Chapter 195
I'm going to die
Finally, just when Deng Chun thought he would become the wild dog's dinner tonight, the door opened.
There were snoring sounds coming from the small bedroom. The horse next door was cawing for night grass and the child was crying.
Chen Lina put Deng Chun into the kitchen and asked, "What do you want to eat? I'll make it for you."
"As long as it can keep me alive, it's up to you." Deng Chun said while rubbing his stomach.
In such a big family, with four grown men eating, there would be no leftovers as the noodles had all been eaten up long ago.
However, there are noodles bought from the mining area in the cabinet, which are prepared for the children to cook and eat a bowl of when they are really hungry.
Chen Lina cooked a bowl of noodles for Deng Chun on the beehive coal stove and mixed some of the braised mutton broth for him.
Unexpectedly, the Shanghai kid wanted to eat garlic, so I peeled him a clove of fresh garlic grown in the greenhouse on the farm.
Fresh garlic is not spicy, and it can especially neutralize the greasiness of mutton. Add vinegar, and the child sits upright on the table and says, "Aunt Chen, I'll put the bowl away after I finish eating, you should go to bed."
He stopped being pretentious and stopped calling her "mom". It seemed that the child had realized that he was afraid.
Chen Lina entered the bedroom. The old man was still awake, lying on the kang reading a book. When he saw her coming in and standing in front of the window, he said, "Hurry up and get on the kang. What are you doing standing there?"
Chen Lina half-opened the curtain and whispered, "Deng Chun used the food I cooked to feed the little rabbit outside."
"This child is wasting food. Starting tomorrow, he won't be allowed to eat for three days." said the worker.
Chen Lina looked at him and felt that he didn't seem to be wasting food. He fed the rabbit a little, then sat cross-legged in front of the rabbit cage and started to eat.
It was the middle of the night, and the little kid was sitting alone in the yard, legs crossed, looking quite lonely.
He was crying but didn't dare to make a sound. He wiped away his tears occasionally, held a large bowl and ate noisily. When he finished eating, he hugged his legs and looked up at the moon in the sky.
"Or send her back to Shanghai. This child is not a child. He is just an old fried dough stick that has been fried a thousand times. He cannot be taught." Nie Gong said as he pulled Miss Chen onto the kang. Since Nie Weixing couldn't win her over, he would try to make Miss Chen love him more.
As a man, if you still save your energy while lying on the kang, what kind of man are you?
"Deng Chun is a bad person, but Deng Dongya himself is in poor health. If we send the child back, I estimate that Deng Dongya, who is in trouble, will die a few years earlier." A good leader is rare, and Deng Dongya is a really good person. Chen Lina doesn't want him to die early.
Finally, Deng Chun entered the small bedroom. The kang was already crowded, and now with the addition of Nie Weimin, it was almost impossible to squeeze in.
Erdan took up most of the room and was snoring. Nie Weimin slept at the edge, and there was an empty seat next to the little Nie Weijiang, who had two dimples when he smiled and looked obedient but was actually very bad.
Obviously, that position belongs to him.
The room where the boys sleep smells like feet, sweat, and farts.
Deng Chun couldn't find his pajamas, so he took off his shirt and lay down.
He was given a new quilt, but the weather was too hot and there were too many children, so Deng Chun started sweating as soon as he lay down, let alone covering himself with the quilt.
When he just lay down, he thought that only Nie Weimin was awake. Unexpectedly, Nie Weijiang sneered and said, "Deng Chun, buy soda and candy tomorrow, and go to the bar the day after tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow, are you going to take my second brother and do something sneaky?"
"How could that be possible, brother? I'm really not a bad kid," said Deng Chun.
Nie Weijiang suddenly took out something, and with a snapping sound, he gritted his teeth and said, "I don't care whether you are or not, I just hate hypocrites like you who say one thing on the surface and another behind the scenes."
Deng Chun had only seen plastic toy guns, let alone guns, so how could he understand what he was holding?
So, I don’t feel scared yet.
Instead, Erdan, who was snoring, sat up and said, "Edan, little Dandan, put down the gun quickly. We can't kill people."
Nie Weimin also came over and grabbed the egg from Nie Weijiang's hand. "Dandan, you really can't be impulsive. He is the rich man of our mining area. If you kill him by accident, we have to destroy the body and all traces. Do you understand? We have to burn him completely and report him to the police, saying that he was eaten by wolves. In short, it's very troublesome."
Well, Deng Chun understood it immediately.
