Gong Liang's family lived in Tongzilou. The house was not big. Qin Huai visually estimated that it was only about 30 to 40 square meters, and it was divided into three areas.

The living room, Gong Liang’s room and Gong Liang’s parents’ bedroom.

Qin Huai took a brief look and found that Gong Liang's room was relatively large, with a bed, two cabinets, and an iron fan. It could be seen that Gong Liang was still very favored as the only son in the family.

Gong Liang's parents' bedroom was relatively small, with only a bed, a cabinet and some sundries.

Gong Liang's father was lying on the bed with his eyes closed and seemed to be asleep. Gong Liang's mother was not at home. After returning home, Gong Liang first went to the bedroom to check on his father's condition, and then skillfully took out the coal stove from the corner of the living room.

Light the briquettes and open the lunch box.

The lunch box was filled with quail egg-roasted pork, which was eighty percent full. There was more meat and less egg. The skin of the quail egg was fried, and some of the quail eggs were buried in the meat.

, but everyone who has eaten it knows that it tastes best this way.

The dish has cooled down, and the fat has solidified on the surface. You can't smell the aroma, but you can see that the color of the braised pork is very beautiful, the thick oil and red sauce, and the chef has carefully fried it to a sugar-colored color. The large pieces of pork belly are very fat and lean, and it's just good to look at.

eat.

Gong Liang took out another iron lunch box with four corners that had been smashed and had many pits. He put a small half of a quail egg into it and burned the meat. He closed the lid and put the lunch box on the coal stove to heat it.

Gong Liang squatted beside the coal stove, in a daze.

As time went by, the roasted pork with quail eggs in the lunch box gradually began to smell fragrant. Even Gong Liang, who was in a daze, smelled it and began to salivate unconsciously.

Seeing Gong Liang squatting beside the stove, swallowing his saliva honestly while in a daze. Qin Huai felt dumbfounded for a moment, feeling that this scene was a bit too funny.

Soon, the cry of a child was heard next door.

"Mom, I want to eat meat too! Fragrant meat!"

"Don't make any noise. I'll give you meat tickets during the Chinese New Year so you can eat as much as you like!"

"Mom, meat..."

"Don't make any noise to Uncle Gong's house next door. Uncle Gong has been in poor health recently and needs to eat meat to supplement his nutrition. Mom will give it to you when you need to supplement your nutrition..."

Even though the voice next door had been lowered, Qin Huai still heard the first few sentences. This is the disadvantage of the Tongzi Building. The slightest noise can easily be heard by the neighbors next door, and the sound insulation effect is very poor.

The lunch box was still heating on the coal stove, and Gong Liang was still in a daze, when there was a knock on the door.

Gong Liang stood up sluggishly and opened the door. Outside the door was a lean woman with a yellowish complexion due to malnutrition.

Seeing Gong Liang open the door, the woman forced out a smile: "Xiao Liang, I still have some flour at home. I made noodles at noon today and there is still enough for a bowl. I was not here at noon. Your mother confiscated the noodles when I brought them over. Now you can take advantage of this."

Mom has gone out to do laundry, so take this noodle to your dad to eat."

"In his current situation, it would be most useful to eat some noodles made from refined white flour and lay an egg on top."

"You also know the conditions of my family. The silk weaving factory has not paid last month's salary yet. My Lao Xia is an ordinary worker and really has no money to lend to your family. This bowl of noodles is just my aunt's wish."

"Thank you Aunt Xia." Gong Liang took the bowl.

"Eh." Aunt Xia smiled, quietly glanced into the room, smiled bitterly, shook her head, and left.

Gong Liang put the noodles on the table and continued to be in a daze.

Qin Huai felt a little strange. He stared at Gong Liang's face, wondering whether he was so overwhelmed by life that he was so absent-minded no matter where he was. Or was he actually thinking about something because he was thinking too much?

He was serious, so he seemed absent-minded.

After the quail eggs and meat were heated up on the coal stove, Gong Liang used iron tongs to clamp down the lunch box. Without turning off the stove, he opened the medicine package, put the Chinese medicine into the medicine pot, poured water, and continued to boil the medicine on the stove.

The time to boil the medicine is very long.

Gong Liang continued to squat in a daze. After an unknown amount of time, the door opened.

A thin, pale, middle-aged woman came in holding a basin, her lips were bloodless but her cheeks had a sickly blush caused by tiredness.

"Mom, if you're not feeling well, don't go downstairs to wash your clothes. I told you to leave your clothes at home and I'll come back to wash them after get off work." Gong Liang took the basin.

Gong's mother sat on the chair and panted. She waited for a few seconds before speaking: "How can you wash it clean? I'm tired enough from work. I can still do this little work at home."

After saying that, Mother Gong saw the lunch boxes and noodles that had been heated on the table.

"The noodles were sent by Aunt Xia, and there was braised pork in the lunch box. Zheng Da gave it to me on the way back." After saying that, Gong Liang dug into his pocket and said, "He just paid his salary today and gave it to me."

"I've remembered it all."

"Mom, I won't go to Jinling next week. The section chief said that there is a high probability that the order for Jinling will not be negotiated, and if the order cannot be negotiated, the reimbursement will not be issued for a while, so he will go for me."

Gong's mother didn't say anything. She silently walked to the door and closed the door of their room tighter, as if this way the sound would not be transmitted.

