Chapter 37 [37] You killed my father!
The stick landed an inch away from Tang Aiguo's head.
Tang Aiguo knelt down on the ground: "Dad was wrong."
Tang Yuanyuan hardly grew at all this year, her height stopped at 162cm. Tang Aiguo was 1.8 meters tall, and when he knelt on the ground, he only reached her arm. It was dusk, and the shadow was longer than a person's.
His eyebrows and eyes were wrinkled in pain and regret.
Why do you regret it only now?
Because of the stick.
It's because of saliva.
If he hadn't come, Tang Aiguo would have just put the money into his passbook, and the money would slowly turn into meat on the table and clothes on his body. In the end, there would be a woman to take care of his daily life. Maybe he would even smoke his pipe and laugh at others for wanting his betrothal gift, and then watch her lower her head in shame and light a tobacco for him in a flattering manner.
What's the use of this regret?
It was just his way of survival, not because he regretted not treating Zhang Lancao well.
The remorse of the wicked is actually meaningless.
Even this apology is disgusting.
"People say a father's love for his children is greater than heaven, and that if a child is unfilial, heaven will strike him down. Today, even if I, Tang Yuanyuan, have to be struck down by heaven, I will strike you, a beast."
Tang Yuanyuan hit Tang Aiguo's chest with all her strength.
When she hit me with a stick, she cursed:
"You are a mean and unvirtuous husband, and you have spent your whole life making fun of my mother for being illiterate."
"You're a human being, but you have the heart of an animal. Someone killed your wife, and for five thousand dollars, you signed a letter of forgiveness, allowing the murderer to go unpunished!"
"Mom didn't have to die. They were afraid she'd remember the license plate number, so they carried her to Shucong and left her to die. You have a conscience like a dog! You need to sign a pardon for someone like that!"
"You are so heartless! It's not even the seventh day after my mother's death, and you're already thinking about using the money she paid for her life to marry another wife. You're also thinking about using the money she paid for her life to eat meat and smoke cigarettes."
"Tang Aiguo, do you still remember that you are a man?"
"As a man, you should be upright and respectable. You don't think about making money for yourself, but you think about taking your wife's hard-earned money. My mother is so unlucky to have met a beast like you. You don't deserve to be a human being!"
"Tang Aiguo, you make me sick."
Mrs. Wu has been staying at the Tang family these days and has brought over some good things, including pure cotton sheets, mats, and several sets of good clothes.
It would be such a pity to lose it.
Can you go back and get something yourself?
Mrs. Wu asked her daughter-in-law to stay where she was and ran back. The gate of the Tang family's yard was surrounded by three layers of people. She had to crouch down to get in. Tang Aiguo was kneeling on the ground and was beaten with a stick by his own daughter.
This man is indeed useless and cowardly.
The five thousand yuan nailed him to the pillar of shame, and not a single neighbor came forward to persuade him, which led to a public judgment.
"Xiao An's father usually seems like a very kind person, how could he do such a thing?"
"You're even taking the money for buying my life. You have no conscience."
"I didn't expect that Yuanyuan's father would be this kind of person."
"That's right, Yuanyuan's mother, what a good person she is. She took care of her parents-in-law all by herself, and she's very kind to the children and knows how to manage a life. But she actually wants the money she earned from working for her. How shameless!"
Tang Aiguo lay on the ground, holding his face with his hands, too embarrassed to face anyone.
Seems to still be crying.
Mrs. Wu was in despair. After this incident, Tang Aiguo would never sign a letter of apology for her again.
What a loser.
Why don't you just hold your tongue and deny it?
So stupid.
Tang Aiguo had a smooth first half of his life. As the son of a worker, he successfully entered the factory and became a team leader. This made him feel that he was different from ordinary workers. This sense of superiority gave him a sense of arrogance, so much so that when his father fell ill and he heard that he could be saved, he felt that he could take care of it.
Unfortunately, my ability and cognition are not up to par, and I was easily deceived.
