Mu Chen

12. First encounter

Muchen met Yu Yong for the first time on a rainy day in September 1989.

Because Yu Jianguo beat Lin Lan again after he was drunk, Yu Yong was affected - Yu Jianguo hit the table and scratched his forehead when he was swung away by Yu Jianguo.

The mother and son were sent to the medical station in the factory area by neighbors. Lin Lan was receiving an infusion, crying to Aunt Yao and Sister Zhao from the trade union who brought her over, while Yu Yong, another injured four-year-old child, was ignored by no one.

After Mu Wen bandaged the child's broken forehead, he waited for a while, looked at the women who were still crying and persuading, and then looked at the silent child leaning against the door, and couldn't help sighing.

It was still raining, and even though it was September, it was cool, but the injured child was only wearing unlined clothing.It has been a long time since the off-duty time, but no one asked the child if he was afraid of the atrocities just now, and if he was hungry or thirsty now.

Perhaps because he was used to seeing Yang Li's indifference to children, he could only sigh badly and couldn't feel any more sympathy for the bruised and bruised woman in front of him, except crying and complaining that she had completely forgotten that she had a wounded child.Compared with an adult woman whose mother is not strong, he pities this obviously more innocent and vulnerable child more.

Thinking that the Yu family should still be in a mess, Mu Wen packed the table, wrapped the skinny child in his coat, glanced at Sister Zhao who was trying to persuade her, and said to Lin Lan, "You are injured today, I will put the child away first. Take him back, I will send him to kindergarten tomorrow morning."

As if she had just noticed that there was a child, Lin Lan stopped crying and raised her head, but she didn't know what to say, "Doctor Mu..."

Sister Zhao said, "Well, Doctor Mu, please take care of the child for one night. Now that Yu Jianguo is still awake, Xiaoyong can't fix it when he goes home."

Mu Wen nodded, picked up the bag containing the lunch box and walked out.It was raining lightly, Mu Wen hung the bag on his arm, picked up the silent child, and walked home with an umbrella in the other hand.Originally, there were bicycles, but the child was too young to sit still, so he had to walk back. Fortunately, they are all in the factory area, not far away.

When Mu Wen arrived home, Yang Li was away on a business trip, Mu Chen had just finished dusting, and the mop was holding the water to mop the floor.

Mu Wen lived in the unit’s family building, the third floor, a total of three floors, a batch of new buildings built in the early 80s, with only two bedrooms, but fortunately, there was already a bathroom and kitchen, which was much better than the tube building.

In the inner bedroom, Mu Wen and Yang Li live. There is a big bed by the window, a bedside table separates the wardrobe and the bookcase that are juxtaposed against the wall, and the wall at the end of the bed is a small dressing table with a large round mirror.

The bed, wardrobe and bookcase are all dark brown red, a popular color at that time, but the dressing table is milky white, with a dressing stool wrapped in white satin, and there are all kinds of bottles and cans on the table, although it is different from the room The whole does not match, but it adds a bit of fashion and luxury to the simple house.

The outside one is larger and doubles as the living room, dining room and Muchen's bedroom.The houses at that time were not large in size, and generally there was no separate living room. Many people entered the house with a bed, and guests would sit by the bed when they came.A building in this condition is considered pretty good.

The concrete floor has become smooth due to mopping every day, and its color is dark gray.Mu Wen is not like other people who paint the walls about one meter above the ground with light green or light pink paint. His whole body is white, and the four white walls make the room look clean and bright.

Mu Chen's small bed is placed against the wall diagonally opposite to the door. There is no bedside table. Next to the bedside is a desk with a simple two-tiered small bookshelf.There are two single sofas at the foot of the bed facing the door. The tea table in front of the sofa also doubles as a dining table. Opposite is a small TV cabinet. On it is the most valuable possession in the family, a color TV.

There is also a table in the corner next to the TV cabinet, which is Muwen's workbench for supporting products, and a low cabinet next to it is dedicated to storing some materials.Although the room is a bit full, it is not cramped because it is clean and tidy, and there are three pots of colorful and blooming sunflowers on the window sill one after another, which adds a sense of warmth.

It was already late today, and he brought the child with him, so Mu Wen didn't buy groceries.Put on slippers after entering the door, and put Yu Yong on the ground, "Chenchen, this is Xiaoyong from Uncle Yu Jianguo's family. He has something to do at home today, and he will stay at our house for one night. Dad cooks, and you take your brother to wash first." , is there hot water?"

