After driving for about an hour, Chen Liangshan finally saw the sign on the roadside, which was the last 200 meters away from the orphanage in the northern suburbs.
The two children got tired of playing in the back seat, so they leaned on the seats and chatted together.
"Xiaoyue, do you have to walk so far to go to school every day?"
"Well, it's quite far, but it's not all about walking! You can take the bus directly to the school gate!"
Chen Liangshan heard the two children's chat, but he knew that just about 10 minutes ago, he had passed the last bus terminal.
According to the current speed of 50km/h, it can travel about 8 kilometers in 10 minutes. So Liu Xiaoyue now needs to walk for an hour and a half to get to the bus stop just to go to school every day.
Such a level of hardship is unbearable for an adult, let alone the 10-year-old child in front of him.
What have you done? Even if Liu Xiaoyue made mistakes back then, she should never have to endure the suffering she is experiencing now.
Thinking that this situation was caused by his own hands, Chen Liangshan's hand holding the steering wheel began to tremble slightly.
Soon, Chen Liangshan parked the car outside the fence gate of the orphanage. Liu Xiaoyue politely thanked Chen Liangshan, then quickly got out of the car and ran in.
Chen Liangshan suddenly wanted to know what kind of life Liu Xiaoyue was living now. He wanted to know whether the child had a good relationship with his friends in the orphanage, whether he was eating well every day, living well, and whether he had enough money to spend.
So he also opened the car door and walked out. He came to the rusty fence door and looked inside.
It can be seen that this is definitely a very poor orphanage. In this desolate and barren land, there is only a small yard surrounded by bricks. There are several simple brick houses in it, and the one at the end of it is
The kitchen still uses the oldest wood-burning stove, and the surrounding walls have long been turned dirty black by smoke.
There are about a dozen children helping with the work in the yard. The youngest of these children has just started to stagger, and the oldest should be as old as a teenager.
But regardless of their age, every child here helps with work. The younger ones clean the yard, and the older ones go to the kitchen to add firewood and boil water.
Looking at this group of busy children, Chen Liangshan finally understood why Liu Xiaoyue had to finish his homework at school every day before coming back, because every child here has to work and contribute to this family that is not considered a home.
Contribute your own strength and don’t have time to do homework at all.
Although he didn't know whether this was unfortunate or not, Chen Liangshan found that the faces of these children in shabby clothes had long lost the tenderness and beauty that should be expected at this age. Their words and deeds were as if they were adults, and even that
The anger exuded by the oldest boy when he spoke made Chen Liangshan's heart palpitate.
"Liu Xiaoyue, you are a slow turtle! Do you come back so late every day just because you don't want to work?"
"Let me tell you Liu Xiaoyue, there is no free meal for you in the world! If you come back so late in the future, get out and never come back!"
"Hurry up and help set up the stove (light the fire)! You've been looking so droopy all day long! You need money but no money and no strength! I don't know what the old scoundrel is doing to feed you!"
Liu Xiaoyue seemed to be very frightened when she was scolded by the older children. She quickly walked into one of the dormitories, threw away her schoolbag and ran out. She knelt beside the wood stove in the kitchen and skillfully fanned herself with a paper shell.
Just when Chen Liangshan was blaming the director of the orphanage for being irresponsible, he found a 50-year-old grandmother walking out of the public toilet at the end of the yard.
Grandma has a strawberry-sized pimple on her lower lip, which looks like unwashed mud from a distance.
However, Granny Zizi had a pair of strong arms, and she could actually carry the black pot with a diameter of about 1 meter from the toilet at the end to the kitchen step by step. The big black pot was filled with water, and there were some zero particles floating above it.
Scattered vegetable leaves. (Note)
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"
The woman walked into the kitchen holding the pot, put it on the stove with a bang, and then shouted at the top of her lungs: "Hurry up! Clean up the yard! Whose job can't be done?"
Don’t eat until tonight!”
This voice was like an edict to the children, and each child began to tense up, fearing that the work would be slow and they would not have food to eat at night.
Looking at the sallow and thin children in the orphanage, Chen Liangshan felt uncomfortable in every way, so he pushed open the gate and walked in.
Granny Zizi glanced at Chen Liangshan, lowered her head and continued busy cooking, and asked casually: "Who are you?"
"I am……"
Chen Liangshan suddenly paused in the middle of his words. He smiled bitterly and shook his head. He didn't know how to introduce himself. However, Nannan also got out of the car at some point and replied loudly from behind: "Hello, grandma! I am Liu Xiaoyue's classmate!"
"Xiaoyue's classmate?"
When Zizi Po heard this, she turned around and glanced at her daughter, and found that she was wearing the same school uniform as Liu Xiaoyue. Then she smiled at Liu Xiaoyue who was kneeling under the stove to fan the fire: "Hey! Xiaoyue, I thought it was you.
Relatives are coming to pick you up!"
But after Zizi Granny finished speaking, she immediately smiled jokingly and said to herself: "Hey! So what if we are relatives? The girl's family is all losers, who would be willing to adopt you!"
When the other party said these words, Liu Xiaoyue lowered her head and remained silent.
