As Xie Tingyu spoke, he rummaged through his bag and took out a package, which he had hastily wrapped with a few pieces of newspaper. It looked very casual.
Ye Qingshui's attention was drawn to it.
Xie Tingyu slowly unfolded the newspapers one by one and took out a snow-white mutton-fat jade from it. The grain was smooth and shiny, just like solidified snow milk.
Ye Qingshui took a look at it, his eyes stopped moving, and he stared at it in a trance.
Ye Qingshui likes jewelry, jade, and porcelain very much, especially antiques with historical background. In her previous life, in order to cultivate herself, she even spent some time studying antique treasures.
Xie Tingyu looked at her stunned eyes and said, "Don't we owe Mr. Zhou a bead?"
Xie Tingyu remembered that Ye Qingshui had been thinking about the Zhou family's beads since he received them. He buried them behind the house and went to look at them every once in a while. In his eyes, the things were not worth much, but she remembered them for a long time. From then on, whenever Ye Qingshui went to the county, he would bring some food to Zhou Ke.
She never thinks of taking advantage of others.
In that case, he had no choice but to use his own things to fill the gap.
"Take this piece of jade and return it to him." Xie Tingyu said.
Ye Qingshui retracted her gaze, she wanted to teach this man a lesson. Did he know how rare the treasure he was holding was?
Although gold, silver and jewelry are not valuable these days, there is no one who would waste money like this.
The value of treasures will never fade away, but will gradually increase with the passage of time. Anything inherited from ancestors should be treasured.
If Ye Qingshui's ancestors had not been tenants and poor farmers for more than a dozen generations, and had nothing but a pile of debts passed down to their children and grandchildren, otherwise Ye Qingshui would have been able to keep the treasure for his entire life.
Ye Qingshui put the jade away, her eyes clear, she sighed and said: "I will return their treasures to them one day, but you, we can't give away our treasures casually."
Compared to this man who always takes things out of the house, Ye Qingshui is much more self-conscious.
After they arrived in the capital, Grandma Xie gave Ye Qingshui 900 yuan as a betrothal gift that night, and on New Year's Day, her mother-in-law gave her a red envelope of 200 yuan. The total was 1,100 yuan.
In the late 1970s, how many people could see such a large sum of money? Such a large amount of betrothal money could only be asked for by the bride's family if they wanted to sell their daughter.
Ye Qingshui only took two hundred yuan, and before leaving she secretly hid the remaining money under Grandma Xie's pillow.
They are all young people. If they are diligent, they can always earn a future with their own hands.
When Xie Tingyu heard Ye Qingshui mention the word "our family", his heart suddenly skipped a beat and became a little anxious.
He smiled and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Xie Tingyu thought that these words were enough to make Ye Qingshui forget her previous insistence, but unexpectedly, she continued with the previous topic again:
"Can't you show me what's in your box?"
Xie Tingyu forced a smile, "Shui'er, be good, can you not look at it?"
Ye Qingshui remained silent.
She wondered what Brother Xie was reminding her to see.
He must have seen these things...
In his previous life, he probably opened it when he was sorting out Xie Tingyu's belongings. At that time, Ye Qingshui went to the university to find "him". He was able to play the role of Xie Tingyu perfectly, and even she could hardly tell the difference. Therefore, there must be his diary in it.
Thinking of this, Ye Qingshui gave up the idea.
While Ye Qingshui was thinking, Xie Tingyu unexpectedly agreed, "Can't I show it to you?"
Seeing her lost eyes, Xie Tingyu felt very sorry. Since they were already husband and wife, there was nothing wrong with being honest with each other.
With a "click", Xie Tingyu opened the box.
Ye Qingshui looked over uncontrollably, and both of them had strange looks on their faces. There was a pile of books lying quietly in the box, which was filled to the brim. Xie Tingyu opened the other two boxes and found the same thing.
His heart was lifted, but at the same time he felt relieved.
Ye Qingshui looked at the books in the box, flipped through them casually, and found that there was nothing special about them. She soon lost interest and walked out of the house to work.
"Grandma, don't move. Let me do the work."
Xie Tingyu quietly went to his uncle and asked, "Did you move my box? Where are the things inside it?"
My uncle thought for a long time before he said, "Oh, you mean that pile of junk."
Xie Tingyu's eyelids twitched slightly.
"That's because we had too many books when we moved. It's very humid in spring, and Mom was afraid your books would get damp, so she put them in a box. Those things were moved to your closet. I didn't throw away your things."
After listening to this, Xie Tingyu went back to his room and rummaged through the drawers. Finally, he opened the cabinet on the desk and saw that it was full of things. A faint smile appeared on his face.
He reached out and touched his katydid, which lay safe and sound in the cabinet, and he stroked its antennae.
The sunlight gave it a layer of golden light, and its eyeballs, as big as black beans, seemed to be alive and lifelike.