This greatly frustrated his self-esteem. The more guilty he felt, the more he wanted to prove himself. So, when his family was heavily in debt, he foolishly believed in a Taoist priest to extend his father's life. The end result was that his family was even more in debt.
It's true that he was tempted by the 5,000 yuan.
The shame at this moment is also real.
He has a little conscience, but not much.
It's true that he is cowardly and stupid, and he doesn't even dare to face his true desires.
As a bad person, he cannot completely abandon propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame.
He doesn't have the courage to be a good person and take responsibility for his mistakes.
So he was caught in the middle, wavering. He felt ashamed in front of good people, but his evil thoughts prevailed in front of bad people.
He has no firm beliefs and his ability to think independently is obviously very poor. He listens to anyone and always has a negative ability to make things worse. In layman's terms, he is a waste.
This kind of person is more hateful and disgusting than simply being evil.
So, both sides looked down on him.
"You murderer's mother, you still have the nerve to come here."
Mrs. Wu felt a pang in her heart when she was scolded, and she looked over nervously. Sure enough, Tang Yuanyuan had also noticed her.
Mrs. Wu hurriedly explained, "My luggage is still at your house. It's quite expensive. Can I get something?"
Tang Yuanyuan didn't say anything, just stared at her coldly and walked towards her step by step.
"No."
"I don't want it anymore."
"Don't be angry."
It was as if Mrs. Wu had wings on her legs and she ran away in a flash.
An hour ago, Mrs. Wu said she wanted to eat spare ribs and gave Tang An five dollars to buy some. From a distance, she saw people surrounding her house in three layers, and her heart skipped a beat.
Wang Xia grabbed Tang An's sleeve and said, "Xiao An, please persuade your father. People shouldn't lose their conscience to this extent just for money."
"How can I ask for money for selling my life?"
Tang Yuanyuan had already left, leaving only Tang Aiguo lying on the ground crying.
The neighbors explained to Tang An, "Xiao An, that mother-in-law and daughter-in-law wanted 5,000 yuan to get your father to sign a letter of understanding. Fortunately, your sister came home and caught this, otherwise, your mother would have died an unjust death."
"Xiao An, you have to have ambition. If you take the money that will cost you your life, you will be struck by lightning."
"Xiao An, even though your sister beat your father, it was your father who deserved it. Don't blame your sister. Your father deserved it."
Tang Aiguo, lying on the ground, looked like a pile of shit, and everyone looked at him with disdain.
Tang An unconsciously supported his forehead. Tang Yuanyuan, hit his father in public?
He bent down, a look of disappointment on his face. "Dad, you're so confused."
"Did you listen to the instigation of your second and third uncles again?"
"How can you accept this kind of money?"
Aunt Wang praised: "Fortunately, the children of the Tang family are all sensible people. The elder sister is sensible, and the younger brother is not confused either."
"That's right," everyone praised, "Fortunately, Xiao An still understands."
"The second and third wives of the Tang family are such scoundrels, they even harm their own brothers."
"That's right, my parents-in-law don't take care of me, but they're really good at calculating money and the house."
Everyone cursed.
*
Today, Li Mu had more than half a sack of clothes left unsold, and most of them were women's clothing. This is very common when selling clothes, and there must be leftovers. The reason why Tang Yuanyuan was able to sell them all was mainly because of her eloquence and good taste in clothes.
But Li Mu obviously has no vision in women's clothing, or rather, his vision in selling clothes is very average. The reason he can have a piece of this cake now is purely because there is too little competition, and people of this generation are still ignorant.
Although the Li family's courtyard gate was closed, the outer lock was not locked, which meant that Tang Yuanyuan was at home.
Tang Yuanyuan doesn't interact much with people in this area, so when she is at home, she always closes the gate. This is her habit.
Li Mu was worried about what to do with the half-sack of clothes in his bag.
The problem is that Tang Yuanyuan can't go out again. If he sees his sacks, he will know how slowly he sells his goods.
