Chapter 68

"I bought this with the money I earned!" His eyes sparkled, stubborn and hopeful, "In the future, we will live a better life. I want to buy a big house for my family and leave this dilapidated place. Our family of three lives together, buys delicious food and good clothes, and I want to honor you for many, many years!"

The hut was so quiet that a needle could be heard. Grandma Qiu looked at him blankly.

His face was still swollen, his body was wet, and the back of his bare hands was red and swollen from being beaten by Grandpa Qiu with a bench just now.

But his eyes are open and pure. There is no timidity and dodge in the dark eyes of a child, but there is unprecedented responsibility in them.

Grandma Qiu suddenly felt that she didn't know this child.

In the blink of an eye, on that morning more than ten years ago, the dying child lying in the swaddling clothes with bruises all over his body turned into an adult.

Looking down at the pile of things in the plastic bag, she flipped through them one by one, and suddenly burst into tears—these things were all for the two old people, and there was nothing for him!

Qiu Mingquan grinned, his eyes were bright, and his swollen face was full of joy: "Grandpa, grandma, I will take you into the city tomorrow, let's go to the boutique shopping mall. The salesperson at the stationery counter there can testify for me!"

The old man turned around slowly and hesitantly, and finally he was half-doubtful.

"You... You really didn't do anything bad? I'm really going to the city with you tomorrow. "

"Don't worry, grandpa!"

...

Finally at midnight, Qiu Mingquan waited for the two old men to fall asleep, endured exhaustion and pain, and quietly got up.

When he came back, it was snowing outside, who knows what will happen overnight, if the ground is covered by heavy snow tomorrow morning, how can he find jade? !

Quietly go out and go around behind the window, sure enough, the ground has been covered with a thick layer of snow. The neighborhood here is a suburb, and some weeds are overgrown behind the window, and the traces of the arson a few days ago are still there. The dark wall is lined with white snow, and a slight whiteness can still be seen in the middle of the night.

The jade pendant is too small! The color was bright white again, and the direction and distance thrown by Grandpa Qiu were unclear. Qiu Mingquan was so anxious that he could only keep guessing and groping around in the snow.

In the middle of the night, everything was silent, the howling north wind was mixed with the rustling of weeds, Qiu Mingquan's little hands kept groping in the icy snow, and after a while, bloodstains were drawn by the sharp teeth of the weeds.

But he couldn't feel the pain anymore.

The ice and snow froze his hands, and even his feet were starting to stiffen.

Time passed by little by little, and the sky in the distance seemed to gradually brighten, but Qiu Mingquan still found nothing, and his heart sank little by little.

...

For a long time, the surroundings were as quiet as a tomb.

Feng Rui's senses were extremely keen, he could almost hear the slight movement of snowflakes falling around him, and he could also hear the rustling of withered grass and leaves in winter.

Hearing these small voices, he even fell into a trance for a while.

Could that mentally handicapped little migrant worker... be really frightened by his grandparents and stop looking for him, or could he be unable to find the pendant he was hiding in by accident?

Ten years, eight years? Like Monkey King, waiting for five hundred years to wait for the next passing Tang Seng who is destined to belong to him?

I don't know how long he lay like this, but at the moment when he was drowsy, there was a warm temperature.

...Qiu Mingquan lightly held the bright red lanyard on the jade with one hand, almost dreamily, picked up the jade pendant from a piece of dry grass.

At that moment, the morning sun rises and the stars suddenly disappear. The air in winter is so fresh and cold, but the boy in front of Feng Rui has an immature face and his pupils are as black as ink.

"Yes, I'm sorry." Qiu Mingquan looked at him anxiously, but his eyes were full of ecstasy, "I've been looking for you for a long time... Are you in a hurry?"

His palm was small, and he gently stroked the jade pendant, causing Feng Rui, who had no body, to suddenly feel a tingling sensation.

Then, he gently put the pendant that stayed in the snow all night on his chest and hid it in his shirt.

It was bitingly cold, but the back, which was stained with the blood of the two people's previous lives, quickly warmed up.

In Feng Rui's ears, there was a faint but clear heartbeat: "Boom... Boom!"

He suddenly realized that it was Qiu Mingquan's heartbeat.

"I'm not going to lose you again. Not even in death."

At that time, Feng Rui and Qiu Mingquan didn't realize that this simple and unpretentious sentence, like a mantra and an oath, followed them for so long.

After splitting and rejoining, until the impermanent gear of fate rolled over again.

...The next day, the two old men of the Qiu family did not have the opportunity to go to the city to verify what Qiu Mingquan said.

