Chickens and dogs fly in chaos and rebirth

Chapter 15

Yin Yeyao sat in the room, looking around at the furnishings of the cramped space.

On the outermost edge was a small table, covered with a white cotton cloth. On a whim, Shanglin had cut a red-patterned cloth from her grandmother's era into triangles and laid it diagonally on the cloth. The white against the red pattern created a unique and vibrant style. A water glass sat casually on the table, containing a handful of fresh flowers and foxtail grass. The common rural plants, arranged together, exuded boundless vitality.

Further inside was a double bed, covered with a clean duvet cover; a colorful paper curtain made of origami cranes hung in mid-air, rustling in the wind, and a small bed and a cabinet could be vaguely seen at the very back.

This family, while not exactly destitute, is close to being.

Peking Opera and storytelling

Qiu Shanglin checked the time and turned on the radio that she had asked Qiu Jianguo to buy for her. It was playing a part of "Farewell My Concubine". Shanglin ignored the other two and moved a small stool under the table. She held a stack of paper in her hand and began to fold origami cranes, swaying her head to the music, completely absorbed.

Yin Yeyao has never liked listening to Peking Opera.

What's so good about old-fashioned and outdated things?

But since the owner didn't say anything, he couldn't say anything either. He could only move closer to her, watching her fingers fly up and down nimbly while listening curiously to the somewhat indistinct lyrics on the radio.

I only vaguely heard four sentences:

"See how the king is sleeping soundly in his tent, fully clothed."

I'm stepping outside the tent to dispel my sorrows.

He took a few light steps forward and stood still in the desolate field.

Looking up suddenly, I saw the clear, bright moonlight in the azure sky.

Being too young to understand the deeper meaning, Yin Yeyao couldn't help but look at Shang Lin's expression inquisitively. Upon seeing it, she was stunned.

She seemed lost in thought, her hands moving mechanically, her face filled with a sorrowful expression, as if she had truly reached a dead end. Suppressing her grief, she comforted the person she was about to part with, then, concealing her deep sorrow, went outside to dispel her melancholy. In the desolate wilderness, wild grasses grew rampant, mercilessly devouring all life. The moonlight was clear, but there was no way back…

Yin Yeyao thought he wouldn't understand this feeling.

However, two years later, when he was picked up by a car sent by his family and watched the small town recede into the distance, thinking about the bits and pieces of the past two years, the inevitable long separation ahead, the fear of the unknown, and the longing for the past, he suddenly remembered this piece of music he had heard before, and suddenly understood Qiu Shanglin's sorrow at this moment.

Two years later, he was only ten years old, but it felt like a lifetime had passed.

Just as the two were lost in thought, listening to the endless sorrow of the person on the radio, Hua Zi suddenly coughed and looked at them disapprovingly—

Two children, pretending that the world is bleak!

He thought to himself, "My mother died when I was fifteen, my father died when I was sixteen, and my stepmother, who had been married for less than three months, not only seized the family property but also tried to have me killed. I spent my days hiding and doing nothing until I was seventeen, when I accidentally stabbed someone to death. On my eighteenth birthday, I was arrested and taken to the police station. If it weren't for your mother, my benefactor Xu Mi, going to great lengths to defend me, I'm afraid I would have stayed in there for ten or eight years. After being barely reformed for three years, I came out penniless and without any connections. I wanted to become a petty thug but had no relatives or friends and was desperate. I was about to drown myself when I thought I would rob someone before I died to get a full meal and buy some decent clothes. Who knew I would be so unlucky as to rob your mother, my benefactor Xu Mi? If she hadn't seen that I was a promising talent, her bodyguards would have thrown me into the river to feed the turtles."

You say, you say, you say that even with my tragic and devastating background, I don't complain or feel sad. What are you two little brats feeling sad about?

His cough not only woke up the two people from their dreams, but also Zhang Hongwei, who had just returned from a long journey.