This is so embarrassing.
Aunt Huang stood at the gate: "Xiao Mu, you're already at the door, why don't you come in?"
Li Mu's heart skipped a beat when he heard the loud and pretentious voice. If Tang Yuanyuan heard the sound and came out, wouldn't he be caught red-handed?
Li Mu quickly stopped the car, and then he thought of an idea. He stuffed the sack into Aunt Huang's arms and lowered his voice: "Aunt, let's put it at your house for a while."
Aunt Huang: "What is this? Clothes?"
...I’m going to die from this loud voice!
Li Mu coughed quickly and said, "Well, this is to thank you for always taking care of me. I remembered it and wanted to give you something."
He thought of a solution in a hurry: "Aunt Huang, you take it home and pick out whichever you like. The rest can be left at your house until I get the goods back. I have to go get the goods early tomorrow morning. This person is not at home, and I am worried that it is not safe to leave it at home."
Aunt Huang: "Okay."
"Oh, by the way, let me tell you, just now, your little partner went home and beat up her dad. Tang Aiguo usually looks like a very honest person, but he is so wicked that he actually forgave a murderer for 5,000 yuan. He really lacks virtue."
Li Mu frowned: "Didn't Tang An care about Tang Aiguo taking the money?"
Aunt Huang sighed, "That child is good at studying, but not at this. That mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are so mean to him. They sent him out to buy spareribs. To me, this child is too honest. He was bullied by them like that. He can't even look at himself, and he still cooks for them."
Li Mu frowned. Is Tang An's brain broken? He was actually bullied by a woman like that.
He pushed open the gate and put down his bicycle.
There was the aroma of sweet potato porridge in the kitchen. Tang Yuanyuan was doing homework in the living room. She glanced at him and didn't look away.
Li Mu parked his car and placed the washstand on the porch. He filled a basin with water and said, "Well, it's too boring to stay at home. I rode my bike to the river to swim. I'm not going to sell anything. I've sold all the clothes."
"Aunt Huang always takes care of me. I left a piece of clothing for her. She told me about your family and we chatted for a while."
"oh."
Tang Yuanyuan didn't understand why he was explaining this to her.
Continue to review your lessons with your head down.
Next door, Aunt Huang has a round figure. She searched through the bag and finally found a piece of clothing that was a little fatter. How did she wear this piece of clothing? It looked like a net bag.
I can't wear this out.
Aunt Huang put it on outside. Li Mu didn't even close the gate and walked into the yard, shouting loudly: "Xiao Mu, is this how you wear this dress? Why do I feel like I'm using it to fish?"
"All your clothes are too small. This is the only one that fits you."
Tang Yuanyuan held the pen and tilted her neck to the side.
I saw Aunt Huang wearing a floral shirt with a fishing net on the outside. The fishing net looked a bit like the fishing net that Zhu Bajie was hung up in in Journey to the West.
...What kind of look is this?
When Li Mu heard Aunt Huang's voice, his eyelids jumped and he rushed out of the kitchen and pulled the person out.
Li Mu comforted Aunt Huang and came back with a spatula. "Well, the clothes I brought for Aunt Huang don't fit her."
Tang Yuanyuan was speechless, once again speechless at Li Mu's look.
There are so many beautiful women's clothes in the market, why does he only pick the ugly ones?
I couldn't help but remind him: "Li Mu, people buy clothes because they want to look good in them."
Li Mu: "Yeah, I know. I always pick the pretty ones."
Is there something wrong with his eyes?
Tang Yuanyuan: "Why don't you just specialize in selling children's and men's clothes?"
Li Mu actually had the same idea in mind, but he refused to admit defeat: "I think women's clothing is also easy to sell, so I'll still bring some of both."
Tang Yuanyuan was too lazy to care about him. She had already reminded him anyway. If she said it too much, people would think she did it on purpose and was afraid that he would steal her business.
Li Mu went back to the kitchen and made a dish of mixed eggplant and a dish of pork and potatoes.
