Chapter 140 Stepfather Xu Heye followed Dong Fuyun and went door to door...
Xu Heye followed Dong Fuyun and went door to door to treat people to meals.
But no one was too embarrassed to go. There were so many people, and they were eating out the rich. Besides, they didn't play any role.
The two sides went back and forth, repeatedly procrastinating, and finally reached an agreement - the adults would not go, but the children at home could follow Xu Heye and Dong Fuyun to the restaurant to eat some delicious food and satisfy their cravings.
Xu Heye looked at the group of children and waved her arm: "Children, come on, follow me to eat delicious food."
Xu Heye specially called Lian Jiashu.
With Lian Yushu around, Lian's mother felt at ease handing her youngest son over to them.
A year later, Lian Jiashu had grown a lot taller and looked almost the same height as Lian Yushu. Their eyebrows and eyes were also very similar, but their expressions were very different.
Lian Yushu's eyes are calm and deep, and Lian Jiashu is as naive as ever.
He rarely left Zhangshu Lane, especially after the incident last year. Lian's mother kept a closer eye on him. She kept him confined to his house every day, rarely even leaving the courtyard. Let alone leaving Zhangshu Lane to eat at a restaurant.
He followed his brother, exploring the world excitedly but cautiously.
The vehicles on the road, a tree on the roadside, a telephone pole, and the pedestrians walking towards him all made him feel scared and curious.
Xu Heye looked at it and sighed.
Fate can be so unfair. This year, Aunt Lian took Lian Jiashu to several hospitals, but none could cure him. Perhaps he would never be cured in this lifetime. This was the only way to stay pure.
Lian Yushu felt very uncomfortable when he saw his brother like this. He could see that Jiashu was very curious about everything outside.
They were unwilling to admit that Lian Jiashu had become "stupid", but they locked him up at home like a real fool.
After dinner, Lian Yushu took his younger brother back home. When passing by the grocery store, he walked over and called the factory where Lian's father worked, asking his father to find time to come back.
Two days later, Lian's father finished his overtime work and rushed home.
A family of four sat at a square table. Lian Jiashu was holding a tin frog in his hand, jumping around and imitating the frog's calls, making loud noises.
The other three people at the table had very ugly expressions, and Lian's mother was particularly devastated.
"Lian Yushu, what do you mean by that? What do you mean we should accept our fate? Your brother is just sick, he's not born stupid. As long as we don't give up, we will find a doctor to cure him one day."
Lian Yushu understood his mother's breakdown, but he still wanted to say, "Mom, how many doctors have you taken Jiashu to see over the years? If not a hundred, at least ninety, right?"
"You've been to Hucheng, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen... You've been to every major city in China. You've seen so many doctors, but has anyone ever told you that your brother can recover?"
"No!"
"So, Mom, we have to start preparing for the worst. What will happen to him in the future if he can't recover?"
"Do you know how excited Jiashu was when I took him to a nearby restaurant for dinner today? He's never been out of this alley in all these years, except for seeking medical treatment in other cities. So even a restaurant less than a few hundred meters away was incredibly exciting and intriguing to him."
"Jiashu is already sixteen. I'm not saying we should give up on him. But I think we should give up hope and start considering what to do if he can't recover in this lifetime."
"Mom, you're taking care of him now, and I can take care of him in the future, too. But we can't be with him all the time. There will always be times when Jiashu is alone, and he needs to learn to take care of himself and protect himself."
He had this idea after what happened last summer. Jiashu was too well protected and had no sense of defense at all. But at that time, Lian Jiashu had just been frightened and his parents were not prepared, so he did not speak up.
Lian's mother's eyes widened: "Lian Yushu, are you too old and your mind has become wild? Don't you want to take care of your brother anymore?"
She stood up and pointed at Lian Yushu's nose, saying, "Lian Yushu, don't you forget? It was because of you that your brother fell from the tree and hit his head, leaving him like this. You promised us that you would take care of your brother for the rest of his life. It's only been a few years, and you've changed your mind?"
There was a hint of pain in Lian Yushu's eyes, but it quickly disappeared.
Seeing this, Lian's father hurriedly grabbed Lian's mother's arm and said, "Don't talk about the child like that."
He then looked at Lian Yushu: "Yushu, don't listen to your mother's nonsense. Jiashu's injury was an accident and has nothing to do with you." It is common for children to run around and make noise, and climb trees and walls.
It was just that his youngest son unfortunately hit his head, but it was not the eldest son's fault, after all, he was only a few years old at the time.
Ultimately, if anyone should be blamed for this matter, it should be their parents. It was they who failed to educate their children well and let them know what they can and cannot do.
"Dad, I understand." Lian Yushu said, looking at his mother, his voice sincere and serious: "Mom, I never thought of abandoning Jiashu."
"But taking care of him and helping him learn to take care of himself are two different things. These two things are not contradictory. Besides—"
Lian Yushu paused, then continued, "Mom, life is unpredictable. Who can guarantee that we will live to see Jiashu's death? You always think that while you are here, you can take care of Jiashu, and after you are gone, I still have your brother. But how can you be sure that I will live to see that day?"
"If one day all his parents and brothers are gone, and Jiashu is only concerned with seeking medical treatment and medicine, without any ability to survive, how will he survive?"
"I'm not trying to shirk responsibility. I just hope that Jiashu can take care of himself even if we're not here."
"If I'm hungry in the morning, I know how to make porridge and rice to fill my stomach. If there's no rice or flour at home, I know I can use money to buy more. If I'm sick, I know I have to go to the hospital to see a doctor and get medicine. Mom, Jiashu is very smart. Even if he can't recover, he will still be a smart child. As long as we are willing to teach him, he will definitely learn."