These days, the whole family is worried about money. Qiu Jianguo, needless to say, absolutely does not approve of her idea of starting an ice cream factory. If it weren't for his domineering personality, he wouldn't have gone with her to borrow money!

Don't think she doesn't know! Even though she insisted on taking him to visit all his relatives and friends, he secretly told everyone not to lend her money... Zhang Hongwei gets angry just thinking about it! What kind of husband is this? It's one thing for him to be inflexible in his thinking, but when his wife wants to start a business to improve their family's living conditions, instead of helping, he makes things worse!

Zhang Hongwei spent the whole day running around today, borrowing from everyone he could, but the factory needed a lot of money; a hundred or two hundred wouldn't solve the problem at all.

She returned home fuming, and as soon as she entered the gate, someone kindly reminded her that their daughter had brought home a young hoodlum.

Listen to this! My daughter is only four years old. Luckily she's only four, and you're already spreading rumors. If she were older, wouldn't you be saying all sorts of things to her?

Despite saying it, she was incredibly worried. What if something happened...? She rushed home anxiously, gritting her teeth in anger: "That brat Qiu Shanglin has given me so much worry! Just wait till I get home, I'll teach him a lesson..."

Parents everywhere are conflicted. On one hand, they love their children more than their own lives, but on the other hand, they treat them as private property—so-called private property means they shouldn't need me to worry, they should behave well, and I can play with them and pat them when I have free time, toss them a bone and watch them play with a smile.

Just as I was bowing my head and gritting my teeth, a loud cough came from my direction.

She looked up and saw a burly man dressed in flashy clothes standing at her doorway, arms crossed, staring at the house with a sinister and malicious expression.

Zhang Hongwei was startled, trembling as he desperately cried out, "Shang...Lin!"

She thought her daughter had been assaulted!

Her shout startled not only the two children in the house, but also Hua Zi.

Seeing her rushing over, he instinctively forced a stiff smile: "Sister-in-law is back."

Before he could even finish the word "la," the person squeezed past him and ran wildly into the house, crying and shouting, "My child..."

The word "子" was abruptly cut off.

Shang Lin was standing on the ground looking at her with a surprised expression, still holding the unfinished origami crane in his hand. The Peking Opera on the radio had come to an end, and they were now telling a story!

The atmosphere was extremely eerie.

Zhang Hongwei hadn't recovered from the tragedy she had imagined, Shang Lin was surprised that her mother had returned so early, and Yin Yeyao had no idea what was going on.

Hua Zi reacted the fastest, guessing that the person was frightened by his attire, and quickly smoothed things over: "Please, sister-in-law, have a seat."

After saying that, I felt like slapping myself twice!

Damn, does coming here lower your IQ too?

Just then, another indistinct figure, with lightning speed, flew past the door god Hua Zi like a cannonball and landed quickly inside the house.

Hua Zi wanted to ask, "Hey, who are you?"

He had barely uttered an "eh" before the rest of his words were already stuck in his throat and he was already inside the house.

Qiu Xialin didn't even see who was at his door and who was inside. He went straight to the radio, turned up the volume with practiced ease, grabbed a stool, plopped down, and exhaled a long breath: "Almost late."

Recently, the storytelling series "Five Rats Make Trouble in Tokyo" by Mr. Shan Tianfang has been serialized. Qiu Shanglin has been watching every episode. At the same time, he has gathered five children of the same age in the courtyard, calling themselves "Jade-haired Rats". They are capable of anything, whether they go up to heaven or down to earth. In Qiu Shanglin's opinion, the only thing he is good at is digging holes!

The Five Rats were having so much fun today that they almost missed the storytelling session. When they remembered, they rushed back, heading straight for the radio, without even noticing that their mother's face had turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

This infuriated Zhang Hongwei... Her husband was never home and never supported her work; her daughter was full of business acumen and was more shrewd than she was; and her son, whom she thought she could rely on for life—did he even care about his old mother?

