Siheyuan: Sizhu starts blindly and takes a new path

"It hurts." Banggeng immediately grimaced, "I can't sleep at night."

Captain Li squatted down, tapping his pipe on the sole of his shoe: "The work in the yard is easy, just watching the grain and making sure the birds don't eat it..."

"Dad!" Banggeng suddenly put on an aggrieved expression, "I can't even lift my arms, how can I chase the sparrows? What if there's any food loss? Wouldn't it be a disgrace to our family?"

The word "Dad" made Captain Li feel uncomfortable. He opened his mouth, but finally just sighed: "Then... let's take care of him for a while."

Watching Captain Li walking away with his hands behind his back, Bang Geng curled his lips into a cold smile. He had already figured it out: a 100-day recovery period for a broken bone is just a common saying, but in reality, this kind of fracture will take at least a year or two to heal. When the plaster is removed, he will say that his arm hurts on rainy days and he can't do heavy work; then he will ask his mother to get a certificate in the city saying that he needs long-term treatment... He can always delay until the day when the policy of returning to the city is relaxed.

In the evening, Banggeng strolled to the village store and used his last two cents to buy a box of matches. On his way back, he heard several villagers talking by the well:

"...The Li family is in trouble this time. They have brought in a patriarch."

"I heard that the boy lies down and smokes every day, just like a rich young master in the old society..."

"Hush, keep your voice down. He is an educated youth now, and he is very valuable!"

Banggeng coughed deliberately and walked past them with a swagger. The discussions immediately disappeared, replaced by an awkward silence. This feeling of being feared gave him a twisted sense of pleasure.

When they got home, Maya had already prepared dinner - cornmeal steamed bread, pickled vegetables and a bowl of porridge so thin that you could see your reflection in it. Banggeng took a quick look and turned back to the house: "I'm not hungry."

"Boss..." Maya caught up with him, "You at least..."

"What's good or bad?" Bang Geng turned around abruptly, "Just give me this to eat? I'm a wounded soldier! Do you understand what a wounded soldier is?" He kicked over the small stool, "I want to eat eggs!"

Maya's tears welled up in her eyes: "The chickens... the chickens haven't laid eggs these days..."

"Then go buy it!" Bang Geng yelled, spitting everywhere, "Don't think I don't know that the Youth League Office gave your family 20 yuan for nutrition!"

Liu Xu's crying could be heard from the inner room. Tie Shuan rushed in from the backyard, his fists clenched, but was stopped by Captain Li who rushed over after hearing the noise.

The next day at breakfast, there was a fried egg in front of Bang Geng for the first time. He slowly poked the browned egg with chopsticks, deliberately smearing the yolk all over the plate. The three brothers Tie Niu drank their porridge in silence, staring at the table, afraid that if they looked at it for a second longer, they would be tempted to eat it.

After dinner, Banggeng wandered to the village office and asked the secretary to issue a letter of introduction, saying that he was going to the county hospital for a follow-up examination. In fact, he took a tractor of the supply and marketing cooperative to the county town and mailed the letter to his mother at the post office.

On the way back to the village, Banggeng looked at the undulating wheat waves in the distance and suddenly remembered what his mother often said when he was a child: "Fools have their own luck, and smart people have their own rewards." He touched his plaster arm and thought to himself: This time, I'm going to be the "fool" who does nothing.

At night, Banggeng took the initiative to tease Liuxu for the first time, and even asked Maya to prepare a basin of water for foot washing. Maya's flattered expression made him laugh and despise at the same time - this woman is so easy to fool, she forgot the previous slap after giving her a sweet date.

Qin Huairu's hands were shaking as she held the letter. The crooked handwriting on the letter was like a knife, cutting her heart. "... My right arm was broken, and two ribs were broken... The Li family father and son beat me to death... Mom, I want to go home..."

