The two people in the bedroom were unaware that a deep friendship had formed between the two young men outside.
The last day of 1977 has passed just like that.
On New Year's Day, Zhao Xiaobao's school gave him a holiday, so he helped out at the restaurant with Lin Weidong.
Meanwhile, Zhao Xiangdong remained silent. Gu Shi thought he wouldn't make a move so soon, but he still had his men keep a close eye on him.
After Lin Qingyu opened the door, she rode her bicycle to buy groceries.
Gu Shi didn't go to the factory today either; he went with them.
Only two children were left in the store, and the waiter came to work shortly afterward.
The two girls came to the county town to stay with relatives, but they didn't expect their relatives to be unreliable. They only provided them with a place to stay, and the two girls had to find jobs on their own.
They were lucky; they were starving that day and happened to see that Lin Qingyu's restaurant was offering a discount.
After searching for a job all day, I went in and ordered two steamed buns. When I learned that Lin Qingyu was hiring waitresses, I took the opportunity to introduce myself.
One of them is named Wang Tao, and the other is named Zhang Ju.
"Comrade Weidong is here quite early today! Little brother, didn't you have class today?"
Wang Tao was quite lively; she greeted the two as soon as she entered the store.
Zhao Xiaobao just smiled, nodded, and didn't say anything.
Suddenly, they became even more silent.
Fortunately, the others didn't seem to care much, and they put on their work clothes and started their workday.
Everything proceeded as usual, just like any other day.
When Lin Qingyu and the other person returned, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but she still felt uneasy because Lin Qingyu had made several mistakes while grocery shopping that day.
There were no special ceremonies for New Year's Day back then; it was just the beginning of a new year, and everyone continued with their daily lives as usual.
However, Lin Qingyu discovered that construction had begun in a nearby area, and a new residential area was about to be built.
Every now and then, some workers would come here for a treat. Although they all had their own canteens on the construction site, the food wasn't as good as what they could get outside.
The people who usually come here to eat are quite diverse, so Lin Qingyu has always been on edge.
Nothing happened until it got dark, I closed the door, and went home.
Gu Shi also received a notification that Zhao Xiangdong hadn't left the house all day and had been staying in his small rented room.
For the next few days, Zhao Xiangdong didn't leave his room at all, except to buy food.
Gu Shi intended to stay by Lin Qingyu's side to protect her, but this couldn't go on for too long, and he couldn't get through the formal channels.
Gu Shi immediately ordered his men to leave, but he himself did not leave Lin Qingyu.
Today was the day Lin Weidong went to the Education Bureau to fill out his college application. He didn't have anyone take him; he rode his bicycle there himself.
In the dead of winter, he was wearing a military overcoat and a Lei Feng hat, which made him look very warm.
When he arrived at the Education Bureau, he found a list of names posted there, but no scores. By chance, he saw Feng Chao's name.
Because he didn't know if it was just a coincidence of names, he wasn't sure if this person was the same Feng Chao from the village.
Feeling a bit annoyed, he parked his car, asked a colleague downstairs, and then went to the place where he filled out his college application.
Only a handful of people from the entire Yamanashi Prefecture came to fill out their applications after the preliminary rounds, but Lin Weidong didn't see Feng Chao, so he didn't take it to heart.
He had previously consulted his alma mater's teachers, and in the end, he applied to Xinshi Normal College, which is a normal college in the province.
After filling it out, Lin Weidong felt that something was different.
I feel much lighter when I walk, and I don't even feel tired when I ride a bike.
But before I had ridden very far, my tire blew out.
This place is in the suburbs, facing south and north from home, so it would take quite a while to walk back.
But there's nothing we can do now, so we can only push the cart away for the time being.
I just hope to find a bicycle repair shop on the road.
There is a main road leading into the city from here, lined with many pear trees, but now they are bare, without a single leaf.
You can still see people pruning branches in the trees from time to time, so it's not exactly deserted.
However, the sky was overcast, and it looked like it was going to rain.
Unexpectedly, as Lin Weidong was walking, he was suddenly hit on the back with a stick.
The force was so great that he didn't lose consciousness immediately. While his head was throbbing with pain, he turned around and saw a short, fat man with a full beard.
Lin Weidong tried to call for help, but couldn't speak. Seeing this, the man wanted to hit him again, but Lin Weidong fell straight down.
When Lin Weidong woke up again, he opened his eyes and saw only darkness. His mouth was not gagged, and he wanted to shout, but he had no strength.
He could only whisper a few times, "Is anyone there? Someone help!"
His hands were tied behind his back, and he sat in a chair. All he could hear was the sound of the rain pouring down outside, but his intuition told him that someone was watching him.
"Is anyone there? My head hurts so much! Help!"
He was at a loss for words for a moment, probably because he had been hit on the head.
After waiting for a long time, he finally remembered what his sister had mentioned before about Zhao Xiaobao's biological father.
Perhaps because he hadn't said anything, the person who had been watching him finally came over.
"Dead? Why is there no sound?"
The newcomer had a deceptive voice; if Lin Weidong had only heard that voice, he would have thought it was the voice of a young man.
He was poked with something hard, which he guessed was the stick that had hit him.
"Who are you? Why are you tying me up here? Do you know this is illegal?"
Zhao Xiangdong laughed a few times, "Hahaha! He really is just a kid who hasn't even grown his first hair yet!"
“Let me tell you, I tied you up because your brother-in-law wouldn’t give me money.”
Lin Weidong knew this person must be Zhao Xiangdong, and tried to persuade him, "What do you gain by doing this?"
"You might as well let me go first, and maybe I can convince my sister to give you the money!"
Zhao Xiangdong remained unmoved, believing that Lin Qingyu's money all belonged to Gu Shi and that Lin Qingyu simply couldn't afford it.
"Just stay put! I've already informed your brother-in-law. We'll see if you're worth the 200,000 then!"
Two hundred thousand?
Lin Weidong couldn't help but exclaim. He had never seen so much money in his life, so how could it be worth 200,000?
Zhao Xiangdong stopped talking nonsense and directly patted his face with the stick.
"You'd better keep quiet, or else..."
Lin Weidong didn't make any move because the rope was tied too tightly.
However, after waiting for a long time, he still didn't hear the second half of Zhao Xiangdong's sentence. He didn't know what was going on. Then, his chair was pushed around.
Then the ropes binding him were untied and the blindfold was torn off.
He hadn't adjusted to the darkness yet; he couldn't hear anything except the sound of rain and had no idea what was going on.
When he finally turned around, he could see Zhao Xiangdong lying on the ground by the dim light shining in from outside.
He died.
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