Mu Chen went to school early, but this year he is only ten years old but already a fourth grader. Yang Li is always away from home, and Mu Wen is busy with work.Primary school students leave school at four o'clock in the afternoon, and Mu Chen loves his father very much. He learned to use a gas stove when he was in the second grade. He boils water and cleans the house every day after finishing his homework. Now he can cook a few simple meals. "Well, yes, both thermoses have been filled."

Looking at Yu Yong's dusty and blood-stained underwear, "Dad, let me give the baby a bath, there is enough water."

Mu Wen thought that his son was a bit obsessed with cleanliness, and he couldn't feel at ease if he didn't clean up the child, so he said, "Okay, the child's head hurts, you can't do it alone, let's go together, you go to find you younger clothes, Dad will pour some water."

As he spoke, he took the large aluminum basin at home, took the water and rinsed it before pouring cold water into it, and tried the temperature with his hands to mix it with hot water, "Chenchen, the water is ready, bring my brother here."

Neither seeing his son coming nor hearing a sound, Mu Wen walked out of the bathroom only to find his son angrily looking at the child's...injury.

Yu Yong is almost four years old, but he is small, with thin arms and legs, and his ribs are faintly visible. Only his head is big, and he is wearing a big gauze.What was frightening was the several bruises and some scabs on the child's body.

In this day and age, it is normal for parents to beat their children, especially in factories. On the contrary, the Mu family, who never do anything to their children, is an exception. But even so, it is rare to beat such a young child like this.

In his heart, Mu Wen scolded Yu Jianguo and his wife for being the best, but he was afraid of scaring the children so he didn't make a sound. Fortunately, there was no bleeding on his body today, so he said softly, "Don't be afraid, Xiaoyong, uncle and brother will give you a bath and then wipe it off." It doesn't hurt if you take some medicine."

Muchen also realized that the child hadn't spoken or expressed any expression, allowing him to undress, never looking at him, his eyes wandering.Wanting to pick up the child but afraid of touching his wounds, I had to hold the child's hand, "Don't be afraid, baby, brother will take you to take a bath, and you can play in the water."

Yu Yong followed awkwardly to the bathroom. Mu Wen had already set up two small stools by the basin, and asked Mu Chen to pick up the child and lie on his lap. He squeezed some shampoo and washed the child gently. head, carefully avoiding the wound.

The shampoo is bee flower, which is relatively mild, but Yu Yong still flinched a little. Mu Wen moved more lightly, only to realize that there were still two bumps on the child's head, which may have been touched but did not bleed, and he couldn't help sighing again.

After washing his hair, he added some hot water to the basin and put the child in, Mu Chen said, "Dad, I'm fine by myself, and the baby can't be rubbed, so I'll just pour water on him and play with him for a while."

Mu Wen got up and wiped his hands, "Then I'll cook first, I don't have time to buy vegetables today, let's eat noodles. Be careful too, don't catch cold after a long time."

Muchen nodded, "Okay, Dad." While soaking a big towel and putting it on Yu Yong's body, he took the two pieces of paper he brought when he came in just now, "Can the baby fold a boat? Fold a boat with my brother and put it in the water." Bar."

Yu Yong didn't pick up the paper, and Mu Chen held it up for a while without insisting, "Then let's see if my brother can fold one, so I can give it to the baby."

While talking, he folded it into a small boat three or two times, "Look, it's a small boat when you open it up like this. Baby put it in the water, and brother will fold another one for you. Let them compete to see who can swim faster."

This time, Yu Yong took it carefully without holding it up for a while. Mu Chen quickly folded one and put it together and pushed it with water with his fingers. Yu Yong's attention was finally diverted, and his two little hands moved together. After a while, I laughed.

Seeing that he was in a normal mood, Mu Chen took off the towel from the child's body, soaked it in water and let it drench on him, wiped gently on the uninjured areas, and finally wiped his little feet clean while the child was not paying attention.

After tidying up, I added hot water to the basin, and put the towel on the child again. After a while, the water cooled down, and the paper boat was soaked in water several times and turned into pieces of paper. Come out and play next time, okay?"

Yu Yong nodded, Mu Chen wrapped the child in a towel and carried him out of the basin, put him on his bed, and found out the medicinal wine at home.

Thinking about the child who is afraid of rubbing hard will cry, I first turned on the game console and gave Yu Yong the handle. I was worried that the Super Mario kid would not learn it all at once, so I taught him how to play tank battles. Sure enough, Yu Yong was caught by the tank on the color TV. Attracted by the sparks and explosions, the eyes didn't even roll.

Mu Chen snickered, "Baby, brother put some medicine on your body, it will hurt a little if you rub it, baby, play games first and don't cry, okay?"

