"What? There is such a thing?" With such shocking news, everyone no longer cared about the work at hand and rushed forward to surround Liu Xiaohong.
"Really? He was hacked right at home, about 700 to 800 meters away from here. The police came one after another!"
Auntie Chen slapped her thigh in excitement and said, "Oh my, things have been getting more and more uneasy recently! A few days ago, when I went out to buy groceries, someone stole the peach cakes from my basket! I bought them to satisfy my three little grandchildren's cravings!"
"Who is so lacking in virtue?"
"Oh, is it true? This morning when I went out to buy groceries, I heard that the little daughter of the old Zhou family at the end of Liusu Street was... raped by someone!"
Auntie Tian was curious and nudged Wu Guifang with her elbow: "Is there such a thing? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Wu Guifang was timid and never liked gossiping: "I was afraid it was fake, so I didn't dare to say anything. If it was fake, the innocence of a girl from Renmin University would be ruined..."
"Now do you know it's true?" asked Aunt Chen.
Wu Guifang frowned, "I'm not sure. I'm only telling you guys, but murders have been happening lately. The Zhou family's youngest daughter... I guess it's true."
After hearing such shocking "gossip", everyone's reaction should have been the most excited, but at this moment, there was an extremely strange silence.
The little baby in Qiao Lu's arms suddenly shrank his neck and hugged her tightly, saying in a mosquito-like voice: "Mom... who was hacked to death?"
"No one, it might be fake news." Qiao Lu put the child down and pushed him: "Go back to the room and play with Bubble Xiaobai."
"But I want to be with my mother..." He bit his lip and hugged Qiao Lu's thigh and refused to leave.
Qiao Lu gently rubbed his head and said, "It's okay. Go in first. Mommy has something to talk to the aunties. Be good."
Qiao An has always been sensible. If something doesn't make sense after he says it once, he will never say it a second time.
This time was no exception, and she walked home disappointedly: "Well, then, okay, Mom, you have to come back soon."
After the child left, Qiao Lu hurriedly pulled Liu Xiaohong aside and asked, "Sister Liu, is the postman Xiao Gao you are talking about the young postman who delivered a letter to our family last time?"
"Yes, that's the one, tall and thin, honest and shy young man, who has just started working!"
"Ah?" So sudden?
Auntie Tian was shocked: "How could such a thing happen to me... I am so young..."
After chatting for a while, Liu Xiaohong called the neighbors from the outer courtyard to join in the fun. Coincidentally, someone who knew the story had just returned from Xiao Gao's house and basically confirmed that the story was true.
"I'm still in the hospital. I don't think there's any hope."
It was said that Xiao Gao had robbed the girlfriend of the man who stabbed others, the youngest daughter of Lao Zhou, and he was so angry that he had a verbal dispute with Xiao Gao and impulsively stabbed the man with a kitchen knife. Later, he ran to Lao Zhou's house and took advantage of the fact that no adults were at home to rob the girl... It was said that this was the situation, but it is unknown whether he really did that excessively.
"Did Xiao Gao really steal someone's girlfriend?" Auntie Tian always focused on the weird points.
The female neighbor shook her head and sighed, "Who knows? It was just a quarrel. Now the man has been arrested. I guess he will be shot to death."
After sighing for a while, everyone went home to cook. Before leaving, everyone reminded each other not to go out at night and not to let children play outside alone. Even if they go out together, they should not go too far.
Liu Xiaohong turned around, raised the back of her hand and rubbed it on her eyes. Qiao Lu seemed to see that her eyes were red.
"Alas, these two good children...blame me, blame me."
Returning home with mixed feelings, Qiao An, who had been waiting for a long time, saw her mother and excitedly rushed over to hug her: "Mom! Have you finished talking? Who was hacked to death? Are you scared, mom? An An is also a little scared, but we have dad, he will protect us, right?"
Qiao An has always been sensitive and felt everyone's fear. Even though he was also scared, the first thing he thought of was to comfort his mother.
Qiao Lu's heart was so dirty and soft that she wondered how many good things she had done to deserve such a good baby.
"Yes, Dad will protect us."
Stroking his little face, Qiao Lu's mind flashed with the face of the little messenger.
She had actually seen him more than once. The first time she saw him was when she received a letter from the North. After that, she would often see him delivering mail door to door.
From a shy boy who dared not speak too loudly at the beginning, he was able to open his voice to announce the news later... He was only in his early twenties, and his life had just begun. It was the best time of his life, and he spent the same age...
There is a saying that is true: you never know which will come first, an accident or tomorrow.
