Chapter 5 Yang Laoqi's Love for His Child Since the day I was born, after the strange phenomenon appeared in the sky, I went from being quiet to crying. My grandfather, parents and brother at home took turns to tease me, but it was of no use. I thought it was normal for a baby to cry when he was just born, but I didn’t expect that I would cry for nearly a month. From the loud voice at the beginning to the hoarse and weird voice like a cat's meow at the end. Seeing that he didn't live long, his family was very worried. The word spread among the villagers that I was the first girl born in ten years. Perhaps only by offering me a sacrifice at "You Zao Ai" could I relieve the resentment from the heaven. This Youzhaoai is the place where dead things are thrown in the village. Unwanted children, dead snakes, rats, and ants all had to be reported there. Even throwing these dead things had to be done in a proper way. When throwing them, one had to face east and throw them with the back of one's hand. One had to ask a family member or a Yin-Yang master with some magical powers... The family was also very annoyed after hearing this. But I still turned a deaf ear to what was happening outside and continued crying as usual.
The sound disappeared from sight, and one could almost see the internal organs of the already thin body. With the continuous crying, its pounding little heart seemed about to burst out, just like a turtledove after it breaks out of its shell, in a mess and it was terrifying to look at. My aunt came over again and advised her to throw me away, saying that I was not a lucky child. The most important thing is, if I keep crying like this, I will cry myself to death even if I don’t throw it away. Grandpa swung the bullwhip and drove her away. Then he picked up the magnetic disk stone and placed it in the gap between two wooden cabinets, covered it with a red shell, saying that the aura there was the strongest and it was effective to observe. He then walked around Shijia Bay twice, muttering in a low voice that the treetops face the sun and the tree roots face the shade, yang is indispensable and yin is not acceptable, when yin and yang are in harmony, people are at peace and things are peaceful, etc. After a while, grandpa shook his head and came into the room and told dad, "This child's fate is not ordinary. She is not controlled by the yin and yang energy field, but is in harmony with it. Disharmony is bad luck. The stars in the sky and the five elements on the earth are the most suitable. Since they are in harmony, why is she crying? We can only accept her own fate." Dad was confused by grandpa's somewhat contradictory words. Having grown up under the red flag, he was not willing to listen to grandpa nagging about these feudal ideas, but he also understood that the old man's idea was that the child's life could only depend on himself. Since even the old man can't help him, who will come to help? Is it really up to this crying girl to help herself? That day, as it was getting dark, my crying made the peaceful old dog Ah Huang shake his head and hide in the back hill. The more my father listened, the more annoyed he became, and the more he thought about it, the more agitated he became. Looking at the child who was crying his heart out, with his wrinkled little face full of tear marks, looking at him, his dark eyes seemed to be struggling against fate bravely. My father stood beside the old wooden bed and looked at me for a long time. He has always been puzzled as to how he, a strong and healthy man, could give birth to such a child? However, looking at this weak child, I couldn't help but feel pity for him. I said to my mother sullenly, "I'm going out for a walk," and then disappeared into the mountains in the dark night. My father, Yang Laoqi, was a stubborn person. When everyone in the village was eagerly hoping for my death, it actually aroused his protective nature. He held a flashlight and smoked cheap cigarettes as he walked towards the county town. That night, my father walked for four hours on the mountain road, stopped a passing tractor in our Xiaokou town, and shamelessly persuaded the driver to take him to the county town, and came to the county hospital where his classmate Xiaochuan was staying. Ogawa is the youngest neurosurgeon at Bazhongcheng People's Hospital and is also very proficient in cardiothoracic pathology. Lei Chuan was born into a medical family. He was in the same class as my father in high school and both were the best students in the class. It is said that he is a well-known celebrity in our village. That year, Uncle Lei Chuan often went to the countryside to play with my father. When the two of them were asking for water from a family in the mountains, they met Aunt Jiao from the village.
