At breakfast the next day, Wei Zhiyuan said to Old Lady Song and Xiaobao, "The teacher wants me to stay for extra lessons these two nights. I will be back later, so you don't have to wait for me to eat."

Old Lady Song and Xiaobao had no suspicion at all. After all, compared to Wei Qian's frightening record of breaking laws and disciplines, Wei Zhiyuan was a good student in the traditional sense. He was sensible, clean, tidy, and rule-abiding. He had strong self-control and never did anything out of the ordinary. In Xiaobao's school, Wei Zhiyuan's excellence was well known.

So when Old Lady Song heard this, she immediately turned her focus to Xiao Bao and said, "Did you hear that? Learn from your brothers. Your older brother will be a college student in the future, and your younger brother will represent the school in competitions. What about you?"

Xiaobao said without any pressure: "Let them go, I'll take care of the house."

Old Lady Song raised the spatula to hit her, but Song Xiaobao jumped to the door like a little monkey, opened the door for Wei Zhiyuan, and said with a nod and a bow, "Second brother, please go in first."

Wei Zhiyuan nodded in a very gentlemanly manner, picked up the car keys, and walked out in front of her. Song Xiaobao followed him happily, like a little eunuch following at the side of a horse, and turned back to stick out his tongue at Old Lady Song.

Since her physical growth was slower than the old bear's speaking speed, and Wei Zhiyuan was growing too fast, even though they looked about the same age at first, now it seemed that there was a real age gap between them.

Old Lady Song threw down the spatula angrily and scolded Xiaobao: "You can't even stick mud on a wall. What a good-for-nothing!"

That night, Wei Zhiyuan really didn't come back until nearly eight o'clock. Old Mrs. Song had already gone to work at a hot pot restaurant. Song Xiaobao poked his head out of the house and said, "Second brother, are you back? There's food in the kitchen, and grandma left two boiled eggs in the pot for you!"

Wei Zhiyuan said "hmm", opened the pot and saw that there was only one.

Song Xiaobao quickly added: "I stole one!"

Wei Zhiyuan: “…”

Song Xiaobao laughed, "Oh, by the way, let me show you this!"

After she finished speaking, she ran to the living room and fished out a crumpled postcard from under the glass mat of the coffee table. It was sent from Qinghai, with Wei Qian's faded handwriting on it. The date was a month ago. Perhaps he happened to be in a good mood when he passed by, and he heard something someone said, so he bought it and sent it back to amuse them.

Unfortunately, he didn't even take the coaxing seriously. After writing the contact address, he didn't say a word. He just drew two little turtles. One with a bald head represented a male turtle, and the other with a flower on its head represented a female turtle. The two turtles stayed together and played obediently, which contained all the message that the eldest brother sent back - Wei Zhiyuan and Song Xiaobao, you two kids stay at home and be obedient to me.

That "divine turtle" was tireless in his efforts to destroy people, and unknowingly had a profound influence on Wei Qian's aesthetics and artistic talent.

...He developed a lifelong habit of drawing little turtles whenever he had nothing to do.

Wei Zhiyuan's heart couldn't help but jump. Wei Qian hadn't heard from him for more than half a month. Xiaoyuan inexplicably thought of the hand that was stained with the smell of toilet water, and couldn't help asking, "Didn't he call?"

"No," Song Xiaobao said, "Brother, is there any yak jerky in Qinghai? Is it delicious?"

Wei Zhiyuan sighed and gave up on normal communication with her: "Why do you only know how to eat?"

"Hey, don't imitate my elder brother's speech. You can't imitate him. It should be like this--" Song Xiaobao waved his hands, then frowned, put on a frowning expression, lowered his voice, and said in a short and ferocious tone, "You little bastard, you only know how to eat!"

Her imitation ability was improving day by day, and it was very lifelike. Wei Zhiyuan couldn't help but laugh along with Xiaobao, and the image of his elder brother scolding the little girl with a stern face was almost imaginary.

After Xiaobao returned to the room, Wei Zhiyuan sat down, took out his secret notebook, filled in a few words "warehouse manager, three shifts" after "meat processing plant", and then copied a complete duty schedule based on his memory.

