it's too cold.
Tao Huainan was lying on his side and huddled in the back seat of the car, covered with his brother's overcoat. There was a lot of noise outside, and he heard his brother talking to others.
The van's doors and windows were not tight enough to leak air everywhere. Tao Huainan pulled his coat and retracted his face halfway. My brother's clothes smelled of cigarettes and paper ashes.
They burned a lot of papers in the past two days. My brother has always had this choking smell, and Tao Huainan himself has it too.
The car door was pulled open, Tao Huainan opened his eyes wide, although he couldn't see anything.
Eyes open to show that he is awake.
—He is blind.
"Woke up?"
It was my brother's voice.
Tao Huainan felt at ease, got up and sat up, stretched his arms and passed the clothes on his body forward.
His brother said, "Cover it."
Tao Huainan still stretched out his arms: "Brother wears it."
Tao Xiaodong only had a sweater on his body, and he was cold. He didn't sit next to him, took the clothes from his hand and put them on, and asked, "Are you hungry?"
Tao Huainan said "not hungry".
Tao Xiaodong sat down when the cold was not so severe on his body, and patted his head. Tao Huainan heard his brother say: "Go down when you wake up, and kowtow to your parents later."
Tao Huainan nodded and said "OK".
In the past two days, Tao Huainan was held by his brother and kowtowed countless times. He couldn't see anything, only that there were many people around him all the time, and these people were always sighing.
Tao Huainan's ears are good. Others not far away say that his life is hard, that the two brothers will not be easy in the future, and Tao Huainan heard that the little blind man will drag his brother down for the rest of his life. He held his brother's hand tightly, and his palm was always warm.
They came back here the day before yesterday to bury their parents' ashes. Since half a year ago, Tao Huainan has no parents, only his elder brother.
My brother is much older than him and loves him very much.
There are many customs in my hometown, and the funeral process is long and cumbersome. They have to live in their hometown for a week. Tao Huainan has never been here, he was not born here, nor has he lived here. This place is too strange to him, and he doesn't know anyone here.
It's too cold here, Tao Huainan wears a woolen hat with a snap button in front of his face, and after buttoning it, he can cover his head and face, leaving only his eyes. But even so, Tao Huainan still had a sore nose from the cold, and the little bone between his eyes was aching when the wind blows.
In the twelfth lunar month of winter, people speak outside with the stiffness of the cold wind, as if their lips and tongue are not so flexible.
Tao Huainan spoke in a low voice and coughed from time to time. He caught a cold the first day he came here, and he took medicine a few times, but it never got better. Tao Xiaodong has a lot of things to do, so he can't take care of him all the time.
It was at this time that Tao Huainan met the child, in front of his parents' coffin, in a bone-chilling winter.
At that time, he was standing outside holding a cup to drink milk, the snap button on the hat was unbuttoned, and the piece of cloth in front of his face was hanging on his chin, and the hot steam from the milk in the mouth of the cup sprayed his face all over his face.
Behind him was the still noisy coffin, a cup of hot milk made Tao Huainan finally not so cold, his palms were warm, and he was a little reluctant to drink it.
— When the cup in his hand was suddenly snatched away, Tao Huainan was startled, and he shrank back in shock. He couldn't see anything, and in a place where everything was unfamiliar, such sudden changes always frightened him.
Some milk splashed on his hat and front, and Tao Huainan called out "Brother" in a panic.
It was a naked boy, shorter than Tao Huainan, as thin as a handful of bones, with protruding ribs, his body was covered with bruises, and his face was swollen with unhealthy redness.
Holding Tao Huainan's cup in both hands, he gulped down the milk, his hands were cracked and dirty.
The uncle from his hometown yelled, and Tao Huainan shivered again because of the sudden roar.
Tao Xiaodong walked over to hug him, and Tao Huainan immediately hugged him tightly.
The old uncle said that he was a kid from Chi's family. Seeing that Tian'er was so naked, his father was stupid when he drank too much, and beat him if he drank too much.
