godfather

Meng Jianmin and the second child lingered at their parents' home in Beijing for a few days, while Meng Xiaobei went to the summer camp with his bag, and did not stay at home with his father and brother at all.

Meng Xiaobei is an independent child, not sticky to his parents, not sweet and not troublesome, the more he needs a long face, the more he twists and turns!Therefore, since that period, the relationship between him and his family has been like that, indifferent but not indifferent. After all, he is close to his father, mother and younger brother, but he has never been so close. It seems to be a family, two lives, two road.

It is difficult to tell the fate between people, what is emotion?It is the word "fate".Compared with his family, Meng Xiaobei is closer to Qi Liang and Shen Dawei, let alone his godfather.

Meng Xiaojing lives in grandma's house, and grandma's house lives on the second floor.Boys at this age are the most naughty and restless. He would go downstairs and wander around every day, wanting to play with children of the same age.

Once he went out alone and went down the stairs. He was halfway down the stairs, and when he reached the middle of the stairs, he suddenly got stuck and his legs got stuck again.

The process of bending the right leg after exertion when descending the stairs is such a simple and common movement for healthy people that he cannot complete it.After the leg is bent, it doesn't come back straight!The bone spur-like enchondroma was probably stuck somewhere on the patella, and it hurt when I moved it.

Meng Xiaojing froze in the corridor, neither up nor down, wanting to shout, but also shy, unwilling to let all the neighbors upstairs and downstairs come out to watch him become crippled.

He grabbed the handrail of the stairs and wanted to jump, but it was easy to jump down, but difficult to jump up. He fell on the stairs and sat there.

Upstairs, two boys ran downstairs quickly, walked past him, and looked back at him inexplicably: "Hey, Meng Xiaojing? What's the matter with you?"

Meng Xiaojing wanted to save face, and quickly shook his head: "No."

The two boys looked at each other, made a gesture of spreading their hands and shrugging their shoulders, and ran down.

Meng Xiaojing's eyes quickly filled with tears.

His dad couldn't find anyone, so he found out when he went out!His father and a few aunts rushed to carry Meng Xiaojing back to the house. Meng Xiaojing sat on the bed, his legs still couldn't go back straight, he could only bend over, so he cried as usual, his beautiful eyes were swollen from crying big goldfish.

Meng Jianmin's eyes were also red, feeling sorry for his precious son.

For the Meng family, to treat Meng Xiaojing's legs, the first priority is to find a doctor, and the second is to raise money!

Meng Xiaobei also came back from the summer camp, carrying a big bag, his cheeks were wet and glistening with sweat, and his shoulders and arms were bony and strong in his old shirt.

The adults gathered at grandma's house, Meng Xiaobei quickly glanced at the group of people when he entered the door, said "Hi, grandpa, grandma, dad, aunt" vaguely, and then quickly went to meet his godfather for a little time alone.

Shaotang was delighted when he saw him: "Did you pack this luggage? The straps of the backpack are so tangled up."

Meng Xiaobei yelled aggrievedly: "Damn it, I beat this pretty well! They are all apprentices brought out by you. I chased the school car in the morning, ran all the way up the mountain and dropped things all the way! The whole car is watching Me, everyone is laughing at me!...Hmph!"

Meng Xiaobei made a loud "hum" at the end, with a rare arrogant voice, which was subconsciously acting like a baby with Shaotang, seeking attention.

Shaotang touches his godson, every time he grabs his head, his face, his hair, and with rough hands, he kisses Hulu intimately.

Meng Xiaobei took out something from his pocket to offer the treasure: "Godfather, I dug it on the mountain and gave it to you."

There are several beautiful orange-red stones with yellow and white stripes, which are not as good as agate, but are much more beautiful than ordinary stones, similar to Shoushan stone and Yuhua stone.

Shaotang lowered his eyes and smiled, "Keep it for yourself."

Meng Xiaobei: "It's for you. I've been looking for it on the mountain for a long time, but I haven't found any good ones."

Shaotang gave a "hmm" without saying anything, and kicked the stone into the pocket of his trousers.

Meng Xiaobei said: "I still have a bag of walnuts in my mattress. They are huge and delicious! You can take them out later and eat them!"

Shaotang frowned: "Where did you get it?"

Meng Xiaobei: "I picked it from a tree!"

Shaotang scolded with a smile: "Damn it, it's outrageous for you to behave like this, let someone catch you!"

Meng Xiaobei smiled smugly, it's just that outrageous.

That day the Meng family held an inner family meeting, and Shaotang was very worried, so he reminded him in a low voice: "Don't you look at your brother? Later on, your father thinks you are careless."

Meng Xiaobei whispered: "Oh...go and see."

Shaotang said with emotion: "Do you still remember when you were ignorant and said that you never had polio? It turned out that you didn't, and your brother was about to get it."

