Acts of Kindness (short novel)

On a weekend in the lunar month of last year, the father of a high school classmate died, and several classmates invited each other to go to the memorial service together, and reminisce about the old days by the way.

During this period, I talked about many things in high school, and later, I talked about my high school classmate Zhang Tao, who is my fellow villager.

I hurriedly asked how he was doing, he hadn't seen him for years.

A classmate said that it is much better now, and the small life is quite good.

I was a little surprised, a few years ago, I went back to my hometown and heard that he had just been in a car accident, and I had been to his house at that time, and life was very difficult. I suggested that we go to his house in one piece.

My mind was pulled back to that winter more than a decade ago.

In winter, the countryside is all yellow, and the village in the cold wind is like a child shivering from the cold, and there is a desolate scene everywhere. In my memory, Zhang Tao sisters and brothers have 5 brothers, the family is very poor, Zhang Tao is the youngest, his father sees Zhang Tao as smart, and does not want him to deal with the lump for the rest of his life, saving money for him to study. Who knew that there was no artemisia on their ancestral grave, although Zhang Tao studied very hard, but he was not admitted to university.

The next year, I went to his house and wanted him to repeat his studies with me, but his mother was seriously ill at that time, and his family was in debt, and he could not afford to repeat his studies again. At that time, the state cooperative medical care had not yet been implemented, and all medical treatment was at your own expense. An extremely ordinary farming family, the adult months and months of sunrise and sunset and return, the family relies on a few acres of responsibility land, a single income, and lives a tight life.

Some people in the village said that Zhang Tao was probably stupid in reading, he had no strength to work, and his family was too poor. Later, the family asked him a family affair, the bride price was less, I heard that the woman lacked heart eyes, had intermittent schizophrenia, and gave birth to a girl after marriage. Zhang Tao was really unlucky, that year, he injured his leg while working in the city, and he didn't pay much money. Later, the heavy physical work could not be done, and no one in the construction team dared to ask for it, and life was difficult.

I walked alone on the village road, and Zhang Tao's home was in front.

From a distance, I saw a man standing at the door with his hands in his hands, looking listless. A low house in front of me looked like a mushroom. As I approached, I could vaguely find the silhouette of my high school classmates.

You are an old classmate Zhang Tao, I said hello from afar.

Oh, you're ...... I can't remember.

He looked at me blankly, then squinted into the distance, as if to reach into the depths of memory.

His eyes seemed to light up suddenly.

Oh, rare guests. He finally found my shadow in the past years, seemed to recognize me, and hurried to let me in.

Walking through the gate, a few chickens foraged in the yard, and two dairy goats leaned against the base of the wall while basking in the sun while eating the hay on the ground with taste. Zhang Tao asked me to sit in the house, but I couldn't find a place to sit when I entered the house. There was a smell of firewood and grass in the house. A pile of corn, a clay kang, a few dishes and chopsticks that have not had time to be washed, and a chicken is not afraid of so many people, trying to peck at the rice grains left on the ground from time to time. Seeing this, I frowned, my heart tightened, and I walked out of the house.

I put the nourishment I bought for him on the ground and stood outside.

I said, I sit a lot, and I'm covered in flesh. How good the sun is today, just right.

You kid, you can't recognize me, our relationship is a dormitory and a bed. Zhang Tao smiled innocently, his thick lips moved a few times, and he said a series of things that he didn't expect.

At this time, an unkempt woman came in, followed by a girl, eight or nine years old, the girl was dressed modestly. That's my woman and daughter, my daughter has gone to school, Zhang Tao was busy introducing.

The girl looked at me timidly and hurried into the house.

Before leaving, I took out 500 yuan from my body and gave it to Zhang Tao, who said that he didn't want anything. I forced him to recuperate, and asked him to take care of his illness and provide for the baby to go to school, and everything would be fine.

Just thinking about it, I arrived at the door of Zhang Tao's house in a blink of an eye, the previous low Xiazi house was gone, replaced by a few wide bungalows, and the neighbor said, this is Zhang Tao's house, I was a little unbelievable.

