The children of the Qiao family

Chapter 69

7
Qiao Yicheng spent a week dealing with some things.

After the matter was settled, he rented a safe in the Bank of China and put all the documents in it.Qiao Yicheng held that small silver key in his palm for a long time. During this period, his palm was always hot and dry, and the lines on his palm were light and scattered.Qiao Yicheng thought about how when he was in junior high school, there was a classmate who was so divine that he showed people palm reading all day long. He still remembered that little boy showed an inscrutable smile after reading his palm reading, and said, anyway You are a person, and you will be hurt all your life.

In the end, Qiao Yicheng put the small key into an envelope, sealed it, and wrote Xiang Nan's name on the envelope.

Qiao Yicheng walked around the streets and alleys of this city these days. He walked through the places he used to live. The community he rented with Ye Xiaolang at the beginning was located in a quiet and shaded area. Xiang’s small courtyard on Xikang Road, around the TV station, the factory where my mother used to work, and the place where I used to play when I was a child, I walked completely and measured the traces of his life in the first half of his life inch by inch, and only then did I truly understand what vicissitudes are. .All the places are no longer the same as they were in the past. The demolished houses are newly built, and even the new shoots on the cut tree stumps are flourishing.The winter of this year was really cold. Unmelted snow piled up on the side of the road, which was dirty and gray-black. The tip of the nose was full of clear snow. The hardened ground slipped step by step, reminding people of the hardships of life. .

When passing by Qu Aying's newsstand, Qiao Yicheng saw her and nodded to her, Qu Aying also nodded a little awkwardly, and bent down.

After a while, a little boy over one year old, short and puffy, with unsteady steps, walked over waddlingly with a large stack of newspapers in his arms, and looked up at Qiao Yicheng.Qiao Yicheng said to him: For me?

The newspaper in the child's hand probably couldn't hold it anymore, and it almost fell to the ground. Qiao Yicheng took it over: Thank you.

The little doll laughed, drooling.

Finally, Qiao Yicheng returned to Qiao's old house.

The family and neighbors have all gone to work, and the courtyard is deserted and quiet.It seems that there is no big change here, nothing more than a small kitchen or storage room built against the wall, wet and slippery moss marks on the courtyard wall, dry creeper branches, a large tank in the courtyard, half a tank of water, There is extremely thin ice floating on it, reflecting a sky, which is dark and dark.All the fish in the tank froze to death this winter.

Still changed, the original flower windows of the old house were replaced with push-pull steel windows, and an external unit of the air conditioner protruded from the porch, like a big bag under the chin of a person, it was very dirty, and the original swallow’s nest had long since disappeared. .

Qiao Yicheng stood in front of the old house for a long time.

Time whizzed past my ears, the young Qiao Yicheng pushed the door open, and when he entered, he was already a man over forty years old.

At that time, the young man was lonely and independent, terrified and sad. There were so many obstacles in his life, and the days seemed endless.

However, the day has finally come to such a day, he once thought that 40 years old is too long to never come.

In Qiao Yicheng's notepad, wrote down the following line:
Complete all bank affairs on March [-]

On March [-]th, all documents will be stored in the safe, and the keys will be handed over to the South in the future.
Invited Song Qingyuan to have dinner on March [-] and tasted his highly recommended Northeast Sauce Bones. Admitted to hospital on March [-]
Qiao Yicheng has kidney disease.

After diagnosis, the disease progressed rapidly.

Doctors recommend dialysis.The doctor said that the sooner the better, especially the early start of peritoneal dialysis can give full play to the role of the original renal function, and the effect will be more ideal.

In mid-March, Qiao Yicheng underwent dialysis for the first time.

The process was long and painful, and Qiao Yicheng felt as if it took him a lifetime to end.The doctor said, how can I not have a family by my side?how can?

After dialysis, the effect seems to be fine.It's just that eating the food rationed by the hospital day after day makes Qiao Yicheng feel that life is worse than death.

Qiao Yicheng proposed to be discharged from the hospital and go home to recuperate. The doctor said to see it again, in two days.

Qiao Yicheng fell asleep in a daze in the ward. In his dim dream, he stood in front of the window with a cup of hot tea and drank it slowly.

When I woke up, my palms were moist and warm.

Someone lay his head on his hand, crying.

Qiao Yicheng moved his hands, and the man raised his head, with a face of infinite sadness wrinkled between his tear-stained brows.

It's Sanli.

Then someone came into the ward, with a big body and loud shoes.