Shaotang feels that his son is heartless, but his Beibei is extremely blessed. He has suffered from minor injuries and pains since he was a child. He climbed walls, climbed trees, rode horses and fought in battles. His body is covered with manly scars, but he has never been seriously ill. up.

Meng Xiaobei hurriedly asked: "Meng Xiaojing really limped? Can't it be cured?"

Shaotang said: "I asked someone to inquire about a doctor. In fact, it is a famous doctor in Baoji. He specializes in the diagnosis of various brain tumors, pituitary tumors, and sarcoma.

Several sons and daughters of the Meng family had a meeting to discuss matters, and Shaotang was also present, sitting around the table, as if he was Grandma Meng's own son.

Meng Jianmin took Meng Xiaojing to see the orthopedic specialists in Jishuitan and 301 these days. He said that Meng Xiaojing lacked exercise and his bones were soft and not yet well developed.

Meng Jianmin's expression was serious: "For the operation, the experts said that the parents should sign the consent form first, and it would be irresponsible if the operation is broken. But without the operation, he will be more and more unable to walk. I'm afraid his legs will always be like that..."

He Shaotang said: "Our Baoji side actually has a very famous doctor, 'Shen Dao Zhang'."

Meng Jianmin was puzzled. The locals had heard of it, and it was so magical. Is it really so magical?They are all "qigong masters" rumored in small counties.

Shaotang said: "I also don't think it might be that magical, but you can try."

Grandma Meng was in a hurry: "Then why didn't you say it last time?!"

Shaotang hurriedly explained: "Is it difficult to invite this person, I dare not mention it lightly..."

Grandma Meng asked: "Why is it so difficult to invite? Ordinary people will not show him when they come to him?"

Shaotang said: "When I was young, I was very talented, and I saw a doctor for the chairman. During the Cultural Revolution, I was labeled as a big liar and a reactionary. I sent the farm to the farm for many years. It seems that I have been rehabilitated, but I ran back to Shaanxi and refused to return to Beijing... so it is very difficult to ask for help. .”

Those who have been treated by the central leadership and the chairman, can this be an ordinary person? !The whole family seems to have seen the hope of the miracle doctor's magic hand to rejuvenate and save the fire and water.Ordinary people look at the central leadership and senior cadres, and they feel that they are people from completely two worlds. There is no intersection in daily life, and the deep gap cannot be bridged.

Now the only possible intersection is someone in front of me, and all hopes are pinned on Xiao Bei, the almighty godfather.

Grandma Meng grabbed Shaotang's arm and held it tightly: "Shaotang, can you tell us to invite this person?"

Shaotang: "..."

Grandma Meng: "My old lady, to tell you the truth, how can we know such a person in a family like ours? We can't afford it. Do you know him? Can you help Jianmin?!"

Meng Jianmin was silent and couldn't bear to beg, and the old lady begged for him.

Shaotang was also silent for a long time at that time, with obvious hesitation in his tone, which was also expected by everyone, and he was under a lot of pressure: "Well... I will try my best."

Grandma Meng asked again: "How much does it cost?"

Shaotang said: "Money is not a problem, don't worry about it."

He Shaotang said that money is not a problem, because money has never been a problem for people like him, but for this big family, it is a big problem for Meng Jianmin, who has raised twins since childhood or separated his family from two places!

Meng Jianmin is an old worker with a formal work unit and qualifications, and his family's doctor relationship is usually in Qishan.However, after all, the unit does not manage the reimbursement of difficult and miscellaneous diseases and serious illnesses. Seeking medical treatment in Beijing, lost work expenses, travel expenses, expert fees, filming fees, diagnosis and treatment fees, surgery fees, nutrition expenses, local specialties and red envelopes for takeout, why don’t you want money?

Grandma Meng said that she would take out all the pension money she had saved to see a doctor for her grandson.

Aunt Meng Xiaobei said, you keep the pension money, we share it among several families, and each family pays [-]. Isn't this just enough to make up [-]?

The girls looked at each other in blank dismay, followed by a long silence.

Auntie concluded that it was really inappropriate, so she changed her mind and said, "Jianju is the youngest in our family. He has just started working and has no savings at all, so let her forget it."

"My third child, you just had a baby and you need all kinds of expenses. Otherwise, you can forget it and don't pay for it."

The eldest sister at the table had a loud voice, she came up with ideas quickly, and didn't care about other people's expressions.The aunt said, "I'll give one hundred, Jianxia, ​​you can give one hundred too, and my mother will give the rest."

Second Aunt: "..."

The second aunt's voice is not inferior to that of the eldest sister: "Why... just our two families pay for it?"

Auntie: "Our mother also pays."

