Chapter 84 Please Help
The sun gradually sank to the west, hanging above the distant mountains, and sprinkled down on the earth like melted gold, soaking the clouds and dyeing them into a gorgeous and brilliant brocade.
The sunset glowed low, and the whole village was immersed in a soft glow.
Tourists on the mountain rushed down the mountain. Some lived nearby and drove away that day, while others, like Li Yun and Xu Zhiyi, prepared to take ox carts back to the town to stay in the hotel.
I played in the mountains for a whole day and met Xia Xia, although I didn’t say hello, which was one joy; I picked raspberries and vegetables myself, although I couldn’t take them back, which was a second joy; I tasted authentic farm dishes, and every dish was delicious, which was a third joy.
Time always passes quickly when we are playing. It feels like we haven’t done anything, but the sun is about to set.
Li Yun tirelessly continued, "It feels like I'm back in my childhood. The adults at home were cooking, and we'd play around in the village after school. It would get dark while we were playing, and someone would yell for us to go home for dinner, so the kids would gradually disperse. My mom was working away from home, so I lived with my grandma. The house was an adobe. Have you ever seen an adobe house? The top was yellow mud mixed with straw, and the bottom was red brick. The kitchen was short and small, and there was a pear tree in the yard, its branches reaching over the kitchen. I remember every time my grandma entered the kitchen, and once, pear blossoms fell on her head. It was so gentle and healing."
"The evenings back then were filled with the strong, indelible smell of burning wood. My friends all went home, and I went back too. When I entered the kitchen, the fire in the pot was still burning, and my grandmother was busy at the stove. The light bulb had been used for too long, and was covered in a layer of black smoke. The whole house was dim, and I couldn't see my grandmother's face clearly."
But Li Yun remembered that her grandmother was very happy to see her back. After the fire in the pot died down, she picked out a few whole sweet potatoes from the bamboo basket and hid them in the pot with tongs.
This way, after she finishes her meal and takes a shower, she can eat a hot sweet potato before going to bed.
She spoke of these childhood memories slowly, like the wind blowing past his ears. Xu Zhiyi listened attentively, his thoughts following her narration back to the past.
At this moment, smoke is quietly rising from the roofs of each house in the village. At first it is a straight wisp, which is then spread out by the evening breeze, curling and finally turning into a light blue gauze, floating in the clear air, carrying the unique warm fragrance of firewood.
"What about you? What were you like as a child?"
Li Yun asked Xu Zhiyi curiously.
The returning birds flew by, carrying the evening light on their backs, with gold dust on the tips of their wings, and flew hurriedly to their nests in the deep darkness of the woods.
Xu Zhiyi was silent for a while, trying hard to recall, and then she remembered.
"There are many children in my family, especially girls. I'm the third child, but I don't have any older sisters. I have two younger sisters and a younger brother. My younger brother was born when I was seven. Our family was extremely poor. I had to take care of my two younger sisters every day and cook for my mother who was in confinement. I had to stand on a stool while I cooked, and I could get burned if I wasn't careful. But I couldn't shout, because if I disturbed my younger brother, I would be beaten. The same thing happened to my two younger sisters."
"I never met my two older sisters. When my second sister was born, my eldest was three and had been given away. Later, my second sister fell ill. My family didn't like her because she was a girl, so they didn't have time to take her to the hospital. She died. When I was born, a grandmother in the village said I was a boy, so they kept me."
At this point, Xu Zhiyi smiled helplessly. The biggest difference between her and Li Yun was that Li Yun was good at finding joy in hardship. Even in things that could not be changed, she could find joy in them and draw nourishment from them.
But she is different. She works hard just to avoid returning to her hometown.
Sometimes I have nightmares, and the scenes in my dreams are all about my hometown.
Li Yun has no biological siblings, but she has a half-brother and half-sister. Her father was an irresponsible scumbag who abandoned his wife and daughter. Her mother worked away from home and soon found another man.
However, Li Yun has always been fostered at his grandmother's house, so the impact on him is not particularly great.
The two girls walked down the mountain and talked about their childhood memories without any defense. The painful, sad, happy and unforgettable memories came out of their mouths like flowing streams.