It’s no wonder that my godfather said that the people in the border areas are tough. Damn, even a ten-year-old kid can be so tough. This is too scary.
Deng Chun rolled over on the spot, picked up the pillow and ran away.
So, after the worker had served Miss Chen, Miss Chen took over to serve the worker. In short, the two of them were very passionate. But just when they were feeling very passionate, suddenly, they heard a scream from the small bedroom next door, followed by Deng Chun's scream.
The table and chairs in the living room were overturned and smashed. Just as Nie Gong and Chen Lina put on their clothes, Deng Chun came in holding a pillow. "Aunt Chen, Nie Weijiang, he wants to kill me."
My sister was woken up and is rubbing her eyes.
Nie Gong patted the big kang and said, "Who told you not to listen? You should know that these brothers have been playing with guns since they were young. Hunting rabbits and wild boars is a common thing. All right, sleep here. I will do ideological work for them another day."
Deng Chun was so frightened that he trembled and slept next to the worker, because the worker was doing experiments. Gradually, he smelled the smell of his godfather.
Godfather is the person Deng Chunyu trusts the most in this world, and of course, the person he loves the most.
He huddled beside the worker, and experienced recruiting younger brothers, great glory, fighting, hunger, and finally being nearly frightened to death by a little kid. He sobbed sadly, and slowly fell asleep.
In the next few days, Deng Chun behaved much better.
But it seems to be a habit to feed the little rabbit with your own food before eating.
The rabbit was not well taken care of. I don’t know if it was because Deng Chun fed it too much, or Erdan and Sandan didn’t love it as much as before and gave it less grass. In any case, the rabbit died after a few days.
Didn’t Deng Chun go to primary school with Sandan? They went to school together and came back home after school.
As soon as he entered the yard, he saw the rabbit lying in the cage. He played with it for a long time, but the rabbit didn't get up. He pounced and then sat down on the ground, paralyzed.
Sandan said, "Deng Chun, why are you sitting on the ground for no reason? Be careful not to get hemorrhoids."
"I don't think I can wait to get hemorrhoids," said Deng Chun.
Sandan thought it was strange. "Get up and do your homework. If you want to get hemorrhoids, I'll ask Uncle Ha to give you some. He has hemorrhoids himself."
Deng Chun was lying on the ground in a big letter shape.
The high school entrance exam just ended, and Chen Lina was anxiously waiting for Erdan’s results.
The younger sister rode on Erdan's neck, while Chen Lina tiptoed and held an umbrella for the two children.
Big red bean paste-flavored popsicles are popular now. She bought one, Erdan took a bite, and gave it to his greedy sister, who was just smacking her lips, to lick a little bit to satisfy her gluttony.
Seeing that the list had not been posted yet, Chen Lina was a little anxious. "Nie Weiguo, tell me yourself, is it possible for you to be admitted to high school?"
“Yes…right!”
"Don't you have any idea of how many points you can get in the exam?"
"No...I think..." Erdan himself didn't know whether there was any or not. Anyway, for him, the exam was just like hitting the jackpot.
Chen Lina looked for a long time but didn't see your name on the list. Seeing that many parents went to Oilfield Middle School, she said, "Well, forget it. I guess you have to repeat a year."
"Mom, can I not take the exam? I want to join the army now and I don't want to study anymore." Erdan had only one wish in mind, and that was to take the high school entrance exam.
Before the high school entrance examination, he thought he knew everything, including English, physics, mathematics and chemistry, and he could recite any formula. But as soon as the examination was over, he forgot all these things.
If he has to study for another year, wouldn't that be fatal?
"Secretary Chen, hurry up, the entrance list of Oilfield Middle School has been posted, and your son Nie Weiguo is on the list. With 501 points, he is one point above the admission score line. Weiguo is really lucky. Who would have thought that he could be admitted to Oilfield Middle School?" Yuan Hua said as he rode away on his bicycle.
Erdan was stunned, and Chen Lina was already heartbroken.
After great sorrow, he was overjoyed. He was so happy that he went crazy. "See, I told you that if you work hard, you can grind a piece of iron into a needle. My son is not stupid at all. He can even get into the Oilfield Middle School."
Erdan seemed to be lucky. He was so stinky and everyone envied him, but he had to be happy.
Look, as soon as Chen Lina entered the school gate, Principal Chai was standing in front of the office building.
He looked at Erdan for a long time without saying anything, but one could see the suspicion in his eyes.