Tang Yuanyuan continued to eat only mixed eggplant and potatoes. "By the way, remember to put the money away. I see that more and more people in the compound are noticing our business."
Li Mu smiled coquettishly, and it was obvious that he was planning something harmful: "Then let him come. I want to see who is trying to take my money. I will make sure he never comes back."
Li Mu was in charge of all the dishes this week, so Tang Yuanyuan didn't have to wash the dishes after dinner and just went to read.
Li Mu washed the dishes, but before he could dry his hands, Zhao Dong arrived.
He took out fifty Great Unity notes.
"Xiao Mu, you take it."
Li Mu just glanced at him lightly, leaned back and leaned on the back of the chair.
"Uncle Zhao, I can earn money on my own now, so I don't need you to give me money."
Zhao Dong: "You earned it, it's yours. Your father lost it because he saved me. You are my responsibility. Take it."
Li Mu: "Uncle Zhao, the question is, can Aunt Zhao and Shunzi agree?"
Zhao Dong: "I am the head of the family. They have to agree even if they disagree. You don't have to care what they think. This is given to you by your uncle."
Zhao Dong put the money directly into Li Mu's pocket, as if he was afraid that Li Mu would not accept it.
Tang Yuanyuan felt something was strange.
Zhao Dong is just a worker, his salary is not high and his family is not rich.
If Li Mu was still young and unable to support himself before, he would have done everything he could to take care of him in order to repay his gratitude. Now that Li Mu can support himself, he can also concentrate on taking care of his own family.
This can be considered a perfect resignation.
Why are you still so stubborn and even want to borrow money to pay Li Mu's training fee?
Li Mu didn't want it, but someone forced it on him. His wife and children had long been dissatisfied. Wouldn't he make his family more discordant by doing this?
"The surname is Zhao!"
Aunt Zhao's eyes were fierce, and she rushed in with a desperate attitude: "Are you sick?"
"It was fine before, but now he can earn money on his own, more than you, and you're still trying to give him money. Can't you see what kind of life we live?"
Aunt Zhao felt like she was going crazy. Her family was not rich, and she was raising an outsider for nothing. The other person's food, clothing, and other necessities were better than her own son in every way.
She used to think that she would just have to wait until Li Mu grew up and got married.
I didn't expect him to be so stupid. Even though the other person no longer needed money, he still came forward to give money.
"Xiao Shun, your biological son, only went to a vocational high school. You want to send him, an outsider, to No. 1 Middle School. If the tuition you collected once wasn't enough and it was stolen, you have to collect it a second time."
"Can you still make ends meet at home?"
Aunt Zhao was so angry that she punched Zhao Dong madly.
Zhao Dong pushed Aunt Zhao to the ground and said, "Go home and stop embarrassing yourself here."
"I'll beat you up if you keep messing around, believe it or not?"
Aunt Zhao: "You keep beating me, beating me! How can we live like this? You gave all the money in the house to this little bastard. Is he Li Tong's son or yours? You never repay a favor like this."
Zhao Dong was so angry that he kicked Aunt Zhao on the leg: "If you don't want to live, then go to hell. It's not your turn to make decisions about family matters."
As Zhao Shun walked to the door, he saw his father punching and kicking his mother. He ran over and hit Zhao Dong in the stomach with his head: "How dare you hit my mother!"
"It's all about this little bastard again."
"Who is your biological son?"
Zhao Shun pulled off the belt around his waist and said, "Unfilial son, what did I teach you? Xiaomu's father saved my life, and this is how you treat your benefactor's child?"
As he said this, he started beating Zhao Shun on the spot.
Aunt Zhao whipped Zhao Dong madly again, trying to make him stop.
For a moment, the Li family's yard was in chaos, and the neighbors quickly came over.
The adults naturally pulled Zhao Dong along, and as for the child, they just needed to teach him slowly.
