The Chinese New Year is getting closer and closer. Maybe life in Qinjiazhuang is getting better, and there are more and more beggars in the village.
When he woke up early that morning, he saw a group of people gathered at Sister Hong's door, as if they were watching something exciting. He walked over to take a look and saw an old beggar in the middle. She was crying and stroking Goudan's face, saying, "Shunzi, my Shunzi."
Several elderly people said, "Old lady, you are really confused. He is your grandson Goudan, not your son Shunzi."
The old beggar asked doubtfully, "Grandson? Do I have a grandson?"
Qin Huai asked, "Sister Hong, who is she?"
"She's Goudan's grandmother. She went out to beg a few years ago. I always thought she was dead, but I didn't expect she's still alive."
"What year did she pass away? Didn't she know there was a dog?"
"She was confused. Goudan was already two years old when she left, and she carried him around like a baby every day."
It seems that she has forgotten a lot of things after wandering outside for so long.
The old woman continued to talk woodenly: "During the famine, my family couldn't survive, so I left. I don't even remember how long I was a beggar. I just kept walking every day, eating when I could, and starving when I couldn't."
"Just now, I was so hungry that I was trembling as I passed by. I looked up and saw that it seemed to be my own home. Then I remembered that I still have sons and grandchildren. It turns out that you are all alive. I have suffered so much over the years."
She spoke incoherently.
Someone said, "I think I've seen you a few times before, but I didn't remember it was you. How come you don't even recognize your own home?"
The old lady always felt she had walked a long way, but she didn't know it. She might have passed by her hometown many times before, but she was illiterate and had never seen the world. She just went wherever she wanted, thinking she was walking in a straight line, but in fact she was just going in circles and might not have walked even fifty miles.
Suddenly finding her relatives, she probably felt too wronged, so she lifted up her clothes in front of everyone to show them.
Although she was very thin, her belly was very bulging. Her skin was transparent, and her veins and bones seemed to be visible. Her face was like black soil soaked in water, dirty and dull.
It's the second symptom of famine.
Sister Hong said, "Mom, don't go out to beg for food. We have food at home. Stay home."
When the old lady heard this, she stood up and lowered her skirt and said, "Is there any food? Let me see where it is."
Sister Hong said, "Come in with me."
The old lady followed him in, and Goudan said, "Uncle Qin Huai, is she really my grandma?"
"Don't you remember her?"
"Remember, I didn't like her. She didn't give me food to eat and beat me every day because I ate too much."
"Don't talk nonsense, she is your grandmother, she only loves you, how could she hit you?"
Goudan said, "Really, Uncle Qin Huai, even though I'm young, I still remember everything."
Qin Huai picked him up and walked into the house. Sister Hong opened the flour jar to show the old lady the wheat inside, as well as the sweet potatoes in the house.
She immediately jumped over and hugged him, saying, "Hide the food quickly, hide it quickly."
I always feel that she is a little bit nervous, but she can talk to people, so there shouldn't be any problem.
Sister Hong said, "Mom, there's no need to hide it. Every family has it."
But the old lady was still worried, so she sat beside the food and didn't want to go anywhere.
Not long after Qin Huai returned home, Sister Hong came over and said helplessly, "Grandma Goudan won't let me cook. She said the food will be gone once it's eaten."
Qin Huai said, "Sister Hong, the old lady has been begging outside for a long time, so she might be mentally disturbed. Don't worry, you and Goudan can eat at my house today, and maybe she will be better in a few days."
"Trouble you all day long..."
"What's the trouble? Goudan also likes to eat my food."
"It's not that I just like to eat it. You cook with oil and salt. The whole village says your food is the best."
Because the two families live close to each other, they know everything. Just now, a few beggars, both men and women, passed by and knocked on the door of Sister Hong's house. It seemed that no one was at home, so they came to Qin Huai's house. Qin Huai gave each of them a bowl of porridge, and they left with many thanks.
But after these people left, Qin Huai heard the old lady crying again. When he went to check, the door was still tightly closed.
So he knocked on the door and asked her, "Grandma Goudan, why are you crying?"
The old lady said, "Just now I saw a beggar woman walking towards my house from a distance. She was dressed in rags and was as thin as a ghost. I could tell at a glance that she was my biological sister, the same mother I grew up with."
Qin Huai said, "Since you recognized her, why didn't you let her into the house?"
"I didn't. I immediately went home, locked the door, put out the fire in the stove, and hid in the toilet."
"Ah, why are you doing this?" This reaction was simply puzzling, Qin Huai was bewildered.
The old lady was immersed in her own world and said sadly, "My sister came to my door a little while later, knocked on the door, and asked outside if anyone was home. I didn't dare to pay attention to her. She knocked on the door again, raised her voice and shouted again, "Is anyone home?" Give me the stutterer."
"I still said nothing and could only hide in the toilet and cry bitterly, covering my mouth with my hands for fear that my sister would hear me crying."
Qin Huai said, "Old lady, you are so cruel."
"I had no choice. I knew that if the door opened, neither of us would survive."
At first Qin Huai didn't understand what she said, but later he realized that she felt that there was not enough food at home for herself, and if she let her sister in, the whole family might starve to death, so she was cruel enough not to open the door.
This sadness and shock made Qin Huai not know how to express his feelings. His younger sister came to beg for food, but his elder sister closed the door tightly and refused to let her in. Perhaps the old lady was also sad in her heart.
She did feel guilty.
Because of the famine years, the old lady still didn't dare to see her sister for the rest of her life. Even when her sister's relatives came to inform her, she didn't dare to go to the mourning hall.
In order to survive, ordinary people are willing to do anything and ignore family ties and ethics.
For three days after seeing her sister, the old lady did not eat anything except water. It might be a punishment for herself, or perhaps it was an attempt to find some solace for her conscience.
Qin Huai hurriedly went to look for those beggars, but too much time had passed and he could no longer find them.
Slowly returning to the village, Qin Xiaoyun pulled him aside and said mysteriously, "Brother, I've been looking for you for a long time. Come back with me."
"What's the urgent matter?"
"You'll know when you get home." She looked happy and hurried home with Qin Huai.
When he arrived at the house, he saw a girl standing in a thatched hut. Old Man Qin was saying to her, "Girl, now that you have entered our home, you can expect to enjoy a good life. My grandson is the most capable, and everyone in the village praises him as a good young man."
The girl had unkempt hair and a mouth full of yellow teeth, and she seemed to be unable to stand steadily...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