Qiao Lu sighed with emotion, but life is her own, and after sighing, she still has to return to the world of oil, salt, sauce and vinegar.
I was so distracted while making lunch today that I accidentally cut a small cut on my hand. I quickly ran to the well to rinse it, then went into the house and wrapped it with gauze.
Fortunately, the little crybaby is now in the room, listening to "The Legend of Yue Fei" with an electric fan on, otherwise she would definitely cry if she saw her getting injured.
As soon as the dishes were cooked, Li Hongjun rode his 28-bar motorcycle into the courtyard. He rode so fast that he almost hit the steps without braking.
"Sister-in-law!" Li Hongjun stopped the car and ran into the room, but he didn't find Qiao Lu.
Qiaoan said his mother was cooking, so he quickly turned around and went into the kitchen.
Qiao Lu was originally thinking about something, and the shouting scared her so much that she lost her grip on the small enamel basin and nearly dropped the half-filled basin of soup onto the ground.
"Sister-in-law! Haizhou! Something big has happened! Something big has happened!"
"What's wrong? Haizhou hasn't come back yet. Don't be anxious, take a breath first." She put down the enamel basin and quickly pulled him into the house.
Li Hongjun was sweating profusely, and without catching his breath, he said in a hurry: "Ma, Ma, Ma Xiaoshuan is going to be shot to death!!"
"Huh? Wait wait wait - what are you talking about? What's going on? Who's going to be shot?"
The amount of information I received today was too much. Please forgive Qiao Lu for not being able to react for a while.
"Ma Xiaoshuan! The one who smashed your glass last time!" Li Hongjun realized it later and scratched his head, "Hey? Where's Haizhou?"
Qiao Lu looked at him in confusion: "Haizhou hasn't come back yet, aren't you two together?"
Li Hongjun's eyes widened. "No, my family was short of buttons. I just went to the east of the city to get some goods, and asked Haizhou to come back first. Then I heard that someone was arrested, so I hurried back to tell you."
After saying that, he said in astonishment: "Haizhou was not arrested as well!"
What?
This guess scared Qiao Lu.
Fortunately, metaphysics is still effective. Speak of the devil and he will appear.
Xu Haizhou rode his bicycle into the compound like a hurricane, sweating profusely, and was no better than Li Hongjun.
Seeing him, the two of them hurried to meet him. However, Qiao Lu noticed a detail. The more she looked at the bicycle, the more she felt something was wrong. Was there something missing on the bike?
Generally speaking, it is impossible to sell all the goods in one morning, right? It was not so difficult before, but after the pirated version was released, I was lucky if I could sell two bags a day.
"Where is your goods?" he asked, pointing at the handlebars of the bicycle.
Xu Haizhou took a few breaths, parked his bike, and then took Qiao Lu's arm and went into the room. After the door was locked, he lowered his voice and said, "It was raided."
"Ah?" Qiao Lu and Li Hongjun looked at each other, seeing surprise in each other's eyes.
"What's going on? Drink some water and tell me slowly." Qiao Lu poured him a cup of warm water. Xu Haizhou drank it all in one gulp, took a few sips, and then told her what happened.
"The world has changed. Do you remember the policy that was introduced before? Li An has started to implement it now. The government will severely crack down on speculation and all illegal criminals. They have been chasing me for a long time. I have to throw away the burden to get rid of them."
Qiao Lu's heart skipped a beat.
Has this day finally come?
I should have known I shouldn't have taken the gamble. Bags are something that won't go bad if you keep them for a while, so why sell them all out at the last minute?
Oh my, this is such a mess… Even though we knew the script in advance, we still made mistakes!
All I can say is that people should never be too confident, because being too smart can lead to mistakes!
Qiao Lu's eyes were red with self-blame. Seeing this, Xu Haizhou placed her hand in his palm and squeezed it gently, giving her a sense of reassurance.
Although he was sweating profusely from being chased by the Big Hat, his hands were cold. It seemed that what he had just experienced was far more serious than his understated description.
Xu Haizhou: "If the goods are gone, they are gone. It's OK as long as the people are fine."
"Yeah." In fact, this is what Qiao Lu is afraid of. If the goods are gone, then it's gone. At most, she will lose some money. If she is caught... According to the intensity of the crackdown at the moment, she really can't predict the consequences...
Qiao An heard the adults talking, and stopped listening to the storytelling. She slid off the bed, kicked off her slippers, and ran out, throwing herself into Xu Haizhou's arms: "Dad is back! Mom and I need Dad's protection! Can Dad stay at home more often in the future?"
