Chapter 49 Miao Gang
"Oh, sorry, I've said so much but haven't gotten to the point yet." Miao Qingqing was a little embarrassed, but there was a hint of pride in her eyes - pride in being a woman.
Women work hard and make money desperately.
The little baby grows up little by little from a baby in swaddling clothes, from being able to only lie down, to learning to sit, and then to taking toddling steps. The woman was by her side every moment of her growth.
When she grew older, the woman could no longer carry the baby on her back all the time.
Growing up babies are full of curiosity about the world. Factories full of machines and kitchens with boiling hot water are not suitable for curious babies.
The woman quit.
The factory owner sympathized with her and was willing to let her take some simple manual work home to do.
Manual work is paid on a piece-by-piece basis, and the price per piece is pitifully low, but at least it can supplement the family income.
The woman was grateful.
She still did her original job as a street sweeper, and also found a job delivering newspapers and milk. In the rest of her time, she did handicrafts. The little kid would sit beside her, staring at her hand movements curiously, and occasionally touching the various small parts piled on the table.
If the craft is done quickly, the woman will be able to experience the world with her deaf little baby.
In spring, when little kids can’t hear the buzzing of bees, they stay close to the flowers and smell the rich fragrance.
In summer, the little girl can’t hear the rumbling thunder, so she draws the curtains and the mother and daughter look at the lightning tearing through the darkness in the night sky together.
In autumn, the little girl couldn't hear the "crunching" sound of the fallen leaves, so the woman put the fallen leaves in her palms, wrapped her hands, and felt the wonderful touch of the leaves breaking between her fingers.
In winter, the little girl could not hear the whistling cold wind, so the woman dressed her in thick clothes, took her to touch the cold snowflakes, and then went home to make her a bowl of shaved ice that looked like white snow.
Although the little baby cannot hear, with the company of the woman, he understands the world in another way. The rich colors of this world unfolded before her eyes bit by bit.
The little baby is two years old.
At the age of two, other children were already babbling and able to express themselves, but she could not hear, nor could she speak, and could only make unclear sounds.
The woman began to get anxious, but the money was far from enough.
She thought: Is there any way to teach the baby to speak?
So, one day, she sat down face to face with the little baby.
The woman pointed to her mouth, slowed down the motion, made the shape of "mom" with her mouth, and then pointed at the baby.
The little kid tilted his head, not understanding.
The woman repeated patiently, pointing to herself, then to her mouth, and making the "mom" shape with her mouth again.
The little girl seemed to understand something. She opened her mouth like the woman, but there was only the shape of her mouth without any sound.
The woman frowned and scratched her head in distress, thinking about how to make the doll make any sound.
Soon, she thought of a solution.
She said "Mom" as she took the baby's hand and placed it against her throat.
As she said the word "Mom", her throat vibrated slightly.
Then the woman put the doll's hands back on the doll's neck.
They tried for a long, long time, so long that the woman didn't do any manual work that day.
Hard work pays off.
The baby successfully made the sound while making the "mom" mouth shape.
Although this sound was far from "Mom", it was the first time the baby called "Mom".
In this way, the woman worked hard to make money while taking the baby to see the world and teaching her to speak at an extremely slow pace.
The doll continued to grow, and the wrinkled baby became a three-year-old girl.
The woman observed the mothers around her and found that some mothers would help their children make friends and cultivate their interests.
So the woman brought the baby to the park.
For the first time in her life, she loosened the soft cloth tied around the little doll and let it walk in the direction of its peers.
However, the little baby could not fit in with the group of articulate children who were chirping like birds in the treetops in the early morning.
She stood there in a daze, not understanding why the children who had just been around her turned into frightened birds and scattered in panic.
The little kid doesn't understand, but the woman does.
The deaf baby couldn't control the volume when speaking, and the sounds he made were strange and scary.
The woman no longer insisted, and silently tied the soft cloth again, holding the doll tightly by her side.
They came to the sandpit in the park and the woman picked up a branch.
She seemed to be just paddling twice, but a cute puppy appeared in the sand pool.
The little baby jumped up and down excitedly, pointing at the sand pool and asking the woman to turn it into more animals.
The woman smiled. She held the doll in her arms, put the branch into the doll's hands, and gently wrapped her own hands around the back of the doll's hands.
Their hands moved together.
“That was the first time I learned to paint.”
“From that time on, I became interested in painting.”
"Although my mother was reluctant to spend money, she still bought me colored pencils and notebooks and let me draw in the notebooks."
"When I grew up a little, my mother sent me to primary school. At that time, there was no age limit of six to enter primary school."
"But rather than sending me to study, it was sending me to a place where I didn't need soft cloth and where there was no danger."
"But my mother was still worried. She used to work in the kitchen, so she started cooking at school. My classmates were in class, but I couldn't hear them, so I drew."
