The Scorching Sun - 75
There were three of them in the old Ye family. One was surnamed Ye, one Fang, and one Yan. They had grown up with entirely different childhoods, lives, and experiences, yet in a year when none of them expected anything, an unconventional family had taken shape through circumstances that were both accidental and ordinary. Perhaps society wouldn't even recognize them as a family.
Three people, each carrying their own imperfections yet drawn irresistibly toward one another, were about to welcome their second Spring Festival as winter gradually deepened around them.
This particular holiday had taken on an extra meaning for them, almost like the old Ye family's annual report after going public, a grand celebration of their escape from loneliness.
In the early part of winter break, the students working part-time in the cafeteria learned ahead of time what the holiday arrangements would be.
Students living on campus had to leave the dormitories and return home by February 26.
Fang Zhuo compared the dates with Ye Yuncheng and realized she could stay in the dormitory for the time being. Once Xiao Mu went back to his uncle's home for the New Year, she could move into the vacant room at the rental apartment.
Really, she didn't have to go to all that trouble. Yan Lie had sincerely invited her to stay at his place.
His parents wouldn't be coming back, and they had vacant property in A City.
Fang Zhuo felt that would look far too bad, especially after adding Yan Chengli on social media. She had developed a strange sense of responsibility toward the imaginary masses of Jiangdong, feeling she couldn't possibly let everyone down, so she politely declined.
It snowed a little that winter. It lasted less than two hours, mingling with a hazy drizzle, and didn't even accumulate into a thin layer of white fuzz along the windowsills before melting straight into droplets that carried tiny grains of sand into the mud. For people in the south, that alone was enough to feel like a delightful surprise.
During Fang Zhuo's final exams, Liu Qiaohong called her. When he learned she was busy with her final review, he said he'd get in touch after her exams, which left her nervously wondering whether something serious had happened.
Their exams were spread rather haphazardly across the schedule. Her final subject ended on the morning of the third day. Fang Zhuo returned to the dormitory, sat down, and immediately called Liu Qiaohong back. His hearty laughter came through the speaker as soon as he answered.
Liu Qiaohong asked, "How did the exams go?"
"Pretty well," Fang Zhuo said. "Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?"
Liu Qiaohong sounded unusually spirited, his voice carrying far more energy than his usual slow, measured manner. "Good. As long as they went well. Fang Zhuo, Uncle Liu has a New Year's gift for you!"
Fang Zhuo asked, "What is it?"
"Well, here's the thing. There's a charity organization that's been running a prosthetics program for disabled children. The company that makes the prosthetics for them is one of the better manufacturers in the country. I met one of their volunteers while I was out doing publicity work. I figured there was no harm in trying, so I asked him to put me in touch with the company and see if they'd be willing to support poverty-alleviation work in rural towns. I also gave them Ye-ge's information. They reviewed everything and observed the situation, and they agreed! They actually agreed! They said they'd provide a custom prosthetic for free!"
Fang Zhuo stared blankly ahead. "Huh?"
"What do you mean, huh?" Liu Qiaohong said. "I've already taken Ye-ge to the hospital for an examination. It should take them about one or two months to make the prosthetic. By the time you start school next year, Ye-ge might even be able to go to A University to see you!"
He went on to tell Fang Zhuo about Ye Yuncheng's examination results.
Ye Yuncheng had lost his leg so long ago, and because he hadn't undergone proper training at the time, his gait might not be entirely natural after being fitted with a prosthetic.
Still, the condition of his residual limb was fairly good. Once he got used to it, there shouldn't be any problem with him getting around in daily life.
"This way, neither you nor Ye-ge will have to work yourselves so hard," Liu Qiaohong said. "You can focus entirely on your studies, and Ye-ge won't have to worry about you all the time. He's always been afraid that he'd become a burden to you, that he'd put too much pressure on you mentally. Now that's taken care of. Once he saves up a little more, he can rent a small storefront instead of having to go out in the wind and rain every day. Isn't that right? By the time you graduate, or even get to graduate school and can start making money from projects, the two of you will be completely fine. Ye-ge showed me his accounts. I think they're actually pretty good. They might not be very stable, but there's still enough to keep food on the table..."
