After leaving Lao Qin's place, Yuan Yuan escorted Chen Chongshan and Chen Chongming home, gave them a thorough explanation, and then left.
The large courtyard seemed somewhat deserted again. Ah Huang lay quietly under the pomelo tree in the courtyard, enjoying the shade, and occasionally licked the wound on his thigh with his tongue. His saliva had antibacterial properties, which could help his wound heal quickly.
Chen Chongshan pushed Chen Chongming next to Ah Huang, and then he began to spread out the rice piled in front of the house to dry.
These millet grains have been sun-dried for two or three days already. If we turn them over and dry them again today, we can contact the millet collectors to come and haul them away tomorrow.
Chen Chongshan's family has three mu of paddy fields where they grow double-cropping rice, yielding two to three thousand jin of rice per season.
In addition to rice paddies, Chen Chongshan also grows sweet potatoes and corn, and his vegetable garden is always full of seasonal vegetables throughout the year.
This farm work, which should have been shared by a rural family, was now being undertaken by Chen Chongshan alone.
Fortunately, this young body is strong enough, and this still immature mind is resolute enough. If it were someone else, they would probably have been crushed by the pressure of life and psychology long ago.
Chen Chongshan silently turned over the rice grains to dry, his injuries still throbbing. Although the injuries were not serious, they were still painful. The marks from the belt and the bruises from the boots would pull at him with every little movement.
However, Chen Chongshan was in a very good mood. He had received all the money, a total of 36,000 yuan, which was 6,000 yuan more than the 30,000 yuan he had ordered. In addition to the money he had saved up before and the money from selling the grain, he could now raise about 40,000 yuan.
With this money, Chen Chongshan felt much more confident, and his younger brother's illness might be cured in one go.
Once Chongming's leg is healed, she will work hard to earn tuition fees for her younger brother.
My younger brother will be eleven years old next year, which means he should be in the sixth grade of elementary school. However, he hasn't been to school since our father passed away. Although I've been tutoring him, his foundation is probably still a bit weak, so he might have to start from the fourth grade again.
Chongming's academic performance has always been excellent, and I believe he will surpass me in the future.
Chen Chongshan secretly calculated in his mind that his younger brother's leg would get better in the future and he would be able to go to school like a normal child. Chen Chongshan couldn't help but feel very happy. But at this moment, Chen Chongming suddenly spoke up: "Brother, I don't want to go to Tanzhou."
Chen Chongming's words startled Chen Chongshan. He stopped what he was doing, turned to look at Chen Chongming, and asked, "What's wrong, Chongming? Why aren't you going to Tanzhou?"
“My leg can’t be cured. I don’t want to go to Tanzhou. I’m afraid of injections and medicine. I’m not going.”
Chen Chongming's eyes darted around, not daring to look Chen Chongshan in the eye, and he replied somewhat guiltily.
“Who says it can’t be cured? What kind of medical level do we have in this county? Don’t take those barefoot doctors’ words to heart. Just because they can’t do it doesn’t mean that hospitals in Tanzhou can’t. This time, I’m taking you to Tanzhou Yaxiang Hospital, which is the best hospital in the country.”
"Don't worry, your illness is nothing to those expert doctors."
Chen Chongshan said with a smile that although he wasn't entirely sure himself, he still tried his best to comfort his younger brother.
"Peking Union Medical College Hospital in the north and Yaxiang Hospital in the south are top-tier hospitals on par with the major hospitals in the capital," Chen Chongshan continued.
"No, I'm not going. I don't want to go."
Chen Chongming, however, seemed not to have listened to Chen Chongshan's words and continued to stubbornly shake his head.
"Chongming, what's wrong with you? Why aren't you going?"
Seemingly sensing that Chen Chongming wasn't joking, Chen Chongshan put down the rake in his hand, walked up to Chen Chongming, and asked in a serious tone.
“My leg can’t be cured, going there would be a waste of money, I’m not going, I’m just not going.”
Chen Chongming stubbornly shook his head and shouted.
"Chen Chongming, what are you doing? Whether you go or not is not up to you, it's up to me. You have to go, whether you want to or not."
Chen Chongshan's temper flared up as well. He glared at Chen and shouted in a slightly fiery tone, "Even if it's a waste of money, I'm happy to do it."
Chen Chongming, however, showed no fear and shouted at Chen Chongshan, "Why do you make decisions for me? I'm not going, and that's it. Why should you take me? I don't want your help."
“As the eldest brother, I am like a father. Now that Mom and Dad are gone, I have to take care of you. I will take care of you until you are eighteen. If you can’t stand up, I will take care of you for the rest of my life. Why can’t I make decisions for you? If your leg can’t be cured, you will be a burden to me for the rest of my life.”
