C23 Responsibility

On both sides of the table were two ordinary steel beds with simple and crude covers …

"Who is it? Ah, Yu Kun …" A faint cough spread through the room, followed by a deathly suffocation.

"Yes, it's a friend. He doesn't know …" Ai Zheng wanted to say something, but he did not know how to explain it.

I felt something was wrong, so I took two steps forward and lifted a corner of the blanket. An old man with white hair was curled up in the quilt, looking weak and sickly …

"Ai Zheng, what's going on? Who is he? Is he your relative?" In a split-second, I returned to reality. I returned to this small house. I looked at my friend with incomparable shock and confusion. "Ai Zheng, what's going on? You can't treat me like this …"

"No, no, he's my employer …" He seemed embarrassed to elaborate. His halting tone made me feel bad. I knew Ai Zheng's family wasn't rich, but I didn't know how difficult it was for him, and for a moment I didn't know how to answer. I felt that I was narrow-minded, that my intelligence wasn't as noble or even as prejudiced as I had imagined it to be.

Ai Zheng was silent for a moment before he lowered his head to take a look. He then quickly weighed the rubbish on the floor outside the door and swept the floor again. I watched him as he worked. I didn't reach out to help him, I just felt the air in the room suddenly improve a lot.

"Ai Zheng, don't you have a job as a home tutor? "I know that Ai Zheng has a job as a home tutor near the school, and that he attends five hours of classes every week.

"But I have taken care of him for two years. I said that I was studying very hard right now, but his son said that I couldn't find anyone to take care of him right now, so I had no choice but to take care of him. "There will be someone to cook for him during the day," Ai Zheng replied.

"Oh so, his son is not at home," I said angrily. "How can this man be so sure that he will leave such a dying old man alone at home?"

"I don't know why, but in the beginning he agreed to pay us both half of the salary. "At the time, I did not know that this son of his would not return for so long. If I had known that he would not have taken the job, and his son had not returned for two months now, he would always leave in a hurry every time he came back to pay the old man some money. I can't take my hands off now, I can't bear to see this old man alone in this house …" Ai Zheng complained the moment he opened his mouth, I could tell that he really believed that he had been tricked into taking the job by the old man's son.

"Can he get up?" I asked.

"He can't get up on his own. He needs someone to support him, otherwise it'll be dangerous," Ai Zheng said. "He's eating and drinking in this small building, in this room."

"Why don't you put him down there?" I asked. "Maybe it would be easier, maybe it would be safer."

"Who knows? I've been in this room for two years already and the nanny is very tired. How could something like this happen and she hasn't paid me for half a year? I estimate that the nanny won't be able to hold on for long, it's only four months until our exam. I'm really worried." Ai Zheng was probably tired because he knew how tight our studies were and there wasn't enough time.

"Youngster, you should leave. Go and do what you need to do. Don't worry about me …" The old man struggled to turn his body over and over. He stretched out his hand, which was as dry as the skin of an elm. It trembled in the pale light, followed by a violent dry cough.

Ai Zheng looked at me and signaled me to stop talking. He covered the old man with the quilt again and poured hot water for him to take. I just stood there and watched him do it slowly.

I looked at my watch. It was almost midnight. I have some important lessons to attend tomorrow, so I will bid farewell to Ai Zheng. I told him that we will find a way to delay your future.

Walking out of this small courtyard, I realised that this place was actually so remote. As far as I know, most of the houses nearby have already been moved, so there's no one living here right now.

I felt waves of fatigue and cold wash over me. I kept groping along the road until I finally got home, fell on my head on the bed, and fell fast asleep.

The next morning, after school, I went to find Ai Zheng. We went to the edge of the field together and talked about what happened last night. He couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"If I hadn't wanted to find a job to supplement my life, things wouldn't have been so troublesome …" He shook his head helplessly. I could tell that he was very frustrated inside.

"Although people need strong willpower and confidence, our endurance is limited." I looked at him and said, "We can't take on all the responsibilities."

