Chapter 4 Chapter 4 What a sin
Miao Ying felt sleepy again after eating the fish. Even though he was unconscious for a long time in the afternoon, he fell asleep again. At night, he had a fever again. Huo Xing was alert at night. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the room was dark. The night was very quiet and only Miao Ying's rapid breathing could be heard.
He raised his hand and touched Miao Ying's forehead, which was very hot. He sighed and went out to find a handkerchief.
His fever subsided in the second half of the night, but Huo Xing did not go back to sleep. He stayed awake until dawn.
When Miao Ying woke up, Huo Xing was leaning against the head of the bed. After noticing his movement, he immediately turned his head to look at him.
"Good morning." Miao Ying curled his lips. "Can we still go fishing today? I want to drink fish soup."
Huo Xing didn't say anything. He just stood up and put on his clothes. He put Miao Ying's clothes on the head of his bed and said, "Put on your clothes and go to town."
Miao Ying slowly put on his clothes and shoes and got out of bed. The moment he stood up, he felt dizzy again. Huo Xing immediately supported him. Miao Ying grabbed Huo Xing's arm and barely stood up. "What are you going to town for?"
Huo Xing said nothing and just pulled him out of the house.
Grandmother was sitting under the eaves doing needlework. Li Hongying came out of the kitchen. Seeing Miao Ying, she first looked away, then sighed, went into the kitchen, took out an egg, and handed it to Miao Ying: "Hurry up and leave."
Miao Ying frowned. He had thought that after they ate the food he cooked yesterday, their attitude towards him would at least change. But he didn't expect that they would still drive him away and only give him a beaten egg?
"I..." Before he could finish his sentence, the egg in his hand was taken away by Huo Xing. He knocked the egg on his forehead, peeled it quickly, and stuffed the whole egg into his mouth.
"Mom, Grandma, we're leaving."
Miao Ying was holding an egg in his mouth when Huo Xing dragged him out of the door.
He finally swallowed the egg in his mouth and looked at Huo Xing again: "Didn't you agree not to chase me away?"
Huo Xing said: "No."
I'm not chasing you away, nor have I made any promises to you.
Miao Ying started panting after taking just two steps, so Huo Xing could only squat down in front of him. Miao Ying didn't hesitate and climbed onto his back. "Where are we going?"
"Go to town and see your wound." He said that and then he didn't say anything else.
Miao Ying lay on his back, feeling very comfortable, and even had some free time to look around the entire village.
It is winter now, but the fields are green and the vegetable fields are also green. It seems that people are frozen but the fields are not. It is very similar to the climate of his hometown. He has been away from the countryside for a long time, but what impressed him most was the rape flowers in the fields after the Chinese New Year.
Logically speaking, this should be the time when rapeseed is growing vigorously. Is there no rapeseed here?
If there is no rapeseed, won’t we only be able to eat animal oil?
Pork is so expensive, so lard is not something most people can afford, right? Are there other oils that can be used as substitutes?
"Huo Xing, what kind of oil does every family use nowadays?"
Huo Xing paused and said, "Lard."
Miao Yingxin said that it was indeed the case.
Huo Xing had long legs and took big steps. They walked the same route today as they did yesterday, but they didn't meet many villagers yesterday. Today it seemed like it was very early, and many villagers were eating in their own yards with their bowls in hand.
When they saw Huo Xing and Miao Ying passing by their house, they stopped eating and chatted in low voices.
"Oh, this Huo Xing is also picking up broken shoes?" A man held a bowl and nodded at his man, his words full of disdain.
It's also new. In Miao Ying's 20-year career as a straight man, this is the first time someone calls him a slut.
He stretched his neck and shouted at him, "You're quite good at picking up broken shoes. You've picked up a lot of them at home. You're so skilled at it."
A guilty look suddenly appeared on the man's face. When his husband saw his expression, he dropped the bowl and the two men started fighting. Miao Ying laughed loudly, patted Huo Xing's shoulder and told him to walk faster.
