Chapter 78
From Aunt Ge’s intermittent sobbing, Tu Hengsha gleaned that Ge Yun could no longer endure such hopeless and bitter days. She had become involved with another man and planned to take her child and leave with him. Such situations had occasionally arisen in the village before, because once men contracted pneumoconiosis, most of them were rendered inhumane. Many suffered and became akin to covert mistresses, whether they were known to others or not. Previously, it was like watching the excitement in other families. When other families discovered the illness in their men, they secretly felt relieved if it wasn’t affecting them directly. However, it seemed that fate spared no one.
Fortunately, Aunt Ge’s household situation was slightly better. Ge Yun’s brother, Ge Zhuang, had second-stage pneumoconiosis and was actively cooperating with the treatment. Uncle Ge was still relatively healthy and could work in the fields, and Ge Zhuang’s wife was earning a decent income working in the county, as long as there was some money left at home, and people were alive, there was still hope.
Aunt Ge left in tears, thanking her for her hospitality.
Tu Hengsha felt heavy-hearted and continued her visits throughout the afternoon. She roughly estimated that about half of the men in the village were sick, while the other half either hadn’t worked in the mines or hadn’t been there long. Now, everyone turned pale at the mention of the mines.
Tu Hengsha also met quite a few patients, who mostly showed typical characteristics of physical laborers—dark-skinned and rough-looking. However, they no longer possessed the robustness of those fit for physical labor; all that was left were frail husks.
Some of them were gasping for air, some groaning while clutching their chests, some coughing incessantly, and some sat in the sunlight at their doorsteps, idly trying to catch the rays with their fingers, unresponsive to family members calling them...
She also met Ge Yun’s brother, Ge Zhuang. When she arrived at the Ge Family home, Ge Zhuang was coughing and eventually coughed up blood, the shocking crimson color striking to behold.
But Ge Zhuang was optimistic. Hearing about the morning’s events from Aunt Ge, he even smiled at her gratefully for speaking up for his sister, "Life isn’t easy for the men in our village, and it’s even harder for the women."
A simple phrase, "It’s not easy," those light three words, yet they fully expressed the human suffering.
Tu Hengsha could empathize somewhat with the pain of their illness, having suffered similar ailments herself for many years. Yet, her experiences couldn’t compare to theirs.