Quick Wear: Under the Skirt, All Beings Are Equal

“It’s hot, hot, hot… get out of the way, it’s hot…”

A child ran in with a big sweet potato in his hand. He switched it from left hand to right hand, then from right hand to left hand, tossing it back and forth trying to relieve the heat from having just taken it out.

The woman's voice rang out from outside the house: "Girl, I asked you to wrap something up, but your hands are just pot towels. Aren't you afraid of getting blisters from being burned?"

The child just smiled and ran towards Changqing.

After Chang Qing strode forward and took the sweet potato, she put her little hand to her lips and blew on it, then tilted her head and smiled at Chang Qing.

"Are you a very powerful general?" The girl waved her hands and danced with joy. Her bright eyes were like those of a deer, which could melt people's hearts.

"Hmm." Chang Qing pretended to think for a while before slowly saying, "Yes, I am that kind of extremely powerful general, the kind that others are afraid of when they see me."

"What's your name?"

"My name is Taoyao, big brother, what's your name?" Little Taoyao sat on the bench, holding her face with her hands and staring at Changqing.

After Chang Qing peeled the sweet potato, he gave half to the old man who was leaning on the pillow on the bed, and then gave his half to Tao Yao: "Xu Jin Huan."

Xiao Taoyao did not take the sweet potato handed over by Changqing, but frowned slightly and muttered: "Why do I feel like I have heard of this name? Oh, I remember, you are that very powerful general."

"Brother, is there going to be a war?"

Xiao Taoyao said: "I heard people in the village say that a fight was going to break out, and then my father asked my mother to take my brother and me back to my grandmother's house. He said that he would join the army when the adults in the city started recruiting soldiers. Other brothers in the village also said the same thing."

The children actually had no concept of war, but because so many people heard about it, they kept it in their minds.

Xiao Taoyao doesn't like fighting. The woman at the village entrance who always likes to visit said that Er Niang's man went to the battlefield and never came back, and then Luo Luo lost her father.

"Xiao Taoyao, come to grandpa." The old man on the bed waved at Xiao Taoyao kindly, and his skinny fingers touched his granddaughter's tender face.

"We have nothing but the passion to defend our country. Your father is going to the battlefield not only to protect you, but also to protect many people like you. When you grow up, you will understand that this is an honor."

Xiao Taoyao nodded as if she understood, then ran out of the house quickly.

"Where are you going, girl?"

"I'm going to find Luo Luo."

Xiao Taoyao didn't reply. After a while, she brought a girl of the same age as herself. The girl was a little different from Xiao Taoyao in her cheerfulness and generosity. She seemed a little embarrassed and shy when she saw outsiders.

She followed the little peach demon and shouted, "Big brother."

"Where's your mother?"

"My mother fell asleep, so I sneaked out after making dinner."

Chang Qing reached out and touched her head, then bent down, picked up the little girl and let her ride on his neck.

Luoluo suddenly burst into tears quietly. Although she was only two years old when her father died, that scene was always in her mind: the sun was very red and big, and her father was sitting on the doorstep, making a hoe with a knife. When he saw her, he smiled and put her on his neck, playing with her crazily.

Luoluo actually can't remember what her father looks like, but her mother said that her father was a hero.

Playing like this, Luo Luo's empty heart seemed to be filled, as if she had returned to her childhood. She stretched out her hands and put her arms around Chang Qing's neck, and a clear laugh rang out.

As it was getting dark, Changqing found some paper and left two letters. After stamping them with his seal, he handed them to Luoluo and Xiaohu.

"If you need any help, you can come to me with this letter as evidence. When life gets better, you can also use this letter to get some subsidies from the government. Luoluo, go back and discuss it with your mother and find a place to hide first."

Changqing didn't have much money with him, so he only left two cents to buy buns and gave the rest to Luoluo.

Luo Luo said that her mother had fallen asleep and it was not convenient for them to disturb her. Besides, she was a widow now and they were afraid of scaring her mother if they showed up at her house rashly.

Now, only Xiaohu's family and Luoluo's family are left in the village. Knowing that the war is about to come, the family has made a decision. Since Xiaohu is going to join the army, Xiao Taoyao and others will follow their mother to take refuge in their grandfather's house, which is considered safe for now.

Luo Luo looked at the silver, slowly lowered her eyes and shook her head: "Big brother, I can't take it, and mother won't be happy either."

Chang Qing said softly: "This is what you deserve, but your family has never come to claim it, so don't feel any psychological burden."

"Your father is a hero, and the family of a hero shouldn't live in such poverty. I heard from Xiao Taoyao that your mother is in poor health and can't work in the fields. Take the money and buy some food to nourish your mother."

Luoluo then took the silver, put it in her pocket and headed towards home.

Chang Qing was not very reassured. After all, this place was too close to Jiang State, and people from Jiang State came to harass from time to time. Luo Luo's home was not close to Xiao Tao Yao's home either, so he used the excuse of looking at the surrounding terrain and followed Luo Luo not far away.

Luoluo also felt it, turned around and smiled at them. When they arrived at the door of her house, they saw a thin woman with beautiful hair wrapped in a blue headscarf. She was feeding chickens outside.

"Auntie."

Luoluo walked over and snatched the thing from the woman's hand, then urged her to go into the house. She fed the chickens outside, then picked up a small bucket, scooped some pig food, and tiptoed to pour it into the pigsty.

Because she was small and couldn't lift heavy things, I had to run three times in a row to feed her a meal.

The woman didn't leave. Instead, she leaned against the door and used needle and thread to make slippers for Luoluo. Then she bit the thread off with her teeth. She smiled gently and asked, "Luoluo, what kind of pattern do you like?"

Luo Luo shook her head: "Just do it directly, just like mother did."

If she were to embroider, it would take up a lot of her mother's energy. Luoluo felt sorry for her mother, and she couldn't bear to see her mother in poor health and spending energy on a pair of shoes for herself.

My mother's shoes have always had plain patterns, but mine have all kinds of patterns, which makes other children in the village envious.

Luoluo had seen that her mother's shoes were very gorgeous and beautiful, but after her father died, life became too difficult, so her mother pawned those shoes.