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Глава 17

The little guys crowded outside the door, watching their brother working hard and sweating profusely, hoping someone would beat him up. But the person pleading with them ignored him. Qiu Xialin was so anxious that tears were about to come out, but he didn't dare to actually cry, for fear that his sister would get even angrier.

He looked pleadingly at his brother outside, desperately begging, "Just beat me up."

The workshop foreman's youngest son was three years older than Qiu Shanglin. At seven or eight years old, he was the age that even dogs wouldn't want. He was the leader and the one who issued orders in their gang. He valued Qiu Xialin's cleverness and bravery. Although he was young, he was very methodical in his work and quick-witted. He could be called the strategist among the Five Rats.

Seeing his trusted strategist humbly apologizing to a young girl, he couldn't have been more heartbroken.

He had long heard that the eldest daughter of the Qiu family was remarkable, but since they moved here, Qiu Shanglin had been busy running around and rarely had any contact with them. She also seemed quiet and gentle, so he hadn't paid much attention to her. Now it seems, no wonder even his father praised her!

After thinking for a moment, he took the lead and scurried into the house, nudging Qiu Shanglin's side and awkwardly pleading, "Hey you, Fifth Brother said he was wrong, so don't blame him. If you're really angry, beat him up or yell at him to vent your anger. As the saying goes, killing someone is just a matter of beheading them, is it really necessary to make such a big deal out of this..."

Shanglin finally reacted: "Killing someone is just a matter of beheading them?"

Though seemingly expressionless, Qiu Xialin could tell his sister was truly angry, extremely angry. He quickly gave the old ambassador a meaningful look, but the old ambassador misunderstood, declaring righteously, "We're sworn brothers, sharing both hardship and fortune. If all else fails, kill all five of us—a head lost is just a scar, and we'll be heroes again in eighteen years!"

He thought himself smug, unaware that Qiu Xia Lin was on the verge of tears, wishing she could just shut him up.

Look at his sister's face, it's turned deathly pale, she's clearly furious.

She laughed in exasperation:

"Okay, okay, okay."

He said "good" three times in a row, his anger rising, but when he saw the other children nodding in agreement, he felt a sense of desolation.

She's not a petty person, so why is she so angry this time?

If I remember correctly, it was these people who corrupted Qiu Xialin, turning him from a mischievous child into a complete hoodlum!

What was she trying to achieve by going to such lengths?

The way Qiu Xialin begged her just now reminded her of the countless times she and her mother had brought him back from the police station in her previous life, crying and pleading with him not to cause any more trouble. And what was the result? He would agree verbally but forget about it the moment he turned his back.

People say you can tell what a person will be like at three years old. That's absolutely true.

Qiu Xia Lin is clever, very clever, but too clever, which makes him prone to going astray. She goes to great lengths to be strict with him—is it all for her own sake? Isn't it simply to change his fate and lessen her and her mother's worries?

Even after he got married and had children, when he occasionally talked to his mother on the phone, she would still worry and talk about who had recently gone to see Lin, who had been gambling all night, and so on...

She kept dreaming that Qiu Xialin was fighting with someone and was hacked to pieces!

She finally had a chance to start over, and she thought everything would be different. But what happened?

Look at the people he associates with, and listen to what they have to say.

Adults might think it's just children talking nonsense, but knowing their future fate, how could she not worry? They steal needles as children, they'll steal gold as adults. Now they're just spouting nonsense, but what about later? What about later?

It inevitably becomes rather dull.

Seeing that his sister's expression was not right, Xia Lin quickly dropped the belt and threw himself onto Shang Lin's lap: "Hit me, hit me! I was wrong, I will never do it again, I will never be naughty again!"

The others chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, we'll never mess around again."

Shanglin sighed and patted Xialin's spiky head—he had styled his own hair.

The workshop director's son was also involved, so she couldn't say anything. After all, his father had helped with the housing allocation for their family, and now they had been allocated a relatively large house.

"You'll behave and listen to me?"

"Um."

"Did you listen to me when I told you not to go out so often?"

"Um."

Those two sounds sealed Qiu Xia Lin's tragic fate.

Shanglin quickly bought several calligraphy practice books, brushes, and ink, keeping him at home every day to practice calligraphy, ostensibly to cultivate his mind and temper his will. Although Zhang Hongwei didn't understand why a three-year-old child needed to cultivate his mind and temper his will, since Shanglin started practicing calligraphy, he spent less time playing outside and his chances of getting into trouble decreased significantly. She was quite at ease with Shanglin's educational methods.

