Maozi always felt that he was like a grass, inconspicuous but with strong vitality. When he was a child, he survived with difficulty by relying on the food given to him by his neighbors. Later, he relied on cheating and deceiving people to support not only himself but also his younger brother.
after……
When Maozi woke up and looked at the strange house, his first thought was to leave as soon as possible.
He didn't know whether the monkey had been caught, nor did he know where he was. At this moment, there was only one word in his mind: escape.
Escape back home!
It was already bright outside, but there was no one in the house. He was lying naked in bed, and his clothes were draped over the fire basket. The brazier in the middle of the fire basket had gone out, but the wet clothes had been dried.
Maozi tiptoed out of bed and quickly put on his clothes. He touched his pockets and found them empty. The pair of carved silver bracelets that had been there before were gone.
He didn't know whether he lost it while running or it was taken away by someone, but he didn't care about that at this moment. He carefully stuck his head out and observed the situation outside. Seeing that there was no one around, he left quickly.
He was lucky. After going through so many twists and turns, he didn't meet anyone and quickly got away.
When the people who rescued him came in with a bowl of rice porridge, they saw that the person on the bed was gone.
Two hours later, Maozi finally arrived at a town, where he bought some food, asked for directions, and then continued walking towards home.
Nowadays, it is not easy to take a bus. Except for the shuttle buses on the main lines, you can only rely on luck if you want to take a bus. If you meet a vehicle on the road, you can stop it, and the other party is willing to give you a ride, then you can take a bus.
At first, Maozi thought that his pair of silver bracelets had been taken away. Later, he found that the money sewn in his crotch was still there, so the silver bracelets were most likely lost during his escape, and the most likely possibility was that they fell into the stream.
Otherwise, why would others only take the silver bracelet and not his money?
You know, the pair of silver bracelets have turned black and look very ordinary, but Maozi has been dealing with antiques for a long time and roughly guessed that the silver bracelets should be from the Qing Dynasty, so they can also be considered antiques. This time when he went to the provincial capital, he wanted to look for an opportunity to see if he could find someone who was willing to buy the silver bracelets at a high price.
pity……
Die before accomplishing the mission!
In this way, Maozi walked along the road, stopping and starting, until he met a tractor. The other party was willing to give him a ride. He then got on the car and was able to rest for a while.
At this time, the young man in the baseball cap had already arrived at Jiuyangji by car.
He came here, naturally, to find Maozi, but by some strange coincidence, the two of them missed each other perfectly.
…
The closer it gets to the Chinese New Year, the more people come to call.
Big cities still have public telephones, but in small cities like theirs, there are no public telephones installed yet, so if they want to make a phone call, they can only go to places where landline phones are installed.
Gao Mingcheng's clothing store has a landline phone installed. Since the installation, people have come one after another to borrow the phone to make calls. Of course, this is not free, but charged.
Gao Mingcheng himself doesn't use the phone often, so he was willing to spend a lot of money to install it just for the convenience.
Since making phone calls is expensive, people will not make calls unless they really need to. Even if they do make a call, they will finish what they want to say within a minute or two and then hang up quickly.
Because landline phones at that time did not have screen timers, when making a call, someone had to keep an eye on a watch to time the call so that it would be easier to charge the phone.
Sometimes Gao Mingcheng finds it annoying, but the women in the family think that any extra money earned is good, and they are happy to have someone call them.
If the store is not busy, it would be quite interesting to listen to other people talking on the phone.
In a sense, doing business is similar to being in jail. You have to stay in the same place all day long. Once the store is open, you can't move around, so it is necessary to listen to some gossip and entertain yourself.
Gao Mingcheng thought this made sense, so he welcomed neighbors to come and make phone calls. Sometimes when the phone rang and it was someone looking for a neighbor, they would also be willing to give a shout.
One day, the phone rang. Gao Mingcheng picked up the receiver and put it to his ear. Just as he was about to answer the call as usual, Gao Shouwang's urgent voice came from the other end.
"Is that Ming Cheng? I'm Gao Shouwang!"
"Uncle Shouwang, it's me. You called me. Is there something wrong?" Gao Mingcheng asked immediately.
Since Gao Shouwang installed a telephone, it has become easier for Gao Mingcheng to know what is happening in the village.
Sometimes when he needed to arrange for Zhang Chengyuan and Chen Dasong to do something, there was no need to drive back himself. Instead, he could just make a phone call and ask Gao Shouwang to pass the message.
