Chapter 743 1 Everyone Reminisces
When he walked out of the commune gate, the snow had stopped. The clear moonlight covered the fields of the Great Northern Wilderness like silver foil, and Yang Huaiqing stepped deep and shallow on the snow.
Suddenly he pointed in the direction of the old elm tree and shouted:
"Look, brother! That's where we're going to build the clinic!"
Yang Huaixi looked in the direction he pointed. On the snow-covered open space, a few dead grasses were swaying gently in the night breeze.
He thought of the perpetually gloomy sky in the alleys of the black market, the evasive glances of people as they passed by, and the half piece of frozen steamed bread that the old beggar stuffed into his hands before he died.
In those days, people's hearts were like locked medicine boxes, hiding their own pain and defenses.
At this moment, the wind and snow in the Great Northern Wilderness seemed to have stopped in the hard candy handed by Director Song, in the palm of Wang Jianguo's hand patting his shoulder, and in the light of the door left by He Yushui. It turned into hot soup noodles that everyone opened their hearts to, and turned into a paradise where people could safely take root.
He took a deep breath of the air filled with snow particles, and the itchiness in his injured arm turned into a warm current that flowed through his blood vessels to his fingertips.
Yang Huaiqing jumped and left a trail of footprints. When he turned around and smiled at him, there was still some crabapple candy residue from the supply and marketing cooperative stuck between his front teeth.
Yang Huaixi looked at his brother's smiling face illuminated by the moonlight, and suddenly recalled the days and nights he spent trying to make a living in the black market.
They have all become candies that are gradually melting in the palm of your hand, sweet with a hint of bitterness, but making the warmth of the land in front of you more clear and real.
The dusk was like a piece of grey cloth soaked in water, slowly covering the fields of the Great Northern Wilderness.
When Wang Jianguo led Yang Huaixi and his brother back, light blue smoke was coming out of the chimney of the adobe house in the distance. Yang Huaixi sniffed:
"Brother Wang, is this the smell of the cornmeal porridge that Sister He Yushui cooked?"
The discomfort of his injured arm gradually faded away with the thought of a warm kang and hot meals. Yang Huaixi looked at the courtyard that was getting closer and closer, and saw the icicles hanging on the wooden fence flashing like broken diamonds in the setting sun.
Suddenly, Yang Huaiqing tugged at his sleeve:
"Look, there's someone at the door!"
In the dim twilight, there was indeed a dark shadow pacing in front of the courtyard gate, his cotton shoes making a "crunching" sound on the snow. Sometimes he stopped to look in the direction of the commune, and sometimes he rubbed his hands anxiously.
Wang Jianguo squinted his eyes and took a look. The red pompom on the brim of his felt hat swayed as he moved:
“It’s Brother Shuzhuo!”
He quickened his pace, and his cotton shoes left deep ruts in the snow.
"He must be getting impatient."
The figure turned around immediately after hearing the noise. He was a tall and thin man with his cotton jacket buttons unbuttoned, revealing a patched blue shirt underneath.
“Build a nation!”
He walked towards me quickly, his voice hoarse from the cold wind.
“What’s wrong with you?”
There was ice on Zhao Shuzhuo's eyebrows, and the white breath he exhaled gathered into a mist in front of his face.
"What did I tell you before I left? I told you to wait for me at home to make arrangements, but Yu Shui said you guys left early!"
Wang Jianguo was about to speak when Zhao Shuzhuo patted him on the shoulder:
"Look, it's snowing heavily, and the two doctors have just arrived. They are unfamiliar with the place..."
He suddenly realized something, turned to look at Brother Yang Huaixi, and an apologetic look appeared on his red face.
"Look at my temper. I'm just complaining. Don't be offended, doctors. I'm just worried that you might get cold on the way."
Yang Huaixi looked at the frayed edges of Zhao Shuzhuo's cuffs and thought of the cup of hot tea that Director Song handed him.
