Hospital No. 444

When David woke up, he felt very cold.

A deep cold.

"so cold……"

David stood up wrapped in a quilt, walked to the closet, took an extra quilt, then returned to the bed and wrapped it around himself again.

But he found... it was still not warm enough.

Still cold.

"What's going on?"

Today is his nineteenth birthday.

On my birthday... I didn't expect to wake up like this.

He lay on the bed for a while, and then realized...he couldn't sleep any more.

When it gets cold, I feel hungry.

David stood up from the bed, put on some clothes, and carefully came outside, preparing to go to the kitchen to make some midnight snacks.

In this village, obtaining food has never been an easy matter. As for crops, there is no guarantee of harvests due to drought or flood, and food such as poultry, eggs, and milk are not so easy to obtain.

Fortunately... the David family has quite a surplus of food.

But what I didn't expect was that as soon as I walked outside, I saw my sister Dai Lan holding a flashlight and flipping through a book.

"Hey, Dai Lan! You..."

"elder brother!"

Dai Lan was shocked when he saw David, "You scared me to death."

David walked up to her and said, "Aren't you afraid of myopia when you get up so late to read?"

Dai Lan lowered his head in grievance and said, "I...I..."

"Hey, forget it." David looked at the book she was reading, which was a book introducing tourist attractions. There is an illustration in the book, which is a beach.

"Brother, I want to see the sea." Dai Lan pointed to the photo in front of him, "If it weren't for this photo, I wouldn't have known the sea looked like this."

David looked at the photo and said, "There's nothing we can do about it. Your brother and I haven't seen the sea either."

Dai Lan thought for a while and said to David: "Brother, by the way, today is your nineteenth birthday, right? Happy birthday!"

"Xiao Nizi, you just remembered. Why did you get up so late to read?"

"I have to study in school during the day, so I don't even have time to read. But class is really boring, there are only a few teachers, and there are no textbooks."

Dai Lan held the book and said: "Brother, do you want me to make you a cake? I have read a book about baking..."

"No need," David shook his head: "Why do you want to imitate Westerners' birthday celebrations and just have a bowl of longevity noodles?"

"Your name obviously sounds very similar to a Westerner..."

David has always been very protective of his little sister, and the relationship between the two siblings has always been very good.

"elder brother……"

"Um?"

"After your birthday, you will join the village patrol team."

"Ah, yes. When you reach the age of nineteen, you are no longer a student, you are an adult, and you have to contribute to the village."

Dai Lan continued to look at the book in front of him and suddenly said: "Brother, ten years ago, I was not born yet... At that time, the village was not what it is now. At that time, you..."

"Dai Lan." David sighed, patted the back of Dai Lan's hand and said, "I don't want to recall what happened ten years ago."

"Oh fine."

Ten years ago…

So to say……

Indeed, it has been almost ten years.

"Huh?" At this moment, Dai Lan suddenly thought of something and said to David, "Brother, why are you up in the middle of the night?"

David felt that it was a bit embarrassing to say in front of his sister that he wanted to find something to eat because he was cold and hungry, so he quickly said: "Of course I noticed you reading here, so I got up to check."

Dai Lan looked at his brother carefully, with an expression of disbelief on his face.

"Brother, are you sure?"

"I'm sure...sure..."

"All right."

David rubbed his sister Dailan's head and said, "Go to bed. Let's both go."

"Oh fine……"

Arriving at the bed, David continued to lie on the bed.

Suddenly, he noticed that flying snow began to fall outside the window.

"Snowing?"

It seems that this winter is not so easy to survive.

At this time, David recalled Dai Lan's words just now.

Ten years ago... he was only nine years old at that time.

He still clearly remembers everything that happened.

Although he was very young, he still vividly remembered his father who often worked in the fields and grew organic vegetables. Most of the working-age people in the village like to work in the city, so there are many old and weak women and children in the village. Many people of David's age are left-behind children. But my father is different. He does not plan to go to a big city to work.

At that time, my mother had just become pregnant with Dai Lan. She suffered from severe morning sickness and was unable to work in the fields. Dad took over all the farm work on himself. At that time, he could be said to be the most diligent and hard-working farmer in the village.

But no one expected that in that winter, the whole village...

"call……"

David let out a breath, which quickly turned into mist.

He is...nineteen years old.

…

I don’t know how long it took for David to wake up and open his eyes.

At this time, the white fish belly was just showing in the east outside.

David still felt cold.

The wind and snow outside are still the same.

David opened the door and found that his father and mother were both up.

At this time, they were preparing breakfast for the family.

"David," David's father said immediately when he saw him, "are you up so early?"

"Well, Dad, get up."

At this time, Dad was carrying firewood, picked up the match, and lit it.

There is no natural gas or running water in the village. Ten years ago... these things originally existed, but now, everyone can only rely on themselves and be self-sufficient.

Although there is no running water, there is well water. My mother went outside to fetch water from the well early in the morning, and when her father lit the firewood, she started to boil the water.

"David," David's mother said with a smile, "Today is your birthday. If you come back early tonight, I will make you Shou noodles and pork ribs noodles."

"Okay!" David laughed immediately when he heard the ribs.

Although the supply of meat cannot be said to be tight, every household hopes to keep more meat.

"David," David's father said, "In the afternoon, you follow me and bring some of our home-cured bacon to Captain Lin's house. You are nineteen and have to participate in daily patrols in the village. This month, Captain Lin will He takes turns to be the captain. He needs to be managed more or less."

"Yes, your father is right." David's mother also nodded and said, "Captain Lin is pretty good and he is easy to talk to."

"okay."

"Remember," David's father reminded: "When the time comes to see Captain Lin, be smarter, have a sweeter mouth, and be more versatile than flattery."

"I know, Dad, Mom."

It's about nine o'clock in the morning.

David put on his leather jacket and went out.

At the age of nineteen, he no longer needs to go to school, and in this winter, he has no farm work to busy himself with.

He gradually followed the others and came to a square in the village.

In the center of the square is Uncle Zhao, the most virtuous and respected person in the village.

In front of him was a box.

"Okay, everyone, it's almost time. Then, I'll start drawing lots."

He walked to the lottery box and said: "There are one hundred and forty-two people in the village now. Excluding the children under nineteen years old and the elderly over fifty years old, there are only twenty-eight young adults."

David knew that now, he was one of the young adults.

"Now, I will draw lots to decide who will be on the patrol tonight. Except for Captain Lin Tai, I will choose the other eight people."

Everyone in the square was obviously a little impatient.

"Uncle Zhao, it doesn't bother you if I say this every day!"

"Hurry up! It's so cold!"

So, Uncle Zhao put his hand into the lottery box in front of him...

His hand will determine the lineup of the patrol!

The lottery box in front of you is actually not strictly one person, one vote.

Some people, if the harvest at home is not good and food is scarce, they can choose to put in an extra piece of paper with their name on it and receive a certain amount of food. On the contrary, if you are willing to donate your food to the village, you can have one month to draw the lottery box without putting your name in it.

"First...David!"

Upon hearing this, David was completely stunned.