Grandpa's mother screamed and cried when she heard what the old woman said. She hurriedly touched the twenty kilograms of white flour and two kilograms of pork that were placed next to the carriage.
Grandpa's mother suddenly jumped down from the carriage, and she didn't know where the strength came from. She picked up twenty kilograms of white flour and pork with one hand. She carried Grandpa with the other hand and walked to the door of the yard.
"Auntie, I beg you, please save my baby, I only have this baby, please accept these."
The old woman refused to accept the things. They were all from the village, so she couldn't help her. She couldn't make sense in accepting other people's things.
Grandpa's mother cried with snot and tears. Perhaps they were both women and mothers, but the old woman finally couldn't bear it and went back to the house to persuade her man.
Grandpa's parents were waiting at the entrance of the yard, looking anxiously into the yard.
After about ten minutes, the old woman walked out of the west room in the yard and waved to the door, indicating that she could go in.
Grandpa's father quickly carried half a bag of flour and pork in and handed it to the old woman.
"Take the baby into the West Room!"
The moment he opened the door to the west room, an old and frail voice came from inside.
"The man should wait outside the door while the woman comes in with the baby in her arms. The man's yang energy is so strong that my body can't bear it."
Grandpa's father looked at the old woman standing in the yard. The old woman nodded and said that his man's health was getting worse and worse, which was why he was unwilling to help others anymore.
The old woman took her grandfather's father into the east room, asked him to make a kang, and then walked to the stove to light a fire and boil water.
After the water boiled, the old woman added some ginger slices and two pieces of brown sugar to the pot.
"Auntie, what are you doing?"
"I'll give it to my man to drink later. Every time he goes to see a doctor, his body will feel cold. Brown sugar ginger water is the best to dispel the cold."
The old woman added a handful of firewood to the stove, her words revealing endless distress. Thinking about it now, she would rather her man be an ordinary person and live an ordinary life. This crime is not something ordinary people can bear. Looking at
All worried.
Grandpa’s mother carried him into the West House. There were two rooms in the West House, and the doors of each room were hung with thick black cloth curtains.
"Don't come in yet! Hold the baby and wait at the door for a while. This guy is really deadly."
An old voice came from the back room, and grandpa's mother stood in the main room holding grandpa.
After a few minutes, the voice coming from the back room was not only old but also a little hoarse, as if it was a different person.
"Bring the baby in, let me take a look!"
Upon hearing this, grandpa's mother hurriedly carried grandpa into the back room. When she first entered the room, she didn't see the environment clearly. She just felt that the whole room was dark, and the oil lamp on the table barely illuminated an area.
An urgent and restless voice came from the kang: "Get out! Get out! Get out quickly!"
Grandpa's mother was kicked out of the house by her husband before she could figure out the situation.
After standing outside and waiting for a long time, the gentleman in the room spoke and asked her to take the baby to the east room and call his mother-in-law to the west room.
Grandpa was carried to the east room by his mother. As soon as his father opened his mouth to ask, his mother interrupted him.
"Auntie, uncle asked you to go to the West Room."
The old woman seemed to have known that such a situation would happen. She took out a large sea bowl and filled it with a full bowl of brown sugar ginger water.
As soon as the old woman went out, grandpa's mother started to shed tears, shook her head without saying a word, and hugged grandpa tightly in her arms.
Grandpa's father had guessed that there was no result. He sighed, turned away, and secretly wiped a handful on his face.
About half an hour later, the old woman returned to the east room, saying that she was helping to take care of the baby, and asked grandpa's parents to go to the west room.
Grandpa's parents entered the west room anxiously and finally saw their husband.
The husband was sitting on the kang, wrapped in a thick quilt, and next to him was an empty bowl. It was the same bowl that the old woman had filled with brown sugar ginger water.
"Baby, it's not that I don't want to help with this, it's because I can't do anything. Your baby has been named by the underworld. I won't be able to come back if I can."
When grandpa's mother heard this, she started crying again. On the contrary, grandpa's father heard that he had something to say, and scolded her, which makes a woman know how to cry.
"Ahem, you'd better hurry up and head north."
After the gentleman said this, he said nothing more and waved his hand to indicate going out.
After leaving the door, he carried grandpa into the carriage. Grandpa's father believed that going north meant going to the urban hospital. After all, going north from the county town can lead to the city.
The carriage was prepared with dry food and clothes, and it was originally going to the city. Grandpa's father drove the carriage out of Honghua Village and headed north directly on the county road.
Four or five hours after we left the county seat, the sky began to get dark. In the villages we passed, occasionally there were houses with faint candlelight.
Grandpa's father slowed down the carriage, jumped off the carriage, and walked in front holding the bridle made of straw rope.
"It's okay now. I can see the road while holding the carriage. Later, I'll have to rely on the moonlight."
"Are you hungry? You've been traveling for a few hours. Let's stop for a while and eat some solid food."