He held the little guy on his lap and kissed his face with his warm lips: "Okay, this year Dad will stay at home with An An and Mom, okay?"
"good!"
Holding Qiao Lu's hand in one hand and Qiao An's hand in the other, for the mother and son, Xu Haizhou is indeed the only person they can rely on. He is the source of their sense of security.
This is also one of the reasons why Qiao Lu chose marriage.
In any case, Xu Haizhou's return home eased Qiao Lu's uneasy heart a little. Everyone sat down and listened to Xu Haizhou's account of a series of thrilling events that had just happened.
"Sun Xun's spot goods were raided, and his warehouses were also raided. At the very least, he lost hundreds of dollars, and at most, it could be thousands of dollars."
Sun Xun was a pirate who copied Qiao Lu bags. After tasting the sweetness, in order to gain more profits, he started to produce stocks in large quantities and stockpiled them crazily. But he didn't expect that the situation would change suddenly and he was killed without leaving a single piece of armor. The entire small warehouse was plundered cleanly!
In comparison, Xu Haizhou is really lucky. Due to the recent decline in sales, he has not produced any new goods, and there are not many old goods left. Compared with the money he earned, he lost less than 20 yuan, just a small amount.
As for Sun Xun, he gambled all his fortune and even lost his pants!
"Oh, is it so terrible? He is so capable that he has hoarded thousands of profitable goods?" Qiao Lu covered her mouth in shock.
"Have you forgotten? The goods are gone, and the cost and labor costs cannot be recovered. In addition, his two bicycles were also confiscated. He didn't deposit the money he earned before in the bank. I saw that the big hat searched out a lot of cash from his house... Anyway, it's a lot. This is still a conservative estimate."
Li Hongjun laughed heartily, wishing he could light some firecrackers to celebrate: "Haha, he deserves it! Let him plagiarize! Let him pirate! He deserves it! This is his retribution!"
Laughing aside, things have gotten so serious that a three-year crackdown has really begun...
…
A sedition storm is sweeping across the country at the speed of thunder. The streets are full of relevant notices, and criminals in various fields are all arrested. Those who deserve to go to jail will go to jail, and those who deserve to be shot will be shot. No one can escape!
Recently, Xu Haizhou and his wife closed their business and stayed at home. They had no work and no need to continue producing bags. Except for those who had proper jobs, everyone else in the compound had completely stopped working.
In the evening, we gathered under the loquat tree to chat and talk about the hottest gossip. Even the children didn't want to go out to play, and sat aside to listen to the adults talk about the recent major events.
"Xiao Gao is not dead. He has survived. His parents passed away ten years ago. His grandmother is the only one left at home. Do you know who takes care of him?" His grandmother is in her seventies and of course she can't take care of him.
"Oh, could it be the youngest daughter of Mr. Zhou?" Didn't they say that the two of them were dating?
"That's right!"
Everyone sighed: "To be honest, it is Xiao Zhou who should take care of the person. If it wasn't the guy she was dating before, his name was Qian Qiang, right? If Qian Qiang didn't kill him, would Xiao Gao have endured this?"
"What about Xiao Zhou? Did Qian Qiang really do... that to him?" Apart from life and death situations, what everyone cares about most is the gossip.
"Who knows? I wasn't there. I just heard that the two men were found in dishevel. Xiao Zhou is a tough guy. He went straight to the police station to report the case! He reported Qian Qiang for being a hooligan and raping someone."
"Oh, Xiao Zhou is really something. This kind of thing is known only to heaven and earth. As long as you keep it to yourself, no one else will know about it. That kid will still be arrested even if he kills someone."
"Yeah, you said that if all the neighbors knew about it, how would we live like this?"
Listening to everyone speaking, Qiao Lu felt a little uncomfortable.
As the saying goes, people's words are scary. Xiao Zhou was not knocked down by the rapist, but he should not be hurt by the gossip of his neighbors...
"What about Ma Xiaoshuan's situation? Have you found out why he was arrested?" someone asked.
"I found out that Ma Xiaoshuan wanted to date a lesbian. The lesbian said she would give it a try, so Ma Xiaoshuan got carried away and asked to kiss her. The lesbian didn't want to, so he forced her to do it. Not only did he kiss her, he also wanted to sleep with her."
"Ah? Why is this happening again! Can't these men take care of their lower bodies?!"
"Is she asleep?" Wu Guifang covered her little daughter's ears in shock and motioned Aunt Tian to speak quickly.
