1
The first time I met Li Zhiqiang was in my senior year, when I went to a lecture organized by our college, and he, as the “excellent alumni representative”, explained to us the current employment trends and various problems we often encountered in interviews. He was a small man with a flat head, and he looked very spiritual. That night, the host proudly introduced that he worked in the central ministry and was already at the deputy department level at the age of 38. I have forgotten exactly what he said that day, but I only remember that his voice was bright and he smiled before he spoke, giving people a very friendly feeling.
Later, when I was in graduate school, my supervisor also happened to be his supervisor in the past. The first time I entered the lab, I saw an army coat hanging on the coat rack in the northeast corner of the lab. At that time, I was thinking that even in winter, the lab was heated, so there was no need for such thick clothes. Seeing that I was puzzled, my sister explained to me, “This is Qiang’s coat.
Sister said, one winter, Li Zhiqiang in Zhangjiakou, an experimental base to do experiments, but the experimental data always have problems, would have been a month to complete the experiment, but did more than three months, until the New Year did not return. Before the Chinese New Year, his mentor drove from Beijing to Zhangjiakou, and when he arrived at the base, it was already more than 1:00 at midnight, and he was still measuring data in the lab, wearing a military coat.
After the mentor returned to Beijing, he gave the whole laboratory a meeting, not to talk about the experiment, not to talk about the data, only about Li Zhiqiang in Zhangjiakou to do experiments. When Li came back from Zhangjiakou after the New Year, the military coat was hung in the lab by his sister, and every new student in the lab would tell the story of “Brother Qiang” to inspire the young people.
Later, I met Li Zhiqiang again at his mentor’s birthday banquet, and he came with his lover, who was also our alumnus, one level below him, from the next lab, and very tall. That day, Li Zhiqiang was slightly drunk, and he kept teaching us bachelors about chasing girls: “Chasing girls is the same as doing experiments, you have to work hard, but also have patience, often do experiments with bad data to redesign, chasing girls is also the same, often find the wrong way, you have to think more, more thinking, find the right way is very critical … …”
Li Zhiqiang’s words drew us laughing, and when the meal was over, we all called him “Brother Qiang”.
In the two years of graduate school, Qiang and I only met a few times at the lab party, the relationship is not good. The first day of the second year, Qiang suddenly called me, said his father-in-law was hospitalized, the next day to do an MRI, and wanted me to give a hand to help him lift his father-in-law into a wheelchair.
The next day I went to the hospital to help, it was almost noon, Qiang invited me to eat at a fast food restaurant near the hospital, told me that his father-in-law has intestinal cancer, the situation is not very good, his lover recently emotional instability, often in a trance, home and outside of the things all pressed on him alone.
This is the first time I saw the real Brother Qiang.
2
During that period of time, I will be free to Qiang brother-in-law hospital to see, one is the same brother, the second is also to do hometown love. Sometimes on weekends, Qiang will also call on me to drink a couple of glasses. Strong brother’s drinking capacity in general, drink a lot of talk, in his drunken intermittent speech, I probably understand his experience over the years.
The company’s main goal is to provide the best possible service to its customers.
The class teacher before the college entrance exam also told Qiang’s father that if he played normally, he would have no problem with a national key. But the night before the college entrance exam because too nervous, Qiang did not sleep a night, the next morning chills, to the small clinic near the school to take a temperature, 38 degrees – no way, a shot of antipyretic drugs on the exam room in a hurry. Originally a major university seedling, but in the end only took a specialist. The company’s main goal is to provide a comprehensive range of products and services to the market.
This year, Qiang did not return home, the results in the city are the top few, the school has also been his focus on training. Learning from the lessons of the first year, the second time before the college entrance examination Qiang was very careful about his body, always on guard, but the night before the college entrance examination, suddenly diarrhea, into the examination room before the people are almost deflated – this time he only got into a specialist.
Qiang immediately became the joke of the village. He spent every day in bed, not wanting to move, not to mention not wanting to go out. “At that time, I felt that if I left home, the whole village was laughing at me.
It was his sister Qiaoying who pulled him out of bed, not to lecture him or comfort him, but to take him to the field, pulling weeds, spreading fertilizer and applying pesticides. After more than a week, his sister told him, “Don’t think you’re the only one who doesn’t have an easy time, there are many people who don’t have an easy time, and you shouldn’t feel aggrieved.
