The next day, Zeng Li, Ai Jingchu and his group went to Ma Xiaobing's home, if that place could still be called "home". It was in an unfinished building on the outskirts of the city. There was no bed in the room, just two wooden boards that looked like old doors with a few tattered cotton quilts on them. Next to it was a wooden cabinet with only half a door left that was retrieved from somewhere. On the other side of the bed was a coffee table, a few stools and a table. The table was square and foldable, but the legs were rusted and the tabletop was covered with a thick layer of dust. There should have been something square on it, but it had not been moved for a long time and left a deep mark.
The old man who brought them here pointed to the table and said, "There used to be a TV here. It was given to him by my wife."
Old Wang is a fellow villager of Ma Xiaobing and his grandson, and is the father of Wang Yong, the older boy who leads the begging.
"I told you they left a long time ago, but you didn't believe me. Do you believe it now?" Lao Wang said again.
Ning Feng handed a cigarette to Lao Wang, lit it for him, took a few puffs, and chatted with him about family matters before bringing the topic back to the topic: "Lao Wang, tell me what happened."
Lao Wang took a few puffs of his cigarette and squatted down on the spot.
Ning Feng squatted with him.
Old Wang narrowed his eyes and said, "I know you are good people. In the past, this girl and you," Old Wang pointed at Zeng Li with his two fingers holding a cigarette, "went to school to help our eldest child and donated clothes and books to them. Otherwise, I wouldn't have brought you here."
"The village was poor, and we worked hard to get enough money to bring our child to the city to study. Sometimes my husband and I had to go to work at night, and no one took care of him after school. It happened that people from the same village wanted to go to the street to beg for money with several children. We thought that at least someone would take care of him and give him money and food, so we let our eldest child go."
When Lao Wang said this, his face was covered in the smoke he exhaled. Ai Jingchu listened to him and stood there motionless.
Lao Wang added, "I later found out that Ma Xiaobing was among them. He was found by Lao Ma while he was collecting rags. It was said that he was thrown into the toilet of a hospital. It was said that Lao Ma was a mute and had married a wife decades ago. He was a little crazy since he was a child. Sometimes he was fine, but sometimes he would curse at everyone he saw. His wife couldn't stand it and ran away. Now he is quite old and other relatives at home don't care about him, so he followed others to the city to collect rags, rummaging through garbage cans, picking up waste newspapers and plastic bottles and so on. Who would have thought that one day he would pick up a child."
"Have you seen Ma Xiaobing?" Old Wang asked, looking up.
When Zeng Li heard Lao Wang's question, he nodded and said, "I have met you." But Ai Jingchu did not comment.
Lao Wang pointed at his mouth and said, "The child has a cleft lip and a missing nose. He choked when drinking water and almost died. Fortunately, he was lucky enough to grow up this big. Don't look at him like that. He is very smart. The other day, when he was arrested and taken to the hospital, our fellow villager who took the child to the street to beg for money was scared. He thought it was the government and reporters who came to cause trouble for him, so he quickly sent Lao Ma away."
"Back to your village?" Ning Feng asked.
Lao Wang was stunned for a moment, then asked sensitively: "Why are you looking for Ma Xiaobing?"
"Didn't you say you would help him?" Ning Feng said.
He looked up doubtfully at Ai Jingchu, who had not said a word and had an indifferent expression in the corner of the room, and said, "You... I know both of you, but I don't know him. Was he called by the government?"
Zeng Li looked at Ai Jingchu's expression and explained hurriedly: "No, no, he is a doctor. He is looking for Ma Xiaobing to treat him."
Lao Wang stopped smoking and asked, "Can it really be cured?"
Ai Jingchu's eyes fell on Lao Wang and replied, "It's cured." He didn't explain too much, just three words. They were simple, but the expression on his face gave people a sense of confidence.
"They have no money." Old Wang put out his cigarette on the ground and added another sentence, also to Ai Jingchu.
"I'll find a way." Ai Jingchu replied.
Zeng Li said: "But we have to find the child as soon as possible. The sooner we can treat him, the better."
Ning Feng saw a mobile phone number written in white chalk on the cement wall and asked, "Is this their phone number?"
"It belongs to Lao Ma's nephew." Lao Wang stood up, stamped his feet, and said, "They are nearby. You can call them and ask them directly."
After coming out of Lao Ma's residence, Ning Feng left first, while Ai Jingchu drove Zeng Li to the cafe to help.
When the car arrived at the entrance of the cafe, Ai Jingchu said, "Call me when you're done and I'll pick you up."
"No need, Ma Yiyi will take me there, and I never know when I will get off work." Zeng Li said as he turned around and reached for the bag on the back seat.
The bag was placed right behind the driver's seat, so her hand was too short to reach it, so she could only tilt her head and move closer to Ai Jingchu. Her hair was not tied up, and it was long and spread out behind her back, and at this moment, half of the ends of her hair were resting on him.
"Zeng Li." he said.
