Chapter 94: The Crazy Old Lady and the Dumb Little Girl
Zhou Qi was silent for a while and suddenly said, "I see, Mr. Ni, are you home? I'll go see you."
"Yeah." I responded with one word and hung up the phone.
I have nothing to say to Zhou Qi. I just sneered at his request. He is still trying to deceive me at this time. I want to see what secrets Zhou Qi has to tell me.
While waiting for Zhou Qi, I opened my phone and looked at the messages from the past few days.
Most of them were call notifications from Zhou Qi, with some text messages from my cousin interspersed in between.
"Ni Ge, I'm getting married, and the date is set for the 28th of this month."
"Where have you been? You're not going to come to my wedding! Who's going to be my best man?"
"Damn it, if you don't show up, I'll cut off all ties with you!"
"Come out, come out! Do you want me to yell sesame come out or watermelon come out!"
I laughed! This person is about to be single, but he still has such a serious case of Chuunibyou. He needs treatment!
Then I looked down and found that it was a text message from Mao Xueying.
"I'm already engaged. It's been two years. I'm waiting for you. Now I'm going to France to study art. Don't forget me."
There was a smiley face at the end of the message, and I could feel the bitterness behind it.
And I also felt a little bitter in my heart. Mao Xueying was the first woman I met and the first woman who belonged to me. Ningxiang was well-behaved and cute and also gave everything to me.
I have been avoiding this question, but I know I can't avoid it in the end. Whether it's Mao Xueying or Ningxiang, these two women are the ones I am willing to protect with my life. But between them, let me make a choice! I really don't know how to choose.
I put down my phone and didn't reply to any of the messages. Maybe just sitting there quietly is the best choice.
The doorbell rang twice and then was opened. Zhou Qi, with a scruffy beard, stood at the door and looked at me in surprise.
I pointed to the seat next to me without saying anything.
Zhou Qi looked at me strangely. I couldn't describe the feeling at this moment. When we first met, Zhou Qi was very stylish and full of vigor. But today, Zhou Qi looked a little downcast. In Zhou Qi's eyes, I actually had a strong aura. This aura made Zhou Qi want to bend down unconsciously.
Zhou Qi walked up to my side and stood there somewhat stiffly, like a subordinate facing his superior.
"Mr. Ni, my parents are in Shan County. Are you sure this matter has something to do with them?" Zhou Qi frowned, as if he was experiencing a fierce struggle in his heart.
"Okay, let's stop talking. Let's go to Shan County! Just visit your parents."
I stood up and walked out. Niu Da opened the car door immediately when he saw me coming out.
"Let's go to Shan County." I said directly after Zhou Qi and I got in the car.
Niu Da didn't ask any more questions, but just looked at Zhou Qi strangely, with a hint of contempt in his eyes. Niu Da was a personal participant in the whole incident, and he naturally knew about the choice of cycle. After this incident, Niu Da had completely put Zhou Qi on the blacklist.
Shan County is not far from Dongmen City and is a subordinate county of Dongmen City. However, Shan County is located in the remnant of Yandang Mountain in the southwest corner of Dongmen City. The transportation is not convenient.
After a bumpy ride, we finally arrived at the county town at dusk when the sun was setting.
Strangely, Zhou Qi's parents did not live in the county town, but lived alone in the mountains.
"Mr. Ni, do we want to go into the mountains?" Seeing that it was getting dark, Niu Da asked hesitantly.
"No need. Let's find a place to rest first." I shook my head.
Zhou Qi grew up in Shan County and was very familiar with the place. I simply asked Zhou Qi to prepare the room, and I walked slowly to the street with Niu Da.
Although Shan County is not big, its development is neither up nor down. At this time, many snack stalls have been set up on the street, and the stall owners are busy preparing for the next business.
I randomly chose a cold dish stall and ordered a plate of fried snails and roast chicken from Niu Da, and sat down with a few bottles of beer.
"Mr. Ni, do you want me to call Captain Zhou to come over?" Niu Da looked at me and said with some melancholy. For a simple man like him, coming out like this felt a bit like eating alone.
I smiled and said to Niu Da meaningfully, "Niu Da, Zhou Qi is no longer the captain. When he returns this time, he will leave Dongmen City. Also, stay away from Zhou Qi in the future. There are many things you cannot get involved in."
"Ni, Mr. Ni, if this is true, aren't we going too far?" Niu Da asked.
"Alas!" I sighed and continued, "He caused all this trouble, so he must bear the consequences himself. I'm not trying to curry favor with the powerful, I just don't want to get involved. If I intervene, will I be able to justify the people he has hurt?"
Niu Da nodded as if he understood something, opened the beer and took a big gulp. It seemed that only this could relieve the depression in his heart.
