TELD Chapter 5:

At present, I can't contact the landlord. Jing Lin can only leave the door key under the mat at the door before leaving.

When I got to the guard post, I thanked the security guard. Jing Lin folded the mat and put it in the car. then he put Lele on the mat, put the luggage case and soup bucket opposite to each other, then put the umbrella on top, and finally put the removed quilt cover on top of the umbrella. although it is still hot, Lele lying in the car will not be directly exposed to the sun.

With these things in place, Jing Lin began to ride home.

The sun is very big, and Jing Lin's white shirt soon became wet with sweat. In the past, it took him nearly three hours to get to his home from downtown, including the time to change buses and wait for buses. Jing Lin thought it would take him at least more than ten hours to go home on such a used tricycle.

The road condition on the way out of the city was slightly better. All the cars that were not pushed home by the owners were pushed to stop in one direction, leaving half of the road free for pedestrians to pass by.

Cities without cars are very quiet, except for pedestrians, who ride bicycles. On the way, when Jing Lin was tired, he found a cool place to rest. He tried to feed Lele the porridge he put in the thermos cup, but Lele didn't want to eat it. As soon as his tongue arrived, he vomited it out and fed him water, but he would swallow it obediently. Another strange phenomenon is that Lele didn't sweat on such a hot day.

The red pimples on Lele's body will not be mentioned. Sleeping and not sweating are the second strange phenomenon on Lele's body. Jing Lin only prayed that these would not cause any harm to Lele's body.

Along the way, Jing Lin saw a lot of cars parked on the road, and there was no traffic police cleaning up the road nearby. Some of the doors were unlocked and no one was watching. Some of the car owners were still frowning and obstinately watching.

When Jing Lin set out from the village, it was nearly lunchtime. When he arrived at his hometown county, it was already dark for a long time. Fortunately, the moon was bright enough at night, so he was not allowed to rush on in the dark. His clothes were already wet and dry, and he felt that his whole body smelled of sweat and sour. They drank only one of the bottles of water he bought, and Lele drank nearly three bottles during that time. However, he pressed the button on his lower abdomen and did not feel bloated or want to urinate.

When I got to the county seat, I was close to my home. Jing Lin rode for almost an hour. Finally, I entered my village and returned to my home.

It was dark in the village, and the noise of Jing Lin's return only woke the dogs raised by the villagers. They cried one after another for a long time in the evening before stopping.

There is also no electricity in the house. He cleans it once a month when he comes back and closes the doors and windows. Apart from the smell, it is quite clean. After riding for such a long time, Jing Lin felt that it was amazing that he was still not tired. He went back to his bedroom with Lele. After feeding Lele some water, he lit a candle and pressed a bucket of water from the well in the yard. He took a cold bath and went to bed.

Jing Lin was too tired yesterday, because he was thinking about Lele, he woke up in a daze in the morning, pushed Lele to listen to him and then fell asleep until he woke up from hunger. There is no cell phone, no clock at home, and Jing Lin does not know what time it is now. He washed his face with well water, dug out a packet of biscuits that he had not finished eating, stuttered a few times, and poured several more wells. Only when he had something in his stomach did he feel better.

The village where Jing Lin is located is called Chashanling. There is no tea, but there is a mountain. Except for one road to the village, the other three sides except rice fields are mountains. Jing Lin's house is located a little far from the center of the village, at the end of the village, the place closest to the mountain. When I was a child, because my parents died in an accident, the village gossiped that they were both brothers and sisters. After listening to this, my grandfather built a house on another homestead when he was building a new house. He was the only one nearby.

The present house is a two-storey building with a common rural architectural style and square bean curd. The house is in the middle, with front and back yards. In the middle of the front yard is a concrete passageway that can pass cars. On both sides are vegetable plots. In the back yard are kitchens, wood houses, sundries rooms and bathrooms. On the side are planted several walnut trees. Both yards are surrounded by walls.

Jing Lin opened the iron gate of the wall and stood on the roadside looking around.

Although their village is surrounded by mountains on all sides, other places are very flat and can be seen far away at a glance. The cement roads in the village are all built by families with money. Rice fields are on both sides of the cement roads. Now July is the season for rice growth. Jing Lin saw several big ye carrying pesticide sprayer spraying pesticide on rice.

Those who are still farming in the village are some elderly people or their wives, young and middle-aged working outside. Although there are subsidies for farming now, farming alone cannot make a few dollars a year.

When Grandpa Jing Lin was still alive, he was also farming. He also contracted two ponds in the village to raise fish and lotus roots, thus bringing up the sisters and brothers. Later, grandpa died and the pond contract period was still 15 years. after discussing with his sister, Jing Lin changed hands to a family in the village who had a better relationship with their family. the land was also leased to his family for planting. The pond contract fee and the land lease fee are settled at the end of each year.

Now Jing Lin is penniless and his family does not have half a grain of rice. He can only settle this year's expenses in advance. In addition, he also needs to go to the old doctor in the village to ask Lele's situation.

It is not clear where the old doctor used to work. As far as he can remember, the old doctor's family opened a small clinic in the village. Later, he was hired to be the director of the township health center and usually came back in the evening.

The villagers sprinkled pesticide either early in the morning or late in the evening. It is not morning at this hour, so Jing Lin estimates it is late afternoon. It is no wonder that he will wake up hungry.

Back home, Jing Lin cleaned the kitchen, then burned a pot of boiled water with the earthen stove, washed a pack of children's milk powder in a bowl, chilled the water with well water, and went upstairs to feed Lele. However, as before, Lele still did not eat, fed it into his mouth, spit it out with his eyes closed, and only drank water.

Jing Lin had no choice but to eat the milk powder himself in order not to waste it. Then he went out of the house, locked the door and headed for his destination.

The one who contracted Jing Lin's pond lives in the center of the village. The head of the household is Zhao Chenghuai and his wife is Zhou Yu. The couple have an only son, Zhao Zhiwen, about the same age as Jing Lin. When I was a child, Zhao Zhiwen didn't listen to his family's words like other children and didn't play with him. Zhao Chenghuai and his wife didn't stop him. Each time Jing Lin went to his house to play, he brought out some candy to eat. Therefore, Jing Lin and Zhao Zhiwen can be said to have a relatively good relationship. Later Jing Lin went to college. Zhao Zhiwen was not expected to study and went out to work after failing the college entrance examination. A few years ago, his family contracted a pond and came back to stay at home to help with the work. Although I am not staying in the same place, I will chat with Zhao Zhiwen every few days through the computer, and I will have dinner with Zhao Zhiwen or something when I come back every month.