When I met, the air seemed to freeze for a moment, and I was a little afraid to recognize the person in front of me. Zhang Tao quickly recognized us, how could it be you, I thought it was the town animal husbandry station that gave the vaccine, and I also came today. We didn't speak, Zhang Tao seemed to see my surprise, he was busy smiling and introduced, although I can't do heavy work in recent years, but I still have to work hard to live, fortunately, the government encourages breeding, I have grown from small to large, now, more than 50 dairy goats, I have pulled out the poor roots, and now I can get by.

What about your wife and children? I asked curiously.

Oh, thank you for your concern, my wife is much better. From the conversation, I learned that his wife met the conditions for chronic diseases, and later, the government gave her chronic diseases, regular hospitalization, and the state reimbursed and subsidized some medical expenses, and her wife's illness never happened again. To his pride, his daughter was also admitted to university and is now much better.

I silently felt happy for Zhang Tao in my heart. He then excitedly said that his wife's illness was due to the good policy. Since the implementation of cooperative medical care, under the guidance of town and village cadres, his family has paid on time every year. When an individual pays a small part of the medical insurance fee, the state subsidizes most of it. At that time, I didn't think that my family would be able to use the medical premiums, but out of the most simple kindness, I thought that as long as the family was healthy, the medical premiums that could not be used could also help the relatives in need and help them get through the emergency. On the other hand, the government has helped its own family get rich, and there is a belief that it will not be wrong to do whatever the government tells it to do, and it has been renewing medical insurance without interruption. I never thought that my family would benefit from the good policy of urban and rural medical insurance, which benefited from every kindness that did not ask for returns. Now, my woman's illness has been cured, and I believe that the days to come will be more and more prosperous.

While speaking, Zhang Tao took out an envelope, this is 500 yuan, you gave it to me at the beginning, I have been looking for an opportunity to thank me in person, and the money must be returned. It was supposed to be given to you more, but that looks a little cheesy.

At the beginning, when I heard that I gave Zhang Tao 500 yuan, several classmates laughed and joked to me, you are a rich man. I know that they are worried that the buns will hit the dog and will never return. is even more disappointed in his family's future days. I also comforted myself in my heart that Qian Quan should be smoking.

Zhang Tao's gratitude to me was palpable, and his high opinion of me made other students jealous. Somehow, my face felt hot. What I imagined was that a good deed at the beginning rekindled his hope for life and planted a seed of goodness in his heart.

On the way home, I remembered a recent visit to a relative in the hospital. My relative was a strong man, and according to him, he had never taken a pill in the past. Unfortunately, last year in the field work, when picking pepper, accidentally fell from the tree, fell and injured the pelvis, quite serious, only the operation cost more than 100,000, unfortunately, he did not pay medical insurance that year, according to the policy, surgery, hospitalization all at his own expense. When they heard the doctor say that they couldn't reimburse a penny, the family complained to each other, and the couple had no choice but to secretly wipe their tears in the ward. For patients in the same ward, the reimbursement of hospitalization expenses is subsidized by tens of thousands, so there will not be such a big financial pressure. At that time, I also left some money, but it was only a drop in the bucket compared to the high cost of surgery.

Give people roses, and there is a lingering fragrance in your hands. Now it seems that the original few hundred yuan is not worth mentioning compared with the national medical insurance policy of benefiting the people. Isn't it?

Zhang Tao is right, everyone should have a kindness in their bones, and often in many cases, the return of this kindness is not only the help of the society, but also the luck that follows them like a shadow. Zhang Tao is lucky, my relatives have lost not only the state's policy subsidies, but also an unavoidable luck.

I can only silently bless them in my heart.

About author:Xing Genyou, a native of Fuping. He is a member of the Weinan Writers Association and a member of the Fuping County Writers Association, and his works have been published in more than 10 online platforms such as Huashan Literature and Yellow River Weekend, and many works have been pushed on the "Learning to Power the Country" platform. His works have won awards in the national essay contest "Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival and Welcoming the National Day" and the second "About the New Year's Flavor".