Chapter 14 Memories (II) Hearing Aids

Little Chidong looked at the familiar building not far away, with a hint of excitement on his face, "Big brother, look, that's my home."

Bu Qianli looked over and said, "Yeah, I saw it."

Xiao Chidong's home is about ten meters away from the neighbors. There is a small courtyard at the door, which is surrounded by a bamboo fence made by the owner. There are several fruit trees planted in it, and there are some green fruits on the trees.

Bu Qianli didn’t know the names of these fruit trees as he had never seen them before, but the shape of the fruits looked a bit like... persimmons.

At this time, Xiao Chidong had not noticed the gaze of the boy beside him. He ran to the door, took out the money from his pocket and opened the door. As he opened it, he shouted inside: "Grandma, Mom, I'm back."

"I also brought back a big brother."

Xiaodong shouted for a while, and soon an elderly man came out of the house, walking slowly with a cane.

Seeing the little man standing at the door, he immediately showed a kind smile, "Xiaodong, why are you back so late? Did you go out to play with other children again?"

"Yes, grandma, please don't move. Just sit down. I'll help you get the chair out."

Little Chidong opened the door and invited the boy in. Seeing his grandmother was about to come out, he hurried forward to support her, pulled her to sit on a wooden stool nearby, and then ran into the house to move a recliner.

Seeing that he was carrying such a heavy wooden chair at such a young age, Bu Qianli stepped forward and snatched the recliner from him.

"Where?"

Xiao Chidong was stunned for a moment, and quickly replied: "Just put it under the persimmon tree at the door."

Seeing him put it under the tree effortlessly, Xiao Chidong looked at Bu Qianli with wide eyes and admiration, "Big brother, you are really strong. Usually, mom, dad or I move the chair together. It's super heavy. I definitely can't move it by myself."

Bu Qianli positioned himself, clapped his hands, and smiled, "It's okay, you're still young. When you grow up to be as old as me, you'll have the strength to move the chair. Come, let's help grandma over together."

Children in rural areas have to grow up early. Because little Chidong is hard of hearing, his peers don’t want to play with him, so he started helping with housework at home at an early age. He is proficient in burning firewood and cooking. Although he looks very thin, he is actually more capable than adults.

Little Chidong was so happy about this kind-hearted older brother who suddenly appeared and did not mind his disabilities.

The two of them carefully helped Grandma Chi sit on the recliner.

Grandma Chi was a well-known and respected elder in the village. She narrowed her cloudy eyes and carefully looked at the handsome young man brought back by her beloved grandson. She always felt that his appearance was somewhat familiar, but she was old and her brain was not working well enough, so she could not remember it for the time being.

"My dear grandson, whose child is this? He is so beautiful."

After hearing Grandma Chi's words, little Chi Dong just remembered that he hadn't asked who the boy was yet. He opened his mouth and was about to ask.

Bu Qianli, who was standing aside and watching, smiled politely and gently and said, "Hello, grandma, I'm here to visit my grandmother. My name is Bu Qianli, you can just call me Qianli."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "I just saw Xiaodong on the road and thought he was lost, so I sent him back."

Bu Qianli hesitated for a moment, but still did not tell her that little Chidong was bullied by other children in the village. He was worried that Grandma Chi would faint in anger.

Grandma Chi carefully observed Bu Qianli, who was half a year taller than her grandson and had a childish face. She clapped her hands and said in surprise: "You... are the grandson of Lao Yan's family at the head of the village, right?"

Yan's family? Bu Qianli remembered that her grandmother's surname was Yan, so she nodded and said, "Yes, grandma."

"I was wondering why he looked so familiar. It turns out that he is the son of the old lady." Grandma Chi smiled kindly, "You don't look much like your mother, but this handsome face does look a bit like your uncle who studied abroad."

Bu Qianli is already fifteen years old this year. He has only seen the "uncle" that his grandmother mentioned in photos, but has never seen him in person. Judging from the photos, his "uncle" is indeed very handsome.

