Chapter 149 – 1992-2020

The elevator was running quietly and smoothly, and suddenly it shook slightly.

This is something that happens every time and Lian Qiao is used to it. But RenDong couldn’t seem to get used to it, because every time the elevator vibrated, he would gasp in shock.

It was the same this time.

Lian Qiao looked at RenDong, meeting his dazed eyes.

Lian Qiao was about to speak when RenDong’s face suddenly darkened. He rushed up and grabbed his collar, saying angrily: “Can you show some love to me?!”

Lian Qiao: “Huh???”

RenDong trembled with anger. He yelled at Lian Qiao with a softer and more childlike voice: “Don’t let me wait for you at the school gate alone! I will be—”

Lian Qiao: “? ??”

Before he could react, Xu RenDong had shrunk into a wrinkled baby.

Lian Qiao: “???????”

He looked at the purple sweet potato essence curled up in a pile of clothes, and was so shocked that he was stunned.

Little RenDong that turned into a purple potato seemed to be still angry, crying non-stop. It took Lian Qiao a long time to do a good job of mental construction, and accept the fact that this ugly baby was RenDong.

He carefully picked up the little purple sweet potato, but the purple sweet potato was still crying and kicking him desperately.

..What are you angry about?

Lian Qiao couldn’t figure it out, he really didn’t know how he had offended RenDong again. Wasn’t it fine a minute ago? Aren’t they still holding hands and each other’s soulmates?

Why did you suddenly leave me alone and become Purple Sweet Potato Essence!

Even the species has changed drastically, hey!

..

After a lot of tossing, Little RenDong finally grew to be six years old again.

For the past six days, Lian Qiao has been trembling all the time, not knowing what he did wrong. It was unknown what kind of anger RenDong was harboring and he didn’t want to talk to him.

If asked, he refused to speak as if his mouth was stuck. And every time Lian Qiao asked, RenDong would be even angrier. Sometimes when he gets angry, he even grabs his arm and bites it.

“Does it hurt when I bite your hand?!” RenDong said viciously, like a hungry wolf.

Lian Qiao looked at the six-year-old kid messing around with him, feeling confused and loving him at the same time. He sighed, pampering and helplessly stroking RenDong’s hair.

“What’s the matter with you..”

RenDong hummed, turned his back and stopped looking at him.

The six-year-old child has not yet shed the baby fat, and his back is round, like a red panda. Lian Qiao looked at his back and his tenderness resurfaced.

However, this tender feeling was broken by RenDong’s sour words.

“Why don’t you take care of your children?” It should have been a question but it was in a declarative tone. It’s just that the statement contained endless sorrow and complaints, like a lonely kitten, struggling alone in the dark and calling for help, getting

There was no response.

Lian Qiao was stunned for a moment. Then he asked with a wry smile: “Why are you saying this?”

“..” Little RenDong didn’t speak but just lowered his head deeply.

Although Lian Qiao didn’t understand what he was thinking, he clearly sensed his sadness. He opened his arms and hugged him from behind.

A six-year-old child was only so big in his arms. It wasn’t the thin and slender figure in memory, but it made Lian Qiao feel an inexplicable nostalgia.

Lian Qiao didn’t ask any more questions, just rested his chin on RenDong’s little head, and hugged him quietly.

An unknown amount of time passed.

“I’m sorry.” Little RenDong suddenly choked up and spoke.

Lian Qiao didn’t know what he was sorry for. The warm and moist touch on his arm diverted Lian Qiao’s attention and made his whole heart shudder.

“You..” He wanted to ask why you were crying but he had a faint feeling in his heart and knew that RenDong would not say it.

RenDong was hiding something from him and he has always known it.

But so what?

So Lian Qiao said: “You cry. I will accompany you.”

Little RenDong turned around and threw herself into his arms, crying heartily.

The next day.

When the first ray of sunshine in the morning was accompanied by the subtitles of “1999” on their faces, the three of them felt a flash in front of their eyes and when they opened their eyes again, they were already on the busy street.

Lian Qiao glanced at XX Elementary School across the road, turned around and asked, “RenDong, is this your elementary school?”

Xu RenDong: “No.”

Lian Qiao & Little Apple: “Huh???”

