In just three days, Old Lady Shi passed away. Although this was inevitable and the doctor said it was a miracle that she could survive that long, Shi Zhiqiang still knelt there and cried for a long time.
When he returned home after taking care of his mother's funeral, he and his father would be the only ones left in the house.
In fact, Old Man Shi is not very old, not even 60 years old, but he has been lying in this bed for seventeen or eighteen years. He sees that his son is thirty-five or thirty-six years old and has not yet married, but his hair is whiter than his. He works day and night to make money just to serve these two old men.
He suddenly felt useless, like a burden, dragging down his wife and now his son.
In the middle of the night, while his son was sleeping next door and there were no neighbors to take care of him, Old Man Shi committed suicide with a belt.
The belt was tied to the head of the bed and around my neck. I don't know how much effort it took to flip my body out of the bed.
When Lao Shi woke up in the morning, his father was already stiff. He left a letter, telling him not to be too sad, saying that without him, Lao Shi would be able to relax and live a normal life.
Old Shi struck a match with trembling hands, lit a cigarette and took a deep puff, then wiped his eyes and said with a smile,
"My old man even told me to bury him and my mother together, and to visit their graves with my grandchildren in the future. Really... doesn't he know that the graves have been fucking destroyed?"
Chen Chunhua didn't know how to describe how she felt right now. She just felt a sense of powerlessness filling her every limb.
She knew that she was not a filial person and treated her biological parents worse than strangers. If Chen Laicai and Qian Laier died together, she might even feel relieved, thinking that there would be two less troubles.
But Lao Shi is a filial son. He has taken care of his parents for so many years. The three of them have depended on each other for so many years. Suddenly, he is left alone. This feeling...
The only thing she could compare it to was probably if everyone in this family disappeared and she was the only one left.
Then she might just jump into the river.
"Brother Shi..." Chen Chunhua wanted to say a few words of comfort, but her voice was hoarser than Lao Shi's.
Lao Shi groaned, wiped his face with his sleeve again, and then stood up with a cigarette in his mouth, "Sister-in-law, don't be like this. I just... I'm just free anyway, so I'd like to talk to someone."
"I work at the Municipal Steel Plant and live in the steel plant's staff quarters. If you and Guoqing have any questions, just come to the steel plant and find me. Workshop 2, Shi Zhiqiang. If I have something free in the future, I'll come to Guanqian Lane to hang out and buy some food for a snack."
Lao Shi gave a smile that was uglier than crying, then stuffed the small box into Chen Chunhua's hands.
"If you want this box of tickets, there aren't many in it. Just take them all. I won't make any money from you anymore. Anyway, I'll be living on my own from now on, and I won't be able to spend all my salary."
"Don't worry about the money. If you say tomorrow, it'll be tomorrow. If you say the day after tomorrow, it'll be the day after tomorrow. Even before the New Year or the New Year, it's fine. That's it. I'll go back first. I have to go to work tomorrow."
Perhaps because of the cold, Lao Shi's nose turned red. He sniffed involuntarily, then turned around and was about to leave.
Chen Chunhua quickly took a few steps forward and whispered to him, "I'll ask Guoqing to bring the money tomorrow, don't forget to come and get it!"
Lao Shi didn't turn around, but waved his hand to mean that he understood, and then walked into the darkness.
…
Lin Guoqing was still in a daze as he looked at the box of tickets. It took him a while to come back to his senses.
"You mean, Brother Shi, his parents..."
Chen Chunhua nodded, "He's the only one left. How pitiful."
The two sat facing each other in silence for a long time. Lin Guoqing picked up the tickets from the box and counted them.
"They're all useful, so let's not be cheap. Just pay him the price he sold it to someone else before. He gave me a lot of discounts when I bought it before, so now... just think of it as a gift to my brother's family."
Chen Chunhua nodded, "I think so too. Then you can calculate it. It's as much as it should be. I told you to bring it over tonight."
After saying that, she got up because she had to make breakfast.
Liang Shengdi bumped into her daughter-in-law as soon as she walked out of the room. Chen Chunhua looked at her mother-in-law and sighed, "Mom, what do you want to eat in the morning?"
Liang Shengdi was puzzled. "What to eat? Isn't it porridge in the morning? How can I choose?"
Lin Guoqing also sighed while sitting at the table, "You can choose. Just tell me what you want to eat. Don't hold it back."
Life is so tiring, why do we have to put ourselves in such a difficult position? Life is unpredictable, and who knows what will happen one day? They work hard to make money just to eat, so now that they've made money, they shouldn't be so stingy...
Liang Shengdi: "...Then I want to eat noodles, noodles made of white flour, with some stir-fried vegetables and shredded pork as topping, a fried egg, and some lard..."
"Okay, sweet potato porridge with pickles. How about some pickled cucumbers?"
Without waiting for her to finish, Chen Chunhua turned back into the kitchen and began to scoop out rice and add water. Lin Guoqing also turned back with peace of mind and began to count the money seriously.
Forget it. His mother’s mental state doesn’t require him to worry. Instead of wasting time, he might as well worry about himself and whether he will let his mother die before her.
Liang Shengdi: ...
"You two are playing tricks on me! You just told me not to hold it in! And now you're not giving it to me! You don't keep your word!"
Chen Chunhua replied loudly in the kitchen, "That bowl of noodles is enough for our family of seven to eat for the whole morning! I'll make it for you during the Chinese New Year! Our expenses have been a bit high recently, so you should wait until we save some more money..."
Liang Shengdi: ...Then tell me what's going on now!
＊＊＊
There was a plethora of items in the box, and Lin Guoqing sorted them out one by one. The grain coupons totaled 18.3 jin (approximately 10.5 catties), the meat coupons amounted to 10.5 jin (approximately 1.5 kg), the oil coupons amounted to 5 kg, the cloth coupons amounted to 5 feet (approximately 1.5 m), the salt coupons amounted to 3 jin (approximately 1.5 catties), the sugar coupons amounted to 1.5 jin (approximately 1.5 kg)… There were also two soap coupons, three light bulb coupons, and one foot basin coupon…
Lin Guoqing used to watch Lao Shi sell stones at night, so he knew the price more or less, and it was quite easy to calculate.
As I sorted them out, my heart was pounding. Didn't Lao Shi tell Chunhua that there weren't many left? Did he really mean there weren't many?
Although there wasn't a single large ticket in it, the grain and meat coupons were almost the same price as the retail price, and they added up to a lot.
It is said that his family uses soap nuts for bathing and washing clothes, and he has never used something as advanced as soap. Today, thanks to Lao Shi, they have everything.
In the end, the discount was more than 29 yuan, so he just rounded it up and charged him 30 yuan.
There was also a Class C cigarette ticket in it, which he took out and put the rest neatly into the drawer. He planned to take some time today to visit the supply and marketing cooperative.
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Liang Shengdi: It is better to live a miserable life than to die. When a person dies, there is nothing to eat. I can only smell the smell of soup and rice!
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