The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 227: Licking the Calf (End)

Qu Jing went to school carrying her schoolbag.

Her schoolbag was made for her by Qu Liehu with flowered cloth, and it was the only one in the area. Flowered cloth, which was only worn by ordinary girls when they got married, was made into a small cloth bag for Qu Jing to put her books in.

Anyone who sees this will have to say that although Qu Jing is suffering from a strange disease and cannot grow up, Qu the Hunter really has nothing to say about his granddaughter.

Qu Jing did not go directly to school, but went to the village head's house to look for Goudan. A few years ago, Goudan was just a child who could only drool over sweet potatoes, but in the past two years, he has grown to be as old as Qu Jing.

Goudan was very happy to see Qu Jing coming to see him. He grabbed the sweet potato and ran to the door and asked, "Qu Jing, are you here to wait for me to go to school together?"

Many of the children who were encouraged by the village head to pay to go to school have stopped studying. Some are too old, such as Daya, the village head's daughter, who was already 13 years old when she started school. After finishing the second grade, she could recognize a few words, write a few words, and do arithmetic. She became an educated person in the eyes of the villagers and stopped studying and got married.

Most of them are reluctant to pay tuition fees. They have to pay to send their children to school and they can't help with housework. Some families study for one year and take a year off. So far, only Qu Jing and Goudan have successfully completed the fourth grade and are about to go to the town to attend junior high school.

"I'm not going to school today. Please ask Teacher Li for leave. I have something to ask the village chief." Qu Jing said, taking out an egg from her arms, "Eat."

Goudan took the egg ecstatically and shouted at the top of his voice: "Grandpa, Qu Jing is looking for you!"

The village chief came out of the house holding a bowl and said, "Jingjing, is Old Qu going to take you to the hospital in the provincial capital to get Huang... for medical treatment? I'm telling you, I've found out everything. There is a truck going to the provincial capital from the county. I'll help you arrange it. This bus ride is much faster. It doesn't take half a month to go back and forth like before!"

Qu Jing shook her head: "It's not me."

The village chief suddenly became nervous: "Lao Qu? What happened to your grandfather? Did he fall into a trap and hurt his leg? I'll go and call for help now! There's no time to waste. The old hunter died after lying at home for half a month because of a broken leg. I'll find a bullock cart and take your grandfather to the clinic now."

"No." Qu Jing hurriedly stopped him, "Grandpa Village Chief, I noticed that your memory has not been very good in the past few months."

The village chief heaved a sigh of relief: "Your memory is not good, it's normal. You are over 50 years old, and you will forget things when you get old."

"I forget things too. Last time the county asked me to attend a meeting, I forgot about it."

Qu Jing shook her head: "It's not like that. I found that grandpa seems to have some difficulty remembering recent events."

The village chief didn't quite understand, but he still comforted her: "Jingjing, let me tell you, although your grandfather looks strong and healthy, he suffered a lot of injuries while hunting in the mountains in the early years. Look at me, my hair is just a little gray, but your grandfather is not much older than me, but most of his hair is gray."

"I know you are a good and sensible child. You should take good care of your grandfather and avoid letting him go to the mountains. If we really want to hunt wild boars, the village will organize people to hunt together. He is familiar with the route and will lead the way. Your family will be indispensable at that time."

Qu Jing asked: "Can this be cured in the hospital?"

The village chief smiled and said, "This is not a disease, there is nothing to cure. The old man of the landlord's family was so confused that he could not recognize people, but he still lived to be over 70. As long as he can eat and drink and has someone to take care of him, it's fine."

Qu Jing did not give up. She asked Goudan to ask for leave for her. After leaving the village chief's house, Qu Jing used her reputation to buy things on credit and took a ox cart to the town.

The doctor at the clinic could not give any useful diagnosis, and consoled Qu Jing that it was normal for people to be a little confused when they get older. Considering Qu Jing's complicated illness, the doctor skillfully prescribed a pound of soybeans for Qu Jing, and asked Qu Jing to go back and cook the soybeans for Qu Liehu to eat as a supplement.

Qu Jing gave the soybeans to the driver as payment for the fare. The driver happily put the soybeans in his pocket and lamented that Qu Jing was the only one in the area who could easily get soybeans from the hospital. Many people in the neighborhood pretended to be sick and went to the hospital to get soybeans, but the doctors ignored them.

After returning home, Qu Jing began to pay closer attention to Qu Liehu. Whenever Qu Liehu went up the mountain, Qu Jing would ask Goudan to ask for leave from school for her, and she would follow Qu Liehu up the mountain.

