But in the end he didn't escape.
That afternoon, I had just brought the cow back to the cowshed and was wiping the mud on it with grass when I heard the clanging sound of a gong coming from the entrance of the village, breaking the usual tranquility of the village.
All the dogs in the village barked one after another.
I threw the hay in my hand on the ground, wondering, and ran towards the entrance of the village with the hoe on my shoulder.
Many villagers are like me. When they hear the sound of the gong, they put down their work and move over there in twos and threes.
The conscripts are here.
Several people wearing gray cloth stood on the big stone at the entrance of the village. Next to them stood a faded flag. The leader held a piece of paper in his hand and shouted at the top of his voice.
"Japanese Invaders is heading south, Jiangnan is in danger! There is a shortage of people on the battlefield ahead, let's protect our country together!"
The crowd suddenly fell silent.
I squeezed in among the adults and stood at the back, slowly clenching my hands. The folks around me looked at me and I looked at you, but no one said anything.
Everyone knows in their hearts that people will die in war.
People who fled have told too many bloody scenes. When the shells are fired, people are gone. Broken arms and legs are commonplace.
People in mountain villages care about their lives. They guard a third of an acre of land and just want their family to live in peace. No one wants to live a good life and risk their lives outside.
The speaker talked for a long time, talking about home and country, and what would happen if the Japanese invaded.
But most of the folks standing below just lowered their heads, picked at the corners of their clothes, and kicked the mud under their feet. No one took the initiative to stand forward.
Someone whispered, not loudly, but close enough to me that I could hear it clearly.
"Going to the front line? Isn't that risking your life?"
"I have only one child in my family. If I leave, who will support my parents?"
"It's not far away. If the Japanese really come, let's find a way to hide in the mountains. It's better than going out and dying."
My father's problems are getting worse every year. He can't even walk a few steps without being out of breath. Not to mention carrying a gun to fight, even going to the fields to weed is a struggle. My younger brother is still young, only nine years old, short and short, and he follows me and plays in the mud every day.
My heart was in a mess, so I turned around and walked back slowly, my footsteps heavy along the way.
When I got home, my mother was lighting a fire by the stove. The thick smoke made her eyes red. When she saw me coming back, she casually asked what happened at the entrance of the village. I didn't dare to tell him directly, so I just squatted on the threshold.
"The conscripts are here to recruit people to fight the Japanese on the front lines."
The fire pliers in my mother's hand fell to the ground. She was stunned for a long time, bent down to pick them up, her hands were shaking, and she didn't speak for a long time.
Dad was sitting on a bamboo chair in the corner of the room. He had been coughing. When he heard these words, his cough suddenly stopped. He raised his head and looked at me, his face turned gray.
"Dog Leftover, don't go"
I lowered my head and stared at the pebbles in the soil under my feet. I didn't want to go either.
I can't let go of this field, I can't let go of the buffalo, I can't let go of my mother's pickles, I can't let go of the small piece of maltose that I get every New Year
I am still thinking that in a few years, I will save enough money and food to take my brother to the town and buy him a big candy.
But the face of the refugee keeps spinning in my mind over and over again
I will never forget those people who were covered in wounds and cried that their villages were burned and their relatives were killed.
If all of us don't go, who will stop the devils?
In those days, the atmosphere in the whole village was as dull as the day before a rainstorm.
The conscripts walked around the village every day, trying to persuade them from house to house, but there were still only a few who were willing to leave.
Occasionally, a few families gritted their teeth and registered their names. On the day before leaving, the whole family burst into tears. Most of the remaining people tried their best to shirk it.
Some said that they were sick and could not work, and some said that the elderly at home were paralyzed in bed and could not live without people.
Some simply took their half-grown children and hid in a cave at Back Mountain, waiting for the conscripts to leave before returning.
When the news reached my ears, I was sitting next to the cowshed and touching the rough horns of the old buffalo.
The buffalo slowly swung its tail to drive away the flies, unaware of the bad things happening outside.
My brother ran over and pulled my sleeve.
"Brother, what do those people at the entrance of the village do?"
I turned my head to look at him. He had bright eyes, but he didn't understand anything yet. He was still thinking about letting me take him up the mountain to dig out a bird's nest when the weather cleared.
