Northern Myanmar: Years of Dehumanization

The one I’m going to visit this time is Momo.

Originally, I should have visited Yuan Meng first since she is close.

But I still decided to go see Momo first. Among these people, if I have to choose one, I would feel the most sorry for Momo.

One-Eyed Man died because of me, so I should take good care of Momo.

But it is beyond my control and there is nothing I can do. But now that I have this opportunity, I must seize it.

When we got off the highway, it was already very dark.

The address where Mo Mo lives is in the south.

We traveled from the north back to the south, so you can imagine how long the journey is.

Fortunately, there were many people in our car and we could take turns driving. Otherwise, if we had to rest for a few more hours in the service area, we would probably have to wait until the next day.

We found a random hotel and fell asleep on the bed.

Tired, really too tired.

It wasn't until noon the next day that I recovered.

After dinner, I took people to the store and bought a lot of things.

Although I know it’s a bit late to do this now, I can’t go there empty-handed.

According to the address found by Fatty Wang, we followed the navigation and arrived at a small mountain village.

The scenery of the small mountain village is very beautiful, with green water and green mountains, which is especially suitable for living.

I can say that when I get old, I might choose to live in this place.

The information provided by Fatty Wang even found the street and the house number.

He reached the door effortlessly.

The small mountain village is quite quaint. Although the houses are a bit simple, they are relatively clean.

The door was closed. After I got off the car, I hesitated in front of the door, wondering whether to knock.

After knocking on the door and seeing Momo, what should I say? These are all things I need to consider.

"Brother Bai, what's wrong? Is the door hot? Let me..."

A bodyguard, seeing my hesitation, kindly knocked on the door for me.

"Bang bang bang..."

The knock on the door echoed in the hallway.

I knocked the first time, but no one came to open the door.

The bodyguard saw this and wanted to knock a second time.

However, before he could knock on it, the door was opened.

It was a hunchbacked old lady in her sixties or seventies, not Momo.

"Who are you? What are you doing?"

My mother-in-law looked at us warily, as if she was on guard against bad people.

"Mother-in-law, we are not bad people, we are silent friends."

As I said this, I gave the bodyguards a look, signaling them to take the things off the car.

My mother-in-law saw how many things we bought, looked at me, and asked a strange question:

"Are you the one who is waiting silently?"

"Yes, that's right, it's me."

When I heard my mother-in-law say this, I immediately agreed.

After all, at this time, it is better to fool around first.

"I'll beat you to death."

When my mother-in-law heard that I agreed, her eyes became fierce. She took out a cane from behind the door and was about to hit me.

My face darkened. I didn't expect it to be like this.

"Grandma, don't hit me."

When the bodyguard tried to stop him, a somewhat unclear voice came over.

Then I saw Mo Mo coming back carrying the grass.

After hearing Mo Mo's voice, the mother-in-law did not put down her crutches.

"Momo, can you speak now?"

I looked at Momo and asked with some surprise.

"Ah."

After a silent response, he let us into the yard and fed the pigs some grass first.

"When I returned to China, I had no money, no relatives, and no idea where to stay. My mother-in-law took me in. She had no children, so maybe God took pity on us and brought us together."

He silently found a few stools for me and asked me to sit down. There was a thoughtful look in his eyes, and then he said this.

"From that day on, I lived with my mother-in-law in this place, relying on each other for survival."

Although Mo Mo's words were a little unclear, they were still understandable.

"My tongue wasn't broken much, and after a while I found I could still speak."

Mo Mo seemed to see my confusion and said this.

"I'm sorry, if it wasn't for protecting me, One-Eyed Dragon..."

After I heard Mo Mo finish speaking, I was silent for a while, and then said this.

"Brother Bai, what did you do wrong? Later I thought about it, you saved my life too. If I had the choice at that time, I might have made the same choice. I respect his admonition and understand him."

As he said this silently, he stood up, took the clean wood carving in his hands, and continued to wipe it with a look of reminiscence in his eyes.

This wood sculpture was the one that One-Eyed Man was most satisfied with among all the wood sculptures he carved every day at that time.

When I heard Momo say this, I wanted to say something, but I didn't know what to say.

"By the way, Momo, you have to leave with me..."

"No, Brother Bai, if I leave, there will be no one to take care of my mother-in-law."

Before I could finish my words, Mo Mo shook his head and rejected me.

When I heard Mo Mo say this, I also stopped.

"Mo Mo, this money is a small token of my appreciation, but you have to accept it, otherwise I won't leave."

After thinking about it, I took out the cash and handed it to Mo Mo.

If you want to give Momo a bank card, this place is obviously suitable.

It is more practical to have money that can be touched.

After hearing what I said, Mo Mo had no choice but to take the money.

Then she quietly started to prepare dinner.

I talked to my mother-in-law for a few minutes and finally understood why she behaved like that.

It turned out that in the first few months after arriving at my mother-in-law's house, Momo would always cry while hugging the wood carving, and then calling someone's name.

The mother-in-law naturally thought that Momo was a girl who had been deceived by a heartless man, so she remembered this incident.

But today I came to his door, and I didn't expect to be a good person, so naturally I was put into the situation, which led to what happened just now.

After understanding this, I couldn’t help but sigh, am I really not a good person?

I didn't tell the old man in detail about what happened to Mo Mo. It's not good to make him worry so much.

After silently entertaining us and saying a few words, we wanted to leave.

But Mo Mo called me:

"Brother Bai, do you remember where he died?"

"Of course I remember. I buried the person with my own hands."

Looking at Mo Mo, I said with sadness in my voice.

After listening silently, he shuddered and then made his request:

"Brother Bai, can I ask you to take me with you when you go to pay tribute to him?"