The scorching sun seems to be baking everything on the earth. The leaves of the poplar trees on the roadside have been curled up by the sun. Amidst the noisy cicadas, a head is wrapped in a towel, pedaling a worn-out The old man on the tricycle was going back and forth on the streets of Wangcheng County. He mustered up his strength and shouted loudly. An old residential building on the street stuck his head out and said, "Hey, rag Zhang, come here!" The old man nodded. He agreed, swung his body and pedaled the tricycle to the downstairs of the residence, waiting for the owner who wanted to sell his rags.
The old man’s name is Zhang Quanbao, an honest farmer on the outskirts of Wangcheng County. His family’s old house was demolished and they were allotted three buildings. However, they were all occupied by the old man’s two daughters and one son. The three siblings After some discussion, the old man was driven out of the house. Zhang Quanbao was a simple and honest man and did not want to compete with his children for real estate. After squatting in front of his wife's grave and crying all night, he walked to the county seat and bought a dilapidated three-wheeler with the only thirty-five yuan he had. They make a living by scavenging.
Wangcheng County is not that big, and the old man can go back and forth in two hours on a tricycle. Zhang Quanbao is an honest man, and he never lacks money to collect rags. Gradually, residents in the county remember This thin old man lived here, but no one knew him. They only knew that the old man's surname was Zhang. Everyone simply called him "Bad Zhang". There were some cardboard boxes and old appliances in the house, and they would keep them waiting for Bao'er Zhang to come. Occasionally, there are not many rags in the house, so everyone will give them to the old man. But the old man never asks for them for free, and will take the initiative to clean the place where the rags are kept in the master's house. At first, the old man had no place to live, so he put his tricycle on the roadside and curled up in the carriage to sleep. One winter, the owner of a scrap yard met Zhang Quanbao who was eating in the carriage and asked about his situation. He took the old man to his scrap station and asked Zhang Quanbao to sleep in the warehouse at night and look after his house. Zhang Quanbao cried and wanted to kneel down for him. The owner of the scrap station raised him up with both hands and took the old man to buy a quilt. From there, From now on, Zhang Quanbao will have a place to sleep.
Zhang Quanbao picked up a cardboard box at the corner of Hongfa Street. When he opened it, he saw an abandoned baby with a disabled leg. Zhang Quanbao looked pitiful and took it back to the scrap station. But the good times didn't last long. Half a year later, the scrapyard changed its owner, and the old man and his children were kicked out. The old man couldn't bear his children living in the open with him, so he rented a shabby house and finally had a place to stay. From then on, the old man always collected rags and took care of his children at the same time. The neighbors felt pity for him and would bring him a bowl of dumplings and some pancakes every now and then. Zhang Quanbao named the child Lele, hoping that the child would grow up healthy and happy. In a blink of an eye, Lele turned five years old and was picking up rags with Zhang Quanbao every day. The old man also tried to send his children to school, but neither he nor his children had household registration, so he was delayed.
Zhang Quanbao has a habit of going to a small restaurant on the street every night to beg for leftovers and feed them to the stray cats and dogs on the street. He feels that those furry little creatures are very pitiful, and he is different from those who just arrived in Wangcheng. He was very much like himself when he was helpless in the county. He could only rummage through garbage dumps for food every day. He often saw kittens and puppies that had been poisoned to death after eating the wrong food. He couldn't bear it, so he took Lele with him every day. Together, he carried a small bucket to the intersection to feed the cats and dogs. As time passed, every night around ten o'clock, there would be a group of kittens and puppies at his intersection waiting for the old man to feed them.
Seven or eight stray kittens and puppies were squatting at the intersection waiting for the old man’s gift. Until 11 o’clock in the evening, they still didn’t see the old man. What they were waiting for was the sharp horn of the ambulance. Five or six neighbors helped the medical staff to carry the unconscious Zhang Quanbao to the ambulance. Lele kept holding the old man's hand and sobbing. Seeing the old man being carried away, several stray dogs chased after the ambulance. It wasn't until the ambulance disappeared into the night that the puppies stopped breathing heavily.
