My second brother has no place to live for the time being, so the three of us can squeeze together tonight, and he will find another way tomorrow. Also, my second brother and I haven’t had dinner yet. I just saw that there is still a fire in the coal stove. How about we add some coal balls and cook some porridge? "

Wei Liang: “…”

What's wrong with Meng Jingang? It's already difficult for me to take him in, and he brought someone with him? Does he think this is a hotel?

I'm still cooking porridge because there's no food left at home.

Wei Liang thought about how his mother turned the empty grain bag over carefully and shook it gently when cooking dinner, not even leaving out the flour in the cracks. His mother also said apologetically: "The monthly grain quota in our family's grain book has been eaten up so quickly this month. We are overspent. I will go to your uncle's house tomorrow to see if I can borrow some. Eat less tonight, half a bowl of batter per person, and save half a bowl for your classmate. If he doesn't come back to live here, you and your brother can share it as a midnight snack, so you won't be hungry in the middle of the night."

He and his younger brother shared the batter and were no longer hungry in the middle of the night, but what about his parents? Wouldn’t they be hungry too?

Wei Liang now realized that what his elder sister said was right.

The family was so poor, he had no job, he hadn't earned a penny for the family, and he was still supported by his parents at the age of 18. Why did he take in guests for so long? This house was not just his home. If he kept guests, his family would have to save food and go hungry. His mother was already malnourished and looked pale and skinny, and his younger brother was a teenager and always seemed to be hungry...

Wei Liang felt ashamed, not towards his classmate Meng Jingang, but towards his parents and family.

"I'm sorry, King Kong. My eldest sister is back with her nephew and brother-in-law. You should find another place to stay tonight."

Wei Liang said this naturally. Meng Jingang was stunned. Meng Jingui behind him was also stunned. Then he felt regretful. He didn't want to take him in? If he had known, he would not have walked so far. He was cold and hungry. He might as well have stayed in the hospital. At least it was warm there and there was boiled water to drink.

Meng Jingang stammered, "So, your elder sister is really here?"

"Really." Wei Liang said.

The voice of Sister Wei coaxing the child could be heard from the room.

Meng Jingang: "...Wei Liang, why didn't you tell us earlier? Where are you asking us to go now?"

"King Kong, you went out after lunch, and I don't know where you went. My sister has been here for a long time, but you just showed up now. How can I tell you?"

"But...what should we do? Everywhere is closed, and all the street lights have to be turned off. The streets are completely dark."

Wei Liang thought for a moment and said, "How about this, do you remember Wu Wei from our class? His family works at the county department store. The department store's staff quarters is in the city, in that old castle-like building with three wide and large doorways. Wu Wei's father is the gatekeeper. The lights there are always on at night. There are two rows of long chairs. We usually go there to play cards. You can go there for one night. Tell Wu Wei's father that you are Wu Wei's classmate, and he won't chase you away."

Meng Jingang felt that Wei Liang was simply insulting him. What kind of bad idea did he come up with? He actually asked him to live in the doorway. Was he really so miserable?

For the sake of their old classmate, he didn't want to fall out with Wei Liang. He felt that it was because he brought Meng Jingui here, and Meng Jingui was dressed in a rustic and dirty way, that Wei Liang was unhappy and didn't want to let them stay.

Wei Liang was relieved to see that he was straightforward and said, "It's quite late now, so you guys should go quickly."

But then I heard Meng Jingang say, "Today I went to see our factory site. The factory building is basically ready, and the dormitory is also being built very quickly. It will probably be completed next month, so I will come again next month. I heard that there are a lot of people recruiting this time, so I have to keep a close eye on them, otherwise I won't be able to get a good dormitory. Let me tell you first, I will come and live with you for two days next month."

Wei Liang: “…” Why are you coming again?

Hearing Sister Wei coughing in the room, Wei Liang hurriedly said, "Meng Jingang, please stay in a hotel next time. Our place is small and there is no room for you."

After saying that, he quickly closed the door.

Meng Jingang stood in the dark corridor in a daze, thinking back to Wei Liang's words, and realized that he was completely rejected. He couldn't help but feel embarrassed and angry: How could Wei Liang do this? He locked himself out in the middle of the night, and he didn't get angry. He was also very polite and said in advance that he would come back next month, but he rejected him outright without any mercy! He was too disloyal, what kind of good classmate is he? Looking back, he saw Meng Jingui still had the energy to use other people's coal stoves to keep warm, and he couldn't help but complain angrily. It was all because of this unlucky guy that he had no place to live.

Meng Jingui became even more angry, blaming Meng Jingui for being unreliable and causing him to walk a long way on an empty stomach, exhausted, and in the end still without a place to stay or food.

The two brothers quarreled and walked out of the dormitory area. In fact, they could still stay in a hotel, which was open late at night. Meng Jingui and Meng Jingang both had some money on them, but neither of them was willing to take it out, so they finally went to the hospital.

Early in the morning, Meng Tao came to the hospital carrying a large aluminum lunch box and saw this scene: there was a bulge in the quilt on the left side of Meng Jinniu's bed. There was a person burrowed in the quilt, snoring loudly.

Meng Tao asked: "Who is this?"

Meng Jinniu: "Second brother, Meng Jingui."

Meng Tao glared: "How can you let him sleep here? Are you kidding me about touching your injured leg? Don't you want to get better? Why didn't he leave last night?"

Meng Jinniu looked helpless. "He left last night and came back in the middle of the night. Fortunately, Brother Zhang Fu went to call the doctor over, so he didn't dare to squeeze me. It was early in the morning after the doctor finished his rounds that he couldn't hold on any longer and came up to sleep for a while. I'm awake now and won't let him touch me."

Zhang Fu pointed at the door and said, "There's another one on the bench outside. They really annoyed me last night and I didn't sleep well. I got up to go to the bathroom at around five in the morning and that Meng Jingang crawled into my quilt. I had no place to lie down and could only stay close to my dad to keep warm."

Meng Tao really has nothing much to say.

While the two men were still asleep, she scooped out some steaming hot bone porridge from the lunch box and gave it to Meng Jinniu, and shared a bowl with Zhang Fu's father. This porridge was bought from a state-owned restaurant, and it was cooked for a long time, with a rich aroma and good nutrition. In addition to the bone porridge, there were six plump white buns in an oil paper bag, stuffed with pork and cabbage. Meng Jinniu and Zhang's father each got one, and the rest was given to Zhang Fu. Meng Tao came over after she had eaten her fill at the restaurant.

Zhang Fu did not refuse. He served the porridge to his father and took big bites of the buns himself. His mother would also bring food when she came to take over the shift during the day. She made chicken soup yesterday and shared it with Meng Jinniu. It has been like this for the past few days. The two families would send food to each other.

(End of this chapter)