But why would he have doubts? During the high school entrance examination, he was the one who supervised the examination personally, and he watched the paper that Nie Weijiang wrote.
Chen Lina received so many congratulations and praises along the way that she was not so happy when Nie Weimin scored full marks and ranked first.
It was not easy for Erdan. He spent all his time memorizing words and formulas in his dreams for a whole year. He was slapped on the head and called an idiot by Sandan, who was several years younger than him. Yet, he was able to get into the Oilfield Middle School.
"Principal Chai, let's talk about something off topic. Didn't you say that even if I used the back door and begged you on my knees, you would not accept my second son? I have to thank you for that. If you hadn't provoked him, he might not have been admitted." Chen Lina said.
Principal Chai spread his arms and handed the test paper to Erdan. "Welcome, Nie Weiguo. From now on, you will be a member of Oilfield Middle School."
Erdan was being led by his mother, and he felt very proud.
"By the way, Guo Bin sent me a sample copy of the New Youth Daily. Would you like to take a look?"
The New Youth Daily used a color version to introduce the customs of the frontier and the lives of the new generation of children who migrated from the inland to the frontier. Although Chen Lina originally selected the photos herself, the feeling of seeing the golden sunset, the blue sky, the autumn fruit and cotton fields, and a few children walking through the forest and reading under the trees in the newspaper is really different.
"You are such a talent, Chen Lina. After reading the newspaper, several female teachers in the school rushed to buy clothes from your clothing factory." said Principal Chai.
Needless to say, Chen Lina could imagine how many times her clothing sales would increase if this newspaper was actually printed and published.
Labor is never the original sin for a company to fail to generate profits. Although the overall economic situation is not good now, this is precisely the best time to make money.
After graduating from middle school, Erdan thought he was going home, but he didn't expect that Chen Lina got in the car, filled up the gas, drove out of the mining area, and headed straight for Uru.
"Mom, why are we going to Uru? Will we come back tonight?" Erdan asked.
Chen Lina also looked at the sky and said, "We really have to run faster. I'm afraid we'll be late and the store will be closed."
When they got to the state-owned store, several sales clerks were a little confused when they heard that she wanted to buy a guitar.
Chen Lina patted Erdan and said with a smile, "My son was admitted to Wushi Oilfield No. 1 Middle School. I want to give him a guitar as a reward. The kind that you play, the kind that makes a lot of noise."
"You can't tell from this boy, but he was able to get into Oilfield No. 1 Middle School, which is a good middle school." Several sales clerks asked one by one, and at the end, they said that there might be one on the fourth floor of the department store.
So Chen Lina took Erdan to the fourth floor again.
There were actually pianos for sale upstairs, and there were quite a few of them. After asking around, Chen Lina picked out the most expensive one, which cost over three hundred yuan, and bought it for Erdan without saying anything.
Her Rayleigh style is well-known in the mining area.
As the sunset approached the mountain, we drove out of Wushi again.
Erdan never dreamed that he would have a guitar. He plucked up the courage to say, "Mom, I don't want to go to an oilfield middle school. I want to ask you, can I go to a mining middle school?"
"Why? Did you really cheat during the exam?" Chen Lina asked.
Erdan waved his hands and said, "No, not at all. But before the test, I remembered a lot of things, but once the test was over, I forgot everything. The test was for you, but I didn't remember the knowledge at all."
Chen Lina can understand this.
She got 100 points on the traffic rules test, but when asked about the traffic rules now, she doesn't know a single one.
"My second brother wants to go to a middle school in the mining area, Mom," said my sister.
Erdan was holding his most beloved guitar in his hand. He knew that this was Chen Lina's high hopes for him and he was reluctant to part with it.
But I really didn’t want to go to an oilfield middle school. “I just want to join the army after graduating from high school. I don’t want to go to college. Otherwise, Mom, can you give up the piano and let me go to a middle school in the mining area? Okay?”
"You've already bought the piano, why return it? If you want to go to a middle school in the mining area, then go ahead." Chen Lina said.
Finally, out of pity for Erdan, she let him go. There is more to life than just college, and if he really wants to join the army, let him go, she thought.
Erdan was very happy. With a clang, the guitar started playing.
"Brother Deng Chun, what's wrong with you?" The younger sister has always disliked Deng Chun. Today, when she came home, she saw him lying on the ground, looking so pitiful, which aroused her desire to protect him.
Deng Chun waved his hands and said, "Sister, I may die. Goodbye. You must live well."