Strong brother sat on the field monopoly, let the sun sun for an afternoon, and then packed up to go to repeat. The third college entrance exam, Qiang really got into a major university in Beijing. The four years of college, Qiang did not dare to have the slightest relaxation, college entrance exams on his shadow is too big, he does not want his children to repeat the same mistake – he wants to stay in Beijing.
In his sophomore year, Qiang fell in love with a female high school classmate, who was not in Beijing, and the two were separated for two years, nearing graduation, but during graduate school, the current lover was caught up. After graduation, strong brother after layers of screening, smoothly into the ministry, the third year after joining the marriage.
By now, everything is also considered smooth.
3
After graduating from graduate school, I worked in Beijing for a while, and then wanted to go home to develop. Before I left Beijing, I asked Qiang to have dinner with me. I thought he would advise me to stay in Beijing, but Qiang said to me on the phone, “It’s good to leave Beijing, go back to your family, and don’t stay in Beijing all the time.”
Frankly speaking, I was quite uncomfortable when I heard these words. If someone who was not doing well in Beijing advised me to do so, I could still accept it, but this sentence came out of Qiang’s mouth, and I always felt that it was more comforting.
Finally, Qiang said that there are many things, another day when he returned home and then asked me to eat.
When Qiang contacted me again, it was a year after I returned to my hometown. When Qiaoying’s father-in-law died, he took two days off work to return. I’m still a little excited to not see you for more than a year, and a bottle of wine went down, so I talked more.
“Your sister’s father-in-law died, you should not need to come back, right? This relatives have turned several corners.”
“You don’t know, my sister has loved me since I was a child, the year I got into college, our family couldn’t raise the tuition at that time, my sister was scheduled to get married two years later, but in order to raise the tuition for me, married ahead of time, I was using my sister’s bride price to go to college.”
“What does your sister do now?”
“There was no work in the village, after having children in order to let the children get a good education, the family moved to the city. My brother-in-law used to kill pigs in the village, but now he sells pork in the city.”
“By the way, how is my father-in-law? Is everything okay?”
“Hey …… is gone, just in the days when you are leaving Beijing, at that time originally said to send you off, but a bunch of things inside and outside, to my age, work is already a continuous rotation, and then something happened at home, really can not cope. Although there are psychological preparation in advance, but really left, your sister-in-law still can not accept, crying every day, the child can not see, that time is really ……”
Suddenly, Qiang turned his words and looked at me and said, “In fact, you left Beijing at that time I blame myself, I feel that I did not give you any help in the work ……”
“Where are you going with this ……” I interrupted him. Indeed, I am not related to him, and he is not obliged to help me.
The next day I went with Qiang to his sister’s house, Qiaoying sister windy, loud, with a dry short hair. I was shocked to see Qiang, and hurriedly pulled us into the room, pouring us water while scolding Qiang for not dropping his work and coming back.
I accompanied Qiang to stay at the funeral for two days, during which Qiaoying kept urging Qiang to go back to Beijing: “There are so many people at home, you should go back to Beijing, and my sister-in-law is alone in Beijing, working and taking care of the children, so she can’t take care of them.”
Brother Qiang kept saying “it’s okay, it’s okay” and didn’t leave, and waited until Qiaoying’s father-in-law was buried before returning to Beijing.
4
Half a month after Qiang’s return to Beijing, I suddenly received a phone call from an unfamiliar number, just pick up, the phone came a loud voice – Qiaoying sister’s voice is too recognizable.
Before I could say anything, Qiaoying said she had arrived at the door of my flat. I am still muttering in my heart, she looked for me can have what matter, Qiaoying sister greeted: “also nothing, some time ago my father-in-law’s funeral, you are working here also went to help for two days, want to invite you to eat a meal and can not find you people, I asked for your cell phone number from Qiangzi, he told me you work here, I brought you some ribs. “
I just noticed that Qiaoying sister with a large plastic bag, I said nothing, Qiaoying sister hard to put down, turned around and left.