This is his priceless treasure.
Xie Tingyu took out the miscellaneous letters, diaries and scattered items at the bottom of the box one by one and put them back neatly into the box.
…
Ye Qingshui took the opportunity to go to the county town before the village started the spring ploughing.
Qian Xiangdong happily reported to her the Spring Festival harvest.
"Didn't you make some pastries? They must be sweet. They were sold out before New Year's Eve. They sold especially well. Customers always come to ask me if I still sell pastries. This is the amount you sold per pound!" He held up a finger.
It means one dollar per pound.
This price is much more expensive than the breakfast they sell.
Ye Qingshui nodded, it was indeed not a loss to sell at this price. Cakes were expensive because they required a lot of sugar to make, and sugar was a luxury snack. When visiting relatives during the Chinese New Year, mentioning cakes to visit relatives was both respectable and generous.
When they were in the capital, there were neighbors in the military compound who wanted to spend money to buy their pastries, but Grandma Xie was reluctant to give them up even at two yuan per pound.
Ye Qingshui received one hundred and fifty-six yuan, a thick stack of change, hot to the touch.
Ye Qingshui glanced at Qian Xiangdong. Although it was New Year's Day, he was still wearing tattered clothes.
"You have enough money now, so you can buy yourself some clothes when you have time..."
Qian Xiangdong held a grass root in his mouth and said nonchalantly: "It's okay, it's easier to live as a beggar, I'm short of money."
Ye Qingshui took a pound of chestnut cake from him and rode his bicycle towards Zhou Ke's house.
She filled her schoolbag with a bag of grain steadily and hung her arm heavily.
When Ye Qingshui walked downstairs to the dilapidated tube building, Zhou Ke was casually holding a bowl and putting it under the faucet, mixing it with dry rice.
He hadn't had a proper meal for several days, and his stomach was rumbling with hunger, but he no longer felt any pain in his stomach. Every time he burped, his mouth was filled with a sour taste.
But today he had to go to a hill ten miles away to smash stones for money, so he got some dry rice to eat.
A handful of rice could be made into rice and eaten in one meal, porridge could be eaten for two days, and dry rice could be eaten for several days. But it was too dry and he couldn't swallow it, so he ran downstairs to get some water to drink.
When Ye Qingshui saw Zhou Ke being so "sloppy", he snatched the bowl away.
“If you drink tap water, you’ll get sick.”
Zhou Ke lowered his head and said nothing.
Ye Qingshui went upstairs and was about to boil water when he discovered that Zhou's coal briquettes were gone, leaving nothing behind.
She glanced at Zhou Cunren, who was sleeping soundly on the bed, and then she realized that this home seemed to have changed. Although the house was messy before, it was orderly in the chaos. Now it was a dead silence. On the ground was a broken part of a water finder.
The air was filled with a strong smell of medicine.
She asked Zhou Ke: "What's wrong?"
Zhou Cunren slowly woke up and propped himself up to get out of bed. He picked up the broken parts on the ground, slowly and laboriously.
"Why are you free today?"
Ye Qingshui glanced at Zhou Ke, then at Old Man Zhou. The younger one was pale and skinny, with all the flesh he had managed to gain lost, looking skinny and haggard. The older one had a gray and dead complexion, revealing a sense of death.
Walking all the way from the countryside to the county town, the atmosphere of the New Year was everywhere, except this home, which had no atmosphere at all.
Ye Qingshui turned around and walked out, borrowing some coal briquettes from his neighbor. While borrowing the coal briquettes, he asked:
"What happened to Teacher Zhou?"
The neighbor said casually: "What else can we do? The old man is seriously ill and has no money to treat it, so he went home and waited to die."
Ye Qingshui's heart tightened. He paid two cents, asked for the coal briquettes, and returned to the shabby house to cook a pot of porridge.
She sat by the coal stove, using the greatest patience of her life, watching the flames lick the bottom of the pot bit by bit, the round rice grains slowly cracking and boiling out rice oil...
She called Zhou Ke to come and have some porridge, and then took another bowl and left it for a while until it was no longer hot, then placed it at the head of Zhou Cunren's bed.
Zhou Cunren sighed, "Don't think too much. I've thought about this day a long time ago."
He sneered, "Why are you crying?"
Ye Qingshui shook his head, "No, I didn't cry."
Zhou Cunren said: "This disease is incurable, I won't treat it, I just... worry about Zhou Ke, he is still so young. If, if..."
"If you can, please help me take care of him. I'll leave all my books to you."
After Zhou Cunren finished speaking, he slowly turned his head away. Who doesn't want to survive the darkness before dawn? It's just that some people give up easily, while others don't even have a chance to struggle.
Ye Qingshui shed tears. She still remembered that when the old man was researching the water-finding instrument, he hadn't slept for several days.
In order to find some materials and make the instrument before the autumn plowing season, he searched all the waste recycling stations in the county.
