Chickens and dogs fly in chaos and rebirth

Chapter 60

On March 2nd, he stayed at the Shanghai Friendship Building to wait for the lottery. When the lottery ended, Hua Zi felt that he was about to collapse. Out of more than 3,300 applications, he only won less than 100 sets and subscribed to more than 150 new shares. If this continued, his 100,000 yuan would shrink to 30,000 or 40,000 yuan!

Despite repeated and earnest attempts to persuade Shanglin, she remained adamant. Just when Hua Zi was about to give in and secretly resell subscription certificates to help her minimize her losses, she told him to sell the newly subscribed shares as soon as they were listed, then subscribe again, and sell again. After using up over a hundred points, Hua Zi roughly estimated that he had actually made over four hundred thousand!

At this point, he admired Qiu Shanglin immensely.

Yin Yeyao, who had always thought the idea was impossible, also took out his savings and began asking people in Shanghai to buy subscription certificates. Although he was severely reprimanded by the old man afterward, the old man tacitly approved of his actions.

The first major bear market in the Chinese stock market occurred on May 26, 1992. Shang Lin couldn't recall the exact date, but vaguely remembered it being in 1992. Therefore, at the beginning of the year, she sold all her stocks to cash out, and then let stock prices soar without batting an eye, never regretting it. It wasn't until the stock market crashed on May 26 that Hua Zi had to admire Qiu Shang Lin; she was more than just bold.

The current topic of discussion in the Qiu family is whether Qiu Shanglin should go to Shanghai for the second lottery on June 5th.

Zhang Hongwei's opinion was that she shouldn't go. The graduation exam was in the 20s, and although she had good grades, her parents still hoped she could prepare well and ideally get into a top-tier junior high school with the highest score.

Qiu Jianguo, however, thought it was worth going. At his daughter's urging, he also took out 20,000 yuan of his savings to buy a subscription certificate, and now his funds had doubled, with over 100,000 yuan in his personal stash. He also wanted to see the lottery for the subscription certificates firsthand, and it would be even better if he and his daughter could go together.

If he knew that his daughter was worth over a million, he wouldn't encourage her to go to Shanghai; instead, he would probably have someone make a steel cage around her from head to toe to prevent her from being robbed.

Li Changsheng's Escape (Part 1)

Although both Qiu Shanglin and Qiu Jianguo wanted to go to Shanghai, Qiu Xialin also raised his hand in agreement—even though he couldn't go, his sister promised to buy him the latest remote-controlled car.

Ultimately, Qiu Shanglin missed witnessing the harrowing events of June 5th. Listening to Qiu Jianguo and Hua Ge's later accounts, she felt deeply for them, but could never truly understand Hua Ge's excitement.

It's not surprising, really. Starting with 100,000 yuan, and after the second lottery, through the cycle of subscription, resale and subscription guided by her, it turned into more than 6.4 million yuan in total.

After he calmed down, he unhesitatingly described this speculative act as "robbery"!

Shanglin had no time for regret, nor for ecstasy. In the eyes of later generations, six million was really nothing.

There was something very important that had been bothering her.

Li Changsheng has not returned yet.

A small fishing village near the coast of Shantou, Guangdong.

The short, wrinkled old woman pushed open the fence gate, creaked as she carried a bucket of water into the kitchen water vat, pulled off her floral headscarf to wipe her sweat, went to the west room, and tried to push it open—as usual, it wouldn't budge. She knocked on the door and called out kindly:

"Son, time to eat."

There was no response from inside. She sighed, knocked again, and raised the volume.

"Don't be stubborn, your parents are doing this for your own good. The village is small, so don't run around after you've eaten."

Seeing that no one spoke up, she said helplessly, "If you run away, you'll be dealt with. The food is inside; remember to come out and eat."

He turned and went out the door.

The empty courtyard was extremely quiet in the afternoon. A flock of chickens lived in the backyard, and the mother hen proudly strolled with her chicks in the sunlight. Every now and then, she would lower her head and peck at the ground, turning over a large earthworm, then hide to the side, lovingly watching her chicks rush to grab the food.

