Unable to breathe - Chapter 52
For a time, the city was gripped by fear due to robberies, especially the women, who dared not carry handbags, wear necklaces, earrings, or rings, or even use their cell phones in secluded places. Citizens were very dissatisfied with the police, believing them to be incompetent. It was said that the mayor demanded the police chief solve the case within a specified time, or else he would be replaced.
In less than six months, newspapers suddenly began to feature numerous articles about the police's achievements in solving robbery cases. The police chief was awarded a second-class merit, and the head of the local police station was awarded a third-class merit. In no time, the miraculous stories of the police solving cases spread throughout the streets and alleys. Several female victims who had recovered their handbags and cell phones jointly presented the Public Security Bureau with a banner that read "Eliminating Violence and Maintaining Peace."
Why did the police solve several robbery cases in succession?
Liang Erzhu had just left home and knew nothing. He managed to get together with a group of renovation workers, but unfortunately, he was clueless. At first, he could only run errands and do odd jobs for them, and later he even cooked for them. The foreman always scolded him, calling him a pig who only knew how to eat and couldn't do anything else; he said the cheap vegetables and meat he bought were inedible, and the edible ones were expensive. There was nothing he could do; the vegetable vendors always cheated him because he was from the countryside. When asked to buy renovation materials, he always bought the wrong ones. He always bought materials he urgently needed, and he couldn't understand how there could be so many roads and intersections in the city. He had grown up in the countryside and had never been to the city before. He couldn't tell the difference between the city streets; they all looked the same to him. He couldn't remember where the buses went, and how could he possibly remember so many stop names? He often got lost, and he couldn't ask for directions because he couldn't explain where he wanted to go. He didn't dare ask either; the foreman said he didn't have a temporary residence permit, and if they caught him, they would put him in a prison van, fine him several thousand yuan, and kick him out. He couldn't afford a temporary residence permit, and after working for several months, he still hadn't earned three hundred yuan.
Once, he got lost and returned to the construction site, where the foreman kicked him several times and told him to get out immediately. He said he had never seen anyone as stupid as him, and that he had spent half a day running three stops. "What use are you? You're not even as good as a pig! Don't you have a brain? Can't you use your brain? If you don't use your brain, you'll starve to death here!"
He knelt on the ground and begged for a long time before they finally let him stay. However, they could only give him 80 yuan a month, and he was not allowed to make any more mistakes, or he would be fired immediately. He hid in the makeshift toilet made of woven cloth, wanting to cry but not daring to make a sound.
The contractor came to inspect the house being renovated. Before leaving, he said that five hundred yuan he had left on the table was missing and demanded that the construction workers return it, or he would search everyone's pockets. The foreman flew into a rage and ordered them to open their pockets. At that moment, the foreman's cousin suddenly rushed up to Liang Erzhu, slapped him across the face, and said, "You wicked thing, you've disgraced us! How could you do such a shameful thing!"
He reached his fist into Liang Erzhu's pocket, pulled it out, and found some money in his hand. He counted it and said, "It's five hundred. I'm sorry, boss, I'll send him back to his hometown right now! Please don't be angry!"
The foreman punched and kicked Liang Erzhu.
The employer said:
"Don't do this! Once the money is found, the matter is settled. I won't be responsible if anything goes wrong if you do this!"
Hearing this, the foreman stopped hitting him and forced him to kneel down and kowtow to the employer. When he refused, the foreman's cousin kicked him in the back of the leg, and he fell to the ground. The employer was so angry that he turned around and left.
He was kicked out of the renovation team and didn't know where to go. He wanted to go home, but he felt too ashamed to go back; wouldn't this story get back to his family? He said he was innocent, but who would believe him? The foreman's cousin ran out, stuffed 50 yuan into his hand, and told him to go to a construction site and find a foreman surnamed Huang. "Just say you're my cousin, and he'll let you work there."
The foreman, surnamed Huang, took him in as a laborer on the construction site. He only received 10 yuan a day, and he didn't know when he would be paid. Fortunately, there was always food at mealtimes, and he was always full. He slept on a large bunk bed on the construction site every day, crammed together with many other people. At night, he could hear many strange and unusual things he had never heard before, but the most common topic of conversation was how to make money. He couldn't sleep at night either, thinking about how to make money. His head ached from thinking, but he still had to keep thinking because he couldn't even change out of his clothes. To wash his clothes, he had to wear only a vest and underwear.