When Chen Liangshan saw this, he also said to the other party: "Sister, I want to talk to you."
"What are you talking about!"
The old woman wiped the sweat from her face and complained: "I've been so busy taking care of these white-eyed wolves all day long, how can I have so much free time to chat with you! I really have no eyesight!"
Chen Liangshan smiled and said: "Yes, it is indeed tiring to take care of these children, so let's do this. I will wait here and sit down and chat with you when you have time after your work."
After saying that, Chen Liangshan took his daughter and walked towards the door, but heard the old lady suddenly shouting from behind: "Wait a minute!"
Chen Liangshan turned around and found that the other party was still busy on the stove, but he nuzzled his daughter with his mouth and said: "You are here, let your little girl eat together, but the food is too little, so I will give it to you.
It’s not enough! Hey! Xiaoyue, go get some more chopsticks!”
…
After dinner, the children started to get busy again. The older children each carried a bucket to the public toilet to fetch water. When they came back, they sat in a row and washed the dishes. The younger children stood on the stools and struggled to wash the dishes.
Wiping the table.
The old woman came to the dormitory next to the kitchen, put a bowl on the table, and said, "Here! I saved it for you from the children."
"Oh, no trouble..."
"Eat quickly!" Granny Zizi pushed the bowl towards Chen Liangshan again, and said in an unquestionable tone: "After eating, if you have anything to say, please tell me quickly. Take your girl back as soon as possible. It's quite a long way from the city.
Where is the road!"
"Okay, thank you!" Chen Liangshan smiled and ate the steamed buns, and then asked: "Sister, why is Liu Xiaoyue's child here?"
Zhizi Po lit up a cigarette and started smoking, and responded: "What's wrong here? It's better to be here than to freeze to death and starve to death outside, right?"
"No, no, no, you misunderstood me." Chen Liangshan hurriedly explained: "I mean, where is Liu Xiaoyue's family?"
Zizi Po: "She only has a father who is dead, but I heard that she has a distant relative. As for that relative's life and death, I don't know. Anyway, he sent Xiao Yue here."
Chen Liangshan: "He? Who are you talking about?"
"Who else could it be?" Granny Zi said with a long sigh, "Since Xiaoyue's father died, this baby had no relatives. Later, a man named Liu Qiang adopted her."
Chen Liangshan said to himself: "Liu Qiang? Who is he?"
The woman said: "This kid Liu Qiang is a subordinate of Liu Xiaoyue's father. It is said that he is the deputy general manager of her father's company. He was very kind to Xiaoyue after he adopted her at first, but in the end he only raised less than one child.
Yue, just left Xiaoyue here with me."
As she spoke, there was a sad look in her eyes as she said, "But I know that Liu Qiang is a bad coward! At first, she followed Xiao Yue and her father to fish for some money, and then she started fishing.
After the old lady finished speaking, she changed the subject again.
——"Don't think that I, an old woman, have no abilities, but I can clearly see the frivolity of you young people."
——"I can tell at a glance that Liu Qiang's baby has no good intentions. He must be after the family property left by Xiao Yue's father, otherwise he would never be so kind to adopt Xiao Yue, a girl!"
——"But having said that, Xiao Yue is still quite pitiful. She lost her father at such a young age, and now she has to come here every two days to get her debts. Every time she comes, Xiao Yue is scared. Those guys!
...It’s just like a vampire, you can’t even drive it away!”
Chen Liangshan frowned and said, "You want a debt? What kind of debt do you want?"
"What kind of debt could it be?" The old lady crushed out the cigarette butts and said, "I heard that Xiaoyue's father built an auditorium for the school without giving any money. As a result, the person died now, and the people who worked to collect the debt went after her directly.
It’s the child’s fault!”
Hearing this, Chen Liangshan clenched his fists and gritted his teeth: "These beasts don't even let the children go!"
Granny Zizi echoed: "Who says it's not the case! Anyway, when Xiaoyue's father died, she had some money in the bank, but it was not enough to repay the debts outside. Let me tell you! The richer the boss, the more money he saves.
I like to make troubles, and the more I make troubles, the more I like to be in debt. I use the little money I finally earned in my pocket to make money, and I don’t want to think about the feeling of being chased after me all day long for debts.
Okay?"
Chen Liangshan smiled bitterly and said, "Sister, you don't understand. Those people like to enjoy others begging them to pay back money all day long."
The old lady sighed and said: "Hey! What's the use of talking about this now? You have also seen that the children in this orphanage have either been orphans since childhood, or they are some disabled children. I am an old guy with no education.
If we can’t take care of these children well, I really don’t know what will happen to them when they leave here as adults... ugh!”
Chen Liangshan said: "Then you have never thought about finding a teacher for these children? Isn't it good to let them study here?"
"Goose goose goose..."
When Granny Zizi laughed, her voice sounded like she was about to expire, "Young man, you really can't stand and talk without pain in your back. This orphanage relies entirely on funds from above, and occasionally there are some social donations. It's not enough to feed these brats."
It’s already hard enough! You still want to find a teacher for them? Wouldn’t it be nice to have some money to buy some clothes for the kids?”