Because Qiu Mingquan fell ill completely.

After running around all day, his face was swollen by Xiang Cheng's punch in the afternoon, and he was whipped by his grandfather when he came home at night.

...Agitated and looking for things in the ice and snow all night, Qiu Mingquan felt his head was heavy the next morning and he couldn't get up.

The two old men tossed and turned sleeplessly last night, thinking about Qiu Mingquan's words, they always felt that the huge amount of money was like a dream, and they finally fell asleep in the middle of the night. When I woke up the next morning, I found that Qiu Mingquan's face was flushed, and when he touched his forehead, he was terrified, the fever was severe!

Grandpa Qiu hurriedly left the house early to get medicine at a nearby clinic. Grandma Qiu stayed at home to take care of Qiu Mingquan, helping him change the cold towel on his forehead from time to time. Qiu Mingquan felt uncomfortable, woke up once or twice halfway, drank some white rice porridge, and fell asleep again.

In a daze, I heard someone talking outside.

"I don't know why, he didn't go to get his report card, and you didn't come to the parent meeting..."

With a jolt, he finally recognized the owner of the voice. ——Teacher Feng, the teacher in charge!

For more than a week after the exam, every second counts, and every day is a huge income. How can I have time to get a report card?

As for the parent meeting a few days later, he completely forgot about it. Now...the head teacher was recruited?

Holding his glasses, Teacher Feng carefully stood at the door with his trousers lifted. Last night's first snow made the ground muddy. She knew that this was a rural area, so she specially wore big rubber shoes, but along the way, her pants were still covered with bits and pieces of mud.

As soon as she stood in front of Qiu Mingquan's house, she saw the bare walls inside, and took a deep breath.

Although it was daytime, the whole room was dark due to the lack of sunlight. After getting used to the light in the room for a while, Teacher Feng could see clearly the figure of the boy lying curled up on the bed.

"Teacher Feng..." Qiu Mingquan struggled to get up, feeling extremely guilty.

Fever is severe, the mind lacks the ability to think, and the only thought is: Have the test scores been found to be abnormal?

Teacher Feng stepped forward quickly, looked at his weak and wounded face, and was startled: "Qiu Mingquan, what's wrong with you?"

"It's okay, I just have a little fever." Qiu Mingquan sat up halfway, but was pushed down on the bed by Teacher Feng.

"Then you lie down and rest quickly!" Teacher Feng looked at the bed where Qiu Mingquan was lying on, and felt a "thump" in his heart.

It was too shabby, cotton was exposed under the dilapidated quilt, and the color of the quilt was also dull and black, and the original color of the quilt could not be seen.

Grandma Qiu timidly brought over boiling water: "Teacher, please drink water... Is this child in school, and you teachers are bothering?"

Teacher Feng quickly waved his hands vigorously: "No, no! I'm here because I want to praise Mingquan's performance."

praise? Grandma Qiu was stunned.

"Yes, Qiu Mingquan has made great progress in the final exam this semester!" Teacher Feng was a little excited.

She personally gave Qiu Mingquan a score of 98 on the Chinese test paper. Unexpectedly, the feedback she got from other teachers was astonishing. In the final exam of this semester, Qiu Mingquan, who used to be unremarkable in the past, scored amazingly well in all subjects. high score!

100 points in mathematics, 99 points in English, 96 points in politics, and full marks in geography. ... In private communication, the political teacher also admitted that, like her, he artificially deducted a few points on the subjective essay questions.

The total score of all subjects in the whole year is the first, and the four subjects are the first in the grade!

——If this score can be maintained, it will not be difficult to get into the best key high school in the city.

Seeing Grandma Qiu's surprised and disbelieving expression, she quickly took out Qiu Mingquan's report card and handed it to the old man.

"Look, the two subjects are 100%! And grandma, your grandson, this time he got the first overall score in the whole grade!"

"Don't pour so much." Li Ermao snatched the gasoline can and looked at Wang Daquan flatteringly, "Brother Wang said, don't burn people to death."

Li Damao covered his sleeves, shivering and said: "It's so cold, and the wind is so strong, it won't burn if it's less!"

Wang Daquan had a cold face and frowned: "The people who burned the dead made a big fuss and attracted attention, but it was a waste of time."

Li Ermao nodded repeatedly and said: "If you really risk your life, you will have to be shot."

Wang Daquan's eyes flashed fiercely, and he looked around, but he went to the eaves of a house and poured more gasoline.

That was exactly the Qiu Mingquan's house that he found out on purpose.

Squinting his eyes, Wang Daquan took out a lighter, lit it on the leeward side, and threw it into a winding gasoline line under his feet.