She still remembered the first time she met this old man. He was also sick and was threatening to commit suicide, but he still had an aloof and stubborn spirit.
But now he had put aside his pride and looked at her almost pleadingly.
Ye Qingshui asked him what disease he had, but he didn't say.
Zhou Ke said: "Stomach cancer."
He was eating porridge, wiping his tears, and sobbing softly with a hum.
Zhou Cunren couldn't stand the girl's torment, and his face, which had just shown signs of fragility, became stern again.
"Stop talking so much. Girls are troublesome. Go away. We don't want you here."
"Zhou Ke doesn't need you to take care of him anymore."
When Ye Qingshui heard about this disease, he suddenly became worried, but he still insisted on asking: "Is it early, middle, or late stage?"
Zhou Cunren didn't say anything, picked up the broom beside the bed and was about to chase the man away.
Zhou Ke answered for him: "Mid-term."
Ye Qingshui wiped away her tears, crushed the rice with a spoon, and fed it to the old man as a paste. "If you treat it well in the middle stage, you can still live for many years. I know you are in pain now. Eat something. Only when you are full can you have the energy to live."
Ye Qingshui didn't expect that he had cancer. In this era of backward medical technology, apart from treating him well and delaying his illness for a few more years, he could only wait for death. No wonder when he first met the old man, his will to die was so strong.
"Have you spent the previous three hundred dollars?"
Zhou Ke said: "Not yet, there is still one hundred yuan left. Grandpa went home early because he was hospitalized for treatment."
After Ye Qingshui finished feeding the porridge, she worriedly thought that this stubborn old man would rather die than accept her financial support.
She was worried and worried, and suddenly she burst into tears.
Ye Qingshui saw that he had finished his porridge, and he hurriedly looked for a pen, hunched over and wrote down formulas on a blank piece of brown paper.
"Why don't you take a rest instead of doing such exhausting work?"
Ye Qingshui took his notebook away and prepared to let him listen to the radio comfortably. This old radio was picked up by the old man himself and made with his bare hands.
As he spoke, Ye Qingshui's gaze suddenly froze.
Zhou Cunren wrote a series of mathematical formulas with detailed explanations of the principles. He was correcting the errors in the middle school science textbooks. In addition, the old man also carefully derived each formula and theorem and attached exercises.
He wrote each stroke so carefully and attentively, his thumb trembling as he pressed down on the paper. His hand shook and the ink on the tip of his pen smeared and pooled. He frowned, tore up the paper and wrote again.
Ye Qingshui suddenly recalled the old man's disdainful look when they first met. He said, "You don't need to read this book."
After a while, Zhou Cunren raised his head and answered her.
He said indifferently: "It's just to kill time anyway. Ke'er can use it to learn by himself in the future. Someone has to do these things. If I don't do it, someone else will."
Ye Qingshui's searching eyes fell on his messy "bookcase", which was filled with thousands of pages of brown paper. Her heart suddenly felt warm, and her nose was sore and she almost cried again. Why did he do this...
How did he endure loneliness and poverty during those long years, writing these "useless" books day after day?
Did he know that his efforts and his intolerance for anything were actually just a lonely struggle? If Zhou Ke didn't look at these things that cost him so much effort, they would just be a pile of waste paper.
Ye Qingshui felt awe and pity for him at the same time. He felt sorry for him because his back had been crushed during his humble years but he was as tenacious as a steel giant in the spiritual world.
As Ye Qingshui watched, an idea suddenly popped into his mind.
No, these will not be useless. The national college entrance examination will resume this fall!
These books of his will not be written in vain, and will not be buried in vain!
Ye Qingshui thought faster and faster, his brain working rapidly.
At that time, the teaching materials and textbooks on the market were scarce and full of loopholes, which made many candidates suffer. At that time, Xie Tingyu was always harassed by a group of educated youths and could not get away. A serious problem they faced was how to learn to understand the textbooks and how to correct mistakes. What would happen if Zhou Cunren's self-compiled textbooks could be published?
Ye Qingshui choked up, staring at Zhou Cunren's serious back, and suddenly smiled: "You are a little lucky. If the teacher has money to treat the disease, will you treat it well this time?"
"What kind of dream are you having..."
Zhou Cunren murmured nonchalantly, and a cramp came from his stomach. In less than a moment, his forehead was covered with sweat. He slowly put down his pen and rested for a while.
Zhou Ke was drinking porridge. The mist rising from the bowl blinded his eyes and tears fell from his eyes.
The author has something to say:
Small theater:
Bo Geer: My grandma can hide gold for me
Jade Brother: My grandma can give me jade at will
Zhou Ke: My grandfather can compile a complete set of books for me from elementary school, middle school, high school to university!
Brother Bo & Brother Yu: "..."
Disrespect Disrespect
Bo Ge is the male lead of "Bai Fu Mei". I haven't seen him for a long time. I miss him~
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