Their village is called Nankouba Village. It is built on a dam washed out by a river. The whole village is flat, and every house is like a distinct chess piece displayed on a chessboard.
Miao Ying lay on Huo Xing's back, looking at the vast plain, and asked softly, "There are no mountains nearby. Where do you go hunting?"
"Linzhen."
Miao Ying said "oh", having no idea where Linzhen was, and asked how long it would take to get to the town.
Huo Xing didn't say anything, but just walked faster. The bigger his steps were, the more dizzy Miao Ying felt. He put his face against Huo Xing's neck and fell asleep, his warm breath falling on the side of Huo Xing's neck.
It took Huo Xing almost an hour to carry him from Nankouba to the town. When they arrived at the town, Miao Ying woke up and thought that Huo Xing might be tired, so he asked to walk by himself.
Huo Xing was silent for a moment, but still did as he wished and put him down. However, when his feet just touched the ground, his legs softened uncontrollably, and Huo Xing held him up again.
Miao Ying smiled awkwardly, then gave up on being stubborn and let Huo Xing hold him.
The town is not big, and people in their village prefer to go to the county town to buy things rather than to the town, because the distance to the town is not much different from that to the county town.
There was a clinic in the town. There were not many people there at the moment, so Huo Xing took him in. There was only an elderly doctor in the clinic who was treating a man.
Huo Xing asked him to sit on a stool nearby and wait. Miao Ying pricked up his ears and listened to the old doctor's words: "She is already more than three months pregnant, but the fetus is unstable. She needs to stay in bed for a while longer."
Miao Ying opened her eyes wide, staring at the man's belly in disbelief, and whispered to Huo Xing, "Can you really get pregnant?"
He is obviously just of average build and a little delicate, but he looks like a man. How can he have a baby?
His eyes were so sharp that the man felt embarrassed and hid beside his husband in shame. Seeing this, Huo Xing stood in front of Miao Ying and blocked his sight.
Then it was their turn to see the patient. Huo Xing helped him up and let the old doctor look at his wound.
The old doctor stroked his beard and said, "Such a serious injury! You just applied some external medicine? How do you do it when you have a fever?"
Miao Ying looked at Huo Xing. He was unconscious when he had a fever and could only ask Huo Xing for help. Although Huo Xing didn't say much, he still carefully explained a series of treatment methods.
The old doctor sighed and said that Miao Ying was really lucky to be alive despite being injured like this. He picked up the pen and began to write a prescription, and told Huo Xing to continue using the external application.
Miao Ying was a little worried. He didn't know how much a medical consultation would cost, but he also knew their family situation and was afraid that they couldn't afford the medical fees.
Huo Xing, however, did not act embarrassed at all. He told the old doctor directly that they had no money to get medicine and could only pay the consultation fee. The old doctor was stunned for a moment, but finally gave them the prescription and collected 15 cents for the consultation fee and 30 cents for the medicine that was not too hard to find. Miao Ying obviously saw that Huo Xing's wallet was empty, and could not help but admire him for daring to come to see a doctor with an empty wallet.
After getting the prescription and medicine, Huo Xing helped Miao Ying up. Miao Ying leaned over to look at the prescription. After a long while, he hesitated and said, "Shengdi, Shudi, Baishao, Danshen, Fuling, A, Ejiao?"
"Donkey-hide gelatin? You can't afford it, right?" Miao Ying was worried.
Huo Xing put the prescription away and looked at him: "Can you read?"
Miao Ying nodded: "I can barely recognize it." After all, they are all traditional Chinese characters, so he can still guess it by guessing.
Huo Xing was silent. In fact, he didn't take Miao Ying's words seriously at all. He just thought that Miao Ying didn't want to die, so he tried to please him in every way and even tolerated his approach. He knew that Miao Ying was that kind of person who would do anything for his own interests.
