More than twenty years ago, during a harsh winter, heavy snow suddenly descended. Inside a dilapidated shack, no more than ten square meters, the cries of a baby boy shattered the surrounding silence. His parents, both congenitally deaf and mute, had miraculously given birth to a healthy son and felt immensely fortunate.
The man, gazing at the little one nestled in his wife's arms, wept tears of excitement. He vowed to earn more money and send their child to university, so he could study, write, and learn skills in a classroom like any other child.
His wife, also tearful, kissed her husband’s face. Though they were disabled, Heaven had bestowed upon them an angel. They would raise this child well and shower him with all their love.
Time passed swiftly. In the blink of an eye, the boy was three years old. However, a home environment devoid of spoken language meant he would inevitably learn to speak later than other children his age. Even when children in the yard were already calling out "Mama" and "Papa," he could only babble incoherently.
The man sat by the doorway, smoking, while his wife prepared dinner. The little boy, meanwhile, chased after the other children in the yard. The older children, who could already speak, did not like this younger child, much like adults rarely interacted with the deaf-mute couple. For the first time, the child felt a sense of isolation.
That evening, his wife sensed her husband’s unease. After she tucked their child into bed, she put on a padded coat, carried a small stool to the boiler, and sat beside him.
The wife communicated with her husband using sign language.
Wife's sign language: "What’s wrong?"
Husband's sign language: "We are not good parents."
Wife's sign language: "Why do you say that?"
Husband's sign language: "Xiao Yu learns nothing with us."
Wife's sign language: "He’ll be fine once he starts school; the teacher will teach him."
Husband's sign language: "Our world is silent; his shouldn't be."
His wife understood his meaning. Could the love they offered truly compensate for their child’s silent deficiency? When other children could hear their parents' voices and learn to speak, their own child was no different from a mute.
His wife patted his shoulder, "It will get better."
Husband's sign language: "You go to sleep, I'll watch the stove."
Yet, that night, neither of them could sleep soundly.
Finally, the long winter passed. They heard that the county steel mill was hiring. The husband decided to try his luck, perhaps for a simple labor job.
The snow in the yard had melted. A group of children were discussing a new game. They were short of players. An older child saw Xiao Yu standing at the doorway, looking at them wistfully. An idea struck him. The children conspired and decided to make Xiao Yu the 'lookout,' leading him up to the roof.
Older Child: "Xiao Yu, just stand here. We'll come switch with you later."
Three-year-old Xiao Yu didn't quite understand, but he was happy to be included. He stood diligently on the roof. The slightly steep roof was no challenge for the older children, but it seemed much more dangerous for Xiao Yu.
The children in the yard chattered and played until dusk, when their mothers called them home for dinner. However, everyone forgot about Xiao Yu, who was still on the roof.
The early spring night carried a hint of chill. Xiao Yu waited for the older children to come get him, but after a long time, no one came. His legs began to tremble. He started calling for his mother, but his cries went unanswered.
Meanwhile, his anxious mother paced by the doorway, waiting for her child to come home for dinner. Unable to speak, she used tapping on the water缸 by the door as a signal to Xiao Yu. Every time she heard the tapping, he would obediently run home. But this time, no matter how many times she tapped, her son did not appear.
Xiao Yu's mother was frantic. She remembered her husband's instructions to take good care of Xiao Yu. Yet, only a few days after her husband had left, Xiao Yu was missing!
Xiao Yu's mother grabbed a padded coat and searched every corner of the yard, tears streaming down her face. Where could her child be?
She knocked on a few neighbors' doors, gesturing Xiao Yu's height. Through years of interaction, they understood she was asking about her child. But everyone shook their heads. A kind neighbor, an older sister, also put on a sweater and joined her search in the yard.
The neighbor comforted her while knocking on doors. Compared to the deaf-mute woman, the neighbor found it easier to inquire. She learned that Xiao Yu had been with the children who often played in the courtyard that afternoon. She led Xiao Yu's mother to their homes.
Upon arriving at the next-door courtyard, they saw a crowd gathered near the wall. The neighbor curiously asked what had happened.
Neighbors: "Oh, it's terrible. We heard a child crying on the roof, so we came out to look. Then we heard a loud 'clang.' The sky was dark, and when we came closer, we saw it was a child!"
