Chapter 16

Tang Qingqing was stunned, "Master, aren't you being too serious?"

Old Liu sighed deeply and looked at the moon in the sky, loneliness and sadness revealed in his one eye.

Such an attitude made Tang Qingqing feel nervous.

The deputy captain of the Hongqiao Brigade came over with a very enthusiastic attitude.

"Master, it's already very late. It would be too much trouble for you to go back at night. You two can stay at my house tonight."

Old Liu nodded at him, and Tang Qingqing thanked him out loud: "Sorry to bother you."

"No, if it wasn't for catching this bastard, you wouldn't have to suffer this. You don't know, ever since we found out that all the food in your brigade had been burned, we were extremely scared.

We have specially assigned people to guard the place, fearing that the same thing will happen again. Fortunately, the person who set the fire has been found, otherwise we would not be able to sleep well. "

The deputy captain thought that this person was from his village, and felt embarrassed:

"We have such a beast in our team. From now on, we will be too embarrassed to go out."

When I reached the door of the house, Old Liu did not come in.

"We can stay in your house where there's a fire tonight."

"That won't do. If I do that, I'll be stabbed in the back tomorrow."

Old Liu waved his hand and said, "We are not that particular. Don't bother with it so late at night. We just have to burn your firewood."

The deputy captain tried to persuade them in vain, so he just led Old Liu and Tang Qingqing to the kitchen.

"These are sweet potatoes that were just dug this year. They have been very sweet after being stored for a few days. You have been busy all day and haven't had much time to eat properly, right? You can roast them and eat them later."

The deputy captain not only brought them some wheat straw to spread on the ground so that they could lie down more comfortably, but also brought them some sweet potatoes.

Tang Qingqing touched her empty stomach and said, "Uncle, I'm just hungry. Thank you."

"Call me next door if you need anything."

After the deputy captain left, Tang Qingqing didn't hesitate to bury a few sweet potatoes in the ashes and roast them.

Although it was very late, the master and the disciple did not feel sleepy.

"Master, what do you mean by that? Isn't the code trace able to help people? How come it has become a dead end?"

The two of them sat beside the stove, the fire in the stove illuminated their faces, allowing Tang Qingqing to feel more clearly the depth in Old Liu's expression.

"Do you know how I became blind?" Old Liu pointed at his eyes.

Tang Qingqing shook her head. Old Liu had never said it before, so she didn't dare to ask.

"It was plucked out alive by someone."

Tang Qingqing couldn't help but shudder when she heard this.

"I was just like you back then. I worked as a shepherd for a landlord when I was eight or nine years old. I gradually developed the ability to track sheep. No matter how far away my sheep were, I could always find them back. I also often helped others find their sheep.

One year, a rich man lost several sheep one after another, and each time he found my head. I thought I was very capable at the time, and the rich man came to me for help, so I agreed despite the objections of my family.

The sheep were lost so badly at that time because they were all done by bandits. I followed their footprints and found their lair directly. "

Tang Qingqing put her hands on her knees with her face resting on them, looking at Old Liu with bright eyes, listening to him telling stories from the past.

Hearing this, his face was full of admiration.

"Wow! That means we can catch them all in one fell swoop!!"

Old Liu's expression remained calm, but his eyes were full of mockery.

"Everyone at the police station was shocked, and the rich man even rewarded me with a dollar."

"Isn't this good?" Tang Qingqing was puzzled.

Old Liu sneered: "Those bandits were released within two days."

"Ah?!" Tang Qingqing was angry. "These policemen are too bad! Are they in the same group?"

"There were so many such incidents in the past. Otherwise, how could they be driven away by us peasants even though they had so many guns and cannons and the support of the foreign devils? They are not good at doing human affairs and are naturally unpopular."

"Fortunately, this is a new society." Tang Qingqing nodded heavily, "What happened next?"

"Later, I was kidnapped by bandits, who dug out my eyes. If I hadn't been smart and lucky, I would be completely blind or have turned into a skeleton now."

Tang Qingqing felt very uncomfortable.

But what Old Liu said next made her even more miserable.

"I ran home bleeding, only to find that my house had been burned down and everyone in it was dead."

"Master..."

Old Liu had a numb expression, "I could only run, and later I escaped all the way here. I was so hungry that I fainted on the road, and was picked up by your master's wife's father and taken home.

The family was very kind to me. They later married their only daughter to me and gave birth to a big fat boy for me."

Speaking of this, there was a hint of joy in the wrinkles on Old Liu's face.

"But the kid insisted on learning coding from me since he was little. I thought it was a skill anyway, so I taught him. I didn't expect that it would end up killing him."

Old Liu's son made a great contribution by ferreting out the spies hiding among the people, but he was retaliated by other spies and was beaten to death on the way back to the village.

