Chapter 40 Deng Wenfang wants to remarry
After hearing this, Li Haitang felt a wave of sadness in his heart. Deng Wenfang, this stupid woman, not only harmed herself, but also harmed her own daughter. As expected, people who did bad things will be punished sooner or later.
Knock! Knock!"
Li Tao, who was hiding under the covers and crying, heard the familiar knock on the door. Tears flowed down again and wiped his red and swollen eyes before he got up and opened the door.
"Hey!" Li Haitang sighed and walked into his room with the coal fire in his hand. He closed the door and blocked the cold wind outside.
Seeing that he was standing by the side with his head down and not speaking, he took the initiative to say, "Come and roast the fire first. You've been on the road all day today. It's been a long time since the cold wind blew. Warm up first, or you'll catch a cold."
Li Tao moved the wooden chair beside his hand and walked over to sit down. His hands, which were red from the cold, were pressed against the coal stove, but he still kept his head down and did not speak.
"Dad told me about your mom and sister. You should have seen them today, right? What the hell happened?" Li Haitang wanted to get rid of her, but he didn't know where to start, so he decided to find out what was going on first.
"Yes." Li Tao's voice was hoarse and her hands were still trembling as she spoke. "Mom wants to come back. Let me talk to dad."
Li Haitang frowned, then relaxed and said in a light tone, "What do you think?"
The room was silent again.
After a while, Li Tao said again, "Sister took all the money from me. She still wants to take my watch. I won't give it to her. Mom hit me, boo... Boo..." She started crying again.
Li Haitang was so angry that his knuckles clicked and he cursed Deng Wenfang and Li Ting in his heart for a thousand times. He wanted to steal things from his son and brother. He was really not worthy of being a mother or sister.
"Grandma scolded me, aunts also scolded me, and scolded dad for being heartless. It was clearly mom who did the wrong thing, how could they scold dad? Woo... Woo... Only grandpa spoke for me and gave me a new year's purse, telling me not to go anymore." Li Tao's mind was filled with images of those people scolding him. His mother was watching him, not saying a word, and his sister was gloating. It was so scary and scary.
"Well, if you don't go, you don't have to go. If you don't know right from wrong, you don't have to admit it. You and dad are living a good life. Honor or disgrace has nothing to do with them." Li Haitang didn't like the deng family at all. A family that could raise a daughter like Deng Wenfang was not a good person.
There was silence in the room for a long time. Li Haitang could be cold and heartless to the deng family, but Li Tao could not do it for a while. After all, she was related by blood.
"The electronic watch you gave me, sister wants to take it away. I won't give it to you. Mom stepped on it when I pushed it." Li Tao took out the battered electronic watch from his pocket and his eyes reddened.
"Forget it. If it's broken, it's broken. I'll buy you another one next time." Li Haitang knew how precious this electronic watch was. He had to look at it more than n times a day. He was not too happy to see it if his little friend in the village wanted to.
Li Tao's heart ached not only because his beloved electronic watch was broken, but also because of his fucking attitude. For the past six months, he had been thinking about them and worrying about their bad life at grandma's house, but they never thought about him.
He went over to give them new year's greetings with his things, and his mother was disgusted with the shabby things he brought. She scolded his father for being stingy and asked him to ask his father for fifty yuan. At that time, when her parents divorced, she took all the money away from the family. She didn't leave any money for the two of them. In the end, she sold the two half-grown pigs in the family. Only then did the two of them have some money left in their hands.
Father did not hide these things from him, and he did not resent his mother. But seeing him again today was such a situation, he was really very cold, and then his mother proposed to remarry, let him come back to be a lobbyist with his father, I don't know why he didn't want to open this mouth, so he came back all the way in silence.
"Do you want your parents to remarry?" After a round, Li Haitang returned to the main topic. She really wanted to know the result of this matter. If they remarried, she was sure that she would never step into this house again. She didn't want to see Deng Wenfang's face.
"I don't know either." Li Tao whispered.
Li Haitang crossed his green fingers together, sighed deeply in his heart, and persuaded, "You should tell dad about this in advance, so that he can be prepared in his heart. You know a little about your mother's character. If she's determined to come back, she'll probably make a scene. If her bad news gets here by accident, your father and son will definitely lose face."
Li Tao said, "Yes." He suddenly regretted the new year. If he hadn't gone to the new year, these things wouldn't have happened. The father and son still lived a peaceful and simple life.
"You are still a child now. Leave these matters to the adults. You have to trust dad. He can handle them." Li Haitang patted him on the shoulder and continued to comfort him. "Don't hold anything in your heart. Just take the initiative to say it. Let's find a solution together."
"Okay, I got it." After talking to her for a while, Li Tao felt less upset.
Li Haitang stood up and said, "I'll call dad in. Tell him about it. I'll get you something to eat."
"Yes." Li Tao's hands, which were as cold as carrots, covered his little face and looked down pitifully, looking inexplicably sad and lonely.
When Li Haitang walked out, he closed the door for him and went to the kitchen in the backyard. When he saw Li Jianguo roasting by the woodstove, he took a stool and sat down beside him, telling him roughly what happened to Li Tao at the Deng family.
Li Jianguo was so angry that he broke the branch in his hand. After a moment of silence, he stood up and said, "Haitang, help tao er cook a bowl of noodles. I'll go in and talk to him."
"Okay."
