Dancing Neighbors (Part 3)
For the thief Niu Biaoxi, that late night was probably a bizarre experience that he would never forget in his life.
Niu Biaoxi is a burglar, and he has three or five other thugs under him who are also good at stealing. They are usually scattered around and steal small items here and there.
But things were different many years ago than they are today. Back then, everyone's livelihood was quite ordinary, especially in those old and dilapidated neighborhoods. It was much easier to break into houses and pick locks, but the owners were also living very tightly, so thieves naturally couldn't get rich.
Sometimes, after working all night, I really don’t gain anything, and before leaving I can only grab a handful of noodles from the owner’s house and take them away, which is also a psychological comfort.
If this goes on, not only will his subordinates start to worry, but Niu Biaoxi himself will also think, no, being a thief means being beaten, is he really going to suffer in the wind and rain and get bruised and battered just for two eggs and a bucket of noodles? If he has the spirit to endure hardships and endure hardships, why would he be a thief?
While he was struggling, one of his younger brothers, who was also his military advisor, came up with a bad idea, saying that people always strive for higher positions, and that our ancestors said that when you are poor, you will think of change. Brother Niu, let's also change and do something big.
Niu Biaoxi became interested: "Where is the big job?"
The dog-headed military advisor pursed his lips and made a gesture of taking something out of a bag: "It's the new community in the south of the city. There are many teachers living there. Let's go together and do it cleanly. It will be enough for us to lie down and live happily for half a year."
"Teachers? Those poor teachers?"
Niu Biaoxi was so disappointed that his nose was almost crooked with anger. He just said, "Go away, go away. Go wherever it's cool. It's annoying just to see you."
Military Advisor Gou quickly grabbed him and shouted, "Brother Niu, this is because you are not well-informed! In the past two years, a Children's Palace has been opened in the city. It is so rare. It is said that it was originally only available in big cities. Many teachers were recruited to earn extra money, and many of the things they learned are foreign. If you ask me, it was also the Bordered Yellow Banner among the Bordered Yellow Banners in the past-"
Niu Biaoxi rolled his eyes and stopped Advisor Gou's increasingly unreliable nonsense: "Are you sure you will gain something from going there?"
"At least I won't have to bring back two more eggs."
The two looked at each other, then put together the plan for a long time. Finally, these two people who had bad intentions came up with a foolproof plan. They planned to go to the new community to interview for the security guard position.
We will not go into details about the twists and turns in between, but in short, five days later, Niu Biaoxi and Gou Junshi really managed to sneak in.
That night, his colleague who was also a security guard went to patrol elsewhere, and Niu Biaoxi, who was supposed to be on duty, took out the old security uniforms that he had prepared long ago and gave them to the three or five thieves under his command. The group was extremely arrogant and swaggered straight to the designated spot.
Along the way, we also met two night owl owners who came out to buy cigarettes. When they saw Niu Biaoxi and Gou Junshi, they nodded enthusiastically and said, "Wow, there are so many new people here. Give me a cigarette, you've worked hard."
With a cigarette stuck in his ear, Niu Biaoxi was extremely proud. When he entered the corridor, Military Advisor Gou suggested that they go upstairs first and search each house from the top floor down to avoid going back and forth in vain.
I went up to the top floor in one breath. There was a faint light on the seventh floor. It seemed that he was also a night owl. He was screaming and shouting when he was excited. I didn't know what he was doing so far away from sleep in the middle of the night.
Niu Biaoxi thought it was bad luck and said, "Let's start from the sixth floor. What does this store do?"
Before Military Advisor Gou could answer, his whole body froze and he suddenly stopped moving.
Niu Biaoxi was puzzled and pushed him: "What are you doing? Are you crazy?"
When I looked down, I almost bit my tongue. I was stuck at the entrance of the corridor, unable to move forward or backward, and was scared to death.
It turned out that the door to the sixth floor had been opened at some point.
In the dim hallway light at the entrance of the building, I saw a little girl, probably around school age, wearing a red skirt that seemed to be bleeding, sitting upright behind the open door. She seemed to be holding something mottled and discolored in her hand, which was barely visible because of her hanging black hair. Her little face was pale and lifeless.
Niu Biaoxi's legs went limp and half of his bones were pulled out. He thought to himself that God was going to kill him. Had he met some immortal who was taking his life? Could he keep his body intact if he took the initiative?
The little girl's eyes moved in fear, and she looked up, her sight meeting Niu Biaoxi's. Her huge eyes, with very little white in them, stared blankly at Niu Biaoxi.
She moved very slowly, raising her hand little by little, and it was unclear what horrifying move she was going to use.
Niu Biaoxi stared with his eyes wide open, beads of sweat rolling into his eye sockets. He saw that what he was holding in his hand seemed to be a, a... Damn, how could it be a broken landline phone receiver?
The call went through, and the child started crying: "Uncle police, help me—"
With a thud, the entire gang of thieves who had gathered together for the first time fell to their knees.