I also just learned that Qiaoying sister’s butcher store is not far from my rented house, every day after work will pass by. Several times, Qiaoying sister saw me from afar, had to call me hard to stuff me with some meat, so I was very embarrassed.
Later contact more, I gradually feel that, although Qiaoying sister on the surface of the big heart, in fact, really very careful, later I will also go to her to sit, chatting, always talk about Qiang brother on.
The first time you talk about Qiang, Qiaoying sister how can not stop.
“Qiangzi after the second college entrance examination failure became very depressed, every day with the evil like, I was most afraid, is that his character is not good to find an object later, later did not expect to really find one. On his high school classmates, the girl in Baoding to college, the two are as good as a person, the girl also came home, and I am very right temperament, there is no frame, to the home what work are doing …… did not want to graduate from college on the split. Ask him why he split, he said it was not suitable, and did not say why. You then ask it, he was anxious. The first few years I also went to Beijing to see his child for a year. Now he is pregnant with his second child, and every day he works during the day, and at night he has to take care of his wife and children, and it’s not easy for him.”
“Yes, it’s not easy for anyone.”
People in middle age, not a moment to let up
The quiet days did not last long, and then something happened.
One day in October, I received a phone call from Qiaoying sister, said her father was hit by a car, the driver fled, she reported to the police, but the traffic police said there was no camera on the road of the accident, and her father did not remember the license plate number. She asked me if I knew anyone in the traffic police team who could help check the nearby camera video again.
“There’s nothing wrong with the old man, right?” I asked her.
“There is nothing major in the body, a week in the hospital on the discharge, now in the home recuperation, my mother took care of, all right.”
The location of the accident was in a village, my friends around me also do not know the county traffic police, I said to Qiaoying sister: “No, let Qiang brother out to ask it.”
Qiaoying sister hurriedly said forget it: “It was nothing, it was discharged, he is quite busy in Beijing, do not bother him.”
5
For more than two months after that, I didn’t see Sister Qiaoying again, and the butcher store was always closed. I called her and she sighed and said she was in the hospital, “My mom is sick.”
That day after work, I bought some fruit and rushed to the People’s Hospital. The old lady was staying in a triple room, her face was quite rosy, and she didn’t seem to be doing anything. Qiaoying sister in the side of a folding bed, but looks very tired, hair a little messy, the corners of the eyes have a lot of blood, but see me still smiled and said, “Look at you, still come to a trip, it’s okay, this is a few days after the discharge, is a little pneumonia, a few days of infusion will be fine.”
When I left, Qiaoying sent me downstairs, and I asked, “Is the old lady really okay?”
Sister Qiaoying, as if she couldn’t control it, her eyes turned red and she cried for several minutes with her head down before she said to me, “After my father was discharged from the hospital, my mother has been taking care of him, and I go home every other day to see him. That day I returned to the city how can not sleep, the next day drove her to the city, lying to her that the child wants to see her, turn her head to take her to the hospital for examination.”
“That day I already felt a little bit wrong, up a second floor she had to rest twice, I was holding her, hand on her arm pressed down is a pit. The doctor left me alone after the examination, saying that I should be hospitalized as soon as possible, and that the situation was very bad, probably advanced lung cancer, and I was hospitalized on the same day. I didn’t dare to tell her, I just told her it was pneumonia and that she would be fine after a few days in the hospital.”
“Now the technology is so advanced, you do not be too pessimistic, listen to the doctor, will get better ……” I know, at such times my words seem very pale, not the parties, the world is not empathetic to this thing.
“The actual fact is that you can’t get rid of a lot of the problems you’re having with your family. The blood pressure is high and low, but also sleepless all night, he can take care of himself is good, the family matters I do not want to count on him. My father is still at home, and I don’t know what kind of disease my mother has, but he is not well now, so he can only make some food for himself every day, I just can’t get away. Longlong (Qiaoying sister’s son) has just entered his third year of high school, since childhood is his grandfather brought him up, his grandfather left, academic performance has dropped a lot, the teacher recently often called me to say that Longlong often distracted in class, I also dare not say him, afraid to stimulate him.”
“Call me when you need help at home, or you can’t take care of it alone.” I can only say.
Sister Qiaoying still squeezed out a little smile, “No, you’re so busy with work, you’ll call you when you need it.”
