Yang Duoduo really lived up to the trust and successfully got the official seal in Yang Shengli's desk and stamped it on the letter of introduction left by Ma Weiguo. Accompanied by her and Ma Weiguo, Ma Hongmei went to the county seat for an abortion.

On the moving bus, Ma Weiguo, Ma Hongmei, and Yang Duoduo sat in the last row of the carriage. Ma Weiguo was wearing his father's Mao suit, wearing a blue hat, his face was black, and he deliberately dressed up very old-fashioned, pretending to be Ma Hongmei's husband. He stuck his head out the window and looked at the flowing scenery outside. Ma Hongmei wrapped herself tightly with a headscarf, for fear of being recognized by acquaintances, and the most relaxed was Yang Duoduo, as the hero of the special operation to resolve the crisis, she can now let go of all her burdens, flip through a copy of "Story Club", and laugh out loud from time to time.

The driver saw Ma Weiguo's face outside the car window from the rearview mirror and reminded: "Comrade, put your head in and pay attention to safety." ”

Yang Duoduo closed the "Story Meeting" in his hand, and whispered to Ma Weiguo across Ma Hongmei: "I helped you, you have to promise me one thing?" ”

Ma Weiguo subconsciously shouted: "Huh? Do you have a baby too? The shouting caused a carload of people to turn around and look back. Ma Hongmei and Yang Duoduo were angry and anxious, pinching and beating Ma Weiguo.

"I haven't thought about it yet, I want to tell you!" Yang Duoduo said, turned his face to the window, and looked at the scenery. Ma Weiguo looked at her silhouette with a stupid look in his eyes. Ma Hongmei looked at him, and then at Yang Duoduo, she fully understood her brother's thoughts, and her eyes were full of worry. Her life experience is richer than Ma Weiguo, and she can see at a glance the huge gap between Ma Weiguo and Yang Duoduo, who are close at hand.

"It's just a joke between the little dolls, and there's no marijuana!" Ma Hongmei comforted herself and poked a finger on Ma Weiguo's forehead, "You black spotted head!" ”

"Why are you scolding me?" Ma Weiguo said dissatisfied. Yang Duoduo's curiosity was aroused, and she hurriedly asked what "black spotted" meant, but Ma Hongmei smiled and did not answer.

In the county hospital, Ma Weiguo and Ma Hongmei finally lined up in front of the small window and handed the letter of introduction inside. The face of a middle-aged woman appeared in the small window, glanced at the letter of introduction, and looked at the nervous Ma Weiguo and Ma Hongmei with contempt.

"Take off your turban." The middle-aged woman commanded stiffly. Ma Hongmei hesitated to take off her headscarf.

"Is it a couple?" Ma Weiguo was embarrassed and didn't know how to answer.

Ma Hongmei hurriedly pulled Ma Weiguo over, pushed his face to the window, and emphasized weakly: "Yes, yes!" Doctor, don't you see a letter of introduction? ”

The middle-aged woman had obviously received countless and all kinds of patients, and she had long lost her enthusiasm for serving the people, and said coldly: "Can't you confirm it?" Now the world has really changed! ”

Ma Hongmei and Ma Weiguo looked at each other, choked by her and couldn't speak. The middle-aged woman lowered her head to fill in the form and said reluctantly: "Young people nowadays don't want any skin and face!" Ma Weiguo wanted to have a seizure, but was held down by Ma Hongmei, and signaled to him with his eyes, "More is better than less."

After completing the formalities, Ma Hongmei went in to get the fetus, and Ma Weiguo and Yang Duoduo stayed in the corridor outside to wait. The long, dim and narrow corridor smelled of disinfectant water, and it was deserted, and there was hardly anyone to be seen. On the cold concrete floor, a bench is lonely. Ma Weiguo squatted on the chair with his head hooked, and picked the old leather on the chair with his hand. Yang Duoduo was looking at the gynecological knowledge posters posted in the corridor attentively. Neither of them spoke, and from time to time there were heart-rending shouts from the operating room, and Ma Weiguo's heart tightened for a while. He told himself that one day in the future, when he met Luo Gang, he would definitely beat him like a pig, and Ma Hongmei would have to repay the pain he had suffered.