While the two were talking, they suddenly heard the sound of the iron fence being pushed open in the yard, and then several dazzling car lights illuminated the yard in an instant, and a rough man's voice was heard.
"Oh! My little Princess Yue actually learned to wash dishes? Hahaha!"
Chen Liangshan suddenly felt something bad in his heart, and immediately followed the old woman out. He saw two off-road vehicles driving directly into the yard. A strong man as big as an iron tower sat on a small bench and stretched out his hand to hug Liu Xiaoyue.
He took out a lollipop from his lap and stuffed it into the other person's mouth. With a ruffian-like smile on his face, he said, "Haha! Does the little princess want candy?"
The strong man spoke with a loud voice, as if he was quarreling, and there were several fierce-looking men beside him. Their eyes were as big as bells, scaring the other children in the yard to hide away.
Don't dare to come over.
Liu Xiaoyue curled up her thin body and closed her eyes and mouth tightly. It could be seen that she was very scared. Even her two little hands were stiffly clenched into fists and her arms were straightened and she did not dare to move.
But the strong man seemed to be deliberately trying to scare Liu Xiaoyue, and said in a rough voice: "Little princess? Your father asked us to build an auditorium and a house for you, but he hasn't given us a penny yet. What do you think we should do about this?
?”
Sure enough, all the debtors were chasing after her. Chen Liangshan was just about to step forward, but he saw the old woman rushing over with a shovel and yelling: "I'll fuck your grandma! Let her go!"
However, before the old lady took two steps, the shovel in her hand was snatched away by a man from behind. Of course, the man who took the shovel did not have the courage to fight with the old man. He just ran around the yard and said with a playful smile: "Hey
!Grandma, why are you doing this? Yo yo yo! I’ll catch up soon! Work harder!”
After chasing around for a while, Granny Zizi was so tired that she was out of breath. She could only hold on to her aching knees and gasped: "Fuck...fuck...your grandma..."
The man held up the shovel and said with a smile: "Grandma, you can't do it? You just ran a circle and you can't run anymore, haha..."
However, just as the man turned around, he felt a fist suddenly hit in front of him. He only heard a muffled "boom" sound, and his head felt like being hit by a lead ball, and a salty smell instantly came from his nasal cavity.
, mixed with a stream of heat spurting out.
About 1 second later, the pain of broken nose bones spread throughout the whole body. The man fell to the ground in pain, reached out and touched the nose that was crooked to one side, and wailed like a cry: "Nose! Nose!
This guy broke my nose!"
The strong man holding Liu Xiaoyue was shocked. He never thought that the humble man in front of him could kill his brother in a fight. He hit his brother with one punch.
But what surprised him even more was that Liu Jianren had clearly told him that there was only an old woman in the orphanage, but where did this man appear from?
But after collecting the money, he had to do something, so the strong man had no choice but to bite the bullet and order the few remaining brothers around him: "Go! Kill me..."
But who would have thought that before the words "kill him" were uttered, Chen Liangshan bent down and picked up the shovel on the ground without saying a word, and walked towards him with a fierce look.
The sound of the shovel being dragged on the ground made the strong man's heart tingle. He had seen the strength of the man in front of him. If he was really hit by such a shovel, he would at least be cut off.
Half of the head.
"Oh my God!"
The brothers around him didn't even mention fighting. When they saw Chen Liangshan's posture, they were so frightened that their calves were spinning. They didn't even care about the brother who was knocked to the ground and ran towards the car at the door.
past.
Seeing this, the burly man dared not confront the opponent head-on. He left Liu Xiaoyue behind and ran out. But who would have thought that he had just taken two steps when a shovel suddenly came across in front of him.
Chen Liangshan grabbed the other person's collar, dragged him to the man with the broken nose, and said sternly: "Take him away!"
"Okay, okay!" The strong man didn't even say a word at this time, he just lifted his brother up from the ground and walked out.
However, before the two of them could reach the door, they suddenly saw another man rushing in. This man was wearing a crisp suit and a long white scarf around his neck. He was dressed as if he were in the 1930s.
Same as Xu Wenqiang in that era.
"Hey! Where did you come from? How dare you bully my little Yue!"
The scarf man stepped forward and punched and kicked the two of them. While beating him, he shouted loudly: "You gangsters! If you dare to bully Xiaoyue again! Believe it or not, I will beat you to death!"
The man in the scarf roared loudly and his movements were very exaggerated, but his fists and feet were weak, making the fight look like he was acting. The strong man on the other side kept pointing to the yard and whispered: "No... no...
Someone..."
"Ah ha? You dare to bring people here? Let me tell you! No matter how many people you bring, don't even think about bullying my little Yue!"
Chen Liangshan looked at this man's exaggerated acting skills and was so embarrassed that he got goosebumps all over his body. However, Nannan also came over at this time, squeezed her hand, and whispered: "Dad, these people are all in the same group.
They are acting, don’t be fooled!”
Even a child could see it, let alone Chen Liangshan, so he threw away the shovel in his hand, touched his daughter's head, and whispered: "Don't worry, honey, the world of adults is all about acting."