“Do you want me to tell Brother Qiang?” I asked anyway.
Sister Qiaoying immediately stopped me: “Don’t tell him! His daughter-in-law will give birth in a month or so, so don’t tell him at this time.”
6
I ran to the hospital a lot during that time, and on Sundays, sometimes I would stay in the hospital for an afternoon so that Qiaoying could go back to the village to look after my father.
The old lady looked good, her appetite was good, and sometimes when I was bored in the hospital, she would take the initiative to talk to me for a while.
In the same ward lived a middle-aged woman and an old cadre with a white beard. The middle-aged woman is very bad-tempered and often quarrels on the phone in the hospital. From her intermittent phone calls, I probably know that her child is now in adolescence, very rebellious, often skipping school and not attending classes, and her husband’s relationship with her is not good. Sometimes she will talk to me for a few minutes, laughing bitterly, saying that children nowadays are not easy to control, and do not listen to what they say, their own mother hospitalized and do not know to see.
The old cadre is always smiling, a small bottle of white wine hidden under the pillow, like to steal a few sips when the nurse is not, to visit his ward is always constant, fruit and nutrients piled up a table.
Then I left on a business trip for ten days, and when I came to the hospital again, I found that the two beds next to the old lady had been changed. Not long after I went there that day, Qiaoying said to me that she wanted to transfer her mother to the hospital.
“Why?”
“The two people in the same room with her are gone. The middle-aged woman left a week ago, and was still angry when she left, cursing for an hour or so before she suddenly broke off, and her children didn’t come to see her before she left. The old cadre left the night before last, and when they left the ward, they cried and wore their birthday suits on the hospital bed. I am afraid that the old lady is affected, not conducive to treatment ……”
I gave Qiaoying sister said, need help when you call me. But several days in a row passed, and Qiaoying sister did not contact me, I went to the ward again after work, and this time Qiaoying sister’s father was also there.
I pulled Qiaoying outside the ward and asked her, “Why haven’t you been transferred to another hospital?”
The doctor said that my mother’s condition is very bad, and the transfer is a bit tumultuous, and there is a good chance that there will be an accident during the transfer. I told my father about the idea, I thought he would agree, the matter was hidden from him from the beginning, but I did not expect him to know everything. He said don’t transfer to the hospital, here it is, not going anywhere, your mother wants to eat anything let her eat something, want to do something, if she really want to go home, take home.”
Sister Qiaoying said while she was in tears, I could not even say a word of relief for a while.
“Dragon called me yesterday, his grandmother’s affairs, I did not disclose to him at all, for fear of affecting his studies, he just lost his grandfather, and then know that his grandmother’s illness, I am afraid that his heart can not bear. He asked me yesterday if grandma was hospitalized, and said that he knew all about grandma’s affairs, two days after the holidays to come to the hospital to see grandma, hanging up the phone also said to me, you don’t get too tired ……”
“The child also really knows how to behave. Is the old lady in a good state now? Does she know she’s sick?”
“I dare not look at her now, I feel she looks at me wrong, she may also know her situation, these days always told me not to let Longlong too tired, good exams on a good university, bad exams on a secondary university, don’t push the child too much, which can anyone go to a good university ah. Also instructed me not to tell Qiangzi, Qiangzi in Beijing, is the country’s people, can not let him distract ……”
This time Qiaoying sister’s father came out of the ward, to Qiaoying sister made a look, I was wise to walk away a few steps to avoid a little. A few minutes later Qiaoying sister said to me, “My father just asked me to give Qiangzi a call, let him come back to the trip.”
7
I picked up Qiang at the train station at noon the next day, four days before his wife’s due date.
When the old lady saw Qiang coming, she kept blaming Qiaoying: “I told you not to tell him, he’s so busy, and Yuan Yuan (Qiang’s lover) is about to give birth, hurry back!”
Brother Qiang said, “It’s okay, I’ve already taken the next few days off.”
I took Qiang to the ward and left, and sent him a text message at night: “Let me know when you’re leaving, I’ll see you off.”
Qiang did not reply to me until noon the next day: “I have a 3 p.m. train.”
At 2 p.m., I rushed to the hospital to pick him up, and before leaving the ward, Qiang smiled with his mother and said, “I’m leaving, and I’ll video you in a few days, so you can see the baby.”
