Tang Yingjie rarely went back after leaving Yushugou and was unwilling to go back; The memory left by Elm Gully was gloomy and painful; Tang Yingjie has a wound deep in his heart that will never heal, and he has been bleeding for many years - because of the 5,000 yuan surgery fee, his mother died of illness in the hospital.

Back then, despite the poverty of the family, Tang Yingjie's parents still saved money and did not hesitate to provide education for his sister Tang Yingmei and younger brother Tang Yingjie.

My father's words were: "No matter what time it is, there is something to eat for the cultured people." ”

As long as the child is studying, there is hope for everything. In order to earn a few more sons and pay tuition for his daughter and son, Tang Yingjie's father not only got up early and served his own few acres of mountainous land in the dark, but also went to the town to do odd jobs when he had time - planting rice in the spring and shoveling the land in the summer; After shoveling the grass twice, wading through the field twice, the farming work was suspended, the peasants hung up their hoes, and everyone else took the opportunity to rest and wait for the autumn harvest. Tang Yingjie's father did not stop, he went to the town to find a construction site as a small worker, moving bricks, mud, and pushing carts. Get up early every day and be greedy for darkness, endless vigor, endless hot sweat.

The father worked hard to earn a few bills, and he tapped them again and again with his rough and deformed big hands, put them in his breast pocket, and patted them, with a down-to-earth, happy smile on his face.

The mother is also very manipulative, raising four pigs and nearly 100 chickens on her own. Get up early every day and go to the mountains to beat pigweed, gray cabbage, thread vegetables, mother-in-law, and qumai vegetables to fill a sack to feed four pigs for a day.

In the summer, my mother's hands were always blackened with wild vegetable juice, and it took a winter to wash them clean.

His parents had too high expectations for Tang Yingjie, but Tang Yingjie's academic performance was average, he was not stupid, he just didn't want to study, he didn't like to read, he wanted to go home early to do things and make money.

Every school season, Tang Yingjie retreated, and the old man persuaded again and again, and when he really didn't listen, the old man would pick up a feather duster, raise it high, and threaten to beat people.

Whenever this happens, her mother always blocks Tang Yingjie behind her and whispers, "Jiezi, you are still young and ignorant." In the world, nothing is good at reading, and only by reading can you be productive. "His mother carried his bag on his shoulder and took him to school.

Tang Yingjie felt sorry for his mother, but he didn't agree with his mother's preaching that he was good at reading, the most educated people he knew were school teachers, all of them seemed to be quite knowledgeable, but no people who did business were rich, and no big brother in society was rich and majestic.

Tang Yingjie doesn't like to read, and he looks down on readers in his bones. His idol is the big brother of the society, and he is always followed by a group of little brothers, hugging him from front to back, seeing who kicks him and beats him if he doesn't like it, no one dares to provoke him, and he is majestic on all sides.

However, his parents' orders could not be disobeyed, and Tang Yingjie could only continue to mix in school.

Tang Yingjie had to go to the town center school 50 kilometers away to live in junior high school, which was an extra fee for living in the school; Tang Yingmei is in high school in the county seat, and she also lives in the school, and the two expenses together are a heavy burden on a poor family.

Many years later, Tang Yingjie learned that at that time, the family had already relied on loans for him and his sister to study. It wasn't until Tang Yingjie became the maintenance captain and had a gray income that he paid off all the loan sharks he and his sister borrowed when they were studying.

The hard work of the whole day was the first to crush the mother.

When Tang Yingjie was in the second year of junior high school, in the spring, it was April 6th, and Tang Yingjie will never forget this day for the rest of his life.

That afternoon, when class was in progress, my cousin hurried to the school to look for him, saying that his mother was suddenly seriously ill and that he had come to pick him up.

Tang Yingjie took leave from the teacher, jumped on his cousin's small agricultural four-wheeler with his schoolbag on his back, and went to the town health center.

Tang Yingjie climbed onto the small four-wheeler, approached his cousin, and shouted, "What's wrong with my mother?" ”

The sound of the small four-wheel engine, the whirring wind, and the bumpy impact of the carriage covered Tang Yingjie's shout.

Tang Yingjie leaned close to his cousin's ear and continued to shout, but his cousin finally heard it, and he pulled up his throat and replied: "My stomach hurts, it's terrible." ”

Tang Yingjie asked, "When did it happen?" ”

The cousin said, "I can't tell, but you'll know when you get there." ”

Tang Yingjie finally saw his mother on the hospital bed, she was holding her stomach with her hands, and she was in a ball. Seeing Tang Yingjie come in, he smiled bitterly.

The mother's face was sallow, her breathing was weak, her eyes were gloomy, and she raised her hand tremblingly to wipe the hot sweat from Tang Yingjie's forehead. said in a breathy voice: "You're here, I'm fine, it's just that my stomach hurts, you touch it, and my belly is as hard as a board." ”

Tang Yingjie put his hand on his mother's stomach, held his mother's hand, and felt that the black hand was cold, Tang Yingjie covered his mother's hand on his chest, wanting to warm the cold hand.

The mother's eyes were slightly closed, and she was so weak that she didn't even have the strength to speak.

After a short time, my father and the doctor walked into the ward, and the doctor confirmed that the mother had a perforated stomach and needed immediate surgery, but the town health center could not do this operation, and had to be transferred to the county people's hospital immediately.

The father sorted out the straw in the small four-wheeled tractor for farming, laid out the bedding, the three carried the mother into the car and covered the quilt, and the cousin started the small four-wheeler, and the little four-wheeler emitted black smoke out of the town health center and drove onto the asphalt road leading to the county seat.