"Hmm?" She looked up when she heard the voice and found his face close to her.
He had his head half-tilted, his fingers tangled in her hair, and she suddenly realized what he was going to do. In broad daylight, she couldn't hide or respond, so she could only stand there in a daze and let him kiss her lips.
Zeng Li got out of the car nervously, and walked to the door of the cafe, then she remembered that her bag was still in his car, and turned back to get it. But she didn't expect that he was already standing in front of the car waiting for her with it in his hand.
She walked over, took the bag, and felt reluctant to see him turn around and get in the car.
"Hey—" she called him.
He turned around.
She bit her lip and asked hesitantly, "Can you come in and keep me company?"
He was stunned for a moment, looked up at the sign of the coffee shop opposite, then pursed his lips slightly, raised them back and smiled faintly.
"From now on, if you want me to do something, you don't need to add the words 'can you', just say it directly." He said with a smile.
At the store, Zeng Li was busy grinding coffee beans and making juice, while Ai Jingchu was sitting at the cash register. Although he had never used a cash register before, he understood it completely after Dou Dou showed him a simple demonstration.
At first, everything was peaceful, but then two girls who looked like students pushed the door open and saw Ai Jingchu at the front desk. They froze in their tracks and said for a long while, "Hello, Teacher Ai."
Carol's is located near University A, and many students from University A come here.
He nodded as a gesture.
Then, the two of them retreated again. Then, from time to time, people on the street looked in through the glass, and some people went directly into the cafe to order some drinks and watch the fun.
An hour later, Dou Dou received a text message and hurriedly ran to report to Zeng Li and Ma Yiyi: "My idol is on the forum." After that, she showed Zeng Li the post on her mobile phone with the photo of Ai Jingchu working as a cashier.
Ma Yiyi said with relief: "We won't have to worry about the business not being prosperous in the future." Then she said to Zeng Li, "Tell Ai Jingchu that I will triple his salary and let him stand at the door for a while every day."
Zeng Li was overwhelmed and hurriedly pulled Ai Jingchu upstairs and hid him.
She had just calmed Ai Jingchu down when she went downstairs and met the most difficult person in the entire medical school—Zhou Wen.
"Hey." Zeng Li went ahead with it. Why did she get so hot-headed at that moment and agree to Ma Yiyi's request to ask Ai Jingchu to collect the money and settle the bill
"Master's wife—" Zhou Wen opened his mouth and said these two words, which immediately attracted the attention of people around him.
Zeng Li's knees almost gave way and he knelt down before her.
The next weekend, after learning that Ma Xiaobing had returned to his hometown Yanchang, Ai Jingchu decided to go there in person with Zeng Li.
Yanchang is a notoriously poor place due to its high altitude, difficult roads and inconvenient access. However, it has recently been favored by some young people who like to explore new paths. There are high-altitude meadows and wetlands in the area, and the ecological environment is in a very primitive state. It is a gathering place for migratory birds.
However, Ai Jingchu and Zeng Li did not travel thousands of miles for the self-driving tour.
They drove on the highway for more than four hours and arrived at the county town at noon. They had lunch in the county town, rested for a while, and continued to spiral up along the S-shaped provincial road. The mountain road was narrow and there were many bends. There were cliffs on the right and cliffs on the left, and trucks were coming from time to time. At first, the two of them took turns driving. After a while, Ai Jingchu saw Zeng Li's hands holding the steering wheel tightly, and he was not very reassured, so he took all the work by himself.
When we got to the top of the mountain, there was no provincial road, and even the navigation was blank. Fortunately, Zeng Li had been to Yanchang before and had some memory of it, so he sat in the passenger seat, familiarized himself with the route, asked around, and guided the car onto another rural road.
After that, the road conditions became much worse, and many parts of the concrete road surface were crushed to pieces.
When they arrived at the village and asked, they found out that there was still a muddy road leading to the brigade where Ma Xiaobing was. Fortunately, their car had a high chassis, and it was sunset when they drove to the team.
They had contacted Ma Fugui, the nephew of Lao Ma, and arranged to meet at Ma Fugui's house. When Ai Jingchu and Zeng Li arrived, a crowd of people were already waiting in the main hall of Ma Fugui's house. The child named Ma Xiaobing was hiding behind an old lady.
Ai Jingchu didn't like to beat around the bush. As soon as he sat down, he said what he needed to say concisely. Finally, he suddenly remembered the issue of custody and asked, "Who is Lao Ma? The child's father?" He had never seen Lao Ma, so he couldn't tell who the person in the room was.
The others were silent, and finally Ma Fugui said, "My uncle's old illness has come back, and we tied him up."
Ai Jingchu hesitated and said, "During the operation, the immediate family members must sign."
Ma Fugui was in his forties and had spent a lot of time in the city. He knew these medical procedures and hurriedly explained: "My uncle doesn't get sick all the time. He usually gets better in a few days. And..." He pointed to the middle-aged man next to him, "This is Captain Wu from our production team. He can make decisions on all matters big and small in our production team. When you called a few days ago, he reported to the village leaders."
