one punch

The house in the urban area almost hollowed out all the family's wealth. Grandpa still has less than [-] yuan in deposits. In order to pay off the loan as soon as possible, uncle and aunt don't have much money on hand, let alone two children.

The family pieced together things, and even withdrew all the time deposits, and only got about [-] in cash.

On the first day my uncle was admitted to the hospital, various deposit fees and inspection fees cost nearly 3000 yuan.

The same ward is also a cancer patient, who has been living here for more than a year. When a newcomer comes in, he can't help but babble: "3 yuan is just the beginning. My family has already used it for me. It’s over [-] yuan, but it’s a pity that this disease is like this, hanging half dead, burning money to continue life.”

When my aunt heard this, the tears she had finally held back came down again.

Uncle, on the other hand, acted very calmly and calmly, "What are you afraid of? The fairest thing in life is death. No matter if you are rich or your family is poor, no one can escape. Don't worry about it. Let the doctor see it." , I will be discharged from the hospital if I don’t see it well, and I will go through this life in a good way.”

"Dad..." Ye Xi's nose turned sour, "Don't say that, it will definitely be cured."

The patient in the next bed smiled at his uncle: "It's good that you think so."

After the arrangement of the hospital, the aunt and grandfather took turns to accompany the bed.

There are three beds in the ward, a TV, and a war movie is playing at this time, and my uncle sleeps in the middle.

He had spent most of his life at the noodle shop from dawn to dusk, and suddenly he had to lie down like this in broad daylight. He had nothing to do, and his mind was restless. He chatted with the uncle on the left bed, and asked about the illness to the uncle on the right. He hasn't stopped talking since he lay down.

Dou Tianxiao and the others stood in the corridor outside the door discussing their future plans.

"How about... I'll ask my mother if there is any extra money to borrow first." Dou Tianxiao said.

"Okay," my aunt nodded, "Then dad, if you stay here and look at Wen Tao in a while, I'll try to find a way to ask relatives and friends to borrow some money. One hundred thousand."

Dou Tianxiao asked his aunt and got his mother's phone number and address, and finally decided to go there himself.

He hadn't been to his mother's place for seven or eight years. When he stood downstairs in the community, he felt that the surrounding streets were both familiar and unfamiliar. When he was a child, he still remembered that an aunt called the police for him. Now the newsstand is gone.

After registering with the doorman, he groped upstairs according to the address on the paper. This would happen to be the time for dinner at night, and he could smell the aroma of food as soon as he got out of the elevator.

He was also a little hungry.

After ringing the doorbell three times, a young girl's voice came from inside, "Who is it?"

Only then did Dou Tianxiao realize that there was a younger sister at home, and he didn't know how to introduce himself, so he stood awkwardly at the door, "I'm looking for Ye Xiaoyue."

After the girl opened the door, she stared at him blankly for a while, then turned her head and shouted: "Mom, someone is looking for you, a man."

Fortunately at home.

Dou Tianxiao breathed a sigh of relief.

"Who is it..." Ye Xiaoyue came out of the kitchen, still holding uncut celery leaves in her hand, the moment she saw the person coming, she was startled at first, and then smiled, "Little Douzi, what are you doing?" Here we come."

She quickly threw away the things in her hands, wiped her hands and said, "Come on, come in, come in, have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet." Dou Tianxiao took a look at the girl. She had single eyelids and a little dark skin. I don't know if it was tanned or natural. Her eyebrows, eyes and nose were a bit like Uncle Li's. She looked very ordinary and had no aura.

The other party also looked him up and down, "Mom, who is this?"

When she went to Ye's house, she had just learned to walk, so she had no impression of this brother at all.

Ye Xiaoyue was a little embarrassed, "Your brother, call me brother."

She didn't introduce it in detail, but Li Wan had already guessed it all. As for her brother, she only heard about it, but never saw him.

"Oh, brother."

Her voice was a bit perfunctory, and both Ye Xiaoyue and Dou Tianxiao could hear it.

Dou Tianxiao didn't want to waste time talking about the past, and there was really nothing to talk about. After directly expressing her intention, Ye Xiaoyue's expression immediately became flustered, "Is it so serious? What did the doctor say, can it be cured?"

"The current situation is not optimistic. The cancer cells are gradually spreading. The doctor asked us to prepare some money and prepare for chemotherapy. The first course of treatment will take about one month. We will start after the various inspection reports come out." Dou Tian Xiao said.

Ye Xiaoyue had already guessed the purpose of her son's sudden visit, so she found a reason to send her daughter away.

