Struggle Life in the 1970s

Chu Ye frowned, hesitating and not moving. Her brain was frozen, and she didn't even understand what he said. What kind of good relationship did they have? How could someone specially ride a bike to pick her up?
But Han Zhao was obviously not a very patient person. He tutted and turned his head impatiently, "Why are you still standing there? Come up quickly. I've been looking for you for a long time. Don't waste time."

Chu Ye's brows have not been relaxed since she saw Han Zhao. She thought about her purpose and pondered Han Zhao's character before she slowly walked over and tiptoed steadily to land on the back seat of the bicycle. She held the pear paste jar in one hand and held the bottom edge of the seat tightly with the other hand.

After Han Zhao felt the person sitting on the bike, he didn't look back. He paused for a moment, guessing that the person should be seated firmly, and then rode his bike towards the town.

He rode very fast, and his green floral shirt was blown up by the wind. The surrounding environment was quickly receding. Chu Ye turned around and looked in the direction of the fish pond. It was surrounded by tall and dense trees, which made it even more terrifying.

She retracted her gaze and fell on Han Zhao's clothes. Large patches of white lines were spread on the green fabric, which was weird and strange. She tightened the jar in her hand and asked her doubts after thinking for a while, "Brother Han, where is Uncle Li? Why did they ask you to come out to look for someone?"

The words were scattered in the wind, and a silent atmosphere followed. After a long while, Han Zhao's somewhat hoarse voice came over. He said, "The old man is in the hospital."

Silent depression enveloped Chu Ye's heart. She controlled her thoughts and refused to think of the worst. Maybe it was just a cold, right?
The bicycle went through the town and went further away. After an unknown amount of time, the bicycle stopped in front of the hospital. It was not far from the train station, but in the opposite direction of the factory.

A small market formed around the hospital, with vendors clamoring on both sides of the street, mostly selling fruit supplements and medical supplies. The hospital door was open and there were quite a few people coming and going.

Han Zhao rode his bike into the hospital, turned left and right and arrived at a small building with white walls and blue windows. There was a red sign with the words "Inpatient Department" hung on the building, and there were short green trees on both sides of the door.

There are much fewer people here than at the hospital gate. People walk around with solemn expressions. There are people wearing hospital gowns and being supported by their family members while recovering nearby. Chu Ye's divergent thoughts are somewhat out of control, and a bad premonition spreads in his heart.

At this moment, Han Zhao parked his bicycle behind the small building. Chu Ye got off the bicycle in time and followed Han Zhao into the building.

On the third floor, the narrow corridor was illuminated by lights little by little. On both sides of the walls were white wards. After coming out of the stairs, the two walked deeper into the corridor. The faint smell of disinfectant wafted into their noses. Occasionally, the door of a ward was open, and they could see patients lying on snow-white beds with their family members guarding beside them.

The further they walked in, the brighter the lights above their heads became. The double room was turned into a single room. Soon, Han Zhao stopped at the door of the ward with the number 303. Chu Ye also stopped and looked at the man's back. The uneasiness in Chu Ye's heart became more and more intense.

Then, with a "click", the door opened, and the scene in the ward was revealed - this was a single room, with waist-high white tiles on the walls, and the light bulbs on the ceiling cast a cold white halo.

White bed, small table, and IV stand.

There were two medicine bottles hanging on the infusion stand, and two thin transparent tubes extended from the bottom of the bottles to the back of the hand. There was an electrocardiogram monitor on the small table, with colorful numbers constantly jumping on it. There were many gray wires connected to the instrument, and the ends were hidden in the thin blanket.

The person on the bed had his eyes closed. His face was sallow, his cheeks were sunken, and a transparent mask was covering the lower half of his face. He was so thin that his body movements could not even be seen under the thin quilt.

At just one glance, Chu Ye's mind seemed to be pierced by invisible iron nails, even his breathing was stifled, while Han Zhao was already sitting skillfully on the small stool at the head of the bed, lifting the corner of the quilt to check the hand that was receiving the infusion.

"...Hmm." The person on the bed seemed to have noticed something and slowly opened his eyes. His bright eyes became increasingly cloudy, but he still saw Chu Ye at the door at the first moment.

"...Xiao Chu...you're here..." Uncle Li tried his best to speak, but his voice was still as weak as a feather in the wind. He forced a smile, raised his other hand and slowly beckoned people over.

This hand seemed to have some kind of magic. Chu Ye's feet were out of control and she walked over blankly and sat on the bench beside the bed. It was not until she clenched her hands that she realized that this hand, which had once picked up scraps in the fields and given her handfuls of candy, had become as dry as an old branch on a tree.

Her eyes felt strangely sore, she blinked hard, suppressed the discomfort in her throat, and said with a smile, "I haven't seen you for a few days, why did you send yourself to the hospital?"

"Ha...ha, cough!" Uncle Li wanted to laugh, but he started coughing again as soon as he opened his mouth. His face flushed, and the transparent mask was instantly covered with a layer of mist. Han Zhao took a tissue from the side, put it to Uncle Li's mouth, caught the thick phlegm that came out of his mouth, wiped the corners of his mouth, and then threw the tissue into the trash can with an expressionless face.

Look at this movement, it's so skillful.

Facing Chu Ye's worried gaze, he gasped and comforted her, "...I'm old...I'm useless." As he said this, he patted Chu Ye's hand gently, as if to tell her not to worry.