The altitude here is high and the sunshine is strong. It feels hot when the sun comes out during the day, but it starts to get cold in the evening. As it was getting dark, no one in the house suggested turning on the lights.
It was so late and they couldn’t go back, so they had to eat and rest for a night at Ma Fugui’s house as arranged, go see Lao Ma tomorrow, and then take the children to A City Hospital.
After the business was settled, Ma Fugui's family set the table and left the people around to watch the fun. As soon as the dishes were set, Ma Xiaobing volunteered to pull the rope on the wall, and the light bulb hanging in the middle of the room finally lit up. However, the small orange light was not stable, sometimes bright, sometimes weak, and sometimes bright.
Ma Xiaobing wore the small T-shirt Zeng Li bought for him and took a lot of chocolates from her. He gradually became less shy. He saw Zeng Li staring at the light and said, "It's like this. They said the voltage is unstable." This was the first time Zeng Li heard him speak. Because of his cleft lip, he spoke unclearly and his pronunciation was vague, so it was difficult to understand what he said. Zeng Li was afraid of hurting his self-esteem, so she didn't ask any more questions and just smiled and nodded, indicating that she understood.
When arranging accommodation for the night, Ma Fugui's wife tentatively asked Zeng Li: "Are you a couple?"
Zeng Li waved his hands quickly.
So, Ma Fugui and Ai Jingchu slept in one room, Zeng Li and the old lady slept in one room, and Ma Fugui's wife, her two-year-old child and Ma Xiaobing slept in one room.
The old lady is Ma Fugui’s mother. She is over seventy years old, in good health and has a good set of teeth.
Ma Fugui's wife was afraid that Zeng Li would not be happy sleeping next to the old lady, so she explained to Zeng Li: "Don't look at the child's grandmother, she is very particular about hygiene. And we knew you were coming, so we washed all the quilt covers and sheets, please don't be disgusted."
Zeng Li didn't mind it, he washed his face and feet, and followed the old lady into the room. When she sat down in front of the bed and briefly looked around the room, she was almost shocked to death.
There were three wooden benches next to the bed, and on the benches there was a black coffin!
It was a real coffin, big at one end and small at the other, painted black, with the lid closed.
Now, everything became weird.
The old lady had poor eyesight and did not notice Zeng Li's fear. She acted as if the coffin next to her was invisible and kept asking Zeng Li to go to bed.
Zeng Li had no choice but to do as he was told.
Just as they were about to lie down, Ma Fugui's wife knocked on the door and came in, asking Zeng Li what she wanted to eat the next morning. After a few words of greeting, she turned off the lights for them, closed the door and left. From beginning to end, she seemed not to have seen the coffin.
The old lady slept inside, and she slept outside. The quilt and pillowcase had indeed been washed, and although it felt hard to sleep on, it was really clean. The thick mosquito net isolated everything outside, but she still couldn't help imagining that thing just now. She covered herself with the quilt and the more she thought about it, the more scared she became. She didn't even dare to close her eyes, and she didn't even dare to turn her back to it.
I don’t know how long it was before I fell asleep.
In her dream, she seemed to return to the small courtyard where funerals were always held when she was in her teens. There was dim light, and the bodies were lying there alone. Some were placed directly on the boards covered with white cloth, and some were placed in coffins.
Then, she dreamed of her parents quarreling, and they started fighting after a few words of disagreement. Her father slapped her mother, but the slap landed on her face instead. She didn't feel any pain, over and over again.
Later, she dreamed that she took the notice to register at the new school, but found that people were pointing at her along the way. She looked down in confusion and realized that she was not wearing any clothes when she went out and was naked.
In the middle of the night, she couldn't sleep anymore, so she sneaked out of bed.
Ma Fugui's home was actually very simple. The walls were not made of bricks, but of wood, fences, lime and mud, and the roof was covered with tiles. The main room was in the middle, and the side rooms on the left and right were used for living and storage. The kitchen, pigsty and toilet were in the back. The house had fallen into disrepair over the years, and the walls had fallen off in many places, with the bamboo strips supporting the walls exposed outside.
There is a flat area outside the house, but there is no courtyard wall.
At this moment, the moon suddenly showed its face from the clouds, and the yard was much brighter than the house.
She didn't dare to go out, but only stood under the eaves and looked towards the way they came. When they came, they parked the car downstairs and then climbed up along the path along the edge of the field.
Under the moonlight, she could see Ai Jingchu's car quietly parked on the roadside in the distance. Suddenly, her eyes caught a quick flash of something next to the car, like a flame or the light of a firefly, which disappeared so quickly that it was almost impossible to tell. Quickly, it lit up a second time, and this time it was not just a short moment like before, this time it seemed like a real flame, swaying a few times and standing in the wind.
She looked at the faint light, and her heart seemed to be firmly held. It was even brighter than the full moon in the sky.
The flame was from Ai Jingchu's lighter.