Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 11 Heartache

Old Liu had a bicycle, so he took Xiao Wei and they leisurely drove into the city, which was only a few kilometers away.

When they arrived at the police station, Xiao Wei jumped off the back of his bicycle. It wasn't on his way from here, and he felt bad asking Lao Liu to give him a ride. "Take your time, sir," Xiao Wei called out to Lao Liu from where he stood. Lao Liu didn't turn around and just waved his hand.

I walked back to Station Master Wang's house along the road, went upstairs, the door was open, and went straight in.

Aunt Wang was sitting on a stool tidying up the vegetables when she heard the sound and looked up: "Xiao Wei's back! How was your day?"

Xiao Wei smiled and said, "It's alright. My teacher taught me how to push a wheelbarrow, and I practiced all afternoon."

Aunt Wang said, "Okay, work hard and learn some skills. Don't be afraid of hardship. Go wash your face and lie down for a while. I'll call you for dinner later."

Xiao Wei agreed, went to the kitchen to wash his face, and walked into the room that had been specially prepared for him. The bedding was all new. He stood by the bed, looked at the blankets, then at himself, hesitated for a moment, then turned around and said to Aunt Wang, "Auntie, can I go wash in the river?"

Aunt Wang looked up at him, smiled, and said, "What's wrong? Think you're dirty? Go to the kitchen, close the door, and wash yourself. The river water is filthy. Wait a minute, I'll find you some clothes; you can't wear these anymore."

She got up and went inside. A little while later, she came out with Uncle Wang's vest and pants and handed them to Xiaowei, saying, "Make do with your uncle's for now. I'll go to town tomorrow and buy you a few new ones." Xiaowei took the clothes and said, "This is fine. No need to buy new ones. I'll be working there, and they'll be worn out in a few days. It'll be a waste. Auntie, you should buy some for my uncle. I'll just wear the old ones, preferably the kind that's durable."

Aunt Wang nodded, sat down and continued picking vegetables, saying, "Okay, you can wear your old ones to work normally, and buy a new one when you have a holiday. Your uncle doesn't need to buy one, his company provides uniforms. By the way, I'll find you a set, he has a canvas uniform, that's very durable, but it's a bit thick, won't it be too hot to wear in this weather?" Then she stood up and went back into the house.

Xiao Wei took the clothes into the kitchen, closed and bolted the door, took off his clothes and threw them into the basin, turned on the tap, and started washing himself with soap and cold water.

Back then, it was quite inconvenient for ordinary people in Northeast China to take a bath. Bathhouses were only available at fixed times and locations, and if you missed one, you couldn't take a bath at all. In the summer, it was okay, as long as there was some water, you could take a bath. If all else failed, you could just go to the river. In the winter, it was a disaster. There was nowhere else to bathe except in bathhouses. It was alright in the city, but where could you find a bathhouse in the countryside? You could only boil some water to wash your private parts.

The men showered quickly; in about ten minutes, a brand-new Xiao Wei appeared, dressed in clean clothes. He opened the kitchen door, then turned to wash the clothes he had changed out of. Aunt Wang laughed and scolded, "Alright, stop pretending. You can wash yourself? Leave it there. Come help me pick vegetables. Xiao Hong will wash you after dinner. By the way, what do you think of those work clothes? They're a bit thick."

Xiao Wei picked up the work clothes and looked at them. They were dark blue canvas and a bit thick, but they were durable. Many workers on the construction site wore them. They would put them on before working and take them off before resting.

"Okay, I'll wear this tomorrow," Xiaowei said to Aunt Wang.

Aunt Wang said, "Okay? Then I'll change it for you tonight. Why aren't you growing? You're so thin. From today onwards, eat an extra bowl of rice at every meal." Xiao Wei looks like his mother. He's not tall, only about 1.7 meters tall at sixteen or seventeen, and he's especially thin.

Xiao Wei didn't dare to talk back, so he just chuckled, pulled over a small stool to sit down, and reached for the vegetables. As soon as he reached out, Aunt Wang asked, "What happened to your hand? Let me see it. What happened to your hand?" It was dirty before, so it wasn't obvious, but after washing it clean, the ten rosy little radishes became too obvious.

Xiao Wei was a little embarrassed and said, "I was grinding bricks this afternoon. It's okay, it'll be fine tomorrow. It's always like this at first."

Aunt Wang grabbed Xiao Wei's hand and examined it carefully. She said, "This won't do. It's all swollen. Does it hurt? It must hurt. What should we do? Let's go to the hospital. Come on." She stood up as she spoke.

Xiao Wei quickly grabbed Aunt Wang and said, "Auntie, don't worry, it's really nothing, it just hurts a little bit. Everyone's like this on the first day, you'll get used to it, really. My master said to just wash it with salt water, I'm not lying to you, and my master said he'll get me a pair of gloves tomorrow, and I'll be fine once I wear them."

Aunt Wang hesitated for a moment, then said, "Really? Then hurry up and get some salt water to wash it. I'll go get it."

Xiao Wei pulled Aunt Wang aside and said, "I've already done it, I just washed it. Oh, don't worry about it, hurry up and prepare the food, Uncle Wang and Xiao Hong will be back soon."

Aunt Wang looked a little worried, and said to Xiao Wei's hand, "Your uncle isn't coming back for dinner, he's gone out drinking. Xiao Hong has evening self-study, she won't be here this early. Are you sure you don't need to go check on him? Does it hurt? Maybe we should just quit this job, it's too much suffering for him. Have your uncle find him another job tomorrow."

Xiao Wei shook his head and said, "It's okay, Auntie. Everyone gets blisters when they first start farming. You'll get used to it. This is only my first day. It'll get better from now on. My master taught me a lot of secrets today."

Aunt Wang looked at Xiao Wei's hands, sighed, said nothing more, and sat down to pick vegetables.

Actually, Xiaowei's hands were almost numb from the pain. They were already swollen, the skin was broken, and then he took a bath and soaked them in salt water. Why do people always say that you should sprinkle salt on a wound? Because it really hurts.

However, rural children are used to being hurt from a young age and have a strong ability to withstand hardship. Besides, he couldn't cry out in pain in front of Aunt Wang. Firstly, he didn't want to worry her, and secondly, as a sixteen or seventeen-year-old young man, he couldn't let his pride get the better of him.

Enduring the excruciating pain, Xiaowei carefully picked the vegetable leaves one by one. Fortunately, it was celery. If it were green beans or potatoes, he wouldn't have been able to handle them no matter how hard he tried; his hands would have trembled from the pain and wouldn't obey his commands.

"Hey, how was work today?" Xiao Hong skipped into the house with her backpack on and patted Xiao Wei on the back.

Xiao Wei replied without turning his head, "It's alright. I'm following my master and practicing. I haven't started working yet."

Xiaohong casually put her schoolbag on the table, walked over to the two people, squatted down, reached for the vegetables, and asked, "What are you practicing?"

Xiao Wei said, "Pushing a wheelbarrow is hard to handle. It's unruly. I spent the whole afternoon trying to push it around a few times, but I could only manage to do it alright."

Xiao Hong said, "What's a unicycle? A vehicle with only one wheel? Why not make a two-wheeled one? What happened to your hand? Don't move, let me see."

Xiao Wei said, "It's nothing." He tried to pull his hand back, but Xiao Hong grabbed it and looked at it one by one, saying, "What happened? Why is it so swollen? Does it hurt a lot? What vegetables were you picking? Mom, didn't you see how swollen his hand is? And you still made him do chores."

Aunt Wang glared at her daughter and said, "Do you think I'll let him do whatever he wants? He's got guts now, yelling at your mother."