"My son!" Qin Huairu's legs went weak and she almost fell to her knees on the cement floor of the women's locker room in the steel mill. Fortunately, it was lunch break and no one was in the locker room, so she could cry out loud. Her tears blurred the words on the letter paper, just like her broken heart at the moment.

She wiped her face and stuffed the letter into her underwear pocket, which still contained the thirty-six yuan and eighty cents she had just received. Without even bothering to change into work clothes, she grabbed the cloth bag and rushed out, almost bumping into a colleague who was coming to work.

"Master Qin, where are you going in such a hurry?"

"I, I'll take half a day off!" Qin Huairu ran out of the workshop without looking back, all she could hear was the words in her son's letter, "You almost chopped down the child" - how big were the willow catkins, how could those beasts have the heart to do that!

She first ran to the post office, tremblingly filled out a remittance form, and sent out all the salary she had just received. After leaving the post office, she remembered that she should save a few dollars to buy rice. But when she thought of Banggeng's letter saying "I don't even have money to buy painkillers", she felt that skipping a few meals was nothing.

Standing under the sycamore tree at the entrance of the post office, Qin Huairu bit her nails and wondered who she could ask for help. Shazhu? He had ignored her a long time ago. Yi Zhonghai? Her mother-in-law had just sent a middle-aged woman to the hospital... After thinking about it, that person was the only one left.

Li Huaide lived in a single dormitory behind the factory, and his position was demoted to the lowest level after his divorce. When Qin Huairu walked downstairs, she ran into Xiao Tao from the factory's art troupe, twisting her waist and coming out. The two of them met and felt a little embarrassed.

"Sister Qin, are you here to see Director Li?" Xiao Tao fastened his loose collar, his face still flushed.

Qin Huairu didn't respond, but stepped aside to let her pass. But she thought to herself: Li Huaide is now only qualified to cheat temporary workers like Xiao Tao.

After knocking on the door, Li Huaide was wearing a silk nightgown, revealing his loose fat on his chest. Seeing that it was Qin Huairu, he was obviously stunned for a moment: "Why are you here?"

"Director Li..." Qin Huairu started crying as soon as she spoke, "My son was beaten up in the countryside and was badly injured... Can you..."

"Come in and talk." Li Huaide glanced at the corridor vigilantly and pulled her into the house.

The room smelled musty and of cheap perfume. On the coffee table stood a half-empty bottle of Erguotou and a few empty cans, and on the sofa lay a pile of unwashed socks.

Li Huaide poured her a glass of water and said, "Tell me, what's going on?"

Qin Huairu took out the letter and told the story again with exaggeration. When she mentioned that Banggeng had three broken ribs, her own ribs seemed to hurt as well.

"How do you want me to help?" Li Huaide lit a cigarette. "I'm just a small person now, I can't take care of such a big thing."

"Huaide, you know a lot of people..." Qin Huairu leaned forward and smelled the familiar and disgusting smell of cigarettes and alcohol on Li Huaide, "Can you find a way to transfer Banggeng back?"

Li Huaide sneered: "Do you think it's still the same as a few years ago? Now the educated youth are stuck in returning to the city." He suddenly remembered something, "Unless..."

"Unless what?" Qin Huairu grabbed his arm.

"Unless they are seriously ill." Li Huaide lowered his voice, "There is a new policy recently. If the educated youth who went to the countryside are diagnosed with serious illness or disability, they can apply to return to the city for treatment."

Qin Huairu's eyes lit up: "Bang Geng's injury..."

"Bone fractures don't count." Li Huaide shook his head. "It must be a chronic disease or disability." He looked at Qin Huairu meaningfully. "But, if the diagnosis proves that we can find a way..."

Qin Huairu understood immediately. She slowly let go of Li Huaide's arm and moved her fingers to the straps of his nightgown: "Director Li, if you can help me..."

Li Huaide held her hand and said, "Let me make it clear first. This is not easy to do. It costs money."

"How many?"