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墨書 Inktalez
Wen Yuan gasped as he saw the cut on Wen Xin's leg, made by a shard of a bowl. The dried blood around the wound made his heart sink, and he furrowed his brows in concern.
"Was it Wen Hao?" Wen Yuan asked, taking a deep breath.
"Yes," Wen Sheng's Mother replied softly. "I don't know what's wrong with this child." She sighed helplessly, looking at Wen Xin, who was still sniffling in her arms.
"Aunt, has Wen Hao been through some kind of trauma? He wasn't like this before!" Wen Yuan speculated.
"I don't know! It was just a few years ago," Wen Sheng's Mother recounted the events to Wen Yuan. To anyone, that incident had been a blow to Wen Hao. As for everything else, he had grown up under his grandmother's pampering.
In 1996, when Wen Hao was just seventeen, he failed to get into high school or any teacher training schools. Although many vocational schools were enrolling students at the time, Wen Sheng's Father believed they were all scams. Wen Hao wanted to learn driving skills, but his father did not support him. Instead, he found a friend who took Wen Hao to a place called Zhaoyuan in Shandong to work.
At the fan factory there, Wen Hao was assigned to the team drying the fans. However, it was June, a time when summer was transitioning into autumn.
Of course, there were no trees in the drying area; if it were all shady, how could the fans dry? The ground was covered with coarse yellow sand that burned underfoot. With the scorching sun overhead, especially around two in the afternoon, it was incredibly intense. Two men would carry about fifty pounds of wet fans and place them on racks to dry from two in the afternoon until five o'clock, then collect them before noon the next day—this was their routine.
In less than a week, Wen Hao's back had sunburned and blistered. Having always been spoiled by his grandmother at home, he couldn't endure such hardship and began crying at night, insisting on going home.
The friend of his father in the village tried to reason with him and shared many insights about working hard outside. It was all in vain; Wen Hao continued to insist on returning home. With no other options left, the friend lent him 200 yuan for his journey back.
After working for about a week without earning a single penny, Wen Hao returned home having borrowed another 200 yuan from others. Naturally, his father had to pay off that debt. Not only did Wen Hao come back empty-handed from his job but he also owed 200 yuan. This made his father very unhappy; he scolded him harshly and called him useless in front of many people.
Once home, Wen Hao discussed with his father about learning to drive or acquiring some other skills. However, his father refused outright. "Look at whose child knows anything! Who has learned to drive? If you go to such schools, the country won't assign you work!" Back then, learning skills meant waiting for job assignments; there was also talk of state-supplied grain and other things that were unclear. His father insisted on not letting Wen Hao learn any skills and arranged for him instead to work at a relative's place in Guangdong.
When Wen Hao arrived there, he was assigned to work at a restaurant doing tasks like washing dishes. Fortunately this time, he returned home at the end of the year, around December 10th. Just as Wen Sheng came back from school, their grandmother said to him, "Your brother brought home a wife; he's an only child in her family. After you finish eating, go hide!"
This made Wen Sheng very uncomfortable. He thought to himself, "You find a wife and want to get rid of me!" As for Wen Xin, it didn't matter; everyone knew that the girl could help with work and earn money for the family, and even after getting married, she would still leave the land at home.
Wen Hao's girlfriend was a year older than him and named Jing Jing. She was from Yunnan, slightly shorter than Wen Hao, plump, and fairly fair-skinned. In the countryside, having a wife like that was considered quite good. Little did they know how Wen Sheng's father would react when he found out about this later that night.
He exclaimed, "You haven't gone through your parents' approval or a matchmaker's words! A girl like that is not a good girl; she might just be a fraud!" Because of this, he firmly opposed the relationship and kicked Wen Hao and his girlfriend out of the house. In rural areas, if you brought a girlfriend home without your parents' consent first, it would be very embarrassing for them.
As for what love was, he couldn't care less. After three months of being apart, Wen Hao returned home alone. As for the details of their breakup, perhaps only Wen Hao himself knew.
Wen Hao's brief romance came to an end, and from that point on, his personality began to change. Whenever he saw other boys with girls, he would always follow them with his eyes. He envied other boys who rode motorcycles with girls and felt a pang of sadness during the New Year when he saw his classmates getting married. After congratulating them, he started drinking alone.
Some people joked, "As long as you get your dad to buy you a motorcycle, girls will be easy to attract!" It might have just been a joke.
But Wen Hao took it seriously; material things were essential for love. He began insisting that his family buy him a motorcycle to impress girls.
What may have started as a mere joke began to change the entire family dynamic.
Wen Sheng's mother looked at Wen Xin in her arms while Wen Yuan was applying medicine and bandaging her wounds. She briefly recounted what had happened in the past.
After listening, Wen Yuan couldn't help but ponder deeply.
"Why don't I ask my uncle to take him to a big hospital for a check-up? We need to see if there's something wrong," Wen Yuan said seriously. "This can't go on; what will happen to Wen Xin and Wen Sheng in the future? Wen Xin is just a girl; what about Wen Sheng?"
"Yes! I'll go back and discuss this with your uncle about this family!" Wen Sheng's mother said as tears began to fall again.
“I’ll take you back!” Wen Yuan offered actively.
“How can I trouble you? You’re busy too!” Wen Sheng's Mother replied apologetically.
“Wen Xin can’t walk; she’s too heavy! I have a vehicle!” Wen Yuan said as he opened the door and took them home on his tricycle.
When they arrived home, Wen Hao, having calmed down, saw that his mother and sister had returned. He felt a pang of sadness upon seeing his mother’s worried face and the tear stains on his sister’s cheeks. An inexplicable feeling welled up inside him. He hurried out to support his mother. “Is my sister alright?”
“You did this! I’m Wen Hao! What’s wrong with you? Can’t you keep the family peaceful?” Wen Yuan exclaimed angrily.
“I don’t even know what’s wrong with me! I can’t control myself!” Wen Hao replied.
“It might be nervous exhaustion! I’ll have my uncle take you to the hospital for an examination. You don’t mind, do you?” Wen Yuan stated directly.
“I don’t mind!” As he reflected on the past years—his brother, sister, grandmother, and mother—he felt a sense of guilt. It seemed like all of this was his doing, and Wen Hao stared blankly, wondering what had happened to him.
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