Text: Zhou Yujiang
This is a true story. It will make my heart ache when I say it.
Zhangzhuang Village is a village with a surname of 500 to 600 people, only one family surnamed Ding, known as the Iron Hammer, the Ding family is a family of iron strikers who migrated from Zhangqiu in the early years.
There are many red furnaces in Shandong, one listening to the accent Zhangqiu people, two cars with three mouths, one box and one tongs and one hand hammer, early travel to Luzhong Hu Mountain, and late stay in Mengling material stone pile. This is the true portrayal of the Zhangqiu blacksmith.
Ding Iron Hammer Grandfather is exquisite in blacksmithing skills, agricultural iron tools: pickaxe, pickaxe, hoe, sickle, knife axe, hook, hammer, not only made in a similar way, and durable, but also forged stir-fry horse spoon, polished tiles, never stick to the pan, is also a must.
Despite this, because there were many blacksmiths on the ground in Zhangqiu, the stoves were everywhere, and the famine for many years, they had to take their wives and children, load the anvils, bellows, and other blacksmithing tools into two cars, and traveled in all directions.
"The wind blows a fire, hammering the four sides of the wealth."
In the same year, Ding Tie Hammer's grandfather's family of three, exiled to Zhangzhuang Village, due to high skills, people and kindness, the iron business is doing well, customers are profitable, and soon saved a small fortune.
Ding Tie hammer grandfather, seeing that Zhangzhuang was ground, the people's customs were simple, the land was fertile and abundant, it was a good place to settle down, and his son was happily married to the woman who sold art here, so he bought a few rooms in Zhangzhuang and settled his home here.
A year later, Hammer Mother gave birth to Hammer. The family's excitement is not to be mentioned.
Although the hammer grandfather is excellent in iron fighting skills, the days are also rich, that is, the people Ding is not prosperous, several generations of single transmission, to the hammer father's generation, he very much wants to let his son have a few more male babies to the Wangding family incense, but the hammer mother's stomach is not contentious, after giving birth to the hammer, there is no son for several years, good evil later pregnant, but due to the age, the birth caused difficult childbirth, coupled with the poor medical conditions at that time, and finally the mother and son were not insured, and both died in the delivery bed.
Grandfather Hammer also had to sigh: the plot is in man, the success is in heaven, and Providence is helpless.
By the time The Hammer was old enough to start a family, Hammer's grandfather and grandmother had died one after another, and the Ding family was left with only the Hammer father and son to live.
The world has changed, modern industrial manufacturing of agricultural tools, and daily necessities, inexpensive, beautiful and practical, the blacksmith industry has faded into the west, hammer father and son rely on the bank is also difficult to survive.
The hammer could only go out to work, and his father was at home to take care of the acres of grain fields.
The field where the hammer worked was not far away, just working in a brick and tile factory outside, because of the iron origin, the body was good, the work was not spared, and the personality was gentle, kind, helpful, and soon won the heart of a girl, this girl named Yuying, in order to hide at home for her "change of relatives", and with the contractor to follow the brick and tile factory to work.
She saw that the hammer man was strong and kind, and could be entrusted for life, so she took the initiative to show the hammer, and the hammer also saw that Yuying was simple and capable, and gradually became good, and soon the two of them walked together.
The hammer brought Yuying home and let his father meet him, and when his father saw that Yuying's fat buttocks were the billet for giving birth to his son, he was so happy that he could not do it, so he urged him to get married quickly and hold his grandson early.
A year later, Yuying gave birth to a daughter, although the hammer father was not very happy, but he felt that he could continue to have children, and sooner or later he would be able to give birth to a male baby. Regrettably, he did not see the shadow of his grandson until the old man passed away.
In fact, the hammer couple looked at the surrounding Hundred Miles of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and also went to the Provincial City Hospital for examination, it seems that they are normal, the strange thing is that Yuying can no longer conceive a child.
From this, Yuying felt indebted to the Ding family, so he obeyed the hammer, and the hammer also knew that the affairs of the children, destined, were definitely not Yuying's fault, and it was enough to have a baby daughter, and now the same as men and women in society, in the future, recruiting a son-in-law to the door can also be regarded as renewing the incense, so the husband sings with the woman, and the love is added.
Time flies, and the years fly by. In the blink of an eye, her daughter Shuju has become an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old girl who has become Tingting Yuli, she has a peach blossom face, a slim figure, a gentle and quiet temperament, and has seen the villagers politely, talking lively and cute. No matter where he went, there was always a string of hearty laughter like a silver bell behind him, and the villagers all praised it.
Later, she failed the college entrance examination and returned to the village to work as a kindergarten teacher.
The hammer is also forty-five or six years old, although the body is still very strong, but I feel that there is only one daughter, there is no pressure, these years have not gone out to work, only at home to raise some pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, and Yuying planted a few acres of grain fields, but it is easy and happy.