Lian's father thought for a moment and looked at his wife: "Wife, I think Yushu is right. Jiashu is already sixteen years old. We must teach him to take care of himself. Even if he can't work and earn money, at least he should be able to take care of himself."
Lian's father thought more deeply.
He believed that Yushu, as an older brother, was willing to take care of his younger brother, but what about the future?
Once the eldest son gets married and starts a family, will his future daughter-in-law still be willing to put Jiashu first in everything? Furthermore, if both son and daughter-in-law are willing to take care of this younger brother, how much energy will they have left for Jiashu? Especially after they have children.
He had to work hard to earn money and leave some security for Jiashu, but Jiashu himself also had to be able to take care of his own life.
Thinking of this, Lian's father suddenly felt that educating his youngest son was urgent.
"Wife, from now on, teach Jiashu how to do housework, starting with cooking and washing clothes. Once he can do these, slowly teach him how to go to the bank to withdraw money and how to buy things."
Lian's mother has always trusted Lian's father. Once her husband makes a decision, she basically won't object. Besides, she knows in her heart that what her eldest son says makes sense.
That's how it was settled.
The next morning, when Lian's mother got up, she called her youngest son and asked him to cook porridge with her.
Cooking is difficult, and stir-frying is not easy either. Cooking porridge is the simplest process, but it also requires starting a fire, burning the coal stove, then washing the rice, adding water, and stewing the porridge.
After three days of experimenting, Lian Jiashu finally managed to cook a pot of porridge that was wetter than rice and thicker than porridge. He then followed his mother's example and scooped a bowl of kimchi from the jar that her mother had specially made for breakfast.
Elsewhere, after Xu Heye had finished entertaining the neighbors, she also wanted to treat Captain Yu, Teacher Zhu, and Director Ji, who looked serious but was actually very enthusiastic, to a meal. These three had helped her a lot in getting the certificate of loss.
However, all three of them declined Xu Heye's invitation, saying that it was their duty and they didn't need her thanks.
Back in his hometown, Xu Hui was a little uneasy for several days.
In the morning, Dong Taohua cooked a pot of sweet potato porridge and asked Xu Hui to put the rice porridge into a bowl and let it cool. The weather was hot, and the freshly cooked porridge was boiling hot and needed to cool down before it could be eaten.
Xu Hui responded and took the bowl to scoop up the porridge, but it all poured onto his hands. He let out a cry of pain, and the bowl and spoon in his hands fell to the ground.
Dong Taohua was cooking when she heard this and turned to see Xu Hui's hand was red and scalded. She subconsciously turned off the gas, turned on the faucet, and held his hand under the water to rinse.
While pouring cold water on him, she anxiously accused him, "I'm really fed up with you. I asked you to scoop porridge and you burned your hand."
The temperature of the hot porridge just out of the pot was too high. Even though Xu Hui rinsed his hands with water in time, his hands were still red and had a layer of blisters.
The two hurried to the hospital again, and after taking the medicine and returning home, Dong Taohua could no longer hold back and asked.
"Xu Hui, what's wrong with you? Ever since I told you about the acceptance letter the night before last, you've been so distracted. I know you blame me and my brother, but if you have something on your mind, just say it directly. Don't be so absent-minded all the time."
"You can't hurt me like this, but you will. Yesterday, I almost sprained my ankle when I went downstairs, and today I burned myself while serving porridge. What about tomorrow? What problems will happen tomorrow?"
Xu Hui shook his head and looked at his wife helplessly: "I don't blame you."
"You are you, and your elder brother is your elder brother. I won't take my anger out on my wife because of an outsider."
Dong Taohua put her hands on her hips and said, "Then tell me the truth, what happened to you these past two days?"
Before Xu Hui could speak, she warned him, "Don't make up any excuses to fool me, or I won't let you into the house at night."
Xu Hui sighed and said what was hidden in his heart: "Taohua, you also know that my biological father died young, and my mother brought me to my stepfather's house to grow up."
Dong Taohua nodded: "But since my mother-in-law passed away, didn't my stepfather's family cut off contact?"
They were classmates in Hucheng, and after going to the countryside they were in the same brigade. It was natural for them to get together. When they got married, they had already told each other about their family situations.
Xu Hui knew that Dong Taohua's mother had died young, and that she had a father, an older brother, and younger sisters and brothers at home. He also knew that her father remarried not long after and gave his job to his stepson.
Dong Taohua also knew that his biological father died early, and he followed his mother to remarry. Later, he went to the countryside to replace his stepbrother from his stepfather's family. After his mother passed away, he lost contact with his stepfather's family.
"It's been so many years, why did you suddenly think of them again? And because they are so devastated."
Xu Hui was also distracted when he first learned that his stepfather and his family had abandoned him and moved away quietly.
He is a sentimental person. Even if they are not biological father or brothers, after living together for so many years, they are no different from family members.
After his mother passed away, his stepfather and his family moved away shortly without leaving him any message. It was not until Xu Hui sent a letter back but it was returned because he could not find the person who sent it that he found out that his stepfather and his family had moved.
Xu Hui was very sad at the time and even fell seriously ill.
But he hadn't thought about the Ji family for many years, so why did he suddenly think of them again?
discipline?
Dong Taohua suddenly came to her senses.
She looked at her husband and said in disbelief, "His surname is Ji, and his name is Ji Weimin. Is he from your stepfather's family?"
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