Chujiu, who was a few steps away, also discovered that things were not as we imagined. He quickly came over and supported the old woman's other arm, so that the old woman did not fall to the ground.
The old woman calmed down and looked at the two of us. One corner of her mouth was slightly raised, but the other corner of her mouth remained the same. It looked particularly weird in the dim light. I thought of the thin person Xiaoyu described to us yesterday.
, a hunchbacked old woman with a weird smile.
As if she saw me frowning, the old woman stretched out her left hand and pointed to her ears and mouth, and shook her head.
Only then did I realize why the old woman never spoke during the incident Xiao Yu mentioned. Chujiu reacted belatedly and signaled me to help the old woman to the stone bench in the pavilion a few meters away. The distance of a few meters was enough to cover.
For a few minutes, the old woman's right leg was almost out of control of her body, and she relied entirely on the power of her left leg to drag her body forward.
After sitting down, Chujiu made a gesture towards the old woman, and the old woman quickly extended her left hand in response. A happy smile appeared on Chujiu's face, and the two of them continued to make gestures like this for nearly half an hour. Chujiu's face became increasingly expressionless.
It became more and more ugly. Finally, Chujiu made gestures for a long time, took the old woman's hand and patted the back of her hand.
"Guo Guo, lend me 20 yuan and I will pay you back later!"
Chu Jiu took 20 yuan, told me to keep an eye on my mother-in-law, and ran towards the outside of the residential building.
After another half hour, the sky was completely bright, and people appeared one after another in the yard. Occasionally, someone saw us sitting on the stone bench in the pavilion with surprised eyes. Chujiu carried two bags full of vegetables and some
Bags of condiments ran in.
After handing the two bags to me, without saying a word, I picked up the old lady and walked towards the stairs next to her.
I followed behind and climbed to the third floor in one breath. The old woman fumbled for a key in her pocket, and Chujiu took it and unlocked the door.
When he opened the door, a faint musty smell came to him. Chujiu fanned his nose, entered the house and opened the window facing the living room, which faced Xiaoyu's balcony.
After waking up, Xiao Yu, who had lost sight of the two of them and was feeling unhappy, was walking back and forth in the living room when he suddenly saw Chu Jiu waving hard to him from the window on the opposite floor.
When Xiaoyu arrived, Chujiu and I had already cleaned the floor in the living room. Xiaoyu looked a little uncomfortable when he saw the old woman sitting on the chair in the living room.
"My mother-in-law is deaf and mute. Please listen to Chujiu for details. Help me clean up the room first, and we'll talk as we go along."
Xiaoyu took the rag from my hand and joined the cleaning team without any hesitation.
It turns out that the gesture he used to communicate with the old woman on the ninth day of the lunar month was called dumb language, which he learned in an extracurricular interest class when he was studying outside the village.
Fortunately, the old woman was also mute, so she easily understood the truth of the matter. The old woman and her husband were both soldiers. An accident occurred during a mudslide relief operation in Yunnan more than 40 years ago. Her husband died, and she was rescued from the mudslide by his comrades.
, although he was saved his life through surgery, the nerves in the right half of his body were completely paralyzed due to being hit by a boulder on his face.
As for what Xiao Yu saw that night, it is indeed true. The electrical circuits in the house are aging and the lights often don't work well. The old woman's right eye is a fake. Every once in a while, the fake eyeball needs to be taken out and cleaned.
The army originally arranged for a new residence and some aftermath arrangements, but the old woman refused to agree and insisted on staying in the house where she lived with her husband, which is the current house.
As I get older and older, my body becomes more and more difficult to move. Now I only go out once every ten years and spend half a day going downstairs. If I am lucky, I will see a farmer selling vegetables at the door to buy some. If I am not lucky, I can only sit down.
She had to wait in the pavilion in the yard for a day or two, because she did not have enough physical strength to walk to the market a mile or two away. As for the condiments, she had not used them for many years.
In the past, every one or two months, I would meet a young man pushing a cart selling vegetables. The young man would help the old woman buy some rice and noodles and deliver them to the place where I live. Maybe it is the busy farming period recently, and I haven’t seen the young man for a long time.
.
During the exchange, Chujiu asked the old woman if she was injured on duty and the army didn't care about it. The old woman replied that she did, but she didn't want to trouble the army. After all, the army had more important things to do, so she finally forced her to die.
The army will no longer send people here, but will provide some living expenses from time to time.
Many people in the community have seen her, and most of them are frightened by her appearance, especially children. Therefore, the old woman basically does not go out during the day.
Today I just want to shovel a vegetable patch beside the wall to grow some onions and garlic.
After listening to Chujiu's story, Xiaoyu had already cried until the pear blossoms were wet. When he looked at the old woman again, he no longer felt uncomfortable as before, and his eyes were full of distress. He asked Chujiu to tell the old woman that she would come to help often in the future.
The old woman kept gesturing, not wanting to trouble everyone. Young people should be busy with their own affairs. Don't waste time and energy on her, a useless person. Contributing more to the country is what young people should do.
Fortunately, there were enough changes of clothes and sheets and quilt covers. Finally, Xiaoyu instructed Chujiu and I to take down the curtains, saying that we would take them to the health center for washing, because the health center has a washing machine.
After working for more than an hour, the room finally became a lot brighter. The kitchen, which had not much oil smoke but only some dust, became clean under Xiaoyu's cleaning. Xiaoyu cooked four bowls of vegetable wontons by the way. Of course, the wontons were sent out on the ninth day of the Lunar New Year.
bought.
Since it was hard to miss the afternoon classes, Chujiu and I said goodbye to Xiaoyu and got on the bus heading east of the city.
I changed to the bus heading to the school and arrived at the school in less than half an hour. When I passed the Medical University not far away, Chujiu frowned tightly.
After saying goodbye to Chujiu, I went to the dormitory. Zhang Feng and the other three hadn't gotten up yet, so I slipped into bed and took a nap.
"Have you heard? The cow went crazy in the class of the seniors today. It is said that many people's credits were deducted at once." Zhang Feng, the king of gossip, told us on the way out of class.
"Come on. Do you believe this? Cows are famous in school for their good temper and gentle people. Don't slander my goddess!" Zhiyong immediately began to retort.
"Yes! Don't slander the goddess!" Liu Yang echoed.
"Don't you have a girlfriend?" Zhang Feng angrily yelled at Liu Yang.
"Two different things! Two different things! Even if she has a girlfriend, she is my goddess!" Liu Yanggang said with a mean smile, and then his expression froze. Among the female classmates walking not far away, one of the Uighur girls stared at
He stared at Liu Yang with big eyes and angrily.
"Hey, I bet Liu Yang will shed his skin!" Zhang Feng put his arm around Zhiyong's shoulders and put his other arm around mine.
"Brother Feng, who are you betting on?"
"Do you still need to ask? As brothers who live in the same room and have to live together for four years, of course I will protect Liu Yang!"
"Lost!" The three of us shouted the word loudly in unison, leaving behind Liu Yang who was messy in the wind.