My hometown is Li Village, Kaoshan Town, north of Shannan County.
This is where Li Lin lived since he was a child. As far as he can remember, he lived here until he graduated from elementary school, and then he moved away with his aunt Li Rong.
Li Rong was originally a doctor at Kaoshan Town Health Center. Later, due to some reasons, Li Rong had to retire early.
She used her life savings to buy a two-bedroom apartment in the county town and settled there.
She had no relatives in her hometown except a distant sister, so she almost never went back home throughout the year.
The cousin who got into trouble was the son of my aunt's distant sister, Qiao An.
Qiao An's fate is similar to Li Lin's. After his mother gave birth to him, she went to work in another place and did not return for several years.
As the only relative, Qiao An was naturally raised by Li Rong.
In other words, Li Lin and Qiao An are brothers who grew up together.
In Li Lin's opinion, there are no relatives in the world closer than Li Rong and Qiao An.
So when I heard that he had an accident, I drove back to Li Village without saying a word.
Qiao An dropped out of school in the third year of junior high school. It was also in that year that his parents returned from out of town.
He returned to Li Village with his parents.
After dropping out of school and returning to Kaoshan Town, Qiao An started working as a waiter in a restaurant in the town, earning 300 yuan a month, and he worked there for more than a year.
After saving some money, he followed his parents' example and went to work in other places, and he stayed there for three years.
During this period, he called Li Rong and said that he was working as a welder in the south and earned more than 300 yuan a day...
Aunt Li Rong was very pleased at that time. You know, seven or eight years ago, an income of three hundred yuan a day was more than most people.
A few years ago, when Li Lin was still studying at university in Hanjiang, Qiao An went to see him.
At that time, he was dressed fashionably and looked like a wealthy man.
He took Li Lin to eat, drink and have fun near the university town for a day, and forced five thousand yuan into Li Lin's pocket before leaving.
I remember that he said something very touching to Li Lin at that time.
He said, "Brother, I don't have much of a future, I can only earn some hard-earned money by working hard."
"Brother, you are well-educated and will definitely be more successful than me in the future. Study hard and don't let my aunt down."
"I know it's not easy for my aunt to raise you to go to college. You can keep this money. It will at least reduce my aunt's burden."
From that moment on, Li Lin began to re-examine his cousin.
In fact, his appearance is not that glamorous.
His palms were covered with thick calluses, and his face looked more weathered and helpless than his peers.
Looking at his back which he kept looking back, I was surprised to find that his back was hunched due to years of welding work...
Li Lin still can't forget the day when he held the five thousand yuan in his hand and stood there in a daze for a very long time.
When Qiao An's back completely disappeared from Li Lin's sight, he realized that he had already burst into tears.
He swore at that time that no matter whether he had the ability in the future or not, he would make sure his aunt and Qiao An lived a good life!
After returning to Li Village, Li Lin pushed the door and walked into Qiao An's house.
Qiao An lives in a two-story building with a separate courtyard, which is the result of Qiao An's hard work for many years.
When he built this building the year before last, Li Lin had already started working and gave him 20,000 yuan without hesitation.
He said he didn't want anything, but Li Lin forced it on him.
When you push the door open and enter the house, what catches your eye is the chaos!
Scattered items were scattered all over the floor, and the coffee table and sofa were placed in a mess, obviously having been rummaged through.
Li Lin shouted several times before a figure slowly walked down from the second floor.
"Aunt! What happened?"
Li Lin asked urgently as soon as he saw Qiao An's mother.
When Qiao An's mother Li Ling saw Li Lin, she burst into tears.
He shouted heartbreakingly, "Xiao Lin! You are finally back, please save Qiao An!"
"What on earth happened!" Li Lin asked again.
"Joan went out drinking with a few friends last night, and didn't come back drunk until this morning!"
"Not long after he came back, a few idle guys from the village came to his door."
"They said Qiao An lost more than 100,000 yuan to them last night, and they want Qiao An to pay them back now!"
"My God, where can we get so much money to give them?"
"They just rummaged through boxes and cabinets like a bunch of robbers, and even broke down the door!"
"Qiao An was furious at the time, and took a knife from the kitchen and injured two people, and was then arrested by the police station!"
"Xiao Lin! I heard that you are now a township leader. You should think of a way to save your brother!"
"Your brother must have been cheated! You know he never plays cards, how could he lose hundreds of thousands?"
Qiao An never touches cards, and Li Lin is well aware of this.
Besides, how could one lose hundreds of thousands of dollars just by playing cards in the village?
He guessed that he was definitely tricked by someone!
In the past two years, Qiao An worked hard outside to earn some money, and upgraded his three tiled houses into a small building, which must have aroused envy.
In the village, every Chinese New Year, there are idle hooligans who organize gambling games to cheat the villagers who have returned from working outside.
Many villagers worked hard for a year and their savings were defrauded away overnight!
This kind of thing is common in other towns and villages, and also exists in some villages in Weishui Township.
These bastards cheated the villagers of their hard-earned money to feed themselves...
What a fucking beast!
"Auntie, don't worry, tell me where that group of people are now, I will go and ask them first!"
"If Qiao An really owes someone money, don't worry, I will pay him back even if I sell everything I have!"
Li Ling nodded heavily as if she had seen a savior.
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