It was Song Qingyuan.Said in a loud voice, greeted the director here, immediately moved to a single ward, and reprimanded Qiao Yicheng for being so stupid to come to the hospital alone.

Do you think you are playing the eight o'clock file?Song Qingyuan said.

The younger brothers and sisters all came over, a room full of people, Song Qingyuan couldn't help talking about his wisdom, if it wasn't for changing the ward, how could there be so many people?
From this day on, relatives and colleagues came to see Yicheng one after another. All the people who came were soft-spoken, so although there were many people, they were not noisy. Most of them stood for a while and then left, not wanting to disturb the patient's rest.

Er Qiang and his wife did not know where to get a recipe for kidney disease patients, solemnly asked the doctor to read it, made it every day and sent it over.

Sanli took a large white paper and carefully made a timetable. The brothers and sisters took turns to accompany her to ensure that the ward would never be empty for a moment.

Qiqi asks Sanli to rank herself also.Sanli said, it's not easy for you to take care of a child by yourself, I won't exclude you, you just have to come and see the elder brother when you have time.Qi Weimin said, you put Qiqi on the line, the child is at my house.It's fine.

One day Qiqi came to pick up Simei's class, but Simei was not there, so Yicheng said she went to fetch water.When Qiqi faced Yicheng alone, he was always embarrassed and shivering. Yicheng patted the bed and asked him to sit down. He sat half of his buttocks next to the edge of the bed, and within a minute he stood up and said to help Simei Carry water.

Qiqi saw Simei at the door of the water room, lying on the window sill with two thermos bottles under her feet.

Simei is crying.Big tears fell down on the window sill, one by one wet little dots.

Qiqi stood behind her for a while, then walked up and put her arms around her shoulders, she turned her head, looked at Qiqi with swollen peach-like eyes, slightly startled, and was taken aback for a while.Qi Qi patted her, and tears welled up in her eyes again, she leaned on Qi Qi's shoulder, and gently tapped her head on his shoulder.

Qiqi carried two bottles of water, helped Simei back to the ward, stopped at the door, Qiqi said: Fourth sister, don't go in, I feel uncomfortable seeing your eyes, I will tell you that you took a The phone goes first.

Simei nodded, walked two steps back, and asked Qiqi: What did you call me just now?
Qi Qi was a little stuttering: Four...fourth sister.

A smile suddenly appeared on Simei's face, and she said: "Xiao Qi, you should also call Big Brother when you turn around. I haven't heard you call him before."

Qi Qi blushed a bit, smiled and said: "Okay."

Qi Qi stayed with her for [-]% and one night, and did not leave until after ten o'clock the next morning, because Xiang Nan was back.

Xiang Nanfang had only seen each other seven or seven times, and they were all taken aback.

Qiqi looked at the south and then at Yicheng, said oh, and said she was leaving first.

Not half a minute later, Qiqi pushed the door open again, poked his head halfway in, and said abruptly and vaguely: I'm leaving, big brother.

Nanfang smiled and watched Qiqi go out, then turned around with a smile, and said, "Your brother is quite cute, he looks like a child for such a big man."

Yicheng looked at Nanfang, and it took him a long time to say: Nannan, are you here?

Nanfang smiled, and it took a long time to answer: Yicheng, you are not trustworthy enough, you promised that if something happens, let me know first.It turned out that I was the last person to know the news.

Yicheng murmured, with mixed feelings in his heart, unable to make words.

Nanfang laughed again: Xiaoyuan is really kind, and the arrangement of this ward is very good.You take good care of your illness and everything will be fine.By the way, I contacted a nephrologist for you. He will come from Beijing recently to help you consult.

Yicheng said: How can this be embarrassing?
Nanfang said: I understand what you mean, Yicheng, you have always been afraid of owing others.However, in this life, how can a person be really lonely until he grows old, asking no one, and relying on no one?To be born as a human being is to endure untold hardships. It is a blessing to have people around you who take care of each other and support each other.

Without saying a word, he pulled up a chair, told Nanfang to sit down, peeled a big golden orange, and handed it to her.Nanfang bowed his head for a while, then suddenly said: "Once it's done, I'll be back soon."

What did you say?Yicheng asked, back to Nanjing?
Yes, I am applying to the Education Bureau.I want to do something real.

But you are developing so well now.[-]% said.

Nanfang suddenly changed the subject: I have an older sister, you know, she is the one who has a different mother from me and the North.

[-]% nodded.