"Are you short of money?" She had heard that Ye's family had bought a house before, so it must be because money is too tight.

Dou Tianxiao lowered his head, "Yes."

Ye Xiaoyue went back to her room and took a bank card and handed it to him, "The password is six 6s, and there should be more than 8 yuan in it. You can take it first. I have some regular deposits. I have to talk to Uncle Li before taking it out." Come out, don't worry about it."

Dou Tianxiao nodded.

Ye Xiaoyue looked at her son and couldn't help sighing that time flies, the last time I met her was a kid with messy hair and didn't know how to tidy up, and she was half a head taller than him in the blink of an eye.

"Let's stay here for dinner tonight, I have another dish to cook and it will be ready soon."

Dou Tianxiao smiled and did not refuse. After looking around the restaurant for a while, he got up and went to the bathroom to wash his hands.

There is only one wall between the bathroom and the bedroom, and the sound insulation is not very good. He heard Li Wan talking on the phone in the room.

"That's right, if you don't go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing, I knew he must have come to ask for money. Just now, my mother gave him a bank card..."

"Dad, come back quickly. If you don't come back, the money at home will become his! Last time you agreed to buy me a piano!"

"I don't care! You promised me!..."

"It's cancer. It's probably a waste of time to throw it in. It will be a ghost if it returns."

Dou Tianxiao clenched the bank card in his hand, with mixed feelings in his heart, and a few complaints made him feel unprecedented humiliation and embarrassment, even the last time his aunt dragged him out of the game by his ear. It's been so hard today.

He thought of what she said when he quarreled with his aunt many years ago: "You need money for eating and drinking water, you need money for shopping, you need money for seeing a doctor when you are sick, you need money for marrying a wife and having children, and you need money when you wake up. To live is to earn money and spend money to continue your life..."

At that time, he didn't take it seriously, but now when he really needs to spend money to continue his life, he realizes that money is really important.

It is a person's face and dignity.

He didn't even have the courage to stay and have dinner with the family, so he found a random reason after walking out of the bathroom, and rejected his mother's request to stay.

At that time, Li Wan just opened the door and came out, so he really wanted to throw that bank card back on the table handsomely, shake his head and leave.

Unfortunately not.

It was my uncle's life-saving money.

When a person really comes to the point where there is nowhere to go, he will not even have the strength to refute and resist.

The patients who came and went from outside the ward all had dull eyes and haggard faces, and some of them even had trouble with their legs and feet.

While Dou Tianxiao was waiting for the elevator, a white-haired old man came over and patted his sleeve.

The old man was stooped, his face was dark and thin, his cheekbones were high and protruding, and his fingers were so thin that only skin and bones remained.

"Young man," the old man leaned towards Dou Tianxiao with some difficulty, and took out a dilapidated old man phone with buttons, "Can you help me look through my son's phone, I can't see clearly."

"Yes." Dou Tianxiao answered the phone, clicked on the address book, and there were only a dozen contacts in it, "What's your son's name?"

"Sun Ping, ask me if he will come today." The old man looked anxious.

Dou Tianxiao didn't even answer the three calls, and later he called the uncle's and daughter-in-law's phone. The other party said that he was too busy now to go there, but Dou Tianxiao obviously heard the sound of mahjong being played.

After inquiring, Dou Tianxiao found out that this uncle has two sons and two daughters. Three of them went to other places to work and basically never came back. Only the eldest son stayed with him and worked in a machinery factory.

When I was young, I sent my children to other places without deep affection. Now that I have stomach cancer, I need a lot of treatment fees. The children pooled 1 yuan to give him, and it's over.

Examination and dispensing almost used up all his coffin books. If he has no money, he can only go home and wait for his death.

Looking at his blank and helpless eyes, Dou Tianxiao couldn't speak a word like a lump in his throat.

The hospital is a place where everyone's masks will be ruthlessly torn off, and all the selfishness, ruthlessness, and indifference in the world will be displayed one by one, making people feel cold all over.

What a desperate thing when a person can no longer control his own destiny.

There are too many sufferings in the world to imagine.

When he returned to the ward, he saw several familiar neighbors gathered inside, including Jiang Ran's parents.

"Oh my sister! If you tell me to take it, take it! ——If you don't take it, you won't treat me as a sister!"

"No! No! How can I ask for such a large sum of money!"

Dou Tianxiao saw Teacher Jiang holding a kraft paper bag as thick as a dynamite bag, not to mention fifty or sixty thousand, at least thirty or forty thousand.

