life struggle

It was nearly three in the morning when Wu Xiaojun returned home that night. 【】A burst of knocking on the door immediately caused dogs to bark loudly, and the neighbors turned on the lights one after another to find out what happened.

Wu Pingshun had the habit of coughing and smoking in bed in the middle of the night. When he faintly heard the door outside, he got up and came to the courtyard wearing a padded jacket. "Is Xiaojun back?"

Wu Xiaojun said softly, "Father, it's me, Xiaojun, open the door."

After a while, my father opened the door slowly, and asked in surprise, "Why did you come back so late, did you go to Xiaosen's place?"

"It was too late and the road was not far away, so I didn't go and came back directly from the county."

"You are too bold. It's cold outside, it's dark, and the road is slippery. It's very difficult to walk. What if you fall and hurt yourself, hurry up and get warm in the house."

Wu Xiaojun entered the inner room, put down his luggage immediately, and scanned the whole room under the dim light. The windows were tightly covered with plastic sheets. Although there was no stove, it was still warm.My father was weak and especially afraid of the cold, so he got into the bed as soon as he entered the house and covered him with three quilts.Looking at his father's very old, sallow, thin, and exhausted figure, he felt pain in his heart, "Father, my mother, why isn't she at home?"

"At one o'clock, your Uncle Shitou said that his wife was about to give birth, so he called your mother over to pick up the child, and he hasn't come back yet."

"Uncle Shitou doesn't think about others, it's so cold, what if something happens to my mother."

"People are also in a hurry. If there is nothing they can do, please help."

Wu Xiaojun didn't say anything. He took off his cotton coat and lay on the bed, tossing and turning, restless. He kept imagining in his mind how Qin Meixiang would explain to her parents, how her parents would send her off, whether it was a storm or a bright will.In a trance, Qin Meixiang's parents raised eyebrows and stared fiercely, standing in front of her like a ghost, holding a rubber stick in front of her eyes, and said viciously, "Wu Xiaojun, you bastard, you don't even take a pee to see what you are. , the toad actually wants to eat swan meat, my Xiaoxiang is a beautiful and talented woman with golden branches and jade leaves, can you, a filthy country bumpkin, make up your mind, get rid of this idea as soon as possible, if you make us anxious, you will lose arms and legs by then Don't regret it."

Zhao Shuting, Qin Meixiang's mother, said angrily, "You bastard, you actually bullied our Xiaoxiang, so that Xiaoxiang didn't leave the door, didn't walk through the door, and cried all day long with her head covered. You can’t let this bad breath out, it will make you happy for a while, and you will lose your children and grandchildren for a lifetime.” As he spoke, he swung the rubber stick towards Wu Xiaojun’s crotch, but Wu Xiaojun was caught off guard and couldn’t dodge, and fell to the ground with a cry of “Damn it”. Wu Xiaojun tightly covered his lower body with his hands, and kept rolling on the ground. The two of them were beaten with sticks and kicked, and their bodies were covered with cuts and bruises.

When Wu Xiaojun was dying, helpless and desperate, a familiar figure with a sad face appeared in front of him, gently lifted his head, and kept shouting, "Wu Xiaojun, wake up, wake up, don't be afraid, you and Sister Mei Xiang is not a stranger at all, but me."

For a long time, Wu Xiaojun opened his eyes slightly, and saw that Shao Yingying was looking at him with tears in his eyes. Behind her, Qin Meixiang looked complacent, and immediately trembled with anger, and said through gritted teeth, "You big liar!" , plotting against me everywhere, trying to play tricks on me, defrauding my feelings, mutilating my body, today I must strangle you to death." He jumped up and rushed towards Qin Meixiang, but Qin Meixiang disappeared without a trace. It turned out to be Nankey Yimeng, whose whole body was wet.

At this time, the sky was already bright.Wu Xiaojun was awakened by the nightmare, and in the haze, he heard the noise of people in the courtyard, a burst of noise.He hurriedly got up and dressed, only to see that the courtyard was full of people, men, women and children, and his father was squatting beside him with a blue face, without saying a word, bowing his head and smoking non-stop.The three Shitou brothers and sisters cried and shouted, and kept complaining, "Poor child, his life will be gone before he sees his mother. It's true that we know people and face but don't know our hearts. We have never had any grievances. You old woman, how can you If you are capable of immoral things, our family will have no descendants if you kill us."

The mother leaned against the wall and squatted under the window, with tears streaming down her nose, and said loudly, "I have been carrying babies all my life, and I have seen a lot of stillbirths. It was your daughter-in-law who had problems during pregnancy. How can you blame me?" .Do not be afraid of ghosts knocking on the door if you don't do bad things. I have a conscience in heaven and earth. I have never had the intention of harming others. Aren't you afraid of ignoring your conscience when you say this, and you will be hit by thunder from the sky. It's really hard to be a good person, huh huh..."