A stream just happened to flow past the village, its gurgling sound echoing through the water, the ripples dancing and floating like bits of gold. An old cow strolled leisurely along the ridge of a field, its breath melting into the evening mist, and the newly planted rice stubble exuded a green yet warm fragrance in the dusk.
With beautiful scenery and soft mood, the two people walked tirelessly through the village. When they reached the entrance of the village, there were very few ox carts.
They hadn't finished talking yet, so they decided not to wait for the ox cart and walked back to town along the country road.
The dusk deepened, finally and gently enveloping the entire village. The figures of those returning home late were stretched thin and blurred on the ridges of the fields, like a silent ink mark between earth and sky, as if they were slowly flowing back to their homes from afar.
There are many things that Xu Zhiyi hates, mostly people. Occasionally there are memories that make her feel warm, but they are only a very small number.
Things that I didn't want to tell anyone in the past became commonplace when I spoke in front of Li Yun.
Li Yun talked about the fun in the alley. After school, the kids from the neighborhood would get together to play. She was the undisputed king of the bunch. She was straightforward and acted like a boss, making everyone obey her. They played with sandbags, jumped rubber ropes, burned candy, and fished for shrimp...
No matter how small the matter is, it seems to have a special charm and becomes interesting when it comes out of her mouth.
The girl Li Yun described was quite different from her current self. In the workplace, Li Yun was quiet and reserved, and her playful nature was nowhere to be seen. Except for her straightforward personality, she remained the same.
The evening breeze rustled, the rice paddies rustled, and the scent of earth and grass grew stronger. Suddenly, a dog from somewhere darted out, chasing the fleeting insects in the night, disturbing the village's twilight. Its barking was like a pebble dropped into a still pond, startling the dusk, swaying slightly before fading back into silence—an even more tranquil feeling.
The sun sets, the moon rises, and the stars in the sky begin to work.
At first, her eyes were a little uncomfortable with the dimness around her. Li Yun was afraid that Xu Zhiyi would twist her body, so he took her hand, as naturally as breathing, until her eyes got used to walking under the moon, and she did not let go.
As dusk falls, birds return to their nests and smoke from cooking turns into clouds; as the stream sings with the golden evening light, and as slender figures slowly flow back home - this is clearly the earth's most gentle breath at dusk, silently filtering out all the noise, leaving only the village's steady heartbeat gently beating in the twilight.
Just like Xu Zhiyi’s heartbeat.
The wind tonight was particularly gentle. After dinner, the wind gradually grew stronger, causing the treetops to sway slightly.
Xia Wu drove the chickens, ducks and geese back to the pen before dark and carefully counted the number of poultry. Hei Dou stood by, staring at the flock of chickens he was responsible for, as if he was also counting them.
The elderly people in the Shuijing courtyard were also taken down the mountain by Yang Guofeng and sent back home. Without the crowds of people, the Shuijing courtyard became particularly quiet.
The golden beans and black beans were not big enough, and Xia Wu was worried about leaving them on the mountain to look after the poultry, so when he returned home for dinner, he once again mentioned living in the mountain.
"I live in the mountains and can still hear the noises. Otherwise, I'd be really worried that weasels would eat all the chickens."
Yang Guojun was the first to disagree, "It's not safe for you, a girl, to live in the mountains. I'll go live there."
Liu Guizhen also said, "That's right, don't say your father is worried, I am worried too. There are no outsiders in our village, no one steals things, even if a weasel steals, how many can it eat?"
Xia Wu couldn't convince his parents, so the matter had to be discussed later.
After dinner and a shower, Yang Hongwen handed the camera to Xia Wu and asked his sister to check the footage shot today.
Ever since he got a camera, Yang Hongwen carries it with him wherever he goes and takes pictures all the time, no longer following Xia Wu around like he used to.
Every night he would let Xia Wu check the photos and videos he took. Xia Wu would import the content into the computer, edit it again, and make it into a video before publishing it.
The brother and sister were busy until after eleven o'clock. Although Xia Wu was the one who was busy, Yang Hongwen was playing with the dog on the side.