Li Haitang got up to wash the pot, scooped up two ladles of water, covered the pot, and added some big sticks to the stove. Then, he washed a large piece of ginger and broke it with the back of the knife into ginger powder. He placed it in a small pot and stewed it with water and brown sugar.
The noodles were quickly cooked. A large bowl of noodles was covered with evenly cut shredded meat. A spoonful of red chopped chili, a pinch of onion, a spoonful of garlic, a little hot oil, and a golden egg on both sides were scooped up.
Li Haitang knocked on the door with the noodles and walked in. From the corner beside him, a knee-length square stool was put on it. He put a bowl of noodles on the square stool and advised, "Li Tao, have some noodles first. Eat while it's hot."
"Yes, thank you." Li Tao took the chopsticks from her hand and ate them with his head down. His face looked better than before.
Li Haitang turned back to the kitchen, took down the pot of ginger soup on the stove, and poured two large bowls for the father and son.
After they finished their ginger soup, Li Haitang asked, "Dad, do you have any cold medicine at home?"
"No, did you catch a cold?" Li Jianguo asked.
Li Haitang shook his head and pointed at Li Tao, who was still lowering his head, to remind him, "Li Tao has such a hoarse voice. He must have caught a cold wind today."
Men were never as careful as women. Now that Li Haitang said that, Li Jianguo noticed his son's abnormality. "Taoer, are you feeling any discomfort? Do you have a fever?"
Li Tao shook his head and said, "There's no fever, but my throat is a little uncomfortable. I'll be fine after a nap."
"There's no doctor in the village, and there's no place to sell medicine. It's only in town. You can drink some hot water later, wash your face and feet, and go to bed early. Get up early tomorrow morning. If you feel unwell, remember to visit a doctor in town." Li Haitang gave a few words of reassurance. He was an arrogant guy. If he didn't take the initiative to care about him, he could bear it.
Li Tao replied hoarsely, "Okay."
"Then I'll go back first. You guys go to bed early." Li Haitang stood up and prepared to leave.
Li Jianguo also got up and said, "I'll take you back."
"No, I can go back alone. I brought a flashlight. It's good to go on the road. You guys should go to bed early." Li Haitang took out a flashlight from his pocket, turned on the light switch, and left quickly.
After returning home, Li Haitang poured hot water to wash his face, soaked his feet for a while, closed the door, and went back to bed to sleep.
Sleep until you wake up naturally.
Li Haitang climbed out of bed, put on his clothes, washed up, and cooked a bowl of noodles at home, but it wasn't as sumptuous as Li Tao had last night.
Because she was concerned about Li Tao, she went to the li family in her little leather shoes after dinner. However, it was a closed door.
Li Haitang thought they hadn't gotten up yet, so he patted the door a few times, but there was no sound coming from inside. She frowned and walked quickly to the next neighbor's house to knock on the door. When the man came to open the door, he said anxiously, "Uncle Zhu, did you see my father and Li Tao today?"
It's haitang. It's just dawn today. The father and son left. I also asked. It seems that Li Tao is unwell and has a fever this morning. Your father took him to town to see a doctor." Li erzhu said in a thick voice.
"Oh, I see. Thank you, Uncle Zhu." Li Haitang left him in a hurry and rushed to town.
The snow on both sides of the road had not melted away, and there were many potholes on the muddy road. Li Haitang tried to walk on the rocks on the road, but there was still a lot of mud on his legs.
After walking for more than half an hour to get to the town, Li Haitang went straight to the town's health center. As soon as he entered, he saw Dr. Tang, whom he hadn't seen for a long time. He greeted politely, "Dr. Tang, happy new year!"
"It's Li Haitang. Happy new year to you, too. Your father and brother are here. Your brother has a high fever and is receiving fluids." Dr. Tang was dressed in a thick cotton coat, wrapped like a ball, and wore this thick Lei Feng hat on his head.
"I have a high fever. How high is it?" Li Haitang asked.
"39.5 Degrees."
Li Haitang was shocked, "So high!"
"Yes, it should have been yesterday when a relative was caught in a cold wind. After the infusion, he should go back and take his medicine on time. Remember to come over again tomorrow." Dr. Tang repeated his advice.
"Okay, thank you, Dr. Tang."
Li Haitang thanked her and immediately went into the inner room. She saw Li Tao sleeping on the bed where she had been lying. Her little face was still flushed abnormally, and her body was covered with a thick quilt. Li Jianguo was sitting by the side waiting.
"Dad, is Li Tao better?" Li Haitang asked anxiously.
"It's better. Dr. Tang just took his temperature and dropped it a little." Li Jianguo looked a little tired, turned to her and asked, "Did you just walk here?"
"Yes. I went to my house to look for you, but no one answered the door after knocking for a long time. Then I asked Uncle Zhu." Li Haitang brought a stool and sat down beside the bed. He looked at the time on his watch and asked, "Dad, did you and Li Tao have breakfast?"
"Not yet. I'm here watching the infusion and not going to buy breakfast." Li Jianguo replied.
Li Haitang stood up again and said, "I'll buy you some breakfast."
Today was the third day of the first month, and many shops in the town were not open. Li Haitang walked a long way to find a steamed bun shop, bought a few steamed buns for the father and son, two cups of soy milk, and also bought a tea egg for Li Jianguo. As for Li Tao, who had a cold and fever, it was not suitable to eat eggs.
It was already noon when Li Tao got home from the transfusion. Li Haitang cooked some light shredded meat porridge for Li Tao, who had a cold, while she and Li Jianguo ate some leftovers.