Seeing that their daughters were getting older, they wanted to recruit a door-to-door son-in-law, and they always had to earn a family business, so they taught Yuying to work alone to serve the acres of crops and work in a foundry fifty miles away from home. The casting work is dirty and tiring, and it sucks up dust, but the salary is very much earned.
In the spring of this year, the hammer, who was as strong as an ox, suddenly felt that his chest was tight and short of breath, a little breathless, thought it was tired, so he rested for a few days, and went to work, but in addition to the above symptoms, he felt that his limbs were weak, mentally weak, and occasionally vomited blood, he did not dare to delay any longer, accompanied by his wife to the county hospital for examination, the result was that it was advanced lung cancer.
This was undoubtedly like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, the iron hammer was like an electric baton knocked down, slumped on the ground, there was no strength in his body, Yuying had no master except for the long stream of hot tears, and he didn't know how to be good.
The hospital immediately arranged for hospitalization, because it was advanced lung cancer, it could not be operated on, and could only do chemotherapy. Since their daughter Shuju had just arrived at the kindergarten, the Hammer couple kept their daughter secret, saying only that there was a nodule in the lungs that required hospitalization and would be able to go home after a while.
Although there was no surgery, more than a month of hospitalization, miscellaneous expenses also spent a lot, the savings of the hammer are not much left, the hammer knows that the disease is hopeless, the end is nothing more than, the money is spent, the people are gone, it is better to go home and wait for death, so and discuss the wife, the wife at first refused, and finally could only tearfully agree.
After returning home, the hammer called her daughter to her side, breathlessly said: "Child, your father and I have a fatal illness, I am afraid that I will not live for a few days, the only thing I worry about is you two mothers, we are in Zhangzhuang single-door, no relatives and no reason, you will find a door-to-door son-in-law to take care of your mother in the future, don't make your mother suffer, she is also a bitter person, in order to hide from relatives, leaving my parents to follow me, a good life has not passed a few days, I am sorry for her, you treat her well, I can go with peace of mind."
Shuju almost fainted after hearing this, and immediately cried loudly, hugging her father tightly, and the tears of the two grandfathers flowed together.
Hammer's illness was getting worse and worse, the cancer had spread to the bone, he really couldn't stand this unspeakable pain, and he didn't want to bother the two of them anymore, so he climbed out of the house on a late night when they were late, poured a bottle of "enemy fear" into his mouth, and after some painful struggle, he died of exhaustion. The grief of the mother and daughter after seeing the situation cannot be described in words.
Since the Ding family had no clansmen, Yuying had to ask the village cadres to pay for her husband hastily buried.
When her husband died, Yuying slept in bed for two days, and Shuju also lost weight, thinking for a while and crying for a while.
Seeing my mother's appearance, I was even more sad and tearful.
Life has to go on. Two days later, Yuying sat up with difficulty and slowly drank the millet porridge that her daughter sent to her mouth, and her face gradually became bloody.
In the blink of an eye, it was the wheat harvest season, and the Shuju kindergarten was on holiday, and the two women were holding scythes and sweating in their fields to harvest the wheat.
Suddenly, Yuying felt her head buzzing, her ears were also hissing, and there was a feeling of the sky spinning, at first Yuying thought that it was caused by her own fierceness, so she slowly sat on the wheat bale to rest, and drank some water, as if it was much easier, and cut the wheat again.
After three or five days of wheat harvesting, Yuying suddenly fainted on the way to the toilet and fell unconscious. Shuju was stunned, hurriedly called a village to run a rental van, sent her mother to the county hospital, after instrument examination, determined to be a brain tumor, whether benign to further examination, the doctor suggested, it is best to go to the city people's hospital to confirm the diagnosis.
An eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl who is not familiar with the world, in the face of her mother's illness, she only has the share of tears, and she does not know how to be good.
At this time, she suddenly remembered her classmate who worked in the county town, Zhang Lei from this village, and dialed his phone.
She and Zhang Lei are also considered to be small, from primary school to high school, they have been in the same grade, in high school, the two young people have been young and young, although not pointed, but both sides know the feelings between them, not ordinary people.
When Zhang Lei went to the county to work, he also went to the kindergarten to find Shuju, and the two talked for a long time, and when they left, they also left a phone, saying that there was something to find him.
On the phone, Shuju cried and told Zhang Lei that her mother was seriously ill and wanted to go to the people's hospital in the city to diagnose it, and asked Zhang Lei to help, and Zhang Lei happily agreed on the phone.
The Municipal People's Hospital was finally diagnosed with a malignant tumor of the brain.
The father just died, the mother has a terminal illness, who can bear such a result, not to mention a little girl, on the spot Shuju fell to the ground, teeth closed, mouth foam, unconscious.
