"Forget it. You should go back. Aren't you going to run a boat tomorrow?" Li He also insisted that He Zhaodi go back.
He Zhaodi giggled. "Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. Why the hell would I run a boat?"
Her trembling waist was like a dancing flame, and Li He's heart fluttered. "I almost forgot. It's so fast. Why is it New Year's Eve tomorrow?"
Hunchback had a stubborn personality and couldn't bear to see the two of them dawdling. "Go back, go back. There's no point in keeping people here. It's good enough that you have the heart."
He Zhaodi said, "It's always good to have one more person. What if something happens at night?"
None of them could convince the other. In the end, Li He said, "Let's keep them."
Hunchback stamped out his cigarette on the ground and entered the room.
He Zhaodi asked Li He, "Have you had dinner?"
Li He said, "No, you haven't either. Wait here. I'll go see if there's anything to eat and bring you guys some."
He Zhaodi pulled him back. "Wait here. I'll go out."
Not giving Li He a chance, she ran out in a hurry.
Hunchback was leaning against the wall. He didn't know if he was happy or nervous, but he asked Li He for a cigarette and lit it. He stood up and faced the window of the ward, taking big puffs.
"Do you think it's easy for this child to survive?"
Li He said, "This child is fine even in the cold, so he'll definitely be fine in the future. He's tough."
"I'm scared. My family had seven brothers and sisters, and I was the only one left behind. In 1938, they said that the Japanese were going to invade Xuzhou. My old mother took us to escape. She couldn't tell north from south, east from west. She thought that it would be good if they couldn't find the Japanese, so she begged for food as she ran. But she couldn't even beg for food. My old mother sold my sister and became someone's concubine. As long as she could live for the three of us, it would be good. My mother had been eating everything for the three of us. Halfway through, my mother couldn't walk anymore. When she was about to die, she told us not to forget to bury her and not to let the wild dogs take away her body. My family's eldest brother and second brother are both young men. There was a group of soldiers passing by, so the two brothers grabbed some able-bodied men. I was only ten years old at that time, and I don't even know how I survived. I was all alone, with no one to help me. Don't you think that human life is cheap? "
The hunchback said a lot. It seemed like he was talking to Li He, but it also seemed like he was talking to himself.
Li He had never heard of the hunchback's story. He only knew that the hunchback was a refugee from another place. When he heard him say this today, he felt a sense of sadness. "In a chaotic world, human life is like grass."
"At that time, the Yellow River was dug up, and the Huai River was flooded. There were more and more refugees, so I followed the refugees in a muddle-headed manner. Perhaps it was because I was young and had a hunchback, so it was easy for me to gain sympathy. When I passed by a town, people were willing to give me some steamed buns, so I ate my fill. Later, I worked as a laborer and met your grandfather. At that time, he was only a few years older than me, and he settled down here. My poor brothers and sisters were the only ones left. "
"My grandfather?" Li He knew nothing about this. Was this considered a family secret? He listened to the hunchback's story more and more seriously.
"Yes, that old thing, Li Fucheng. The two of us worked for a rich family. Don't think that I'm a hunchback, but I'm much more hardworking than him. He's much lazier than me, so lazy that he pees even more than a donkey. He's always had a headache and a fever. In the end, he got himself a wife, and I didn't get anything.
I'm now an old bachelor. "Li He was stunned." That can't be. My grandfather is a very hardworking person. "
The hunchback said disdainfully, "Hardworking? That's because he was forced. First, it was your father, then your two uncles. Their children were born one by one, and once they're on the ground, they have to eat and have something to chew on. How could he not be hardworking? "
"Hehe." Li He laughed awkwardly. He naturally couldn't say anything to his grandfather. He was just curious. It turned out that laziness was hereditary. No wonder Li Fucheng didn't have much confidence every time he scolded Li Zhaokun. Only his grandmother would be full of confidence when she scolded him.
He Zhaodi returned and said with a smile, "The restaurant is closed. I only bought a few pancakes and borrowed a bottle of hot water. Let's eat some."
"You even bought cigarettes. This is good. I don't feel good without cigarettes." The hunchback opened the cigarette and muttered, "Why did you buy such good cigarettes? What a waste of money."
"A good cigarette is comfortable to smoke." Li He couldn't help but think that this cigarette was probably bought for him, and the hunchback probably benefited from it.
After eating the pancakes and chatting for a bit, the hunchback was probably sleepy. He fell asleep on the empty bed next to him, and his snoring was a little loud.
Li He didn't feel sleepy, so he stood in the corridor in a daze.
He Zhaodi asked, "Did the snoring disturb you?"
"It's fine. It's not noisy. I used to have four people in my dorm, and there was someone who snored even louder." Li He was talking about Zhao Yongqi. That snoring wasn't something an ordinary person could endure, so he would occasionally joke about Ma Jincai. Only a tomboy could endure sleeping on the same bed as Zhao Yongqi.
He Zhaodi pushed open the door of the room next door and said in surprise, "This door is open. You can rest here. Otherwise, you won't be able to sleep when the hospital starts working in the morning."
Li He turned on the flashlight and found the switch on the wall. He tried a few times, but the light didn't turn on. "The light is broken. There are two beds over there, so let's each lie on one."
He Zhaodi used the light from the flashlight to tidy up the bed. "There's a smell. Don't take off your clothes. Just lie down."
Li He found two pillows, put them under his head, and lay down. He Zhaodi snuggled up to him, and his hand touched her soft curves. For some reason, he didn't reject her. "Just don't move."
"Don't be so smug. I won't touch you." Although He Zhaodi said that, she still pulled Li He under her arm.
"Your arms are too short. You can't hug me."
"I'll hug you even if I can't. As long as I'm happy."
"Do you feel comfortable like this?" Face to face, nose to nose. That moment of softness made Li He's breathing a little nervous.
"If only I were a boy," He Zhaodi said after a long time.
"Why?"
"That way, I can be with you during the day, and no one will gossip."
"Perhaps, but is it interesting for men to be together with other men?" This pure, flawless, and youthful girl made his heart ache.
"Does it have to be interesting for people to be together?"
What does that mean? Li He didn't understand. It was about to rise to a philosophical level, so he changed the topic. "Your business is pretty good, right? You can't even buy a motorcycle anymore."
"Of course, I have two boats. I finally understand why my mother wanted to have a son. If I had an older brother or a younger brother who could work, he could help me with the boat. Girls don't have much strength. "
This was the first time Li He heard He Zhaodi admit defeat. He couldn't help but feel a little emotional. "Girls have their uses, and boys have their uses."
"That's why I want to have a son in the future," He Zhaodi said resolutely.
"What about a girl?" Li He didn't expect He Zhaodi to change her mind so much.
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