Don’t ask why he doesn’t play with the rabbit, Bugs Bunny has become Mr. Yang’s favorite pet.
Last autumn, Xia Wu brought home a litter of rabbits. Only Bugs Bunny remained at home; the others were given away.
Rabbits are not like puppies that can run around with Xia Wu often. Bugs Bunny can only be locked in a cage when he is at home. I don’t know if Xia Wu didn’t close the cage tightly that day, allowing Bugs Bunny to run out.
This guy was very familiar with his home. Instead of running into the wild, he ran from the backyard to his grandfather's house in the front yard and knocked over a pile of prepared medicinal herbs.
Then this guy was taken away by my grandfather and sentenced to labor service.
Old Master Yang spends more time at home than Xia Wu, and when he goes out he can take the rabbit with him in his pocket without any grudges.
Bugs Bunny is timid and not only is he not afraid of Xia Wu, but he is also not afraid of Old Man Yang and acts very obedient.
When Xia Wu went to close the gate, he passed by his grandfather's door. The door was half-open, revealing a dim light, and an opera was playing on the TV.
She thought her grandfather was not asleep, so she knocked on the door gently. No one answered, so Xia Wu gently pushed the door open and poked her head in. She saw her grandfather sitting at the table flipping through a book. There were already several books on the table.
"Master, are you still awake?"
"Xiao Wu," Old Master Yang took the time to look at him. He was wearing reading glasses and writing something on a piece of paper. "I have something to worry about and can't sleep."
"What's the matter? Are you in trouble?"
"It's not my problem, come in and sit down."
Xia Wu went in and saw Bugs Bunny curled up in a small ball, sleeping on his grandfather's rattan chair. She picked up Bugs Bunny and sat in his seat. She picked up a book at random. There was no name on the cover. When she opened it, she saw that it was full of densely packed words, which made her dizzy.
"Today, your Fourth Master Yang brought a young man with him. He has stage five kidney disease and is already on dialysis. His family is struggling to afford surgery and it's difficult to find a suitable kidney donor. So, your Fourth Master Yang wanted me to take a look at him."
Mr. Yang sighed and closed the book.
"Master, it's normal that you can't cure such a serious illness. He should go to the hospital."
"The young man doesn't have much money. I guess he's planning on dying, so he came here to relax before leaving. Do you think I can just watch him die without helping him? I'll let him stay here for a while. It won't be too late to go back when the hospital has a kidney. During this time, he'll stay at your Fourth Master Yang's house, which is close by."
Xia Wu held her face in her hands. She didn't know any medicine, but she always felt that her grandfather was very powerful.
"Master, is it difficult to study medicine?"
Yang Hongen smiled and said, "It's not difficult at all. It's just like studying. For those who are determined, no matter how difficult it is, it's worth the challenge."
He took this path voluntarily.
Yang Hongen told Xia Wu his story. He had been a soldier when he was young and learned to read and write in night school. At that time, there were few doctors and the good doctors were all in the city treating city residents. The superiors said, who would treat the illnesses of so many people in the countryside? So they wanted to disperse more doctors from the city to the countryside.
This alone is not enough. There are simply too many people in rural areas. In the past, sanitary conditions were poor, people's food and drink were not good, and they were prone to illness. There were all kinds of diseases, and there were probably only one or two doctors in every ten miles, so they simply couldn't treat all of them.
So the authorities gathered a group of educated and idealistic young people and quickly trained a large number of doctors. These people were called barefoot doctors.
There is also a book called "Barefoot Doctor's Manual", which contains many common diseases and provides feasible solutions. No one taught Yang Hongen how to treat patients. Someone gave him a book, and he treated patients according to the book. He had no master to guide him, and no one gave him advice. He did everything by groping his way.
Later, barefoot doctors became a joke and a synonym for treating illnesses with poor medical skills.
However, Yang Hongen was not satisfied with being just a barefoot doctor.
In that era when it was difficult to even have enough to eat, he found various ways to improve his medical skills, such as copying medical books, going to the city to communicate and learn from others, writing medical records when treating patients, and then summarizing the situation.