Qu Liehu is indeed old.

Four years ago, when Qu the Hunter found Qu Jing on the mountain, Qu Jing just stood behind a tree for too long and did not stand firmly. He took a step back, and Qu the Hunter heard the noise and quickly found the tree where Qu Jing was hiding.

Now, Qu Jing followed Qu Liehu up the mountain like a little tail, but Qu Liehu was unaware of it.

Qu Liehu's illness progressed rapidly.

Before, when he was in the Yunzhong Canteen, Uncle Wang suspected that he had Alzheimer's disease and consulted Qu Jing. In order to comfort Uncle Wang, Qu Jing conducted a very systematic science popularization, and Qin Huai also listened to some of it at that time.

Normally, it takes 7 to 10 years for Alzheimer's disease to progress from mild to severe, and those with a faster progression may develop to severe within 5 to 8 years. However, people don't get sick the way textbooks say. The patient Qu Jing knew who had the fastest progression of the disease went from having amnesia to not being able to recognize people in just one year.

The patient will forget recent events first.

When Qu the hunter mentioned for the third time that it was not easy for Teacher Wang, a former private school teacher, to come to the village from the town to teach, and that he was very attentive in class, and asked Qu Jing to bring the rabbit that she had just shot yesterday to Teacher Wang, Qu Jing did not correct him, but smiled and nodded, and took the rabbit to the school and gave it to the later Teacher Li.

When Qu Liehu forgot for the first time that he had made a new schoolbag for Qu Jing with flowered cloth two years ago and kept talking about making a beautiful schoolbag for Qu Jing, Qu Jing silently put away her schoolbag and hid it in the cabinet.

When Qu Liehu forgot that Qu Jing was already in the fourth grade and thought that Qu Jing had just started school and wanted Qu Jing to get along well with her classmates, Qu Jing quietly put away her fourth-grade textbooks.

Later, Qu the Hunter had forgotten that there was a primary school in the village. He thought that when he first picked up Qu Jing, he had been looking for the glutinous rice that the young man from the pastry shop gave him at home. He wanted to learn how to make rice cakes.

Qu Jing asked for a long vacation from school and stayed at home to take care of Qu the Hunter.

Everyone in the village knew that Hunter Qu was getting old and confused, and couldn't remember things anymore, so he needed his granddaughter to take care of him at home. Many people sighed quietly at home, saying that even though Qu Jing had a strange disease and couldn't grow up, the granddaughter had not been raised in vain, and would definitely be able to take care of Hunter Qu until his death.

Qu Liehu's oblivion is not permanent.

It's intermittent.

Sometimes when Qu Liehu was forgetting something, he would remember it. After remembering it, he would feel regretful, annoyed, and blame himself, but he could not stop himself from forgetting.

Qin Huai watched all this quietly, from summer to winter. He knew that one day Qu Liehu would forget Qu Jing. In Qu Liehu's more than 50 years of life, the four years he picked up Qu Jing were just a very short part of his long river of time.

On a winter morning, Qu Jing got up early and cooked cornmeal in the kitchen. Qu the Hunter approached the kitchen with some doubts and some caution, and looked at Qu Jing who was skillfully burning wood in the kitchen, and spoke hesitantly:
"Girl, why are you in my house?"

Qu Jing paused while adding firewood, raised her head, looked at Qu Liehu, and forced a smile: "I am your granddaughter."

"Granddaughter?" Qu Liehu was very confused. He didn't remember having a granddaughter, but when he woke up just now, he saw that the layout of the house had indeed changed. There was an extra room and a small bed.

"Grandpa, you're sick and can't remember. The meal will be ready soon. Eat first. I'll make you some broth to supplement your nutrition. Maybe you'll remember after you finish eating." Qu Jing said, "It's cold outside. Grandpa, go to the kang and have a rest."

Qu the Hunter was still puzzled, but he accepted Qu Jing's explanation. He muttered when he became so rich that he could eat meat so early in the morning, and then he obediently walked back to his room.

Qin Huai was also a little confused. Qu the Hunter did pick up a pheasant from the trap yesterday, but Qu Jing didn't make chicken soup in the morning. If he started stewing it now, it would probably take until mid-morning to eat.

After the hunter Qu returned to his room, Qu Jing closed the kitchen door, took down the pheasant hanging on the wall, plucked its feathers, chopped off a chicken leg, removed the bones, and minced the meat into minced meat.