"Later, for some reasons, I was transferred to a school that specifically accepts children like me, and my mother also moved there to cook."
Miao Qingqing's story was told simply, without many details, but Ren Fenghe was able to piece together a complete picture from her simple narration.
The image of young Ms. Miao came to her mind.
When she was young, Ms. Miao might not be as efficient and quick as she is now. She might have spoken softly in the past, like Miao Qingqing.
But raising a deaf daughter alone, without any support for her goal, her softness was gradually sharpened into hard armor, growing sharp thorns to protect the little baby sitting in the cradle in the deepest part of her heart.
"My mother has been working harder. She used to paint with me when she saw me painting, but time is chasing her. She wants to save money quickly and no longer has time to paint."
"She stopped painting and forgot that she loved painting."
"But I remember that my mother liked to see the scenery and paint, so she took me to see the scenery and taught me to paint."
Miao Qingqing finally talked about things related to painting.
"That's about it. My mother was the teacher who made me fall in love with painting." Miao Qingqing clapped her hands and said.
The story of painting was over, but what about the cochlear implant? Ren Fenghe held Miao Qingqing's fingers and shook them twice, then converted the voice into text on the phone.
Seeing that she was curious, Miao Qingqing continued talking.
"When I was five and a half, my mother saved and borrowed money to finally raise enough money for a cochlear implant."
"But in the end, we didn't plant it," said Miao Qingqing.
"Although the doctor said that cochlear implants can be used before the age of six, the younger the child is, the more effective they are. Five and a half years old is not really suitable. In addition, my mother consulted many doctors and realized that cochlear implants carry great risks."
Ren Fenghe was stunned. He could already imagine Ms. Miao holding little Miao Qingqing's hand, standing in the hospital in a daze.
"Grandma Miao must be very sad."
Just imagining it, Ren Fenghe, as an audience member, felt a pang of sadness in his heart, not to mention Ms. Miao, who had been working hard for a long time to get a cochlear implant but failed at the moment when the light was about to come.
Miao Qingqing shook her head.
"Mom is lost, but she is not sad."
During the past five and a half years, the woman had thought countless times about the scenario of not being able to save enough money and not being able to get a cochlear implant. She had been sad countless times during these five years and had made countless mental preparations.
She was not defeated by sadness, but turned it into motivation for her to move forward.
Although the little girl still cannot hear, learning to speak is becoming increasingly difficult for her, and she cannot express herself with sound no matter how hard she tries.
Although she can’t learn to speak, she can use sign language and communicate.
With the efforts of mother and daughter and the help of teachers, the little girl can read normally and her word order is also very normal.
She is an imperfect child, but she is a healthy child.
She draws beautifully, and the colors on the pictures are rich and colorful. Just looking at the pictures makes people can't help but curl their lips. This is because when the woman was a child, she took her little baby to experience the world in a different way. Her protection and love for the little baby nourished the little baby's soul.
She is an imperfect child, but she has a healthy mind.
"Now I am a healthy adult with a sound mind."
Miao Qingqing finally finished her story, and Ren Fenghe beside her clapped his hands vigorously.
Ren Fenghe felt her heart beating so fast, and she was surrounded by great emotion and shock.
Thump, thump, she heard her heartbeat.
She thought about how she always smashed things after the operation, and how she always couldn't control her temper and used words to hurt everyone close to her.
She also wants to have a healthy mind, Ren Fenghe said.
Although she does not have parents like Ms. Miao, she also wants to rely on herself and have a healthy mind.
Ren Fenghe was still feeling this soul-trembling feeling.
But after telling the story, Miao Qingqing's face suddenly showed a hint of sadness.
"I am very grateful to my mother. Without her, I would not be who I am today. But she has worked so hard."
“Her life has always revolved around me.”
"She has been working hard to make money. Now that she is retired, she is looking for a new job just to leave more money for me."
"So I work hard at painting. Besides I enjoy it, I also want to make more money so that my mother doesn't have to worry about anything."
"I want my mother to feel at ease. I hope that one day, she can put down all her burdens and find herself again who loves painting."
Ren Fenghe listened attentively.
Suddenly, she remembered something and asked, "What's Grandma Miao's name?"
On the first day Grandma Miao came, she only said her surname was "Miao" and never said her name.
Miao Qingqing pursed her lips and typed: "Every time my mother introduces herself, she says her last name is Miao, or she calls herself Qingqing's mother, but she also has a very beautiful name."
"Her name is Miao Wan, a nice name that my grandparents asked me to give her."
"There were still landlords in my grandparents' time. When I was a child, there was a daughter in the landlord's family. She spoke softly, was well-educated and well-mannered. Anyone who saw her knew she was a rich girl. My grandparents hoped that my mother would grow up like this."
Miao Qingqing laughed and said, "But my mother didn't grow up to be what my grandmother hoped she would be. My mother is 'Miao Gang'."
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