"Mom, Brother Deng Chun is going to die." The younger sister pulled at her skirt and said, "Let's bury him."
"Deng Chun, get up and go in to do your homework." Chen Lina said.
She guessed that Deng Chun had fought with Erdan or Sandan again, and was lying on the ground to win her sympathy.
As a result, by the time Chen Lina had steamed a large pot of squash and mixed some cold vegetables, the rice was already on the table, but Deng Chun hadn't gotten up yet.
Good boy, when she touched the child, she found that he had a fever.
Look, when Deng Chun woke up again, he was lying on the big kang, shivering from the cold.
"I've fed him the medicine, you use alcohol to wipe him. If it doesn't work, we'll put him on the farm when we go to Hami. Anyway, this kid is too vulnerable for ordinary people to bear." This was the voice of the laborer.
Deng Chun opened his eyes and saw Chen Lina wiping him. After all, she was still a child. She pouted and said, "Don't take off my underwear."
Chen Lina hummed and said, "You lazy guy, your underwear is already smelly and you don't even wash it yourself. You haven't washed your underwear for at least half a month."
My sister said, "Brother Deng Chun didn't mean it."
She kept patting his chest with her two little hands.
"Aunt Chen, you're not going to kill me, are you?" Deng Chun asked after hesitating for a while.
"Why would I kill you? You're not even as fat as a goat, and I can't eat you."
"But the rabbit died, and I almost died too. My grandmother said that my stepmother harmed people by poisoning the food." The boy was still powerless.
"Where is your grandmother? Why didn't she take you with her?"
"My grandmother only wants a house and a pension. Once she gets them, she will give me to my father," said Deng Chun.
Chen Lina understood that this child was probably another one that was neglected by her grandmother. As for the biological grandmother, she was heartbroken when her daughter died, and she did not teach the child to actively accept the new mother.
Instead, for her own benefit, she speaks ill of the stepmother in front of the child. The child has no feelings for the new mother to begin with, and after hearing what the grandmother says, won't he become even more repulsive to her?
"If your new mother had really poisoned your food, you would have died long ago. How could you still come to the mining area?"
"She wouldn't poison me. She would just tell my dad that I beat my sister again."
"Did you hit him?"
"I didn't beat her at first, but since my sister complained too much, I started beating her," said Deng Chun.
Chen Lina observed for a while and did not notice that Deng Chun hit his sister. Moreover, although this kid had a bad mouth, he was kind with his hands. Of course, since he was thin, he would not easily throw a punch.
But Deng Dongya also swore that he often beat his little daughter.
It seems that the Deng Dongya family's mess is difficult to settle.
Chen Lina had just coaxed Deng Chun to sleep and came out of the bedroom. The little carrot-headed Sandan said mysteriously, "Mom, I discovered Deng Chun's big secret."
On autumn nights, crickets are chirping, and the radishes planted in the backyard have set seeds. Now we have to rub all the seeds off and save them for planting next year.
There were also carrots for planting and several kinds of melons, all ripe.
The workers are kneading the seeds.
The current policy remains unchanged, and seeds must be distributed uniformly by grain stations. However, ordinary households still have the habit of saving their own seeds.
For example, every autumn, the workers would collect the rapeseed for the next year in the same way.
"Is Deng Chun awake?"
"He woke up, but looked lifeless. You know, Dandan found that he had put a suicide note in his schoolbag. It said that whoever saw the note must take it to his mother's grave and cremate it. Then, his mother would come to take him to heaven." As he said this, Sandan showed Chen Lina a piece of paper. In addition to a passage written on the paper, there was also a map drawn on it.
There is the Baiyang River, several watercourses, experimental laboratories, office buildings, and a big cross in the family area, which is where he is now. This map was probably drawn for his mother.
Poor child, so what if he is the child of a great leader? Without his mother, he is still just a little cabbage with yellow leaves.
The laborer was rubbing the seeds. "Little boy, when he fell asleep just now, he kept calling for his mother."
Deng Chun, the slippery and elusive little mouse, is still crying in his dream.
He dreamed that he was dead, and then his mother received the letter and really came to the mine to pick him up.
Mom was still as beautiful as in the movies. Deng Chun ran and ran, and finally caught his mother's hand. He was so happy that he couldn't hold back and burst into tears.
Nie Weixing was still patting his chest gently. To her, anyone who was scared or bullied needed care.
Chen Lina was standing in the backyard, looking at the child on the kang in the master bedroom, and thinking, my good daughter will probably become a kindergarten teacher when she grows up.