Zhang Lei quickly picked up Shuju and flew towards the emergency room. The doctor squeezed Shuju's people before she woke up, and then cried out helplessly: "Save my mother, save my mother, my father is gone." Seeing the desolate scene in front of them, everyone present was in tears.
In order to alleviate the psychological pressure of her mother, Shuju deliberately concealed her illness. But when Yuying saw her daughter's actions, she understood everything in her heart, and she couldn't say a word, but just grabbed her daughter's hand and held it.
Blessings are incomparable, and misfortunes are not alone. More terrible results are quietly descending on the heads of Yuying's mother and son.
Shuju attacked the heart because of the fire, the eyes were blood red, the lips were swollen high, there were some fire bubbles in the nasal socket, the pain was abnormal, even the tongue was swollen and painful, and the doctor prescribed some anti-inflammatory drugs, ate for a few days, and the other parts were much better, that is, the tongue did not work there, but it was more severe.
The doctor performed a slice test on Shuju's tongue, and more anti-heavenly results appeared, Shuju was diagnosed with "tongue cancer with lymphatic metastasis", the doctor was also stunned, this disease happened to a young girl, there are not many cases in the world.
When Zhang Lei got the test form, he secretly wept and did not know what to do. After thinking about it again and again, he had to tell Yuying alone.
Yuying was very calm after listening, and after a long silence, she said to Zhang Lei: "I understand, this is Ju's father who misses us, afraid that our orphan daughter and widow mother will suffer in the world and tell us to go, so that our whole family can be together, child, thank you for helping us in my mother's last days, we only have to repay you in the next life, tell Ju that we go home, cure the disease, can't cure life, and these diseases are incurable, and we don't have much money."
After Shuju came out of the toilet, Yuying said with a straight face: "Juju, clean up, let's go home." Shuju knew the meaning of going home and said, "Mother, I know that there is not much money, you can go to the cure with peace of mind, and I will find a way to deal with the money."
Apparently, Shuju was unaware of her illness. Yuying said again: "Child, obey, after you go back, your mother will tell you everything again." Shuju looked at Zhang Lei puzzled.
The disease of cancer is often the result of young people suffering from it, because of the qi and blood, it comes faster and more violently.
A few days after returning home, the strong pain knocked Shuju down, she did not dare to eat, did not dare to drink, at night her body was stinging, and she could not sleep. The mother was sometimes unconscious, sometimes awake, and not too uncomfortable for a while.
Later Shuju was even more unbearable, any part of the body, a touch of pain, lying, sitting, standing as soon as it touched something to erode the pain of bone. When she came up, the pain made her roll all over the bed, and she couldn't stand it.
When she couldn't stand it, she shouted loudly: "Mother, I really can't stand it, let me die!" Let me die! ”
Yuying's strength to speak was gone, and her tears were also dry, only for her daughter to pass this time, caressing her daughter with difficulty, and said intermittently: "Child, my mother told you today, your father missed us, afraid that we will suffer in the world, are you willing to go?" ”
The daughter hissed: "My daughter is willing, my daughter is willing, I understand, I am also terminally ill, I am going to find my father, and when I get there, I will not be in pain."
Yuying continued: "We have to go and start and end well, child, you are stronger, take advantage of this painless, write a will, explain the matter, Zhang Lei did not say come early tomorrow morning?" Placed in a conspicuous place, he will see. Just write: In the last days of our mother-in-law, thanks to his company Zhang Lei, after we go, our four tile houses and other properties, all belong to his name, we are alone, no relatives and no reason, after we go, let him take us in and send us to the bottom of the earth, great kindness, and repay each other in the next life."
At this time, neither mother nor daughter stopped crying, as if they were really going to heaven.
Subsequently, Shuju carefully wrote her will, and both women signed it.
Shuju wrote the following paragraph on another page: Lei, I know you like me, and I like you as well, but Heaven doesn't give us a chance, let's live in the next life."
Yuying climbed to the bottom of the bed, felt out the two bottles of pesticides that had been prepared earlier, unscrewed the lid, handed her daughter a bottle, and said, "Child, let's go on the road." ”
At this time, a sharp pain struck Shuju, and he nodded to his mother with difficulty, and then shouted a little pervertedly: "Mother, the child will repay your nurturing grace in the next life, and the child will take a step first." He drank a bottle of pesticide without hesitation.
"Son, go, I'll see your father right away, and you won't feel any pain right away." Yuying called out with her last strength and poured a bottle of pesticide into her mouth.
Life is impermanent, and human life is destined.
This is a sadness that has never been seen in the Zhangzhuang area!
It tells people that no matter rich or poor, no illness or pain, it is the greatest blessing in life. Cherish the present and live your day happily.