Someone had told him before that he looked a lot like his uncle, but at home, the word "uncle" was a taboo word that no one was allowed to mention.

However, he once passed by the study and heard his mother and father complaining that their brother was so hard-hearted that he was so cruel as to abandon his elderly parents and never come back.

"I have a very good relationship with your grandmother, but I haven't seen her for some time. Now that I'm old, my memory is bad and my legs are not good either. Otherwise, I would have visited her often to chat and talk."

"You are all good children." Grandma Chi smiled and shook her head, "Our Xiaodong has been sensible since he was young. If it weren't for that accident, he wouldn't have..."

Bu Qianli didn't hear clearly what Grandma Chi said later, and seeing that the old woman didn't seem to want to talk about it anymore, he found another topic to change the subject.

Grandma Chi's eyes were gentle, "Oh, let's not talk about it, Qianli..."

Bu Qianli: "What's the matter, Grandma?"

Grandma Chi touched the well-behaved little Chi Dong who was now beside her, and pleaded with her, "Grandma, I want you to help Xiao Dong with his studies."

Xiao Chidong was shocked, "Grandma!"

Grandma Chi ignored his surprise and continued, "He was very small when he was born, and he couldn't gain weight no matter how much he ate. He looked like a 7 or 8-year-old at the age of 10. After school every day, he followed his mother to work, and there was no one around to chat with."

After a pause, Grandma Chi held Bu Qianli's hand again and said, "So Grandma thinks that it's not easy for you to get along so well with Xiaodong and for him to be so happy. I want you to tutor Xiaodong in his studies."

"It's okay if you don't want to, but you don't have to worry about the price. I know that children from big cities like you are good at studying, and tutoring others will delay your learning progress. I..."

Without waiting for Grandma Chi to finish, Bu Qianli agreed directly, "Okay, I promise you, you don't have to give me any tutoring fees. I treat Xiaodong as my younger brother. It is natural for an elder brother to tutor his younger brother. Don't worry."

Without waiting for Xiao Chidong to refuse, Grandma Chi smiled and thanked him happily. Then, she stood up with her cane, saying that she was not feeling well. "Qianli, I am old and useless. I need to go back to sleep. You haven't seen your grandmother yet, have you? I'll let Xiaodong take you there."

Bu Qianli smiled and replied, "Okay, go back and rest."

"Okay, go ahead."

Afterwards, Grandma Chi got up and went back to the house, not forgetting to remind little Chidong to wear the hearing aid his parents bought for him.

Watching his grandmother slowly walking back, Xiao Chidong felt inexplicably awkward when he thought about what they had just discussed. He hurried back to the room and found the exquisite little box he had placed under the drawer.

Inside was the hearing aid that his parents had bought for him with the money they had saved up with great difficulty during this period. I heard that it cost a lot of money.

He opened it carefully, put it on awkwardly, then put the empty box back into the drawer for safekeeping, and then went to the yard to find the older brother.

Seeing Bu Qianli admiring a centuries-old tree in the courtyard, Xiao Chidong slowly approached him and asked hesitantly, "Big brother, I don't really need you to help me with my homework. I can study hard on my own."

Seeing how well behaved he was, Bu Qianli touched his head, her eyes inadvertently glancing at the hearing aid he had just put on his left ear, and said with a smile, "It's okay, I'm free anyway, and since I treat you as my younger brother, I will definitely teach you well."

Little Chidong knew that the decision made by the adults would not be changed, so he nodded: "Okay, thank you, big brother."

Bu Qianli followed him and let him lead the way to her grandmother's house.

On the way, Bu Qianli looked at the thin figure in front of him and remembered something. He asked in confusion: "Xiaodong, why did you lie to me and say you were eleven years old? Your grandmother said you were ten years old."

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Xiaodong tilted his head and looked at him in confusion, "I didn't lie to you, my grandpa said I was eleven years old."