The children of the Qiao family

Chapter 2

2
That day, the second aunt dragged them along, and they couldn't wait for the car.

The old bus came and went with a bang, but not the one to the hospital.

Qiao Yicheng was pulling the two younger sisters, and the second aunt was pulling Er Qiang. Er Qiang was small and hung completely on the second aunt. He was a little flustered, a little scared, and kept blinking his eyes.

Qiao Yicheng saw his second aunt's face getting darker and darker, and he also became afraid.I don't understand why I'm afraid, but I always feel that something is wrong, and I'm in a trance.

After waiting for a while, there was still no car.

The second aunt suddenly made up her mind, and pushed Erqiang to Qiao Yicheng's side, ran a few steps, and called two tricycles on the side of the street.Pushed by his second aunt, Qiao Yicheng got into the car in a hurry. Sanli and Simei sat on both sides of him. The three children were all thin and hugged together like kittens that had lost their fur.Sanli was only six years old, and Simei was even younger, four years old. It was the first time for the two of them to ride a tricycle, but they were not happy, and they were tightly squeezed together.Children, like young animals, are the first and most accurate in perceiving misfortune.

The second aunt hugged Er Qiang and took another car and ran all the way to the hospital.

Qiao Yicheng's car was a little later, and he heard the panicked voice of his second aunt: Comrade, please hurry up.faster.The sound was scattered by the wind blowing towards him, and it jumped into Qiao Yicheng's ears in random order.

When they arrived at the hospital, the second aunt dragged them and ran upstairs again. There was a stuffy smell in the corridor, and the children struggled to follow the second aunt with their calves.

Running to the door of a ward, the second aunt pushed the door open, and Qiao Yicheng saw a white cloth covering his mother's face little by little.

The mother's mourning hall was set up in the main room, and the red curtains were drawn.The room was dark and damp, and because of a power outage, several kerosene lamps were lit, and the flames flickered.

The people in the street said that funerals should be done in a new way, not the feudal ones.But Qiao Zuwang said, let's hang it up, she has never worn a single good dress in her life, she is dead, let's make a tent, let's have a look.

A few more long benches were added to the main room, which were brought from home by the neighbors.Qiao Zuwang sat at the table, his parents died early, and he had an elder brother who hadn't seen each other for many years, and he didn't know whether he was dead or alive, so no one from Qiao's family came.At my mother's house, the elders are gone, only a second aunt, sitting on another bench, her eyes are red and swollen from crying, and when someone comes, she will pat the old Eight Immortals table and cry loudly, her voice is shrill and miserable.

There was a photo of my mother on the Eight Immortals table, I don't know what year it was, the mother in the photo was very young, so young that Qiao Yicheng could barely recognize her, and she was wearing two braided braids.The photo is very small, and it was temporarily enlarged. The staff in the photo studio said that it can only be enlarged to such a large size, and it will be blurred if it is larger.

Qiao Yicheng huddled in the corner, and when he came back from the hospital, he didn't know how to cry, he just opened a pair of dark, empty eyes.A neighbor's mother pulled him over and asked him to gently push him facing the picture of his mother: "Cry your mother a few times."

Qiao Yicheng couldn't cry, he was blinded, his mind was empty and light, like a dried gourd.

Seeing that he didn't cry, the neighbor's mother pulled the three little ones over and stood with Qiao Yicheng: "Kowtow to your mother."This is necessary, and it is not feudal.

Qiao Yicheng knelt down, the muddy floor of the main room was damp and cool.

It was Sanli who cried first, and the little girl's shrill voice sounded like she was moaning in illness, and then Simei also cried, her voice was childish.

The nine-year-old Er Qiang burst into tears when he cried.

Qiao Yicheng remained silent.

He heard a woman saying: This child is so hard-hearted.

Qiao Yicheng didn't quite understand what he was doing now?In particular, I can't understand, what are these photos, the red curtains, and the crying people all for?
Where is my mother?he thinks.Why isn't mom here?

Qiao Yicheng's mother stopped in the mortuary of the hospital and will be sent directly to the crematorium tomorrow.

That year, the city's crematorium had not yet moved to the suburbs, but it was in Qingliangshan, not counting the city center, but it was almost the same. The tall red brick chimneys went straight into the air, and there would be smoke coming out, a big puff of smoke. Big strands, thick black, thick, when the wind blows, very fine black particles will fall on the shoulders of passers-by.Children will be afraid when they mention it.

Qiao Yicheng couldn't figure out why his mother was sent there.

Qiao Yicheng and his siblings were sent into the back room and sat on the big bed. The neighbor's grandmother who helped them gave them some food.Erqiang Sanli chewed the biscuits creakingly, and Simei's teeth were not yet fully formed, so she licked and ate.A few children got together and dealt with those eaters without raising their heads.

There were quite a few people in the house, and the originally small space seemed even more crowded, all of them were neighbors who were helping.Qiao Yicheng heard them sigh and say: It's a pity to leave a child behind.

Someone else said: His father will always take a step forward, he is only 40 years old.

It's not that easy, a big family, four or five children, the conditions are not good.

It is also possible to find a rural one.