Niu Biaoxi was about to cry to the young lady. He waved his hands anxiously and begged the young ancestor to let them go. He promised to change his ways and never do it again.
I'm so anxious, why is my aunt still chatting with the person on the other end of the phone?
What, what, dancing across the street, what neighbors, what paper cat's eye. Is this true?
Niu Biaoxi was totally confused and looked around honestly. No, none of the brothers suddenly went crazy and started dancing.
But the little girl was too serious about what she said, and it didn't seem like she was just joking. Niu Biaoxi didn't understand what she was saying, so he didn't dare to interrupt her. He was also afraid that she would come to her senses and start calling for people to catch the thieves. So he wiped his sweat and gestured, telling the thieves to hurry up and sneak away, and he would be the last one to leave.
He was loyal, and his brothers ran away faster than rabbits without looking back. Only Military Advisor Gou was left, gritting his teeth and standing beside him with a pale face, wanting to go with him.
Niu Biaoxi was greatly moved and thought to himself, if he had known this would happen, he would have just been a security guard with his buddies. There would be people who would politely give him cigarettes from time to time, so it would be quite humane.
But it was no use regretting it now. He was sweating and waiting for the final result while the little girl's gaze did not move away even an inch.
After waiting for a while, Niu Biaoxi became more and more confused. What was this lady up to? Was she possessed by evil spirits?
I don't know whether he was brave or desperate, but he actually went down the stairs, walked up to the little girl and touched her forehead.
The little girl shuddered, her forehead covered with sweat, as if she was shivering.
What's even stranger is that the little girl didn't mean to avoid him. Instead, she immediately raised her other little hand and grabbed his sleeve tightly as if she had found a life-saving straw, and it looked like she wanted to just follow him.
Niu Biaoxi was just a burglar, not a human trafficker, so he panicked and didn't even dare to raise his arms, for fear that his petty theft would turn into a serious human trafficking case and he would be caught and shot.
At this time, Military Advisor Gou also came over, frowned and looked at him for a while, then suddenly gritted his teeth and whispered to him: "Brother Niu, something big has happened! Let's go, take the kids with you!"
Having said that, without waiting for Niu Biaoxi's consent, he actually picked up the child and hung up the phone without saying anything.
The little girl blinked her eyes, then let go of Niu Biaoxi's sleeves and hugged Military Advisor Gou's neck obediently.
Niu Biaoxi was dizzy, but after all, Military Advisor Gou had just stood by him through thick and thin, and he could not ignore their brotherhood. He made up his mind to go with the flow and hurried downstairs with Military Advisor Gou and the child.
He walked out of the community gate trembling with fear and found a secluded alley. When the wind blew, Niu Biaoxi broke out in a cold sweat and realized that he had taken on such a hot potato without thinking.
But you can't just abandon the child in the alley. If anything happens, he will be blamed.
He didn't expect to be able to communicate anything with a tiny kid, so he asked Military Advisor Gou: "Why did you bring her out?"
But before Advisor Gou could explain, the little girl said in all seriousness, "I know you are here to kidnap someone by pretending to be a police officer."
Niu Biaoxi's eyes widened and he said anxiously, "Then why don't you take your hand off Biaozi's neck!"
The little girl rolled her eyes and suddenly laughed, revealing that she was a little devil: "No, take me away from here, or I'll call the adults to arrest me."
If it was a little boy, Niu Biaoxi would have been furious and spanked him. But this little girl, this, this, he was so worried that his intestines were in a knot, thinking that he wanted to have a precious daughter after getting married, so he couldn't do anything too rude, otherwise he would not be able to hold his head up in front of his sweet little girl.
Finally, he said cowardly:
"Okay, I'll take you to KFC, and you can go home at daybreak. Even if we write it off, I'll admit defeat and quit my job and start a legitimate business, okay?"
KFC was a bit of a luxury at that time, and you couldn't just go there to eat. The little girl's eyes lit up and she asked happily, "Whatever you want?"
"Bullshit! Just drink my Coke!" Niu Biaoxi's face darkened, feeling a little aggrieved. "You spendthrift, with that much money, how can I commit a crime here?"
The little girl was not afraid either. She stretched out her hand and asked Niu Biaoxi to hold her. Niu Biaoxi's palms were sweating. When he saw how small the baby was, he felt that the baby might be hurt, so he refused to take the baby.
Military Advisor Gou whispered at this time: "Brother Niu, no matter what, we really have to go far away."
Niu Biaoxi's mind was still confused, so he asked curiously, "What's going on?"
Military Advisor Gou said nothing. He held the little girl in one hand and Niu Biaoxi in the other, and walked two miles in the middle of the night. He did not go to KFC, but instead took everyone back to their temporary hideout.
After Niu Biaoxi sat down on the shabby sofa in the shabby house and made the little girl a cup of cheap honey water, Military Advisor Gou pointed at the little girl's skirt that was as red as blood and said in a deep voice: "Brother Niu, take a closer look."
Taking a closer look under the light, Niu Biaoxi's heart skipped a beat.
