Ye Cheng

Ye Cheng is six years old. He used to work with his parents in other places. He was his parents' baby bump. Even after he gave birth to a younger sister, his parents still took him by his side. His younger sister, Ye Ping, was sent back to the village just after weaning. , fostered at my aunt's house.

Until two years ago, his father fell ill suddenly. After being sent to the hospital, he was found to be AIDS and passed away within a year.The mother and son returned to the village to live, because his mother was also found to be HIV-positive. Although the family was already too poor to let go, the mother borrowed money from relatives to have the two children tested. Fortunately, both children were infected. Not infected with this terrible virus.

So the younger sister, Ye Ping, still lived in her aunt's house, and Ye Cheng, his mother wanted to send this son away from her several times, but no one was willing to accept him.

In the early 90s, people did not know much about the transmission channels of AIDS, and many people demonized the virus.Who would want a child who has lived with a couple with AIDS for so many years?Besides, most of the families in the village do not lack children, what they lack is the money to raise their children.

Probably because they did not receive good treatment, Ye Cheng's mother also passed away in the winter of the previous year, because no relatives were willing to take him in, and social welfare was not very developed at that time, and the mountain village where they lived was very remote. .In this way, three or four months passed, and Ye Cheng lived alone in this dilapidated courtyard.

Grandma would come over once a day or two. In the rest of the time, he supported himself. There was a vegetable bed in his yard, which his mother taught him to cultivate when he was alive. He knew how to grow vegetables, fertilize and water them.

Throughout last year, his mother was in poor health. Ye Cheng needed to take care of her many times. His grandmother sometimes came to help wash and wash. For this reason, she even asked someone to buy a pair of them from the town. Long, thick rubber gloves.

Whether it is housework or work in the vegetable field, you will naturally be able to do it for a long time. Although Ye Cheng is only six years old this year, although he still often burns the rice and often kills the vegetable seedlings in the vegetable bed, but Just so confused, he just supported himself and Huizi.

Ye Cheng was squatting alone in the yard, with his male dog Huizi sitting next to him. Huizi was almost four years old this year, two years younger than Ye Cheng, but he was taller than Ye Cheng when he squatted on the ground out a lot.

When grandma came over last time, she promised him that she would come to cook him dinner tonight, so Ye Cheng saw that the sun was about to set, so he squatted in the yard and waited.

His stomach was really hungry, and he accidentally burnt it when he was cooking by himself at noon, probably because he didn't put enough water, and the rice was still raw.With the pickles my grandmother fried a few days ago, I swallowed a whole bowl, and left half of the pot of rice. I didn't even like ashes, so I had to feed the two old hens that laid eggs.

In the afternoon, they took out two eggs from the chicken coop. These two chickens were very good at laying eggs. There were already half a basket of eggs in his family's basket. His grandmother asked him to take care of these two old hens. He wandered around during the day and did a lot of sneaky things. If these two old hens were captured, Ye Cheng would not even be able to eat eggs from now on.

"Cheng, what are you doing squatting there? See what grandma brought you?" Ye Cheng's grandmother is called Cai Jinzhi, who is almost sixty this year, and has only had three children in her life, and the eldest son did not grow up to ten years old. The youngest daughter, Ye Cheng's mother, also passed away last winter, and now lives with the second son, which is Ye Cheng's uncle's house.

"What?" Ye Cheng leaned over and watched grandma take out a blue plastic bag from under the apron. I don't know what it contained, wrapped in a long thin strip.

"Look at what this is?" Cai Jinzhi opened a hole in the plastic bag, and Ye Cheng leaned his head over to take a peek.

"Spare ribs!" Ye Cheng was overjoyed, his grandmother brought him one before, it was delicious, Xiao Hui also gnawed on a bone today.

"Today, the second aunt's house in the village slaughtered pigs again. I asked Mrs. Wang next door to buy a spare rib for me. I know you like this the most. You secretly hide it in the cupboard at home. The two little ones of your uncle's house Wolf cub, if they saw it, where would there be left..." Cai Jinzhi closed the courtyard door while muttering, took down the chopping board kitchen knife hanging from the pillar, bang bang bang a few times, and neatly removed the knife. The ribs were chopped into a small pile, and Ye Cheng stood aside and watched eagerly.

"You said that the second aunt sells meat as long as she sells meat. She talks too much. Last time I bought you a slice of pork liver from her, she turned around and ran to your aunt to tell you. My aunt's nose is not her nose, her face is not her face, even that fat and fat man scolded me for being biased, hey, heartless brat..."