The neighbor grabbed Xiao Yu's mother and rushed in. Seeing Xiao Yu lying motionless on the ground, Xiao Yu's mother immediately knelt and embraced her child. She let out a mournful wail. Xiao Yu's face was covered in blood, and he was on the verge of death.
When taken to the hospital, Xiao Yu was fortunate; his life was saved. As Xiao Yu's mother knelt, thanking the doctor...
Doctor: "Family of the patient, please don't. The child's life is saved, but I must inform you of the situation."
The neighbor stood by Xiao Yu's mother, gesturing frantically, indicating the doctor had more to say.
Doctor: "We found a fracture in the patient's temporal bone. The injury may cause the child… to lose his hearing."
The neighbor pointed to her ear and made a crossing motion.
Xiao Yu's mother shook her head and pleaded with the doctor on her knees to save her child. She never imagined that her once healthy Xiao Yu would end up like her parents. If Xiao Yu also lost his hearing, wouldn't he be a deaf-mute child?
Neighbor: "Doctor, is there any way to prevent the child from losing his hearing?"
Doctor: "Domestic technology is still very limited. Abroad, there is a cochlear implant that can be surgically placed in the brain to aid hearing. However, it is very expensive. I see that your financial situation is also limited. This would require surgery abroad..."
Xiao Yu's mother looked hopefully at the neighbor, but the neighbor also appeared helpless. She wanted to help the unfortunate family of three, but back then, ordinary people dared not go to the hospital for illnesses, let alone travel abroad for surgery.
Xiao Yu's mother scraped together money from various sources to cover Xiao Yu's hospital expenses. As she carried Xiao Yu out of the hospital, a woman wearing leather shoes, a pink dress, and a fashionable perm suddenly rushed towards Xiao Yu's mother, snatched Xiao Yu, and held him tightly. She screamed hysterically that he was her child, refusing to let go no matter how others tried to intervene.
Then, several men emerged from a blue Santana. Two men restrained the frantic woman from behind. One man then took the child and handed him back to Xiao Yu's mother, offering a sincere apology.
Man: "I am so sorry, truly sorry. My wife just lost her son. We were on our way to the hospital to see her. Please forgive us."
It turned out the frantic woman was a daughter-in-law of the Xie family. Reportedly, a few days prior, she was holding her son while sunbathing on the balcony, and accidentally fell asleep. Her son climbed onto the window to swat at a sparrow on the clothesline. The child fell headfirst from the building and died instantly.
Frantic Woman: "Give my son back!!! That is my son!!! He's not dead!!! Don't take him away!!!"
The man blocked Xiao Yu's mother with his body, gesturing for them to quickly take the child and leave before his wife saw another child and became further distressed.
If Xiao Yu's hearing loss was the greatest blow to this family, then what followed was the final straw that crushed the deaf-mute couple.
When Xiao Yu's mother returned home, she received news from her husband's steel mill. Due to an operational error, he had not heard warnings from his colleagues and was struck by a molten steel bar, pinning one of his legs. He might be left with a lifelong disability.
The factory provided only a meager compensation, far from enough for the family's future expenses. Without money, Xiao Yu would remain deaf-mute for life, and her husband had lost his ability to work. Xiao Yu's mother's world collapsed.
Being deaf and mute was one thing, but why also poverty? If poverty was the issue, why was she given a healthy child in the first place? Since she had been granted a healthy child, why must he suffer such hardship at such a young age? What had she done wrong to be punished so severely by Heaven? For the first time, she felt unworthy of being a mother as a deaf-mute person.
Looking at Xiao Yu sleeping soundly on the bed, Xiao Yu's mother knelt by the bedside and wept in agony.
Xiao Yu did not belong to this disabled family. Her husband's worries were valid; they could not care for this child. If it meant Xiao Yu could live a healthy life, she would gladly trade her own life, but was her worthless life worthy of such a trade?
A few days later, her husband returned home, leaning on a cane, one trouser leg empty. He looked around the room but did not see Xiao Yu. Her husband did not speak. His wife, distraught, leaned against the doorframe, staring blankly into the distance.
When he learned Xiao Yu had been sent to an orphanage, he collapsed to the floor and held his wife's legs, slapping his own face repeatedly. He understood; without income, how could they raise a child?
If it wasn't absolutely necessary, who would abandon their own child?
—End of Recollection—