Twenty years ago, Yan Dagen came to Beijing for medical treatment. When Hu Xiangcao came to take care of him, she gave birth to a girl. She had already given birth to two daughters, and this one was considered a financial burden, as the family couldn't even get enough to eat. Her mother-in-law already disliked her, so she discussed it with her husband and decided not to have the child.
On the third day after giving birth, in the same cold winter, Hu Xiangcao braved the freezing cold and abandoned her child at the doorstep of a house near the hospital.
After throwing away the sedge, she didn't leave. She squatted in a sheltered spot and watched the little person, who was crying loudly from the cold...
A moment later, the door opened, and an old woman came out. Seeing the child at the door, she quickly picked him up and looked around, but unfortunately, she didn't see anyone. Looking at the child who was on the verge of death, the old woman sighed and carried the child inside.
Seeing the child being taken away, Hu Xiangcao felt relieved. After all, the child was her own flesh and blood, and she still hoped that the child could live.
The Yan family was poor and had no money. Yan Dagen stayed in the hospital for a few days and then went home to recuperate, but he was in poor health and had to come over every month to get his medicine.
While getting her medicine, Hu Xiangcao would occasionally glance at the door of that house, pretending to be passing by, to catch a glimpse of the child.
Sometimes you can see the old lady holding a child in the yard, and sometimes you can't.
Three years later, Hu Xiangcao came to the city to sell eggs. By some strange twist of fate, she came to that courtyard again. A funeral was being held in the courtyard. A little girl was sitting on the ground at the door, her face covered in tears, but no one paid any attention to her.
People in the courtyard were even telling her to leave, saying, "The old lady is dead. You'd better find your own way to make a living. Our family can't support you."
Hu Xiangcao recognized the child at a glance, but she dared not go forward in the current situation, and she could not keep the child.
The little girl was chased away, crying as she walked. When she was tired from crying, she sat down against the wall and fell asleep.
Hu Xiangcao followed behind, not knowing what she was thinking. Knowing that her family couldn't raise it, she should pretend she didn't know it.
The little girl woke up feeling very hungry, and her grandmother was no longer by her side. She continued to cry in a hoarse voice.
Seeing that it was getting late, Hu Xiangcao wiped away her tears and prepared to leave. It was just bad luck for this child; if it were a boy, she would never have abandoned her.
Just then, a hunched old man in tattered clothes squatted down in front of the little girl and asked, "Where are your parents?"
"I have no parents, and my grandma is dead. They don't want me anymore," the little girl sobbed.
"No one wants you anymore, how pitiful," the hunchbacked old man sighed as he stood up to leave.
The little girl tugged at his trouser leg, "Grandpa! I'm so hungry!"
The old man looked at the little girl, who was crying pitifully. He thought she wouldn't survive if no one took care of her.
So he sighed, picked up the little girl, and said, "Anyway, no one wants you, so I'll take you. If we can live, we'll live together; if we can't, we'll die together."
The little girl didn't understand what it meant, so she hugged the old man's neck and called him "Grandpa".
The old man carried the little girl and walked towards his home.
Hu Xiangcao followed quietly behind, watching the old man carry the little girl back to his dilapidated home.
Hu Xiangcao remembered where they lived and hurried home.
After that, whenever Hu Xiangcao came to the city, she would go to see him. She had seen the old man being criticized and denounced, which frightened her so much that she quickly hid and didn't dare to go back for many years.
However, in recent years, she saw that the old man's family had built a new big house, and the old man was dressed smartly and looked very wealthy. When she got home, she told her husband about it.
Yan Dagen asked her if she had seen their daughter, and Hu Chuncao shook her head. "Is she married?"
"Maybe, maybe we can get the child back sometime," Yan Dagen said. His family was the poorest in the village. If they had a city girl to help them, their lives would be much better. If their son had someone to help him, he might even be able to go to the city and enjoy a better life.
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