After that initial period, He Yan's enthusiasm for reading letters gradually subsided. After all, it was very tiring to spend so much time reading letters every day.

And as the weather gets warmer, children's entertainment activities become more diverse, such as climbing trees to dig out bird nests and going to the sea to catch seafood.

Although we are not allowed to catch fish, we are still children. If we catch a few fish occasionally, no one will care. When we are roasting knowledge, it is best to hide from people, so as not to be caught and have everything stolen. We should not do it too often, otherwise it will attract attention.

In addition, because the water is cold in winter, there is less seafood to pick, so unless the children are particularly greedy, most of them are not willing to catch seafood in winter.

For example, He Yan, he grilled seafood with everyone just to join in the fun. After all, they could buy seafood almost every day at home, and the seafood cooked by the cafeteria chef and his father was much more delicious than what they cooked themselves.

In addition, the sea breeze is strong in winter, and it is difficult to make a fire. Even if you do make a fire, it is difficult to cook the seafood. While waiting for the food, others will be exhausted.

So after going there once, He Yan no longer wanted to catch and grill seafood in the winter.

There are seasonal restrictions for digging out bird nests. In winter, the little birds all move south. You can still dig out bird eggs at the beginning, but after halfway through winter, it is basically difficult to see bird eggs. Only in spring and summer will the number of bird eggs gradually increase.

In addition, when the weather gets hot, there are more things to eat outside, such as prickly ash, hairy grass, wild hawthorn, etc. Although the land on the island is not suitable for growing fruit trees, there are many fruit trees in the compound, including loquats and oranges, but the fruits are average.

Everyone likes free things, not just these half-grown children. Many military wives in the compound also come to sit by these trees and enjoy a bite to eat.

Although He Yan had no shortage of food, he loved to join in the fun. After staying at home for more than a month, he was already feeling sick. In addition, his enthusiasm for reading letters was gradually fading, so he went out as soon as Zhang Xiaokai invited him.

In the past, Su Ting always hoped that He Yan would stay at home obediently, but after seeing him staying at home for more than a month, Su Ting changed her mind. She now thinks that children should go out and walk around more.

Of course, before letting He Yan go out to play, Su Ting did not forget to make three rules with him: no going into the sea, no climbing trees, and no fighting with others.

Because he was in a hurry to go out and play, He Yan agreed to all the requests made by Su Ting.

But he apparently didn't take it to heart. He went out to hang out for less than half a month, fishing in the sea, taking eggs from trees, and fighting in groups. He did not fail to follow the three prohibitions.

After collecting bird eggs on the first day, he acted as if nothing had happened, but his secret was exposed as soon as he started eating.

He Yan is at the age of growing up, and usually has a good appetite. He eats at least two bowls of rice and also eats a lot of vegetables.

But this day, they had a good harvest. They found three bird nests with dozens of eggs in total, two of which were quite large. They divided the eggs equally, so each of them got seven or eight. And because He Yan climbed the tree, he got one of the large eggs.

They did this activity of collecting bird eggs without being noticed by their parents. No matter how rich their harvest was, they dared not take the eggs back home. So they built a fire on the spot and ate all the eggs.

Although there were only two large bird eggs among the ones we found, there were so many of them that they were enough to fill half a bowl of rice.

So when it came time to eat in the evening, He Yan's appetite was obviously worse than usual. He only ate one bowl of rice and not much of the vegetables. Moreover, He Dongchuan also made his favorite pickled fish tonight.

Without thinking too much, Su Ting immediately thought of the cat food and asked casually, "You don't have a good appetite today?"

He Yan pretended to be confused and said, "Is there? No."

"You usually eat two bowls of rice, but today you only ate one bowl."

He Yan touched his bulging belly and said guiltily, "I'm not very hungry today."

"Oh," Su Ting nodded, and when he relaxed, she suddenly asked, "Did you eat something before coming back?"