But at this moment, although Miao Ying read haltingly, he was indeed literate, which forced Huo Xing to rethink the matter concerning Miao Ying in front of him.
He originally wanted to heal his injury, so he gave him a divorce letter and let him go free. He didn't want to get married at first, but he couldn't stand his mother and grandmother's crying and making a fuss, so he married her and the family was no longer at peace.
He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't notice that Miao Ying, who was walking behind him, had been left far behind.
He walked back and supported Miao Ying again.
Miao Ying was speechless. He leaned on Huo Xing's arm and said, "I can't do it anymore. I might faint again."
Huo Xing picked him up by the waist and walked back home in silence. It was already afternoon when they got home. Grandmother and Li Hongying were still doing needlework. Winter was coming and there was not much work in the fields. They could only rely on these to barely supplement the family income.
Seeing that Miao Ying went out vertically and came back horizontally, Li Hongying sighed: "Is there no hope?"
Huo Xing shook his head and put the man on the bed. He remembered that the doctor's prescription was still missing a few medicines, but he really had no money now, so he had to find another way.
Watching Huo Xing go in and out, Li Hongying asked him where he was going. Thinking that he might not have eaten or drunk anything all day, she went into the kitchen to get him something to eat.
Huo Xing took it, silently found the water bag, and filled it with water. Realizing that Huo Xing was about to go out, Li Hongying quickly stopped him: "Where are you going? How is he?"
"I've written a prescription, but it's missing some herbs. I'll go think of a solution. He hasn't eaten yet, so please make him some."
Li Hongying watched him go out with the hatchet on his back, knowing that he might not be able to come back at night. There was no mountain in their Nankouba Village. If Huo Xing wanted to go to the mountain, he could only go to the nearby town. Usually, he would be away for several days.
"Do we have to save him?" Li Hongying asked again.
Huo Xing nodded: "When he gets better, we'll divorce."
After saying that, Huo Xing left. Li Hongying didn't know whether to cry or laugh. After seeing him leave, she went into the house to take a look at Miao Ying. The medicine on his head had dried up, and the fresh grandmother had been pounded out. Li Hongying brought the medicine bowl and applied the medicine to him again.
After applying the ointment, she sighed again. If she hadn't insisted on letting Ah Xing marry him, at least life at home would be a little better. But now, the old lady has no money left for her coffin, and the family has to spend Xiaobao's eggs to buy medicine for him.
When Huo Xing was a child, he was slow to speak and develop intelligence, but he was tall and strong. People in the village called him "Second Fool" and "Big Fool". However, Li Hongying did not give up on him. She found a master for him and taught him hunting. He started learning hunting from an old hunter in the neighboring town when he was seven or eight years old.
It seemed as if he was born to be a hunter. When he was in his teens, he could supplement his family income by hunting.
The old hunter was a widower. His husband died early and left no children. He never remarried and devoted himself to teaching Huo Xing. He not only taught him hunting skills, but also taught him how to identify herbs. In his spare time, he would sell some herbs in the town or county.
The Huo family was not rich to begin with, but because Huo Xing was good at hunting, they did have some savings. However, Huo Xing was a cause for concern. One day while he was hunting, he picked up a child and brought him back, which scared Li Hongying.
The child was picked up, and it was also a life. They could only grit their teeth and raise him. Naturally, they could not say that the child was Huo Xing's. Li Hongying could only shamelessly tell the village chief that the child was her child. However, the village chief knew about their family's situation, and there was a little more pity in his eyes when he looked at Li Hongying.
I guess this is the child of someone Huo San had no idea about, so Li Hongying just had to keep it to herself.
Huo Xing was supposed to get married, but because of this incident, it was postponed for several years. In addition, Huo San had a bad reputation outside, so Huo Xing's marriage became even more difficult. In the end, he could only marry Miao Ying, which caused many troubles.
What a sin.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