The old lady also smiled and waved to him.
Once out of the ward, Qiang’s face immediately changed, got into the car and did not speak, just a smoke. Almost halfway to the car, then suddenly said to me: “hurry up and have a child?”
“Huh?”
“Your sister-in-law and I originally did not want a second child, the cost of raising a child in Beijing is too big, your sister-in-law is an only child, in the days before my father-in-law left, encountered what matters even a person to discuss, after my father-in-law left, she decided to have another child.”
“Don’t worry about going to Beijing, what’s going on here is that I and Qiaoying sister it ……” I don’t know what to say.
“In fact, it’s good that you’re going home, it’s too difficult to get a foothold in Beijing, I haven’t had a restful night’s sleep for so many years, I’m afraid of making a slight mistake at work. I have been in Beijing for so many years, my parents have not been to Beijing once, the original is afraid of spending money, and then after marriage, conditions slowly got better, they are afraid to go to make my wife unhappy.”
“Sister-in-law is due soon, do not think about this, cheer up ……”
Strong brother silent for a while, said: “In fact, I have a girlfriend in college, is my high school classmate, in Baoding to go to college, then look forward to the weekend, once the weekend to take the train to Baoding to see her. I was only eating two meals a day, just to save money to buy train tickets.”
“Why did you split up later?”
“At that time, silly X, I broke up for reasons that no one necessarily believe. She wanted to return home after graduation, but I was determined to stay in Beijing, I tried to convince her, but it did not help. I was afraid that if I went on with her, I would be too deeply in love and my determination to stay in Beijing would waver, so I broke up with her.”
Along the way, Qiang and I talked for a long time about my ex-girlfriend, before entering the waiting room, he took my hand and said, “I know the old lady may just a few days, otherwise my sister will not call me to come back, so many years working in Beijing, I do not have many friends at home, the old lady side you help me to look after a little more ……”
“Don’t worry, Brother Qiang, you can stay by your sister-in-law’s side during this time.”
“Hey …… on the one hand, my mother is very sick, on the other hand, my wife is having a baby ……”
Before Qiang went into the waiting room, he turned and waved at me.
8
The morning two days after Qiang returned to Beijing, the old lady said to Qiaoying sister want to drink millet porridge, want to eat doughnuts, Qiaoying sister went to the hospital entrance to buy rice back, the old lady has gone.
I received a call from Sister Qiaoying and rushed to the hospital. I didn’t expect Sister Qiaoying to cry, but instead she looked a little nervous and anxious, she kept walking back and forth in the hospital, and muttered to herself at the same time.
“This is gone too suddenly, I have to hurry to set the life jacket, but also to contact the people of the old family, the old family to immediately put on the shrine, the coffin also did not set it …… right!” Qiaoying sister grabbed my hand, “must not tell Qiangzi, his daughter-in-law this are to the due date, but not yet born, it is estimated that the day or two.”
Qiaoying sister red eyes, eyes wide, her hand is very hard, grabbed me a little pain.
“Qiaoying sister ……” I was a little worried about her.
“I’m fine, so many things waiting for me to do it!”
Qiaoying sister has been wandering around the house, calling one after another. By three or four o’clock in the afternoon, Qiaoying sister suddenly became very quiet again, nestled in their own folding bed, not saying a word, just a hard cry.
Three days later, Qiang called me, and just after the phone was connected, Qiang’s high-pitched voice came from the other side: “Born, six pounds eight taels, a boy!”
I cheered up and said, “That’s great, congratulations, congratulations.”
“By the way, no one answered the phone to my sister, are you in the hospital? I’ll send you a video, let the old lady look at the grandson, grow can be white ……”
“Strong brother …… old lady left three days ago ……”
The other end of the phone was silent, not long after the sound of soft crying, not long after the bawling, I wanted to open his mouth to comfort him when the phone suddenly hung up, I wanted to call him back, thought about it, or forget it.
The same night Qiang came back, I drove him back to the village, Qiang went into the house and saw the old lady’s posthumous photo, “flopped” on his knees and kowtowed to the ground.
(All people involved in the article are pseudonyms)
Recent Comments