Chapter 11 Section Eleven

The morning air is cool and humid.In the river, the dense chest-high corn seedlings bow their heads, and there is a layer of soft mist floating like a tulle.The canal water is rushing, the pumps are buzzing, and the voices of farmers watering the fields asking and answering each other sound very refreshing.This is the most comfortable time of the day in the hot summer months. The Fourth Sister's demonstration won a decisive victory, and her husband Gongzhi asked Sanwazi to take her to the county hospital for treatment. The fourth sister is sitting on the back rack of the bicycle.Her man, Lu Jianfeng, held the rusted handlebars of the borrowed bicycle tightly with both hands, stepped on the pedals nervously and with difficulty, and ran on the dirt road from Lujiabao to Sangshu Town. Potholes, two ruts rolled out by the carriage are deeply sunken, covered with thick loess that has been ground into powder.The bicycle wheels were bouncing and almost knocked her down several times, but despite this, Fourth Sister was still in a good mood.She was on the threshing field, in the ridges of the cotton fields, and often heard the daughters-in-law in the village relishing what they had seen and heard about the men taking them around Xi'an and Lang County. Now she was sitting on Sanwazi's waist, going to Mulberry Town!Thinking that the public reason for her family to go to Mulberry Town was to see a doctor, Fourth Sister felt a little depressed.

The morning before yesterday, she lay under the sheets, and she didn't get up until the whole family had finished work and went home for breakfast.First, when Jianfeng returned to the building, he was surprised when he heard that she was ill, and asked her to go to the brigade's medical treatment station to see a doctor. She turned over and didn't say a word.He pressed her harder, and she said coldly, "There is no money." He said that the medical treatment station in the brigade is free of charge, and there is no charge for seeing a doctor.After hearing this, she said even more coldly, "It costs five cents for the registration fee. I don't have one, do you?"

The old lady raised the curtain, walked in and asked, "What's wrong?" Fourth Sister stood up softly: "Headache, nausea..." "Take a look at the medical station." The old lady put a five-cent coin on the table, jingled, turned around and walked out, showing the restrained care that the elders have for the daughter-in-law of the younger generation. She went to the medical station and paid 5 cents for the registration fee. The two doctors who received short-term training in the commune health center warmly and generously prescribed pills and liquid medicine for her that cost no more than two yuan, and went home and lay down again. , slept until dark yesterday, endured hunger, did not take a bite of food, was so hungry that her limbs were sore and limp, dizzy, mouth burnt and tongue dry, a layer of dry and cracked dead skin burst out on her lips, she really became a patient up.Jianfeng panicked and asked: "The medicine in the medical station doesn't work?" She groaned and didn't answer, why bother to answer, in fact, all the medicines were stuffed into the kang cave.The old lady came to ask again, and then called Jianfeng back to the upper room, and finally conveyed the old father-in-law's decision to take her to the county hospital in Sangshu Town to see a doctor.

It took such a lot of trouble and two days of unbearable hunger to win the opportunity to visit Mulberry Town today. It is really sad to think about it.If it wasn't her pretending to be sick, but her husband generously gave her a few dollars and let her go out for a day, she would probably keep calling "Dad".In any case, she had achieved her goal, and although the means of winning it were not so aboveboard, she still felt a kind of relief after revenge. After turning from the earth-rock road to the black asphalt road leading to Sangshu Town, the car became stable.I didn't eat for two days, I was so hungry that I couldn't straighten my waist.She felt that she had become like a fallen leaf, so light that she couldn't stand there.She leaned on his back and crawled on his back, with one arm around his waist, and her breasts pressed against the wriggling spine under his single shirt. She was far away from Lujiabao Village, and she could no longer see her acquaintances, so don't be afraid. Embarrassed.The road became smooth, the car became stable, and he stepped on it with ease, so he asked, "Are you feeling very uncomfortable?"

