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Seeing this, He Feipeng handed over a tissue and said, "Sister, this is an old phone, right?"

Jiang Qing said "hmm" with a nasal sound.

"Your hand..." He Feipeng pointed at Jiang Qing's scratched palm and the bloodstains on the phone.

Jiang Qing blinked as she felt a sudden stinging pain and casually rubbed the phone case twice.

"I'm fine," Jiang Qing turned to look at the boy. It was a hot summer day, and his clothes were already half dry. Her eyes fell on the boy's wet hair. "Why don't you find something to wipe it off?"

"It will dry up in a while, don't worry about it." He Feipeng stretched out his hand to smooth his hair, and water droplets flew everywhere, splashing all over Jiang Qing's face.

Jiang Qing wiped her face silently.

"I can wait here by myself. If you have something to do, go back first." She didn't react for a while before, but now that they are at the hospital, she is not so worried anymore.

He Feipeng leaned lazily on the back of the chair and said, "Forget it, sister, I'll wait with you. I don't have anything to do anyway."

Jiang Qing looked at him in surprise, "You're not going to school?"

He Feipeng: ...

He changed the subject, "What does that person inside have to do with you?"

"friend."

He Feipeng lowered his head and approached. "I heard she jumped into the river. What could she be so upset about? No matter how rotten this world is, no matter how unworthy it is to stay in it, opening your eyes every morning to see the bright sun is a new day, isn't it?"

Jiang Qing pursed her lips and said, "I don't know."

She glanced sideways: "How can you be so sentimental, kid? You think the world is broken. How many people have you met, how many things have you been through, that you think you understand the world?"

"I'm not a child." He Feipeng retorted unhappily, "My parents passed away a long time ago, and now this family is supported by me and my grandparents. Don't look down on my young age, I'm already an adult."

Jiang Qing paused, feeling a strange feeling in her heart. "So you rely on stealing to support your family?"

He Feipeng looked at her in surprise and said, "Of course not. It's just a part-time job. If I get caught, I can just return it."

Jiang Qing: "...Last time, we even took it to the police station, and you still thought it was a small matter. If we hadn't changed our story later, the police would have definitely locked you up."

He Feipeng sat upright with a smile on his face. "It was my first time stealing a high-end bicycle, and I met an expert. I had no experience, so I accidentally made a mistake."

Seeing Jiang Qing's eyes narrowed, a deadly glare about to shoot down at him, he quickly added, "So I've learned my lesson and have retired. I have to thank you, Sister Jiang, for your kindness."

Jiang Qing, who was praised by him, doesn't like this. She is an expert in flattery.

"Are you curious why I was indifferent to what you said before?" she suddenly asked.

He Feipeng nodded and admitted it embarrassedly.

Jiang Qing said frankly, "The death of both your parents is undoubtedly something that deserves sympathy, but it also depends on the circumstances."

"A cruel person is indifferent, and the law will not be particularly lenient with your faults, because wrong is wrong."

"So your tactics will fail if they encounter even slightly harder steel," she said bluntly. "You're just gambling."

Jiang Qing looked at him and said, "But you have to know that if you have a lucky mentality and a gambling attitude, you will definitely lose in the end."

"Because you can't always be blessed by the goddess of luck."

He Feipeng opened his mouth to say something, then lowered his head and said, "Sister, you are right."

When did it start? He subconsciously used his parents' death to gain sympathy.

Probably when he was very young.

Although he was so young that he couldn't even remember his parents' faces, he remembered the sympathy and regret expressed by adults.

The first time the adults caught him reaching out because he was hungry and greedy, they just sighed and shook their heads, and then gave him another small cake.

It seemed that his grandfather beat him, but it also seemed that he didn't. He couldn't remember clearly.

He only remembered the sweetness in his mouth, so sweet that he could smell the cream in his dreams even when he covered his butt.

Children are smarter, more intelligent, and better at reading other people's expressions than adults think.

So, while walking through the streets and alleys, he learned his own way of survival without any guidance.

He Feipeng grew up stumbling and understanding a lot, but the mark left by time on him has not completely faded.

"But I really didn't mean to tease you this time," he looked up, "I just spoke out of turn."

Jiang Qing: "I believe it."

He Feipeng's eyes lit up, "Really?"

Jiang Qing stuffed her phone into her pocket. "What's the point of you speaking out this time?"

He Feipeng stared at Jiang Qing with resentment, Sister Jiang, there is no need to tell you the truth all the time.

"I don't have anything on you," Jiang Qing said seriously. "On the contrary, I want to thank you. Thank you for your kindness, for jumping into the water without hesitation, and for saving a life."

He Feipeng was initially in a depressed mood after being criticized, but now, hearing Jiang Qing praising him like that, he tried hard to suppress the upward curl of his lips. He fiddled with his trousers with his fingers and said awkwardly, "It's not as great as you say. There are other people involved as well."

"Comrade He Feipeng," Jiang Qing said seriously, "I'm telling you the truth. Without you, I wouldn't have known what to do."

"You were the one who finally pulled the person ashore and provided timely and professional rescue, saving the drowning person three golden minutes."