Aunt Zhao's hair was a mess, and she hugged Zhao Shun and cried. She couldn't live like this anymore, and she didn't care about face anymore. "... Can you guys give me some advice? Is this the right way to take care of someone?"
Zhao Shun stared at Zhao Dong angrily: "He is not my father. Don't expect me to take care of him in his old age. Just treat Li Mu as your son and live with him."
"Zhao Shun, Aunt Zhao, you've always felt unbalanced. Uncle Zhao takes care of me, and you haven't understood why he treats me better than his own son."
Li Mu walked over with the big unity pinched in his fingertips, and the neighbors spontaneously made way for him.
He stopped in front of the mother and daughter on the ground, looking down at them, with a giant deer a few steps away, and his leisurely gaze fell on Uncle Zhao's face.
The belt in Zhao Dong's hand fell to the ground with a clatter, his eyes as dark as ink: "Xiao Mu."
"Uncle treats you as his own son."
"I don't want to be your son. I have my own father."
He threw his hand into the air, and the money fell like flowers.
Zhao Dong knew that this day had finally come.
My legs went weak and I unconsciously stepped back.
Because Li Mu asked: "Uncle Zhao, you killed my father, right?"
"No."
"no."
"Your father is a gangster. He killed gangsters. They robbed me for my money."
That year, Li Mu was ten years old. Although his mother died during childbirth, his father played the role of both father and mother, and the life of the father and son was quite warm.
That night, Li Mu had a stomach upset, so his father took him to the clinic on his bicycle.
During those years, educated youth who had been sent to the countryside returned to the city, the urban population increased rapidly, but there were not many jobs, and there were often robberies by hooligans.
On his way home from get off work, Zhao Dong was stopped by a few young hooligans.
Li Mu, who was driving home, happened to see this scene. He parked his bicycle at the entrance of the alley and asked Li Mu to run to the street to call the police, while he went to stop the hooligans: "Hey, what are you doing!"
"Someone has called the police and they are here soon."
If they were ordinary little hooligans, they would have stopped and run away immediately. After all, they were two adult men.
Unfortunately, Zhao Dong and Li's father were unlucky. The little hooligans they met were arrogant and cruel.
When Li Mu called the adults over, Li's father was already lying in a pool of blood with his eyes completely closed.
This case remains an unsolved case to this day. Ten-year-old Li Mulai stayed at the police station, crying and begging them to find the murderer and compensate them for his father.
The police said that there were no fingerprints on the murder weapon, the victim was wearing gloves when he committed the crime, and the characteristics did not match those of the murderers in other robberies here. There were no useful clues, and they would have to wait until they got some clues to find the person.
Li Mu was very young at that time and couldn't understand.
All he knew was that the man who killed his father was fine.
One day on a thunderstorm night, Zhao Dong was delivering something wearing a raincoat, and Li Mu's mind suddenly flashed back to the moment he had already forgotten.
Zhao Dong was squatting on the ground at that time. A silver light flashed and there was a sound of something falling to the ground.
At that moment, Li Mu suddenly understood that Zhao Dong was wiping the fingerprints off the knife.
"Fingerprints, did you wipe them off?"
“Uncle Zhao, why do you want fingerprints?”
Zhao Dong covered his mouth: "Don't talk nonsense, I didn't."
"Why would I wipe my fingerprints?"
Later, Li Mu frantically collected social news cases about robbery in newspapers and studied detective cartoons.
It wasn't until he saw a similar case that he understood.
The gangster brought a knife and asked Zhao Dong to choose between killing him or Li's father.
Zhao Dong chose to kill Li's father. He was forced to hold the knife handle and stab it into Li's father's heart.
Zhao Dong was afraid of being shot, so he concealed the gangster's characteristics and a lot of the information he reported was wrong.
"Uncle Zhao, did you kill my father?"
Li Mu was eleven years old that year and asked him the same question.
Zhao Dong shook his head and said no. He had seen too much Conan. Those little hooligans were fierce. If Father Li had not come, he would have been the one to die.
