the dagger in his right hand, unlocked the door, carefully opened the door a crack, and looked outside through the gap. Kneeling a few feet away was a young man, about fifteen or sixteen years old, thin, unkempt, with messy hair, and covered in body.
Dressed in rags, there was a person lying next to the man. She was even thinner. She must be this man's sister.
After careful observation, I initially confirmed that the matter was true.
"squeak!"
The front door of Chongwen House slowly opened, and a sharp and familiar friction sound came from the wooden door. This sound was harsh, but it suddenly made the young man kneeling on the ground feel hope.
"Master, please do me a favor and give him to the one who stutters." The boy who felt hope saw Yu Hua standing at the door and kowtowed quickly, his head making a thumping sound on the cold bluestone ground.
"Hold on."
Yu Hua did not correct the other party's title. At this time, maintaining class distance could effectively improve his own safety. He glanced at the boy, then at the unconscious girl next to him, left a word, and immediately closed the door.
The young man kowtowed ten times before stopping. Blood was already flowing from his forehead, and his eyes were looking at the closed door with great anticipation.
After a while, the door opened again, and Yu Hua came out carrying a steamer with a bowl of brown sugar water, a bowl of hot water, and two bowls of white rice leftover from yesterday. He glanced at the boy who was still kneeling and put it in front of him.
One meter away: "The rice is a little cold. Here is a bowl of brown sugar water for your sister to drink."
After explaining, Yu Hua retreated and stood at a safe distance about one foot away.
"Thank you very much, sir. I will live a long life. Buddha and Bodhisattvas will bless you." When the young man heard this, tears came to his eyes and he hurriedly said a series of good words.
"I don't believe in Buddhism, just eat it." Yu Hua responded.
The young man picked up a bowl of white rice as if he had found a treasure and was about to eat it. Suddenly he remembered something and immediately put down the bowl. He carefully took out the bowl of hot but not boiling brown sugar water from the steamer. He came to his sister's side, raised his head and gently
Bring it gently to your mouth.
The young man knows his stuff well. Compared with two bowls of white rice, this bowl of brown sugar water is the most precious.
In my arms, my sister, who was caught in the cold and fell into a semi-conscious state, seemed to smell the smell of brown sugar. She opened her mouth and drank in small sips, like a baby sucking breast milk, satisfied and greedy, wanting more.
"Don't feed her too much at one time, as this will hurt her stomach. It's best to drink it in three doses," Yu Hua reminded.
"yes."
The young man heard this and nodded seriously. After feeding his sister half a bowl of brown sugar water, he carefully placed the porcelain bowl in the steamer, then held his sister in his arms to protect her from the cold ground, then picked up the white rice and started eating.
The boy enjoyed this bowl of almost cold white rice because it was the first time he had seen food that could be called rice since he escaped from the famine. In the past, all he ate was grass roots and bark.
Suddenly, the brother and sister met a farmer's pig pen on the road and cooked wild vegetables with rice bran stolen from the trough.
After finishing the meal quickly, he put down the bowls and chopsticks without touching the second bowl of rice, which was for his sister. The young man felt the hunger in his belly disappear, tears fell from the corners of his eyes, and he said to Yu Hua, "Thank you, Master, for the rice."
"No, where are you from? I haven't heard of famine around Peiping." Yu Hua shook his head slightly and asked.
"Sir, my brother and sister are from Jiangyou, Sichuan. Last year there was a severe drought in my hometown. There was not a single rain in the summer. All the crops in the fields withered. In autumn, people were starving to death everywhere in the countryside. There were nine people in the family.
Grandpa, grandma, my mother and the old man are all dead. My eldest brother and my second brother have become soldiers and have gone to who knows where. The third brother has come to Peiping, leaving my sister and I to run around, and finally came to Peiping as a last resort."
The young man answered truthfully, and as he spoke, tears kept flowing. His words were full of sorrow. At the end of his words, he carefully put down his sister, knelt down towards Yu Hua again, and kept kowtowing: "Master, can you accept us? As long as you give me
Those who stutter, let us do whatever we want."
Sichuan Jiangyou.
The familiar tone came. Yu Hua was stunned when he heard the words, his head was a little dazed. He never thought that the brother and sister in front of him were actually fellow villagers. Looking at the young man who kept kowtowing, a string in his heart seemed to be touched, and he fell into silence.
After two seconds, Yu Hua asked: "What is your name and how old are you?"
"Sir, my name is Xu Rui. I am 15 years old. I have been studying in the ancestral hall private school for two years. My husband gave me a name. My sister is Xu Erya. I am 13 years old and have no name yet." The young man Xu Rui was overjoyed.
I still don’t know the meaning of this question, so I tell it truthfully.
"Pack your things and come in."
Looking at the hope-filled eyes of the other party, Yu Hua sighed. He was not a heartless person and could save one person after another. He put away the dagger and gave the order.
In this fucked-up era, Yu Hua couldn't bear to reject the two brothers and sisters who had fled from his hometown, so he had no choice but to take them in.
If he rejects the other party, Yu Hua knows that in the first month of Peiping, the brother and sister will die on the streets soon.
The so-called best place is to target people with good intentions.
But are refugees people?
In this era, the status of refugees is not much higher than that of domestic animals, somewhere between animals and humans.