Qin Huai watched from the side, guessing Qu Jing's cooking ideas.

It may be because Qu the Hunter is old and his teeth are not good, so he can't chew the meat, so he chop the meat into minced meat and cook it to save teeth.

It takes less time to mince the meat and cook it into soup, and it cooks quickly.

Just when Qin Huai was sighing that being strong was a plus and that he could chop the minced meat beautifully, Qu Jing took off her cotton jacket, rolled up her sleeves, and without hesitation, stabbed her arm hard.

Qin Huai:!
Qin Huai watched Qu Jing expressionlessly cut a piece of flesh from his arm. The blood flowed down the wound and dripped onto the minced chicken.

In order to stop the bleeding, Qu Jing directly took out a piece of firewood from the stove and pressed it on the wound. The sizzling sound made Qin Huai dare not even look.

At this point, Qu Jing just frowned, clenched her teeth and said nothing. When the bleeding stopped, she put on her clothes and continued to chop the meat as if nothing had happened.

It was as if she had been preparing for this day for a long time.

A sumptuous breakfast was brought to the table by Qu Jing.

Even though Qu the Hunter no longer recognized Qu Jing, when he saw the only piece of broth placed in front of him, he still pushed the broth towards Qu Jing.

"Girl, you eat meat too."

Qu Jing smiled and shook her head: "Grandpa, this is specially for your body, you eat it."

Only then did Qu the hunter pick up the bowl, carefully scoop a mouthful of soup, and then eat the meat bite by bite.

Qu Jing sat opposite Qu Liehu and watched quietly. Qu Liehu took one sip after another. When the broth in the bowl was about to end, Qu Liehu's hand holding the bowl paused, as if he remembered something, and put the bowl down in annoyance.

"Jingjing." Qu Liehu was like a child who had done something wrong. "I'm sorry, grandpa is so old and confused that he forgot about you."

"No, Grandpa." Qu Jing said with a smile, "You are sick."

"I heard about a folk remedy a few days ago. Eating eel meat can cure your forgetfulness."

"Egg meat?"

"The 鶌鶋 is a bird recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. It has a white head, green feathers, and yellow claws. Its call sounds like a 鶌鶋, so it is named 鶌鶋."

"It is said that eating its meat will make you feel less hungry and it can also cure amnesia."

Qu Liehu felt like he was listening to a story: "I know the Classic of Mountains and Seas. I've heard about it in literacy classes. It's all made-up books. The stories in it are all gods and monsters. They're not real."

"So it's a folk remedy." Qu Jing said with a smile, "It's winter now, and we don't have much food. If we make bird traps, we will definitely catch a lot of birds. Then I will chop the bird meat into puree and make soup for you, just like I made the broth today. Maybe your illness will be cured."

Qu Liehu sighed and said, "You kid... it's your grandfather's illness that has delayed you."

After breakfast, Qu Jing went back to her room, found a piece of clothing that she seldom wore, cut it into strips, and used them to bandage the wound.

In winter, people wear more clothes, so the cloth wrapped around their arms is not noticeable.

For the next week, Qu Liehu did not have any attacks.

Qu Jing really made a bird trap and caught some birds, but she didn't cook them into soup. Instead, she traded them for radishes and cabbages with the children in the village. Qu the hunter thought that Qu Jing was just a child who wanted to catch birds for fun. He took advantage of his good mood and went to the mountains twice to catch many pheasants and rabbits.

On the afternoon of the 9th day, I came back from exchanging vegetables with the village kids with a basket on my back, and saw the hunter Qu processing hides at the door of my house.

"Girl, why are you running here in such a cold weather? It's close to the mountain and dangerous. Go home quickly." Hunter Qu reminded.

He forgot about Qu Jing again.

"It's really strange. Why do I feel like my arm is out of control today? Did I hurt it yesterday?" Qu Liehu muttered.

Qu Jing put down the backpack without any hesitation and said, "Grandpa, I'll go cook for you."

Then he walked into the kitchen and closed the door.

"Hey, you little girl, how can grandpa admit his mistake?" Qu Liehu wanted to stop him, but seeing that Qu Jing closed the door neatly, he gave up and muttered quietly, "Nowadays, when little girls go to other people's homes to find food, do they just call grandpa?" After that, Qu Liehu continued to deal with the leather: "It would be great if I really had a granddaughter this old."

In the kitchen, Qu Jing, like last time, cut off a piece of meat from her arm with the knife.

More than an hour later, Qu Liehu held the bowl of soup and sighed that he was sometimes clear-headed and sometimes confused.