Yang Duoduo paced over and pinched Ma Weiguo's arm hard, and Ma Weiguo shouted: "What's the play?" ”

Yang Duoduo said angrily: "Men don't have a good thing." ”

Ma Weiguo was very unconvinced, "Hey, don't hit a large piece."

"Yes!" Yang Duoduo imitated the local dialect and spoke.

Ma Weiguo had no intention of arguing with her, Ma Hongmei's screams made him unbearable, jumped off the chair, and walked straight out.

In the courtyard of the hospital, there is a dead tree, and there is a bird's nest embedded in the branches at the top of the tree. He could hear the "chirping" sound of chicks in the nest, thinking of his nephew who had just been disposed of, and he didn't have a chance to look at the world, Ma Weiguo felt that these chicks were very happy, at least their parents would not be ruthless to beat them down.

Yang Duoduo followed again, looked at Ma Weiguo's distracted appearance, and asked, "Why are there dead trees everywhere in this city?" ”

"It's never rained, it's all dead."

In the corridor, a nurse shouted, "Ma Hongmei's family." Ma Weiguo and Yang Duoduo hurriedly trotted over. When they entered the corridor, Ma Hongmei had already walked out of the operating room with a pale face, her forehead was full of cold sweat, her hair was wet into locks, sticking to her cheeks, the whole person seemed to have been stripped of a layer of skin, and her painful expression made others worry when they looked at it. She barely walked a few steps with her hands on the wall of the corridor, but she could no longer support it, and fell to the ground with a "poof".

Ma Weiguo and Yang Duoduo hurriedly ran over, one holding one arm, almost carrying her out of the door. Yang Duoduo struggled to support Ma Hongmei, and looked at Ma Weiguo with hostile eyes, indicating that what he just said "men are not good things" was not false at all.

Ma Hongmei's physical condition is no longer able to take the bus. Ma Weiguo tried to stop a hitchhiker on the road and carry the three people back, but those drivers regarded him as a transparent person, as if they couldn't see him, and they sped past Ma Weiguo one after another, glaring at Ma Weiguo angrily, but helpless.

Yang Duoduo walked over and glanced at Ma Weiguo, "It's useless, stand far away and look at me!" Ma Weiguo opened his mouth and couldn't speak, so he had to walk back to Ma Hongmei's side, leaning on the trunk of the tree and watching Yang Duoduo use his skills to stop the car.

In the distance, a truck carrying goods drove by, Yang Duoduo put on a bright smiling face, and waved to the driver in the cab as if greeting an old friend. As if by magic, the driver slowed down, stopped the car accurately beside Yang Duoduo, rolled down the window, looked at Yang Duoduo with a lewd smile, and said, "Hitchhiker, come up!" ”

Yang Duoduo turned his head and smiled proudly at Ma Weiguo, Ma Weiguo helped Ma Hongmei up, and muttered: "A beautiful woman is useful!" ”

Ma Hongmei took a leave of absence from the factory, and the dormitory could no longer live, so she had to move home, and the pregnancy and miscarriage were exposed within the family. Ma Jianshe and Ma Mu were stunned by this unexpected blow, a scandal that was enough to completely destroy the social image they had painstakingly run in this small city for decades, and it was a complete disaster. Although Ma Jianshe felt that Ma Weiguo was not a good person, his daughter Ma Hongmei made him feel somewhat gratified, sensible at home, worked well in the factory, and never caused trouble for the family. It's good now, if nothing happens, it's a big deal! Ma Jianshe felt that as a father, he had completely failed in the education of his children.