Mother Gong sat back, as if she had made some kind of determination, her lips trembled slightly, and she clenched her right hand unconsciously until her knuckles turned white and her nails dug into her flesh.

"Xiao Liang, after you went out this morning...your dad said, we should just stop the treatment." After speaking, Mother Gong took a deep breath, as if she had exhausted all her strength, her lips turned white, and she did not dare to look.

Gong Liang.

Seeing that Gong Liang didn't respond, Gong's mother continued.

"Although your father came back from the rescue this time, he is still disabled. It is still unclear whether the reimbursement of medical expenses will be paid. Last year, Lao Zhang's medical expenses were not reimbursed. Now the factory is in such a slump, everyone is thinking

Find a way to transfer it to other factories."

"It's impossible to cure your dad's condition, and the cost of medicine is bottomless. Originally, it was already a heavy burden to have me as a drag on the family. Now your dad is like this too. The factory sees that our family is in trouble and extra money is needed."

The money you received has been spent long ago, even the money for your wedding..."

"Xiao Guo is a very nice child, and her parents like her very much, but it's normal for people to have hesitations and concerns. Originally, our family's situation was not particularly good, but now there is such a burden. She is fine.

Who is the girl willing to serve two patients as soon as she marries into our family?"

"I helped my neighbors as much as they could, and I borrowed all the money my relatives and friends could borrow. Your uncle and aunt are all in the country, and your uncle... forget it, it's normal not to borrow money that is destined to be repaid."

"You've been wandering around for the past two months, and your parents have seen it. Although your dad is lying on the bed, he feels uncomfortable in his heart. He has been mumbling at home when you were away. If I had known, today's outcome would not be as good as

He will die directly, and he will save some money without any treatment."

"I know you definitely don't want to, and mom won't want to either if there's really no other way. How about this? Just finish the remaining Chinese medicine and forget about it. I'll take care of your dad for the rest of the time and at least let him go away with dignity.

.”

Mother Gong said, quietly wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes with her fingers.

Gong Liang said in a hoarse voice: "Mom, I asked the doctors, and they said that Dad's condition is not the worst. If he recovers well and is lucky, he may not necessarily be paralyzed for the rest of his life."

Mother Gong forced out a bitter smile that was uglier than crying: "But your father doesn't want to waste your whole life."

Gong Liang remained silent.

"Xiao Liang..." Gong's mother wanted to say something else, but Gong Liang didn't want to hear it anymore and opened the door and ran out.

Gong's mother wanted to chase him out. As soon as Qin Huai followed him to the door, he heard a deep voice coming from the room: "Let him be alone."

Gong Liang ran downstairs and squatted at the base of a wall blocked by a big tree. There was no sadness or anger, he was just numbly clasping the soil on the ground.

Just like that from day to night.

Qin Huai watched quietly from the side as he dug out a small hole in the ground.

Finally, a person found Gong Liang.

"Why are you squatting here digging in the dirt?"

Looking towards the source of the sound, Qin Huai saw a tall, muscular middle-aged man with a ferocious face under the moonlight, but his facial features made him feel amiable.

There was a ferocious scar on the man's face, which looked like it was scratched by a sharp weapon. It went from the corner of his eye to the corner of his mouth. It was a vicious scar that could scare a child into tears if he walked by.

But the man's expression was unexpectedly gentle, like an elder who carefully taught an ignorant child. His smile reached his eyes, and his tone was as playful as teasing a child.

What made Qin Huai feel strange was that he felt that this man looked slightly familiar, as if he had seen someone who looked somewhat similar to him somewhere.

The man’s identity is already revealed——

Jing Lixiang, Master Jing.

"Master Jing." Gong Liang stood up obediently. It can be seen that Master Jing is still very prestigious among the younger generation.

"You ran away from home and haven't been seen for several hours. Your mother is almost going crazy. She has asked for help from me, a fifty-year-old lame old man. I guessed that you were here. Why, there is another order.

Didn't the deal come to fruition?" Jing Lixiang said with a smile.

"No." Gong Liang whispered.

"I know even if you don't tell me." Jing Lixiang smiled, "It doesn't matter if you don't want to go home. I'll chat with you here for a while."

With that said, Jing Lixiang took out a Zheng Da-style cloth bag from his pocket and handed it to Gong Liang.

"This is Shengli's salary this month. He heard that Zheng Da paid 10 yuan to his family and kept 5 yuan for himself. He didn't keep a penny for himself this month. Except for the 10 yuan he gave to his family, the rest is here.

." Jing Lixiang shook his head helplessly, "This is even better than this. Sometimes I really can't do anything to them."

"I can probably guess what your parents are thinking now, and I can also guess what you are thinking. We outsiders have no right to interfere with your family affairs, but we have been neighbors for so many years, and I have never had any children in my life.

I have saved some savings, and if the medical expenses are really not enough, I can borrow some more."

Gong Liang whispered: "Master Jing, we can't borrow any more. My family has already borrowed a lot of money. If you borrow more, I won't be able to repay it in my lifetime."

"It's a long life. When I was your age, I never thought that one day I would leave my hometown and come to Suzhou. When I was 10 years older than you, I didn't want to live for a while. I thought what was the point of living?

, it would be better to die and die a hundred times, but still not live to this day.”

"Xiao Liang, you are also capable. When you first entered the silk weaving factory, didn't your Section Chief Chen praise you every day for being a good salesperson?"
To be continued...