In the following days, Qu Jing would regularly cook meat soup for Qu Liehu, one bowl every nine days. Qu Jing's movements of cutting meat became more and more skilled. If there was not enough meat on her left arm, she would cut meat from her waist and abdomen. Qu Jing's wounds healed quickly and she grew meat quickly, but no matter how fast she cut meat, it could not be faster than her speed of cutting meat.

She didn't dare to cut the flesh from her right arm because it was her dominant hand and would be noticeable. She also didn't dare to cut the flesh from her legs because the injury would make her walk with a limp.

Even his waist and abdomen would not be cut if possible.

Sometimes when Qin Huai saw Qu Jing's left arm with new and old wounds, he would hallucinate Qu Jing in this life, with the same winding and hideous scars, which were also unbearable to look at.

Throughout the entire winter, Qu the Hunter did not fall ill again.

It was spring, the weather was warm, and there was no need to wear thick coats like in winter. Qu Jing had to be more careful when cutting the meat, for fear that the hunter Qu would see through her.

Seeing that his illness seemed to be cured, Qu Liehu was very happy. During a breakfast without broth, he said to Qu Jing:

"Jingjing, grandpa is well now. You can go back to school when school starts."

"Your teacher Li said that you have good grades, so let me support you through junior high school, and then you can go to high school in the county, and maybe you can even get into college."

"By then, you will be the first college student in our village."

"Don't worry about your illness. Grandpa is well now and can go hunting in the mountains. Next year, we will be able to save enough money to go to Peking for treatment. Then, Grandpa will take you to a big hospital in Peking to see a specialist. You will definitely be cured."

When Qu Jing heard Qu Liehu ask him to go back to school, he nodded, but when he heard that he had to go to junior high school in town, he hesitated.

"Grandpa, there's no need to be so anxious. I'm worried about you being alone at home." Qu Jing said.

"There's nothing to worry about. Your secret recipe for broth is so effective. When the time comes, tell grandpa the recipe and he will cook it at home." said Qu Liehu.

Qu Jing didn't say anything.

In the next one or two days, Qu Jing was worried. Seeing that Qu Jing was worried, Qu Liehu also began to worry. He thought about what he had said wrong to upset his granddaughter, but he could not figure it out.

Soon it was time to cook the soup.

Unfortunately, it rained heavily early in the morning. The wooden house leaked easily, and the kitchen was the worst hit area.

Qu Jing had no time to take care of the leak in the kitchen. It was raining today and Qu Liehu would not go out, so she had to cook the broth before Qu Liehu came out. It was not winter and she had to wear less clothes. She was afraid that if the wound was not treated properly, Qu Liehu would smell the blood.

Just like a movie plot.

The rain was pouring down, and the whole world could only hear the sound of rain. Qu Jing was chopping meat in the kitchen skillfully. Qu Liehu was old and had a light sleep. He was awakened by the sound of the rain, and his first reaction was to check if there was any water leak in Qu Jing's room.

When Qu Jing was not in the room, Qu Liehu knew that she had gone to make breakfast and walked towards the kitchen.

"Jingjing, is there a water leak in the kitchen? Be careful not to get wet."

The sound of rain covered up Qu Liehu's voice.

"Jingjing!" Qu Liehu walked closer and closer and arrived at the kitchen door.

I pushed the door, but it was locked.

"This girl always likes to lock the door when she cooks." Qu Liehu shook his head helplessly. When he was about to go back to the house, he found that the door was pushed open a little.

"This door needs to be repaired." Qu Liehu put his hand on the door, trying to see what was wrong, and leaned against it.

Through the gap, Qu the Hunter could see Qu Jing in the kitchen.

Qu the Hunter saw a scene that he would never forget.

Qu Jing's left hand was oozing with blood, and her arm was covered with hideous scars and pits. A piece of bright red meat fell on the chopping board and mixed with the minced meat.

He saw his granddaughter skillfully use hot firewood to stop the bleeding, bandage it, put down her sleeves, and continue chopping the meat.

Qu Liehu opened his eyes wide, tears welled up from his eye sockets and flowed down his wrinkled skin. He opened his mouth and muttered silently to himself.

Qin Huai understood his words from his lip movements.

"I cut off my own flesh to save my mother. It turns out that my illness is so curable."

"I am really a star of misfortune. I have brought misfortune upon my father, mother, relatives and children. Now that I am old, I am willing to harm my granddaughter."

