Wei Qian dared to call his own mother a "bitch" to her face. He didn't take the old woman seriously at all. He sneered on the spot and said with his most sarcastic and mean words, "Who do you think you are? If you want to get out, just get out. Don't think about my sister. Don't think that I won't send you off early just because you don't have many years left to live."

He is very uneducated - of course, judging from his life experience, if he can still be well-mannered under such circumstances, then this person must be a time traveler.

The old lady had lived for sixty or seventy years and had never encountered such a disrespectful bastard. Fortunately, she had worked hard for many years and was in good health, otherwise she would have fainted from anger on the spot.

When facing an asshole, people can't help but become even more of an asshole, so the old lady took out the unique skills of the older generation of rural women, and said without showing any weakness: "Okay, no problem, if you have the guts, beat me to death. Even if you beat me to death, I will turn into a ghost and take my granddaughter away. I will take her to live in a chicken coop or a pig sty, and I can't let her fall into the hands of a gangster like you!"

Wei Qian looked at her sinisterly, the malice in his eyes seemed real. The boy had almost grown into the physique of an adult man, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and scars from fights on his body, which added a bit of unspeakable hostility. The old lady instinctively shrank back.

Then she came to her senses, glared back with a tougher attitude, and used a crying, making a scene, and finally threatening to commit suicide, and used her ultimate move: "Kill me if you have the guts! You are a shameless bastard if you kill me! Don't you have just a little bit of ability? What else can you do? I don't have many years left to live anyway, so why should I be afraid of you? Bah!"

Before her saliva could even flutter out of her mouth, Wei Qian pushed her onto the table with brute force. Wei Qian finally lost his face for once and overturned Old Lady Song and the wooden table together. The vinegar for pickling Laba garlic spilled all over the floor, and the sour smell was choking.

Old Mrs. Song cried out "Ouch!" and sat on the ground with her arms and legs spread out, with two cloves of garlic on her head in a ridiculous way. Then she took a deep breath, and with her loud voice that could be heard from miles away, she sat on the ground and shouted: "Murder! Murder! Kill the bastard..."

Her shouting stopped abruptly because Wei Qian grabbed Old Lady Song by the collar and pinched her wrinkled neck with his veiny hands.

Old Mrs. Song's neck was as thin as a chicken's, and he held it with one hand. Her skin was loose and she looked pitiful. Wei Qian pinched her neck tightly and lifted her up from the ground alive.

The handsome young man's eyes were full of shadows and his expression was cold, but his palms were hot. His hands were very strong, as if he was determined to strangle the old woman to death.

Old Mrs. Song couldn't struggle free at all. She thrashed around like a fish that had fallen onto the shore, trying in vain to dig at the flesh on Wei Qian's arm with her clipped nails. Her face soon turned blue and purple.

Wei Qian felt that he almost pinched her organs and spine - after he dropped out of school, he lived a lawless life. The blood in his heart was boiling, and he easily overcame the mental barriers of murder and arson. At that moment, Wei Qian really wanted to strangle this damn old woman to death.

Old Mrs. Song stuck out her tongue and began to roll her eyes. At this moment, a girl's scream suddenly came from the bedroom door behind Wei Qian: "Brother!"

The door of the hut was opened at some point, and Song Xiaobao and Wei Zhiyuan were standing there. Wei Zhiyuan had a solemn expression on his face, and Song Xiaobao's sharp childish voice was like a sword piercing his heart, and the nerve in Wei Qian's brain was gently touched.

He finally realized that he had almost killed someone, and in his own home. He let go in horror. Old Mrs. Song couldn't stand steadily. As soon as he let go, she slid down the wall and sat on the ground, choking and gasping for breath.

Wei Qian blocked Xiao Bao's attack with one hand, squatted down and hit the old lady's chest several times, and pressed her philtrum hard like what he saw on TV.

It took a while for the old lady to catch her breath. She coughed loudly, and then rolled her eyes back. Her voice was still hoarse, but her fighting spirit still shone brightly.