"Eat——" As soon as the words came out, He Yan reacted and shook his head hurriedly, saying, "No, I didn't eat anything."

Su Ting didn't believe him at all. She was just trying to trick him and wasn't sure in her heart. But looking at his attitude, it was certain that he had eaten out.

And what he ate was definitely not the snacks from the supply and marketing cooperative. Although He Dongchuan always said that eating too much spicy strips was bad for you, Su Ting herself loved to buy spicy strips whenever she had nothing to do, so there was no need for He Yan to be nervous.

It should not be wild snacks like wild hawthorns. They are too small and will not satisfy his hunger no matter how much he eats. Besides, Su Ting and He Dongchuan never forbid him to eat them.

Su Ting thought for a moment and asked, "Eating bird eggs?"

He Yan's eyes widened instantly, and his body leaned back reflexively, but he quickly realized that this would make him look too guilty, so he sat back down by the edge of the table and said in a low voice, "No..."

Before He Yan finished denying, he saw his father tapping the table with his fingers. His eyes were drawn to him and he looked up to see He Dongchuan's serious face: "If you confess, I will treat you leniently. If you resist, I will treat you severely."

This means, if you tell the truth, you will be scolded, and if you lie, you will be beaten.

He Yan pursed his lips and said, "Yes, I ate it." He felt lucky, thinking that his parents might not have expected him to climb a tree.

But just as the thought flashed through his mind, he heard his mother's firm voice: "You were the one who took out the bird's nest, right?"

Without waiting for He Yan to deny it, Su Ting said, "Don't deny it. You've eaten the bird eggs. It's impossible for you not to climb the tree."

Thanks to his excellent grades, always being the top student in his grade, in the eyes of most military wives in the compound, He Yan is the child of other families, obedient, sensible, and with particularly good grades.

Only those who are familiar with him know that he does the same things that the naughty kids in the compound do.

The year before last he was young, not that tall, and not that familiar with the older kids, so he was relatively well behaved during the summer vacation.

But last year he had grown taller and was about 1.5 meters tall. Compared with those older kids in their early teens, he was not short. Moreover, he had become familiar with everyone after a year. So last summer, after finishing his summer homework, he basically stayed away from home during the day except for three meals a day.

I also learned to climb trees at that time.

Among the children in the compound, climbing trees is a rare skill, and few older children can do it. Because of this skill, He Yan quickly gained a foothold among the older children, and every time they took out bird eggs, the older children would not forget to call him.

People asked him to go because of his skills. Once he gets there he certainly can't just sit there and watch. He is the main force and he has to take the lead.

Both mom and dad understood what had happened, and He Yan had no choice but to tell the truth: "I took out a nest of bird eggs."

Hearing this, Su Ting asked, "How many nests of bird eggs did you take out today?"

He Yan nodded: "We took out three nests of bird eggs in total, and the other two nests were taken out by Monkey Brother."

Brother Monkey's real name is Wang Houwen. Because he is short and thin, and his movements are flexible and he is very good at climbing trees, and because "hou" and "hou" are homophones, he got the nickname "Shou Hou". However, the younger children in the compound usually don't call him that. They all call him Brother Monkey like He Yan does.

After listening to He Yan's explanation, Su Ting fell silent, thinking that it was really unfortunate for the birds on the island to encounter these children!

Because He Yan was honest and didn't use words to prevaricate his parents, and He Dongchuan had already said that those who confess would be punished leniently while those who resist would be punished severely, so he didn't get beaten this time and was only punished to wash the dishes.

Since they gave He Yan a few days off last year and asked him to do housework at home because He Yan wanted to drop out of school, Su Ting and He Dongchuan would find some work for him from time to time, such as asking him to wash his own clothes, sweep the floor, or wash the dishes.

After more than half a year, He Yan has become very proficient in doing these things.

Perhaps because of this, He Yan did not take his parents' words to heart. Three days after being caught digging out bird nests, he went to the sea to catch crabs.