Yu Yong turned his head, "I don't cry."

Mu Chen held up the child's small face, first on the left and right cheeks, then on the forehead and chin, and finally kissed on the tip of the nose one by one, "Baby is so good. If the pain is too severe, tell brother, brother will be lighter."

Yu Yong didn't cry when he rubbed the medicine next, instead he laughed while driving the tank.

When Mu Wen came out, he couldn't help sighing, wondering if the child had been beaten or he was really young and heartless, he could still laugh so quickly after being abused like this.

It was later that Mu Chen found out that the reason why Yu Yong didn't cry was because he didn't cry out of habit.

Yu Jianguo didn't allow him to cry after being beaten, because it sounded annoying, and if he was beaten and cried, he would only get another violence.Later, when Yu Yong got older, he stopped crying, because Lin Lan was always crying, and Yu Yong himself said that he had a physical aversion to tears.

So Mu Chen has never seen Yu Yong cry, no matter how badly he was beaten by Yu Jianguo, how badly he was injured in a fight with his classmates, or how he was reprimanded by the teacher and isolated by his classmates at school.

For dinner, Muwen made noodles in hot pot with red scorpion, chopped green onion in hot pot, and stir-fried scallion and oyster mushrooms cut into small pieces. After the aroma came out, heat the water. When the water boiled, put the cut hand-rolled noodles .

The noodles that have been put into the pot for the first time cannot be removed immediately. They need to be boiled for a while before they are removed with chopsticks so that the noodles will not break. Titian.

It's simple but delicious, and Mu Wen also put poached eggs in it for the two children. Because Yu Yong is young, the noodles were cooked softer than usual.

"Can Xiaoyong eat noodles by himself? Do you need to feed him?" Mu Wen filled Yu Yong with a small half bowl, and kept using chopsticks to stir up heat.

"Well, I can feed myself when I'm two years old."

Yu Yong was wearing a small autumn coat that Mu Chen found out on purpose, and the sleeves were rolled up several times until his thin arms were exposed.The clothes were too long, so I didn’t find any pants for the child. Besides, the medicine had just been rubbed on the body, but the collar of this autumn clothes was already washed so that it was deformed. Yu Yong was so thin that he couldn’t hang it on his shoulders. Folded and pinned, an ill-fitting blouse was transformed into a nightgown.

Mu Chen gave up his slippers to Yu Yong, and watched the child pattering over to the coffee table with his big shoes that didn't fit his feet, and sat on the small bench that Mu Wen specially brought over. Seriously, he picked up the chopsticks and slurped the noodles without lifting his head, laughing uncontrollably. "Dad, the baby is so cute."

Mu Wen also smiled gratifiedly, too, only with a big heart can he survive in such a family.

While using a spoon to divide the poached egg into small pieces and put it into Yu Yong's small bowl, he said, "You are a good boy. Chenchen, you should eat noodles soon, it will be lumpy in a while." But he took out half of the poached eggs from the pot again The small bowl continued to cool with chopsticks.

Mu Chen found another pair of washed old cloth shoes under the bed and stepped on them, went to the kitchen to wash his hands before sitting next to Yu Yong to eat noodles.Seeing that Yu Yong was eating deliciously, he split the poached egg in his own bowl, cut the egg whites into small pieces and put them in the kid's bowl.

Yu Yong raised his head, "Brother, eat."

Mu Chen looked at the child's sweaty and reddish face from eating noodles, and raised his hand to remove a scallion hanging from the corner of his mouth, "Brother doesn't like egg whites, baby, can you help me?"

Yu Yong thought for a while and then nodded seriously, "Then brother, just eat all the egg yolks. Our kindergarten teacher Fang said that you can't be picky eaters."

Seeing the child's serious expression, Mu Wen and Muchen couldn't help laughing out loud.And this bowl of noodles made little Yu Yong unforgettable all his life.

It's not that Yu Yong has never eaten better and heartier meals. Although the Yu family's conditions are poor, they can still eat meat several times a month, especially Yu Jianguo's greedy drink, a plate of peanuts, and one or two small vegetables can be drunk For two cups, when I get paid or in a good mood, I will buy some pork head meat to improve it.

But in Yu's house, if you have some delicious food, you must drink. If you drink too much, Yu Jianguo will definitely go crazy, curse, find fault, and often develop to beat people in the end.

Even though Yu Yong is young, he also understands that good food is often accompanied by quarrels and scolding, and because of this, this warm and tidy room and this steaming bowl of plain noodles are something he will never forget.