The first secret that other teenagers wrote in their notebooks was usually about Mu Shaoai, but Wei Zhiyuan's first secret notebook recorded all the traces of a person in a creepy way.

As time went by, Wei Zhiyuan had learned so much about the perverted man's name, family situation, work schedule, living habits, etc., that it became shockingly detailed.

At first, Wei Zhiyuan just paid attention to the community activity center, but the female teacher who led the team was young but very strict, so the perverts could only watch from a distance and never walked in. After Children's Day, the children who were rehearsing finished their performances and stopped going there.

The pervert seemed very unwilling, but he had no choice. With adults present, he dared not do anything even if it was just a young girl as thin as a bird. In the following days, this person wandered around nearby.

Wei Zhiyuan had been secretly observing him, but whether it was tracking or recording, he was just collecting this information by the way, and he had not yet thought about what he should do. He was not as impatient as Wei Qian who would kill with a glare, and he was used to convincing himself in advance before doing anything.

Wei Zhiyuan closed his notebook, locked it and hid it, then stared at the water cup for a while - the cup belonged to his eldest brother. Wei Zhiyuan actually had his own cup, but he didn't like to use it. He always liked to drink his eldest brother's water. The boiled water was also bland, but he seemed to be able to taste the flavor in his eldest brother's cup.

Wei Qian never cared about such trivial matters, so he could drink as much as he wanted... but he had to refill his glass after drinking, otherwise he would be scolded.

He couldn't help but think of many things related to Wei Qian, and at the same time became more and more angry with his elder brother.

Wei Zhiyuan decided to use silent cold violence to resist his elder brother who thought he was the adult to the end. Even if his elder brother called again, he would never answer.

However, more than half a month had passed and Wei Qian had not called at all. After that postcard, there was no further news.

The weather is getting hotter and hotter.

Even Old Lady Song couldn't hold back any longer, and took the initiative to ask Song Xiaobao to call Wei Qian's cell phone. In Old Lady Song's opinion, telephone bills were an invisible and intangible expense that frightened her. As long as there was no fire at home, she would not use the phone and would not allow others to use it.

But the call didn't go through; Wei Qian had turned off his phone.

Old Lady Song was anxious and wanted to go upstairs to find Sanpang immediately. In her eyes, although Wei Qian was a bastard who spoke like a club, he was also the pillar of the family. Now that the pillar was gone, she didn't know who to talk to except Sanpang.

Wei Zhiyuan calmly stopped her: "It's no use looking for him. Third Brother will at most make a few more calls. Xiaobao can't get through, so how can he get through?"

Old Lady Song looked up at the boy who was taller than her: "So what do you think we should do?"

Wei Zhiyuan thought for a moment and said, "Who did you say my brother went with? The guy who runs the drugstore?"

Old Mrs. Song nodded helplessly.

Wei Zhiyuan: "Give me the address."

It happened to be the weekend that day, so Wei Zhiyuan took the last postcard Wei Qian sent back and the address given to him by Old Lady Song, and rode his bike to Lao Xiong's pharmacy. He was as calm as if he was solving a complicated math problem, taking one step at a time in an orderly manner and being abnormally calm.

When Old Lady Song calmed down, she looked at Xiaobao who was obviously wilting, and thought about the young man's calm face, and she began to feel a little uncomfortable.

When a loved one is missing and has not returned for a long time, wouldn’t a normal person be distraught?

Even if it was just a moment of panic... Wei Zhiyuan's reaction was far beyond the level of his peers, but Old Lady Song couldn't help feeling a little chilled.

She used to think that the boy was clever and kind, but now she had to start doubting his lack of humanity.

Wei Zhiyuan found Lao Xiong's drugstore. According to Lao Xiong's character, this clerk was a temporary worker who was not used to the drugstore where one person had to play multiple roles. He knew nothing about anything he was asked.

Wei Zhiyuan asked him for Lao Xiong's contact information, said a few nice words, and called Lao Xiong using the store's phone, but the other party's phone was also turned off.

Wei Zhiyuan felt as if a stone had sunk into his heart, cold and heavy, and it seemed to be dragging down his soul. He had no choice but to struggle against the heavy stone, forcing himself to do the right thing.

