Siheyuan: Five mouths waiting for food at the beginning

Bang Geng sat up with the help of Qin Huairu, "Mom, help me move my legs, they are broken."

Qin Huairu's eyes were red with tears streaming down her face again. "What, that leg?"

"Right Leg"

Qin Huairu carefully helped Banggeng move his legs, and finally they moved him to the edge of the kang, where he sat.

Qin Huairu reached out to unbutton Banggeng's pants, "Mom, hold me up, I can do it myself."

"You kid, I'm your mother. You're already in this state, why are you still trying to be so stubborn?"

Qin Huairu held him with one hand and held the urinal with the other. Banggeng finally urinated. Qin Huairu then carefully helped Banggeng move his legs back into the quilt.

"Mom, I'm in so much pain. My whole body hurts."

Qin Huairu used scissors to cut open Banggeng's beggar clothes, fearing that taking off his clothes would hurt his legs. Besides, he couldn't wear these ragged clothes anymore. Looking at the bruises all over Banggeng's body and frostbite on his hands and feet, Qin Huairu felt like her heart was being cut with a knife again.

Qin Huairu held back her tears, fetched some water, and helped Banggeng wipe his whole body several times. There was no flesh on Banggeng's face left. The 1.8-meter-tall boy looked like he weighed less than 100 pounds. Qin Huairu felt like she was having difficulty breathing. It was so painful.

"Mom, don't cry. At least I'm still alive. Haizi, who was with me, is gone. He is gone." Banggeng also shed tears.

"What happened to Bang Geng? Why are you back?"

"Mom, it was bitter, so bitter, all the bark was eaten up," Banggeng began to recall the past six months.

"The six of us educated youth were assigned to Group 2 of Majia Village. This year, northern Shaanxi suffered a severe drought and there was no harvest at all.

We had never suffered much hardship since we were young, so the food was quickly eaten up, even the food we brought with us was quickly eaten up.

We managed to hold on until the end of the month, but the food for the educated youth was never delivered. We went to the place responsible for distributing food, but the food was gone. It was only distributed for one month.

All the food has been used for emergency relief. The money and tickets you sent me are useless. I can't buy any food at all.

Later, we followed the villagers to dig wild vegetables. Winter was coming soon, and the wild vegetables were all dug up. We started to eat tree bark. Later, the tree bark was gone, and the villagers thought of eating Chunliang.

But the little spring food was not enough to eat. Even the porridge could not last long. Many old people starved to death. The villagers had never encountered such a rare situation in a century, so they all ran for their lives.

The six of us educated youth also escaped. Our money and tickets were robbed, and we begged along the way. We heard there was an emergency station, but by the time we got there, it was gone. We ate whatever we could find. Later, we all got separated, leaving only Haizi and I. Haizi and I headed east, thinking of going home.

Finally, we climbed onto a coal train in Shanxi, but we died before we reached Sijiucheng Haizi. Our bodies were frozen. Maybe it was because I was in good health that I held on until the train was about to reach Sijiucheng. When I saw someone checking the train, I jumped off the train and broke my leg.

I held my breath and began to climb along the railway road. Finally, I reached the train station. Just when I was about to give up, I vaguely saw Grandpa He, called him, and said my name was Banggeng. Then I couldn't hold on any longer. "

"My poor son, it's all mom's fault. I shouldn't have let you go in the first place. It's all mom's fault." Qin Huairu's tears flowed down her face.

"Mom, don't cry. At least I'm alive and I can see you, but Haizi is... oh."

"This time, even if I risk my life, I won't let you go to the countryside again. Just stay here and I will support you."

"Mom, but educated youth who return home without permission will be punished. I heard that their household registration will be cancelled and they will be sent back. In serious cases, they will be sent to labor camps."

"Mom doesn't care anymore. I don't care about anything. You're my only son, and I'll take care of everything.

Yes, the most important thing now is your leg. Your leg is broken. Mom will find someone to look after your leg."

"Banggeng, wake up. How come you've become so thin? I'm so heartbroken."

"Grandma, I'm back"

"It'll be good to come back, it'll be good to come back."

"Mom, Banggeng's leg is broken, what should we do?"

"What, my poor poor fellow, God, why are you so unfair? Why torture a child when you let an old woman suffer all the hardships?"

"Grandma, I am already very satisfied that I can live to see you. It's just a leg, but Haizi died without even going home."

"Who is Haizi?"

Qin Huairu told Jia Zhang about Banggeng's experience again. Jia Zhang was both happy and sad. She was happy that Banggeng came back alive, but she was sad that Banggeng had suffered a lot and his body was injured.

"Banggeng, lie down. Grandma will ask you to find a doctor to heal your leg even if she has to beg you." After saying that, Jia Zhang went out holding an iron box and wrapped in a cotton jacket.

"Mom, where can you find a doctor? What if Banggeng is exposed and arrested?"

"Don't worry about it. Even if I have to sacrifice my life, I will heal Banggeng's leg and prevent him from being captured."

In the afternoon, Jia Zhang really found a doctor. The doctor was very old. He fixed Banggeng's leg and prescribed medicine for him.

After the doctor left, Qin Huairu asked, "Mom, where did you find this doctor? Is he reliable?"

"It's reliable. I gave him all my savings over the years. He's old now, so he wanted to leave something for his descendants. Don't worry, it won't be spread out. Now I'm just worried that it won't be discovered by the people in the hospital.

Now only He Daqing knows about it, but he definitely won't tell anyone. He was the one who saved Bang Geng, and he's afraid of taking responsibility. He told me yesterday not to send him to the hospital, so as not to expose him."

"That's good, that's good. Let's take care of Bang Geng first, and think of a way when he gets better. We can't let Bang Geng be captured. He's the only child in our Jia family."

"Huai Ru, we can't keep the secret of Bang Geng a living person for long. We have to find a way quickly. Bang Geng can't stay here forever."

"But, but I really can't think of anyone who can help Bang Geng, and we don't know anyone at home."

"It seems I can only ask your brother-in-law for help."

Qin Huairu glanced at the sleeping Banggeng and said, "Mom, didn't you say that it was him who caused Banggeng to go to northern Shaanxi?"

"It's a different time now. Even if he did it, we can only swallow our anger. We don't know anyone else except him."

"Mom, even if that's the case, I'm afraid he won't help. You know his attitude towards our family."

"You are real relatives. Even if you break your bones, you still have tendons. You have no choice but to fight. Otherwise, Banggeng will be caught sooner or later."

"Okay, I'll beg him when he comes back. If he doesn't agree, I'll die in his house."

"We can't rush this matter now. We have to wait until Bang Geng's injury is healed. I hope your brother-in-law is not so heartless that he will watch him die without helping."