Ma Jianshe poured all his anger on his daughter, who had just undergone an abortion, rounded the feather duster, and beat Ma Hongmei, who was kneeling on the ground, to death. Ma Hongmei was bruised all over her body, but she was motionless, like a stone clay sculpture, and she completely lost her sense of pain. She felt that this was the punishment she deserved, and that she had brought great shame to her parents. Chicken feathers flew in the room, and the mother was so frightened that she didn't say a word, just wiped her tears.

Ma Weiguo couldn't stand it anymore, so he rushed over and snatched the feather duster from his father's hand, threw it on the ground, and protected his sister behind him. In his memory, his sister had covered him like this countless times, allowing him to escape his father's hysterical beatings, and this time it was finally his turn to protect Ma Hongmei.

"What else do you do besides beating people?" Ma Weiguo's eyes widened, and he confronted Ma Jianjian, whose eyes were bloodshot.

Ma Jianjian's psychological pillar collapsed instantly, and he muttered in his mouth: "Lose the ancestors, lose the ancestors...... Why did I raise you two blind bears? ”

Ma Mu also persuaded from the side: "Everything has happened, what can you play with such a big fire?" Ma Jianshe circled around the room, pointing at Ma Hongmei, speechless.

Mother Ma dragged Ma Hongmei up from the ground and said, "My hometown Tiezhu and his son Tieqiu are still single, Xiaomei, you can marry him!" ”

Ma Weiguo didn't expect his kind mother to say such a thing, such a treatment is even more ruthless than his father's beating, it turns out that a woman's heart is harder than a man's. "Mother, that's a rural area, what kind of ball is that iron ball, that's a fool!"

Mother Ma sighed and bowed her head silently. Ma Jianshe said angrily: "If someone wants it, burn high incense!" ”

Ma Weiguo shouted hysterically: "Can't marry!" can't marry ......" He didn't want Ma Hongmei to ruin his life like this, lose his future, and lose the opportunity to pursue happiness.

Ma Hongmei calmed down, breathed a sigh of relief, and said calmly: "Dad, I'll marry!" ”

The family looked at Ma Hongmei, and the air in the room froze.

In the dead of night, the leaves rustle outside the window, and the hazy moonlight pours into the room through the branches and leaves outside the window, leaving a dappled light and shadow, which makes people feel unreal and can't help but reverie. Ma Weiguo and Ma Hongmei were lying on their respective beds facing each other, the curtain in the middle was not closed, and the sisters and brothers were silent, thinking, waiting for each other to say something. Such opportunities may not be available again in the future.

Ma Weiguo was the first to break the silence, "Sister, do you really want to marry that fool?" ”

"What's the solution? I always have to take care of my parents' faces, and I can't let them get old and not live as adults. Get married, cover everyone's mouth, you accompany your parents to have a good time, don't get angry. Can't write it down? ”

"If you don't want to, don't marry, you can't ruin the rest of your life for the sake of a face, and jump into it knowing that it's a fire pit."

Ma Hongmei fell silent again, of course she didn't want to marry a fool, but now, there is no other choice. Swallow the bitter fruit you planted in middle age, and use the happiness of the rest of your life to decorate this family! Ma Hongmei sighed softly, that sigh came from the bottom of her heart, a lament for the despair and helplessness of fate in the future. Although the voice was very soft, it sounded extremely heavy to Ma Weiguo.

Ma Weiguo knew that it was useless for him to say anything, he wanted to relieve the somewhat uncomfortable atmosphere in the room, and asked Ma Hongmei: "Sister, have you read Beidao's poems?" Ma Hongmei did not answer, and Ma Weiguo continued: "He has one of the shortest poems, called 'Life', with only one word - net!" ”

"Net ......" Ma Hongmei muttered to herself, she felt that she had now fallen into a net that she could not break free, and she could only struggle and survive in this net in the future. She looked at Ma Weiguo opposite, "Brother, you remember, in the future, you must not stay in the net like my sister, you must earn it and live freely!" ”

The next day, when Ma Weiguo told Yang Duoduo of Ma Hongmei's decision, Yang Duoduo was silent for a long time, and finally said a sentence - "Your sister didn't hold on!" After being silent for a long time, she asked Ma Weiguo not very confidently, "You say, if we encounter the same hurdle, can we overcome it?" ”

Ma Weiguo did not speak, and with his life experience and life experience, he could not give a conclusive answer to this question.