He became increasingly long-winded, talking about ordinary yet beautiful things they could hope for in the future.
Only after his mouth had gone dry and he stopped to take a drink of water did Fang Zhuo finally speak after a long silence. "Thank you, Uncle Liu. Really. You've gone to so much trouble for us."
Liu Qiaohong paused before saying gently, "You and your uncle really are alike. No matter how many times we go over it, that's the one thing you always say. Don't cry. This is something to be happy about."
There was a rustling sound as he searched through some documents on his end. Fang Zhuo didn't know what to say, so she simply stayed on the phone.
After a while, Liu Qiaohong let out a breath and said, deeply moved, "Your uncle is the most cooperative person among all the people I'm responsible for in poverty alleviation. He used to be stubborn and didn't take care of his own health, and there was nothing I could do about it. A lot of the time, I felt it was unfair for him, too. Say, why is it that some people seem to have every road made harder for them? Take that family across from my hometown. There were seven or eight people in the family. A fire burned everything down, and only two survived. One of them even lost his mind. How can you tell someone like that to work harder? That's just the life he's been left with. How helpless must it be to accept that reality?"
Liu Qiaohong fell quiet for a moment. He understood all too well the fate contained within those two words, helplessness.
"You know, when you've been doing frontline poverty-alleviation work like this for a long time... if you don't have something to believe in, it's honestly hard to keep going. Ye-ge has helped me a lot. He wasn't optimistic about his own life before, but he still loved telling other people to stay optimistic. Seeing the two of you finally doing better now really gets to me. I'm especially happy for you."
Liu Qiaohong's voice began to tremble as he spoke. All sorts of words crowded through his mind, yet he couldn't piece them together into a sentence that could truly express what he felt.
Unable to articulate it, he couldn't help remembering something an expert had once told him.
A few years earlier, several PhDs in agricultural science had come to their village to teach the farmers how to grow crops.
They would crouch beneath the sun all day long, yet couldn't get the local people to understand them. The villagers couldn't understand why the government had sent people to teach them how to farm. Even less could they understand why someone who had spent decades studying would still end up working in the fields.
Liu Qiaohong had stood by the roadside, exchanging awkward looks with them and laughing helplessly.
When the group learned that he had graduated from A University, one of the teachers had told him that poverty-alleviation work meant running around every day and coming into contact with people at the bottom of society. On the surface, it might not seem like the best way for someone with his education to make use of what he'd learned.
But it meant he could remain young forever.
He could search for the meaning of his own life in the hope he helped other people reach. How extraordinary was that?
He had remembered those words ever since.
Without thinking, Liu Qiaohong came back to himself and instinctively said, "You all need to hurry up and get better."
Fang Zhuo nodded, then realized that hardly counted as a response and couldn't help laughing.
Liu Qiaohong heard her and chuckled softly on the other end. "I've got another call coming in. I'll get in touch if anything comes up."
"Okay."
Fang Zhuo shared the news with Yan Lie, who was just as delighted.
While they were on break, the two of them went together to visit Ye Yuncheng.
It was already afternoon, so Ye Yuncheng had packed up his stall for the day. When he heard they were coming, he'd gone out to buy ingredients and was busy in the kitchen.
Xiao Mu was crouched in the corner, with a pile of cash spread out in front of him, counting the bills one by one.
Yan Lie walked over, hitching up his trouser leg as he went. After watching for a while, he asked, "Xiao Mu, where did you get all that money?"
Xiao Mu had already been struggling to keep track. Just when he'd nearly finished, Yan Lie interrupted him and made him forget where he'd counted to. He immediately grew frustrated. Unfortunately, he couldn't bring himself to get angry with Yan Lie, so he merely looked up at him with a reproachful expression and said, "Uncle gave me my wages."
"Wow, that's a lot!" Yan Lie picked up a neat stack of bills and counted them quickly. "What are you planning to spend all that money on?"
"I don't know." Xiao Mu allowed himself a shy little flight of extravagance. "If I buy one popsicle every day, then in a month... it'll cost a hundred yuan?"
Yan Lie fought back a laugh. "What kind of popsicle? One every day is too many, isn't it? It's bad for your health."
