Chapter 0 Extra Thirteen It would be nice if I had a home like this
My name is Lin Cuicui. As far back as I can remember, I've lived without a mother and have always lived with my father. My father is a quiet man who doesn't like to talk. The year my younger uncle got married, my grandmother cried, made a scene, and even threatened to hang herself to take away our house.
From then on, my father and I had nowhere to stay. At the time, I didn't quite understand what my grandmother was saying. She'd often come to my house while my father was working in the fields and say, "You unwanted bastard! If it weren't for you, how could my son not get a wife? How could our family line be extinct?"
"If I had known you were such a burden, I would have strangled you when the boss brought you back. What's the point of me caring about whether you're a soldier's child or not? I managed to raise you, but my son will never be able to find a wife again."
She pinched and twisted me, and cursed at me. I didn't know what I had done wrong, but I was too young to resist. Every time I saw my grandmother coming, I was terrified of her big hands, which were like dry branches.
Sometimes her father would rush back and pull her away, but he didn't always know about it.
The day my father and I were kicked out of the house, snowflakes were falling from the sky. My father's face was filled with sorrow, but I was very happy because I would never be bullied by my grandmother again.
My father carried a large bag, filled with our cups, clothes, and other things from home that my grandmother despised. He held my hand and knocked on many doors in the village. Some opened, some didn't. The only thing they all agreed on was that no one would let us in.
My father and I stood at the village entrance, and he looked around in confusion. I remember clearly, he whispered, "The world is so big, is there no place for Cuicui and me?"
I smiled at my father and said, "Dad, let's go live in the mountains. There are firewood, wild vegetables, and wild fruits in the mountains. Living in the mountains, we don't have to waste time walking to find those things in the future."
My father looked down at me with a look in his eyes that I don't know how to describe. Finally, as the snow fell heavier, he took me into the mountains.
At first, we were in the mountains near our home, a place my father and I were familiar with. After crossing a mountain, we found a large cave. I ran back and forth in the cave with joy, saying that here was a place to make a kang, there was a place to put a table, and there was a place to make a kitchen.
Finally, a smile appeared on my father's face. I followed him and brought back a lot of firewood. He also pushed a few large rocks to the cave entrance. I asked him what he was doing, but he just rubbed my head and said nothing.
Grandma didn't let Dad bring any food. I don't know if she wanted us to starve to death, or if she just wanted Dad to admit his mistake and leave me alone in the mountains. Dad and I searched the snow for something to eat. There was so little to eat, and I remember that night Dad and I fell asleep hungry.
Of course, it would be better if there was no danger at night. When I heard the wolves howling, my father had already been at the entrance of the cave, using the stones he had picked up in advance to confront the wolves for a long time.
I don't know if my father was scared at the time, but I was terrified. My father turned around and looked at me, "Don't be afraid, Cuicui, you have your father here."
My father didn't throw his rocks randomly. He always looked for the wolf's position before throwing it with all his might. After some time, the wolves left. The next morning, my father dragged the two dead wolves back into the cave.
That was my first time eating all-you-can-eat meat. Wrapped in the wolf skin, I never felt so warm in winter. Those were the happiest days my father and I ever had.
Although wolves often came at night, my father's preparations became increasingly thorough, and the wolves never came into the cave. That whole winter, I gained a lot of weight and had meat to eat almost every day.
My father would occasionally take me down the mountain from the other side and trade the wolf meat for some coarse grains with the villagers there. But the good times ended with the arrival of spring.
I heard gunfire and artillery fire from down the mountain. My father bundled our belongings back up and sat in the cave, waiting. I thought he was waiting for the Japanese soldiers down below to attack, but he said no, he was waiting for the people from our village.
Soon they came up the mountain, including my grandmother and my uncle's family. Grandma was furious when she saw my father and started beating him up, calling him unfilial and an ungrateful person. I don't remember much else.
Later, my grandmother knelt down and begged my father to give them the cave. My father seemed to have expected this. He put our things on his back and took my hand again and left.
This time, we walked in the mountains for a very long time, with mountains connected to each other. When we saw a cave, my father and I would rest there for a day or two and then continue walking.
I feel like I grew up in this kind of running around. I don’t know my birthday. My father is an old man and not that careful, so he doesn’t know the exact day I was born.
But I remember it clearly: I was 16 that year. My father and I found another cave, and this time he said to me, "Cuicui, there's no fighting outside anymore. This cave isn't far from the village at the foot of the mountain. Let's make this our home."
I was very happy and liked the place so I agreed. The reason was that I knew my father couldn't walk anymore. His waist was getting more and more bent from carrying the things on his back, and his breathing was getting heavier. I was scared.
"Dad, I'm grown up, and I'll take care of you. I'm familiar with the mountains, and I'll give you all the delicious food I find."
My father smiled with relief. That year, I met my third brother in the mountains, and that year, I lost my father.
My third brother was better off than me, but he said he had a mother but no father. His mother, however, didn't like him. She often kicked him out of the house in the dead of winter. He had nothing to eat, so he went up to the mountains on an empty stomach to catch pheasants and rabbits.
We met while hunting the same pheasant. Seeing how lightly dressed he was, I asked him, "Aren't you cold? Why don't you put on more clothes?"
My third brother's face, frozen purple, was expressionless. He stared down at the pheasant for a long, long time, so long that I thought he wouldn't give me half a pheasant. But he said, "You saw it first, so the pheasant is yours."
I was very happy. I had set my eyes on this pheasant first, and I was going to take it back to make soup for my father. My father's health was getting worse and worse, and without delicious food, I was worried that he would not be able to endure it.
But when I bent down to pick up the pheasant, I heard my third brother's stomach growling. I looked up at him, but he turned his head away and started to walk away.
I quickly grabbed him and said, "Don't go. You deserve credit for catching this chicken. How about this? Come home with me. I'll make some chicken soup and give you half of the meat."
I could see that my third brother wanted to refuse, but he must have been really hungry, so he followed me back to the cave where we lived.
The villagers knew that there was a father and daughter living in the mountains, but since they did not have any impact on the village, the village chief let them stay.
The third brother was very excited when he entered my home for the first time. I heard him murmur, "I wish I could have a home like this."
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