"Chi's family?" Tao Xiaodong asked, "Chi Zhide?"
"Yes, do you remember?"
Tao Xiaodong was about the same age as the drunkard from Chi's family. He had fights when he was a child, and he even smashed the glass of Chi's house. Chi's family has been alcoholics for generations, and they beat their wives and children when they drank too much. Chi Zhide was deaf in one ear by his father since he was a child. Tao Xiaodong never waited to see their family members, so he walked around when he passed by.
"His son is already this old?" Tao Xiaodong looked at the child, who was naked from head to toe, without even a piece of cloth, and the wounds and scars on his body seemed to be caused by beatings. Tao Xiaodong couldn't stand it anymore, put Tao Huainan down, took off his overcoat, and wrapped the child around him.
The boy swayed back and forth, his whole body was shaking violently in an exaggerated and uncontrollable way, and his teeth were chattering.
The overcoat covered him with warmth, and the boy was still holding Tao Huainan's big warm cup, and looked up at Tao Xiaodong.
Tao Xiaodong also looked at him, this child looks like his father, not good-looking, nor likable. Although Tao Xiaodong didn't intend to meddle in other people's affairs, but if he ran outside naked and barefoot in such a cold day, he might freeze to death if he was not careful.
Tao Xiaodong glanced at the little spot between the boy's legs that was purple and shrunk from the cold. After several hours of freezing outside, the chick would be useless. He wanted the boy to go inside to keep warm, but before he could open his mouth, the kid turned and ran.
Both the coat and the water glass were thrown on the ground, stained with dirty snow and mud. The old uncle yelled and cursed, and picked up the things: "I don't want to touch their family's crap, his father is a lunatic, and he will beat anyone when he is crazy."
Tao Xiaodong asked: "What about his mother?"
"Let him run away, who can live with a lunatic, leave early!"
Tao Xiaodong put on his overcoat, ignoring the mud on it, and squatted down to hug Tao Huainan. Tao Huainan still had the temperature of the milk in his hand, and his hot little palm was pressed against Tao Xiaodong's neck.
Tao Xiaodong asked him, "Surprised?"
Tao Huainan nodded, and said in a low voice, "Scared me."
Tao Xiaodong stroked his head vigorously through the hat, and coaxed him: "Touching his hair doesn't scare him."
At that time, Tao Huainan was protected by his brother like a baby, the little blind man was too fragile, Tao Xiaodong was tied to his body every day to protect him in front of his eyes.
A boy of this age is supposed to be at the age of running around in the street, and his parents can be so angry that they can't get over it. Tao Xiaodong himself came here like this.
But it's not all like that. There's a little blind man who can't live without his parents, and there's a little dirty dog who is better off without parents.
After all, people have different fates, good fates have their own good fates, and miserable ones can also have their own misery.
Tao Huainan drank a large glass of milk reheated by his brother, the child was well-fed, and a large glass of milk was indispensable every day, and the child's milk was white and white, and the whole body was full of that coaxing smell of milk.
After drinking milk, he took a long nap in the afternoon, and was put on the kang by his brother, covered with his own blanket. In the dream and outside the dream, there were mourning sounds from the coffin shed outside from time to time, and Mr. Yin Yang's sudden roar always made him shrink his shoulders even when he fell asleep.
Because of this sleep, I couldn't sleep at night.
Even if he can't see with his eyes, there is still a difference between day and night to him, and the faint light in front of him can divide the blind man's world into day and night.
Tao Xiaodong didn't sleep at night, wrapped in a heavy yellow-green military coat of his uncle from his hometown outside his padded jacket, with his collar turned up to protect his ears and face, he squatted by the brazier to watch for his parents, and lit a stack of paper money in the brazier from time to time.
He came in to see Tao Huainan once, when Tao Huainan heard him coming in, he reached out to touch him, and whispered, "Brother, I'll accompany you."