Seeing that Jiang Qing couldn't persuade her, she directly stuffed the envelope into the bedside table, "Who told you to give it to you! In the future, when my elder brother recovers from his illness, he will make money and return it to me! I want to charge interest, which is lower than the bank's." , two points will do.”

A few neighbors laughed, "That's right, wait for Wen Tao to go back and pay back slowly, what are you afraid of."

Tears welled up in my aunt's eyes, and she wished she could kneel down for them, "Thank you, thank you so much, Xiaoqing, you are a living Bodhisattva..."

Jiang Ran smiled at the side, "It's okay, auntie, just take it, when someone is not in trouble, didn't you tell me last time, helping each other, it should be."

Jiang's father also echoed, "Yes, money is only valuable if it is used where it should be used."

My aunt was a little incoherent, and after boasting for a long time, she merged into one sentence, "Your family is a living Bodhisattva."

There is darkness in the world, and there will naturally be warm sunshine.

Dou Tianxiao rubbed the tip of his sore nose, walked in, "Teacher Jiang."

"Where did you go? Have you had dinner yet?" Jiang Qing picked up a large portion of dumplings on the table, "I know your family has been busy recently, so I probably don't have time to make food, so I made some dumplings and brought them here , Are you hungry? Have something to eat?"

Dou Tianxiao's stomach grumbled in good time, and Jiang Qing chuckled, "Eat while it's hot, let me tell you, this hospital is good, even the restaurants nearby are dirty. It’s not very hygienic. I don’t know if there is any waste oil. I used to accompany my mother for a while when she was in the hospital. It’s better to bring it by myself. I can send it to you after I make dinner at night. It’s not far anyway, just four stops away. .”

"Sister, you're too troublesome. You don't need to worry about it. We're not that particular, just eat whatever you want." The aunt said while helping the uncle to roll up the bed.

"It's just a little effort, such a small thing is nothing." Jiang Qing handed the clean bowls and chopsticks to her uncle, "Brother Tao, you have to be strong, don't keep thinking about those unhappy things, relax, think more about the children, Think about happy things, your mood will be better, your physical condition will be better, and it will also be helpful for treatment.”

"Oh, his heart is as wide as the sea, and he comforts me every day." My aunt moved a chair over.

Jiang Qing: "That's good. This disease depends on perseverance. There are many cancer patients who have recovered. They need to be actively treated—hey, there are vinegar packets and soy sauce packets here. Which do you eat? I'll give it to you." Pour some?"

"Be jealous." Dou Tianxiao handed over the bowl.

There was a bouquet of flowers and several fruit baskets on the bedside table, and a few green plants were placed on the window sill. This deserted ward became more popular because of Mama Jiang's visit.

My aunt touched the lump in my uncle's neck, "Does it hurt? Does it feel better after taking the medicine?"

"It still hurts a little." The uncle's voice was hoarse, and he ate at a slow pace like a snail, seeming to have no appetite and forced himself to stuff it down.

While eating the dumplings, Dou Tianxiao couldn't help but shed two tears.

It was just two days of lying in the ward, and my uncle was like a frost-beaten eggplant, haggard a lot, and the hospital bed was like a demon constantly absorbing vitality, bit by bit, it sucked away the uncle's abundant energy. energy.

Dou Tianxiao thought of the old man outside the elevator just now.

The dumplings in the rice bowl are still hot, but many people's hearts are probably already cold.

Not long after he walked to the corridor and sat down, he was patted on the head twice.

He sniffed and raised his head to face Jiang Ran's slightly upturned lips.

"Crying bag." Jiang Ran rubbed his hair, "Don't worry, auspicious people have their own appearance, uncle will be fine."

"Really?" His voice was very soft, as if he was speaking to himself.

"Of course." Jiang Ran pinched his ears, feeling a little cold.

Dou Tianxiao's eyes became hot, and he tilted his head against his stomach, rubbing his right cheek against Jiang Ran's soft cashmere sweater, his nerves that had been tense all day slowly relaxed.

Fortunately, there are always warm corners in this world.

Jiang Ran rubbed his hair gently, "What uncle needs most now is the care and encouragement of his family. You have to believe in medicine and give yourself some hope."

"I know, I know all of this." Dou Tianxiao closed his eyes and his voice was very low, "But I still can't help thinking, what should I do if he is really gone? If I can't see him again It's...that's really a terrible thing."

"Don't think so much." Jiang Ran looked down at his hair, hesitated for a while and said, "If you are scared alone at night, go to sleep at my house."