Chu Ye turned his face away, reached out and quickly wiped the corner of his eyes, then turned his head away as if nothing had happened.

"...I asked that brat to look for you. I hope I didn't cause you... any trouble?" Uncle Li's cloudy eyes were full of apology.

"It's no trouble. I came to see you today anyway." Chu Ye smiled and showed him the pear paste in his hand. "You have to get better soon. I bought something good for you."

"...You are so thoughtful," Li Bo's eyes were also full of emotion. Unconsciously, there was a crystal liquid in the corners of his wrinkled eyes. Han Zhao silently raised his fingers to wipe it for him, "...I didn't want to call you at first. We...are not related. I thought, I didn't want to disturb you."

"Later... the rascal said that he had to give... an explanation, so that... people wouldn't worry about him, so I asked him to go and call... you." Uncle Li's voice became softer and softer, and he had to pause for a while before he could continue. Despite this, he still felt sorry for disturbing Chu Ye. The old man's words were so soft, but they sounded so real. Something in his heart was quietly opened. Chu Ye held his hand and shook his head desperately. Tears flowed like they were free, and he couldn't stop.

The moment she came in, she saw the card on the bedside:
Department: Oncology
Date of admission: August 1982.8.17,
Name: Li Rongde
Sex: Male
Age: 59
Diagnosis: Lung cancer in advanced stage with respiratory failure
……

It turned out that he had been in the hospital for a week, but she had no idea. She hated herself for being busy looking after business around the town some time ago and not taking the time to visit him.

At this moment, the disease showed its most ruthless side in front of mankind. It never stopped for human true love, nor would it stop harvesting for human tears. A huge feeling of powerlessness enveloped her whole body, and her hands and feet were so weak that she could not control them.

She wanted to raise her hand to wipe away her tears, but found that she couldn't wipe them away. Her throat whimpered. She didn't want to cry. Uncle Li was here, and she didn't want to cry and bring bad luck. But the pain in her heart seemed to swallow her up.

…She couldn’t control herself.

When Uncle Li saw her crying, he hurriedly tried to stand up to comfort her, but was held down by Han Zhao in time. He motioned Uncle Li not to worry and put the paper box beside him next to Chu Ye.

Uncle Li was so angry that he glared at Han Zhao and raised his trembling hand to curse him, but Han Zhao grabbed his hand in time and said, "That's enough, you're already lying in bed and you still can't change your bad habit of cursing!"

Without waiting for Uncle Li to speak, he turned to look at Chu Ye, who felt unable to control herself, and said, "Wipe your tears, stop crying."

Chu Ye also knew that it was not good to cry in someone else's ward, so she turned her face away with the paper box, took out the paper, wiped her tears, and threw it away. She repeated this several times before she slowly calmed down. Uncle Li's dry hand slowly patted the back of her hand, giving her silent comfort.

After a while, until the area around her eyes was sore from rubbing, she finally calmed down, turned around with a grin, held Uncle Li's hand, and said with a grumble in her nose, "I'm sorry, Uncle Li, I should have brought you to the hospital when I saw you coughing before."

She only mentioned it a few times, but was rejected by Uncle Li every time, so she didn't insist.

I knew earlier...
I knew earlier...
If I had just brought them to the hospital for a check-up without caring about anything, it wouldn't have waited until now.

"...Silly child," Uncle Li smiled and raised his arm with great effort. After a long while, the dry branch gently fell on the girl's head. The old man spoke softly, as if it was a dusty historical story, with the power to soothe people's hearts, "...I found out early in the morning...That's why I didn't want to come to the hospital."

Chu Ye's eyes widened. This time, it was Han Zhao who couldn't sit still. His butt seemed to be on fire. He jumped up from the bench and said, "Hey! Old man, did you do this on purpose? Why didn't you tell me when you found out?"

In the past, Uncle Li would have retorted back, but this time he didn't know if he was in the wrong, so he remained silent. Seeing Han Zhao staring at him with a look that seemed determined to give an explanation, he sighed, and mist gathered on his transparent mask again.

"…it turns out…it's already in the late stage."

"Then you could have written to me! Called me! Asked me to come back! Why did you wait until now!" Han Zhao rarely showed a look of collapse, but he quickly adjusted his mood, but still looked at the person on the bed relentlessly.

"...Alas," a sigh lingered in the ward. Chu Ye realized that the following words were not suitable for her to listen to, so she pushed the door and went out, making an excuse to go to the bathroom.

Before closing the door, she heard Li Bo's vague voice, "...I have always been a burden to you...You can't go to Hong Kong without worry because of me..."

……

Chu Ye went downstairs and sat for a while. This was the first time she had faced someone close to her being struck down by an illness, and a stranger whom she had only known for three months. She cried for him, which seemed a little unbelievable.

She ran alone across half the map before arriving at this seaside city. She worked hard and looked for other ways out. During this period, she met Pan'er and Li Xiaoya, and fought hard against the unfair treatment she received. She also met Li Bo because of the fish pond.

This old man, who she initially thought was just a scavenger, earnestly taught her the skills to survive here as they got along. It was clearly a chance acquaintance, but they felt a deep friendship.

She didn't know if she would experience this feeling again in her life. She reached out and touched her chest, which was swollen.

When the time was almost up, Chu Ye followed the route back to Ward 303. The door was ajar and there was no quarrel in the room. Han Zhao was sitting on the side, and even with his head down one could see the redness around his eyes.

(End of this chapter)