Another year pass, she turns sixteen. She is patching the rooftop with the leaves that she found in the forest. She padded them thick throughout the entire rooftop. Hopping that the rain will not slip in. Standing at the rooftop she look at the surrounding and smile. Their yard is huge and big. She have expended the kitchen to inside the house. So that raining days they can walk in the shelter part of the kitchen. Also now they started to keep a few piglets. Soon they are big enough to be sold or mate to produce more pigs. As she smile and look around, she see a group of soldiers walking up towards their home.
"Is this the home of Xie?!"
She watch her father walk to them with his clutch. He bow to them.
"Yes sir, it is. I am Xie Bing. Can i help you?"
"The emperor have issue a decree that every household, one man is to send to the army!"
"What?!"
"We will return in three days time to pick up..." He read at the booklet of names and flip the pages in a hurry.
"Xie Yi Jin!"
At that point Er Jin and her father is shock and the soldiers left to the next house after they put a standard army uniform on the nearby table. Her father stand at the door way for a long time.
Er Yin sit at the rooftop for awhile. She feels cold and as if ants are crawling around her body. Her death brother have to go to war? What nonsense is this?
Her mother walk in with the twin who are skipping and licking the candy in their hand. She ask them what had happen, why her husband's face is ashen. Er Yin decided to move and she climb down the rooftop. She sit on the lower table at the courtyard. She hear her father telling her mother what the soldiers said.
"Our son is already dead! Death for the country! Now they don't even let go a dead man!"
"I don't think that they know eldest brother is dead... after all we did not report to the Yamen on his death..."
"Heavens! What shall we do?"
"We will be punished for not saying the truth!"
"Heavens! We are just farmers who are trying to make a living on these land! Why?!! Why are they making those stupid war!!"
"Never mind, i will go to war."
His wife and children all look at him. His wife grab his arm.
"What are you talking about?! You are not allow to go anywhere with that leg of yours! You can't even walk properly!"
"Father! Don't go!"
The twins beg their father. The candies drop on the floor as they kneel down. Er Yin stare at her family all crying in despair. Her father walk to the new uniform on the table. He touch it and shake his head. Er Yin walk towards him.
"Let me go father... I will go as Yi Jin."
That moment, she hear nothing but silence of the wind. The leaves on the tree ruffles and she see her father slowly turn to her. He had a furious look and he slap her hard on her face. Her mother rush to her eldest child and scold her husband.
"Why!"
"Why? I have to slap her to be awake from the dream she have! She is not my son! She is my daughter! How can she go to the war with men! I may be cripple but i am still an able man!"
Er Yin with her head turn away, she can hear that her parents started to scold each other. While her younger siblings come to her and circle their arms around her. Er Yin buried her head on her younger siblings. She say softy
"If i don't go as eldest brother, we will be charged in deceiving the authorities. The whole family will be jail or chase out of the country or executed. If father goes, will the army accept it? They will presume that eldest brother is a play them as a fool. The whole family will die for it. So it is better i go. Eldest brother and i only one year apart of each other. I know him well enough to pretend to be like him."
"No! You are a girl! You cannot go!"
"Father, are you asking San Cai to go instead? He is the only boy left in this family! His life is more important than mine!"
Her father look at her. His eyes tear.
"You are my daughter. You are important as well..."
That night no one eat well. The twin who is older now understand the importance of what is going on. They eat in silence not to create more problems for the grown ups. After dinner, they knee down in front of the tablet of their eldest brother. With their hands together, they pray to him asking him for help. Not to divide the family and keep everyone alive.
The third day comes and Er Yin put on the army uniform. She had her hair bun up as traditional men style and secure it with a hair band on her forehead. She wakes up before the sunrises. She pray to her eldest brother and ask him to protect the family also she whisper to him that she will take his identity and walk into the men's army to fight the enemy with his name. When she is done, she stands up, her father who is waiting for her outside hand her a dagger.
"This was your grandfather's dagger. He used it to fight off wild animals and men who are no good. Now i pass it to you. Protect yourself. In the army, there is also black sheep around. So beware who you make friends with. Stay safe. Don't be a hero. Run and hide when there is no chance to win. Come back alive, my daughter!"
He wanted to kneel down but Er Yin hold his arm and refuse to allow him to do that.
"You cannot do that father.... that will cut away a few years of my life span...I promise to come back. I will return after we win the war and i will bring lots of money and food back."
Her mother rush to her and give her a bag of steam buns to eat. She smile and the twins give her a few bamboo of tubes that fill with water.
Before the sunrises, the officers come knocking the door. Reluctantly, she report to them and sign the contract under the name of Xie Yi Jin. The soldiers give a bag of rice and a string of coins to her father. Er Yin follow the officer down the road to join the new recruits in a cart. She wave to her family and turn around to board the cart. Slowly the cart move away. She look at the fields that she grow up with where she run freely. Now she is Xie Yi Jin, the son who will protect her family, her land and her secret. She swear to herself that she will return here, alive.