Chapter 9 Brothers (6)

  The hardest thing to part with in this world is kinship, because blood is thicker than water, because we share the same blood.

  Li Yang, take good care of your brother, take good care of your brother.

  Li Lie, you must listen to your brother's words, you must listen to your brother's words.

  Looking for mom, those high mountains, that dark forest, that scorching sun, none of them are feared.

  I'd travel thousands of mountains and rivers for you, no matter the distance or scenery. I just want to see you, and I'm not afraid of how far the road is; I'll still make my way to your side.

  Li Yang didn't know how long he had been walking with his brother, the last thing he remembered was being on a ridge in the field, when one foot slipped and his body fell into the field, then he fainted. When he fell down, Li Lie who had been numbly following behind him was tripped by Li Yang and also fainted.

  In the early morning, I found that the two brothers were an old man who got up very early to herd cattle. People who have been in rural areas of Jianmen County know that if a family has cattle, they usually get up early in the summer and don't even have time for breakfast before taking the cattle out. They don't return home until around 9 or 10 o'clock when the sun is scorching hot to eat breakfast.

  An old man took his cow out to the field at dawn and let it graze on the ridge. When he saw two children lying in the field, the old man was startled. Upon discovering that the two brothers were still breathing, he tied up the cow and ran towards the village with one of them in his arms, shouting for his son to come and help.

  In the 1990s, the rural area of Jianmen was very simple-minded. The old man and his son quickly sent Li Lie and Li Yang to the hospital together.

  Since Xiao Lanfang was taken back home by her elder brother, although he no longer had any feelings for Li Fu, it was different with Li Yang and Li Lie, they were the flesh and blood from her body. In her mother's home, she missed two sons every day, every night she dreamed of Li Lie and Li Yang, also several times she wanted to go back to see two sons or bring them back, but her elder brother and family members did not agree, and watched her closely.

  This morning, when Xiaolan Fang had just finished making breakfast, Xiao Jia's second aunt passed by her house from the village market and said to Xiaomu:

  "This morning, when I went to see the cows with Pu Tianfu, we picked up two little kids in the field. The bigger one looked like 11 years old and the smaller one looked like 6 years old. Neither of them knew what they were doing there or where their homes were, and both seemed to be ill. If it weren't for Pu Lao Han, they would have been finished."

  (Note: Ball got, a dialect in Baoxing County, Sichuan Province, means big trouble will arise.)

  Xiao Lanfang hadn't been paying attention at first, but when she heard the ages of eleven and six, her maternal sixth sense suddenly made her realize something. There was no need for any reason or fact to be placed in front of her. Xiao Lanfang's heart skipped a beat as she let out a loud cry and rushed towards the village gathering place.

  "Second child, quickly go and see what's wrong with your sister, she ran outside." Xiao Mu immediately called out to Xiao Lanfang's older brother.

  Xiao Jia's older brother responded with a sound and immediately put down the wooden board in his hand, then followed Xiao Lanfang in the direction she ran.

  When Li Lie and Li Yang were sent to the hospital, the doctor dropped the bowl in his hand, put the two brothers on the bed, and then began to examine them. At this time, the bodies of the two brothers were still in a state of fever. After the doctor confirmed the condition of the two brothers, he immediately gave the two brothers injections and medication.

  Two hours after the two brothers were sent to the hospital, Xiao Lanfang rushed into the hospital with a big sweat, and she hadn't even had time to adjust her breath before starting to look for Li Lie and Li Yang. The village hospital was not large, with only two rooms, one for diagnosis and one for infusion.

  Xiao Lanfang suddenly discovered Li Yang and Li Lie on the hospital bed, and she rushed to their front. Due to running and then stopping abruptly, Xiao Lanfang's breathing was very heavy, but she was afraid of startling the two children, so she tried her best to suppress her breathing sound.

  It had been several days since they last saw each other, and the two brothers were completely unrecognizable. They were dark, thin, and dirty, with a foul odor emanating from their bodies. They looked like two little beggars. Li Yang's face still bore the marks of injury. At that moment, Xiao Lanfang felt as if she had been struck by something, and she almost fainted. She struggled to compose herself, then gently grasped the hands of the two brothers. Tears instantly flowed down her face. She tried not to make a sound, but her mouth still let out faint whimpering sounds.

  Heartache, self-blame and guilt surged in her heart, then gathered in her eyes, turning into sparkling tears that flowed out.