By learning slowly like this, Yang Hongen's medical skills improved greatly.
The people in the surrounding area were all indebted to him. If anyone had a sick family, they would walk ten miles to see Yang Hongen. Although the poor families could not afford to give him money, he would never let him go back empty-handed. He would always give him a small bag of brown sugar, a dozen eggs, a few pieces of cloth...
Because he treated patients, Yang Hongen's life was considered wealthy in the village, and he never let his family go hungry or have no clothes to wear.
He was also proud of his achievements and thought he was a great doctor.
Until his own grandson fell ill with a fever, he was unable to cure him and missed the best time for treatment. Yang Hongwen developed meningitis and became a fool.
This incident was like a slap in the face, a stab in the heart. In all these years, he had never caused such serious consequences when treating outsiders, but he treated his grandson like a fool.
One doesn't feel pain unless a slap lands on oneself. Because this slap was so painful, Yang Hongen fell into confusion for a while. He stopped treating patients, but he was unwilling to give up.
When he was young, he aspired to be a doctor to help people out of danger. However, over the years, his medical skills were still that of a barefoot doctor.
Learning is like rowing against the current, if you don’t move forward, you will move backward.
The same principle applies to being a doctor.
He originally didn't want to continue treating patients for fear of delaying their care.
But the village has never found a suitable successor. This place is too poor to afford a doctor.
There are clinics and hospitals in the town, but for many people, they are too troublesome.
The villagers begged Yang Hongen to continue practicing medicine. He learned from his mistakes, took the medical qualification exam at an old age, continued to study, and only then dared to treat patients.
So many years have passed, and Yang Hongen's medical career has been relatively smooth. He has only had one medical accident, that of Yang Hongwen, who happened to his own grandson.
He could easily cure or alleviate other people's minor ailments, but no one would ask him to treat a serious illness like Ji Yunzhou's.
So treating Qi Wei today was a big challenge for Yang Hongen.
Xia Wu didn't know that there were so many things behind his grandfather being a doctor. It turned out that this was how his brother got sick. How to say it, as the price for making his grandfather mature, this price is really too high.
It’s hard to imagine how much psychological pressure my grandfather has been under over the years.
"Master, is my brother's illness completely incurable?"
Yang Hongen smiled helplessly and said, "Brain damage is irreversible unless there is a miracle."
"But I feel my brother's situation isn't that bad. He was well-educated by his parents, can take care of himself, and can communicate with others. He just doesn't like talking to outsiders. He also has his own hobbies, so he's not really stupid."
Xia Wu felt that her brother was more like autistic, and the condition was well treated.
"With me here, brother will get better and better."
Yang Hongen breathed a sigh of relief. His granddaughter had some magical power. He felt much better after he finished speaking.
And since Xia Wu came back, Yang Hongwen's condition has indeed been getting better and better.
"Okay, it's getting late, Xiao Wu, you should go and get some rest."
"Okay, Master, you should go to bed early too. Don't worry too much. Just let nature take its course."
After saying good night to grandpa, Xia Wu hadn't put Bugs Bunny down yet when the little guy actually jumped out by himself. It seemed that he didn't want to go back to sleep with Xia Wu.
"You bad boy, how long have you been raised by grandpa and you don't recognize me?"
Xia Wu gently poked Bugs Bunny's long ears. In order to stay with his grandfather, this guy didn't even want her spiritual spring water.
On the way back to the house, Xia Wu thought of the black jade given to him by his grandfather, and suddenly he had an idea: why didn’t his grandfather discover the secret of the black jade?
What kind of story would have happened if Mo Yu had chosen grandpa?
Xia Wu kept thinking about this possibility until he fell asleep.
At two o'clock in the morning, Xia Wu woke up automatically before anyone knocked on the window. After a while, she heard a rustling sound outside the windowsill. She opened the curtains and saw Brother Snake.
Although the snake didn't hibernate much, it shed its skin during the winter. Now it looks bigger. It's so long and coiled outside the window, which still looks a bit scary.
Xia Wu was already used to it. He opened the window, but did not put down the spiritual spring water immediately before falling asleep.