However if RenDong says it’s not then it’s not. So Lian Qiao and Little Apple lost their way forward in an instant, not knowing what to do next.

Xu RenDong: “Give me a knife.”

Lian Qiao took out a three-edged bloodletting knife from his backpack and asked in surprise, “Why do you want a knife for?”

Xu RenDong put the three-edged knife in his pocket and raised his head, looking far away at the abandoned building at the end of the street.

“I need to go and destroy a criminal group.”

Lian Qiao & Little Apple: “???”

The street where XX Elementary School was located was lined with various buildings such as stationery stores, snack bars, small hotels, and residential buildings. Every place was worth exploring. It was unknown why Boss RenDong only took a fancy to that unfinished building.

Lian Qiao and Little Apple followed RenDong to the unfinished building in a daze. RenDong walked around to the hole in the iron fence with ease, stepped in with his short legs and got inside.

The two behind quickly followed. When Little Apple raised her head and saw the dark entrance of the building, she couldn’t help but fold her arms and flinch. She said, “What kind of place is this..”

RenDong didn’t speak but a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Although Lian Qiao didn’t know what RenDong was thinking, he trusted RenDong unconditionally. RenDong said he wanted to go upstairs, so he picked up a crowbar and flashlight to escort RenDong up. This building was an unfinished building, there was no electricity and there were holes everywhere in the wall, and there was a whistling sound of air leakage.

The three of them stepped on the construction waste all the way upstairs. When they reached the fifth floor, the three of them heard someone talking from above.

There were about five or six people above, speaking a dialect that they didn’t know. They were babbling and it was unknown what they were saying. Little RenDong stopped onto the fourth floor and the three of them slowed down, quietly lying on the stairs to peep.

They saw that the lamps were lit in the large empty room. Although there were lights, the ground was still littered with construction debris. It seems that these people did not live here but were just squatting here temporarily.

There are four men and one woman in the room, all dressed in ordinary clothes, with smiles on their faces. It’s just that there was a hint of malice in those smiles, which made people quite uncomfortable.

These people formed a circle. There was also a child in the middle, who was kneeling on the ground and shivering.

Lian Qiao and Little Apple were shocked when they first saw the child. This was a severely disabled child! The eye sockets were empty and there were no eyeballs. Both hands and feet are strangely shaped. It was unknown if it had a congenital defect or it was the result of some misfortune encountered after birth.

The little disabled child was dressed in rags and looked like a beggar. He held a broken bowl in his dirty little hands and there were some coins and paper money in the bowl.

He held up the bowl with great effort and handed the money in the bowl to the man in front of him. Obviously, the man was dissatisfied with this, swearing and cursing, he overturned the bowl, picked up the little beggar from the ground and whipped him with a belt.

Little Apple’s eyes turned red when she saw it and she immediately covered her mouth, afraid that she would cry out.

Lian Qiao narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice: “Harvesting and cutting..” (Note) {I’ll put the note here instead of just at the bottom since it’s significant; this is a Chinese term for an illegal practice where a criminal gang will kidnap/buy a healthy child and mutilate them in order to make them look more pitiful, so as to garner sympathy from people when they go out to beg. There’s been records of these types of criminal beggar gangs in history.}

RenDong: “Yes.”

Lian Qiao: “Call the police? Or..”

RenDong shook his head and opened his mouth slightly: “Kill them.”

Lian Qiao: “Okay.”

After the words fell, Lian Qiao had already picked up the crowbar and jumped out. Little Apple was taken aback by his ability to do just what he said and what shocked her even more was that the seven-year-old Little RenDong actually held a three-edged knife and followed him to do it.

You two really are.. a perfect match!

Little Apple was in a complicated mood. But even children were involved, how can she hide behind as an adult? Immediately, she took out the watermelon knife and joined the battle bravely.

The group of people didn’t expect a group of armed lunatics to pop out from behind and there was even a child who was carved like a jade carved in the middle. For a moment, everyone had no time to react and was instantly killed.

The battle ended quickly—no, it should be said to be a one-sided massacre rather than a battle.

Xu RenDong originally wanted to save one life for questioning, but he didn’t expect Lian Qiao to smash the skulls of the five adults in a row. The attack was so ruthless that he didn’t treat the opponents as human beings.