He Feipeng's eyes and eyebrows were filled with joy, and he couldn't control the surging emotions in his heart. Oh my God, when he said that, he felt that he was so great.

But he still said modestly: "It's all my responsibility. If you hadn't pulled us out, I would definitely still be soaking in the water."

Jiang Qing secretly gave herself a thumbs up. As expected, no one could escape the magic of her praise.

"I see you are so skilled in saving people, have you practiced?" she asked.

He Feipeng said with great joy, "In our village, children are all very naughty. The more the adults tell them not to do something, the more they want to do it. Many of them have fallen into the water. I took the food from the adults, so naturally I had to protect the little ones."

"Let's not talk about the distant past. Just take the little tiger that was with me a while ago. He fell into the river and was pulled out. Everyone said there was no way he could be saved, but I refused to believe it and actually broke two of his ribs before I could save him."

Jiang Qing didn't know why, but she felt a little sad as she listened.

"Even when saving others, you should prioritize your own safety. You see, I can't swim, so no matter how anxious I was, I didn't go into the water."

"I am responsible for myself, and so are you."

Jiang Qing always remembered one thing: most of the people who drowned were good swimmers.

Because people who can't swim are self-aware and will avoid danger early, but people who can swim are different. Most of them have lost their awe of water.

"Saving people is important, but you are more important."

"If something like this happens again next time, once you realize you are unable to cope, you must learn to give up."

He Feipeng stared at Jiang Qing blankly, muttering, "If I run out of energy halfway through dragging someone along, and leave them behind and come back alone..."

Jiang Qing said without hesitation: "Then you are also a hero, you are absolutely right."

He Feipeng thought, probably, no family member of a drowning victim would tell him that the first thing he should pay attention to is his own safety.

No one is more important than yourself.

Even if I say this afterwards, I still don't have that feeling.

Jiang Qing was the first one.

Why did Xiaohu stay in the water for so long? Because He Feipeng returned for the second time to save people.

As he was dragging Xiaohu back, the river water was so icy that his hamstrings were cramping and his hands were so stiff that he couldn't hold on to the person. In that moment of exhaustion, he watched the person float away.

He went ashore alone, wet.

What greeted him were the crying, pleading, pushing and accusations of Xiaohu's parents.

Why can he save other people's children, but not Xiaohu's?

During the argument, there was a splash and He Feipeng went into the water for the second time.

At that time, there was nothing in his mind, only the surges in his chest like cream soaked in sewage, sticky, fishy and turbid.

He wanted to vomit, but couldn't.

He was very tired, but he gritted his teeth and persevered, swinging in the river with Xiaohu.

He Feipeng didn't know how he finally got ashore. He lay on the ground exhausted, his eyes full of the clear sky.

Then, amidst the crying, he dragged his tired body to his feet and mechanically pressed, pressed, and pressed again.

Until Xiaohu spat out a mouthful of dirty water and began to breathe faintly.

So He Feipeng knew that he was free.

"What happened next?" Jiang Qing asked.

"Later," He Feipeng crossed his hands and placed them under his head, "Xiao Hu's parents came to apologize to me. They were incredibly kind to me, sending my family many gifts every year and even wanting to adopt me as their godson, but I refused."

Jiang Qing was surprised but not so surprised.

Everyone's reaction in that scene was natural.

No one is a bad person, Xiaohu is not, Xiaohu’s parents are not, and He Feipeng is not either.

But when emotions take over, who can stay out of it?

He Feipeng said: "The first time I went into the water was for my brother Xiaohu, but not the second time. At that time, I didn't treat him as a human being. I only wanted to get the weight on the shore."

"Although I'm ashamed to admit it," he confided for the first time in all these years under Jiang Qing's calm gaze, "but at that time, I really did regard Xiaohu as a burden."

"A burden that can't be shaken off or escaped."

Jiang Qing didn't know how to describe the feeling in her heart, so she could only say dryly, "You hold yourself to too high a moral standard."

Suddenly remembering the boy's theft, she urgently patched it up, "In some ways."

He Feipeng burst out laughing, obviously understanding the other party's implication.

He said seriously, "I think so too."

Jiang Qing wanted to make He Feipeng understand that one thing is one thing, and his bottom line is too low for stealing, but too high for saving people, but after trying to think of the words twice, she didn't know how to start.

How can I say it so that He Feipeng can understand without hurting his feelings?

Fortunately, He Feipeng finally had enough of Jiang Qing's embarrassed look, wanting to say something but unable to, so he spread his hands carelessly.

"Sister, you don't have to tell me, I understand."

Jiang Qing looked up and saw that the boy was trying to hold back his laughter but couldn't quite hold it back, with a smile that couldn't be stopped in his eyes. She instantly understood.

It seems that she is not worthy of being a human being, and they are treating her like a monkey!

Jiang Qing put her hands on her hips and stretched out her hands, looking like a debt collector who deserved a beating. "Pay me back!"

He Feipeng quickly slid to his knees, "Sister, our meeting today was an accident. Do I look like I'm carrying money?"

He pulled out a few wrinkled, wet, and stuck-together banknotes from his trouser pocket and offered them. "That's all I have."