Zhao Mingkun and I followed the two old men to the depths, and after a short walk, we saw some scattered houses not far away. From the appearance point of view, these houses are much better than the shed in Deng Xuemei's house just now. At least from the appearance, we can see that this is a serious red brick and cement house.
We came to Lao Zhang's house. Judging from the family environment, it was much better than that of Deng Xuemei's house. Although the area is not very large, at least it is clean and hygienic, with a kitchen and bathroom. It can be regarded as a small house with all five internal organs. Lao Zhang prepared tea for us, but Lao Li chatted with us first.
"Do you know anything about the situation of this old Deng's family?" I sat down and looked at Lao Li and said.
Lao Li took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and handed over one. I didn't refuse. After lighting the cigarette for me first, Lao Li also lit the cigarette in his mouth, and took a slow puff. Only then did he begin to say: "Understood, Old Dengtou's family has lived in that shed for more than ten years."
"Have you lived this long?" I asked.
Lao Li smoked a cigarette and nodded: "Yes, I remember very clearly. At that time, the father and daughter didn't have a house, so they lived in a container next to the garbage dump. One container cost three yuan a day. But that How do you live in a container? If you put a bed in it, it will be full. I remember going to the container, and there was only one bunk bed inside, and my father slept on the bottom bunk, and my daughter slept on the top bunk.”
It can be heard that the life of Deng Xuemei's father and daughter at that time was really difficult.
Lao Li took a puff of cigarette and continued: "At first we didn't know who the father and daughter were, but later we found out that Lao Deng had some kind of disease. According to Lao Deng, this disease can only Maintenance, there is no way to treat it, but it is a bottomless pit, swallowing up the house of Lao Deng's family. Lao Deng's wife ran away, the house was gone, and he and his daughter had to rent a container for three yuan a day to live in. "
"Then what happened to the house after that?" I asked again.
Lao Li said: "Later, some neighbors in our area couldn't stand it anymore. Is that a house? It's not a place to live at all. Later, we discussed it with those of us, and each of us bought it for 180 yuan. With some materials, I built a simple house for Lao Deng, which is the one you saw."
At this time, Lao Zhang came out. He heard Lao Li's words, and then said, "All the furniture in his house were donated by the neighbors nearby. We also learned from the chat before that what Lao Deng feels most indebted to in his life is his daughter." , if it's a boy, it's not bad, but we can't bear to let a girl suffer like this."
Lao Li handed Lao Zhang a cigarette and said, "Yes, Lao Deng is sick and can't go out to work. He has to lie in bed every day when he gets sick, and he can't walk far every day. Everything at home is under the pressure of one person. On the body of a teenage girl. Several times I saw the little girl eating steamed buns and drinking plain water every day, wearing a piece of clothing that she wished she would not change for a month, it was too miserable."
I said again: "However, Deng Xuemei still lives up to expectations. She was admitted to a key high school and a key university?"
"Well." Lao Li said: "I really admire this little girl. In such an environment, she can be admitted to a key high school and a key university. If my grandson is so good, his father will not I will worry about it every day.”
Lao Zhang smiled and said, "That's right, people say that the children of the poor are already in charge of the family, and my family's studies are not good, so the teacher calls them parents all day long."
"Do you know how much Lao Deng spends on treatment a month?" I asked.
"I don't know much about this." Lao Li said: "But he drinks bottles and cans of medicine every day, and he doesn't know what it is. But that kind of disease is a special intractable disease, and it seems that it is not covered by medical insurance. Inside. But this old Deng can be considered an intellectual, otherwise he would not have tutored a daughter who was admitted to Dongxing University."
While lighting a cigarette, Lao Zhang said, "Yes, yes! We've seen it before. He's on that thing. What's it called? If you hit it, you'll make money."
Lao Li waved his hand and said, "It's called a tablet computer, and it's a manuscript fee. But even if there is a manuscript fee, it's useless. The medicine for a month is estimated to cost five or six thousand, and some people have donated money before, but it's also worth it. It’s not a long-term solution. He said that if he didn’t know what disease he had before and thought it could be cured, if he sold the house, he wouldn’t be so poor.”
"Did he pay all the money for his medical treatment?" I frowned, faintly feeling that something was wrong.
"Yes." Lao Li nodded and said, "Didn't his daughter go to college? He is usually alone. We sometimes go to check on him. His daughter is quite reassuring, and there is no need to He paid for school."
I said, "They all live in Dongxing City. According to you, his daughter doesn't seem to come back often?"