The second sister Shitou cursed and refused to let go, "There is nothing wrong with other people's family, but my nephew died before he was born, isn't it even more strange? I know what you did to deliberately kill my nephew and harm us."

Wu Xiaojun heard what was going on.In an era when people's concepts were backward, medical awareness was not strong, and the new method of midwifery was not yet popularized, midwives were indispensable and important figures in rural areas, and they were quite respected by the people.Grandma Wu Xiaojun has been a midwife all her life, and more than 300 babies have been born by her hands.In her spare time, Mrs. Xiao Jun often followed her to help, and she learned a lot over time.Later, Wu Xiaojun's grandma was old and had inconvenient legs and feet, so she passed the birthing stick to Xiaojun's wife.

Wu Xiaojun's wife not only can deliver babies, but also has a good craft of paper-cutting. She is also warm-hearted, easy-going, and easy to get close to. Anyone in the village who has weddings and funerals will go to her directly when they need it.When Shitou came to invite her, he went without hesitation. Unexpectedly, this visit caused a lot of trouble.

Wu Xiaojun thought for a moment, then gently pulled up his mother who was shivering from the cold and full of grievances, "Mother, don't cry, go back to the house to warm up first, and I'll talk to them." Xiaojun helped his mother into the house and lay down on the bed. On the bed, covered with a quilt.He helped his father into the house again, the two whispered, made up their minds, and went back to the courtyard, "Uncle Shitou, if there is something to do, sit down and talk together, can you solve the problem by yelling? Come in Let's talk about it together, how to do it together."

"You are a talented student, you understand the truth, you can talk about it together." Shitou followed Wu Xiaojun to the house, and Xiaojun moved him a stool for him to sit down.He took out the Pingxi Chrysanthemum brand cigarettes that he bought specially when he came back from his pocket, handed them over with both hands, lit them, and then said calmly, "Uncle Shitou, you know what my mother is like, there is nothing to say in the eight villages ten miles west of the county seat. Besides, there are quite a few people who give birth at home. Although my mother doesn’t know medical skills, she has been delivering babies for more than 40 years, and she has taken over hundreds of children by her hands. This kind of thing has happened before.”

Shitou looked up at Xiaojun and asked, "Why did it happen to my family?"

Wu Xiaojun said unhurriedly, "There are many reasons for this. People in the city have paid attention to pregnancy checkups and health care since they became pregnant, in order to be able to detect the situation in time and deal with it in time. If there are problems that are not discovered and dealt with in advance, it is impossible Accidents are accidental, accidents are inevitable."

Shi Shi said, "Your aunt is usually fine. I trust your mother, otherwise I wouldn't come to her in the middle of the night in the middle of the night."

Wu Xiaojun said, "This is where your carelessness came from. My aunt is too old and has more contact with pesticides. Having a baby is not a trivial matter. Why don't you take her directly to the county hospital?"

"Firstly, it costs money and trouble to come to the hospital. Everyone has a second child at home. Secondly, the situation is more urgent. The weather is cold and slippery, and the lights are dark. If you are born on the road, you don't know how to deal with it. Thirdly..." Shi Shi's face was full of unspeakable concealment, and he didn't want to say any more.

Wu Xiaojun took the opportunity to say sternly, "Let me tell you, the most important thing is that family planning is very tight. No hospital dares to accept a mother without a "Birth Permit". Once accepted, the child must be killed. You can't bear it. , right.” Shitou kept smoking with his head down, speechless.

Wu Xiaojun continued, "No one wants to see such an accident, and we are also heartbroken. It is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice. After all, there is no medical condition at home. When encountering major problems, even a god can't handle it. Normal. Then again, even if you go to the hospital, who can guarantee that the child is 100% okay, it is not uncommon for both mother and child to be unsafe. Besides, my mother is so old, it is all out of enthusiasm and duty , there is no commercial profit-making behavior, and it is not a means of making a living. Don’t be impulsive when things happen, and think about the truth repeatedly. Is yelling like you the solution to the problem? Can the child be kept? .Even if you make a big deal out of it, and don’t talk about it if the two families hurt their peace, at best, you do something that shouldn’t be done with good intentions, and it’s not enough to be imprisoned. What can I do to my mother? Don’t you think so.”

Shitou lowered his head and listened quietly, pondering for a moment, "Xiaojun, what you said is very reasonable. I have heard of similar situations before. I am also thinking about it. As long as the adults are fine, it is the greatest luck. The future will be long and you will have children. There are plenty of opportunities. It’s just that I finally hoped for a boy, but it disappeared in a blink of an eye. I felt uncomfortable for a while, couldn’t figure it out, lost control of my emotions, and messed up. I’m sorry for Brother Pingshun and sister-in-law, I’m sorry.”