It was already evening, and a black cloud in the western sky was ignited by the setting sun, and half of the sky was as red as blood; The evening breeze in April was cold, and Tang Yingjie sat on the upper hand to block the cold wind for his mother. He was in a hurry, he didn't wear thick clothes, and he was shivering with cold at this time.

The little four-wheeled wheeler spewed black smoke and galloped on the asphalt road. The tow bucket sometimes bumped, and every time it was bumpy, the mother frowned and said "oops".

The cousin drove carefully, driving fast for fear of bumps, and slow for fear of delaying the condition, so he kept looking back at his mother on the bucket.

Tang Yingjie sat on top of his mother's head, he kept holding his mother's hand, every time his mother said "oops", his heart was like being pricked by a needle, Tang Yingjie's tears were blown away by the cold wind, and they kept gushing out, and then they were blown away by the cold wind

His father sat next to Tang Yingjie, kept tucking the quilt for his mother, and kept shedding tears.

When it was dark, I went to the county people's hospital, and after the emergency doctor's examination, the doctor at the town hospital said that there was an acute gastric perforation and that he must be hospitalized immediately for surgery. The doctor issued a hospitalization bill, and my father trotted all the way to the collection office to complete the hospitalization procedures.

The hospital deposit was at least $5,000, but my father only had $1,530. If the deposit is insufficient, you will not be able to go through the hospitalization procedures.

My father pleaded bitterly.

The father knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

The father cried bitterly and begged for mercy.

My father swore to God that it was important to save people, even if he sold the house, he would definitely pay back the money if he sold the land.

Some sigh, some sympathize; Some people watched, some people were indifferent, and no one helped.

The security guard persuaded his father not to make trouble, what kind of disease, how much deposit to charge for hospitalization is clearly stipulated by the hospital, and the cashier did not dare to violate the regulations, and they were punished for violating the regulations.

Old man, you don't know, now the medical fees owed outside the hospital are tens of millions, or come back, all become bad debts, if it goes on like this, the hospital will go bankrupt, the hospital has no way, the cashier is just to implement the rules of the hospital, they are not easy, their rice bowl is glass, thin glass, it will be broken when touched, don't embarrass them, it's useless to say anything, nothing can be done without money, hurry up to raise money, and you're not welcome to make trouble again.

My father understood, he was a reasonable person, he was kind, and he was a person who understood the difficulties of others. He got up, wiped away his tears, paid for the observation bed and medicine in advance, and his mother was entitled to lie on the bed in the observation room and hung up a drip.

My cousin and my father drove back to Yushugou, 120 kilometers away, on a small four-wheeler to raise money for their mother's hospitalization.

Tang Yingjie stayed to take care of his mother, he lay on the side of his mother's bed, stared at his mother without blinking, and kept wiping the cold sweat from his mother's forehead.

The mother put her arms around her belly, her body bent over, her face pale, and occasionally let out a long "ouch-yo-yo", which was painful and long, and seemed to use up all her strength; It was as if this "ouch" could release some pain.

Tang Yingjie had never had the opportunity to observe his mother in such detail, and his thin clothes were propped up on his thin shoulders; The hands that work all year round are like dry and rough branches; His face has become dark after years of wind and sun, and clear crow's feet appear at the corners of his eyes, and he is only forty years old, but he looks like he is in his fifties.

The more Tang Yingjie looked at it, the more sad he became, and tears filled his eyes. The night was getting deeper and deeper, and darkness covered everything. For the first time, Tang Yingjie deeply experienced the loneliness, helplessness, and weakness of life.

The mother closed her eyes tightly and breathed weakly. The wards are so quiet, the buildings are so quiet, the whole world is so quiet, the air seems to freeze, time seems to stand still.

Tang Yingjie kept looking at the time, estimating that his father and cousin should be there, and who could lend them money, even if it was a usurious father, he would definitely not hesitate to do it.

Tang Yingjie silently prayed that his father and cousin would go well and return as soon as possible. He hoped that his mother would be pushed into the operating room by the angel in white, and that the operation would go smoothly and that everything would go smoothly┄┄ When the sun shines into the ward tomorrow morning, his mother will open her tired eyes, her face will bloom with a new smile, and everything will return to the way it was before. Shock insoles made of old clothes into his shoes┄┄.

In the middle of the night, my mother said she was thirsty. Tang Yingjie ran to the supermarket at the entrance of the hospital, the supermarket was dark, and there was no sound when he knocked on the door; Tang Yingjie ran out of the hospital, ran along the street, knocked on the door when he saw the supermarket, knocked on the door of more than a dozen convenience stores in a row, and finally opened the door, Tang Yingjie took out the only five yuan in his pocket, bought two bottles of mineral water, and then ran back desperately.

Tang Yingjie helped his mother up, his mother half lay in his arms, drank half a bottle of water, and his mother looked at Tang Yingjie who was sweating and asked, "Have you eaten?" ”

Tang Yingjie said: "I'm not hungry. ”

The mother said, "You can buy your own bread." ”

Mother didn't know that Tang Yingjie no longer had the money to buy bread. The mother lay down, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

Tang Yingjie didn't dare to sleep, he observed his mother's breathing without blinking, touched his mother's wrist for a while, looked at the time for a while, time passed too slowly, he was anxious, and the fire was burning.

This night was unusually long, longer than Tang Yingjie's entire life in 15 years.