Chen Chongshan roared at Chen Chongming, his eyes already red.
Chen Chongming was already sobbing. He wiped away his tears and cried out intermittently, "If you're really so selfish, why don't you go to school? Why don't you get treatment for me? I'm not going to get treatment for this illness, it can't be cured. Go to school, go to school..."
Chen Chongshan was suddenly stunned.
In that instant, he understood why Chen Chongming refused to seek medical treatment. His brother's unreasonable behavior was simply a way for him to stop caring about him and to selfishly pursue his own dream of going to university.
However, curing his younger brother's illness was something he had promised his father. Moreover, Chen Chongshan could understand how much his younger brother longed for a normal life. Compared to his brother's lifelong happiness, what did it matter to give up a university education?
Society is also a university; you are just changing the place to cultivate yourself.
"Chongming, listen to me."
Chen Chongshan walked up to Chen Chongming, squatted down, and said, "Going to university is one path, but there are many paths in life. Even without this path, I have many other paths to choose from. But you are different. Your body has entered a stage of rapid development. If there is still hope for your leg to be healed, then these few years are the best time for treatment."
"So you must listen to me and come with me to Tanzhou to get well. It won't be too late for me to go back to school after I've recovered."
Chen Chongshan spoke to Chen Chongming in as calm a tone as possible, then reached out to wipe away Chen Chongming's tears, and said with a light laugh, "Going to university isn't necessarily a good thing. Look at Bill Gates, he didn't finish university either. There are so many rich people who didn't go to university."
Chen Chongming stopped crying and calmed down a bit. He said, "What you're saying is all nonsense. University is great."
"Sister Yuan Yuan told me everything. You did very well on the exam and got into Tanzhou University, which is the best university in our Chu Nan Province."
Chen Chongming pouted and began to sob softly again: "If Dad and Mom were still here, they would be so, so happy. They would do anything to make you go to school."
Chen Chongming's mood had clearly sunk to rock bottom, and he rarely mentioned his mother.
His mother committed suicide shortly after his birth, and he has no memory of her whatsoever. He only knows what the woman who gave birth to him looked like through a few yellowed photographs.
"But compared to me going to university, Mom and Dad would be much happier to see our Chongming stand up again. So you must listen to your brother. Wait until you get better, then your brother can go to school, okay?"
"If my brother can get into Tanzhou University once, he can get in a second time. Maybe if I take the college entrance exam again in a few years, I can get into Tsinghua University."
Chen Chongshan said with a smile.
"Um."
Chen Chongming finally stopped being stubborn. He had an extremely urgent desire to stand up. The reason he made a fuss was because he didn't want to be a burden to his brother.
He harbored a deep-seated thought: if he hadn't been born, his mother wouldn't have suffered from that damned depression and committed suicide; with his mother's help, his father wouldn't have overworked himself and developed a terminal illness; and if both parents were healthy, how wonderful his brother's life would have been...
Chen Chongming stopped making a fuss, and Chen Chongshan finally stood up and went back to drying the millet, muttering, "After I sell this millet tomorrow, I'll bring back all the corn, and then it'll be about time to go to Tanzhou."
"Aren't we waiting for Sister Yuan Yuan to go together?" Chen Chongming asked.
"Let's talk about it later. She's going to study, and we..."
Chen Chongshan was stunned. He also longed to travel with Yuan Yuan. His young heart had been restless at some point during those three years. But now, they would ultimately embark on two different paths in life...
"What about Ah Huang?"
Seeing Chen Chongshan's expression, Chen Chongming paused for a moment, then changed the subject. He had stayed at home for so many years, spending his time reading books and watching TV. Although he was young, he understood very well the subtle relationship between his older brother and Sister Yuan Yuan.
"Ah Huang?"
Chen Chongshan frowned. He hadn't really considered this issue yet; taking Ah Huang to Tanzhou was impossible.
I'm going to a place where I don't know anyone, and it would be inconvenient to bring a big dog. Besides, I've heard that large and fierce dogs are prohibited in cities, and the Central Asian Shepherd Dog is one of the prohibited breeds. I don't have a dog license, and bringing it there would only cause other trouble.
But if we stay in Meishan, who will take care of us?
Chen Chongshan silently calculated in his mind, but couldn't find a suitable candidate for the time being, until Chen Chongming spoke up again: "How about we put him with Lao Qin for a few days?"
"Put it with Lao Qin?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Chongshan nodded: "That's fine, but it really does need to be tied up. There are many strangers at Lao Qin's place, and I'm afraid he might bite someone."
"I'll send Ah Huang over once it's healed."
Chen Chongshan made the final decision, thus confirming the matter.
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