"Don't worry, Brother Zhao,"
He subconsciously stood in front of Yang Huaiqing, and the bandage on his injured arm hurt slightly under his sleeve.
"Brother Wang took us to visit the brick factory and the supply and marketing cooperative, and we also met Director Song."
"you do not say!"
Wang Jianguo put his pipe back at his waist.
"Brother Shuzhuo, you didn't see that Director Song has spread out the planning map of the clinic, waiting for the Huaixi brothers to decide the location of the medicine cabinet!"
He pointed at Yang Huaiqing.
"This kid even told Director Song that he wanted to plant a crabapple tree next to the well!"
Zhao Shuzhuo did not respond, but walked straight to Yang Huaixi and suddenly reached out and touched his injured arm:
"Doctor Yang, I heard you were injured? I've made a herbal soup with rainwater and it's simmering in the stove."
Yang Huaixi was stunned, only to find that Zhao Shuzhuo's fingertips were rough from years of holding farm tools, but were exceptionally gentle when touching the bandage.
"Come in, come in!"
Zhao Shuzhuo suddenly rubbed his hands and stepped back, as if he remembered something.
"The rain has cleaned up the east wing, and the kang is heated up for you!"
When he turned around and pushed the door, the icicles on the lintel fell to the ground with a "crash", scaring away the sparrows under the eaves.
The kerosene lamp in the house had been lit long ago. He Yushui, wearing a blue apron, poked her head out of the kitchen. The strands of hair on her temples were wet from the steam.
“Finally I’m back!”
She brought out a steaming clay basin.
"Hurry up and drink a bowl of porridge while it's hot. There are wild dates in it."
Yang Huaiqing came forward and was immediately attracted by the sweet smell.
Zhao Shuzhuo squatted in front of the kang and fiddled with the coal stove, sparks flying on his patched cotton trousers:
"Jianguo, you too, take the doctor out without saying a word,"
He suddenly looked up at Yang Huaixi.
"But then again, what did Director Song say? Has the clinic's matter been settled?"
Wang Jianguo took the steamed bread handed to him by He Yushui, broke off half of it and stuffed it into Yang Huaiqing's hand:
"It's settled! Construction will begin in the spring. Old Sun from the brick factory said he wants to fire the kiln himself!"
He pointed at Yang Huaixi.
"Brother Huaixi also helped check the foundation and said we should move it half a meter to the east, next to the old elm tree!"
Yang Huaixi drank the boiling hot porridge, and the sweetness of the wild dates melted in his throat.
He looked at Zhao Shuzhuo's focused profile as he added coal to the stove, and at the flour on He Yushui's apron as she picked up food for Yang Huaiqing. He suddenly remembered the cold steamed buns that his neighbors handed him through the door at the black market.
In those days, people's hearts were like locked medicine boxes, hiding their own sufferings.
At this moment in this adobe house, complaints, laughter, and the clashing of pots and pans were intertwined, like the crackling of firewood in the stove, warming the cold night in the Great Northern Wilderness.
Yang Huaiqing suddenly pointed at Zhao Shuzhuo's cotton shoes and laughed:
"Brother Zhao, there is a hole in your shoe!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Huaixi glared at him, but Zhao Shuzhuo laughed out loud, revealing his teeth yellowed by smoke:
"Of course! When the clinic is built, I'll let you brothers give me a few injections to cure my old cold legs, and then I can buy a new pair of cotton shoes!"
The halo of the kerosene lamp danced on the window glass. Yang Huaixi looked at the gradually darkening night outside the house and felt that the pain in his injured arm was soothed by the warmth and human touch in the room.
Zhao Shuzhuo's warm complaints just now were like the nagging of an old beggar before his death, but they made him understand clearly:
In this land, people don't have to hide their feelings from each other or be on guard against each other. The frank and sincere care has long turned this place into a harbor where people can dock with peace of mind.
Zhao Shuzhuo picked up the enamel pot and was about to drink water when he suddenly straightened his back as if pricked by a needle, and the rough porcelain pot hit the kang table with a crisp sound.