Several neighbors in the hospital comforted Lele. The five-year-old child's voice was hoarse from crying. He tried to rush into the emergency room several times but was stopped. Three hours later, Zhang Quanbao was pushed out with a pale face. Touch the child's head and whisper that he is fine.
The old man called a neighbor to his side. After whispering a few words, the neighbor went to Zhang Quanbao's home and came back with a cloth bag in his hand.
The next day Zhang Quanbao took Lele to the outskirts of the county and knocked on the door of his eldest daughter. The obese woman stared at the old man sleepily, cursed and was about to close the door when she was awakened by Zhang Quanbao's words. "Old man, I went to hell last night. The doctor told me that I don't have much time left. There are five hundred thousand in this passbook. Whoever takes care of me and my children will have this money." The eldest daughter took the bag and opened it. , immediately pulled the old man into the house with a smile on his face, quickly made tea and water, and kicked the man who was still sleeping soundly on the bed in the room to wake up. The middle-aged man cursed and turned over. He came to the living room and saw his father-in-law and a child. He frowned and was about to have a fit. His wife pulled him aside and whispered a few words. The middle-aged man immediately poured water for his father-in-law politely, while facing the old man. After greeting him, Zhang Quanbao slowly drank tea. He never raised his head to look at him, but told him firmly to call his second daughter and youngest son.
The three siblings sat opposite Zhang Quanbao. The eldest sister whispered a few words to her younger brother and sister. Their expressions changed and they looked at Lele and Zhang Quanbao with excitement. The old man glanced at the three of them, sighed and said, "I've told you the situation, whoever takes care of me and the children will get these five hundred thousand!" The three siblings looked at the bright red bankbook and the five digits behind it. There was a long string of zeros and it was so noisy that Zhang Quanbao stood up and shouted for me to sit down. The three of them looked at each other and sat down on the sofa honestly.
"Since we can't tell the result, then my child and I will take turns living in each of your homes for a month. Whoever takes care of you best will have the money left to him. This month, I will start with your eldest sister. Start at home." After listening to the old man's words, the three siblings nodded and went home to start preparations. The eldest daughter took the old man to the mall to buy new clothes, and packed up the Chaoyang room at home and gave it to the old man. The younger son took Lele to go through the formalities and study in the village primary school. The second daughter prepared meals for the old man every day. When I came here, I often quarreled with my eldest sister over food delivery, and rushed to cook various nourishing dishes for the elderly.
Zhang Quanbao looked at his three siblings scrambling to take care of him, but he felt sad. He had worked hard to raise three children, and not only did his three siblings kick him out of the house, but also because of the five-year-old child. I only fulfilled my filial duty for one hundred thousand yuan, but my later life was so miserable that I couldn't help but secretly wipe my tears every time I thought about it. Just halfway through the third month, Zhang Quanbao died at his youngest son's house. The three siblings dug out a note among the old man's belongings, which said that they should take Lele to an old neighbor and the neighbor would give him the money. Leave it to them. The three siblings didn't have time to pay attention to the old man who had just died, and took Lele straight to the neighbor's house.
The three of them left Lele and went straight to the bank with their passbooks and password slips. They were told that the money in the account had been frozen and was in Lele's name, and would be controlled by Lele until he turned eighteen. , the old man has arranged for a family to adopt Lele, and he no longer needs the three siblings to raise him. He has also left enough money for the neighbors to take care of the funeral arrangements, and the passbook in their hands is just a piece of waste paper. The three siblings After hearing this, he beat his chest and felt regretful. He rolled to the ground and cursed the late Zhang Quanbao. On the day of the old man's funeral, Lele wore sackcloth and mourned. All the neighbors went there. Even the cats and dogs that the old man usually fed followed the procession. The only exception was the old man's three children. I heard that the eldest daughter and the second daughter were both sick. He suffered from severe depression, and his younger son became a vegetative state due to alcohol poisoning.