"Nonsense! How can you catch him if he's not asleep? I heard that when he was caught, he was still shouting that he would be responsible for Xiaohui. He didn't even look at what he looked like. He was just playing with cats and dogs and didn't even have a proper job. How could he be responsible? What would he take responsibility for? His father's work injury compensation?"
Tsk tsk, there was a big sigh in the crowd.
"This brat is so shameless! He still hasn't gotten married after losing his virginity!"
"Who gets married and how?" Another person who had not heard the previous introduction came.
Auntie Tian patiently explained it to him.
"Oh, Ma Xiaoshuan is Old Ma's only son. His family must be in a mess right now, right?"
Everyone sneered disdainfully.
"That guy has a good relationship with Wang Bin, right? Wang Bin has a brother-in-law who is the factory director. He is quite capable, right? Can't you ask for help?"
"You're still begging for mercy? Do you think you're just playing house? Now the neighbors are eager to cut off all ties with him, how can they beg for mercy? Are you still thinking that life is too long after you've had enough?"
"Tsk tsk, he deserves it! He's up to no good!"
On the day Ma Xiaoshuan was shot, the sky was gray and it was drizzling, and Wang Bin also came.
When the "old lovers" met, there was no jealousy between them. Qiao Lu just gave him a casual glance. After seeing him, she took her man's arm without turning her head and moved further away from him.
I heard that Wang Bin got married on the day Ma Xiaoshuan was arrested. I also heard that someone reported on the same day that Wang Bin had an improper relationship with a lesbian before marriage, or to put it bluntly, he had sex before marriage.
In the past, no one would have cared about this, but now that the case is under strict crackdown, what can be done? They immediately sent someone to investigate. When the police arrived, Wang Bin directly took out a marriage certificate and said in a swagger, "We are a married couple, but we have obtained the marriage certificate. How can we be arrested for doing things together?"
Not only was he not arrested, but the informant was severely reprimanded by the police: "Don't make random reports. We are very busy recently and don't have time to deal with these trivial grudges!"
In addition to Qian Qiang, there were six others who were shot together with Ma Xiaoshuan. They had committed various illegal things, and they were used as an example to scare others. This was considered a serious case, otherwise they would not have been shot together.
Qiao Lu and Xu Haizhou went to the Grand Plaza to see the scene, but they didn't take Qiao An with them, fearing that he would have nightmares at night. Wu Guifang, who lived next door, was timid and didn't go either, so she stayed at home to look after her children, so Qiao Lu left her son with Wu Guifang, asking her to help take care of him temporarily.
The square was packed with people at the time, and the couple couldn't squeeze in, so they could only see a little bit of the scene from the outside.
This was also the first time that Qiao Lu saw the real scene of a shooting. It was indeed very bloody. Even though there was a wall of people between them and even though she was held in Xu Haizhou's arms, she could still smell the strong smell of blood.
This is not just about terror and scaring people, but more about intimidating potential criminals.
Facts have proved that this activity launched in a special era is indeed effective. For a long time to come, more women will dare to go out at night, and adults will not worry about their children going out to play. After all, the situation is tense recently, and who would dare to commit a crime against the wind?
In the silence, a voice came from above: "Look."
"What." Qiao Lu huddled in Xu Haizhou's arms, not daring to look closely at the scene in front of her. She just huddled in his arms, squinting her eyes and looking into the distance.
Xu Haizhou suddenly raised his hand, pointed at a man lying in a pool of blood in front of him, and said, "That's Sun Xun."
At noon, the sun was getting hotter and hotter, so hot that Qiao Lu was soaked in sweat, but when she heard these words, she shivered from head to toe.
She hugged him tighter.
…
Ever since Ma Xiaoshuan was shot, a seed of uneasiness has been planted in Qiao Lu's heart.
She knew the hardships of that era, but she had only witnessed them in writing. After experiencing it herself, she found that everything from beginning to end was beyond her endurance.
She couldn't imagine what she would do if Xu Haizhou was also arrested. Would the happy days she and Qiao An had finally gotten be like a bubble, vanishing into thin air?
At night, after coaxing Qiao An to sleep, Qiao Lu couldn't sleep. She hugged Xu Haizhou tighter than ever before.
"Haizhou, let's just be quiet and peaceful in the next year and don't go out to set up stalls, okay?" Her tone was full of pleading.
Xu Haizhou stroked her cheek slowly and leisurely: "What's wrong? Didn't you say that you can just relax a little bit..."
"No." Qiao Lu interrupted him quickly. Realizing that her reaction was a bit extreme, her voice softened again: "I'm scared, Haizhou, I'm a little scared."