The boy and the clerk communicated with difficulty for a long time. Finally, the clerk remembered that there was a piece of the boss's personal information in the drawer. In addition to the contact address and communication methods, there seemed to be an emergency contact.

In this way, Wei Zhiyuan found Lao Xiong's wife.

However, the moment the call was connected, an anxious female voice came from the inside, asking indiscriminately: "Old Bear? Is it Old Bear?"

Her words completely wiped out the hope in Wei Zhiyuan's heart.

At this point, Wei Zhiyuan knew that his elder brother had really lost contact.

After coming out of the pharmacy, Wei Zhiyuan went straight to the police station to report the case. A female police officer on duty saw that he was a teenager and patiently asked him many details.

But Wei Zhiyuan had no idea what was going on - Wei Qian only called a few days after he left, but because Wei Zhiyuan was angry and refused to talk to him, Wei Qian at most teased Xiaobao for a few words, told grandma that he was safe, and hung up after a few words. The information he left each time was very little.

Wei Zhiyuan had no choice but to take out the postcard and show it to the policewoman. The policewoman took it, carefully observed the postmark and date, and shook her head: "Brother, we can accept it, and we can also help you check his location at the time according to the itinerary and date recorded here, but he is likely just passing by and did not disappear here, do you understand? You don't even know when and where the person disappeared, and our hope of finding him is very slim. You must be mentally prepared."

For a moment, Wei Zhiyuan looked at her with a confused and at a loss expression, as if he was stunned by the sudden change. However, it was only a short moment before he restrained himself and retracted his gaze.

The policewoman observed something from his reaction, so she gently asked, "Are there any adults at home?"

"There's only a grandmother, and she's very old." Wei Zhiyuan came back to his senses, lowered his eyes, and then paused, "Thank you, sister."

After saying that, Wei Zhiyuan stood up and left. He had done everything he could think of.

There is nothing more to be done.

Wei Zhiyuan rode his bike home at a steady speed. When he was halfway to a deserted place, he suddenly stepped on the ground to brake without any warning. Then he slowly bent down, leaned on the handlebars, and buried his face in his arms.

The boy's back, which had become thin due to his rapid growth, was bent into a taut bow. Wei Zhiyuan finally couldn't hold back the stone in his heart anymore and let it fall straight down, hitting him so hard that it hurt from the bottom of his heart to his bones.

"what do I do?"

In a daze, his heart seemed to go from a chaotic cacophony of shouting from all directions to gradually turning into total silence, and then only this question with no answer remained.

Big brother has gone so far.

What if he really just... just... never comes again?

The boundless distance and the flickering hope.

Since he was born till now, "powerlessness" seems to run through every day of his life.

That night, Wei Zhiyuan didn't push the door and go home until the news was broadcast. Xiaobao and Old Lady Song quickly raised their heads and looked at him eagerly.

Old Lady Song asked, "How is it?"

Wei Zhiyuan walked to the middle of the living room with a wooden expression and sat upright on the sofa.

He logically recounted what he had done and heard throughout the afternoon, then cleared his throat, raised his eyes, and scanned the faces of Grandma and Xiaobao.

Wei Zhiyuan spoke out his subsequent decision gently and slowly: "Now we have no other choice but to wait for news. If my brother... then I will have to drop out of school to support the family."

Old Lady Song suddenly jumped up and stamped her feet on the ground in a red face: "Pooh! Pooh! Pooh! Pooh! What a sarcastic remark! Children should not be afraid of their words! What nonsense are you talking about, little brat?"

"Grandma." Wei Zhiyuan straightened his back and looked at her quietly. "I heard that when my brother's parents passed away, he was about the same age as I am now. From now on, I can do what he can do, and I can carry the family he can carry, too. Don't worry."

Old Mrs. Song looked at him blankly.

Xiaobao's eyes suddenly turned red, and she blinked, tears falling down. She gently pulled Wei Zhiyuan and said, "Brother, I'm not good at studying anyway, so just let me drop out of school. I can still think of myself as a mouse falling into a rice jar."

