Chapter Twenty-Six: Asking for help and still acting so self-righteous?
Landfill.
The stench here was so strong it was almost tangible, like a giant, rotting hand gripping one's mouth and nose. Waste plastic, spoiled food, and decaying organic matter mingled together, silently steaming and fermenting in the sweltering heat of late summer.
In the shade under the greenhouse, an old man lay on a dilapidated rattan chair, his eyes closed, his withered hand holding a palm-leaf fan with cracked edges, waving it idly.
A deep, gruesome scar ran from top to bottom across the eye socket of his left eye, and his eyelid drooped shriveled and tightly closed.
Two people were kneeling in front of the old man. If Rong Nanxi were here, she would recognize them at a glance as Skinny Monkey and Taishan.
At this moment, the two of them were no longer the fierce and menacing figures they had been in front of Rong Nanxi, but instead acted as obediently as kittens.
"Didn't I tell you not to cause trouble?"
The old man's hoarse voice rang out, and before the two could explain, he slapped each of them with his fan.
"Disobedient? You think you're all grown up now, wanting to fly away?"
"No, boss!" Taishan said in a deep voice.
"Boss, we thought that woman was pretty, and we were worried that you'd been chased by the cops too much lately, and you haven't had any fun in a long time, so we thought we'd kidnap that woman and bring her back to give you some pleasure."
Taishan smiled憨厚ly, and when he talked about playing with women, there was not a trace of lewdness on his round face.
Skinny Monkey quickly chimed in, "That's right! But who would have thought that woman was holding some kind of powder? When she sprinkled it, it hurt like hell."
As he spoke, the skinny monkey touched his still swollen face with lingering fear.
"Useless! Can't even handle a woman!" The old man spoke calmly, but it sent a chill down their spines, and they lowered their heads even further.
"Boss, that woman is really strange, and there's a man following behind protecting her. We're afraid of alerting her and getting discovered by the cops, otherwise we would definitely have brought her back to you as a tribute!"
Taishan still wore his signature honest smile.
"never mind!"
The old man said calmly, "The cops have been chasing us too hard these days. We have a big job coming up in a few days, so it's not a good time to make too much noise."
"What big job is it?" Taishan leaned forward, his honest face showing curiosity.
The old man glanced at Mount Tai indifferently, and he immediately shut up.
"Once we finish this order, we can head to the provincial capital."
Skinny Monkey got anxious. "Boss, didn't we say we could go home after just one more order? I really miss the cherry blossoms in my hometown!"
Taishan rubbed his hands together, his expression earnest: "I miss Meizi, Xingzi, and Yazi from my hometown."
The old man glanced at the two of them. "What's the rush for the arrangements from above? There's a great treasure in the provincial capital. As long as we bring it back, we'll be great heroes of the empire!"
Upon hearing this, both of them became a little breathless and stopped objecting.
No one can resist the allure of becoming an imperial hero.
...
Hospital.
When Rong Nanxi woke up, the sun was almost setting, and the air was filled with the smell of disinfectant.
Fu Qingchen sat on the wooden stool by the bed, his brows furrowed, his mind and body completely focused on the paper in his hand. He was completely unaware that Rong Nanxi had lifted the covers, gotten out of bed, and walked to his side.
Rong Nanxi walked over quietly and looked down. She saw that Fu Qingchen had drawn a person on the paper in front of him.
Upon closer inspection, they do bear some resemblance.
The drawing skills are quite good!
Rong Nanxi admired it in her heart.
However, as Fu Qingchen continued painting, Rong Nanxi's expression became increasingly solemn.
In the end, Rong Nanxi's expression completely changed.
Because Fu Qingchen painted none other than that skinny monkey!
"You can draw people?"
Rong Nanxi suddenly spoke, startling Fu Qingchen.
"You...you...you're awake?"
Fu Qingchen quickly put the paper behind her back and looked at Rong Nanxi warily.
Rong Nanxi looked at him with a puzzled expression.
It's just a drawing of a person on a piece of paper, what's the point of hiding it?
"You're not allowed to touch my things!"
Rong Nanxi doesn't remember touching anything belonging to Fu Qingchen!
Her brain raced, and finally, Rong Nanxi learned the reason from her distant memories of her past life.
It's actually quite simple. Not only did Madam Fu keep an eye on other families' best items, but she also traded them for Rong Nanxi.
She didn't even spare her own two children! Many of the little trinkets that Fu Qingchen liked and made herself were given to Rong Nanxi by her mother.
After Rong Nanxi figured out the reason, she couldn't help but laugh: "I will never ask for anything from you again. I didn't know that before."
Or rather, I know, but I don't care.
But she certainly couldn't say that; she's not stupid enough to say things that would be detrimental to herself.
Yeah, I just don't know!
"Besides, I don't need this piece of paper of yours!" Rong Nanxi pointed at the piece of paper that Fu Qingchen was hiding behind the dog, without finishing her sentence.
The paper itself is useless, but the people drawn on it are very useful.
After all, there are no surveillance cameras now, so having a portrait makes finding someone much easier.
Moreover, it is a portrait with at least 90% similarity.
However, Rong Nanxi was more concerned about Fu Qingchen's future than about this portrait!
The Fu family was poor, and Fu Qingchen had never learned to paint.
With such talent, if one could pursue further studies, it's even possible to reach the level of someone in a future TV series who can use their paintings to help the police find murderers!
For example, you can draw what a random person looked like as a child based on what they look like as an adult, and vice versa.
It can even draw a true likeness based on various external information given to it, combined with the laws of human growth.
Once that level is reached, in the decades before cameras become widespread, Fu Qingchen could absolutely be famous throughout the country! Criminals would have nowhere to hide!
Thinking of this, Rong Nanxi became excited!
At this moment, she was incredibly grateful that when she was picking up trash back then, she had shamelessly sat in someone's convenience store and watched the TV series from the future with them.
Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have known that drawing portraits could be used in this way!
Fu Qingchen scoffed, "Who knows! What if you take a fancy to me? This took me a lot of time, who knows what you might do next?"
Rong Nanxi raised an eyebrow, sizing up Fu Qingchen, and an idea popped into her mind.
Her brother-in-law seems to be quite capable!
He's a promising talent!
Fu Qingchen felt uneasy under his gaze. "Now that you're better, let's go back quickly!"
Rong Nanxi nodded and turned to leave, but suddenly her legs went weak and she was about to fall. Fu Qingchen suddenly reached out and caught her, then immediately let go after stabilizing her.
"The doctor said this is a side effect of the drug you were given, it's nothing serious!"
As she spoke, Fu Qingchen pursed her lips and said, "There's one more thing you need to keep secret for me!"
Rong Nanxi raised an eyebrow, already having guessed: "What?"
"Don't tell my parents about my painting!"
Rong Nanxi looked at him, raised her chin, and deliberately said, "You're so self-righteous when you're asking for help, little brother!"
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