Grandpa's mother sat on the carriage, unpacked her bags, and handed the kettle to Grandpa's father.
"We will rest in the village ahead. After passing the village in front, we will enter the next county seat. After three more county seats, we will reach the city."
Grandpa's father took the kettle, took a sip of water, looked at the sky in the distance, and mentally estimated the distance to the village in front.
After walking for more than an hour, a bright moon rose on the top of the mountain. Grandpa's father breathed a sigh of relief and could finally see the road clearly. He jumped on the carriage and hammered his legs and feet.
"The village I mentioned is just ahead. Enter the village and look for people who are awake and ask for boiled water."
When the carriage was about to enter the village entrance, the father who was driving the carriage suddenly stopped the carriage. Mother, who was holding grandpa in her arms, saw a figure squatting on the roadside, smoking a dry cigarette, and the red light from the pipe flashed.
When they walked in, they were surprised. The old man squatting on the roadside was a homeless man often seen in the county.
In this era, many places are experiencing famine, and homeless people are often encountered. As for why we notice this homeless man, it is because this homeless man is different from other people.
Not long ago, this homeless man passed by the door of his grandfather's house, walked directly into the yard, and asked for a bowl of water from his father who was building a yard wall.
My mother, who was helping my father deliver bricks under the wall, saw this and filled a bowl of millet soup left over from the morning. The homeless man didn't say thank you, picked up the bowl and drank it all in one go.
After drinking the millet soup, the homeless man handed the bowl to his mother. He said, I will drink your rice porridge and then help you build the wall. It is an exchange and neither of us owes anything. He rolled up his sleeves and started to help his father build the wall.
.
After working for about an hour, the tramp glanced at his grandfather who was playing in the yard and made a face at him. He said that there is only so much work that can be done for a bowl of rice porridge, and any more will cause cause and effect.
Regardless of his father's pleas to stay, he had a casual meal, tossed his sleeves, and left along the alley.
At that time, my grandfather’s mother also said something about what a weird old man he was.
At this time, in the middle of the night, they met this homeless man on the roadside before leaving the county town. Both of them felt strange.
Grandpa's father parked the carriage next to the old man. The old man glanced at the carriage and continued to smoke his pipe.
"Old man, it's so dark, what are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you!" the old man said without raising his head.
"Waiting for us?" Grandpa's father asked doubtfully.
"The five fires enter Xun and regenerate each other, the Yin metal of death is fierce, and hundreds of ghosts are fierce. They specialize in killing small mouths to determine the death of heirs. They are as black as smoke and charcoal, and they must die young."
After the old man finished speaking, he stood up and knocked the dry pipe in his hand on the stone on the roadside. The still smoking tobacco rolled out from the pipe.
Grandpa's father was stunned on the spot. Grandpa's mother, confused, nudged his father with her elbow and asked in a low voice: "What did he say?"
Grandpa's father had read some books and understood the general meaning of the old man's words, which was that his child was hopeless.
I saw grandpa's father walking up to the old man, and with a "plop" he knelt down in front of the old man.
"Old man, save my child!"
The old man stared at his father kneeling in front of him, but did not help the man in front of him up.
"You can kneel down to me, but I can bear it. But as I said before, I can save your child. After he is saved, he will have to worship me as his teacher and live with me for fifteen years."
As soon as the old man finished speaking, grandpa's mother stared at the old man with a look of disbelief and exclaimed: "Fifteen years?"
"Well, every year during the Chinese New Year, you can come back here and stay for a few days."
Grandpa's mother looked at her man and thought about fifteen years. She felt extremely sad and started to shed tears.
The grandfather lying on the carriage actually let out a dull groan at this time. The father looked at the dying grandfather, his heart changed, and he nodded and agreed to the old man.
"Get up! My name is Lao Li!" The old man stretched out his hands to help his father, who was kneeling in front of him, up.
Lao Li pointed to a fork in the road next to him and said to his grandfather's father: "Qin Xiaowa, the carriage should follow this road. It's too late tonight. I'll save my apprentice tomorrow."
Finally, the carriage stopped at the entrance of a dilapidated courtyard with two cave dwellings.
"You sleep in this cave, and my apprentice will sleep with me tonight. There are all the cooks. Remember to get up early and make breakfast tomorrow."
After Lao Li finished speaking, he gently picked up his grandfather from the carriage and walked into another cave dwelling.
"Why did you agree? Aren't you afraid that he is a bad person?"
After entering the cave dwelling, it turned out that the living facilities inside were complete. Grandpa's mother lit candles with matches and whispered.
"Is there any other way? This Lao Li felt that he was not an ordinary person the first time I saw him. Did you just see him holding the baby? At first glance, he is not a bad person."
Grandpa's mother felt relieved when she thought of the kindness and gentle movements on Lao Li's face when he held his child.
"Go to bed quickly. Get up early tomorrow and cook some millet soup and bake some green onion pancakes. There are some pickles I brought in the bag."