Yan Lie had just maliciously destroyed his entire life plan, leaving Xiao Mu trapped in a painful struggle.
Fang Zhuo walked over and gave Yan Lie a little shove. "Stop picking on Xiao Mu."
Yan Lie stopped teasing him and put the money back on the floor. "You can save it for now. Buy something you like later."
Xiao Mu nodded.
Yan Lie added, "Or you can go to the bank and have one of the nice young men or women there count it for you, then put it in your account."
"I'll count it myself." Xiao Mu spread the bills between his fingers the way Yan Lie had just done and answered distractedly, "Half goes into savings, and half is for me."
Yan Lie was about to leave, but he turned around again when he heard that, amused. "The money you save is yours, too."
Xiao Mu's lips moved as he once again lost track of the count. He looked up blankly. "How much did you say there was?"
Yan Lie simply divided the money into two piles for him.
Ye Yuncheng came out and answered, "If he puts his money in a bank account, his uncle will take it. His uncle is his guardian."
Yan Lie gave a belated, "Oh."
"His uncle is all right. At least he takes him home to eat during the holidays. And if someone gives him trouble, he'll look out for him." Ye Yuncheng dried his hands and called out, "Kids, come eat."
Fang Zhuo helped carry the dishes out, and the four of them gathered around the dining table.
There was more and more furniture in the rental apartment now. One missing appliance after another had gradually been added, the place was much more convenient than before. Even the rooms seemed warmer simply because they were lived in.
The landlord had stopped by twice before and had even taken the initiative to add a secondhand washing machine for them. Living there now, the place almost had the feel of a home.
After dinner, Fang Zhuo and Yan Lie washed the dishes together in the kitchen.
Ye Yuncheng picked up his crutch and prepared to go outside. Fang Zhuo noticed and asked, "Uncle, where are you going?"
"I want to go downstairs for a walk."
Fang Zhuo felt that it had been a long time since she'd had a quiet conversation with him, so she said, "I'll come with you."
Ye Yuncheng beckoned. "Come on."
She supported Ye Yuncheng as they made their way down the stairs together.
The winter evening sky was dim and desolate. With the cicadas and insects gone, the green branches and bright flowers stripped bare by the season, even the trees seemed thin and subdued.
Cars roared past on the road. The shops on either side spilled out lights in a hundred different colors. Humanity and technology had combined to create the city's most dazzling landscape.
Ye Yuncheng leaned on his crutch, picking his way carefully across the damp paving stones.
He watched the traces of activity left behind by the pedestrians around them, then suddenly turned to Fang Zhuo and asked, "What do you think I am?"
Fang Zhuo looked at him blankly.
Ye Yuncheng stopped and asked again with a smile, "What do you think your uncle is like?"
Fang Zhuo thought for a moment, then looked up at the moon, most of it hidden behind the clouds. "Like the sun."
Ye Yuncheng followed her gaze upward, then looked around the nearby streets. The shadows along the contours of his face shifted from one side to the other as he moved.
The corners of his eyes curved downward slightly. He raised a hand and pointed toward a streetlamp in the distance. "It shouldn't be the sun. It should be a streetlamp."
Fang Zhuo didn't understand. "What do you mean?"
Ye Yuncheng's voice was as gentle as water. "A streetlamp goes out when morning comes, while the sun shines across the whole world. Even at night, it's simply on the other side of the earth, waiting to appear again."
Fang Zhuo was silent for a moment before asking again, "What does that mean?"
Ye Yuncheng drew his gaze back and rested it on her face. "Nothing. I was just speaking from the heart. Your uncle can't give you as much support as other parents can. All I can do is try to stay lit a little longer. But your uncle believes you can go very far."
Fang Zhuo finally understood. "I don't care what you are. I just want to become someone like you."
Ye Yuncheng froze for a moment, mouth opening as though he wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. Then he raised a hand and gently touched her hair, murmuring, "You can become someone even better than me."
Fang Zhuo thought that if she could have Ye Yuncheng's courage, kindness, and strength, then perhaps she really could become a remarkable person.
And those were things the people she'd met had already taught her.
---
Comments
Post a Comment