Since there are only two rooms, the men live in one, and the women and their half-grown children live in the other.
Xiangyun was fed milk and was burping. His mind wandered to treating Mrs. Lin's leg injury. Now that he had entered the city and the family had a place to stay, this matter had to be put on the agenda.
She wandered around the pharmacy, wondering whether to use Western medicine or Chinese medicine. After much deliberation, she finally decided to use the most conservative Chinese medicine rehabilitation therapy, combined with acupuncture and massage. She first dredged the stiff blood vessels, and then tried to practice simple lower limb movements. According to Mr. Lin, In most cases, the results can be seen within a month.
Mrs. Lin untied her granddaughter's coat and changed her urine bag. She couldn't help pinching Xiangyun's soft buttocks twice. When she lowered her head, she saw her granddaughter staring at her legs.
"Grandma's legs are useless. The blood vessels in them are blocked. It will be difficult to stand up again in this life. From now on, when A Bao can walk and jump, it will be up to you to push grandma out to bask in the sun!"
Mrs. Lin's tone was relaxed, but Xiangyun still saw a hint of unwillingness in her lonely eyes.
A good person, who wants to lie in bed all day long? The birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant outside, and the mountains are high and the water is vast. How can it be a hundred times better than being trapped in this small place?
"Na...na..." Xiangyun stretched out his short arms with teeth and claws, and his little fingers were like the tips of new shoots after the rain. Sometimes they fell on Mrs. Lin's legs, and sometimes they pointed at her forehead.
Mrs. Lin's eyes lit up and she instantly understood what her granddaughter meant. She leaned closer and asked softly.
"Abao, what do you mean, can you heal grandma's legs?"
Xiangyun blinked his little eyes, his eyes full of seriousness, and grinned, showing his cleverness.
When Mrs. Lin saw it, she cheered in her heart. If her granddaughter said it could be cured, it would definitely be cured.
That night, Mrs. Lin and Xiangyun held a unique pre-operative discussion, the format of which was as follows.
"Abao, do you think medicine or acupuncture is better?"
"Na...Na..."
"My grandma has tried acupuncture before, but it didn't have much effect. It's possible that the needles were inserted in the wrong place."
"Ah...ah..."
Grandparents and grandsons went back and forth until Xiangyun couldn't hold back his sleepiness and fell asleep, and the meeting came to an end.
When she woke up again, the sky had just cleared, and Mrs. Zheng had already prepared breakfast for the whole family, steamed buns with white porridge, a plate of green pickled cucumbers, and a few roasted sweet potatoes that were charred on the outside and tender on the inside.
Lin Lao Er and Lin Lao Er went out to look for errands. Before leaving, Zheng stuffed each of them with two soft and sweet white flour steamed buns.
Under the instructions of Mrs. Lin, Lin Silang took the road guide and household registration to the county government to register. Only refugees who had registered with the government could live normally in the city.
Mrs. Zheng and Ms. Zhang stayed at home to wash clothes and take care of the elderly and a few half-grown children.
Lin Laoer helped Uncle Zhong chop half of the yard's firewood, filled two water tanks, and climbed up to the roof to repair the leaking beams. He was so happy that his father-in-law shouted "big brother" one after another.
During lunch, the Lin family invited the father-in-law and his wife to have dinner together. Simple ingredients, cooked and stir-fried by Zheng's hands, always have a taste that others cannot make.
Uncle Zhong was not a stingy person either. He trotted back to the house and dug out the fine wine in his collection, insisting on having a good drink with Lin Laoer.
Mrs. Zheng hurriedly made two more dishes to go with the wine, spiced edamame and cucumber. The ingredients were all provided by Aunt Zhong.
When it was served to the table, I happened to see Uncle Zhong coming over with the wine. His leg was limping, and he looked like he was even more lame than yesterday.
"Uncle, are your legs okay?"
Uncle Zhong waved his hand nonchalantly: "It's okay. Maybe I was a little sore and swollen due to stress from sleeping last night. I'll be fine in a couple of days."
When Mrs. Lin heard this, she felt something was wrong in her heart, and advised: "Wine is a thing for the cold, so it's better not to drink it." She saw that her husband's leg was not only lame, but also swollen and red. It didn't look like he was pressing on his leg. Simple.
But Uncle Zhong didn't listen to the advice at all. Mrs. Lin wanted to persuade her again, but Aunt Zhong winked at a few people.
"Let him go. If he can listen to his advice, I would rather live ten years shorter. The old man is very stubborn!"
The Lin family couldn't say anything else. After the meal, the father-in-law drank two taels of sorghum wine by himself. If Lin Laoer hadn't persuaded him, he would have drank the remaining half of the jug. Finally, Aunt Zhong cursed her. , he was helped back to the room.
The three sons of the Lin family who had gone out to look for work also returned home at this time.
"Why did you come back so early? I thought I wouldn't see you until the afternoon. Have you had lunch? I'll get you two more dishes..."
As soon as she finished speaking, Mrs. Zheng noticed that several people had something wrong with their expressions. They all had droopy eyebrows and sad faces.
Seeing the looks of the brothers, she immediately knew that they were being rejected from outside.
"It doesn't matter. If you can't find any work today, you can go out and look for it tomorrow. Fuhai City is so big, how can we starve to death?"
"I can't find any work. The county government has promulgated new regulations. Any refugee who wants to stay in Fuhai City must either sell himself to a wealthy family as a slave, or work as a tenant farmer on a public farm. Otherwise, he has no choice but to pack up his bed. Leave Fuhai City!"
Lin Silang carefully told his third sister-in-law what he heard at the county government office today.
When Mrs. Zheng heard this, she was shocked. Both slaves and tenant farmers were of low status. Once they were naturalized, not to mention how many white eyes and ridicules they would suffer. Shan Silang could not go to school. In the future, A Bao could only find intermarriages with low status. , the family will never agree.
Sure enough, when Lin Silang told his family the news, the whole family was so angry that their teeth itched.
Mrs. Lin slapped the table and wanted to get out of bed to confront those officials.
"We promised to get rice and food relief and work in the city, so our family traveled thousands of miles to come here. Now tell me, do you want to change from a good status to a low status? Don't even think about it! At worst, if you leave the city and go home, you will be hungry. I will never suffer this humiliation even if I die!"
Boss Lin agreed with his mother, with the same angry tone. Today, when he was looking for work, every store owner heard that he was a refugee. He didn't even listen to a word of explanation, and just waved people away, as if they were despised as if they were a plague.
"Mom is right. Once you are a slave, you will never be able to escape. You will be looked down upon wherever you go. Anyone can come and stab our family in the back. Even if we are not hungry now, we will suffer a long time in the future!"
Zhao Ruxia didn't think so. She had seen the wealth of the Xie family. Which of the maids and servants was worse off than the Lin family? It can be seen that as long as you join a wealthy family, it doesn't matter whether you are a slave or not. Living a comfortable life is the right thing!
"Mom, you can't say that. We have suffered so much along the way. Now the suffering on the way back home has been in vain. I don't think there is anything wrong with being a servant. Look at the Xie family..."
"Shut up! You are a shallow-eyed creature with light claws. You might as well stab the living person in the mouth to save trouble for your family. You can say such unconscionable things. Fortunately, you are a mother." , I won’t stop you if you want to belittle yourself, but if you dare to block my grandson’s future, I will kill you!”
