Dazed

In the quiet village, occasionally one or two dogs barking came from a distance, and then they were immersed in the silence again. The cool air was filled with a faint smell of burning straw, which seemed to be a unique smell in the countryside. Simple, extraordinarily safe.

Qi Zheng was calling his mother's name when he was more than ten steps away from the door of his house. The loud voice passed through the air. When Qi's mother heard the child's cry, she couldn't help but put down what she was doing and rushed to the door. , the young child illuminated by Xiwei's light is her son who has returned from studying for half a year.

Her eyes began to shine brightly, every wrinkle on her face stretched out, and she called out, "A Zheng, you're back."

Qi Zheng walked up to her, looked at her mother's gradually vicissitudes of face, and gradually bent shoulders, could not help frowning, nodded obediently, and said: "Well, I'm back."

"Are you tired or hungry? Mom cooked something good for you tonight," Mother Qi wiped her rough face with her wet hands, then thought of something again, and asked, "Didn't you have a friend here? where?"

Qi Zheng turned his head when he heard the words, and saw Cao Jingxing walking slowly under the light, with his right hand wrapped in a bandage on his chest, and said: "That's my roommate, his parents have gone abroad, he is left alone, So come to us for Chinese New Year."

However, as Cao Jingxing walked in step by step, his figure was gradually exposed to the light at the door of Qi's house. The woman who was standing by the door, who was still a little doubtful, suddenly tightened her eyes, and her eyes subconsciously showed a little more panic. It was hard to move away from staring at the handsome and handsome young man who gradually walked in front of him, then smiled and said softly: "Hello, Auntie, my name is Cao Jingxing, you can call me by my name."

These three words were like the sudden ringing of a bell, and Qi's mother, who was nearly fifty years old, couldn't help shaking. Her heart beat faster, her lips trembled for a long time, and she didn't say a word. If there is no such coincidence in the world, then this name that has entangled her half her life like a curse or a nightmare reappeared, completely different from what she had planned at the beginning, so she was caught off guard, and the thing she was most worried about at the beginning suddenly happened.

The atmosphere suddenly froze, and Qi's mother saw Qi Zheng, who was still not clear about anything, with a stiff smile on her face, her dry mouth trembled, her eyes glanced at the man's hanging arm, and she said Asked: "Why did your hand hurt?"

Qi Zheng had already walked in with his things. Hearing Qi's mother's words, although there was no expression on his face, there was some guilt in his words, and he explained: "He was trying to save me from being injured. I was almost hit by a car. He Block it for me." Qi Zheng didn't want his mother to worry at home, so he explained the accident as the most common one.

However, even so, Qi's mother was taken aback, and her precautions and worries for Cao Jingxing instantly turned into concern for her son. She followed and asked in a rambling manner: "Are you injured? Be careful next time. What is the other party?" Car? Why are you so careless?"

Cao Jingxing's expression remained unchanged at the back, but Qi's mother's resistance produced some disdain and absurdity, but after thinking about it, he didn't say anything, and walked into this bungalow that looked dilapidated from the outside.

The house of the Qi family consists of five tile-roofed houses and a courtyard. The outer walls have been peeled off to the utmost, revealing the majestic interior. The gate of the Qi family is also a rusty iron gate. The floor had almost fallen off, and was gradually replaced by weeds and moss living in the cracks. The height of each room was unimaginably low. The walls were covered with dark old stains, and even the windows were completely black. It's not clear whether it's mosquito corpses or dust.

In short, this is a lifeless old building, which vividly shows the poverty and poverty of the Qi family to everyone who enters it.

There are two other rooms that are rented out, most of them are rented out to migrant workers who earn a salary of more than one thousand yuan and live in a tile-roofed house that costs 100 yuan a month. Under the dim light, the people in these two rooms are probably having a party. The loud applause and toast made people's eardrums tremble.

Qi Zheng glanced at it as if he didn't see it, and then went home with his luggage. In order to save electricity, Qi's mother only turned on a light bulb with a temperature of only [-] degrees every day. It was very hazy, and even Qi Zheng couldn't see clearly when he went in. It was hard to imagine how his mother had lived in such an environment for dozens of years.

