◇ Chapter 69: Kids, run faster

When he opened his eyes, everything in front of him was blurry and clear, as if covered by a layer of light mist, lacking a sense of reality. Zhou Zheng exhaled and found a cloud of white mist rising in the air. Is it winter?

Looking around, I saw a narrow and crowded alley, dark and damp, with an unknown liquid on the ground emitting a foul odor. The shabby street lights above my head flickered intermittently, accompanied by a "creaking" sound, and I didn't know when they would go out.

This is a very familiar scene. After walking through this long alley, turning left and then right, he can return to the pigeon-cage-like residence. What greets him is his drunk and angry father and the ground is full of wine bottles and cigarette butts.

Zhou Zheng stood up straight and found that he was still carrying a schoolbag. He raised his hand to adjust the shoulder strap, and it snapped open with a "hiss".

He lowered his eyes and saw a pair of small, dark, thin hands. The backs of the hands were covered with rough dry lines and a few red and swollen spots, like purple scabs. The frostbite was itchy, causing Zhou Zheng to reach out and scratch it.

After rubbing twice, Zhou Zheng held back, lifted his feet and continued to move forward, sidestepping the drunk who was urinating under the street light, and walked to the first fork in the road, ready to turn left.

Before I could even lift my feet, a boy wearing ripped pants and a leather jacket appeared from the corner. He was about fifteen or sixteen years old, with a non-mainstream afro and earrings, and he was smoking cigarettes, looking rather uncouth.

Three or five of his younger brothers followed him and surrounded Zhou Zheng from all sides like a circle.

The afro at the front leaned closer, patted Zhou Zheng's cheek like a gangster, and said, "Boy, it's time to pay the protection fee. I see you're in such a poor situation, fifty bucks will do."

The urban village is a mixed crowd. Adults have their own circle, and children have their own world. This area is dominated by people with afros competing for supremacy, intimidating underage elementary school students and collecting protection fees as pocket money.

This little brat in front of me moved in a week ago. He is like a loach, and he is so elusive that I can't see his head or tail. Today I finally caught him, but he seems a little disdainful? He frowned and slapped his hand away, saying coldly: "No."

The afro was not irritated by this rebellious reaction. He smiled, as if showing mercy, "It's okay. Go home and get it now."

The subject changed direction and said, "Stealing is fine." The man with the afro laughed evilly.

These are the conditions for living in an urban village. The pockets are cleaner than the faces, and the children have no choice but to go home and steal. Most of them can cooperate obediently, but Zhou Zheng is a troublemaker. He stiffened his neck and said stubbornly, "No." He looked like a man who valued money more than his life.

This made the afro angry. He took a deep puff of cigarette, threw the burnt butt on the ground, spat, raised his hand and poked Zhou Zheng's shoulder with a gloomy face, and threatened: "You kid don't understand bad words, right? I was talking to you nicely, but you still took advantage of me?"

The strength difference between the boy and the child was huge. Zhou Zheng's small body was pushed back by the afro, and his back hit the uneven wall. Fortunately, he had a school bag and a cotton coat to cushion his back, so his skin was not scratched. Zhou Zheng raised his head stubbornly and repeated once again: "I said, no."

What greeted him was a barrage of punches and kicks, heavy blows and no mercy. Zhou Zheng curled up subconsciously, put his hands up to protect his head, and said nothing.

After about a minute or two, the fists on my head stopped and I heard the angry voice of the guy with the afro: "What the hell are you looking at? Get lost!"

Zhou Zheng, who was covering his head, relaxed his arms a little and saw two young men not far away through the legs of a group of people. They were both very fair-skinned, with tall and straight postures and distinguished temperaments. It was obvious that they did not belong here.

The shorter young man trembled and said, "You, you guys, this is wrong..."

The afro sneered, raised his foot and kicked Zhou Zheng again, then turned to face the two teenagers and laughed, "Doing something brave? Then you have to speak firmly, at least don't tremble."

Then he repeated the sound in a cowardly manner, imitating the trembling sound of the boy, causing the younger brothers to laugh out loud.

The boy who was mocked was full of dissatisfaction. Just as he was about to say something, the taller boy grabbed his wrist and pulled him away without saying a word...

The afro blew a whistle, turned around and looked at Zhou Zheng who was peeking at him from the ground. He squatted down and said condescendingly: "Don't even think about it. The savior is gone, and no one can help you."

