Sick (short story)

In the morning, the sun has not come out yet, and the weather does not look very sunny. Erzhu rode a motorcycle. He wanted to send his son to the county town. His son was in college. No, it's already late August, and school is about to start.

On the way, they passed the village where Erzhu’s third father, Jianguo Laohan, lived. Erzhu asked his son if he wanted to go to Jianguo Laohan’s house to see him. The old man suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and fainted some time ago. He stayed in the hospital for a short time and then came back. Jianguo old man and Erzhu were not in the same village. Jianguo old man was a son-in-law who stepped in. Erzhu also visited his family in the village some time ago, and he was recovering well at that time.

Erzhu’s son thought that he would only come back a few times throughout the year, so he would go and have a look when he came back once in a while! Besides, the old man Jianguo was kind to him, he was kind and kind. So the car turned into a village next to the road.

It has been more than twenty minutes since they set off, and the sun still has not broken free, leaving only a bright spot in the east. When Erzhu and his son entered Jianguo's house, the old man happened to be sitting in a wheelchair in the doorway. When he saw his nephew and grandson coming, the old man hurriedly raised his head, with a flash of light in his eyes, and asked them to sit down. . Jianguo's old man's face was sallow, his eyes were dim, and his saggy skin stuck to his skinny body like soft wrinkled yellow paper. Er Zhu saw that the old man's situation was very miserable and desolate, and he felt compassion and pity in his heart, but he didn't know what happened!

"Third dad, why is there no one in the house?" Er Zhu Zhu asked, looking around the yard.

"Your third mother went to hoe the fields, and Xingang is still sleeping in the new house. By the way, Erzhu, what are you going to do today?" Jianguo old man spoke weakly, his Adam's apple As motionless as a lump on an elm tree, he shouted some words with only his breath.

"I'm going to send Xiaojun to school. He's about to start school. I'll stop by and let him see you."

Xiaojun nodded, his eyes showing. Out of respect and sympathy for the old man, I dusted off the cigarette ashes left by the old man on his clothes. The old man Jianguo turned his eyes and looked at Xiaojun and asked:

"Xiaojun, are you used to it in school? Are you used to eating rice from the south?"

"You are used to it! Master!" ."

"Just get used to it, study hard, and it won't be easy for your dad to support you in college!"

"Yes, I understand. I will also take good care of you and recover from your illness first."

Seeing that his son was so sensible, Erzhu thought of his cousin, Xiangang, the son of the old man Jianguo, who was still there like a moth. At home, we are truly a clan of old people. So, he asked:

"Third dad, Xingang is still at home. It's been more than half a year since we got married. Why doesn't he go to work? Doesn't he know that he owes a lot for building a house after getting married? Why is he still thinking about asking you to help him? Look what has happened to you now. You can’t even get it. What will you do in the future?”

The old Jianguo man leaned his head on the back of the chair. After listening to his nephew's words, his haggard face looked up and he let out a long sigh.

"Hey..." continued:

"Xingang went to the construction site some time ago and said that the weather in June and July was too hot and couldn't stand it, so he ran back. Yesterday, When he came to the old house and asked me if I had any money, he said that he had no money to smoke, so I took a hundred yuan from my trouser pocket. That money was given to me by his aunt when she came to see me. I thought about how many days I had been staying in the hospital. , the situation in the house is not good, the child has no money, and life is difficult, so I gave him some."

"Okay, my third dad! You can let your nephew say what you want! The weather was hot, and no one at the construction site was alive. He was so young that he couldn't bear the pain. Did he think about it, squatting in Qianxian City with a steamed bun and working as a laborer in the middle of winter? How does it feel! He has no money, he doesn’t smoke anymore! It’s not shameful that he comes to you to ask for money to buy cigarettes. You have been treating Xingang like a baby since he was a child, and he is sitting on your head. You are happy to urinate, but what will happen in the end! Look at how much you will do to spoil him! What if the child fails to live up to his expectations and the adults are exhausted! What if the horns of the cow are broken off!"< /p>

After Erzhu said these words indignantly, the founding old man looked like he regretted what he had done before, but now, it is obvious that the status quo cannot be changed by him. The blood vessels on the old man's forehead were squirming like a spasmed earthworm, and he looked embarrassed. Xiaojun remained silent beside him. He had never seen his father so excited.

The situation was awkward for a while, and Erzhu knew that he had said too much. He changed the subject and asked softly:

"Third dad, I see that you are not as energetic as you were a while ago. What's wrong? Have you seen a doctor?"

"Yes. , a doctor in the next village said it was hypotension and prescribed some blood pressure stabilizing medicine, which I have been taking for the past few days! "

"Why don't you go to the county hospital for a checkup? Cerebral hemorrhage can be a problem. It's not a minor illness. People who have this disease have to stay in hospital for two or three months. It's good for you. You came back after ten days and didn't go for a follow-up examination. My nephew is worried that this disease will kill you. "

"It's not like you don't understand the situation of our house. I just got married and owe so much money. I can save two if I can.

If we can’t do anything anymore, why can’t we put more burden on the baby? "

"Third dad, I understand everything you said! But can you save money on medical treatment? If you save money, you will lose your life. Besides, others don’t know whether you are sick or not, so don’t you know? If you don’t care about your own body, who do you expect to care about you? ”

The old Jianguo man frowned, tilted his head to one side, and blinked his withered eyelids a few times to block the tears, but the tears had long been accustomed to his cracked earth-like eye sockets and disappeared in an instant. .