"Mom, let's change the lights during the Chinese New Year." Qi Zheng said, carrying his belongings into the house.

"What can I change? This is pretty good. You and your father are not at home. What kind of headlight should I use when I am alone at home? If you feel dark, mom will turn on another one." Mother Qi said, touching her hands to go to the wall Turn on another light.

Unexpectedly, Cao Jingxing, who had been very silent since entering the room, happened to be standing at the switch, stretched out his hand, and with a "snap", another light bulb turned on, "I'll come." Cao Jingxing said softly.

Mother Qi glanced at him in resistance and walked away.

The Qi family's old house originally had five rooms, but two rooms were rented out, leaving Qi's mother and Qi's father's room, Qi Zheng's room, and the room where Grandma Qi lived in before, and that room was later converted into a kitchen.

Qi Zheng went to the kitchen to take a look, only to find that the food on the table was all fried. There were four dishes and one soup, and the table was full. It is estimated that Qi's mother walked away halfway through.

"Is this bringing food for Dad?" Qi Zheng asked.

Qi's mother rushed out from the back room, and said: "I'm afraid that you will be hungry when you come back, so I will fry the vegetables first. If you are hungry, eat first, and I will deliver food to your father."

Qi Zheng refused without even thinking about it, and said: "There is no reason why the son eats before the father, I will deliver the meal with you."

"That's fine, your dad misses you." Qi's mother said happily, and then hurriedly packed the lunch box and covered the food on the table so that it wouldn't be cold when she came back.

Qi's father lives in a hospital not far from their village. Rural people generally use motorcycles to travel. Qi's father was very interested in this kind of heavy and noisy transportation when he was young. He bought one when he got married. Motorcycles are also more face-saving when placed at the door of the house.Later, although he was sick and hospitalized, the motorcycle was always on his mind. Qi's mother was reluctant to sell it, so she stayed at home until Qi Zheng also became a good rider of motorcycles. The somewhat clumsy but loyal servant finally has a new role.

Standing at the door and starting the motorcycle, Qi Zheng suddenly realized that there is still one person at home, so he turned around and told Cao Jingxing, "If you are hungry, eat first."

"No, I can wait for you to come back." Cao Jingxing said empathetically, he always looked gentle and refined, so that Qi's mother who was standing beside him couldn't help but give him another look.

The bitter cold wind kept blowing past Qi Zheng's neck. Qi's mother was short in stature, sitting at the back, tightly blocked by the tall and strong Qi Zheng, her withered hands tightly hugging her son's waist , couldn't help but feel relieved, but when she thought of those cold, snake-like black eyes just now, she couldn't help but tremble again. No matter what, she would never allow anyone to hurt her child.

Qi's father was seriously ill, and the level of treatment in the hospital he stayed in was not very good, but the cost was cheap, and it was the only hospital the Qi family could barely pay for. Even so, their family owed a lot of expenses.

Qi Zheng had just come back, and he just wanted to know how his father was doing, and didn't want to talk about these topics that would bother his mother, but he didn't expect that before he could ask, his mother asked loudly from behind : "Ah Zheng, how did you meet that friend of yours?"

Qi Zheng frowned suspiciously, he didn't expect his mother to be so interested in Cao Jingxing, he heard this and replied: "He is my roommate, and he usually plays well."

"What about his personality?"

"It's okay, it's pretty good, I don't pretend to be aggressive when I have money, and I'm usually nice to me." Qi Zheng didn't think about it carefully, and answered a few words casually.

However, unexpectedly, these two casual words fell into the ears of the worried Qi Mu, which was not a good signal, and she shut her mouth when she heard the words.

The motorcycle roared past, and in a short while, it arrived at the gate of Liaosheng Hospital. The festival is here, no matter where it is, it is full of excitement, and the hospital is no exception.

