Chapter 78

Ma Tianbao pushed the bicycle, Ma’s father was wrapped in a quilt and tied to a beam with a hemp rope, so it was hard to get all the way to this “Auspicious Chinese Medicine Hall”.

This drugstore did not hang a plaque, just hang a broken lantern under the eaves, written on the word auspicious.

He searched all the way here, or asked the neighbors to find the right door.

Inside the gate is a courtyard with several bamboo beds lined up, which are covered with medicinal herbs. Several horizontal and vertical ropes crossed the yard, and clothes, pants and herbs were side by side enjoying the sunshine.

A middle-aged man with a text beard holding a teapot, is sitting on a chaise lounge with his face up in the sun, heard the movement and opened his eyes, saw Ma Tianbao pushing a bicycle, the car is also tied to a father of the horse, he did not have to ask, stood up and said: “Mr. Ma, right? Come in.”

Ma Tianbao hurriedly put the car against the wall, untied the father of the horse, back into.

The middle-aged man saw him dragging his feet on the ground and asked, “Stick injury? How many months?”

Ma Tianbao: “Three months.” He said and put Ma’s father on the clinic bed in the house and untied the quilt.

The middle-aged man bent down to give Ma’s father a diagnosis and said, “Your leg is quite curable now, but you need to recuperate, you can’t get out of bed for half a year, and if you do, you will need to use crutches. If you don’t cure it now, you basically won’t be able to cure it back after a year.”

Ma Tianbao backed up a few steps to make room, said: “doctor, I’m fine, you first give my father to see it, my mother at home, some other day will have to trouble you to give my mom also look.”

The middle-aged man turned Ma’s father over, knocked and stabbed at his back, and asked him to help Ma’s father up so that he could walk away by himself. After some diagnosis, the middle-aged man called Ma Tianbao out and said, “I can stop the pain for your father, so that he will never have pain again, and can feel better than he does now, of course, after stopping the pain, he still has no way to stand up, and his arms and legs can only flick, and he can feel it even if he pulls his urine, which is not much different from what he is doing now.”

Ma Tianbao eagerly asked, “Then can my father still stand up?”

The middle-aged man shook his head.

Ma Tianbao’s throat was dry, and he asked with difficulty, “Then my father can still ……”

The middle-aged man saw from the time he came in that this is not a rich family, he sighed: “The princes and nobles can’t pass the hurdle of birth, old age, sickness and death, you ah, look on the bright side. To be able to tell the old man to suffer less is your filial piety.”

Ma Tianbao went in, did not tell Ma’s father what the middle-aged man said.

The middle-aged man smiled and chatted with Ma’s father, praising his son’s filial piety, and Ma’s father proudly said that Ma Tianbao was a university student, and the middle-aged man immediately said in surprise: “Older brother, I didn’t expect it! The middle-aged man was immediately surprised and said, “I didn’t expect it, old man! If this was in the past, it would be a scholar! Older brother, you’re going to be blessed in the future!”

The middle-aged man didn’t do anything very complicated, he just gave Ma’s father a needle sizzle, and Ma’s father lay on his back, with a dozen silver needles stuck on his back and waist. It was soon over.

On the way back, Ma’s father was pleasantly surprised and said to Ma Tianbao, “This doctor is really a god! I don’t even have much pain anymore! It was still hurting when I came out just now, but now it’s getting less and less painful! A miracle doctor, really a miracle doctor!”

Ma Tianbao smiled and said, “Dad, look, you should still come! Calling the doctor to take a look, isn’t it quite good.”

Ma father sighed: “Alas, I am afraid of spending money. Now that I’m entrusting Ms. Zhu, I can’t return the favor. Our family can help others what ah.”

Ma Tianbao: “I’ll pay it back, I’ll pay it back. Dad, you don’t have to worry about it, I’ll pay it all back.”

He sent Ma’s father home, hurriedly took the written cover letter with him and left the house.