The flames ignited and burned into a thread of fire in an instant. Wang Daquan watched coldly, clutching the back of his burned hand, feeling a surge of joy in his heart.

Forget about the others, that wolf-like brat, let their house be burned tonight, it’s best to burn him to death! For a moment, evil thoughts rose sharply in his heart.

Just as several people were proudly watching the flames getting bigger and bigger, suddenly, a gust of wind suddenly passed behind them at the same time.

Wang Daquan turned around in astonishment, and saw two figures in the night, one big and one small, holding a thick stick in their hands, and they were about to hit their heads with a heavy blow. The two brothers Li Damao fell to the ground with an "ouch" at the same time!

Oops, ambushed!

A voice shouted violently: "Bastard, go to hell! I told you to set fire to people!"

The crisp boy's voice exploded in the quiet night at the same time: "Everyone, get up, someone set the fire, come and put out the fire!..."

The courtyard suddenly exploded, lights were turned on in countless rooms, and the owner of the house who was close had already seen the fire, and rushed out in his clothes: "Fire and fire! Get water!"

Brothers Li Damao and Li Ermao were beaten to the ground and screamed. Wang Daquan's heart skipped a beat. Seeing that the formation was wrong, he was terrified and ran away.

Liu Dongfeng and Qiu Mingquan put the two of them down, turned around and chased after Wang Daquan who was fleeing. It was getting dark and impatient, Wang Daquan tripped over something unexpectedly, and suddenly fell like a dog gnawing shit.

The fire just started over there, and was quickly extinguished by everyone who heard the sound. Now seeing the murderer, the neighbors hated each other very much, and they were so courageous that they shouted together: "Kill them! He is going to kill him!" Our lives!"

Wang Daquan turned over and sat up in embarrassment. Seeing that several young and middle-aged men had already rushed forward, he was overwhelmed, and suddenly raised the remaining half barrel of gasoline in his hand, and threw it in the face towards the chasing crowd!

"Hula la", a smoky smell, the people who chased them were caught off guard and were doused in gasoline.

Wang Daquan roared hoarsely: "Don't come over, I will burn anyone who comes over!"

With a sound of "噗", he grinned grinningly, and suddenly lit the lighter in his hand, and in the dark night, a cluster of faint flames ignited.

Qiu Mingquan chased at the front, stopped suddenly, and stretched out his hand to block behind him: "Everyone, don't move!"

Liu Dongfeng roared coldly: "Hurry up and put down the lighter! Surrender honestly!"

"Let me go, or you will be burned to death!" Wang Daquan yelled frantically.

Qiu Mingquan walked forward step by step. He was small and thin, and looked harmless, but in Wang Daquan's eyes, his calm face under the firelight produced a chill out of thin air.

It's him again! This wolf cub of the Qiu family, a lifeless little devil!

"Don't come here!" He waved the lighter in horror, the mouth of the gasoline barrel he just threw away was tilted, and the remaining gasoline poured out silently, flowing into a stream under his feet. He was extremely nervous, but Unaware.

"Xiaoquan, don't go there, it's dangerous!" Liu Dongfeng yelled anxiously, ignoring the gasoline on his body, and was about to rush forward, but Qiu Mingquan turned around and stopped him sharply.

"Don't come here, I don't have gasoline on me, so I'm not afraid of him." He whispered, his eyes were serious, and Liu Dongfeng was shocked in place.

Qiu Mingquan walked five or six steps in front of Wang Daquan, looked at him and raised his eyebrows slightly: "You want to burn my house."

It's not a question, it's a statement.

Wang Daquan suppressed the panic in his heart, and grinned grimly: "So what? You are lucky if you didn't burn the three of you to death!"

Qiu Mingquan's body had just changed, and President Feng sighed softly: "I'll give you one last chance to catch you without a fight. If not—"

He half raised his head, his gaze seemed to be looking at a dead person: "You have no choice but to die."

The faint fire light behind him reflected his indifferent eyes, the vicissitudes in his eyes were as deep as a deep pool, Wang Daquan suddenly shuddered, his mind buzzed, and he threw the lighter in his hand at Qiu Mingquan!

Burn him, he's a ghost! …I don’t know why, Wang Daquan thought in horror.

The child on the opposite side dodged lightly amidst the screams of panic.

The lighter whirled and landed near him.

The fire suddenly ignited, and it even rushed towards Wang Daquan along the winding oil line on the ground!

——The leaked gasoline line ignited when it encountered an open flame, and instantly wrapped Wang Daquan. In the terrified eyes of everyone, he instantly became a ball of fire, and his miserable cries resounded through the night sky in this winter night. ...