"Kid, I'll give you another chance. Go home and get it now, and I'll let you go this time."

Zhou Zheng pursed his lips, biting them with his lower teeth until they were almost bleeding, but he still couldn't let go, "No means no, don't you understand?"

The man with the afro had never seen such a kid before. He frowned, gave him a slap with bloodshot eyes, then raised his hand and waved, calling on his younger brothers behind him to come forward and beat him up in a group.

Fifteen or sixteen-year-olds were the most ruthless when they attacked. Zhou Zheng only had two hands to protect his head. He was kicked in the stomach and almost vomited. Just when he thought he was going to be beaten to death today, he heard the boy's voice: "Stop."

The perpetrators turned a deaf ear to them. The boy said again: "I've called the police, and they will be here soon." The next second, the sound of "woo-woo-woo" rang out throughout the alley.

When the perpetrator heard the alarm, he stopped like a wolf with its tail clipped, and disappeared without a trace within a second.

The boy rushed forward to check the child's injuries. "Can you still walk?" he asked.

Zhou Zheng opened his eyelids with great difficulty and saw the boy's appearance clearly. He was even more handsome than the shocking glimpse just now. His skin was white and delicate, his eyes were bright, his eyelashes were curled, and the snowflakes that had fallen from the sky at some point fell on his eyelashes and turned into crystal drops of water. His lips were rosy and he exuded a sweet fragrance.

It was completely different from a guy like himself who was as dark as a sewer rat. Zhou Zheng regained consciousness, shook his head, and shrank back against the wall.

The boy ignored his retreat, reached out and held his hand, picked up his schoolbag with his other hand, and said, "Let's go."

Zhou Zheng stood up and tried to pull his hand back, but failed. The boy pulled him and started jogging, turning back and urging him, "Little boy, run faster."

The two ran out of the alley in one go and stood on the flat street, panting. The boy held his knees to slow down for a while, then let go of Zhou Zheng's hand and looked up to explain: "I lied to them, I didn't call the police."

It was a wise move. There are many trivial matters among parents in the urban villages. People call the police every day, but the police delay as much as possible, and the efficiency of dispatching police is extremely low.

Zhou Zheng nodded.

The young man took a look at Zhou Zheng's appearance. Perhaps because he looked too miserable, he asked, "Are you hungry?"

Zhou Zheng shook his head, but his stomach growled loudly.

The boy narrowed his eyes, which were like crescents, revealing the white and neat tips of his teeth. His smile was particularly gentle. He tilted his head and said, "I'm hungry. Please eat something with me."

The two of them went to a nearby convenience store, and the boy picked up three or four loaves of bread, a few bottles of milk and yogurt, and some hot oden as if he was buying goods.

The boy unwrapped all the bread, took a small piece from each and took a bite, then threw all of them aside as if they were not to his liking. Zhou Zheng could not bear to see the waste, so he wolfed down the bread.

In the end, the boy who said he was hungry only drank a bottle of yogurt, and the rest of the food all went into Zhou Zheng's stomach.

The boy went out once during the fight and came back with a bag of medicine in his hand. He disinfected the visible wounds of Zhou Zheng and put on band-aids, and even ointment for frostbite. He said, "There won't be someone to help you every time. You have to be smart. If you can't beat them, run away. Don't just stand there and get beaten. Do you understand?"

Zhou Zheng blinked and nodded.

When they parted, there were two unopened bottles of hot milk on the table. The boy stuffed the two bottles of milk into Zhou Zheng's pockets, one on the left and one on the right, and said with squinting eyes: "Thank you for having dinner with me."

Feeling the warmth coming from his pocket, Zhou Zheng moved his mouth, and after struggling for a long time, he still couldn't ask the boy's name.

Today was probably just a coincidence. Anyway, we will never see each other again, so it doesn’t matter whether you know it or not.

Zhou Zheng walked into the alley and stopped, looking back at the boy's back as he walked further and further away, and the long string of black footprints he left in the snow...

But we met again later. The boy would appear at the entrance of the alley every Friday and suggest, "I'm hungry, eat something with me," just like he did today. The two of them would go to the convenience store next door and order bread and oden.

Zhou Zheng never spoke, and the boy never asked him if he was mute. They got along in this strange yet harmonious way.