He sighed and hugged her tightly: "Silly girl, what are you afraid of?"
"Sun Xun was shot to death. I'm afraid of you. I'm afraid you'll also..." His vocal cords trembled when he spoke of the fear.
"It's not that serious. Sun Xun is an exception. He is too greedy." Too many goods were found, and most of the raw materials were not obtained through legal channels. For example, Xu Haizhou did not have so many cloth coupons for him to buy in the regular market. Most of them were bought on the black market. The same was true for Sun Xun.
So once it is discovered and the amount is large, it is a bit serious.
"No, I'm still afraid." The severity of this era is far beyond the ability of ordinary people like them to bear the consequences.
"At least this year, you have to stay at home, okay?" Qiao Lu remembered that this activity would last for about three years. The first half was a little intense, and the latter part gradually became gentler. Now was the most intense time. She really didn't dare to let him get involved in such a thing.
She didn't dare to gamble with the future of her family of three.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid." He leaned over and kissed her pale lips.
He lowered his eyes to look at her. Under the light, her eyelashes were covered with a layer of shadow, hiding the gloom in his eyes.
They stared at each other, neither of them willing to give up first.
Her strong rationality forced Qiao Lu to push him away: "Don't... If you don't agree to me, don't even think about sleeping with me in the future."
Xu Haizhou felt helpless and amused, and gently rubbed her earlobe: "Is it so serious?"
Qiao Lu slapped his hand away, her eyes full of resentment: "What else do you think? Do you think I was just talking casually?"
"No." Xu Haizhou shook his head and kissed her forehead: "Okay, I promise you, even if we have to do it, we will wait until after the Spring Festival, okay?"
The biggest concession that both sides can make is to take a step back.
Only then did Qiao Lu feel slightly satisfied. She shrank into his arms and twisted her head nervously.
Her face was positioned just below his chest, and as it moved, the fire in the man's heart burst through his chest, becoming uncontrollable.
Xu Haizhou wanted to help his wife forget her worries and resolve her troubles through some romantic affairs between men and women.
In fact, he did so.
As the small flame burned higher and higher, the kiss became a raging fire, burning from the soles of the feet to the heart, to the throat, and to the place where the lips were connected.
In the end, the last bit of patience and restraint of the two was burned out.
Qiao Lu only felt a strong white light suddenly spread in front of her eyes, gradually blurring her vision.
The narrow bed, the crazy passion, Qiao Lu tried her best to restrain the low moan that was about to burst out from her throat...
The night is cool, as cool as water.
The moon was hanging high above the treetops. After a long while, only two people were left hugging each other and trembling. Everything was still, except for the sound of the leaves outside the house being blown by the wind.
With slightly damp hair, Qiao Lu gently pressed her cheek against the man's chest that seemed to be forged of steel, listening to the active beating of the heart hidden in his chest, beating so hotly and brilliantly.
Only at this moment, at this time, did she feel that he was really by her side. He was a living person, her husband, and An An's father.
She slowly raised her hand and stroked the man's sweaty chin with her fingertips.
"Haizhou..."
She didn't know why, but the more insecure she felt, the more she liked to call him and listen to his response.
"Um?"
Like her, Xu Haizhou also particularly likes his wife to call him by his name, especially two words.
God knows, Qiao Lu's soft voice can always make people feel numb when she calls his name.
Of course, what I like most is when she calls me "husband". I was lucky enough to hear it twice, but that was just luck.
He twisted his body slightly, pressing their bodies together more closely, then lowered his head and buried his face in the crook of her shoulder. It was hot and scalding.
He suddenly heard his wife's voice in a low voice: "Haizhou, don't make me worry."
Xu Haizhou laughed helplessly, his eyes full of pity: "You are still thinking about this, don't think about it, be good, go to sleep."
"I'm really scared. I'm not kidding." She stretched out her arms and hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go at all. "You must be fine. You must be fine for me."
The clear and crisp voice repeatedly hit his heart, and Xu Haizhou's heart was beating like thunder. If the last battle had not consumed all the strength of both of them, he really wanted to show his prowess again now.
He held his little wife in his arms, soothed her with a calm and gentle voice, and like coaxing a child, gently patted her back with his warm palms.
"Okay, I'm always here, go to sleep and have a good dream."
His voice was extremely gentle, like a trickle of water flowing into my heart.
Qiao Lu finally smiled with relief, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.
In her dream, the scenes that troubled her were no longer there. There was only their happy family of three, a beautiful new house, a beautiful new car... He was always there.