"Hmm..." She replied sickly. "Be patient, we'll be at the hospital soon." He pedaled faster, and the car whizzed forward. Fourth Sister's face was leaning against his broad back weakly, he thought she was really ill, and hurriedly took her to the Sangshu Town Hospital.Although he was indifferent to her, he was afraid of her illness, and even more afraid of her death.He was honest and didn't notice her intentions at all.She asked, "How much will my dad give you?" "Five dollars." He panted lightly, without thinking. "What if there's not enough money for the prescription?" she asked.

"Then..." He paused for a while, "My father said that five yuan is enough for common headaches and fever. My father said that if there is a troublesome disease and needs to be seen again, then he will give us..." "What if we can't finish the flowers?" Fourth Sister asked tentatively, "Do you want to give the remaining 28 cents to our dad?" "Of course... Ordinarily, it should be handed over to the old man." He said, "There are many adults in our house, and there are no rules. Ask the old man for the time spent, and return the rest after spending it."

"Does my dad still check the invoices for medicine expenses?" She asked provocatively. He fell silent.It seemed that only then did he realize the overtones in her question, which contained some irony, some ridicule, and some disrespect towards his father, so he stopped answering. She didn't ask any more, thinking about how to make the most of the five dollars in his pocket. It would be a pity if she spent a large part of it to buy some pills and noodles she didn't need, the county hospital It's not the Lujiabao brigade medical station, where every pill has to be counted.

On market day in Mulberry Town, the streets were crowded with men and women. She jumped out of the car and helped him squeeze in the crowd.When she reached the gate of the hospital, she grabbed his car and said, "Have some food first, I'm hungry." He said, "After seeing the doctor, eat in a hurry. No matter how late, I'm afraid I won't be able to get a call." , " she said stubbornly, "it doesn't matter. Have some food first." He turned the bicycle around helplessly. She finally patrolled a state-run canteen, walked into the door and took a look, her stomach twitched violently, causing a slight pain in her heart——she saw the scorpion.On a large porcelain plate, there were piles of 饸饹 as high as a hill, and the purple-red strips bounced tremblingly when the waiter picked it up. She felt that she could completely eat that hill of 饸饹.Hele is made with Qiaomai noodles, and Qiaomai is a product of his hometown in northern Shaanxi. When we are at home, we can always have a meal during the Chinese New Year.Qiao Mai is not produced in Guanzhong, and it has just become a commodity meal in the cafeteria.How comfortable it would be for her to eat a bowl of cold rice on a hot day!

He bought two bowls, put them on the table, and sincerely urged her to eat quickly. She added a lot of vinegar, and the cold sputum rolled from her smoldering throat into her churning stomach. She choked and giggled, and then she raised her head and looked at him embarrassedly, only then did she realize He didn't eat it himself, he held a piece of steamed bun in his hand, gnawed it, and watched her eat it.She stopped her chopsticks and stared closely into his eyes: "Why don't you eat 饸饹?" He smiled apologetically and said, "I... just eat buns!" She felt uneasy, he only bought two bowls for her, and ate dry buns by himself, trying to save some money.Her heart moved, and then she became angry, snatched the bun from his hand, stuffed it into a cloth bag, pushed the bowl of 饸饹 in front of him, and stared at him fiercely until he picked up the bowl, Lifting the chopsticks, he smiled innocently and lowered his head to eat.

She saw that he ate very deliciously and was very greedy. He only picked out the chopsticks three or five times before picking up a bowl of glutinous rice.She stretched out her hand and said indisputably, "Give me the money." Without saying a word, he took out the money from his pocket and handed it to her. She took the stack of neatly folded full-dollar tickets and ten-cent bills, turned around and went to the ticket window, bought four more bowls at once, piled them on the table, and said to his terrified eyes: "You eat, I eat too." He whispered softly, "What if there are not enough to see a doctor?"

