Qin Huai was like a little ant, constantly moving things into the yard. Although he kept muttering that he had no money, he never stopped spending money.
You have to spend money. If you don’t have anything, you have to buy everything.
Old Man Qin saw him go out and come back with a bunch of things, all of which he didn't recognize. He probably thought they were raw materials for making soap. Then he saw him go out again and saw him carrying back a bag of sweet potatoes, salt and other daily necessities. When he saw him going out again, he finally couldn't help but said:
"Qin Huai, do you need to spend more money?"
Qin Huai spread his hands and said, "Grandpa, what can we do? There is no firewood in the city, and we need to make a fire to boil soap."
The old man suddenly turned off the engine. What Qin Huai said was true.
Qin Xiaoyun said, "Brother, Xiaomi and I will go chop wood."
Qin Huai smiled and said, "Where in the city can we go to chop firewood..." Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he said, "Don't mention it, there is actually a place where we can get firewood."
These words made the two little girls happy. After coming here, they were unable to help Old Man Qin and were feeling frustrated that they were useless.
The old man was also surprised and asked, "Where can I get firewood?"
Qin Huai picked up the small basket and said, "Train station."
Wanbei County is a major transportation hub with several coal mines. There is a large coal gangue pile at the railway station freight yard. When the three of them arrived here, they saw many children and women panning for coal here, as if they were panning for gold.
The quality of local coal is uneven. After it is sent to the railway station, it will be screened and a lot of coal gangue will be cleaned out. Over time, the coal gangue piles up like two small hills.
After Qin Huai taught the two little girls how to identify the difference between coal and coal gangue, he began to search.
Many children in northern Anhui counties have had the experience of picking up coal at the train station. Everyone who comes here is covered in black, and no one needs to look down on anyone else.
Although Qin Huai and the other two were newcomers, no one was xenophobic. First, Qin Huai was seventeen years old and taller than the other children here. Second, the place where Qin Huai and the others scavenged had been turned over countless times, and no one came to compete with them for the rubbish.
But if you stay in a place for a long time, you will definitely know which place is good. Qin Huai picked up and looked at it at the same time. Qin Xiaoyun and her sister would occasionally hold up coal blocks and coal gangue and ask him if they were good or not. At least they got some good things.
Just then a train arrived and when it stopped, these people rushed towards the train.
Although he didn't know what had happened, he knew there must be a reason for the unusual situation. Qin Huai immediately moved over. Sure enough, as the car door stopped and opened, a lot of coal fell out. Immediately, a group of teenagers rushed over to grab it.
Qin Huai rushed over with his two sisters. Although the items were dropped, they were much better than the items they picked up by digging through the coal gangue. A boy about fourteen or fifteen years old followed behind them. He was not as fast as the three of them in picking up items. He raised his leg and kicked Qin Huai, who had been keeping a watchful eye on him. Qin Huai kicked him back without any hesitation.
He was stronger, and the boy was no match for him. He was kicked down. The boy stood up and pointed at him and cursed, "Where did you come from, little bastard, to steal food from my territory?"
Qin Huai cursed, "You bastard, the train station is yours, do you think you are the emperor?"
"Are you blind? I was here first. Look for yourself, no one else comes here except me." The boy was very fierce.
Qin Huai then realized that this seemed to be true, but if he was reasonable, he would not be able to pick up the things.
So he said coldly, "The train station is public property. It belongs to all of us. What's yours or mine? Whoever grabs it gets it." He then gave the boy an excuse: "Hurry up and pick it up. Someone else will have picked it up soon. I don't come here every day. Aren't you stupid to stare at me?"
The boy snorted and really started to pick up the things.
This way of picking up trash was indeed much easier than searching through the gangue pile, and soon the three people's small baskets were almost full.
The children and women beside the train suddenly ran away as if they were being chased away. Qin Huai looked around, not knowing what was happening.
He stopped a child and asked, "Little boy, what's wrong with everyone?"
"Another train is coming."
Qin Huai asked again, "Isn't the arrival of the train a good thing? Why did everyone run away?"
"Brother Dafei and the others are coming too."
Qin Xiaoyun said worriedly: "Brother, we have picked up a lot, let's go back."
Although he didn't know what would happen next, he knew from the children's actions that nothing good would happen, so he immediately asked his sister to go back with him.
But before they had gone far, a train came roaring towards them. Immediately, a group of older young men came out from nowhere, holding tools in their hands, rushed towards the train, and hit and chopped it randomly with the tools. The coal on the train fell like rain.
Qin Xiaomi immediately said, "Brother, there are so many, let's go pick them up."
Qin Huai said hurriedly: "Let's go, let's go quickly."
After they ran a few steps, they heard shouts coming from behind. Qin Huai hurriedly urged Qin Xiaomi and the other two to run back, but he turned around and saw that many policemen had appeared in the station and even fired warning shots.
Qin Huai then understood what those children were afraid of. These young people were not picking up things but were blatantly snatching them.
The police must have been waiting there for more than a day or two, which is why they responded so quickly. The group of young people were frightened by the gunshots and immediately fled in all directions. Qin Huai also ran away hurriedly with the basket. He was about the same age as the group of people. If he was really caught, he would definitely be considered as a member of the same group. That would be too bad.
After running for more than ten minutes, he stopped at a safe place, but saw a young man with a black face running past him, blood dripping all the way. He was obviously injured, but he was still running so fast.
Before he could finish this thought, the young man fell to the ground. After trying several times to stand up, he couldn't get up. So he stretched out his hands and called out to him, "Brother, give me a hand."
Qin Huai looked around to see if there were any police officers, then walked over and asked, "How did you get hurt?"
"Why are you asking so many questions?" the young man said unhappily. He looked up and saw Qin Huai's face and said in surprise, "It's you, brother."
"Do you know me?"
"Don't you recognize me? I was selling eggs on the street a while ago and was almost arrested. It was you who spoke up for me."
It was also a good thing that people these days had no entertainment. Qin Huai then remembered that he had asked Qin Dashu to pay Xiaomi's tuition. It seemed that he had encountered such a thing before. However, the young man looked honest at that time, but now he dared to rob openly.
"It's you, I didn't recognize you."
"Stop talking for now and help me find a place to hide."
He was a local resident. He pointed Qin Huai to a secluded bridge and said, "Thank you. My name is Sun Peng. What's your name?"
"Qin Huai."
"Qin Huai, okay, I'll thank you when I get better. You can leave first if you have anything to do."
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