My name is Chu Xiang, and I was born into a military family.
My grandfather had five sons, and my father was the youngest son of the Chu family.
Grandpa said that my four uncles were very disappointing because they all had sons.
Grandpa gets a headache every time he sees his naughty grandson, and he always longs for a well-behaved granddaughter.
Soon, his wish came true. My mother carried me for ten months and gave birth to a girl, who is me.
Because I am the only granddaughter in the Chu family, the whole family dotes on me very much.
Grandpa, in particular, would play with me whenever he had free time, buy me delicious food, and take me to his old comrades-in-arms to show off.
My grandfather's comrades-in-arms also liked me very much. Wherever I went, there was laughter.
I often sat on my grandfather's lap and listened to him tell stories about war.
Grandpa always spoke with great emotion, making her feel as if she were there. From his stories, I learned what it meant to be amidst gunfire and bloodshed, what it meant to attack and invade, and what it meant to be tenacious and never give up.
I've always been brave since I was little, fearless, and I don't cry easily. I can express what I want and what I want to do very clearly.
Unlike my third cousin from my uncle's family, who often cries and speaks incoherently, leaving people confused.
However, there was a reason why my third cousin was crying: he was seriously ill and sickly.
I often call him "Sick Brother".
My brother and I, who are sick, don't have to train like the other brothers, but we would watch them train while eating snacks. If any of the brothers fell, we would laugh without holding back.
The older brothers weren't angry; instead, they looked at us with doting smiles.
Before I turned three, I lived like a carefree little princess, always the darling of everyone wherever I went.
My nightmare began after I turned three.
That day, Dad brought home a seriously injured aunt. The aunt was very badly injured and lay in bed every day, even needing to be fed.
My dad took me to see my aunt. She smiled at me, but I found her smile terrifying, and I never wanted to see her again.
After my aunt came to my house, my grandfather, who was in good health, fell ill. He often shouted and yelled, and he couldn't recognize people, including me.
Dad and uncles were extremely anxious and searched everywhere for doctors to examine Grandpa, but none of them could find anything wrong with him.
I overheard someone say that my grandfather had gone mad.
I was only three years old and didn't know what madness was, but my grandfather looked really scary. Several times when I went to see him, he tried to hit me.
I miss the kind grandfather who smiled and called me Xiangxiang, and who held me and told me stories. I don't want the stern, bad grandfather.
Until one day, my father and uncles invited a doctor surnamed Liao back. That doctor was very skilled. I heard him say that there was a bad person in my grandfather's body who was harming him.
Dr. Liao can help Grandpa drive the bad guys out, and Grandpa will be able to go back to normal.
I am very happy and look forward to Grandpa returning to how he used to be.
That day, Dr. Liao stayed in Grandpa's room for a long time. I waited at the door until I got tired and fell asleep without realizing it.
In a daze, my mother carried me back to the house. I asked her, "Is Grandpa alright?"
Mom said it will be soon; Grandpa will be fine as soon as I wake up.
I hugged the little tiger plush toy my mom gave me, and smiled as I fell asleep again.
I don't know how much time passed, but then I heard the door open. I thought it was my mother calling me. I opened my eyes, but I saw that scary aunt.
Just as I was about to speak, my aunt ran over, covered my mouth with a handkerchief, and then I knew nothing more.
When I woke up again, I was in a very unfamiliar place, and next to me was that aunt who was laughing horribly.
I hit her and kicked her. I said I wanted to go home, I wanted my grandpa, my dad and mom.
My wicked auntie held me down and said, "I can never go home again."
I didn't believe her. I wanted to go home. I tried everything to escape home, but I never succeeded.
But I'm not afraid, because the little tiger my mom gave me is still here. With it by my side, it's like my mom is with me, and I'm not afraid of anything.
My wicked aunt took me to a place where there were many older boys. One of them was my aunt's nephew, named Xiaotian.
I don't like my bad aunt, nor do I like her nephew, so when he tried to pull me away, I dodged him and shouted at them, "My grandfather is a great general, my uncles and aunts, and my parents are all very powerful. They will definitely come to take me home."
That mean auntie pushed me down and said a bunch of things I couldn't understand in a very fierce way.
I was in a lot of pain, but I didn't cry. I got up and yelled at my aunt, "I want to go home!"
The wicked aunt's face became even more terrifying, like those man-eating beasts in Grandpa's stories, extremely frightening.
The boy named Xiaotian suddenly stood in front of me and begged his aunt not to hurt me.
At the time, I wasn't grateful to him at all; on the contrary, I thought he was just as awful as my aunt.
Later, I was locked in a room where another wicked aunt said all sorts of nonsense to me every day. I didn't want to listen to a single word. I only had one thought in my mind: I wanted to go home.
I didn't listen to her, and the bad auntie got angry, threw things, and tried to scare me. I have a little tiger, so I'm not afraid. I even found her behavior a little funny, like the clown gift my dad once gave me.
My wicked aunt couldn't do anything with me, so she locked me in a cage. It was pitch black all around, and I huddled in a corner with my little tiger cub, waiting for my parents to come and rescue me.
I'm so hungry. I want to eat and drink. I miss the delicious food, sweet fruit, brown sugar water, and milk from home.
I miss the osmanthus cake my mom used to make, the candied hawthorns my brothers bought me, and the big chicken legs my aunts brought me...
The more I think about it, the hungrier I get, and the hungrier I get, the more I miss my home and family.
But I always believed that they would come to save me, and that one day I would be able to go home and be back with my family.
The boy named Xiaotian suddenly appeared and brought me water and food. I wouldn't eat anything from a bad person, so I threw everything away and didn't want to talk to him.
But later, I was so hungry and thirsty that I thought I would die if I didn't eat or drink anything, and if I died, I wouldn't be able to wait for my parents to come and save me.
I ate the food and water that Xiaotian brought, and I'm going to wait for my family to come and rescue me.
After that, every time I was locked up, Xiaotian would bring me food and water, and talk to me.
Gradually, I realized he wasn't a bad person, and I didn't dislike him as much anymore. I even started calling him Brother Xiaotian.
Grandpa once said that one person's strength is insignificant, and that victory can only be achieved when many people unite together.
With Xiaotian, I am no longer alone. At least, he can provide me with food and water, and keep me alive.
My mother said that as long as a person is alive, there is hope.
And so, I don't know how much time passed, so much so that I forgot my family, forgot my own name, and forgot why I was in this place.
But the only thing I remember is that I want to go home.
That wicked aunt refused to care about me anymore, and I thought I had finally won.
Until one day, my wicked aunt, who had kidnapped me, took me to a place.
It was a room, and inside the room was a large, transparent jar containing a person. There was also a fire burning the person underneath the jar.
She was also an aunt. I felt like I knew her, but I couldn't remember who she was.
The naughty auntie laughed happily and said a lot of nonsensical things that I couldn't understand a word of.
After I got back, I kept thinking about my aunt in the water tank. I don't know why, but I really wanted to see her and didn't want her to suffer.
When no one was looking, I secretly ran to that room. My aunt was no longer in the water vat, but in a large vat where many insects were biting her.
I helped rescue my aunt. Seeing her covered in long, fat, black worms, I wasn't scared at all. I helped her remove the worms one by one.
My aunt looked at my arm and then said that I was her daughter and she was my mother.
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