Every time the Northern Huns succeeded in looting, they would return to their camp in jubilation, throwing their spoils, sometimes including the women they had captured, from their horses. They would gather in a circle, riding on their tall horses and cheering in celebration. Men, women, young and old, would emerge from their tents with beaming faces to welcome their warriors, join in the celebration, and divide up the "spoils."

On the other side, the skinny little Lan Ya, who was about eleven or twelve years old, held her younger brother's body and looked at her scorched home.

My little brother was knocked down by a horse that rushed in, and then trampled back and forth by three horses. His chest was deflated, his legs were broken, and he was spitting out mouthfuls of blood. It must have been so painful.

The little brother who would break off most of the steamed bun and share it with her, the little brother who would stand in front of her when she saw the big yellow dog at the village entrance, is gone.

The five-year-old brother turned into a cold corpse.

Before he was knocked down, he ran towards her and said, "Sister, I have something good for you!" He covered the pocket that was torn in half and had not been sewn up yet with one hand.

When he was trampled by the horse, his hand was still tightly clutching his pocket. Now, the little hand drooped weakly. Lan Ya opened the tattered pocket and found a small piece of rock candy in the corner, intact, with a slightly soft curve on one side of the edge of the candy.

Lan Ya seemed to see her little brother getting the candy. He licked it happily and carefully, then put it in his pocket like a treasure. He held it tightly in his little hands, smacking the sweetness in his mouth while running towards home with his pocket covered... Lan Ya's tears flowed down, those damn things!

She put the candy in her little brother's mouth, held him in her arms and found a clean place to put him down. She was going to go to the scorched earth house to find needle and thread to sew up the pocket for her little brother.

The big white pig in the pigpen is gone. She and her elder sister worked so hard to collect grass for the pigs and make pig feed, and they raised the New Year pig one scoop at a time, but the whole family didn't even get a chance to eat a single bite, and it was gone just like that.

They rushed in, trampled the younger brother to death, chopped down the pigpen with one knife, and then chopped Dabai into two pieces with a few more knives. They put the blood in two bags, tied them with ropes, and threw them onto the horse's back. The two bags fell steadily on the horse's back like a sack, but blood continued to seep out.

Most of the ironware was looted, including the hatchet, sickle, kitchen knife, and the big pot on the stove.

There is no food left.

Two years ago, my parents died in a raid by the Northern Huns. Since then, my eldest brother and his wife have been supporting the family, and they have been doing the heaviest farm work in the fields.

The eldest sister washes clothes, boils water, cooks, grows vegetables in the front and back yards, and feeds pigs and chickens.

The eldest brother went up the mountain to chop firewood and returned home carrying a huge pile of firewood. He also had to chop wood, repair the house, build fences, deliver meals, and carry water. The eldest brother and sister-in-law gritted their teeth to support the eldest brother to go to the private school for half a day every day, and the eldest brother would teach everyone in the evening.

She took her younger brother with her, and he grew up on her back. She carried him on her back to wash dishes, clean, mend clothes and shoes for the family, and make insoles with cloth scraps.

It has been two years and life has just started to look up. I can even do some work and run errands.

Lan Ya wiped her tears. Where were the needle and thread? The quilt was gone from the burnt-black kang, and only a few remains of the sewing basket at the head of the kang remained.

The house with all the doors and windows burned out could not block the cold winter wind, and Lan Ya shivered in the cold wind.

Why kill people, rob things and set fire?

When the fire is set, the people and valuables hiding in the house will come out by themselves.

Grandma Lu had a pair of gold earrings. No matter how difficult life was, she was reluctant to sell them. When she hurriedly put them in her arms and ran out, she was stabbed in the chest. The valuables in her arms, a tin can of sugar and the pair of gold earrings, were exposed.

Lan Ya rummaged around the remains of the sewing basket with her trembling hands and found a black needle.

When the house caught fire, it was my eldest sister and sister-in-law who ran out. My eldest sister-in-law fell down and hurt her waist two days ago. She was sweating from the pain, but she was reluctant to call a doctor.

The eldest brother felt sorry for her and asked his wife to rest at home while he went to the fields alone. The eldest brother put down his hatchet, picked up his hoe, and followed his brother out.

My eldest sister and sister-in-law were kidnapped by the Northern Huns.

Usually they both rushed to do all the work. There was a piece of cloth that they pushed back and forth, and finally made clothes for themselves and their older brother.

The eldest sister said that the eldest brother needed a piece of clothing that was not torn when he went to school, and the sleeves of his clothing were much shorter. The eldest sister-in-law said that Lan Ya had grown taller and that it was not okay to bare her calves in winter.

She and her eldest brother got new trousers and new clothes, while her eldest sister and sister-in-law had their old clothes patched up again.

My eldest brother and his wife are the ones who work in the fields and do the hard work. When my eldest sister cooks, she will hide some delicious dishes at the bottom of their bowls. My eldest sister-in-law always secretly digs out those dishes and divides them into the bowls of her, my eldest brother and my youngest brother.

It was just a tiny amount, so the eldest sister-in-law asked them to eat it in one bite. In the time it took the eldest sister to turn around and get something, the eldest sister-in-law had divided it and the three of them had finished eating. Their cooperation was seamless, and their little faces looked at the eldest sister-in-law with joy.

I heard that women who are kidnapped usually don’t live more than three months.

Lan Ya sniffed, wiped her tears, and rubbed the needle against her clothes a few times, revealing a hint of its original bright color. But where could she find thread?

Lan Ya didn't know that her eldest brother died not far from home. He was stabbed twice in the back by the Northern Huns, and when he fell, he was stabbed again in the chest.

Lan Ya's family lived far away, so the eldest brother asked the youngest brother to come back for dinner and bring it back to him afterward. He wanted the youngest brother to rest for a while, so he could come back for a warm meal in the winter. He could still work a little longer.

When the eldest brother was almost home, he felt that something was wrong. Northern Hungarian horse bandits had entered the village. He hid by the roadside and saw the horses that had robbed his eldest sister and sister-in-law rushing out. On the horse's back were his eldest sister and sister-in-law who were struggling. Their hands were tied behind their backs and there was a rope around their necks to be tied to the saddle. Over there, his sister-in-law was being held down by two people on the horses and had been tied up.

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