This time it was Sunday, and He Yan went out right after breakfast. He came back at noon without affecting his appetite. In addition, because of the strong sea breeze and the strong sun, his pants that had been wet from going into the sea had long since dried up.

Normally, his family wouldn't have noticed what he did in the morning.

but--

When He Yan went to the beach to catch seafood, he caught a palm-sized conch. He and his friends took out the conch meat and grilled it, then washed the conch shell and brought it back.

Because he was afraid of being discovered by his parents, He Yan put the conch in the drawer of his room after returning home, intending to hide it for a while and take it out after the incident was over.

But it just happened that because the sun was strong, after getting up in the morning, Su Ting asked He Dongchuan to take out all the quilts in the two rooms to dry in the sun.

Maybe the cotton wool was too heavy. Just after lunch, the clothesline broke and all the cotton wool clothes fell down.

Thanks to the good sunshine today, the ground was dry, and the clothes had been dried long ago. In addition, they discovered it in time, so the clothes were in contact with the ground for a short time. Adhering to the principle of "no dirt within three seconds", Su Ting took the sheets and quilt covers back home directly without planning to wash them again.

However, the clothes can be left unwashed, and the clothesline must be re-tied. This is the second time the clothesline has broken, and Su Ting doesn't want it to happen a third time.

So after laying out the quilted sheets, Su Ting found two industrial coupons from the cupboard, took some money, and asked He Dongchuan to buy a thicker rope.

He Dongchuan did not take the money and bills immediately, but asked thoughtfully: "Don't you have a roll of thick rope at home?"

"Is there?" Su Ting had no impression at all.

"I think so. Every time we went to the market to get mail, we used the rope to tie up the snakeskin bag. We cut it from that roll of rope."

After his reminder, Su Ting also remembered: "It seems that there is such a rolled rope, but it has been so long that I don't remember where I put it."

The roll of rope was bought about two years ago. She cut out the rope she needed to use and put the rest away. Rope is not a necessity and is not used very often. At least they haven't used it in the past two years.

It had been so long that Su Ting had already forgotten where she had put the rope.

He Dongchuan also couldn't remember, so he said, "Let's look for it."

After searching for a while, Su Ting found the second bedroom. She opened the closets and drawers and looked through them.

After opening the drawer, Su Ting saw the palm-sized conch at first glance. She picked it up and put it together with other shells on the desk.

After watching for a full minute, Su Ting turned around and shouted, "Hey, old man!"

He Dongchuan heard the noise and came in and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Look, was there this conch in Xiaoyan's room before?" Su Ting asked, pointing at the conch shell placed in the corner of the desk.

Children at this age have no concept of independent space. For example, He Yan, although he has his own room, he never forbids his parents from entering, so the couple often go into the second bedroom.

He Dongchuan had a good memory. After looking at it for a while, he shook his head with certainty: "No, where did he get the conch?"

"I suspect he went with someone to catch seafood." Su Ting picked up the conch and said, "This should have been picked up from the beach."

Although crabs and shellfish are often brought to the beach by the waves outside the family compound, there are rarely such large conches. In addition, there are children playing on the beach every day. If such a large conch appears on the beach, it will definitely be picked up by someone. Therefore, the shells on He Yan's desk are all small shells, and their shapes are not special.

Moreover, given He Yan's personality, if he had picked up this conch on the beach, he would definitely come back to show off immediately.

He didn't, which meant that the conch was of "illegal origin".

He Dongchuan understood what Su Ting meant. He took the conch and looked at it for a while. Then he put it under his nose and sniffed it. He frowned and said, "It smells a bit fishy. He must have gone to the beach this morning."

The beach is a bit far from the family compound, and the kids in the compound can only go there on Sundays. If He Yan went there last Sunday, the fishy smell of the conch would have faded a week later, so the time could only be today.

He Dongchuan put down the conch and said, "I'll ask him when he comes back."