"Later, I chased after her and had a big fight with her. I saw that she would talk too much in the future, but ah, in our backcountry, her husband is the only one who kills pigs. If there is another family, I would have changed the land a long time ago. She buys it?"

"Stop worrying about Liuha Lazi, hurry up and turn on the fire!" Cai Jinzhi put the chopped ribs in a small bowl, added some salt, poured a few drops of soy sauce, steamed them on top of the rice, and told Ye Cheng Hao lit the fire, put on his gloves, and cleaned the inside and outside of the house.

The stove in his house is set up in the yard, and there is only one piece of eaves blocking the top of the head, and there is only one stove eye.

"Cheng, did you wash your clothes yesterday?"

"Yeah." Ye Cheng stared at the lid of the pot while burning the fire, and the steam coming up along with the steam from the rice was the long-lost smell of meat.

"Do you still have washing powder at home?"

"Yes." When his mother was there, he asked someone to buy two big bags from the town, and Ye Cheng thought he could use them for several years.

As the smell of pork ribs in the yard became stronger and stronger, Hui Zi couldn't help but surround him. This dog was taught very well, and he rarely circled around the stove.

"Okay, the heat is almost up, let's take a rest first."

"I'll go water it." Ye Cheng swallowed, and left the stove cruelly.

All kinds of green vegetables grew in a patchwork of his small patch of vegetable bed, among which the cabbage grew the best at the moment.

"As soon as the weather gets warmer, the shallots are about to sprout. Cheng, you should water them well. In a few days, grandma will make scallion scrambled eggs for you."

"Two more eggs were laid today, and one was yesterday."

"These two old hens are really precious. We have spare ribs this time, so we will keep the eggs first. When they accumulate too much, grandma will help you take them to the town to sell and buy you new clothes."

"Buy a pair of gloves for grandma first." Grandma Ye Cheng's gloves have been torn several times now.

"You child, why did you come here all of a sudden." Cai Jinzhi bent down and lit a fire in the stove, and after a while, the rice was ready.

"You poor child, what are you going to do in the future?" For some reason, she wiped away her tears as she spoke.

When Ye Cheng used to play with Huizi in the village, he always heard others say that he was pitiful, but he didn't know what was wrong with his life. Living alone in this yard, with Huizi to accompany him, There are also two old hens that are good at laying eggs. Grandma often comes here and sometimes brings him delicious food. He doesn't know why people always say that about him.

When he was sick last month, he slept alone in the house for a long time, and was so thirsty that he didn’t have the energy to get up and pour water, so he had to lie down and sleep. Xiao Hei couldn’t pour water, and he didn’t dare to go to his uncle’s house. The family helped him find his grandmother, because he had been there once before, but was severely beaten by his uncle for two poles, and then he never dared to go again.However, it brought two eggs to Ye Cheng's bedside. Ye Cheng didn't want to eat raw eggs, so he put them next to his pillow. Later, when his grandmother came over, he poured him a bowl of water.

Cai Jinzhi went to find Ye Cheng's uncle and asked him to carry the child to the town for an injection. Ye Cheng heard his uncle scolding his grandmother, saying that you, an old woman, want to end the family. He is suffering from the same disease as his parents. You don't even want a son like this...

In the end, somehow, he went to the town, and the doctor said that he didn't have that kind of disease, but he had a bad fever.With Ye Cheng's illness, he lay at home for almost a week before he was able to get out of bed again. Grandma said that a fever can make people stupid, but Ye Cheng felt that he was not stupid. It was strange, every time he went out, those people would hide from him for a long time, and if those children got close to him, the adults in the family would scold him loudly.

Some people also scolded him, but Ye Cheng forgot what they scolded him specifically, he seemed to hate him playing in the village.Then stop playing in the village. Anyway, his yard is quite big, and Huizi is with him. Playing in the yard is the same. Ye Cheng gradually stopped going out, because grandma always said He talks less and less recently, it's not good for him to be young.

The ribs are really delicious. Grandma said that he can only eat two pieces for a meal. When he finishes eating these ribs, she will come again.

But before Ye Cheng could finish the ribs in the small bowl, his grandmother and aunt got into a fight. Everyone in the village said that grandma stole the money from his aunt to buy the ribs for him. Lukou said, Ye Cheng secretly opened the door a crack and stood there listening.

Ye Cheng was still too young at the moment, and he only half understood what those people said. He only knew that grandma hadn't been able to come to his yard for a long time this time, and when she finally came, he pulled Ye Cheng again Once crying, crying for his own life, for Ye Cheng's mother's life, and for Ye Cheng's life again.

But what does it mean to be miserable?