Wei Zhiyuan's eyes fell on her, and then he seemed to be imitating someone's actions in his memory. He stretched out his hand awkwardly and unskillfully and gently placed it on Xiaobao's head.

He said, "What can you do? You look so small and you have no strength. You will be bullied if you leave school."

For some reason, Xiaobao cried even harder after hearing this.

"My brother risked his life to get to where he is today. As long as he is still alive, he will definitely come back before the start of school - don't cry, it's okay." Wei Zhiyuan said this calmly, and then forced a half-successful smile and turned to his grandmother, "In the future, if it's dark or windy and rainy, I will ride my bike to pick you up."

Wei Zhiyuan tried his best to adjust the atmosphere at home and tried his best to become a new pillar.

However, when the night was deep and the world was quiet, he sat alone behind his small desk, but he could not figure out how his elder brother had brought up Xiaobao and supported such a leaky home.

When he was young, he often spoke nonsense, always talking about "supporting the family". But now he is finally alone and the fear from the bottom of his heart almost crushes him.

It was more terrifying than when he was a child, wandering around ignorantly relying only on his natural cleverness and luck; it was more terrifying than when he faced a pervert with a steel pipe; it was even more terrifying than when he followed his elder brother to escape cautiously.

Because he can't be ignorant, can't do things impulsively with the passion in his heart, and he no longer has someone he is looking forward to.

He has to take care of his grandmother and Xiaobao, as well as his brother Ma Zi's mother who lives in a low-rise house across the street. The eldest brother will not allow himself to abandon her.

He felt an almost dark pressure.

Wei Zhiyuan took a deep breath and asked himself silently in his heart: "What would my brother do?"

He leaned back in his chair, trying to calm his fluctuating emotions, and began a long recollection of everything about Wei Qian.

Wei Zhiyuan carefully considered all the needs in life, just like he was examining a math problem, and thought about how to solve them one by one.

Even though he was prepared for the worst, Wei Zhiyuan still refused to admit that Wei Qian had disappeared for no reason. He always firmly believed that even if he would not come this summer, his elder brother would definitely come back before the next autumn.

This seemed to be the last straw that broke the camel's back in his heart.

The final exams were approaching, and Wei Zhiyuan still went to the police station every day. However, he would occasionally get a lunch box of dumplings or pies, but he did not get any news about his elder brother.

Every time he returned home disappointed, Wei Zhiyuan felt that he was pushed to the brink of collapse.

On the way back, they happened to pass through a remote road near a primary school. It was already very late that day, and Wei Zhiyuan was caught off guard and saw the pervert again - due to family matters, he had not had the energy to follow him for a long time.

I saw the pervert holding a few lollipops bought on the roadside, bending over and talking to a little boy of six or seven years old.

The little boy looked dull, perhaps a little slow in intelligence. The man spoke too fast for him. He didn't quite understand what he was saying, but he instinctively felt that the other party had some bad intentions, and he involuntarily took a step back.

The pervert stretched out his dirty hands to grab the child's shoulders, and at that moment, he was suddenly hit hard from behind.

Wei Zhiyuan pretended to be unable to stop the car and pushed him aside, saying coldly: "A good dog doesn't block the road."

He had grown up too much, and in the dark, the other party didn't recognize him at all. He just shrank aside in panic after being suddenly bumped into. Wei Zhiyuan bent down, picked up the little boy, threw him on the crossbar of the car, and said impatiently, "Sit still, don't move."

Then he drove him out directly.

The little boy was really slow to react. After riding a long way, he looked at Wei Zhiyuan blankly and said, "Big brother, I don't know you."

Wei Zhiyuan: "I don't know you either."

This kind of conversation was beyond the little guy's intelligence. He opened his eyes wide, not knowing what to say. Wei Zhiyuan rode out of the narrow alley and dropped him off at the intersection of the downtown area: "Let's go."

The anxious and desperate heart of not being able to find his elder brother, coupled with the pressure from his family that he was about to face, finally ignited the negative emotions that Wei Zhiyuan had suppressed for a long time.

What happened that night made Wei Zhiyuan think that he had found a reason - he decided to kill the man.

It seemed that only by doing this could he regain a little control over his life with his powerless hands.