"Yukun, what responsibilities can I bear now? I feel like my heart is so troubled, I can no longer maintain a calm and tranquil state of mind …" Ai Zheng stared at me, his eyes filled with trust but mostly fatigue. I could see traces of blood in his eyes — he was too tired, and he was still complaining to me incessantly. I also want to be a teenager, but you know how many ambitious young people in the countryside end up doing nothing. They don't even have the opportunity or the power to get an education, but now that I've come this far, I really don't want to give up halfway. I think it would be more successful to get into a graduate school! "

"Ai Zheng, don't be discouraged. Right now, the most important thing is to think of a way to solve our current problems. Once we settle that old man down, you'll have time to arrange your own studies," I said. "We can call his son and have him think of a way. That's his father, after all. I don't believe him."

"This is also a way, but I don't want our friends to know yet." Ai Zheng looked at me timidly, as if he had seen through his thoughts.

"Why do you think that? Helping you is something we should do. Since you can do this, I admire your courage and kindness. You are stronger than all of us and worthy of being proud of!" I sincerely said, "If we can help that old man, wouldn't it be a training of our personality? We've never done anything for society, for people who don't know each other. Are we living on our parents, and are these reasons why we are more noble than you? "

"No, Yukun, none of us is as noble as the other. I only helped that old man to get the reward for his labor. What's there to be noble about it?" he asked me. I was stumped. For a moment we were speechless.

"Isn't it noble to work through oneself? I do not have a profound understanding of this, but from the most superficial point of view, labor itself is noble, is beautiful... "It would be even more remarkable if I could ascend to the spiritual level," I said in my own way, not even knowing what to say.

"Yes, I don't want to pursue these profound matters or understand these profound philosophical questions, but I think they really reflect a person's state of mind and the education and family environment they receive, as well as their own inner desires and desires," said Ai Zheng.

"So, let's call this unfilial son first, and if he doesn't, we'll keep on calling, take turns, and we'll have a car-fight," I said. "I don't believe we'll be able to take him down," I said.

"Alright then, we'll do as you say." Ai Zheng agreed to the plan. During this time, we took turns to help the old man clean up after school in the afternoon. A few days passed.

"As you know, Ai Zheng was such a strong man, I admit that I was inferior to him. I indulge in a soft dream, so enchanting that I forget everything in the world. " I looked at Sirius, who was now on his feet. Perhaps he had gotten to his knees and was now standing up to ease the tiredness.

"You should learn from him, we should all learn from him, he is more like the iron plum tree in the cold wind, although he has not yet blossomed with an intoxicating fragrance, but he can endure the harsh environment. "Come out, Yukun, and let your heart fly to the brilliant blue sky, the wild, and the laughter of your friends."

"Do you remember that Huang Jitian? The human mind is sometimes really like a bird in a glass house. In fact, no one can imprison themselves. They can isolate themselves from the world, but who knows where the glass is placed? But how many people could easily strip it off? Rushing out of the heart, but no matter what, everyone has already done it. "

I was even more surprised that Huang Jitian and Cao Fei had actually bought a lot of gifts for the old man during those few days. This changed my view of Huang Jitian. I felt that he was really a complicated person and I didn't know much about him.

The old man's nanny, the nanny who always wanted to resign, saw us, the students who did not know each other, and she saw hope, and she felt that she was not fighting alone. In this world, only by joining hands could we overcome those seemingly terrible difficulties.

Thus, after another ten days, the old man's son finally returned. On the day he returned, he even specially came to our school to see us, and even said that he would invite us to dinner. We shook hands with him one by one, praising his filial piety. But we refused to go to dinner with him because we were nervous about studying.

Now, we know something. He's a foreman, and he's always running around, so he doesn't have time to take care of the old people at home. Now he had contacted a pension and sent the old man to an old man's apartment. Now we're all relieved, the old man finally has someone to talk to.

We are all proud of having a friend like Ai Zheng and happy with what we have done.