Second aunt: "Yes, that is our mother's grandson. Her money, including her house, will be left to her two grandchildren in the future, and will not be kept by outsiders."

The aunt asked back: "Isn't this also your nephew? It's not easy to come out of the ravine to see a doctor."

The second aunt snorted: "Yes, a grandson is a grandson, but a grandson is not a grandson. That's right, a grandson is not a grandson in the first place."

The implication is that we don't need money to raise our own children.

It was about to quarrel.

Except for my sister-in-law who is not married, the other three families have children.As long as a woman becomes a mother, it cannot be said that she has become selfish and stingy, but for the benefit of her own flesh and blood and her own small family, she will have more concerns and considerations. Whose children don’t need money for food, clothing, school, education and medical treatment? The three yuan a month for school meals is gone, and the five yuan for a new school uniform is gone. The money is like water. Who should raise the children for whom?

Meng Jianmin looked embarrassed: "Don't talk about it, I am the big brother, I don't respect our mother, I don't take care of several younger sisters... I really don't care about the younger sisters asking for money when I come back."

"I've thought about it too. If it doesn't work, I can only let Meng Xiaobei go back and save some money."

Shaotang interrupted suddenly: "Jianmin!"

Meng Jianmin waved his hand: "I know what you are going to say, listen to me."

Shaotang interrupted the other party, with a very angry expression on his face, and said in a rough voice: "I also know what you want to say, so listen to me first!"

If Meng Xiaobei didn't need to borrow books, he could save his family a lot of living expenses and other miscellaneous expenses every year.At that time, elementary school tuition and books were not considered high, and ordinary families could afford them. However, whether a child was raised in a valley or in a big city in the imperial capital made a big difference in living conditions.Going to school in the ditch, Meng Xiaobei can bring a bun for lunch every day, and wear old patched trousers eliminated by adults. To buy new clothes for your children, you must catch up with the living standards of a city.

The school has a rich extra-curricular life in and out of class. There is a material fee for labor skills classes, an instrument fee for music classes, and collective class fees for spring outings, New Year’s parties and school sports games every year. All the wool comes from the parents of the little lambs!There are not so many moths in the schools in the valley.

Usually after class, the male students play football together, buy a cold drink when they are thirsty, and have no pocket money in their pockets, which is embarrassing among buddies.Birthday cards are sent to each other, and classmates invite guests to come to the house to play... All kinds of spending money, elementary school students also have "social" expenses.

After all, it's just money.

This is Meng Xiaobei's biological father and godfather.

He Shaotang is used to yelling in the army, and at critical moments, he has a unique momentum and majesty, and his eyes can calm down the people in the room.There was no sound in the house.

Shaotang spoke crisply, and his chest heaved violently under the military uniform.

"I'll just say three o'clock."

"First, we must treat Meng Xiaojing's leg. We can't delay it because our family is reluctant to spend money."

"Secondly, 'Shen Dao Zhang', I will try my best to invite this person, and I promise to do it! ... The money will be discussed, even if you write an IOU first to pay him on credit."

"Third, Meng Xiaobei can't go back to Xigou again. The children have already come out. You let him go back now, whether it's because of his brother's illness or because of himself. What will the children think in the future? It will hurt him psychologically." Ah, I won’t be able to lift my head up in the future!”

Grandma Meng was also in a hurry: "Both brothers are heart-to-heart, how can you ignore the other in order to help one, and send the other back? I don't agree."

Meng Jianmin was depressed: "What do they care about? You didn't hear that his brother's leg hurts like hell on the bed in that room, and Meng Xiaobei was singing in that room just now!"

Shaotang was at a loss for words, and stared at Meng Jianmin angrily, the whites of his eyes popped out, and he chewed the cigarette butt.

Adults can't handle it, embarrassing a child?Shaotang suddenly blurted out: "There is no need to discuss, I will pay for Xiaobei's tuition, books, borrowing fees and living expenses."

The whole family was silent and looked at this man.

Shaotang was expressionless, met everyone's gaze, and felt uncomfortable: "Your family first find a way to collect medical expenses... I will take care of Xiaobei's life from now on."

……

The strange thing about this is that in the end, I don't know how to quarrel, and the result of the quarrel, it became Shaotang himself to pay 150 yuan a year - the entire cost of Meng Xiaobei's study and life.

What is said cannot be taken back casually.

He didn't want to take it back either.

With the salary and allowances he saved every year, he doesn't have the money to talk to girls, so he just raises Meng Xiaobei who is a puppy day!No matter how good Beibei is, I don't feel like it's enough, and I always feel sorry for this kid.The matter of raising a godson is like a "trap", and he fell into it inexplicably from the beginning. When Shaotang realized that he had been hit by an arrow in this emotional trap, he had already sunk too deep, and he couldn't pull out his muddy legs. Willing to give more.