His brother touched his hand with the back of his hand and coaxed him: "It's too cold outside."
"I put on a padded jacket."
"It's cold to wear, let's sleep indoors." Tao Xiaodong sat down with him for a few minutes, and went out again after a while.
Tao Huainan couldn't fall asleep for a long time, he slept too much in the afternoon. The glass windows in the countryside are not tight, and it is windy at night. The kang beneath him was burning hot, his face and hands exposed outside the quilt were cold, and the tip of his nose was cold.
Tao Huainan raised his hand from time to time to warm the tip of his nose, and the palm of his hand smelled of firewood on the Kang leather.
Tao Huainan shrank back under the quilt when the old lady's howling came to her ears from far and near.
The old but sharp shout made Tao Huainan even colder, and he could still hear the man's roaring and cursing when he got close. The sound of footsteps mixed with human voices was getting closer and closer.
The man scolded "little bastard" and yelled "I'm going to fucking kill you today".
The old lady cried loudly and begged him to stop chasing him, saying "run away" from time to time.
Tao Huainan lay there quietly listening, his eyes staring in vain in the darkness. He wanted to find his brother, but he was always uneasy without brother by his side.
A mourning shed was set up in the courtyard, and the gate of the courtyard was not closed these days, it was always wide open.
Tao Xiaodong was sitting cross-legged in front of the brazier smoking a cigarette when the courtyard door was knocked with a "bang". He raised his eyes and looked over, it was still the kid from Tianchi's family.
The bare-bottomed child hid at the bottom of the wall, his father chased him and pushed him away, while being dragged back by the old lady's arms. He couldn't drag it, instead he was dragged and staggered away.
"Stop beating! If you beat him again, you'll be killed! Zhide!!" The old lady cried and thumped the man's back in vain.
The man reeked of alcohol, cursing and heading towards the boy.
Tao Xiaodong didn't finish a cigarette, he was still sitting there.
"Zhide! That's your son!!" The old lady's voice had long been hoarse, and her voice was filled with hysterical despair.
An old man, a young man, and a drunkard seemed to be performing a sad farce in the yard with the funeral shed.
Tao Xiaodong looked at it coldly for a long time, but it was hard for them not to think that the two coffins containing the ashes were scary. Tao Xiaodong lit the fire again and burned a wad of paper money in the brazier.
This is where Tao Xiaodong lived since he was a child. This yard and these two rooms are his childhood home. Here, he ran around like crazy and went to Jiewa in the house, and then his father yelled and frightened him and slapped his butt twice.
At that time, the last alcoholic in the Chi family was Chi Zhide's father, who beat his son when he drank too much, and ran around every time Chi Zhide was beaten hard. At that time, if Tao Xiaodong's father met him, he would definitely stop him, saying that he had the ability to go out and use it, and beating a child to be drunk and crazy was nothing. Every time Chi Zhide saw Tao Xiaodong's father, he hid behind him, crying and calling "Uncle Tao".
At this moment, Chi Zhide was beating his son, that child looked much worse than when Chi Zhide was a child. "Uncle Tao" is gone, and the ashes are kept in the coffin. The child who was crying and calling for help is now the next alcoholic, staring at a pair of scarlet eyes that are not at all human.
All this is funny and sad, and the farce in front of me also reveals a sense of fate that spans a generation and time.
After smoking a cigarette, Tao Xiaodong threw the cigarette butt into the brazier, stood up, and casually took the long stick next to the fire.
The child couldn't count when he ran, and his legs and feet were so cold that he couldn't use it well. He tried to go around Tao Xiaodong but couldn't, and knocked his head on Tao Xiaodong.
When Chi Zhide came over from behind cursing, Tao Xiaodong slapped him on the neck with a stick, directly whipping the drunkard to lie on the ground unconscious.
"Get out." Tao Xiaodong looked coldly at the alcoholic who was groaning while clutching his neck on the ground, and pointed his stick in the direction of the courtyard door, "Don't mess around with my parents."