Perhaps it was also because the weather was so unbearable, many people had some physical problems, so even this township hospital with not very good medical skills was brightly lit, and there was a scene of turmoil everywhere.

Qi Zheng walked into Qi's father's ward with a lunch box. The middle-aged man who had been lying on the bed for two years now only had a withered body and dull facial features. Seeing his son's figure, his spirit suddenly It's much better, and I can even sit up by myself, cursing: "Stinky boy, are you finally free to visit your father?"

Qi Zheng's character was almost cultivated little by little under the guidance of this strict father. The man who was as indestructible as Mount Tai when he was a child is now withered like this. Qi Zheng is also very uncomfortable to watch, but he still does something As if nothing happened, he had a good chat with his father for a while.

An hour later, Qi's father reluctantly sent his son home, had dinner, and went to see him tomorrow. Although the father and son had nothing to talk about because their personalities were too similar, people suffering from old illnesses always had some inexplicable fear. I couldn't wake up for two days, so I really wanted to see Qi Zheng more.

When leaving the hospital, Qi Zheng asked the doctor in charge of Qi's father to ask about the situation. All the problems were the same as before, except that Qi's father's health was worse. If he had the money, he could be sent to a higher-level hospital The hospital may not leave in March next year.

When Qi Zheng heard this, all the muscles in his body couldn't help tensing up, but if you don't have money, you don't have money. There is no way to solve the problem, and a stalemate is a deadlock.

Even when he got home, his face still didn't relax.

Qi's mother really spent a lot of money to welcome her son back today. Stir-fried squid with chives, stir-fried cauliflower with chili, stewed pork ribs with lotus root, tuna with watercress, and fried potato shreds.There are three meats in the five dishes, seafood, fish, and ribs, which is absolutely unimaginable for Qi's mother.

However, even for such a relatively extravagant meal, Qi Zheng ate like chewing wax. Qi's mother knew that he was worried about his father's illness, and didn't know how to comfort him. The dinner table seemed a little quiet for a while.

Instead, Cao Jingxing let go of the chopsticks and made a "da" sound. Qi Zheng came back to his senses, looked at him curiously, and said, "Why?"

"I want to eat fish, can you hold it for me?" Cao Jingxing's right hand was wrapped with a bandage, so he could only eat with a spoon in his left hand. The fish really couldn't be picked up by a spoon.

Hearing this, Qi Zheng changed his chopsticks, picked up a piece of fresh and tender fish, and put it in Cao Jingxing's bowl.

Cao Jingxing put it into his mouth slowly, and after swallowing it, he suddenly smiled and said, "Auntie, you made this dish wrong."

Qi Zheng and Qi's mother were taken aback when they heard the words, and Qi Zheng asked in bewilderment, "What's wrong?"

"You should add some eggs." Cao Jingxing said seriously.

Qi's mother couldn't laugh or cry when she heard the words, and said, "How can there be steamed fish with eggs?"

"Bitter melon can scramble eggs. I think it's very suitable for Qi Zheng. His face is as bitter as a cucumber."

Qi Zheng understood, his face was a little speechless, and scolded: "Can't you speak well when you speak?"

"I'm talking about cooking. If the person who eats doesn't have the heart to taste it, is it a waste to the person who cooks?" Cao Jingxing said with a stern expression.

Qi Zheng was taken aback, and Qi's mother was also surprised when she heard the words. She was surprised by Cao Jingxing's words and his attitude. She quickly waved her hands and persuaded, "Qi Zheng can eat whatever he likes, what's the matter."

"I'm also a cook, I know what it feels like." Cao Jingxing suddenly smiled again, but there was some inexplicable loneliness in his smile.

Qi Zheng had nothing to say, coughed violently, and took another piece of stewed pork ribs. The soft pork was paired with the fragrance of lotus root, which harmoniously blended the flavors of meat and vegetables.

"Mom, your dishes are all delicious." After a while, Qi Zheng was a little awkward but said it anyway.

Qi's mother immediately became overjoyed, and gave him another piece of the fattest pork rib, and said repeatedly: "If you like it, eat more, eat more."