She ignored the fact that she had just passed through the gates of hell, and the first thing she said when she woke up was to point at Wei Qian's nose and say grimly: "You damned little bastard, you son of a bitch!"

Before Wei Qian could get angry at this, Xiao Bao threw himself into the old lady's arms: "Grandma!"

When Old Mrs. Song thought about how miserable her later years had become, she was an unemployed widow who traveled thousands of miles to the city to live with her son, only to be told that she had lost her son in her old age, and then was bullied like this by a little beast... She was suddenly overwhelmed with grief, and the mother and son hugged each other and cried bitterly.

Wei Qian's expression was numb, and his heart was numb too. He stood there at a loss for a while, and finally sighed. He tentatively reached out his hand to touch Xiao Bao's hair, but was slapped away fiercely by Old Lady Song.

This old woman is amazing. Even with all the screams and howls, she still can't stop cursing.

"Don't touch my granddaughter, you filthy rascal, murderer! Sooner or later I'll shoot you! You'll die a horrible death!"

For a moment, Wei Qian actually thought she was right.

He came back to his senses from the huge blow, sadness and anger, and suddenly felt discouraged.

Old Mrs. Song packed up her simple bag and took Xiaobao away in front of him. Wei Qian leaned against the wall and watched without trying to stop them or even saying a word.

Xiaobao was held by her grandmother's hand and passively followed her out, constantly looking back at her older brother.

There were bloodshot in the eldest brother's eyes and he looked extremely tired. He watched her leave.

Xiaobao thought he would say something, but he said nothing. However, that look was imprinted in her small, ignorant heart, and would remain there for a lifetime and would never be erased.

The door slammed shut in front of Wei Qian. After a while, he sat down on the ground as if exhausted. He lit a cigarette, leaned against the wall, and held the cigarette in his mouth. He felt confused and couldn't cry or laugh. He just wanted to fall asleep, but he knew that he probably wouldn't be able to sleep.

Ma Zi is gone, Xiao Bao is gone...what's the point of sleeping?

Wei Zhiyuan came over silently, placed the ashtray next to Wei Qian's hand, and moved closer to him carefully.

Wei Qian looked up at him, and Wei Zhiyuan quickly stopped what he was doing, carefully observing whether his elder brother was annoyed. When he found that he was not annoyed, he tentatively moved closer more carefully. Finally, Wei Zhiyuan put his arm around Wei Qian's arm.

He found that his elder brother had no objection, so he tentatively squeezed himself into Wei Qian's arms, leaned his head against him, and smelled the pungent smell of tobacco on him.

"...The pockmarks are gone." Wei Qian suddenly said.

Wei Zhiyuan raised his head and saw Wei Qian's unfocused gaze fixed on the floor. He instinctively felt that his words were not directed at him - no matter what he called him, Wei Qian never called him or Xiaobao "Pockmarked" directly, but always "your Pockmarked brother".

So Wei Zhiyuan wisely kept silent and listened quietly.

Wei Qian hugged him a little tighter, and the boy's warm body temperature gave him indescribable comfort.

After saying this, Wei Qian fell silent. He could not express himself.

Suffering had dulled his nerves and he had long lost the ability to truly express his feelings.

After Wei Qian finished smoking all the cigarettes he had, he remembered Wei Zhiyuan. The child had already hugged his arms like a koala and fell asleep in his arms.

Wei Zhiyuan began to grow a little, his feet grew first, approaching the shape of an adult, but his skeleton was still tender. He was not short when he stood up, but when he huddled up, he was still a small ball.

You grow so slowly—Wei Qian lowered his eyes and looked at him with a sigh.

Then he put out the cigarette, bent down, carefully picked up the child and put him on the bed, then turned off the lights and lay down on the bed together as usual.

The sudden darkness had an extremely powerful force that almost instantly overwhelmed his forced strength and self-proclaimed numbness.