"Let's talk when we're full." She buried her head in her mouth and began to eat happily. She ate three bowls of 饸饹, and it seemed that there were still three more bowls in her stomach.She didn't buy it again, leaving a gap to eat something else she had been longing for for a long time.She walked ahead, and he pushed his bicycle behind her.She stopped in front of a small cart selling tomatoes, asked the price, and paid back the price. She bought three catties, put it in a canvas bag, wiped it with a handkerchief before washing it with water, and started eating.She stuffed him two, and he ate them with doubts in his eyes.When she stopped in front of a watermelon stand and bought a whole watermelon for 1.80 cents, he was so frightened that he almost cried: "What should I do to see a doctor? I've run out of money..." She said: "I There is a way, don't worry, eat melon first..." She and him squatted at the small table on the melon stand, and finished eating a watermelon. She is full, regains strength all over her body, and is satisfied. When dreaming, I don’t know how many times I dreamed of eating apricots, peaches, and watermelons. When I woke up, there was a piece of saliva on the pillow, and today I enjoyed it happily. .Looking at him depressed, she felt that he was so stupid, pitiful and hateful.Walking to the door of the hospital again, he muttered, "The medicine fee must not be enough!" "Forget it! Don't see a doctor!" she said. He turned his head, his eyes widened in surprise. "My illness...is cured!" She said with a smile, "Watermelon and glutinous rice are more effective than medicine!" He probably only realized now that he had fallen into her trap, and suddenly lost all strength, he squatted down under the locust tree next to the hospital entrance, sighed deeply, and lowered his head a little angrily. She also wanted to take a break, so she sat down on the ground, looked at him in distress, and whispered: "What should I do? I bought and ate these things, and didn't issue an invoice. How can I pay my dad when I go back?" ?” He ignored her sarcasm, but instead asked: "Are you really not sick?" "Now...you are sick and have no money to see it." She said teasingly, "Think about how to pay when you go back?" He lowered his head and remained silent again. "In this way—" she said, "you don't have to do anything difficult. The five yuan is considered to be a loan from my dad. If you tell him, I will pay him back sooner or later." "No no no—" he smiled awkwardly, "That's not what you said!" "Jianfeng—" she called out in a low voice, "I'm telling the truth, I'm not kidding you. I dare to spend five yuan today, I can't stand it! You know, I have it, three or four months I don’t know, since I have this thing in my stomach, my mouth is so greedy..." "You should have said..." Jianfeng said. "What did you say earlier? You don't know, and neither does our mother?" She said, "But I can't even..." She couldn't continue, she was so wronged that she wanted to cry.Looking at the crowded men and women on the street, she held back her tears and said, "If you don't think about me, you should also think about your offspring. If I give birth to a thin monkey, you will regret it!" Jianfeng lowered his head and sighed softly. "I gave you a baby, but no one asked me. I'm so disgusted that I can't eat, your mother doesn't care, and you don't care." Fourth sister complained angrily, "The old sow raised by your father , I am pregnant with a baby pig, he is fed and watered three times a day, scratched and tickled...I am not even as good as a sow!" "Fourth sister, listen to me—" Jianfeng was in a hurry, and hurriedly explained, "I really don't have any money, and I don't need it if I want to. Besides... I don't know what to do." "If you don't have money, you don't have money, so there should be something to say?" Si Meizi didn't accept his explanation, "Is your father so feudal that you don't even allow you to tell me a word?" Jianfeng lowered his head again, sighed uncomfortably, and after a long while, said euphemistically: "Our father has a bad temper, cold face, and big family rules, and I can't do anything about it, but you will gradually understand, my father Good hearted, hei told me yesterday that there is money left over from seeing a doctor, and asked me to buy you something you want to eat. My dad said that there are too many adults in the house, so it’s not easy to give you another drink and food. Buy whatever you want to eat..." "Hey! How generous!" The fourth sister sneered, "Just give me five yuan. If I really want to see a doctor, how much money can I have left? And 'buy whatever you want'!" "Our family... oh! No money!" Jianfeng said, "We sold grain for 500 yuan and paid off all the bills to relatives. It was a bad debt for me to marry you..." "It doesn't matter whether you are poor or rich, anyway, I have been in your house for almost half a year, and it is the first time I spent five yuan today." The fourth sister said flatly, "Tell the old man, I will borrow the money I spent carelessly today." I’ll pay him back in the future. In this way—you can also pay for it!”