The poor and lowly people are sad for everything.

The second aunt murmured in a low voice: "That's right, Shaotang, your family is rich, and your hands and feet are generous, so you don't care about the one hundred and one hundred."

He Shaotang's temper was so hot that he almost slapped the table on the spot and said, "Meng Xiaobei's child will belong to me from now on, don't rob me, I never despise him as a burden."

However, he calmed down and thought about it carefully, and he was not qualified to say anything serious.Who are you, you are not short of money, but you are not Meng Xiaobei's biological father, what right do you have to criticize this family for not loving or being fair enough to Meng Xiaobei?How exactly is it fair?

After all, Meng Jianmin is the father of two children. A young man in his 20s in Shaotang can't understand the choice of family affection, the difficult balance between the two children, the burden of the old and the young, and a strong sense of psychological frustration. arrived.At the critical moment that determines fate, an outsider may never be able to match Xiaobei's close relatives, and the sacrifice is not for any kind of return. When the emotion reaches this level, it can't be taken back...

******

In this entanglement within the family, the adults quarreled with the door closed, thinking that the children could not hear or understand.

Meng Xiaobei was in that room, and after a few words, he understood everything.

These years, he has never expressed his opinion in front of his own family. He seems to be a stingy kid in front of his elders. He doesn't understand and doesn't care about serious things. You decide my fate at will, and it doesn't matter where I go!

In fact, ever since he ran away from home and became a blockbuster, when did he not care?

Meng Xiaobei immersed himself in the painting while listening to the adults, and the tip of the pen couldn't help but draw his Shaotang.

He actually knows everything.

Spending his parents, grandma, and godfather's borrowing fees and living expenses every year is the emotional debt and money debt he owed these people since he was a child. He owes too much and can't pay it back, so he dare not mention it.

Now his brother also needs money very much, what should he do?

Meng Xiaobei can say that I just dominate this position and don't care about Meng Xiaojing's life or death, or can he say that I carry forward the brotherly friendship and love, I will go back to Xigou and change Meng Xiaojing back!

So he never said it, he knew it in his heart, sometimes he felt inferior and blamed others, and he desperately longed for the love and favor of those around him.At that time, the young man's feelings were sensitive and fragile. He was like a vine longing for sunshine and rain, desperately clinging to the person he trusted the most.

One stroke at a time he sketched a certain figure on the paper, carefully tracing the shadows at the neck of the collar of his uniform.When the painting reaches the point of excitement, the corners of the mouth are turned up, cheerfully, shaking off all the troubles on the forehead.

At this time, Meng Xiaojing was leaning on the bed, playing with Meng Xiaobei's pencil case, and fiddling with the perfumed orange apple eraser.

Meng Xiaobei bit his nose: "You like it? Give you that pencil case."

Meng Xiaojing pursed his lips in joy: "Well...thank you brother."

Meng Xiaojing glanced at Meng Xiaobei's pure white imitation military uniform with a gold ribbon hanging on the door of the wardrobe. He had never seen it before, and he felt envious and disappointed.

Meng Xiaobei showed off proudly: "This is the uniform of our school's drum band."

Meng Xiaojing: "Can I wear it?"

Meng Xiaobei: "You wear it for fun."

Meng Xiaojing frowned again: "I'm taller than you, I can't fit your clothes, and the trouser legs are too short."

Meng Xiaobei wrinkled his nose: "Damn it! I'll borrow your clothes and you'll make me short!!!"

Meng Xiaojing happily took off his coat and trousers, and the two brothers fiddled with the clothes on the bed.Meng Xiaojing put on the white uniform of the drum band, and walked up and down in front of the mirror of the big wardrobe.Not to mention, it's very similar to that boy Qi Liang's flamboyant style in school.

Meng Xiaobei squinted his eyes for a while: "Take it off quickly! Return the uniform to me!!"

Meng Xiaobei's narrow-mindedness immediately realized that Xiao Jingjing was still better-looking than himself, and even more beautiful in a white uniform, but he couldn't let his godfather see Meng Xiaojing, a handsome guy in a drum band military uniform, or he would be a crooked boy. It's time to be painless again!

One of the two brothers was wearing a jacket and the other was wearing pants, and they were laughing and joking on the bed for a while.Meng Xiaobei rubbed against Meng Xiaojing, vented, and made fun of each other, feeling melancholy in his heart, but couldn't resist the deep affection and emotional instinct.

The two brothers who used to be childhood sweethearts, because of various external forces in special times, it seems that they have become two families, each recognizing a father.Meng Xiaojing can't question his own brother, why can you come to Beijing and I stay in Qishan, what am I not as good as you?Meng Xiaobei can't bully his younger brother either—since you've already stayed in the ravine, don't come back forever, to save you a big trouble.