Wei Qian opened his dry eyes and thought, he was a stinky hooligan raised by a whore. Even his own sister, who he raised, didn't want to be with him. People like him were living such a hard life and had no value at all.

What's the point of living?

It would be better to just die.

Wei Qian was born in winter, at the end of the twelfth lunar month, so the day had not yet arrived, that is, he was not yet seventeen years old.

He didn't live long enough to think about death.

Of course, despite thinking this, Wei Qian still did not die.

Death is not something that can be easily accomplished by just thinking about it. Even if he does not want to live, he would never dare to die.

He has to worry about what to do with Ma Zi's mother in the future.

He also had to go and take Ma Zi's body back. He could not wash away the sins and sufferings on Ma Zi's body. The only thing he could do was to clean up the thought of him left in the world and bury him properly.

He has too much to bear and cannot afford to die.

Wei Qian still lived his life gloomily and numbly. Every day he went to Le Ge's nightclub to be his thug, took Le Ge's money, and hid the growing hatred in his heart without saying a word. Only when it was late at night and everyone was asleep, he would stare at the ceiling with his eyes open, reminding himself over and over again that sooner or later he would take Le Xiaodong's life.

Then he mustered up his energy to discuss with Sanpang what to do with Ma Zi's funeral, whether to tell Ma Zi's mother, and when to pick her up from the hospital.

Only Wei Zhiyuan, who was at home during the winter vacation, accompanied him quietly. After all, he was a living being that could breathe.

Only Wei Zhiyuan could make Wei Qian feel a little vitality - he was still so young, knew nothing, had a future, and still had to rely on himself wholeheartedly.

Wei Qian raised Wei Zhiyuan and also drew a little hope from the child. He understood deeply what it meant to "depend on each other for survival."

When Sanpang came to his house, he was surprised at first and asked why Xiaobao and Old Lady Song were not there. But after Wei Qian's crazy outburst, he immediately understood and stopped mentioning the matter.

During that period, no one dared to mention Song Xiaobao in Wei Qian's ear.

The atmosphere at home had been depressing for many days. Wei Qian even started to be perfunctory about eating. Sanpang was afraid that Wei Qian would starve to death, so he came to his house every day like a tortured person, coaxing the children to cook like a hardworking hourly worker, and making sure that entertainment and humor programs were played on TV 24 hours a day.

Unfortunately, the effect is not good. The more entertaining the TV is, the colder reality seems.

On TV, old Mr. Ma Sanli was saying "just kidding you", and Sanpang was sitting on a chair laughing so hard that his fat was shaking. Wei Zhiyuan's mouth just raised slightly, but he remembered when he turned his head to look at Wei Qian and found that his elder brother had a wooden expression, so he suppressed the smile and put on the same indifferent expression.

The two brothers, one big and one small, were both listening to crosstalk with the same expressions as if they were going to a grave, both of them were exactly the same and it was a real letdown.

The more Sanpang laughed, the lonelier he felt, and it finally turned into a dry laugh. He had no choice but to shut up helplessly. No matter how funny the jokes were, they became boring.

Wei Qian would be silent for a while, then light a cigarette and stand by the window. The smell of cigarettes on him was so strong that it was choking. Sanpang said that he was almost turning into a tall and thin chimney.

And Song Xiaobao came back at this time.

Wei Qian really thought that he would never see Xiaobao again in his life, so when he opened the door and saw her, he didn't react for a full half minute.

He was unable to react and had a blank expression on his face, which made Song Xiaobao even more uneasy. The little girl looked like she had committed a capital crime punishable by the death of her entire clan. She timidly called out "Brother", carried her small schoolbag, and stood alone at the door with her chin on her chest in a penitential posture.

Wei Qian's rationality slowly returned without anyone noticing. He immediately glanced outside and found that the stupid old woman didn't follow him. It seemed that Song Xiaobao had sneaked back by himself.

His heart finally exploded without any restraint.