Although Mr. Su kindly told him many secrets, it was still very uneventful. Some banks wouldn’t let him in at all, and as soon as they saw him on the doorstep, the Indian security guard at the entrance came and kicked him out. He spoke in English, which he was not familiar with, and held up his cover letter to say that he had come to apply for a job, but it was no use. He did not understand the Indian English spoken by the Indian security guards, and he suspected that the Indian security guards did not understand what he was saying.

The department store didn’t go well either. This time he did not walk in directly from the front door, but found the back door of the department store, where he waited for a long time before he saw people coming in and out, he rushed forward to show his intention, but those people just shook their heads and refused. One man said: “You come to seek employment, but also dress up a little better, at least wear a suit or a long shirt, change a pair of leather shoes, hair is also neatly done a little. You are like this …… I just really help you hand in the cover letter, you are not going to get the job ah.”

He also took a look at his feet: “Your legs and feet are not good, this look will not work ah, people do the official are still pay attention to an end of the square it, you limp, a little bit not decent, to where it is not good.”

Ma Tianbao ran a day for nothing, what work did not change back, hungry back.

When he returned home, Ma’s mother said happily, “Your father hasn’t had any pain since he came back!”

Ma’s father looked much better, “So I don’t have to take medicine!”

Ma’s mother struggled to clean up the tiny home today, and sat at the door to talk to the neighbors and meet a lot of people. She was an ordinary woman who had spent her whole life in the Golden Mansion and knew nothing else but serving people. But now that no one needed her to serve except for Ma’s father, who was lying in bed, she had no use for her.

She pointed to a bowl sitting on a stool in the corner and said, “This is the bowl that the woman from the house across the street gave us when she cooked the soup, go and drink it, your father and I have both drunk it.”

Ma Tianbao ran all day, dripping water did not enter, end up a mouthful of drink, drink before tasting is noodle soup, there are two green vegetables, there is a hint of fresh flavor.

The cloth pocket hanging on the wall still has the date steamed buns that Zhang Ma gave them last night, all large, mixed with cut red dates. This was what they ate in the morning.

He took a piece out and finished it while standing.

Ma father and mother can see that his spirit is not very good, guessed that today to go out to look for work may not go well, they do not ask him, let him hurry to bed to lie down to rest a little.

Ma Tianbao lie up, in a short while fell asleep, pulled up the snoring sound.

Ma mother’s trembling hand stroked Ma Tianbao still some childish face, silent tears.

Ma mother: “Son is too bitter.”

Ma’s father couldn’t speak, now that he didn’t have to smile at his son, he couldn’t smile anymore. All that was left on his face was indifference and helplessness towards life and living.

Ma’s mother wiped her tears, grabbed Ma’s father’s hand, and whispered, “Don’t think of anything foolish! If something happens to you, how will Tianbao hold out? If you’re here, the family will have a backbone. He’s still young, he won’t last!”

Ma’s father nodded and held her, “I understand.”

Ma’s mother said, “I’m going to look for a job tomorrow, I heard them say there’s a persuasive institute that’s just right for people like me to go to. I was sold to the Jin family from a young age, my parents back home didn’t know, I couldn’t get any identification, they specialize in introducing jobs to people like me.”

Ma’s father had tears in his eyes, and his hands were shaking, “You, you ……” He was uneasy! But he can’t say he won’t let her go.

Ma’s mother: “I’ll just wait on people, that’s all I can do, I’m this old and I’m not afraid that they’ll trick me into selling me. Don’t worry about it. Tomorrow, as soon as Tianbao leaves, I’ll go to the persuasion center. I’ll ask where it is. Don’t tell him yet.”

Ma’s father, “Will your body be able to do it?”

Ma’s mother nodded: “I don’t have any major problems, the doctor at the medicine hall said that I was scared, when I was anxious and scared, my heart panicked and I collapsed. After drinking the medicine for so long, and now that our family has settled down, I’m fine.”