Ma Hongmei got married, someone from her hometown picked her up, there was no team to welcome relatives, no lively wedding, no blessings from relatives and friends, she quietly walked out of the house under the eyes of Ma Jianshe and Ma's mother. Ma Mu wanted to take her to the long-distance bus station, but was stopped by Ma Jianjian. "Send a mess! It's not enough to lose face! Only Ma Weiguo accompanied his sister out of the last leg of the road to marriage.

The people who came to greet the relatives were also gloomy and did not speak. Such a beautiful girl is holding an iron rice bowl from the factory, but she wants to lose her job and marry her hometown, and she is married to a fool, and anyone can guess how many points are strange? If you didn't do something unseemly, why did you run back to the countryside from the city? If the man hadn't been poor at home, and his baby's brain was not bright, he wouldn't have picked up this woman at all! This is something that everyone knows, but no one will be bored and openly break that layer of window paper.

On the bus, Ma Weiguo and Ma Hongmei remained silent for a long time. Ma Weiguo hated that he was incompetent, and watched his sister jump into the net and into the fire pit, but he couldn't do anything and couldn't help at all. He can only comfort himself that when he has the strength to help his sister in the future, he must save her from the place where birds don't poop and let her live a happy life. However, that day seemed far away, so far away that it was desperate.

In the ticket hall of the long-distance bus station, the person who greeted the relatives bought a ticket and walked to the ticket gate with Ma Hongmei. Ma Weiguo screamed in pain - "Sister! Ma Hongmei waved her hand to Ma Weiguo with tears in her eyes, "Take care of the eldest mother!" Then he walked in without looking back. Ma Weiguo clenched his fists, controlling his surging impulses, he really wanted to rush over and drag Ma Hongmei back. But what about dragging it back? How to place Ma Hongmei? Ma Weiguo, who couldn't even support himself, was full of grievances and resentment, and this suppressed emotion laid a hidden danger for his future impulsiveness and irreparable mistakes.

Ma Hongmei's in-laws live in a closed and backward mountain village, standing at the entrance of the village and looking out, it is full of desolation and dilapidation. The long-distance bus just passed by the foot of the mountain, and Ma Hongmei was riding on the mountain in a carriage. Along the way, her heart became heavier and colder. She hadn't been back to her hometown for as long as she could remember, and it was just a vague and somewhat gray image. But when she actually came here, she saw a ruined and poor place that she had not expected—low grass houses, barren mountain fields, potholed mountain roads, dirty, disgusting thatched huts. Ma Hongmei finally understands how deep this pit that fate has dug for her - bottomless!

When she saw her in-laws and husband for the first time, Ma Hongmei really hated that she hadn't jumped off the cliff she had just passed by. The husband smirked at himself while wiping his nose, his clothes were stained with mud and emitted a terrible smell, his unkempt hair had not been washed for a long time, and the rural people's attention to hygiene was very different from that of the city people! The father-in-law and mother-in-law both had black faces and greeted the new daughter-in-law with a frosty face. They also did not invite relatives and friends to hold a banquet for the wedding, and they didn't even prepare a decent meal for Ma Hongmei. If it weren't for the fact that the conditions at home were really poor and the son had problems, they would not have the shame to take a "dry, unclean" woman like Ma Hongmei into the door. The reluctance in her heart was reflected on her face, and naturally she would not give Ma Hongmei a good look.