"Okay." Su Ting nodded in agreement, and then talked about the rope, "I searched the house but couldn't find the rope. Why don't we buy a roll of rope?"

He Dongchuan couldn't find it, so he said, "I'll go buy it now."

He Dongchuan took the money and tickets and went out. As soon as he reached the open space at the gate of the compound, he saw He Yan swinging on the swing from a distance. He walked over and shouted, "Xiao Yan!"

He Yan flew into the air and opened his eyes. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw his father smiling: "Dad!"

He Dongchuan responded and waved to him.

He Yan, who had swung back to the lowest point, saw this and quickly stretched out his legs and stepped on the ground. Due to inertia, he was pulled back several steps by the swing before he stopped completely.

After the swing came to a stop, He Yan said something to the child waiting behind him, then stood up and ran to He Dongchuan and asked, "Dad, are you looking for me?"

He Dongchuan said: "Well, I'll ask you to go to the supply and marketing cooperative together."

"Buying food?" He Yan's eyes lit up and he clenched his hands.

He Dongchuan glanced at him and said, "You're only thinking about eating, right?"

He Yan responded with a practical “yes”. Not only did his face fall, but his shoulders also slumped. “Then what do you want to buy?”

"The clothesline at home broke, and your mother asked me to buy a reel of rope."

"How did the clothesline break?"

"The cotton wool was too heavy and it broke," He Dongchuan answered and then asked, "Will you come with me to the supply and marketing cooperative?"

He Yan calculated in his mind, even though his father refused to buy him food, he had money. Ever since the serialization of "Sanhuo's Working Diary" began, his mother would give him ten yuan every month, plus his usual savings, and the New Year's money... he was a wealthy man!

I still have fifty cents in my pocket!

He Yan looked up and asked, "Can I buy some spicy noodles?"

"Sure." I'll get beaten after eating anyway.

He Yansi had no idea of ​​his father's ill intentions, so he jumped up and said, "Then I want to go!"

When they arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, He Dongchuan went to buy ropes while He Yan went to pick up snacks.

Fifty cents still had a lot of purchasing power in this era. Spicy noodles cost one cent each, melon seeds cost three cents each, and you could buy a lot of candy and biscuits. But what He Yan could buy was very limited. Candy and biscuits required tickets, so he could forget about it. He could only buy some snacks to satisfy his hunger.

After buying the rope, He Dongchuan turned around and saw He Yan holding his bag and letting the staff put melon seeds into it. In his hand, he was holding a handful of spicy strips. He couldn't help but ask, "Why did you buy so many spicy strips?"

"Eat." He Yan gave his father a look, thinking that what he said was pure nonsense.

He Dongchuan: "Aren't you afraid of having a stomachache after eating so many spicy strips?"

Of course he was afraid of a stomachache, but that couldn't stop him from eating spicy noodles! And... He Yan looked up and said, "This is not for me alone. I have to share half with my mother when I go back."

The spicy strips sold at the supply and marketing cooperatives are packed in large packages, with dozens of strips in each package. Because the people who love to eat spicy strips are all children and they don’t have enough money to buy whole packages, they are split up and sold separately.

When the spicy strips are sold, the supply and marketing cooperative staff usually don't package them. Anyway, these children only buy one or two at a time and eat them up as soon as they leave the supply and marketing cooperative.

He Dongchuan looked down at the thin spicy noodles held in He Yan's hand and asked, "Have you washed your hands?"

He Yan followed his line of sight and looked at his hands, pursed his lips and said, "My hands are clean."

He Dongchuan: Haha.

When he got home, He Yan shared the spicy noodles with Su Ting first.

Su Ting's reaction was similar to He Dongchuan's. She looked at the spicy strips held in He Yan's hand and said she didn't really want to eat them. But because she couldn't bear to disappoint He Yan, she hesitated and took the middle one to eat.