The two agreed that when Ma Tianbao woke up from his nap, they didn’t tell him anything.

Ma Tianbao still went to that stall to buy dinner today, even though there was a meal delivery from the Zhu family, they couldn’t just wait to eat the Zhu family’s meal.

After he bought dinner, he went back to writing his cover letter under the streetlight.

Today, though, he had a table to use.

This writing went on until the middle of the night. There were fewer cars on the street and no pedestrians to be seen.

When Mr. Su came back, he saw Ma Tianbao again. After exchanging smiles, Mr. Su went upstairs and Ma Tianbao continued to write under the streetlight.

Su Chunjun lent Ma Tianbao an old table in his house, a small round table that could only be used to place a vase of flowers, a telephone or something, more decorative than practical. But Mr. Su was in a romantic mood and felt that the small round table was full of all his expectations for a romantic life, and that after owning it, the whole room’s temperament would be upgraded, and his life would become more beautiful.

So he used his three-inch tongue to haggle, and after six months, he finally bought that little round table for three dollars.

Like some love, it becomes less precious after getting it. Su Chunjun was not immune. His previous love for the small round table disappeared the moment he got it.

This impractical thing had actually cost him almost a month’s worth of meal money!

Now Su Chunjun finally got the three dollars back with an act of kindness. Only after giving it away could he take comfort in the fact that he hadn’t spent those three dollars in vain, and that the small round table had a more suitable owner.

Ma Tianbao really think this small table in his home is very suitable, because it is small, so it does not take up space, placed in the corner just right.

And it was just enough to put down his letter paper, ink bottle and half an arm.

The night grew thicker and the street grew silent.

Ma Tianbao heard the sound of a car in the distance, and then the sound stopped in front of the Zhu family building.

He looked up and was surprised to see Ms. Zhu in the car, and after the other man in the car got out of the car, he immediately came around attentively to open the door for Ms. Zhu, and he helped her out of the car as the two of them slowly approached.

“Ms. Zhu, be careful.” The man helped Zhu Yanshu walk towards the building.

Zhu Yan Shu laughed, “Never mind, never mind.”

Ma Tianbao immediately stood up, quickly walked over, blocked in front of that man, and said to Zhu Yanshu, “Mistress, you’re back.”

His demeanor was really very decent, as if he was an underling of the Zhu family.

This made that man even half hesitate, if not for the fact that he was well aware that there was only one Zhang Ma in the Zhu family, he would have believed that Ma Tianbao was an underling of the Zhu family, and that the Zhu family still had room to hire a few more people.

But before that, Zhu Yanshu also recognized Ma Tianbao and said with a smile, “It’s you.” She handed her hand to Ma Tianbao, turned to the man and said, “Thank you for sending me back, it’s too late today, I won’t invite you in for tea, I’ll look for you to play next time.”

That man measured for a moment, took a step back, smiled and said, “That’s good, Ms. Zhu, I’m leaving now, please take care.”

The man got into the car and the car drove away.

Zhu Yanshu didn’t want Ma Tianbao to help her and stood up straight, “Why are you outside?” She understood when she saw the table under the streetlight and shook her head, “The doors have to be closed at night, wouldn’t it be better for you to copy in the stairwells and corridors? Don’t copy outside tomorrow, if you get caught by the gendarmerie, who in your family can go and ransom you? Save a little money and lose a lot, you know? Okay, go back.”

She pushed Ma Tianbao, let him move the table back, closed the door.

The light in the corridor is a little dark, Zhu Yanshu said: “Tomorrow to find Zhang Ma, Yan Yan has an old desk lamp can be used for you, you find her to take, from the house to connect a wire out on the line. Don’t copy it tonight, go back to bed, it’s midnight.”

Ma Tianbao hurriedly said, “Thank you.”

He watched Zhu Yanshu walk up the stairs before returning to his own home.