mild compromise

"Brat, quickly take out the wallet you stole just now!" Lao Cai spread his hands and glared at him.

Xiao Chenghao didn't react in a daze, Lao Cai urged him again: "Move faster!"

This time Xiao Chenghao didn't dare to neglect, and quickly handed the hidden wallet to Lao Cai.Lao Cai took the wallet and asked again: "Are there enough things in it?"

Xiao Chenghao didn't say anything, just shook his head, and then he watched Lao Cai hand the wallet back to the man dressed as a nouveau riche just now.

"Mu Yuan, here is the wallet, please check it."

Mu Yuan opened the wallet and took a look, then stuffed it into his trouser pocket casually. He glanced at Xiao Chenghao who was sitting on the ground, and asked Lao Cai, "Is he your horse boy?"

"No." Lao Cai answered without any hesitation.

"Then why are you protecting him so much?" Mu Yuan raised his brows high, and once again set his eyes on Xiao Chenghao, a little curious about him.

Lao Cai didn't explain, but only said to Mu Yuan: "That kid has learned enough lessons, let's give him a chance."

Mu Yuan turned his gaze back, and punched Lao Cai jokingly, "All right, for your sake, forget it this time."

After Mu Yuan and his siblings left, Lao Cai kicked Xiao Chenghao's ass, "Get up!"

Xiao Chenghao struggled to support the ground with his hands, and with a painful expression on his face, he slowly helped Lao Cai stand up, "Damn...the hands are so heavy, are those guys human?!"

"You deserve it." Lao Cai snorted coldly, and slapped him on the back of the head, "How many times have I told you before that the opposite side of the temple entrance is someone else's land, telling you not to go there and cause trouble, but you didn't listen, you are lucky this time, It was my friend who provoked you, and if you were any other ruthless person, I would just beat your hand and maim it!"

Then, Lao Cai gave him another slap on the back of the head, "You will die if you don't steal for a day?"

Xiao Chenghao stood on the spot without humming.

"Speak!" Lao Cai roared.

After a few seconds of silence, Xiao Chenghao said sullenly: "My dad used all the family money to drink and gamble, and I have no money to eat."

"So you can justly steal other people's money?"

Xiao Chenghao was silent again.

Lao Cai sighed, took out his wallet from his pocket, took two 100 yuan bills and stuffed them into Xiao Chenghao's hands, "Take it to buy some food, if you don't have money, find a way to earn it, do a part-time job, always More dignified than your petty theft."

Xiao Chenghao looked at the banknote in his hand, he was a little surprised to hear such positive words with correct three views from a mafia member.

"What kind of eyes are you looking at?" Lao Cai held the cigarette in his mouth, and sprayed a puff of white mist on Xiao Chenghao's face, "Hey, kid."

"what happened?"

"I heard you said that you were a sophomore in high school?"

Xiao Chenghao nodded, "But I don't intend to continue reading."

"Why?" Lao Cai shook the cigarette ash in his hand to the ground.

"My family is so poor that I can't even get money for food, so I read some shitty books." Xiao Chenghao didn't want to continue discussing this topic, he raised the money in his hand and waved it a few times, "Really give it to me?"

Lao Cai didn't say anything, he just waved his hand, signaling him to go back quickly.

ACT10

In the evening, Xiao Chenghao was wandering in the street market with 200 yuan in his pocket. When he passed by a siu mei shop, he stopped, pointed to the roast goose hanging in the window, and said to the boss, "Please come to me for two minutes." A box of roast goose rice is packed."

The boss nodded enthusiastically, quickly removed the roast goose from the hook, raised the knife and dropped it, and handed two boxes of packed roast goose rice to Xiao Chenghao in a short while.

Walking out of the shop with the roast goose rice in his hand, Xiao Chenghao suddenly stopped and went back again, "Boss, add another roast goose leg to me."

It was quiet in the residence, and it was only before seven o'clock in the evening. Xiao Hong usually didn't come back so soon. Xiao Chenghao took out a box of roast goose rice and ate it first, and put the remaining box on the dining table for Xiao Hong. , There is a golden-yellow roast goose leg with oily shine on the side of the lunch box.Their family loves roast goose legs very much. Xiao Chenghao remembers that when he was young, every time he bought roast goose at home, Xiao Hong would leave the roast goose legs to him and his mother. Xiao Chenghao was puzzled. Ask your father: Why don't you eat?Xiao Hong always said to him with a smile: Watching you eat is much happier than eating by myself.

Xiao Chenghao often thinks of little things like this, life is hard enough, and finding a moment of comfort and warmth from past memories is his only sustenance.