That afternoon, the surface of the Ring River shone with a golden light. Li Mu jumped out of the river and said, "Uncle Zhao, swimming is so refreshing."
But he was met with a pair of gloomy eyes. The eyes that always looked at him kindly seemed to be under a spell. They could not hear Li Mu calling him and just stared at him.
Step by step, approaching him.
Eleven-year-old Li Mu felt a chill in his tailbone. Uncle Zhao opposite him looked like a snake or a centipede. He unconsciously swam backwards, already half crying.
At the moment of death, all the details were magnified: the strong arms and the slowly opened big hands were taken out of the water out of thin air, and the water droplets were still dripping down his hands.
As if suddenly, a strange man who had never been seen before suddenly jumped into the river to swim.
The banks of this river have not been developed yet and are still muddy roads. Everyone swims in the area where the bend is in front, and there is no one on the roadside.
This passerby appeared out of nowhere, crashed into the lake with a thud, sending up a splash, and then cursed, "Fuck, that's cool."
"It's so hot!"
Zhao Dong gradually came back to his senses from his trance. He didn't dare look at Li Mu anymore and dived into the water. It was a long time before he came out, gasping for breath.
From then on, Zhao Dong treated Li Mu like his own father. All the money in the family was given to Li Mu, and Zhao Shun, his biological son, seemed like an outsider.
Li Mu's arm was like a sword of judgment, and his index finger pointed at Zhao Dong's eyebrows: "It's you!"
"You are the one who killed my father."
"My dad saw you were blocked by gangsters and went to save you regardless of the danger. But under the threat of the gangsters, you pointed the sword at my dad."
"In order to avoid punishment, you even helped the gangster escape by pointing out a false route and letting the adults chase him."
"I guessed the truth. You even wanted to kill me."
"Aunt Zhao, Zhao Shun, and Uncle Zhao are kind to me because they feel guilty about me and hope that I will keep this matter to myself forever."
"He feared being judged by the police, by his neighbors and colleagues, and was afraid that others would know that he was a complete villain."
Zhao Dong's eyes were already dazed, his head kept shaking, the gazes falling on him were like swords, and the silent silence of the crowd was a condemnation of him.
"no."
"no."
"I don't."
"It was the gangsters who killed him, not me."
"ah!"
Perhaps he himself could not deny it, so he held his head and yelled, ran home like a madman, closed the front door, then closed the door of his room, and locked himself in the room. In this way, he was no longer that despicable villain.
No one expected that Zhao Dong, who was admired by everyone for his kindness and righteousness, would do such a wicked thing.
Li Mu looked at Aunt Zhao and Zhao Shun and said, "You two should get out of my house too. From now on, my Li family and your Zhao family will have nothing to do with each other."
Aunt Zhao stared at Li Mu. She really didn't expect that the truth behind it would be like this.
"Impossible! Don't even think about blaming my husband for your father's death."
He supported Zhao Shun and went home.
The neighbors wanted to comfort Li Mu, but Li Mu was obviously not in the mood to listen, so he said a few polite words and dispersed in groups of two or three, chatting and gossiping.
Aunt Huang asked Tang Yuanyuan to keep an eye on Li Mu, and if she needed anything, she would come over when she was called.
Li Mu stood under the tree in the yard, his back straight, his eyes looking in the direction of the Zhao family.
Because he was facing away from him, Tang Yuanyuan couldn't see his face.
"Li Mu, I wronged you."
What kind of psychological torture is it to be raised by an enemy?
There was a hint of sarcasm in Li Mu's voice, and it was unclear whether he was crying. His voice was very soft, as if he was talking to himself, or to Tang Yuanyuan.
“Don’t be a good person.”
"To be a bad person, be scheming and selfish."
"Being a good person doesn't end well."
Tang Yuanyuan didn't know what to say: "Come in first."
"Don't mind me."
Li Mu did not move, his back straight, like a tree, rooted here, vowing to wait for Zhao Dong's end.
This is destined to be a sleepless night.
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