Even when she and Qiu Jianguo personally taught her, they only knew the same three methods: hitting, scolding, and hitting again.

Xia Lin was still young, and soon got annoyed again—his literacy was limited, and he could only write a few words over and over again. The more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt. He glanced at his sister, who seemed quite content, and felt dissatisfied:

Why aren't you writing?

Shang Lin looked away from the book, nodded his chin toward the bookshelf, and gestured: "I finished writing while you were sleeping."

Xia Lin sighed, "Three thousand miles from my homeland, twenty years in the deep palace. One cry of 'He Manzi,' and tears fall before the emperor." His tone was mournful and poignant; he was a man in his seventies or eighties who had experienced many vicissitudes of life, hardly the energetic child he once was.

Shang Lin glared at Yin Yeyao with displeasure: "Stop teaching him these things. What kind of talk is this at such a young age!"

This is a palace poem by Zhang Hu of the Tang Dynasty. The poem expresses the melancholy and longing for family of a palace woman who has been imprisoned for twenty years; it is quite pessimistic and desolate. A few days ago, she saw Yin Yeyao playing with a collection of Tang poems, and she feared he had taught Xia Lin again.

Yin Yeyao chuckled: "I just read it casually. Your brother has a good memory, what can I do?"

Good memory? Yes, he has a very good memory, but unfortunately, his good memory isn't for her reprimands; he just keeps repeating the same mistakes. If he weren't her own brother, she would have slapped him long ago...

You can't kill him even if you slap him!

Seeing that she had finally put down the Three Kingdoms, Yin Yeyao quickly seized the opportunity to ask again, "You still haven't told me, why aren't you doing business anymore?"

Shang Lin glared at him: "Which eye of yours saw that I didn't do it? I just go every few days."

"Why?" he persisted.

"Why, why, why do you keep asking me a million questions!" she said impatiently.

"Shanglin, how can you talk like that? Yeyao, feel free to read any of the books in the house. The '100,000 Whys' book is on the bookshelf. Don't be shy, make yourself at home!" Zhang Hongwei came like a gust of wind, took some things, and then left like a gust of wind again.

The three of them stared in disbelief.

Shang Lin reacted the fastest, rolling his eyes: "He's never been polite!"

Her own home? It's probably even more convenient than her own home, right? Every day after eating, playing, and finishing class, she would run here, read books here, eat lunch here, take a nap here, and stay until dinner before Hua Ge would pick her up and take her back to her house in town. How come she never noticed that Yin Yeyao was being polite to her?

Zhang Hongwei, who was never home, was completely unaware that Qiu Shanglin had practically become their personal caregiver.

Muttering to myself, I turned on the radio, ready to listen to English.

Yin Yeyao also put down her book, took out paper and pen, and prepared to take notes.

His frequent visits have their advantages; everyone learns English together, practices with each other, and makes rapid progress.

The art of making money

"Xiao Linzi, is it difficult to become a police officer?"

The mechanical answer was: "Not difficult."

"But I don't think I'll be able to pass the exam."

The reply was weak and listless: "As long as you start studying hard from now on."

“I heard that becoming a police officer requires connections, but what can I do if my family doesn’t have any connections?”

"The world is fair. As long as you get good grades, it doesn't matter."

"It's not a problem, it's very important. The eldest nephew of Er Gou's uncle's third aunt got first place in the exam last year, but he was still pushed aside by someone else."

"Then you should try to find connections."

"Oh, you're so silly! We're not related!"

"It's okay, it's okay, you can find connections."

"But it's hard to find connections if you don't have them."

"Then you shouldn't be a policeman."

"No, my dream is to be a policeman. Xiao Linzi, am I particularly suited to be a policeman?"

"You're so imposing and righteous, you're definitely cut out to be a policeman."

"Hehe, I think so too. I didn't realize it before, but after you said it, I realized I'm perfect to be a policeman."

"Yes, you were born to be a policeman."

"No, I was born to protect the security of my motherland and safeguard the lives of my people!"

"Yes, you were born to save the Earth."

"Saving the Earth seems a bit difficult. Is the Earth very big?"

"The Earth is divided into seven continents and five oceans - Shunzi, it's mentioned in elementary school geography textbooks."

"Oh, which seven continents and five major sheep? We don't seem to like raising sheep around here."