"It's not my time now. If something happens, the government will take care of it. My son's revenge has already been avenged. But what's the use? He will never come back."

Old Liu's eyes were red and his voice was choked with sobs.

Tang Qingqing's excitement over catching the arsonist gradually faded away and she regained her composure.

"My master warned me that I must not reveal what I learned, or else something bad would happen. I didn't believe in it, and later my son didn't either. As a result, this is what happened."

Tang Qingqing pursed her lips, looked at the fire in the stove and said nothing.

"Girl, Master is afraid."

Tang Qingqing felt very uncomfortable hearing this. She had countless words in her mind that she wanted to refute, but she couldn't say a word.

My throat felt sore and tears started to fall.

"Your reputation has been completely exposed this time. Master doesn't know whether it is a blessing or a curse, nor does he know whether this decision is right or wrong."

Old Liu pushed Tang Qingqing out without consulting her. No matter how calm he looked, he was actually very uneasy.

"Given the situation at home and the fact that you are a girl, if you don't have some skills to make people look up to you, you will end up like the woman who ran away and be sold out by your family.

If there are other options, Master cannot just turn you away."

Tang Qingqing said seriously: "Master, I just like doing this. Even if you hadn't done this, I would have continued to investigate. I just saw that damn arsonist was caught. I was very happy. I have never been so happy before."

Old Liu looked at her deeply. Although the little girl in front of him had nothing in common with his son, he saw the young man with a smile on his face in her big eyes.

At first, he also tried to persuade the child, worried that the child would repeat the same mistake.

But the child said: "Now it is a new society, everyone is actively building and making the motherland better. Since I have this ability, I also want to shine and make a difference."

Old Liu Tou withdrew his gaze, "You helped solve the case this time and became a leading figure. Your parents have to think twice if they want to make things difficult for you. You should also be smarter yourself and don't just stand there and get scolded."

A fire burned tens of thousands of kilograms of grain, which was a major case even in the commune.

Then Tang Qingqing, who helped solve the case, would definitely be commended by her superiors, and she would not be that little girl who was not loved by her parents.

Since this is the case, Old Man Liu no longer hesitated and said:

"People still need to have the ability to speak for themselves, rather than relying on the conscience of others. When you are recognized, the organization will definitely ask you what kind of reward you want. Just say you want to go to school."

Tang Qingqing's eyes suddenly lit up, "Master, is this possible?"

Old Liu always knew that Tang Qingqing wanted to go to school, but he had no ability and was illiterate, so he couldn't help her much.

"Why not? When your uncle entered the Public Security Bureau, their leaders asked him to learn to read and write. They said that if he was blind, he wouldn't even be able to understand the files, which would be a huge hindrance to things."

Tang Qingqing's face turned red with excitement.

"If you go to school, you will have a wider range of options in the future."

Although Old Liu can barely read and has been isolated from the world for so many years, he has rich life experience and can still see many things clearly.

No matter what time it is, it is always good to be cultured. Even though things are very chaotic now, he still has not changed this view.

But look at those big leaders, how many of them are illiterate?

The Chairman has excellent literary talent and what he says is very reasonable. How could he have such ability without being well-educated?

Tang Qingqing also agreed with this statement. She just wanted to go to school before, but now she has another reason.

In another memory, studying is very important in the future and can even change a person's destiny.

Recalling another memory, Tang Qingqing hesitated whether to tell Old Liu about it.

She was feeling very suffocated. On the one hand, she felt that those memories were real, but on the other hand, she felt as if she was looking at someone else.

Old Liu noticed it quickly and said, "Girl, there is also a relationship between parents and children. We can't force it."

When Tang Qingqing was six years old, her family did not let her eat and made her go up the mountain to collect firewood. She was so hungry that she cried.

He passed by and heard it, and couldn't bear it, so he gave her a sweet potato.

Although the little girl was young, she was grateful and often brought the wild fruits and vegetables she picked to the entrance of his cave.

We kept in touch after that, but there was basically no communication.

The relationship changed when Tang Qingqing was eight years old. She became a shepherd and lost her sheep.

He helped Tang Qingqing find the sheep. Tang Qingqing became obsessed with tracking and persisted in her research, which made him make an exception and become a close friend with her regardless of age difference.

After living together for so many years, Old Liu often counselled this little girl who was not loved by her father and mother, telling her to stop obsessed with seeking recognition and love from her parents, and that some people were not worthy of being parents and it was not the child's fault, and to learn to protect herself.

But after all, they are biological parents, and if they do something hurtful, they will feel extremely painful and entangled inside.

Tang Qingqing knew that Old Liu had misunderstood.

"Master, I'm not worried about family matters... No, it's also about these things, but it's not what you think."

Tang Qingqing pondered, thinking about what language she could use to explain what she had experienced.

"I had a dream that I was replaced by my parents when I was a child and that I am not actually their biological daughter."