This situation did not last long, only about two months, eight times. Because Zhou Zheng moved, his mother hooked up with a wealthy man, and the family benefited from it and moved into a commercial house, leaving the dark place of the village in the city.

When packing, Zhou Zheng deliberately procrastinated. Today was Friday. He looked out the window and saw that the sky not far away was dyed red. The sun was setting. If he was a little later, he would meet him.

At least, say something, Zhou Zheng thought.

But he really had nothing to pack. The tiny room was filled with junk and trash. He only had a small bed and a very short and shabby wooden table. He had only a few clothes, and the few he had were neatly stacked at the head of the bed. He packed all his belongings in a snakeskin bag and a schoolbag on his back.

Zhou Dawei was getting impatient waiting, and his irritable voice sounded again: "Are you fucking done?"

Zhou Zheng pursed his lips, not daring to delay any longer. He reached out to tie the snakeskin bag with a piece of cloth, turned it over, put it on his back, and walked out.

As soon as I put my hand on the door handle, the door was violently opened from the outside, bounced back to the wall, and swayed precariously, looking like it would fall down at any time. Zhou Dawei's terrifying face appeared behind the door, his face was swollen and red, his eyes were bloodshot and he was baring his yellow teeth and yelling, "Can't you hear me when I talk to you? Don't you know how to answer?"

Zhou Zheng's eyes were filled with fear. He tightly grasped the snakeskin bag, swallowed his throat, and whispered, "I heard it. It's been packed up."

"Then you fucking don't say anything." Zhou Dawei raised his hand and chopped down while speaking.

Zhou Zheng raised his arm reflexively to try to block it, but he didn't expect that this action completely angered Zhou Dawei. Drunk and drunk, he raised his hand to push Zhou Zheng's thin arm away, pulled out the belt on his waist and started to stir-fry shredded pork.

It was burning with pain. Zhou Zheng didn't dare to stretch out his arms to block it. He could only keep backing away, leaning sideways to prevent the belt from leaving marks on his face.

The sound of the belt hitting the flesh was quite loud and attracted the attention of Li Xia outside. She walked to the door with her high black heels, reached out and grabbed Zhou Dawei's belt with her bare hands, and threw it away with impatience. "Okay, stop wasting time. Fight back if you want. I don't want to stay in this crappy place for another second." After saying this, she turned and left without even glancing at Zhou Zheng, whose skin was torn.

Zhou Dawei glared at the direction where Li Xia left with his eyes wide open, and with a distorted expression, he said "Pooh" and cursed "You dead woman", then glared at Zhou Zheng and said, "Why don't you leave quickly?"

Zhou Zheng quickly grabbed the snakeskin bag on the ground and limped behind Zhou Dawei.

The roads in the urban village were pitifully narrow, so cars naturally couldn't drive in, but fortunately Zhou Dawei and Li Xia didn't have much luggage. Zhou Dawei didn't care, and he just came empty-handed, with a bottle of wine in his hands and a pack of cigarettes in his arms, which was all his belongings. Li Xia looked down on it, and she hated everything here, so she only wore a newly bought outfit, fur, a mini leather skirt, and a limited edition bag. Zhou Zheng, who was dragging a snakeskin bag and carrying a schoolbag, was out of tune with them.

The three of them walked outside and soon reached the main street. Li Xia reached out to stop the car, Zhou Dawei couldn't help but take out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, and Zhou Zheng looked around, hoping that the young man with a smile on his face would come out from the intersection.

Unfortunately, the hope was dashed. The car soon stopped by the roadside, and Li Xia opened the door first and got in the passenger seat. Zhou Zhengsi did not dare to neglect it, and quickly stretched out his hand to open the door of the back seat, letting Zhou Dawei get in first and then he followed closely behind, and then he struggled to stuff the snakeskin bag under his feet.

Even though the action was very smooth, it still made Zhou Dawei unhappy. He kicked Zhou Zheng's luggage angrily and cursed, "What a piece of crap."

Zhou Zheng pursed his lips, stretched out his hand and pulled the snakeskin bag towards him again, turned his head and looked at the intersection behind him, until the car started to drive away, getting farther and farther away from the village in the city...

If I had known this, I would have asked for your name.

【Author’s words】

Happy New Year, babies.