Those in rural areas may not be willing to be stepmothers for four or five children.

The speaker is unintentional, thinking that children know something.

That person hasn't come yet?

Which?

It's not that... the voice is getting lower and lower.

Oh, it's that uncle, it wasn't...

Yes, I watched an old show before, what was it called? "Sisters Are Easy to Marry", this kind of thing also exists.

Why not, there are many.An old relative of my family, in the old society, called his younger sister to take care of her during confinement, and ended up having sex with her brother-in-law, and later took over the second room.

Scary scare scare, that two different things.

That person will always come, right?Isn't it demobilized, assigned to the car factory?

That factory is not bad, and there are always things coming out.

I didn't always see him in the early days. Speaking of which, this youngest one was born...

Don't talk nonsense, don't talk nonsense, death is dead, saying this is disrespectful to death.

I'm just talking.

Boom!Qiao Yicheng vigorously kicked over an enamel footbath under the bed.

Aunts, sisters-in-law and grandmothers stopped talking, looking at Qiao Yicheng's dry, tear-free, taut little face.

After a while, someone came from the main room.

It was a tall man who pulled a little boy.

When the second aunt saw it, she cried loudly and rushed towards the man.

The man hugged the second aunt and said something before I got off the night shift.

Qiao Yicheng leaned against the door and looked at the man and the little boy.

The little boy was about the same age as Qiao Yicheng, not fat, but round-headed, with a loyal face, he called his second aunt, called his mother, and sobbed: "auntie, auntie."

Qiao Yicheng suddenly became angry.

The child is the second aunt's son, Qi Weimin, his cousin, who is only two months older than him.Everyone said he was a kind child with good grades, everyone said so, including Qiao Zuwang.He stood in front of Qiao Yicheng, as if blocking Qiao Yicheng's light.

Qiao Yicheng held on to the wooden door tightly.

The crying of the second aunt's family brought up more crying. There was a woman in the neighbor who specially helped people cry.

The cry lingered and echoed in the small main room, like a monster that couldn't find its way out.

Qiao Yicheng looked, and among the crying women, there were some who were gossiping just now.

Suddenly, he rushed out and slammed headfirst at the woman, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, like a crazy little beast.

The young boy Qiao Yicheng burst into tears.

The woman fell to the ground suddenly.The grown-ups smoothed things over and said, it’s okay, it’s fine if you cry.I'm really afraid that children will have brain problems if they are stimulated.It's all right this time.

Qiao Yicheng's mother's funeral is over.When the person was cremated, it turned into a handful of ashes. Qiao Zuwang bought the cheapest urn, and the ashes were kept in the funeral home for more than 20 years.

Qiao Yicheng took away the mother's photo and put it on the small table next to the bed in the bedroom where he and his siblings lived.He remembered that the teacher said that photos cannot be exposed to the sun, and once exposed to the sun, they will be broken.

The red satin curtain hanging in the main room, the second aunt said, she wanted it very much.Qiao Zuwang thought: Really, a little bit is a little bit.

Qiao Zuwang said, "Your sister has kept it for many years, and she said she saved it for her daughter's wedding to make quilts for the bed."

The second aunt said: By then the material will be boring.Sighed again: I have been busy for several days, and I have spent a lot of money.My sister... is also suffering.

Qiao Zuwang waved his hand and said: Take it away, take it away.

Qiao Zuwang had a few days of bereavement leave. In order to appease his middle-aged wife's pain, he played mahjong for two nights.On the morning of the third day, I wobbled and yawned and went to work.

In the afternoon, the hospital called their factory.

The phone was not very clear, there was a hissing current, and a female voice said: I have to go to the hospital to pay the bill, and the child should be taken home.

Qiao Yicheng's mother had a sudden hemorrhage after giving birth to Qiao Qiqi, and she died immediately.The baby was born fine, but after a long time, he had difficulty breathing, and the doctor put him in an incubator.

For the past two days, I have been in the hospital.

The people in the hospital said on the phone: The child is well, and we need to pick him up quickly. The hospital is not a nursery or an orphanage.Also, the bill has not been settled yet, medical expenses, rescue expenses, let's settle it.

Qiao Zuwang thought for a while, went to school first, asked the teacher for leave, picked up Qiao Yicheng and Qiao Erqiang, went home to pick up Sanli and Simei, and dragged his children to the hospital.

Qiao Zuwang was shocked when he saw the hospital bill: so much?
The person at the checkout said: The adults rescued it, and there are also the children's treatment expenses these days.

Qiao Zuwang said: How can I have so much money?

The man said again: How can there be any reason not to pay for medical treatment?
Qiao Zuwang pulled his son and daughter behind him to his side, the younger ones shrank in front of him, and Simei hugged his legs.

Qiao Yicheng struggled, trying to get out of his father's grasp, but he didn't.

He kicked hard at the crook of the leg, with tears in his eyes, and refused to look up.

In the end, the second uncle was still called.

The tall man, took out the money and paid the bill.

The little baby was also carried out.

The little thing was wrapped in a thin quilt, and Qiao Yicheng glanced at him.

(End of this chapter)