The door to the west room, which had been locked for three days, clicked slightly. Li Changsheng pulled it open forcefully. After being in the dark for three days, he couldn't stand the intense sunlight. He squinted, raised his hand to shield his forehead, and looked up slightly at the sun. The June sun in Shantou was scorching. Yesterday's heavy rain had washed the small village clean, and the smell of mud mixed with poultry manure wafted through the air.

Chang Sheng cursed in disgust: "Damn it, this crazy, monstrous place!"

Several dishes were laid out on the dark octagonal table in the main room: stir-fried Chinese cabbage, blanched mantis shrimp, and fresh oysters brought over by the neighbor this morning. Grandma washed the oysters, added ginger juice and cooking wine to the pot, and then added cornstarch and beaten egg liquid to the oysters. She fried them until golden brown on both sides and served them on a celadon plate with white flowers. There was also half a portion of braised goose that her mother brought yesterday. Knowing that he had a big appetite, Grandma specially filled a large bowl with rice.

He put the "National Protection Vegetable" in his mouth, then spat it out. "That 'National Protection Vegetable' is clearly just sweet potato leaves—where we're from, sweet potato leaves are for feeding pigs!"

As I ate slowly, I thought about what my mother had said when she came over yesterday.

"You're really clever. Why do you want to go back to your hometown? That's not our hometown anymore. Your father and I are doing quite well here. We didn't have time to take care of you before, but now we're wealthy. You can focus on your studies here, do well in business in the future, find a wife, and your father and I will have someone to rely on for the future."

An elderly woman from Chaozhou was sewing shoe soles outside her house, her eyes serene. Although she couldn't understand her mother's Sichuan dialect, she still smiled brightly.

Changsheng was very impatient and lay down on the bed facing the wall: "You're from the North, don't speak Sichuan dialect!"

His mother chuckled, her voice high-pitched, and the strong scent of her perfume wafted into Changsheng's nostrils on the breeze, mingling with the smell of animal droppings in the air, making him feel nauseous.

I couldn't help but think of Zhang Hongwei. She was always clean and fresh, with the scent of laundry detergent mixed with the milky smell of ice cream, which made me feel at ease.

She gets angry and scolds, but she's fiercely protective of her children in crucial moments; she's always busy and energetic—that's the image of a mother in his mind. Not the familiar yet strange woman before him, with huge gold earrings, thick gold chains around her neck and wrists, and even a dazzling diamond on her ring finger.

Wearing leggings and a floral top, her hair was permed into small curls and draped over her shoulders. She wore leopard-print high heels, the stilettos of which were covered in mud and what appeared to be the droppings of an unknown animal as she walked.

She laughed for a long time before finally catching her breath: "You silly goose, you don't believe me, you blockhead. What kind of hometown is Zifang Town? You grew up in Sichuan, and you'll live in Shantou in the future. Your dad and I will send you to Guangzhou and Shanghai to study, to those rural places!"

She didn't comment on the rights and wrongs of Zifang Town; she simply expressed her disdain.

Changsheng missed the Red Star Compound terribly: the noisy, friendly neighbors; the bustling mornings; the long, drawn-out cries of vendors at the Zifang Town market; he even stopped disliking the new building and missed the dark stairwells and cold cement floors.

After his parents abandoned him in their hometown, they wandered in the south for many years before finally settling down in Shantou. No one knows how they managed to build a business, despite not being the two prodigal sons their parents were. They own two factories in Shantou that specialize in exporting pajamas.

People say that when you're well-fed and clothed, you think of other things. Fortunately, the two still had a conscience. When they had money, they remembered the son they had abandoned and suddenly realized they needed to pay attention to his education. They eagerly called him over to arrange for him to transfer to another school and live in Shantou permanently.

Recalling the countless arguments, Changsheng took a heavy bite of the boiled mantis shrimp. The hard shell cracked and splintered into the shrimp meat, but he didn't mind and chewed it fiercely in his mouth.

Damn it, I'm not a little dog that you can just take or leave as you please?

I'm in fifth grade now. If I want to transfer schools, I'll have to repeat a grade. Qiu Shanglin said that starting school early gives you more opportunities than others. I started school later than others to begin, and now I want to repeat a grade?