  Seeing her two nephews become like this, although Xiao Lanfang's older brother had a definite attitude towards Xiao Lanfang's marriage, but the two children lying in bed were after all her own nephews, and they also had a blood relationship with her. Seeing their dark, dirty, thin appearance and the injuries on their bodies, Xiao Lanfang's older brother couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.

  "They will be fine, now there's no big problem, just heatstroke and a cold. If it were any later, I'm afraid it would have been too late." The doctor said to Xiao Lanfang: "The two of them need rest now, I think they haven't eaten anything for several days. You go get some porridge, they can't eat anything else yet, just drink the porridge first to adapt."

  After the doctor said it, Xiao Lanfang suddenly realized and then went out to cook.

  "You stay here and watch them, I'll go take care of it." Xiao Lanfang's older brother said, blocking Xiao Lanfang.

  Xiao Lanfang nodded after listening to her big brother's words.

  Li Lie was the first to wake up. When he opened his eyes and saw someone in front of him, he blinked a few times with some dryness in his eyes. His first reaction was Li Yang. These past few days, relying on his brother for survival had given him a sense of crisis deep down, and he feared something might have happened to his brother.

  "Brother!" Li Lie jumped up like a startled little animal and began searching everywhere for his brother.

  "Li Lie, I'm your mother, I'm your mother." Xiao Lanfang grasped Li Lie's hand and said with a pained heart.

  "Mom?"

  Li Lie muttered these two words, but his expression was still a bit dazed. It wasn't until about seven or eight seconds later that he finally saw clearly that his mom was really in front of him. Suddenly, feelings of grievance, worry, sadness, and pain all surged up from his heart.

  "Mom." Li Lie suddenly threw herself into Xiao Lanfang's arms, hugging her tightly, afraid that she was dreaming and when she woke up, her mother would disappear in an instant.

  "Li Lie." Seeing her son was fine, Xiao Lanfang also burst into tears.

  The cries of the two mothers woke up Li Yang, and then a scene appeared where three mothers and sons were hugging each other and crying uncontrollably. The scene made the doctor's heart ache as he watched, and then he retreated.

  From Li Yang's mouth, Xiao Lanfang learned that Li Father had not returned home for many days. The two brothers cooked for themselves every day. Later, the rice and flour at home were all gone, but the two brothers still did not go to borrow food. In her heart, she didn't know whether to be happy about the high morale of the two sons or to scold them for being foolish.

  When they heard about looking for their mother, the two brothers went to steal peaches and were caught. Li Yang was beaten up, and when the two brothers got rained on and had a fever, the three of them cried together again.

  What surprised Li Yang and Li Lie was that their seemingly weak mother found the peach orchard on her way home, where the two middle-aged men were still there. On the spot, Xiao Lanfang scolded the two men severely, meaning: Aren't they just two peaches? Two little children were starving, picked a few peaches, and said a few words of education, did you need to use such heavy hands to beat people?

  At this moment, Xiao Lanfang was so excited that she took out two coins from her bag and threw them hard on the other person's face. The scene made the two brothers feel very relieved. From the beginning, those two middle-aged men couldn't get a word in edgewise, their expressions were like a rooster being trampled to the ground.

  What the two brothers did not expect was that their usually gentle and weak mother also had such a fiery side. In that place, there was a term for this kind of woman: shrew. But in the hearts of the two brothers, these two words were absolutely incompatible with their mother.

  Many years later, Xiao Lie finally understood that in his parents' hearts, children are their reverse scales. If two kids fight among themselves, they may not get very angry, but if their own child is bullied by an adult, it's a violation of their reverse scales. At this time, even the weakest person will stand up for their child and seek justice.

  When Xiang Lanfang's brother heard that his sister was going back, his first reaction was to oppose it, and his second reaction was still to oppose it. But Xiang Lanfang said that no matter what, she and Li's father were already married, even if they got divorced, she would have to go back to do so, besides, there was also the matter of Li Yang and Li Lie, which needed to be handled as well. Anyway, now she didn't want to let her two brothers separate from her.

  Xiao Lanfang's words were not unreasonable. In the end, the Xiao family decided to let Xiao Lanfang's two older brothers accompany her back and put an end to this matter.

  Although Li Yang knew what the final outcome of his parents was, as long as he could be with his mother, nothing else mattered.

  Three days later, Xiao Lanfang took Li Yang and Li Lie, who had recovered, on their way back home.