I didn't notice it before, but now it seems that the little girl seemed to have rolled in the cement slag and was caught in the rain. Her skirt was half wet and not completely dry yet, and was covered with condensed white ash.
What was even more surprising was that there seemed to be something wrong with this child's big black eyes. His vision seemed to be out of focus, as if he was half blind. No wonder he looked so blank when he stared at him just now.
"The room we were in just now doesn't look like the one this kid lives in." Military Advisor Gou said solemnly, "Brother Niu, didn't you notice? There doesn't seem to be any signs that someone has lived in the room before. No adults came out for most of the day."
"That doesn't look like a residence, but more like a temporary resting place like ours."
He reached his hand under the little girl's skirt again. Niu Biaoxi's mind went blank. He immediately pressed his hand down in shock and anger, and shouted, "Biaozi, what are you doing? Don't be stupid!" But with a flash of cold light, Military Advisor Gou pulled out a pair of small scissors wrapped with a red string from a crooked secret pocket under the skirt.
"She just told someone on the phone that she had a pair of scissors, I didn't think it was a joke," Military Advisor Gou said without getting angry. "Brother Niu, if you really carried her over just now, believe it or not, this woman would have pressed the scissors against your aorta."
Niu Biaoxi realized it belatedly and broke out in a sweat. When he looked at the little girl's face again, there was no smile on her face at all. Her eyes were drooping and her face was as pale as paper.
After a while, she slowly smiled again and said softly, "Don't chase me away, I escaped. You can drop me off at the gate of any police station tomorrow, okay?"
"You..." Niu Biaoxi didn't know what he was thinking. It seemed that his sense of chivalry came up again. "What trouble did you get into, little kid?"
The little girl looked at him in surprise, then looked around the shabby house, hesitated for a moment, and asked him if he knew the nearest Children's Palace.
Seeing Niu Biaoxi nodded, she asked again if he had seen a part-time teacher named Nian there.
Niu Biaoxi was confused: "Could it be that he is a fake who sneaked in like us?" Wait a minute, could it be that the little girl in the house on the sixth floor was really abducted by human traffickers?
Then how could she break free from the guards and run to the living room alone? Why did she make that mysterious phone call instead of just running away through the open door?
"Yes and no." The little girl answered strangely, "He didn't mean to take me back. After all... he should be dead."
She thought about it and it seemed like a long story.
"I can't explain the phone call clearly for the time being, because I'm not sure when the call will be made, and whether the person who answered the phone will find me or my body. So I can't explain it too clearly, for fear of dragging down those kind sisters. I was just unwilling to give up at the time, and wanted to leave some clues as a will, so that the person who might take over the matter later would come to find me."
"Let's cut to the chase." Military Advisor Gou said coldly, "My brother Niu has done nothing wrong to you. Now that it has come to this, we can't let him be a sucker and then die in a daze while protecting you."
Niu Biaoxi was a little embarrassed and kept saying that it was not necessary. He was just taking in a child for a night's rest, so why asked so many questions.
This brother of his is good in every way, except that he is used to being a military strategist, always talking about books and mountains, and sometimes a little mysterious. It's okay when he doesn't lose his temper, but when he gets cold, Nian Biaoxi is a little annoyed.
The little girl remained silent and quietly confronted Advisor Gou for a moment before she said, "Ask. She can answer some of the questions."
"Then tell me why you don't run away by yourself." Military Advisor Gou said, "I brought you out because I didn't want Brother Niu to continue to be in a stalemate with you in that damn place, to avoid any accidents. Although you seem to have some eye problems, the door is open, and it shouldn't be difficult to find the stairs to go down and avoid people and find a lawn to hide until dawn."
"Run? Where can I run to? I'm just a failed piece of clothing." The little girl smiled. Considering her appearance and age, it was strange for her to speak so maturely.
"I have a relative who once told me that he found some people who seemed to have a mission. They seemed to have to guard a wall to prevent the things inside the wall from coming out."
"He wants to find the wall, or the person guarding the wall, to use the power of the wall to ask some questions about the nature of our life experience."
"I originally thought that this had nothing to do with me." She paused, revealing a confused look, "Until I met the family opposite the sixth floor, and unexpectedly became good friends with the daughter of that family."
"It may be strange to say this, but things like us... things like us originally have no name, no identity, and no appearance of our own. After all, I am just a piece of clothing."
"But that day, as I came into contact with her more and more, I found that I had unknowingly grown to look very much like her, and I almost hurt her. I had no choice but to leave quickly. As I was leaving, because of the close connection between us, I discovered something very strange. She seemed to be the kind of person my relative had been looking for. She could see the wall."
The little girl touched the front of her, as if there was an invisible and intangible object blocking her way, making her like a prey caught in a trap, unable to move on her own.
"I think she is an innocent child who knows nothing. She shouldn't always run into ghosts like us. That's not fair. Since I'm already a thief and have stolen so much from her, I might as well do a little more and steal her wall as well."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
