Chapter 124
The plastic bag containing the food fell to the ground, and Qiu Song ran into the backyard.
Relying on his memory, he groped his way into the back door of the workshop in the blinding black smoke.
In the firelight, he saw a huge triangular steel beam lying across the ground. A few steps away from the back door, a man was pinned under the beam, his whole body burning, struggling desperately.
Although it was almost unrecognizable, he still recognized who it was.
"Curly!" He yelled and instinctively rushed forward to put out the fire on Curly's body, but the flames from the gasoline wrapped around Curly and could not be put out at all. The fire also spread to Qiu Song.
He tried to pull Curly out, but Curly's legs were pinned down and he couldn't pull him out.
He tried to lift the steel beam with his bare hands again, but his palms were sizzling and the huge beam didn't budge at all...
Curly's black hand suddenly grabbed the hem of his trousers. Curly looked at him, his mouth opening and closing, making a hissing sound:
"Xiao Song, please pretend to be me and trick my mother... She has a terminal illness and won't live for another year... She can't see clearly anymore... You can definitely trick her, just for one year, for me... Please... Please..."
"No! I'm going to take you out!" Qiu Song roared with red eyes.
Curly raised his hands toward him as if begging.
Qiu Song's heart suddenly calmed down.
Yes, if we are going to die, let’s die together. We can’t let Curly go away alone in pain.
He rushed forward, wanting to hug his friend who was covered in flames.
Curly took advantage of him bending over and used all his strength to push him towards the back door not far away...
At the same time, a second explosion occurred. Qiu Song was lifted up by the air wave and flew into the small room from the back door, smashing the bed and the overturned bed board covered him.
The ball of flame rushed out of the small door like a fiery red beast, but was blocked by the bed board.
If it weren't for this block, the person would have been burned to death.
He lifted the burning bed board and climbed up dizzyly, and saw that the other side of the small door was like a furnace.
Curly's mutilated body was trapped deep in the fire, motionless.
The thick smoke almost suffocated Qiu Song, and the scorching heat was about to burn him to ashes.
He didn't want to leave, didn't want to leave Curly behind, but his instinct for survival made him retreat.
He whimpered and crawled to the yard on his hands and feet, rolling in the puddle of water from the car wash to put out the flames on his body.
He heard someone shouting and running closer.
He remembered Curly's words: Pretend to be me and fool my mom...
Unable to stand up, he crawled out of the courtyard like a wounded animal, moved backward, and hid in an alley not far away. He rolled around in the shadow under the wall, suppressing his heart-wrenching cries in his chest.
The fire truck arrived and sprayed a huge water cannon at the fire.
He heard Boss Niu's cry in a tearful voice: "Help! Save him first! Xiaosong is in there! Xiaosong, Xiaosong!"
He bit his lip hard, curled up into a ball and trembled, telling himself over and over again: Don't agree, don't agree. Qiu Song was dead, and the one who lived was Song Zhou.
The one who is alive is Song Zhou.
I am Song Zhou.
Up ahead, the fire was almost out, and the firefighters who entered the scene found a charred body.
Boss Niu sat on the ground and cried loudly: "Xiao Song! Xiao Song!"
——Xiaosong is gone, I am Song Zhou.
In the alley, the crawling person moved his lips silently and talked to himself.
The figure squirmed and crawled to the other end of the alley, pressing its burned palms to the ground in a bloody mess.
After crawling for a while, he slowly stood up and walked forward.
As he walked, he imitated Curly's steps and posture.
One step, two steps, three steps... each step is more similar than the last.
By the time he crossed the alley of more than 20 meters, he seemed to be possessed by Curly's soul.
He crossed the road, not daring to look back at the chaotic fire scene, and walked straight to the house rented by Curly and Aunt Qi.
A snack cart selling "Seven Aunt Liangpi" was parked at the door of the house.
He saw Aunt Qi standing at the door, leaning on a small stick, her cloudy eyes open, looking in panic in the direction of the fire.
Aunt Qi has a tumor in her head that cannot be cured and cannot be afforded.
She used to sell Jianbing (Chinese pancakes), but as her condition worsened, her vision became blurry and she couldn't make Jianbing anymore, so she switched to selling Liangpi (cold noodles).
When looking at people, I can see their outlines clearly, but not their faces.
In her blurry vision, she caught sight of a figure with fire behind it.
She recognized that figure and gait at a glance.
"Curly! You're finally back! I heard an explosion and it scared me to death! Are you okay?"
He stopped a few steps away from Aunt Qi and said, "I'm fine...Mom."
Aunt Qi was surprised: "Why is your voice so hoarse?"
"I was helping someone put out a fire, and I got the smoke."
"Oh, kid! Are you hurt?" Aunt Qi groped forward and wanted to touch him.
He took a step back. "I'm not hurt. I'm covered in dust, don't get your hands dirty."
"I'm glad you're not hurt. Where did the fire start?"
“…an auto repair shop.”
Aunt Qi's expression changed: "Are Xiaosong and your Uncle Niu okay?"
"It's all right. They're not in there."
"Oh, that's good, that's good."
"Mom, I'm tired. I'm going to sleep."
"Hey, go to bed quickly, son. We won't make cold noodles tonight. Let's go to bed early."
On one side of the hut was Aunt Qi's bed, and on the other side was a wooden board supported by bricks, which was Curly's bed.
On the bedside table was Curly's cell phone.
Curly shares a mobile phone with his mother and always leaves it at home for his mother's convenience.
The last message sent by the WeChat account "Qishan Liangpi" on the mobile phone was a voice message sent to "Xiaosong".
Under the phone, there is a certificate.
He had hallucinations for a while.
He saw Curly take a photo of the certificate with his mobile phone, send it to him, send a voice message, and then run to the door happily.
He opened his mouth and wanted to call out to Curly - come back quickly, don't go.
Curly's figure disappeared at the door like smoke.
He was in a daze and didn't have the courage to touch the phone, as if touching it would erase the last trace left by Curly Hair.
He slowly climbed onto the wooden bed, dragged the curly schoolbag that was on the bedside into the quilt, and hugged it tightly.
Curly's schoolbag contains textbooks, stationery, and his ID.
From now on, he will take over everything and live for Curly.
The tears silently soaked into Curly's quilt.
…
A quilt was thrown at Song Zhou. It was so thick and heavy that it almost knocked him down on the seat.
Boss Niu said, "You will just sleep in this broken car. Don't let the police catch you when you go out.
"I was afraid someone would steal my scrap metal, so I was planning to keep watch here all night. How about you keep watch for me? If you hear any noise, don't go out, just call me."
Song Zhou's lips curled up: "Okay."
"I haven't changed my number. Do you still have it?"
"I remember that."
"Okay, then I'll go home and bring you food tomorrow morning!"
After Boss Niu left, Song Zhou hugged the quilt and stared blankly. He glanced at his phone and saw it was almost ten o'clock.
In the past, whenever he was on night shift and not at home, he would call Chen He at this time before going to bed.
When I reacted, my hand had already dialed Chen He's number.
It has become a conditioned reflex.
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