He thinks about how to make money all the time, while working during the day and even while sleeping at night. His bunkmate kicked him and said:
"Are you crazy? You're dreaming about getting rich? I'm getting rich? What kind of bullshit wealth have you gotten? You're keeping me up at night!"
The person in the next shop whispered to him that day:
"Er Gouzi has struck it rich."
He immediately asked:
"How was it sent?"
"It's definitely not the right path."
How did you know?
He smiled mysteriously:
"Think about it, what kind of business does he have? What is he doing fiddling with his phone all day? If he doesn't have money, why would he buy such a money-guzzling thing? He's definitely not from the right path."
When he said that, I didn't pay any attention at the time. Later, I saw Er Gouzi squatting alone in the temporary toilet fiddling with his phone. After a few days, I stopped seeing him fiddling with his phone. I heard that he sold his phone for 500 yuan. People in the know said it was a steal, saying that his phone was worth two or three thousand yuan.
Later, he also heard people say that he was too bold and that he would get into big trouble sooner or later.
He couldn't sleep at night and kept thinking, "How dare he be so bold? What terrible thing is going to happen?" He asked the person in the next room what they meant.
He said:
"Haven't you heard that people snatch bags and phones on the street all the time?"
He was taken aback and asked:
"You mean, Er Gouzi's phone was stolen?"
He hurriedly waved his hand:
"That's what you said! I didn't say anything! When did I say he stole it? Do you know what that crime is? It's a capital offense! How dare you spread such lies?"
He was so frightened that he never dared to mention it again.
Perhaps because of this incident, he started going to the newspaper stand on the street often at night to read newspapers. He couldn't afford to buy them, nor could he bear to. The more he read, the different his thoughts became. Later, he didn't want to chat with everyone after work; he preferred to go alone to the nearest newspaper stand and read several papers thoroughly before going home to sleep. After that, he felt something was missing if he didn't read the newspaper for a day, and he felt uneasy. Gradually, he felt he couldn't connect with the people around him anymore. They talked about women all the time, as if all they thought about was women. What did he think? Without money, where would women come from? Even if they were given to you for free, you couldn't support yourself! Without money, you can't even survive; what right do you have to think about women? You have to find a way to make money. Isn't the reason I came to the city to work for money? Otherwise, why would I come to the city to suffer like this?
The newspaper reported that a citizen who intervened to help a hero received a reward of several thousand yuan. He thought, "Why don't I ever encounter such good fortune? If I were to do something like that again, I'd risk my life to do it, just to get the reward and make a small fortune." Every day, he kept an eye out for opportunities to intervene on the street. He knew he was being ridiculous—how could he possibly encounter such a thing? But then he remembered what the newspaper had said: "Opportunity always favors the prepared mind." He was prepared! Maybe he'd encounter it; if he wasn't prepared, he'd miss it.
He thought, "If I ever run into someone trying to snatch my bag again, I will definitely do my part to help!"
One night, he suddenly remembered Er Gouzi's incident. Wasn't that something that could be considered a heroic act? Why didn't I think of that? But what makes me so sure he's a bad person? Wouldn't I be making baseless accusations without any evidence?
Later, he finally figured it out: it was too unlikely that he would stumble upon someone who would do good deeds by chance, but what if he fought against bad people and bad things? Wouldn't that make things much easier?
Because he paid attention to this matter, he actually noticed something amiss.
He noticed that Er Gouzi often liked to go shopping, whenever he had free time, and he always went alone, never with anyone else. He followed Er Gouzi a few times, and Er Gouzi went wherever there was excitement, sometimes wandering through alleyways. Why did Er Gouzi choose these alleyways? Later, he figured it out: Er Gouzi was looking for active alleyways and avoiding dead ends.
Finally, one day he completely understood what was going on.
He didn't dare to act rashly. After thinking about it for several days, he decided to confront the police chief.
Liang Erzhu found the head of the Weimin Police Station, because he was in charge of their construction site, and said that he had clues to solve the robbery case.
The director said:
"Get out of here, go do what you're supposed to do. You dare to mess with just anyone? I think your head is full of water."
“I said I have it, so I have it. I didn’t come to you to talk to you; I came to see the police chief. If you don’t want to help, then forget it. I’ll go to the police station every day and wait for the chief.”
The director stared at him for a long time, probably realizing he was mentally sound, and then said:
"What do you need the bureau chief for? If you really have any leads, just tell me. If you can solve the case, I'll give you a few hundred yuan as a reward!"