tethered doll

05

Half a month after Zhang Mengshi disappeared, the bad news still came.Her body was found on the shallow embankment downstream, along with some other people on the boat that day.Because of being soaked in water for too many days, the body has long been changed beyond recognition, and the identity can only be confirmed by the clothes and objects on the body.Zhou Mengshi was more or less sad when he got the news, and took Xiaotang'er back to help with the burial, hoping that he would see his mother again for the last time.But the Zhang family was afraid that Zhang Mengshi's appearance would frighten the two children, so they buried him hastily without letting them take another look.

Xiaotang'er cried on and off for more than ten days, but when he knew that his mother was really gone, he couldn't cry anymore, he was stunned and refused to say a word.He didn't go back to Zhou's mansion that day, but stayed at Zhang's house to watch for his mother. There was no coffin in the house, only a dark tablet and a few white candles.Xiaotang'er knelt there blankly, without a single tear on his face, outside the house, Zhang Yunlei, who hadn't seen his brother for more than two years, stepped into the room with a bowl of porridge in his hand, knelt beside him and handed the bowl over.

"I see you haven't eaten all day, do you want to have a bowl of porridge first?"

Xiao Tang'er turned his head in a daze, took the bowl but didn't drink it, and lightly put his hand on the ground beside him.

Seeing him like this, Zhang Yunlei was a little angry, and reprimanded him: "You didn't listen to my mother when she was here, but now that she's gone, you don't listen to me either! You don't talk to you, and you don't cry when you're sad. , if you don’t eat or drink all day, you...do you want to live!"

The more he talked, the angrier he became, and the more angry he became, the more wronged he became. He didn't scold Xiao Tang'er, but cried himself first, and the more he sobbed, the more sad he became.Seeing that he made his brother cry, Xiaotang quickly picked up the porridge bowl, gulped it down in one gulp, handed the bowl to Zhang Yunlei, and wiped his mouth with the cuff on the back of his hand indiscriminately: "I drink It's over, it's over, I'm obedient, you...don't cry."

But these actions of his didn't make Zhang Yunlei feel much better, he still bowed his head and wept sadly, the bursts of sobbing made Xiao Tang'er feel sad too.He held Zhang Yunlei in his arms and rubbed his thin shoulders time after time, thinking that his elder brother, who had been in poor health since childhood, would no longer be taken care of, and he would not be able to go back to Zhang's house to accompany him. When he came out, Xiaotang'er couldn't hold back his tears anymore.

Zhang Yunlei buried half of his face in Xiao Tang'er's arms, and a large part of his sleeve was wet from crying, and he heard him mumble: "Tang'er, I...I miss my mother..."

"I want to, too, more than ever."

"I...I want you to come back and stay with me. Don't go to Zhou's house again, okay?" Zhang Yunlei asked sullenly.

Xiao Tanger stopped talking.

If you ask him about his own thoughts, he wants to come back, but the Zhang family does not recognize him, and refuses to recognize him without giving any reason. If it is not for the funeral of his mother, he will be regarded as a guest when he steps into the gate of the Zhang family.

"But my surname is no longer Zhang, my surname is Meng, and my name is Meng Hetang."

When Zhang Yunlei heard his words, he cried even harder: "Mother doesn't want me anymore, you don't want me anymore, you don't want me anymore!"

Meng Hetang didn't pick up his words, because he understood that his brother's self-willed temper hadn't changed at all even when he grew up.Zhang Yunlei is the eldest son and grandson of the Zhang family, and he grew up being held in the palm of his hand.Coupled with the fact that You Xiao was in poor health and fell ill every three days, the Zhang family even raised him like a baby.A long-haired braid has never been cut since the lanugo was born, and it grows a lot more than ordinary girls' hair.Compared to this Jin Gui's elder brother, it seems that he is not his own son.

Zhang Yunlei cried and wet Meng Hetang's sleeves, turned his head and cried and wet his own sleeves, and finally calmed down when he couldn't cry anymore: "Is the Zhou family treating you very well, even better than your mother treating you, that's why you Don't want to come back?"

Meng Hetang thought for a while and said, "It's all good, and it's not good. I'm still homesick." He helped Zhang Yunlei wipe away his tears, and then wiped his own after he finished wiping: "I heard from my mother that she wanted a child, so she put the I took it to the Zhou family, now that she has a younger brother in her belly, I can often come back to you in the future, even if the Zhang family doesn’t recognize me... I, I’m here as a guest, come to the head office, shall I?” He looked at Zhang Yunlei: “ You are also a guest, and there is a little brother at home, so the three of us can play together in the future, isn't it great?"

After all, Zhang Yunlei is two years older than Meng Hetang, and his mind is also more mature than him. He is not happy about this statement at all, but he can feel the expectation of having a younger brother when he is an older brother.But he still duplicity: "I have a younger brother, what's so good about it, maybe he's a heartless white-eyed wolf."

Three days later, Meng Hetang was taken back to the Zhou family by the Zhou Meng family.Meng Hetang would go back to visit Zhang Yunlei every few days, Zhou Mengshi did not stop him, Zhang Yunlei would come occasionally, and the brothers got in touch, and the pain of losing their mother gradually eased a lot.

In the blink of an eye, the twelfth lunar month has come, and the New Year is approaching, Zhou Meng's care for Meng Hetang is also more because he is looking forward to the arrival of his own child.She made him new clothes, and invited a husband to teach him how to read and write. Zhou Chunfu was no longer harsh on Meng Hetang for his son's sake.That day, Zhou Mengshi woke up early in the morning and suddenly saw redness, followed by stomach pains. She was frightened and hurriedly asked Zhou Chunfu to invite a midwife.It was so painful for a whole day and night, and finally, the mother and child were safe.

Zhang Yunlei came over to congratulate him when he got the news, and helped Meng Hetang keep watch at night.Meng Hetang had never seen a newborn baby before, and the two of them squatted by the bed to secretly look at the little thing in the swaddle, and couldn't help reaching out to touch his small face and hands, which felt as soft as tender tofu.

The little thing slept soundly, his small eyes were slender and long, and his small nose and mouth didn't look handsome or ugly.Meng Hetang liked it so much, he turned to Zhang Yunlei and said, "When I was just born, did you like me?"

Zhang Yunlei shook his head: "Many people are fighting with me for food, why should I like you."

Meng Hetang curled his lips, then turned his eyes back to Xiaodong's face, and couldn't help laughing: "But I like my brother very much. I heard that my father named him Jiuliang, Zhou Jiuliang."