Qu the Hunter murmured silently, walked back to the house in a daze, and after a long time, he wiped away the tears that had long dried, and lay down as if nothing had happened.

When drinking the broth, Qu Liehu had a very hard time swallowing.

"Grandpa, did you catch a cold and your throat is hurting?" Qu Jing asked.

"No." Qu Liehu forced a smile, his voice a little hoarse, "By the way, Jingjing, has grandpa not made rice cakes for you in a while?"

“I ate it during the Chinese New Year.”

"It's true that I haven't made it for a while." Qu Liehu nodded, "There's not much glutinous rice at home. When the rain stops, go to the grain store or grocery store in town to see if there's any glutinous rice for sale. Grandpa will make you some rice cakes."

"Okay." Qu Jing said happily.

The weather cleared up the next day. Qu the hunter had just had meat soup yesterday, so Qu Jing was not afraid that he would have a relapse. She got on the ox cart to the town early in the morning to buy glutinous rice.

Glutinous rice is definitely a rarity in this era.

Qu Jing was unlucky and didn't buy any. In fact, it was not easy for Qu the hunter to buy glutinous rice in recent years. He had to exchange his prey with people from grocery stores or supply and marketing cooperatives.

The staff at the grocery store knew Qu Jing and asked her to come back next month. They would keep the glutinous rice for her and exchange it for prey as usual.

Qu Jing could only return empty-handed.

When he returned home, there was no one in the wooden house, and Qu Jing didn't care too much. After the spring, hunter Qu went up the mountain frequently. Yesterday, there was a heavy rain and he couldn't go up the mountain. It was normal for him to go up the mountain to check the traps today.

Qu Jing started cleaning the house.

Hunter Qu rarely cleans or tidies the house; this job is usually done by Qu Jing. Qu Jing knows where everything is in the house better than Hunter Qu.

In Qu the Hunter's room, Qu Jing saw a hunting rifle hanging on the wall.

Qu Jing suddenly felt something was wrong.

He hurried to the kitchen to look for it and saw the bow and knife on the wall where the prey was originally hung.

How can you go up the mountain without any weapons?

Next to the stove in the kitchen, there was a piece of rice cake covered with a wet cloth.

There was a piece of paper next to the rice cake. It was torn from Qu Jing's homework book. The words on it were crooked and looked like they were drawn. It was obvious at a glance that they were written by a beginner.

[Jingjing, grandpa doesn’t want to hurt you anymore.

You are a good child, and Grandpa is very happy to be your grandfather. Grandpa can't accompany you to Beijing for medical treatment. The money Grandpa has saved over the years is in the tin box in the cabinet. You keep the money and go to the town to study in junior high school, high school, and take the college entrance examination.

If you have any problems, go find the village chief and live well. ]
Qu Jing stood there looking at the paper.

The village chief shouted from outside the house: "Jingjing, Jingjing, is your grandfather here?"

"Just now, Goudan told me that your grandfather went to school to ask Teacher Li for a lot of questions. He also asked Goudan and several other students for questions. He said he wanted to write something."

"My Goudan said your grandfather asked him how to write about being alive. Is he home? Is he okay? Is he too old and confused to want to live anymore?"

Qu Jing rushed out of the house grabbing the note and ran towards the mountain. The village chief shouted and chased after her but could not catch up with her.

Although Qu Jing has not been to the mountains much in recent years, he is very familiar with the roads in the mountains, especially the roads leading deep into the mountains. He will no longer want to go deep into the mountains like he did before, but then take the wrong road and have to wander around outside.

Qu Jing searched the mountains until night.

Nothing was found.

On the morning of the third day, Qu Jing went down the mountain in a daze and found the village chief and his wife waiting for her in the wooden house.

"Child, it's so dangerous to run straight up the mountain. There are wolves, tigers, and blind bears in the mountains. If something happens to you, how are we going to explain to Old Qu?" When the village chief's wife saw Qu Jing coming back, she pounced on him and checked if he was injured.

Qu Jing stood there in a daze without resisting. The village chief's wife rolled up Qu Jing's sleeves while examining her and screamed when she saw the hideous wound on Qu Jing's left arm.

"Is my grandpa back?" Qu Jing asked.

The village chief shook his head and sighed: "Old Qu... some children in the village saw him going up the mountain."

"Old hunters know where the blind bear's lair is."

The village chief didn't say anything else.

Qu Jing nodded and walked into the wooden house in a daze.

Qin Huai knew that Qu Jing had failed to survive the tribulation.

Qin Huai left the memory.

(End of this chapter)