Chapter 2

In a daze, Li Yan was woken up by someone. Opening his eyes, he saw his fourth sister, Li Xiaozhu. Beside him, his third brother was already gone. With red, swollen eyes, Li Xiaozhu looked at him and said, "Fifth Brother, the village chief has come. Father wants you to get up and go over."

Li Yan hadn’t slept much last night. He only fell into a daze after the rooster crowed several times. Sitting up straight, he said to his fourth sister, "Fourth Sister, I’ll go right away."

Li Xiaozhu didn’t move, still looking at him with a reluctant gaze.

Li Yan smiled and said, "Fourth Sister, don’t be like that. I’ll come back to see you all next year. But I don’t know if you’ll be home then."

Li Xiaozhu was taken aback, then blushed and said, "You’re such a smooth talker," before turning and leaving the room.

Li Yan watched his fourth sister’s back and couldn’t help but sigh softly. He didn’t even believe his own words. When he returned next year, even though it was now late summer and early autumn, he didn’t know what would happen in half a year, let alone the next or the following year.

After a quick wash, Li Yan went to the front room. There were five people sitting there: Father, Mother, Third Brother, Fourth Sister, and a sturdy man in his forties. The man sat on a slightly higher and larger chair, with a square face and a full beard, wearing a short-sleeved hunter’s outfit. Despite the early autumn morning in the mountain village, he didn’t look cold, his muscles bulging, and he exuded a commanding presence.

Seeing Li Yan come in, he smiled and said, "Li Yan, you’re a bit late."

Li Yan came to the man and bowed, saying, "Uncle Guoxin, good morning!"

The man’s name was Li Guoxin, the village chief. Besides farming, he was also an excellent hunter, often leading the young men of the village to hunt in the outskirts of the mountains. Thanks to him, the village had fared better than others during the locust disaster, at least no one had starved to death.

Li Guoxin looked at Li Yan, then at Li Yan’s mother and Li Wei and Li Xiaozhu, and said, "Originally, I was planning to go to the county in two days. The second son of the Lao Shan family and the eldest son of the Li Tian family are going to the county to work as kitchen helpers and blacksmith apprentices. I was supposed to take them and get their certificates. Last night, Uncle Chang came to my house and told me about Li Yan’s situation, so I decided to leave today."

Li Yan’s father’s name was Li Chang, and the villagers called him Uncle Chang. Li Guoxin looked at everyone again and continued, "Actually, I told Uncle Chang yesterday that Li Yan could also go to the county to work, like the others. It’s a stable job, but I need to explain something. Working as an apprentice, you have no experience, so you have to start as an apprentice. First, there’s a fee, and second, apprentices have to do all kinds of work and sign a contract. If anything happens during the apprenticeship, the master won’t be responsible. But Uncle Chang still decided to let Li Yan join the army."

This was mainly about money. The Li family didn’t have much. The fee for an apprenticeship was only 500 coins, but for a family of five with a monthly expenditure of about 50 coins, it was nearly a year’s worth of expenses, which they couldn’t afford. Another reason was that apprentices worked very hard, had no personal freedom, and had no dignity until they learned their trade. It was common for masters to injure or even kill apprentices.

Uncle Chang looked at Li Yan and said, "Let’s settle it this way." Then he smiled at the village chief and said, "This will be a bother for Uncle Guoxin."

Li Yan’s mother, with red, swollen eyes, quickly asked the village chief, "Leaving today?"

The village chief nodded and said, "Yes, although conscription is frequent, someone from the village came back from the county yesterday and said that General Hong had already started recruiting soldiers in the morning. This time, the recruits might be for the city guard. These guards usually protect the families of officials and the city’s granaries and armories. They rarely see combat, so it should take only two or three days to recruit enough."

Li Yan’s mother was alarmed, "Oh, there’s going to be a war?" Li Xiaozhu also looked anxiously at Li Guoxin.

Uncle Chang, hearing his wife’s words and seeing his fourth daughter’s worried face, slapped the table in dissatisfaction, "Didn’t Uncle Guoxin say it’s the city guard, protecting the city and homes, not going to war? Look at you two!"

Li Xiaozhu and Li Yan’s mother looked timidly at Li Guoxin. Li Guoxin glanced at Uncle Chang, nodded, and then comforted them, which calmed them down, and they stopped asking questions.

Li Yan, however, had been silent since he entered and greeted everyone. Seeing his mother and fourth sister like this, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of sorrow. A bitter feeling welled up in his throat, and his eyes began to redden. He thought that if he earned money in the future, he would definitely return to take care of his parents and family, no longer leaving them. He wanted to see their contented smiles every day and enjoy the warmth of a happy family.

Although the city guard usually didn’t participate in battles, if a war broke out and the army was short of troops, they would have to defend the city walls. The enemy’s weapons and arrows wouldn’t distinguish between guards and generals, and they would be indiscriminately killed. Additionally, they might have to fight outside the city, which would be real close combat.

However, the city guard was indeed better than other regular troops. Li Wei looked at Li Yan with concern. He vaguely knew that things weren’t as simple as the village chief said.

Li Guoxin, seeing Li Yan’s silence, asked him, "Do you have any questions?"

Li Yan said, "Uncle Guoxin has already said that the city guard is recruited by General Hong to protect granaries, armories, and officials’ homes. This is a good and rare opportunity, and I will do my best to perform well."

Li Guoxin frowned slightly, thinking that Li Yan really believed everything he said. He thought to himself, "On the way, I’ll have to explain things to this young man, so he doesn’t think it’s a risk-free job."

Li Guoxin then bid farewell to Li Yan’s family, "We’ll leave in half an hour. This time, I’m going with three young men. No one from the families can see us off. The 200-mile mountain road is long, and if each family sends someone, the carriage will be too heavy and won’t move fast. We might not reach the county today."

The village only had two good horses. With the carriage and the four of them, they had to reach the county before sunset, which was already a challenge.

Soon after the sun came up, the carriage had left the village. The mountain village slowly receded in the distance. Looking at the few families still standing at the village entrance, including the crying women, the other two boys, only thirteen or fourteen years old, started to cry, wiping their tears.

Li Yan looked at his crying fourth sister and mother, and his limping third brother supporting his father, remaining silent.

Until Li Yan got on the carriage, his third brother and father didn’t say another word, just forcing smiles. His fourth sister and mother kept straightening his coarse new clothes, as if afraid they wouldn’t be neat, crying and reminding him to come back and see them, that there were dry rations and pickled vegetables in the package, and to eat when he was hungry.

Li Yan didn’t cry, but he was holding back tears, feeling a deep pain in his heart. He forced a smile and waved at them, "Father, Mother, Third Brother, Fourth Sister, take care. I’ll bring you many things from the city next time. Third Brother, take good care of the family."

"Little Fifth, remember, remember, go, go."

"Fourth Sister, when I’m settled, I’ll send you some city cosmetics."

"Little Fifth, I’ll wait, sob."

"Little Fifth," with a heart-wrenching cry, Li Yan’s mother collapsed into his fourth sister’s arms.

The other two families were also crying, and the sobs on the carriage grew louder. Li Yan couldn’t hold back his tears anymore, letting them flow freely.

The carriage slowly moved away, leaving behind the place where he grew up, the foot of the Great Green Mountain, and the familiar plants and trees. As the carriage turned a corner, the village slowly became a small black dot and finally disappeared, but the cries from the village seemed to grow louder in the wind.