It has been quite some time since Li Changlin returned injured, and he even went to the prefectural city to buy New Year's goods. The village remains peaceful and quiet.

As the Lunar New Year approached, Fan Sizhu's anxiety gradually subsided.

Thankfully, ever since his older brother argued with his grandmother over the fine cotton fabric that his second uncle gave him during the last New Year's gifts, he had been worried that his older brother might harm his grandmother and had been keeping a close eye on him. It turned out that he had been worrying unnecessarily.

That makes sense. It's normal for families to bicker, but how could someone kill or harm another person just because of a little argument? Wouldn't that make them less than human?

Relieved, Fan Sizhu carried his vegetable basket and walked briskly to the village wall. He looked up and called out, "Dad, Big Brother, dinner is here. Come down and eat!"

Fan Qian, full of resentment, climbed down the wooden stake behind the sandbags and complained, "Why did you send it here? It's so cold, I should have gone home and had something hot to eat."

Fan Sizhu's eyes widened, and he lowered his voice to remind him, "Dad, we can't go back when we're on duty. We can only bring food over. That's how it is at other people's homes."

Seeing his older brother climbing down the wooden stake, he exclaimed in alarm, "Brother, you can't come down!"

You need to take turns eating with Dad; there can't be no one watching you from above.

The village's front and back gates are guarded in four shifts a day: morning, afternoon, early night, and late night. Each shift is short to avoid excessive fatigue and lack of energy. For safety reasons, two people are on duty together so that the other person can take over if someone needs to eat, use the toilet, or doze off.

He had seen how strictly other people followed the rules when they were on duty, so why did his own father and older brother not follow the rules at all?

Fan Dazhu snapped, "You're so stupid! It's so dark and cold, how could anyone know? Shut up."

Fan Sizhu turned to Fan Qian and complained, "Father, look at my eldest brother..."

“Your older brother is right, you’re just too stubborn. Our house is so close, yet you insisted on bringing it all the way here, making your dad and older brother eat in the cold wind! Can’t you be a little more quick-witted?”

"But others"

"Other people's houses are in the back, while ours is in the front. Who would know if we sneaked back for a meal?"

"How long can a meal last? How could it be dangerous!" Fan Qian became increasingly angry as he thought about it.

At first, Li Changlin returned injured and he was very scared and worried. He also supported the old village chief's decision, but so many days have passed and everything is calm! Nothing has happened.

Especially the men from the village who went to the prefectural city to sell things and buy New Year's goods, they said it was very dangerous, but they all came back safe and sound.

The old village chief is inflexible and doesn't know how to adapt. It's already the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, and the New Year is just around the corner, yet he still makes us patrol and stand guard four times a day! He's deliberately making things difficult for us.

Fan Sizhu stared blankly at his father, not daring to utter a sound.

Fan Qian drank the lukewarm vegetable porridge and gnawed on the hard, dark flatbread. The cold wind made him feel even colder.

"Alright, you can go back now. I'm going home to sleep soon. If you dare to make a sound, I'll beat you to death!"

Fan Sizhu opened his mouth in surprise. It was only dinnertime, and it would be at least midnight before a man would come to take over his father and elder brother's duties. How could his father go home to sleep so soon?

Does he think his older brother can manage on his own?

Father is far too trusting of my elder brother.

night.

Fan Sizhu felt that he had only been lying down for a short time when he heard the sound of a door opening and closing.

He tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, and could only pray that nothing bad would happen in the middle of the night!

Then I remembered that my older brother was there; if anything happened, he would ring the gong to warn me.

In his hazy sleep, he heard a faint rattling sound of a gong. Startled, he sat up, but after listening carefully, he realized there was nothing there. Thinking he had just scared himself, he patted his chest and prepared to go back to sleep. But when he looked up and saw the person in front of him, he almost screamed.