After finishing his meal quickly, Xiao Chenghao took a cold bath and lay down early to rest. Compared with being tired, he was more in pain. He was covered with bruises all over his body. Xiao Chenghao only felt a little bit in retrospect. I was afraid, if Lao Cai hadn't come out in time to rescue him, then he might not have suffered such a little skin trauma.

Xiao Chenghao looked at the dark ceiling above, and began to think seriously about what Lao Cai told him earlier, and planned to go outside tomorrow to see if there was any suitable job. He didn't graduate from high school, and he didn't have enough education. It's definitely not his turn, but it's not a problem to find a handyman who serves dishes and washes dishes to support the family, so it's decided.

That night Xiao Chenghao didn't sleep well at all, his butt hurts when he lay on his back, and when he turned over, either his arms or his thighs hurt. When it was nearly five o'clock in the morning, he finally couldn't bear the torture of sleepiness, and fell into a drowsy sleep. Eyes closed.

It was evening when he woke up again, Xiao Chenghao yawned sleepily, sat up from the bed, looked at the purple-red sunset outside the window, his thoughts paused for a few seconds, and then suddenly realized that he had slept all day. I can't do the work today.

After hastily washing up, Xiao Chenghao was about to go out to buy some food. When he walked out of the living room, he glanced at the table and found that the boxed lunch and roast goose legs that were placed there last night were still intact. Besides, the indoor The other items also kept the same positions as last night, indicating that Xiao Hong never came back.

Although Xiao Hong often loitered outside, he seldom stayed out at night, and there was never such a situation where he didn't go home from the previous day to the next evening.

Xiao Chenghao knew that Xiao Hong often had conflicts with others because of gambling. Although he hated his father's depraved appearance, he did not want anything to happen to Xiao Hong.

Xiao Hong didn't have a mobile phone, and Xiao Chenghao couldn't get in touch with him even if he wanted to. Just in case, Xiao Chenghao decided to go out and look for him.Xiao Hong usually visited the mahjong parlor, the chess and card room, and the tavern. The owner of the tavern told Xiao Chenghao that the last time he saw Xiao Hong was yesterday evening, because he won a little money playing mahjong. Seemingly in a good mood, he ordered two bottles of white wine, his face flushed, while drinking, he dragged the boss to chat with him.

"What did he tell you?" Xiao Chenghao asked the boss.

The boss recalled, "Your dad said that you don't usually have a good meal. It's rare that you won money today. When you go back later, you will buy two roast goose legs. He also said that you used to eat this most. Then As he was talking, he suddenly started crying, crying very hard, and while crying he was nagging, saying that he was sorry for you, which really shocked me at the time."

It was hard for Xiao Chenghao to believe the scene of Xiao Hong crying loudly. His father in his memory had never had such a vulnerable side, even when his mother left, his father never shed a single tear.

Xiao Chenghao's heart seemed to be tightly suppressed by a heavy weight, and he was a little out of breath. He continued to ask: "What happens after that?"

"After he finished speaking, he left, and I don't know where he went."

When Xiao Chenghao returned to his residence without finding anything, two policemen in uniform were standing outside the door of the rental house. Before Xiao Chenghao could approach, the two policemen had already walked up to him. Asked: "Excuse me, are you the resident of this house?"

Xiao Chenghao nodded, "I am."

"Then do you know Xiao Hong?"

Xiao Chenghao noticed that the expressions of the two policemen were a bit dignified, his heart sank, and he wondered to Xiao Hong whether he had caused some serious trouble again?

After hesitating for a moment, Xiao Chenghao still nodded truthfully, "He is my father."

After listening to Xiao Chenghao's answer, the two policemen were stunned for a moment at the same time. They glanced at each other, and their dignified expressions became more serious. After thinking for a while, the policeman who asked the question just now spoke cautiously: "Your father accidentally fell into the river beside the road last night because he was drunk, and unfortunately drowned to death when he was found."

Xiao Chenghao couldn't remember at all how he was taken to the morgue to claim Xiao Hong's body. When he stood there, looking at that familiar and cold pale face, he wanted to deny what he saw. After seeing everything, just two days ago, Xiao Hong pointed at his nose angrily and scolded him loudly, but after a while, he turned into a stiff corpse lying motionless on the steel bed.

"He... Did he really die by accident?" Xiao Chenghao tried to calm down his trembling voice.

"After we received the report, we immediately retrieved the surveillance video on the side of the road. Your father left the tavern and went to the siu mei shop to buy something. He was alone the whole time. Shaky, when I came to the road of Heyong..."

The police told Xiao Chenghao some details. They said that when they salvaged Xiao Hong from the river, they found that Xiao Hong was holding a plastic bag containing roasted goose legs tightly in his hand. Jincai put the bag