While the mother and son were eating spicy noodles, He Dongchuan was outside pulling the rope. It was a simple job, just tie the rope to the tree and tie it tightly.

He Dongchuan moved quickly, and when he tied the rope and returned home, He Yan still had two spicy strips left in his hand. He stuffed them into his mouth together, taking a bite at a time, until the area around his mouth was covered in grease.

He Dongchuan put the extra rope into the drawer of the chest of drawers and said as he stood up, "Eat quickly, wash your hands and face after eating, I have something to tell you."

"What's the matter?" He Yan asked while eating.

"Wait until you finish eating."

He Yan stuffed the last piece of spicy strips into his mouth and pretended to make a slurping sound, as if it was very spicy. He used his right hand, which only had two fingers dirty, to pour water, tilted his head back and drank more than half a cup of boiled water, then went to the bathroom to wash his hands and face with satisfaction.

He Dongchuan went to the second bedroom and took out the conch from the drawer. When He Yan came out of the bathroom after washing her face, he held the conch and asked, "Where did you get this?"

When He Yan saw the conch in his father's hand, his heart skipped a beat.

He opened his mouth: "Huh?"

"Don't play dumb. I found this conch in your room. It smells fishy," He Dongchuan asked while playing with the conch. "Did you go fishing today?"

Listening to his father's words, He Yan had only one thought in his mind - it's over!

He turned his head and looked at his mother pitifully.

Su Ting turned her head. A few days ago, he climbed a tree to take bird eggs. Considering that he committed the offense at the beginning of this year, she and He Dongchuan lightly brushed aside the matter, only punishing him to wash dishes and giving him a verbal education.

As a result, within a few days, he got into trouble again. If he is not taught a lesson, he might start a fight with someone tomorrow!

Noticing He Yan's look, He Dongchuan said, "It's no use looking at your mother. What did we tell you before when you stole the bird eggs? We told you to behave yourself and not do anything wrong again, but you ignored us, didn't you? Come here!"

He Yan didn't want to go there at all, but if he didn't go, his father would definitely get even angrier, so he had no choice but to bite his lip and move over in small steps.

He Dongchuan didn't rush him. He watched him move closer to him, then he casually pulled a stool over to He Yan and said, "Hold on to the stool and lie down."

"What are you going to do?" He Yan asked vigilantly.

He Dongchuan was angry and amused: "What can I do? Beat you up! Lie down and take off your pants."

He Yan looked down at the stool in front of him and took a step back: "I know I was wrong, can I..."

"No, if you know you're wrong, you have to admit your mistake," He Dongchuan said mercilessly, "If you lie down, I'll spank you with my hands, or if you stand, I'll spank you with a stick. It's your choice."

He Yan muttered, "There's no stick at home."

In the past two years, He Dongchuan had only hit He Yan once, and at that time he also took off his pants and spanked him, so there really was no stick in their house, but -

Is this something a child should say?

Oh, you have nothing to fear without a stick!

He Dongchuan was relatively calm at first, but when he heard this, he got angry. He stood up and said, "Okay, you want a stick, right? I'll go get it now."

After saying that, He Dongchuan went out. When he came back, he was holding a thin branch in his hand. The leaves on it had not been ripped off completely. It was obvious that it had just been broken off from the tree.

Seeing the branch, He Yan stepped back reflexively.

When He Dongchuan saw him move, he immediately picked up a branch and pointed at him: "Stop! Don't move!"

He Yan didn't dare to retreat any further and stood there stiffly.

"Put your hand out." He Yan walked up to him and said.

He Yan bit his lip and stretched out his hand, asking unconfidently, "Can I spank you?" He glanced at the thin branch and said, "Use your hand."

He Dongchuan laughed angrily: "You're still trying to bargain with me? Just stretch out your hand."

"No." He Yan pouted and moved his hand forward a little.

He Dongchuan raised the branch in his hand and then dropped it quickly. He Yan screamed "Ah" and quickly closed his eyes and turned his head away, not daring to look.