"Yeah!" Lao Li said: "I went to college for four years, and the number of times I came back is very small. But we can all understand, after all, college tuition is also very expensive. It costs tens of thousands of yuan a year, It doesn't have to be that Deng Xuemei earns it by herself, usually, Deng Xuemei seems to be working outside, we asked it once or twice, but I couldn't understand what it meant."
Lao Zhang smiled and said, "I've also heard that it's a design, and it's written in foreign languages. We're not educated, hehe."
"Yeah." I nodded and said, "When did old Deng die?"
"Oh." Having said this, Lao Li sighed again and again, and said: "I also said before that there is no way to treat this disease. Later, his disease became more and more serious. But do the math, It has been more than ten years since I got sick and passed away, if you think about it this way, it can be considered as such a long time."
Lao Zhang crushed the cigarette in the ashtray and said, "I know this. In the last one or two years, his illness became more and more serious, and he couldn't do anything. The medicine is also poisonous. Long-term use is not good for the body. In the end, he can only lie on the bed, and the old one is rotten."
"That's called bedsore." Old Li corrected.
"Where's his daughter?" I asked.
Lao Li waved his hand and said, "Her daughter is still at work. At that time, he has no way to make money. If her daughter doesn't make money, then what should I do?"
"Yes." Lao Zhang said: "His daughter found a good job at that time. Lao Deng's illness was a long-term illness. It is impossible for her daughter to stay by Lao Deng's side without doing anything. I didn't expect that she would not persist. After a while, Lao Deng passed away."
I nodded and said, "When Lao Deng died, were you there?"
"Is that the case?" Lao Li said, "It was two days after we found out that Lao Deng had died. His daughter was at work. We usually went over to check on him occasionally. One day, Lao Zhang and I went to see Lao Deng. , I saw Lao Deng motionless on the bed, I was shocked at that time, Lao Zhang and I rushed to see, Lao Deng was hopeless."
"Do you still remember the situation at that time?" I opened my mouth and smelled it.
Lao Li thought about it for a while, and said: "I remember, Lao Zhang and I were both present at the time. At that time, I saw Lao Deng wrapped in a quilt and curled up into a ball. Let's go up to see, and when we lifted The quilt, Lao Deng's body was cold. At that time, Lao Deng's body was facing inward, and his regular water was placed on the table, but I saw the medicine bottle fell all over the floor."
Lao Li hadn't smoked for a long time, and the ash was clinging to the cigarette. He shook it slightly, and the ash fell down one after another.
Lao Li said: "It seems that no one knew his pain when he died, and he was alone. Later we contacted Lao Deng's daughter, and then came back to arrange the funeral. After that, his daughter I have never been back, and after the house was locked, no one has opened it again, and after all, it has been a few years."
Seeming to be very touched, Lao Li continued: "Man, that's it. I don't know when disaster will come from the sky, and I will never be able to turn around in this life. So I feel that this person, no matter how rich or powerful It’s expensive, but it’s best to have enough food and clothing, and live a peaceful life, isn’t it?”
When people are old, they tend to be more emotional about the relationship between life and death, but I don’t have this emotion at the moment.
"Has anyone cleaned that house since?" I asked.
"Cleaning?" Lao Li smiled and said, "At that time, I was only busy with funerals, so who would have the time to clean the house? And the house wasn't cleaned properly, so I just lived there."
Then there is a problem. When I looked at that room, I carefully observed the structure of the entire room and the decoration inside, even under the bed. However, I don't see the crucial thing. This thing was the medicine bottle at that time. Lao Li said that he had to take a lot of medicine at that time, but I didn't see a single medicine bottle in the house.
Medicines may corrode and rot over time, but medicine bottles are made of plastic, which may be difficult to degrade after hundreds of years. So, where did the medicine bottles go? Certainly not rotten, not even scum left, so the only explanation is that it was taken away.
"Have you seen the results of the autopsy?" I asked.
"What?" Lao Li said, "I don't know what it is. Anyway, she died of illness. But we don't know what happened. Anyway, after Lao Deng died, we didn't have any contact with her daughter. That little girl from back then is probably in her thirties now. By the way, what exactly are you here to investigate?"
I stood up and said to Lao Li: "We have completed our investigation, thank you for sharing the situation with us."
"Oh." Lao Li nodded and said with a smile: "I understand, don't say it outside."
I nodded.
Something is not quite right, and things from that year may still be tricky.