Wei Qian slowly half-knelt down, his eyes level with Xiao Bao's, stretched out his hands, supported her small, thin shoulders, and asked, "Why... ahem, are you back?"

Wei Qian tried his best not to react so strongly, but he still couldn't finish the sentence in one go. His voice broke in the middle, and he had to clear his throat and draw out his voice, which made his tone sound almost gentle.

Song Xiaobao: "I miss my brother..."

Wei Qian lowered his head in deep thought and gently closed his eyes where she couldn't see him. In that instant, the little girl's words pulled him out of the swamp. He found that the thought of not wanting to live that had always lingered around him had miraculously disappeared.

He didn't know how to express his mixed feelings. Maybe he should hug Xiaobao and spin around? Or cry with her? Wei Qian felt that he couldn't do either, so he just stood up silently and said lightly, "Oh."

Apart from this one word, he seemed to be unable to think of anything else. He opened the door and let Xiaobao in. Seeing that she dared not move, he remembered and added, "Then come in."

Xiaobao knew that she was a traitor, but she didn't expect that the eldest brother would still want her. She was flattered.

She walked in tremblingly, and first breathed a sigh of relief as if she had been pardoned. At the same time, seeing her elder brother's seemingly indifferent attitude, Xiaobao felt an indescribable sense of relief. With her childish and underdeveloped logic, she was glad that she came back in time. If she had come back two days later, her elder brother might have really decided not to want her.

Xiao Bao approached Wei Qian and immediately smelled a strong, pungent smell of cigarettes from him. She had always disliked the smell of cigarettes and could not help rubbing her nose, but she did not dare to say anything because she was afraid that her brother would change his mind and not let her in.

Wei Qian saw it keenly.

He bent down and took out a new set of clothes from the cupboard, and said to Sanpang, "Is there any fried rice in the pot? Serve her a bowl."

Sanpang watched their interaction coldly, sighed, waved at Song Xiaobao, called her over to him, touched her hair kindly, glanced at Wei Qian, and asked casually, "Where are you going?"

Wei Qian: "I'll take a shower."

Sanpang: "Why are you taking a shower when it's not time for bed? And have you boiled the water?"

Wei Qian: "No, I use cold water."

Sanpang: "Taking a cold shower in the dead of winter, are you sick?"

Wei Qian pushed him away by grabbing his clothes, and quickly got rid of his previous zombie state, returning to his usual domineering and rude self: "I am happy, why are you yelling like a hen? Do you want to lay eggs?"

Sanpang: "...Yeah, how is it?"

Wei Qian glanced at him and said, "Hold it back. I'll do it tomorrow."

Sanpang: “…”

The third brother found that with his simple heart and smooth cerebral cortex, he really could not keep up with the ideological realm of Young Master Wei.

In fact, Wei Qian’s thoughts were not that complicated. He was just afraid that the smell of smoke on his body would bother his sister.

And...he just couldn't believe it for a moment and was a little brain-dead. That's all.

Xiaobao is his biological sister. In this world, she is the only one whose blood is connected to him. He has been raising her since she was not as tall as his arm, and has raised her until she grew up.

He couldn't even explain how deep their feelings were. Sometimes she seemed more like his daughter than his sister.

Xiaobao was almost the lifeblood of his entire childhood and youth, and Wei Qian would not want to give her up even if it meant sacrificing his life.

...even if Song Xiaobao is a treacherous little girl.

Wei Qian shuddered from the cold water and thought to himself: How despicable am I?

Xiao Bao called Wei Zhiyuan hesitantly, "Second brother."

Wei Zhiyuan was annoyed just by looking at her and didn't want to pay attention to her. On the one hand, he felt sorry for his elder brother, on the other hand...

He watched the interaction between Big Brother and Xiao Bao coldly. Big Brother's behavior was obscure and reserved, so Xiao Bao misunderstood him. San Pang didn't understand, and he was the only one who understood it somehow, and became more and more unhappy.

Suddenly, Wei Zhiyuan discovered without any guidance that vying for favor was the right path in his life.