Seeing Zhang Hongwei's dark face and dark eyes, Shang Lin knew something was wrong; he must have had trouble borrowing money outside and had been mistreated again.

Kicking a stool: "Xia Lin, don't you see there are guests in the house? Get up, get up!"

Just as Zhang Hongwei was about to unleash her fury, she snapped out of her daze and realized that there were outsiders in her house.

acting on one's own initiative

That evening, Yin Yeyao and Hua Zi received a warm welcome from Zhang Hongwei and his wife. In fact, not only that night, but in the days that followed, his status in the Qiu family rose rapidly. He learned from and helped others, soaring like a kite to the heavens, leaping over Qiu Xialin and reaching the top of Qiu Shanglin.

For countless days, Shanglin was filled with remorse: she was the culprit who had let the wolf into the house...

Regardless of the impending turmoil, at least for now, Zhang Hongwei was filled with a mixture of surprise and doubt; exploration and questioning coexisted. A stranger, leading an unfamiliar child, came to his house, asking to borrow seven thousand yuan, saying that they could discuss it further if he expanded the business in the future. His daughter, on the other hand, looked at him expectantly with eyes that seemed to be pleading, "Please agree quickly, please agree quickly."

To use a modern metaphor, it's like:

One evening, you came home exhausted from get off work and were chopping up a carrot as if it were your wicked boss when the doorbell rang. Thinking it was your landlord coming to collect the rent, you nervously opened the door, only to see a stray dog and a stray cat smiling lovingly at you from downstairs.

Just as you're about to kick them back into the trash heap, the stray dog speaks in an incredibly wise and confident voice, calmly telling you amidst your shocked reaction: "I can lend you eight million. If it's not enough, just come back to me!"

Uh...sorry, I was daydreaming.

Back to reality.

After a brief period of questioning, Zhang Hongwei surprisingly agreed readily, promising to repay 1,000 yuan within three months and the rest within six months.

She warmly invited the man in the floral shirt—who was Hua Zi—to stay for a casual meal.

Although it was Yin Yeyao who was speaking to her, she naturally assumed that the money belonged to Hua Zi—any normal person would think that way, and probably only someone like Qiu Shanglin, with his extraordinary experience, could see the master-servant relationship between the two at a glance.

Based on Zhang Hongwei's experience, he was not able to discern Yin Yeyao's identity, let alone the relationship between the two.

Hua Zi glanced at Yin Yeyao's expression and just mumbled incoherently, neither agreeing nor promising anything. This created a very funny scene—Zhang Hongwei was speaking to Hua Zi, but the one answering was Little Pudding Yin Yeyao. Zhang Hongwei didn't care about his answer and just stared at Hua Zi, while Hua Zi just nodded.

She found it strange that the child liked to interrupt, but didn't think much of it.

I was planning to go out for dinner, at least to a restaurant, and treat them to a nice meal.

Yin Yeyao expressed that she wanted to have a simple home-cooked meal.

Zhang Hongwei hesitated for a moment, then agreed. Lin Da, however, disagreed.

She still lacked generosity—having borrowed so much money, why would she care about such a small amount? She still hadn't learned how to spend money wisely. Shanglin knew all too well that only by knowing how to spend money could she earn it!

It seems that the mother still needs more experience.

While familiarly helping to pick the vegetables, I was thinking.

Qiu Xialin was chased to the side to play, but he didn't dare to go far. He followed his sister around like a shadow, never leaving her side.

It's no wonder he liked to follow him; the image of Yin Yeyao as a bully was too deeply ingrained in his mind. When he came back to his senses from the swordplay in the storytelling, he was shocked to find that the bully had come to his house, right next to his sister—how terrifying!

Unfortunately, his sister and the bully were having a very pleasant conversation, so Xia Lin could only keep a close eye on them, feeling extremely frustrated, to prevent them from suddenly attacking him—my sister, only I can hit her, no one else can!