Seeing the stone turning back, Wu Xiaojun was in a much better mood, and then said with a gloomy face, "After your troubles, it also sounded the alarm for us. If nothing happens, everyone will be happy. If anything happens, it's my mother's fault. I feel that good people may not be good." Well, good intentions may not lead to good things. From now on, no matter how urgent the situation is, I will never let my mother deliver anyone's child again."

Shitou looked embarrassed, "Xiaojun, it's not good for you to say that. We rural people don't have so many rules, just for convenience. It's all because of our desire for boys and impulsiveness. Don't be angry, don't mind. "As he spoke, he bowed deeply to Wu Pingshun and Xiao Junniang, "Brother Pingshun and sister-in-law, please forgive brother, please forgive brother a lot." After speaking, he walked into the courtyard, called his two younger sisters, and rushed away the onlookers up.

After the stone left, Wu Xiaojun's uneasy heart finally settled down, and he said worriedly, "Mother, although you have done good deeds all your life, in the end it's nothing to be scolded for, you are not qualified to practice medicine, aren't you?" Doctor, delivering a baby is illegal practice of medicine, and it is an illegal act. Once the stone is called true, you will have a hard time saying it, and you can’t explain it clearly. We really want to sue. No matter who comes to you in the future, you must not go there , let alone take the risk of doing this kind of thing that is not flattering but complaining. Shitou is a fool, and he just vented it today. He also has his faults when it comes to public and private matters. With his courage, he will not make a fuss. This time When a bad thing turns into a good thing, learn from it, never mix it up again, and just relax.”

Wu Pingshun sighed and said, "I've always said, don't go as soon as someone tells you to. Having a baby is not a trivial matter, and there will be danger at any time. If something happens, no one in our family can afford it. That's fine, in the future Whoever comes to you will have an excuse, and you won’t lose face. Forget it, I don’t want to do it anymore. Let’s have dinner, there’s been so much noise in the early morning that I haven’t eaten yet.”

Rural people pay attention to the customary village rules and regulations. Although Shitou is suffering in his heart, he can't find the most suitable reason and follow the theory of Junniang. This matter naturally subsided slowly.

Wu Xiaojun stayed at home for several days and didn't dare to go out. Apart from worrying about Shitou's family coming to find trouble again, worrying about Qin Meixiang, he settled down to rest, helped his mother clean the kitchen and sacrificed the stove, steamed steamed buns and made soup for his father, and did nothing else. .

Early in the morning on the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, Chen Bing, who was studying at Xiangzhou Agricultural University in a neighboring village, came to play with Wu Xiaojun. The two chatted about life in the university and the reunion of Xiangzhou fellow villagers, and they were very excited.Chen Bing said, "There are quite a lot of fellow villagers in Yuanzhen in Xiangzhou. All the first-year freshmen from five colleges went there. There were seven to 80 people, and it was very lively. The students who used to be mediocre and unobtrusive simply turned to change. Personally, especially Luo Xiao, who read a few songs of youthful campus in standard Mandarin, which is impressive. Also, Qin Meixiang from our class is not only beautiful, but also behaves naturally, neither humble nor overbearing, versatile, singing and dancing Everything."

When Wu Xiaojun heard about these two people, he immediately regained his spirits and asked, "Listen to you, the changes between these two people are indeed not small. Qin Meixiang is still reasonable, which is not surprising. But Luo Xiao really didn't see it. I always feel that she is worried and reticent, unreliable, elusive and difficult to make friends with. It seems that from high school to university, people's psychology and demeanor have really undergone a qualitative leap and change."

Chen Bing went on to say, "Xiaojun, Qin Meixiang really has leadership potential, learning management is in line with his character, he speaks and does things in a set way, methodical and well-organized, not only recognized by everyone as Yuanzhen's native flower, but also by Nominated as the vice president and organization liaison officer of the hometown association, compared with him, we are simply elm lumps, clumsy, the gap is huge, and we will not be able to reach the level of others in three to five years. Now I really feel a lot of pressure and have to learn There are too many things to do and exercise, otherwise, it will be really difficult to adapt to future work and society.”

Wu Xiaojun said thoughtfully, implicitly and metaphorically, "It is said that Qin Meixiang came from a cadre family with good conditions. The children in our rural areas are congenitally deficient, so how can we compare with others. But as long as you have the will to know shame and then be brave, you will be perseverant and not afraid of difficulties." With tenacity, I will move towards my established goal in life, step by step, and go down-to-earth. The situation is not necessarily bad, maybe it is more optimistic. You are in the same city, and the distance between schools is relatively close. You should strengthen communication and be more open-minded Just learn from them, and observe more about who they usually come into contact with, what they do, how to grasp the proportions, how to master the heat, how to succeed and fail."

In fact, Wu Xiaojun wanted to use Chen Bing as an eyeliner for him to control Qin Meixiang's usual behavior.