The mother-in-law didn't want to look at Ma Hongmei at all, and the father-in-law said a sentence that was not salty - "The family is poor, and the mountains are not as good as the city, don't blame them!" You have a good time with the iron ball! ”

Ma Hongmei's first meal here was a plate of shredded potatoes and scrambled eggs with sharp peppers. She had no appetite at all, so she took a pair of chopsticks and peppers, and her spicy mouth was on fire, and she hurriedly took a big bite of steamed buns. The mother-in-law glared at her unhappily and nagged, "I don't give you enough food at home!" How do you look like a starving ghost? Ma Hongmei, who had never been wronged at home, almost burst into tears, lowering her head and slowly chewing the steamed buns in her mouth.

A hand stretched out under the table, touching her thigh, Ma Hongmei found that the iron ball was smirking at herself, and she felt nauseous, and was just about to open his hand, when there was suddenly something more in her palm, and if you looked closely, it was a salted duck egg. The skin was broken, and it was left to his new daughter-in-law with an iron ball in her pocket for days. Ma Hongmei's heart warmed, and her eyes looked at Tieqiu softly, this fool is now her husband, this is a fact that cannot be changed. At least let her feel a little relieved, this foolish husband knows to hurt himself!

The bare man who has been pulled by the iron ball for thirty years is as hungry and thirsty as a man who can't drink water all day in the sun. Now he finally has a beautiful daughter-in-law, on the first night of the wedding, he poured out the lust he had accumulated for many years on Ma Hongmei, scratching and biting, tossing Ma Hongmei to death, moaning in pain all night, and his ears were the stupid husband's howl like a wolf with excitement.

Listening to the movement in her son's room, Ma Hongmei's mother-in-law said in disgust: "The day is so happy, it looks like a slut!" The father-in-law said with a black face, "Sleep!" "Blew out the oil lamp.

The next morning, when Ma Hongmei's in-laws walked out of their room, they were shocked to find that a neat plate of steaming steamed buns had been placed on the dining table in the outhouse, and a bowl of pickles cut into thin strips mixed with chopped green onions and drizzled with sesame oil. Ma Hongmei walked in with a bowl full of rice soup and said, "Big, mother, let's eat!" Her face was still stained with ash, and this was the first time she had used a rural earthen stove to cook with firewood, and she was still very unskilled, and the city used electricity or natural gas to cook. When the sky was bright, the iron ball stopped tossing her, and fell asleep, Ma Hongmei dragged her tired body to get up early, and hurriedly prepared her first meal as a daughter-in-law.

Tie Dan and his daughter-in-law agreed a little unnaturally, sat down at the dinner table, and took the soup bowl handed over by Ma Hongmei. None of the three of them spoke, and the dinner table was quiet. Ma Hongmei's in-laws have the simplicity and kindness of rural people, although they are prejudiced against Ma Hongmei, but the performance of their daughter-in-law makes them speechless, and very clearly releases to them the sincerity of wanting to integrate into this family and live honestly. Since Ma Hongmei is welcomed into the door, they will be a family in the future, so they naturally have to get along well. Sooner or later, they will have to accept their daughter-in-law, but yesterday they kept their faces on the shelf, and they couldn't let go for a while.

After breakfast, Ma Hongmei said to Tie Dan while cleaning up the dining table: "Great, we will go to the field with you today, I don't understand the work in the field, you have to teach me!" ”

Tie Dan was stunned for a moment, his nose was a little sour, and he felt that he had treated this good daughter-in-law badly yesterday, although he didn't know what happened to Ma Hongmei in the past, but he could see that Ma Hongmei was a kind and diligent good doll. He turned his head to look at his daughter-in-law, Ma Hongmei's mother-in-law smiled a little touched and nodded. "Great! When the iron ball wakes up, let's go to the ground! Tie Dan's face was filled with a kind smile, and with a kind "we", Ma Hongmei's heart was hot, knowing that this family had accepted her.