Besides, without Qiu Shanglin, who will tutor me to cram for exams, and who will supervise my studies and meals?

Spitting out a large shrimp shell, rolling her eyes, she said, "Just call it a mantis shrimp, what the hell is this 'mantis shrimp'? Do you think I'm a northerner who's never eaten seafood before?!"

To be fair, the old lady was a good cook; otherwise, her mother wouldn't have sent him to this remote rural area. They were exhausted by their son's repeated failed escape attempts and planned to keep him locked up until the college entrance exams were over, then transfer him to another school. Could a little arm really twist the thigh?

I want to eat Northern Chinese food! I won't eat sweet potato leaves meant for pigs, those bullshit fish balls, or that weird-tasting rice!

Go home. Go back to Huaiqiao City. Go back to Zifang Town. Go back to Hongxing Compound.

The thought, like wild grass that had grown wildly, could no longer be suppressed.

She dropped her chopsticks, ran back to the west room where she was temporarily staying, packed her luggage quickly, and then found the money her mother had given her yesterday for her living expenses under her grandmother's pillow. She pushed open the fence and took a few steps, but then suddenly remembered something and went back.

He took out paper and pen from his bag. The old woman couldn't read, so he drew a few simple strokes.

When the domestic dog saw him, it lay in its kennel and lazily yawned. He was not someone to mess with; he kicked himself three times on our first meeting. I didn't want to get beaten up... The fence gate wasn't closed properly and swayed back and forth, causing the little flowers on the fence to tremble. A subtropical breeze blew through, swirling into the open hall and lifting a piece of grid paper that had been pressed down in one corner. On the back were three simple drawings.

The boy with the backpack took money from under his pillow.

The boy with the backpack stood in front of the car.

The boy with the backpack and the white-haired old man sat together watching TV.

The plates were empty; the kitchen had been ransacked. Anything that could be stored for a longer period and was easy to carry was taken.

From here to Shantou city, he could take a bus to Guangzhou or a train to Shanghai. He had the 500 yuan that Shanglin had insisted on giving him when he left Zifang Town, which he had kept hidden on his person. Once in Guangzhou, he could slowly inquire about the address of the Mocha Cat office and contact Qiu Shanglin there… No!

If she finds out I ran away, she'll definitely be angry. Guangzhou is too close; my parents could easily find me.

I thought I'd take the train to Shanghai. I spoke to Shanglin one last time on the phone; she said Hua Ge was in Shanghai. Although I wasn't close to Hua Ge, I could trust him. I asked him to arrange a train to take me back to Huaiqiao… It's just a shame that Huaiqiao's airport isn't officially operational yet; otherwise, as Qiu Shanglin said, traveling from the south to the north would only take a nap!

I strode along the country road, pondering as I went.

His trouser legs were tightly tied with straw rope, and he wore the sturdiest and waterproof shoes he could find, with extra pieces of cloth wrapped around his calves. There were poisonous snakes in the mountains, and on his first day there, his mother warned him not to wander around, lest he be bitten.

He sneered. Do you think I'm an ordinary person?

I am a superman who grew up under the ravages of autumn!

I forced Qiu Shanglin to translate the English version of the wilderness survival manual without reading it first, because I'm afraid of poisonous snakes?

Not daring to take the main road, I could only walk along the small paths. Fortunately, the paths on the mountain were at a higher elevation, allowing me to see the direction of the main road below and avoid getting lost. On the way here, I took a tractor from the town and walked for about half a day. Now, I just need to keep walking along the small paths until I reach a nearby larger village, then take a tractor to the town, take a bus from the town's bus station to Shantou, then a bus from Shantou to Guangzhou, and finally a train from Guangzhou to Shanghai. By the time I get to Shanghai, I'll probably be out of money for the journey. Luckily, Qiu Shanglin left Hua Ge's phone number just in case. If I find him, I can go home.

I clutched my backpack tightly, suppressing my urge to drink water.

When the old woman realized Li Changsheng was missing, she chased after the flock of chickens and ducks returning home late at night, waving the little drawing he had left behind, and ran towards the village chief's house. By then, Li Changsheng had already successfully arrived at the big village with a tractor.