"I really didn't expect it... I really didn't expect it." In a certain real estate company, Mr. Zhou lowered his voice into the phone in the closed office, "I was discovered by the poor ghosts in that shanty town when I set the fire. , not only put out the fire, but all those who set it on fire were arrested.”

On the other end of the phone, the voice was gentle and elegant, without any disturbance: "I heard that the one who took the lead was burned into a blackened gourd?"

Mr. Zhou, who reported the report, came down: "Yes, Wang Daquan was seriously injured. I'm afraid that if he gets involved with me..."

"Don't worry, that person shouldn't be able to survive after being burnt like that." The person on the phone said calmly, as if he didn't mind.

"That's good, that's good!" Mr. Zhou felt relieved, "Don't worry, the other two don't even know about our existence."

After a long while on the phone, he said calmly: "Us?..."

Mr. Zhou was shocked in his heart. In the cold winter months, his forehead was almost sweating, and he hurriedly said: "No! Don't worry! No matter what, this matter will not expand any further!"

The person on the other side of the phone seemed to ponder for a while before speaking again: "I'm preparing a newly registered real estate company for you. Next, don't use those shady methods anymore, just come forward in your name and buy it directly. .”

After thinking about it, it seemed that he was afraid that he would not understand, so he warned again: "Speak skillfully, deter and suppress, don't let go of the subject, don't I need to teach you sentence by sentence?"

"Of course." Mr. Zhou said flatteringly, "Don't worry, it will be done this time!"

...In a spacious office somewhere, a middle-aged man slowly put down the phone with no expression on his face.

He tapped his fingers on the table slowly a few times before he picked up the thermos cup and took a sip slowly. The tea is excellent, even in winter, it has a very dense fragrance of high-quality tea.

Then, he picked up the phone again and dialed a number.

"Director Fei, I heard that how many criminals were arrested in your place yesterday? Those who were burned?" A cold light flashed behind his gold-rimmed glasses, and he said meaningfully, "This kind of scum is really disgusting. In fact, he is still alive. It is the irresponsibility of society, especially the kind that takes the lead, right?"

...

The chaos of last night has passed, and when I woke up in the morning, the whole compound was full of jubilation

Among the several arsonists who were turned over to the police station overnight, one was the notorious Wang Daquan, who suffered serious burns——this vicious bully took the lead. Now that he has all gone in, what are you afraid of?

"Koizumi, is your house okay? Do you want us to give you a hand and help you renovate it?" Enthusiastic neighbors yelled in the yard early in the morning.

"It's okay, no need." Qiu Mingquan smiled, the fire was extinguished last night in time, the back window of his house was only slightly blackened, it was nothing serious.

The neighbors who were talking just stopped, when Aunt Wang suddenly ran over and handed over a few big meat buns coyly: "Xiaoquan, this is steamed by my aunt yesterday, at your age, you need some meat!"

Liu Qinhua laughed out loud with a "puchi" and said, "Oh, the sun is coming out from the west."

Qiu Mingquan took the big meat buns with good-natured laughter, handed one to each of his grandparents, and said "thank you" shyly.

Liu Dongfeng went to the police station overnight last night, and has not come back until now. The big victory against the hooligans last night dispelled the haze in everyone's hearts, and the whole compound was full of joy.

Grandpa and grandma went out after dinner with big bags of trash on their backs. Only then did Qiu Mingquan get into the hut according to the plan he had made long ago.

The passbook for opening an account in grandpa's name is in the quilt under the bed. Immediately afterwards, he opened the shoe box and found the cash change inside.

The fixed deposit is only 60 yuan, and the cash is more than 20 yuan. The total deposit is 80 yuan. This is the entire property of this poor family.

In this era when the average monthly salary of employees in state-owned enterprises is one or two hundred yuan, most families are struggling, and it is common to borrow a few yuan for emergency at the end of the month. Two old scavengers collected rubbish every day and then sold them. Their income was only enough to feed their family of three, and there was no way to save any extra money.

Ever since he learned of all the savings of this family, President Feng has been extremely depressed, and swears in extreme pain: "The accumulation of primitive capital for the poor is really fucking difficult!"

Holding the passbook and those crumpled banknotes, Qiu Mingquan suddenly panicked.

"Can it really make money?" After all, he has no business experience. "What if I lose money? Will no one buy it?"

"Are you questioning me? Questioning the world you lived in in your previous life, the president of Shenchu ​​Group with tens of billions of assets? Questioning the business genius who has appeared in "Fortune"?" Feng Rui said with a smirk.