“I am mostly buried in the soil. As long as others live well, that’s fine. I don’t know if I’m sick or not…”

“You don’t know either! Who else knows? ”

At this time, Xingang happened to come to the old house and saw Erzhu standing next to the old man Jianguo with a red face. He asked Brother, Erzhu was about to go to the new house to find him, and he happened to come. , so he asked bluntly: "Xingang, Third Dad has not returned to the hospital for a review since he was discharged from the hospital. Why don't you take him there? ”

“Some time ago, I saw that my dad’s face looked fine! I thought there was no need for a re-examination, what would I do with that spare money! As long as you take care of yourself slowly, you will definitely get better. "

"Get well! Look at your dad’s face, he’s getting better! " Erzhu looked at Xingang intently and asked.

"That's because my dad doesn't exercise well. The doctor told him to exercise well when he was discharged. He has been sitting in a wheelchair all day without even wanting to lift his hands. All his blood vessels are compressed. How can he circulate and look good? Besides, didn’t you call the doctor from the next village over a few days ago? The doctor said it was low blood pressure. Can low blood pressure be considered a disease? If a person squats for a long time and then suddenly stands up and feels faint, this is low blood pressure. Who among us rural people does not have low blood pressure? This needs to be adjusted slowly. What can you see in the hospital? ”

Xin Gang’s words actually made Er Zhu speechless. It sounded like he was full of benevolence and justice. But Er Zhu always felt that there was a breath in his chest that made him really tight. Feeling uncomfortable, he seemed to be a little weak after arguing with his cousin, and even arguing could not solve the problem. He simply took his third father to the hospital for a review! As a nephew, he said to Xingang:

"Forget it, no matter whether your dad is sick or not, he still needs a re-examination for such a serious illness. I know that you are in financial difficulty. Now I will take your father to the county for a review, hoping to clarify the condition. This is the most important thing. Everything we do is for your father's good, I hope you can understand. "

"This is my brother, you are wrong. My dad is fine and not sick at all. Why go to the hospital for a check-up!" Why don't you go to the hospital all the time? I already told you that hypotension is not a disease. Let's take a step back, brother, I understand your good intentions, but as everyone has said, brothers will settle the score, and besides, you are supporting a college student, so you are definitely not very well-off financially. What does my dad want me to do? My nephew came to see my father. What did the people in the village think of me? Why am I still alive in the village? These days, saliva can drown people, my brother, you don’t know that. ”

After saying this, Erzhu wanted to give Xingang a punch, but after all, Xingang was married and was a “person” in the full sense. How could he do this? Besides, his family It is always difficult to recite scriptures at home, and it is always not good to forcefully intervene. Thinking of this, his desire to turn things around was like a wormwood fire, which burned out quickly as he looked at Xin Gang. He felt angry because it was said that an upright official could not deal with family affairs. A person's life would not change based on his personal whim. Erzhu saw that there was no hope of taking his third father, the old man Jianguo, for a review, and he could not do it. What should I do, so I took out two hundred yuan from my pocket and stuffed it into the hand of Jianguo Old Man, and ran out of the door of Jianguo Old Man's house without wanting to stay for a moment.

Waiting for Erzhu to ride up again. When we were driving, the sun finally broke free, but the light was dark yellow and the outline was unclear, showing a sickly appearance, as if there was some suffering that could not be understood by the world.

Erzhu gave. His son Xiaojun told the story of Jianguo. When Jianguo was young, his family was too poor to afford a wife, so he was introduced as a step-in son-in-law. After getting married, he had a son and a daughter. He works outside for 350 days a year, and when he returns home, he gives most of his earnings to his wife. He has very little left, except that he likes to smoke one or two cigarettes in his spare time. To relieve my boredom, I am reluctant to buy washing powder for washing clothes. As the saying goes, the man is a rake and the woman is a box. However, the rake earns a lot, but the person in the village is always extremely stingy with the rake. They couldn't stand his wife's behavior, which was true to the saying, "When you are under the roof, you have to keep your head down." People in the same village who were working together advised him to be more discerning and not to be too honest. I don't know where to start. A year later, the couple lived apart and lived a life of spiritual practice like monks. In recent years, transportation has developed and roads have become wider, and everyone has bought an electric motorcycle. . The old man Jianguo's family also has one, but the whole family's daughter-in-law just doesn't let him ride, but she can let his son ride the bike to pieces. , but we can’t let our son be like him, riding the No. 11 bus all day long. A married woman has to go back to her parents’ home, and his son-in-law who comes here seems to have a meaning of “returning to her parents’ home.”

The original village was quite far away, and the roads were all uphill. With the development of transportation, there were basically no pedestrians on the road, but he was a "conservative" in the development of this society. Yu Yu walked alone on the road, from a tall and straight young man to a stooped figure. Who knows that one day he will look at the uphill road under the sunset and no longer have the energy to climb up. Of course, this is all for later.

The old man was a kind man and was loved by the people in his original village. It seemed that decades had passed and that was his comfortable home.

As for the family where he devoted his whole life, what results did it bring to him! Is it a happy marriage where everyone is happy and happy, or a happy family relationship where children and grandchildren surround one’s knees!

S?3