I raised my hand to rub his head and gently pulled his hand away.
"It's nothing, it's an adult matter"
Lying in bed at night, I tossed and turned and couldn't sleep. A little bit of moonlight leaked from the thatched roof and fell on the ground.
Sometimes I think of the rice waiting to be harvested in the fields, sometimes I think of the distant stories told by the old man next to Shi Nian, and sometimes I think of the refugees' eyes that are red from crying.
But I still don't dare to go to war because I'm afraid of death.
I originally planned to hide.
But there is always a curiosity in my heart.
I have seen them from a distance several times, with short guns hanging on their waists. I have never seen real soldiers, and I always want to get closer and take a closer look.
That afternoon, I finished cutting half a basket of grass and put it in the cowshed
My parents were busy working in the house. I hesitated for a long time and moved my feet involuntarily towards the entrance of the village.
I don't want to join the army and fight, I'm just curious and want to see what the leader looks like.
Several people were sitting next to the big stone roller. Other soldiers were arranging the ropes nearby. The leader was leaning on the roller to smoke. He looked young, only in his twenties. He heard the people next to him call him, Captain Fang.
I didn't dare to get too close, so I squatted behind the bushes on the roadside and looked at it secretly.
Unexpectedly, Captain Fang, with his sharp eyes, had caught a glimpse of me a long time ago. He put out the cigarette in his hand, raised his head and shouted towards me.
"That young man, what are you doing hiding behind the tree? Come and sit here."
My body froze, my heart skipped a beat, I was in a dilemma
I wanted to turn around and run, but felt that would be too cowardly. I hesitated for a long time, then walked out slowly, and moved step by step to the big stone mill. I lowered my head and kept grinding the soil on the ground with my toes, not daring to look up at him.
"Which family are you from?"
Captain Fang spoke, his voice was very calm, not as loud as when he shouted.
"I belong to Lao Wang's family in the west of the village. People in the village call me Dog Leftover" I whispered back to him.
As soon as he finished speaking, the two soldiers next to him couldn't help but laugh softly.
My ears suddenly felt hot, and I clenched my fists subconsciously. People in the village were used to calling this name, but to say it in front of outsiders was embarrassing.
Captain Fang raised his hand to signal the person next to him not to laugh, and he looked at me seriously.
"Dog Leftover, it's a nickname, right? Gentlemen must have a resounding name."
When I grew up, I only had a nickname, and my parents never gave me a formal name. Many poor families in the mountains are like this. It is not easy to feed their children, so a nickname is often omitted.
"I don't have a name"
Captain Fang thought for a moment, his eyes fell on me, and he spoke slowly.
"Then I'll give you a name, Lei, three stones. The stones are piled up, strong and tough. Wang Lei, how about this name?"
Wang Lei.
I silently recited it twice in my mind. It's not as rustic as Dog Leftover, and it sounds solid.
"Well, this will be your name from now on."
Captain Fang Look at me
"I see that you have a strong body and have been doing farm work all year round, so you are very strong. Do you want to follow us?"
As soon as I finished the question, the fear I had just suppressed came up again. I subconsciously took a half step back, my lips were dry.
I was curious about the soldiers and the outside world, but I was still afraid of death. The shells exploded, blood and flesh were flying everywhere, and the scene of the refugees crying came to mind again. I didn't want to die.
I stared down at my bare feet covered with thick calluses, not daring to answer for a long time.
Captain Fang didn't rush me, he just spoke slowly.
"I won't force you, but think about it carefully, can you really avoid this matter? The reason why the Japanese didn't attack here is because someone else stepped up. If no one stepped up, everyone who hits here will die."
My mind is in a mess. On one side is my warm and stable home, my parents, my younger brother, the old buffalo, and the maltose I look forward to every year.
On one side is the flames of war filling the sky in the distance, and I don't know if I can survive the way forward.
Captain Fang stopped persuading me and turned around to explain other matters to my subordinates, leaving me alone to think about it quietly.
I thought of the refugee woman who passed by the village a few days ago, sitting at the entrance of the village with the body of her dead child in her arms, her tears running dry, and she couldn't even make a sound when she cried. I thought of the old man in the village sighing and saying that the mountains can't stop the guns.
If everyone hides, who will stop the Japanese?