Gao Shouwang on the other end of the phone said, "Mingcheng, the weather has been cold recently! Many people in the village have fallen ill, especially the elderly and children. Your grandmother has fallen ill recently and doesn't look well. Gao Zhuang's grandmother is also ill. I thought you had a good relationship with her, so I called to inform you. If you are free, come back and visit."
Gao Mingcheng frowned when he heard this, and he immediately said, "I'll go back now! Uncle Shouwang, thank you."
"Hey, what do you have to thank me for? Well, that's it. I have a lot of things to do in my workshop and I'm busy."
"good."
After hanging up the phone, Gao Mingcheng looked at his watch. It was not too early, it was already three o'clock in the afternoon.
However, since he knew the news, he still wanted to rush back as soon as possible to see if he should take the patient to the county hospital for treatment.
Their village is remote, and there is only one health center in Junling nearby. There is only one barefoot doctor in the health center. This barefoot doctor can treat basic diseases, and can also perform abortions and sterilizations. He has received training in the county. However, if he wants to get the relevant certificate after the training, he needs to spend more than ten yuan. But the barefoot doctor was reluctant to spend the money, so he was practicing medicine without a license.
Gao Mingcheng told Xuanyuemei and the others about the matter. When they heard that Grandma Gao and Grandma Xi were both sick, Xuanyuemei and Gao Shufang became worried.
Gao Shufang said quickly: "Second brother, then you should go back and take a look. Grandma is old, so you have to be careful."
Many beauties said: "Grandma has always been in good health. It should be just a minor illness. It won't be a big deal."
Gao Mingcheng nodded, knowing that Xuanyuemei was just comforting herself.
To him, his grandmother is just like his biological grandmother. No, she is even closer to him than his biological grandmother!
Gao Mingcheng quickly got dressed and prepared to drive the tractor back to the village. Before leaving, he took some spare medicines, which were both Western medicines and Chinese patent medicines that could cure colds, fevers and the like.
Watching Gao Mingcheng leave in a hurry, Xuanyuemei looked at Gao Shufang and comforted her, "Don't worry, grandma will be fine. Mingcheng is back, so don't worry."
Gao Shufang nodded.
She has full trust in her second brother.
My second brother is capable, decisive, and willing to spend money. Once he feels that grandma’s condition is not good, he will definitely take her to the county hospital for treatment.
In Gao Shufang's impression, as long as she goes to the hospital, nothing serious will happen. She has full confidence in the doctors of the People's Hospital.
It didn't snow today, but the wind was exceptionally cold, and there was still some snow in the grass beside the road that had not melted.
Gao Mingcheng was feeling the cold wind, but his heart was burning with joy. He drove non-stop, hoping to get back to the village as soon as possible.
But just as he reached Junling and was about to turn and walk towards another path, he suddenly saw someone in front of him waving his arms excitedly and shouting something at him heartbreakingly.
Gao Mingcheng's five senses were sharp. Even though the other person was far away and his voice was hoarse and blown away by the cold wind, he could still hear that the other person was calling his name.
"Brother Mingcheng!"
Gao Mingcheng quickly braked and looked at the man carefully.
"Maozi?" Gao Mingcheng was a little surprised after recognizing who the man was.
"Maozi, where are you going? Why are you walking instead of taking a car?" Gao Mingcheng stepped on the accelerator and drove the tractor in front of Maozi.
In the cold wind, Maozi's face was frozen red, the skin on his lips was cracked, and his eyes were bloodshot. It was obvious that he was in poor condition.
"Brother Mingcheng..." Maozi spoke excitedly, his voice hoarse and tears streaming from his eyes.
Family! He finally met his family!
Gao Mingcheng saw that this was not a good time to ask questions, so he said, "I'm going back to the village now. You get in the car and follow me back to the village first. We can talk later if there's anything."
Maozi nodded excitedly and quickly climbed into the carport.
He was like a lonely soul who had struggled in the desert for a long time, and now he could finally rest in peace.
It only takes ten minutes to drive a tractor from Junling to Gaojia Village. Ten minutes later, the tractor stopped beside the pond in Gaojia Village.
Gao Mingcheng got out of the car and came to the carport.
Maozi hadn't said a word since he got on the bus, which made him a little worried, but when he saw him now, he was shocked again.
Maozi actually curled up in the truck bed and fell asleep!
Or maybe you could say he fainted?
Gao Mingcheng took off his gloves and reached out to touch his forehead. The scorching temperature even made his palms feel like they were burning.