I waited for a long time but the pain didn't subside.

He Yan held his breath and slowly turned his head. He saw that the branch had stopped at a distance of one finger from his palm. He opened his mouth wide and said, "Ah?"

He Dongchuan did not explain, but only asked: "Do you realize that you are wrong?"

“Yes.”

"Will you do it again in the future?"

"No more." He Yan said with his head down, a little hesitant about whether to take his hand back.

But before he could retract his hand, He Dongchuan stopped him: "Stretch out your hand!"

You'll still get beaten.

He Yan felt a little disappointed and moved his hand forward a little.

"Since you have a good attitude in admitting your mistakes, I will only give you four strokes today. But if you do it again, the punishment will be doubled." He Dongchuan said, and without further hesitation, he raised the branch slightly and swung it down.

“Ouch!”

Anyone who has been beaten knows that the thinner the stick, the more painful it is. Although He Dongchuan did not raise the stick as high as he did to scare He Yan before, and he also restrained his strength, the branch was too thin and a faint sound could be heard when it cut through the air.

When the branch touched his palm, the pain quickly spread from his left hand. He Yan couldn't help but scream in pain. He reflexively withdrew his left hand and clenched it, and tears flowed uncontrollably.

But He Dongchuan's heart was as hard as iron, and he didn't show any pain on his face. He just raised the branch again and said, "Put out your hand!"

He Yan looked at his father with tears in his eyes, and seeing that he was unmoved, he had no choice but to hold his left wrist with his right hand and carefully stretched out his hand.

“Pah!”

This time it happened twice in a row. He Yan could no longer hold back his tears and burst into tears: "It hurts! It hurts so much!"

He Dongchuan's figure was still grim: "One more moment, reach out your hand!"

"It hurts!" He Yan cried and refused to stretch out his hand.

"that is……"

Before He Dongchuan could finish his words, Su Ting stopped him: "Since Xiaoyan feels the pain, just hit her three times and forget it."

"We agreed on four times." He Dongchuan said with a frown. He felt that this was the reason why every time they agreed to teach He Yan a lesson, they were always soft-hearted when it came to actually doing it, which made He Yan become more and more daring.

Su Ting knew that this was not a good idea, but... she looked down at He Yan who was hugging her and crying non-stop and said, "How about this, I'll save the last blow, and next time he makes a mistake, I'll double the amount and give him this one as an additional blow, what do you think?"

Hearing Su Ting's suggestion, He Yan's hands couldn't help but tremble.

But at least he could avoid being beaten once, and he would definitely not make the same mistake again in the future, so he was spared the beating and no one raised any objections.

He Dongchuan looked at He Yan who was crying while holding Su Ting, snorted and said, "I hope you can remember the pain this time, and don't give me the chance to hit you back." After that, he put the branch on the fighting cabinet. This place was conspicuous and shocked He Yan.

He Yan's hand was still hurting at the time, and he didn't dare to say anything when he saw it. But after the wound on his hand healed, his mind started to work, and while his parents weren't paying attention, he secretly took the dry branch out and threw it away.

When He Dongchuan came back that night, he discovered this. He learned that the branch was thrown away by He Yan, and sneered, "Do you think you can avoid being beaten if you make a mistake by throwing away the branch? There is a row of trees outside the yard. When they want to beat you, they can just break them apart. If you have the guts, cut down all the trees in that row!"

Of course it was impossible for He Yan to cut down all the trees. He could only sigh deeply. Alas, it was too difficult for him.

…

After He Yan got beaten this time, Su Ting and He Dongchuan both thought that he would be well behaved for a while. They couldn't imagine a year or two, but a month or two should be fine.

As a result, just one week after the incident, He Yan got into trouble again, this time it was a gang fight.

On the way to the fighting location, Su Ting couldn't help thinking that He Yan had been so well behaved in the past six months just to get ready for a big one this month, a three-in-one performance!