Nanfang said unhurriedly: You may not know, but she is an extremely smart person. At that time, people had never heard of IQ testing, and they thought she was a fast learner and had a photographic memory.Later, my father met a scholar who came back from Germany. After contacting my eldest sister, he said, let’s test the child’s IQ. Maybe this is a child prodigy.Unexpectedly, after it was found out that she was a child prodigy, the adults felt that my eldest sister seemed to be slowly becoming dull instead.He also read averagely, went to an average university, and did an average job.Only now do I understand that my eldest sister is a real smart person.At that time she was only 14 years old.She said that she wants to be an ordinary person, marry an ordinary person, and live an ordinary life.Perhaps chaos may lack glory and brilliance, but it is easier to approach happiness.At that time, I also refuted her saying that it is not easy for ordinary people to be happy. The reason why she was close to happiness was because she had an unusual family.I remember my eldest sister laughed at the time, and she said, no.Live an ordinary life in an extraordinary home.Who told me to have a good life? If I have a good life, I can have more choices, but every person with a good life will use the extra choice to do different things. Some people use it to make money, and some use it to fight for power. A few more options right out of the box.And I choose the kind of life I want to live.So I am happy.

Yicheng listened to Nanfang talking in a low voice, the noon sun shone directly into the ward, because it reflected the color of the unmelted snow on the roof, it was extraordinarily bright, falling on Nanfang's thick black hair, the light was bright, and the fine crow's feet at the corners of Nanfang's eyes could be seen Yes, she is also a bit older, but this aging softens her facial features, and her brows are clear.Yicheng thought, this is the South, his former wife.Xiang Nan, in his most difficult time, she was his eternal south.

Nanfang raised his eyes and continued with a smile: At that time, I didn’t understand Eldest Sister. I just thought that I should do my best in work, study and everything, and prove to everyone that I can do my best with my own ability.There is nothing more meaningful in life than getting yourself closer to the truth day by day.Until I met you.

By the way, do you know what I envy you the most?
Yicheng said softly: I envy me enjoying a worldly happiness.

Nanfang nodded, but shook his head: You understand but you can’t really understand. When I first met you, I thought you were so kind. What I envy most is the kind of dependent relationship between you and your younger siblings. Feel.My father taught me since I was a child that a person must be independent and self-reliant, and not rely on the sky or the earth, not on anyone, because no one can be relied on at the most critical time.We have family love as well as brother and sister love, but we never feel that one cannot live without the other.We are like limbs to each other, if it breaks, it will be heart-wrenching, but we can still live and get used to it slowly.However, you and your younger brothers and sisters do not seem to be affectionate, but when you are separated, it is like peeling each other from each other.You are a spiritual conjoined twin.At that time, I thought, this is not easy, how good this is!
Yicheng held Nanfang's hand and stuck it to his face: It's just that I'm afraid I won't be able to enjoy this kind of happiness for a long time. Nannan, I have one thing to ask...

Nanfang stood up and interrupted him: don't talk about this yet.I don't believe it's time to despair.

There will always be such a day, the South.I've been lucky all my life.

There will be more luck in the days to come, trust me.Luck, happiness, good days are ahead of you, but you have to go, he will not come to pick you up.You have to walk over.

That night, Nanfang stayed to accompany the night.

In the middle of the night, Yicheng couldn't sleep well, and heard the sound of weeping on the bed beside him, like a gossamer in the darkness.

Yicheng tentatively called: South?

It was quiet over there.

Yicheng is also called: South, South.

I heard the rustling sound, it was the south.

Yicheng stepped aside and came out with half an empty bed. Nanfang sat up and leaned against Yicheng.

Yicheng said: It is only now that I realize how badly I was wrong in the past.

Nanfang seemed to laugh, with a bit of astringency in his nose, and said in a low voice: It's all wrong.My mistake is not being firm enough, your mistake is not believing enough.

Yicheng squeezed Nanfang's hand tightly, and said in his heart: Thank you Nanfang, thank you.

Thank you for loving me, even though I really never believed it in the past.

It turns out that the soul has been humbled involuntarily.

Yicheng was discharged from the hospital a week later, but in May of this year, Yicheng's condition deteriorated further.

One day in mid-May, a magnitude [-] earthquake hit Sichuan.

Qiao Yicheng, however, was mostly in a coma, tortured in a place that the world couldn't see, and the world was devastated in a place that Qiao Yicheng couldn't see, but the wounds were slowly healing in pain.

(End of this chapter)