"Fuck!" Gao Mingcheng couldn't help but curse. He looked at Maozi's disheveled appearance and knew without asking that Maozi must have encountered some trouble.
Now that the person is sick and he has come across her, we can’t just ignore it.
Gao Mingcheng thought for a moment and simply took off his military coat and covered Maozi with it, letting him sleep here for a while. As for himself, he had to go and check on Grandma Xi and Grandma Gao. If their conditions were serious and they needed to go to the county hospital for treatment, he would pick them up and then return to the county immediately.
Gao Mingcheng walked quickly towards his grandmother's house. Before he entered the house, he heard a cough.
"Grandma, I told you to rest, why are you twisting the hemp rope again?" He Xiuman's voice came from the house, with helplessness in her voice.
Grandma Xi said with a smile: "It's not tiring to twist hemp ropes, and it's just something to do when you have nothing to do! Xiuman, please go out, or you will get sick. Also, don't let Xiao Yuanyuan come into my room these few days, or she will get sick!"
He Xiuman was helpless and said, "I know. I won't let Xiao Yuanyuan in. Grandma, drink some honey water first. It will make your throat feel better. This honey was sent by Ming Cheng before."
Grandma drank half a bowl of honey water as she was told. After drinking it, she felt that her throat, which had been dry and itchy, was a little better.
At this time, Gao Mingcheng had already strode into the room, and as he walked, he said, "Grandma, I'm Mingcheng. I heard that you were not feeling well, so I came to see you."
Gao Mingcheng took big steps and just as he finished speaking, he was already standing next to Grandma Xi. He stretched out his hand and touched Grandma Xi's forehead.
There was a little fever, but fortunately, based on his experience, it was just a low-grade fever at most.
Gao Mingcheng asked: "Grandma, besides the cough, are you feeling unwell anywhere else?"
The grandmother didn't answer immediately, but looked at Gao Mingcheng with surprise, saying, "It's just a minor illness, why did you come back all the way? You are so busy with your business! Making money is more important!"
Gao Mingcheng smiled and said, "Isn't the purpose of making money to spend it? Only when life is good, is it worth making money! Grandma, you haven't told me what else is wrong with you?"
The grandmother was helpless, as she couldn't win the argument with Gao Mingcheng anyway.
At this time, He Xiuman interrupted and said, "Grandma had been coughing and feeling uncomfortable the day before yesterday. She had no appetite all day yesterday, and had diarrhea in the evening. She had no appetite today either, but because she ate Castanopsis bitter powder, she no longer had diarrhea."
Everything in the world is useful. For example, Castanopsis berries cannot be eaten directly, but after a series of processing, they can be made into Castanopsis berries tofu. Castanopsis berries can also be used to stop diarrhea after being ground into powder.
Gao Mingcheng asked again: "Have you seen a doctor?"
He Xiuman said: "Originally Gao Zhuang said yesterday that he would take grandma to see a doctor, but grandma said she was tired and wanted to sleep. She thought she would get better after a good night's sleep, but she didn't. This morning, she was taken to the health center and brought back some medicine."
At this time, the grandmother said quickly: "I'm really fine, you're just worrying about nothing! I'm in good health. Anyone can have headaches and fevers. I'll be fine after a few days of rest."
Grandma Xi said again: "Mingcheng, have you visited your grandma? I think her condition is much more serious than mine! You should go and see her as soon as possible!"
Hearing that his grandmother was sending him away, Gao Mingcheng carefully looked at his grandmother's spirit and thought it shouldn't be a big problem, so he said, "Okay, I'll go see grandma."
In her previous life, Grandma Xi had always been in good health, and it was the news of Gao Zhuang's death that completely crushed the old woman.
But Grandma Gao was different. She was older than Grandma Xi and her physical condition was not as good as Grandma Xi. Especially after she broke her leg, her energy and spirit became weak.
Gao Mingcheng left in a hurry and did not bring any gifts for them, so he had to visit empty-handed.
The courtyard door was open, and only Gao Yuanjian was sitting under the eaves, smoking a cigarette.
The cigarette butt flickered and the smoke curled upwards. The smoke that came out of Gao Yuanjian's nose was a large cloud that appeared quickly and dissipated quickly.
"Dad, I heard that grandma was sick, so I came to see her." After entering the house, Gao Mingcheng greeted Gao Yuanjian first.
Gao Yuanjian was not surprised to see Gao Mingcheng coming back, because he was the one who deliberately told Gao Shouwang about Grandma Gao's illness. (End of this chapter)
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