Speaking of Aunt Jiao, she was already 77 years old at the time, but she had been ill for 44 years. This year happened to be the time when Aunt Jiao had not eaten a single grain of rice. Her family members cried when they talked about it, and the villagers sighed when they heard it. Seeing that Aunt Jiao was dying, Lei Chuan immediately ordered her family to turn Aunt Jiao over to treat her. He used his elbow to press and tap the old woman's back, then wrote a prescription and asked the family to drink it, and then left with my father. It is said that Aunt Jiao was able to sit on the bed that night, and a few days later she could even stand up tremblingly, and within a month she was almost the same as a normal person. Of course, they are both excellent, but the difference is that Lei Chuan is elegant and is the teacher's favorite student; My father was an excellent student, but his mischief gave the teachers the most headaches. However, these two people with such different personalities became good friends. It is said that when Xiaochuan hurriedly finished his work in the department and walked out of the hospital gate, he found my father Yang Laoqi standing at the door, his already dark face was covered with dust, only his two eyes were looking at him brightly... Xiaochuan couldn't help laughing. Dad, who was already in a bad mood, saw Xiaochuan grinning and couldn't help but get furious, so he turned around and left... "Hey, Lao Qi, Lao Qi, don't be angry." "You always look like you're flying up to the roof in school. How can I not laugh when you look like this today?" Ogawa hurriedly chased after him and said while trying not to laugh. "Humph, if you are my brother, then bring your medicine box with you and come to me. My little girl has been crying for more than a few months. I don't know what's wrong with her." Dad said unhappily. "Okay, I'll go get it right away. But I also have to go to the department to explain things first." Xiaochuan was used to seeing my father smiling all the time, but suddenly seeing him in such a miserable state, he knew something big must have happened. He hurried back to the department, carried the medicine box downstairs, stopped a truck that was heading to the town from an acquaintance, and rushed to Jingjia Bay. It was already midnight the next night when my father and Xiaochuan arrived at Shijia Bay. Xiaochuan's already frail body had already become somewhat exhausted after being jolted along the way by the truck and walking on the mountain road for four or five hours. He was completely half-dragged back by my father... My father was exhausted from running back and forth. Xiaochuan came straight to the old wooden bed with the medicine box and saw me crying hard. The chest rose and fell violently with the beating of the heart, and it seemed that it would burst through the skin and jump out at any time... Ogawa was so shocked by the scene that he was speechless for a long time. He hurriedly took out instruments and started checking my heart and pulse. No one in the family spoke, and the room was so quiet that it seemed that the only sound was my heartbeat. Ogawa carefully examined my body with instruments, then placed his fingers on my belly and tapped my back. After examining me for nearly twenty minutes, he stood up and looked at everyone, and couldn't help shaking his head. "I didn't find anything unusual. There was no change in body temperature. I didn't have a fever." "There is no vomiting when crying, and no lumps in the abdomen." "She has been crying for so long but her face is not pale. It is basically certain that there is nothing wrong with her heart and lungs. As for why she is crying, I really can't come to a conclusion, but I am sure that if she continues crying like this, she will be exhausted to death if she doesn't get sick. However, she doesn't seem tired..." Ogawa looked at my father seriously and said nothing more. Dad is the only high school student in the village and he believes in the truth of science. Since Xiaochuan can't see any problems with the baby, there should be nothing wrong with the child's health.
There is no problem but he is still crying. I'm afraid he won't stop until he is exhausted to death. Does this kid want to die? Is this really the fate and destiny as told in the legend? Dad smiled bitterly and said, if that’s the case, why do you want to come to this world, silly child? Dad and grandpa discussed it and decided that there was no good way to stop the child from crying, so they had to be prepared for everything. Although my grandfather is the fortune teller and coffin maker in our village, he cannot make coffins for his own family members, and family members will not accept the coffin. Then we should ask A Bing to come up the mountain to make a coffin (a child's coffin) for the girl. If you can survive, then rejoice. If it is really a disaster, there are ready-made coffins. It’s still the same old saying: “The road is under her feet, let her choose her own path.” (End of this chapter)