Little RenDong walked up to one of them, stretched out his hand to feel his breathing and made sure that the last person was dead. He said helplessly, “Why did you kill them all? What if they have clues?”

Lian Qiao’s killing intent had not yet retreated and, at this time, his whole body is covered with blood, just an Asura. He wiped off the red and white brain matter on his face casually and said nonchalantly: “They speak in a dialect and can’t be understood, so what’s the point of asking?”

RenDong: “..are they not allowed to also speak Mandarin?”

Lian Qiao pointed to the corner: “There, isn’t there another one there?”

The mistreated little beggar couldn’t see anything and only knew that strangers had come, but didn’t know what happened. When Lian Qiao walked in front of him, the little beggar screamed and hid back. His grotesquely twisted thin arms and legs struggled desperately, looking like a misshapen little monster. Lian Qiao paused, as if being stung by something. His face quickly calmed down and his voice became soft.

“Don’t be afraid, I’m here to save you.” The seven-year-old Little RenDong followed behind him, looking up at him slightly. There is an indescribable complex emotion in the eyes.

It was late autumn at this time and the sky was already very cold, but the little beggar was still wearing a single shirt with holes. Lian Qiao took off his coat and wrapped it around the little beggar. The little beggar flinched and wanted to hide, Lian Qiao sighed, patted his head and said: “Little friend, you have suffered. Don’t be afraid, you have been saved. We will call the police immediately and take you to find your mom and dad.”

When the little beggar heard “Mom and Dad”, tears welled up in his empty eyes. Crystal tears ran across his dirty little face, making him look extremely pitiful.

Little Apple couldn’t bear it anymore, covered her mouth and began to cry. Xu RenDong watched quietly, thinking calmly in his heart: It turns out that after the eyeballs are gouged out, you can still cry.

Lian Qiao asked, “What’s your name?”

The little beggar called “Ah, ah” several times, but was speechless.

Lian Qiao froze for a moment, then turned around stiffly, and said to Xu RenDong: “He has no tongue.”

Xu RenDong: “Yes. Let’s go to the police station.”

“..Okay.” Lian Qiao subconsciously wanted to hug Little RenDong, but the outstretched hand stopped in mid-air. He turned his head and glanced at Little RenDong.

Little RenDong smiled slightly: “What are you looking at me for? I can walk by myself, you can hold him.”

Lian Qiao nodded, picked up the little beggar and went downstairs.

On the way to the police station, passers-by cast strange glances at them. From the whispers of passers-by, they learned that the disabled child begged beside the school every day.

The child was severely disabled and looked pitiful, so the parents who came to pick up the child from school couldn’t bear it and they always gave him some money at first. But after a long time, everyone got used to it. After all, no family was rich in those days, so there was no spare money to help beggars every day.

As a result, large and small injuries began to appear on the little beggar’s body.

At first, it was just a bruise on the skin. Later, the wound gradually ulcerated and pus flowed out, and the smell was unbearable. Everyone was even more reluctant to approach him.

All the way until the statement was recorded at the police station, Little Apple didn’t recover from the depression.

“How can there be such people.. Do they still have a conscience? How can they have the heart to do this kind of business!”

Lian Qiao remained silent. But Little RenDong had already regained his composure, looked back at the police station thoughtfully and said in a low voice: “I wonder if the corpses will vanish. I’m scared of the police blaming us.”

Lian Qiao said: “It doesn’t matter. The police don’t seem very powerful and they don’t even have guns. If they really turn on us, I’m not scared.”

RenDong sighed: “It’s not necessary. At present, the police are still reliable. When necessary, we can..” He didn’t finish and frowned instead, “Little Apple, what’s the matter with you?”

Little Apple squatted down covering her chest. Her forehead was dripping with cold sweat and her face was already pale, so she raised her pale face and forced a smile.

“My curse has finally come true,” she said.

***

The author has something to say:

Harvesting and cutting: It is the most vicious and vicious of professional beggars. Artificially create some disabled or “monsters” as a pretense to win the sympathy of the world, so as to obtain a lot of money from passers-by. Excerpted from Baidu Encyclopedia.