She began to communicate with Brother Snake.
"Brother Snake, Brother Snake, with your size, you should be considered the leader of Yantou Mountain, right?"
"Ever since we met, you've been asking me for water late at night. Have I never refused you? Think about it, the spiritual spring water tastes good, right? Drinking it will definitely be good for you, right? We humans have a saying that goes, 'A drop of water is repaid with a spring of water.' Of course, I'm not asking a snake like you to do anything difficult for me," Xia Wu rambled on, not caring whether Brother Snake could understand or not. "It's like this. Recently, something in the mountains stole the chickens I raised. I don't know if it was a weasel or your companion. Whatever it was, I was very angry because the chickens I raise are very delicious! I can't bear to eat them myself. Don't you think thieves are hateful?"
"If you understand, please help me communicate, or help me look after the chickens. I can't go up the mountain at night, Brother Snake, please!"
Brother Snake seemed not to understand and anxiously spit out his tongue to ask for the spiritual spring water.
Xia Wu had no choice but to take out Brother Snake's special bowl like a magic trick and pour some spiritual spring water into it.
"Drink it, what a rival."
After Brother Snake finished drinking, he swam away without looking back, like a scumbag who dumped the woman after using her.
Xia Wu yawned and closed the window. It seemed that Brother Snake was unreliable. She had to think of a way.
Late at night, a rat snake about three meters long was swimming in the grass. Wherever it walked, the grass and trees swayed. Unknowingly, the rat snake came to a yard. The poultry pen seemed to notice something and there was a commotion. So the big snake no longer approached, but found a pile of firewood to crawl into, curled up into a ball, and fell into a sweet sleep.
Ma Xueqing took a bus the previous afternoon and arrived in Tongcheng that night. He then took a taxi to Donghua Town and asked the taxi to take him directly to Yanggou Village.
As soon as people arrived in the village, they headed straight to Yantou Mountain.
Wang Yuexia came early in the morning, cleaned the yard, prepared what she would make today, and even ground some soy milk.
There is a millstone in the courtyard by the well. It is an old item in the village and not many people use it now. Xia Wu saw it last time and liked it, so he asked someone to move it to the courtyard. Yang Guojun replaced it with new parts, and Wang Yuexia could grind soy milk by pushing it by herself.
After a while, the old people from the village came. I drank some hot soy milk and ate some steamed buns early in the morning, which made my stomach feel better.
Ma Xueqing arrived just in time, and the first bowl of hot soy milk fell into his stomach.
Wang Yuexia recognized Ma Xueqing and said that Chef Zhang had just been there yesterday. The two almost met again. What a coincidence.
Ma Xueqing didn't say that he was attracted by Chef Zhang. He asked indirectly whether the loofahs on the mountain were ripe. If they were very ripe, he would also like to buy some.
Wang Yuexia couldn't make the decision on selling vegetables, so she asked him to ask Xia Wu today.
The elderly people in the village were picked up and brought here by Yang Guofeng. He also drank a bowl of hot soy milk in the courtyard by the well and felt much better.
There were still things to do in the village, so Yang Guofeng left after drinking the soy milk.
The old people in the courtyard started working on their own initiative, which made Ma Xueqing feel embarrassed. He had already eaten, so how could he not do some work for others?
So he helped Wang Yuemei make the sauce.
There are still many tourists on the mountain today, but the only one who came as early as Ma Xueqing is a tall and strong young man.
The young man came here following the smell, carrying a schoolbag that was almost half his height.
When Wang Yuexia asked, she found out that this person had actually camped in the village last night and had not had breakfast for a long time.
The young man was called Meng Tao, and he was a retired soldier. While other people drank a bowl of soy milk and ate a steamed bun, he drank three bowls of soy milk and ate five steamed buns.
After finishing the meal, he wiped his mouth and said embarrassedly, "Sorry, sister, I'm so hungry. Do you have any physical work to do here? I'll do it for you!"
It is natural to work while eating. Wang Yuexia was not polite at all and directly instructed the young man: "Then please help me carry the firewood."
Meng Tao put down his backpack and agreed happily: "Okay!"
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