The night was silent, and the lights were just coming on, dotting the street with a little light. The seats on both sides of the stalls were gradually filled with people.
I was very silent the whole time, holding the beer glass, drinking slowly and looking around with interest. Some were talking loudly, some were smiling sweetly. It was a peaceful scene.
Seeing that I was silent, Niu Da also took a sip from the bottle from time to time. The dishes on the table were neglected.
"Go away! Come back later, I just opened!" In this harmonious scene, this piercing voice suddenly appeared.
A little girl of five or six years old, with dirty clothes and pursed lips, looked at the food on the table eagerly. But she was very afraid of the stall owner who drove her away, so she had to stand far away and said nothing.
I shook my head and patted Niu Da beside me: "Niu Da, take a roast chicken to that little girl."
"Hey! Mr. Ni, I didn't make a mistake." Niu Da stood up honestly and looked at me with great respect. After saying that, he turned around and picked up the roast chicken on the stall and handed it over.
"Little sister, take it, don't be afraid! Uncle is not a bad person." Niu held up the roast chicken and put it in front of the little girl.
The little girl's eyes suddenly lit up, but she still didn't reach out her hand. Instead, she hid back in fear.
"Nizi, eat. This uncle is a good man." The stall owner at my stall said with pity.
The little girl named Nizi looked at the stall owner and then at Niu Da. She took the roast chicken with some trembling hands, turned around and trotted away.
"Oh! Poor child!" The stall owner shook his head and continued to prepare food for the customers at the table.
"Boss, whose girl is this? She looks like no one is taking care of her." I asked the busy stall owner with a smile.
"Oh! That's right, this girl has no one to take care of her! Her parents died early, and she only has a grandmother, who is a crazy old lady. She is lucid for a while, and then comes out to curse people everywhere." The boss said with a sigh.
"This should be registered with the Civil Affairs Bureau! They should also have minimum living allowance, but why does this little girl look like she's so hungry?" I continued to ask.
"What kind of minimum living allowance is this? It's given by the state. After all, the county magistrate is not as good as the current one. The money has been embezzled by the higher authorities. These grandparents and grandchildren rely on the food at the night market to survive. Of course they are hungry with only one meal a day." The boss said with a somewhat ugly expression. There was obvious anger in his tone.
"Boss, you're joking. Even if the civil affairs department doesn't care, the neighbors will always help." I still smiled and expressed my disbelief.
"Help me ! Well! To tell you the truth, I am this girl's neighbor. Her ancestors were also a wealthy family in Shan County. Later, alas! It has been thirty years! I won't tell you anymore!" The boss seemed to have some taboo and closed his mouth. He frowned and ignored me.
"Mr. Ni, this little girl and her grandparents are so pitiful. Why don't you wait for me? I'll go give them some money." Niu Da looked at the direction where the little girl left and said with some sadness.
"Well, wait, she will come back." I sighed and took another big gulp of beer. The bitter taste immediately filled my taste buds.
Five minutes later, the little girl appeared again in the night market. She was pulled over by a slovenly old lady. She held the roast chicken that Niu Da had given her tightly in both hands, and her little mouth was pursed stubbornly. She said nothing, but tears could not help but flow down her face.
"Go and apologize, you actually stole something, go and apologize!" The old lady's voice was loud, even though he looked so thin that only skin was left. Even his hunched back seemed to have straightened a lot.
The little girl looked at the old man stubbornly without saying anything, but silently raised the roast chicken in her hand in front of the old man.
"Pah! I don't want your stolen thing. I'd rather starve to death than have it!" The old lady reached out and knocked the roast chicken to the ground. Suddenly she burst into tears.
"Go ahead and rob us, just take everything! Damn it, you even didn't let go of our ancestral graves! Wuuuuuuu"
The little girl picked up the roast chicken from the ground with trembling hands and waited obediently beside the old man.
The old lady who was crying bitterly saw the little girl and suddenly laughed again. "Haha. Haha! It's your karma! You deserve this day! I watched you die, watched your whole family die, and I was so happy watching it, so happy!"
The little girl was crying silently, and everyone could tell that she was mute. The old lady was laughing, very happily. Under the lights of the night, this scene looked extremely desolate.
"Go away, leave here!" Just as everyone was looking at the grandparents and grandchildren in silence, a man wearing an urban management uniform rushed out from the crowd and drove them over with a vicious voice.
Everyone in the night market lowered their heads, but no one stepped forward to stop it.
"They are my guests. Is there a rule that we cannot allow guests to come over for dinner?" I put down my wine glass and said angrily. My voice was not loud but mixed with spiritual power. The night market suddenly became quiet. People around me looked at me with strange eyes.
