Non-blood brothers

Author: Xue Yuming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: This is a novel written by Xue Yuming, the author of "Taklamakan." She presents the true images of the past years, expressing the simple and sincere emotions of ordinary people. The story may be ordinary, but it is more realistic and touching. I believe that after reading it, you will surely be moved to tears. It was as if I saw her pale feet washed by the rain, flickering before my eyes, then disappearing without a trace, as if she had never been in my life.
A 24-episode TV series titled "Brothers-in-Law" will be broadcast across the country. It has ignited the screens, becoming a tear-jerker for 2006; it has dominated the charts and toured 71 cities with its touching family drama. Suddenly, the wind blew open her raincoat, revealing an infant's face! The baby's face was splattered with rain, and it began to cry, "Wow!" She then remembered that she was still holding the child, who was crying desperately in her arms. She frantically took off her raincoat and wrapped it around the child. She placed the child by the well and then jumped into it herself. Yes, I was the child left at the well, their one-year-old son, Dabao. At that time, I saw my mother's pale feet washed by the rain, flickering before my eyes, then disappearing without a trace, as if she had never been in my life.
Nearly three decades later, Uncle San told me about my origins. I then learned that Sun Lao Wu and his wife were my biological parents. In my memory, my father was Chen Zhongshi, and my mother was Wang Guilan. I never doubted that I was not their biological child, nor did I doubt that Tianlei, who was a year younger than me, was not my brother! The storm that night was so fierce that I cried and struggled by the well, as if calling for my family's arrival. In the storm, with the flickering beam of a flashlight, a man in a canvas raincoat walked into my family's yard. He was a typical northern man—tall, sturdy, with dark skin, and a look of simple kindness in his eyes. He was Chen Zhongshi, my biological father, and he was a fellow miner with Sun Lao Wu. Three days ago, when he sent my father away, my birth mother fainted and woke up with vacant eyes, not saying a word more. On that rainy night, he couldn’t rest and came to visit my mother and me.
"Sun family! Sun family! Sister-in-law!" Chen Zhongshi called out as he searched the two rooms, but there was no one there. A bad feeling, like a cold night breeze, washed over him. It was raining so hard—what were an orphan and a widow doing out there? Without hesitation, he put down the vegetable dumplings in his arms and ran outside. Chen Zhongshi called for his good friends, Uncle San and Da Chuang, and they all went out in the rain to search for my mother and me.
The Eastern Mining District was a century-old mining area, and the workers' village had long blended in with the surrounding countryside. The rain splashed up a mist of mud and water on the muddy streets. The anxious cries broke the silence of the mining area.
"Sun family—"
"Da Bao's mother—"
"Sister—"
By the storm, more than ten miners had gathered. Chen Zhongshi looked at the storm, his face full of anxiety. When his biological father was dying, he had solemnly promised to take care of my mother and me, but three days later, something happened to him. We were left in the dark—how could he not be anxious?
"How could they have gone in such a rain?" Da Chuang looked at the storm, his face full of confusion. Uncle San circled around a few times. "Sun Wu is gone, and her eyes weren’t right—I knew something bad would happen!"
"Don’t beat around the bush. Let’s find them!" Chen Zhongshi roared as he rushed outside. Lightning tore the night sky apart, followed by the thunderous roar. I cried and crawled, and just as I reached the edge of the well, Chen Zhongshi ran over following my cries. He leaped to the well’s edge and scooped me up. He looked at the old well and understood everything. "Uncle San, Da Chuang! Quick, pull him out!"
As he spoke, Chen Zhongshi wrapped his raincoat around me, who was frozen, and rushed home. Behind me, Uncle San shouted, "Someone has jumped into the well! Save him!"
That night, the wind outside the Chen family’s home was especially fierce, as if it were striking at the heart of Wang Guilan, my mother. My mother, with her big belly, paced the room. Chen Zhongshi had gone to Sun Wu’s house. But after an hour, he hadn’t returned. Could Sun Wu’s wife be in trouble?
Just as she was thinking, Chen Zhongshi ran in, drenched and holding me.
"What’s wrong?" she asked.
Ignoring his words, he placed me on the bed. By then, I was already freezing, my face purple, and no longer crying.
"Isn’t this Da Bao? What happened to the child?"
"Sun Wu’s wife has jumped into the well!" Chen Zhongshi took off my wet clothes.
"What? Then—"
"Thank goodness they left the child by the well." Chen Zhongshi wrapped a quilt around me and called out, "Da Bao, Da Bao!"
"That won’t do. Take him!" My mother said, her arms and took me into her embrace. A warm wave melted the cold, and a gentle warmth slowly seeped into my heart. But for my mother, it was a piercing cold, making her frown.
Chen Zhongshi said, "Don’t get cold. Let me." But she bit her lip and held me tighter. She shook and patted me on the ground. Chen Zhongshi, unsure of what to do, followed behind her.
"I’m saying, why do you keep following me like a tail?" My mother was impatient.
"I’m just anxious!"