But Song Zhili refused.

“I want to stay here,” he said.

"Okay." Xia Wan didn't force him, and said, "If you want to stay, stay. I'll stay with you."

Xia Wan lowered her head and took out her cell phone to send a message to Jiang Yushi and Wei Chiyan, telling them that she had found Song Zhili and that they could come back.

Then Xia Wan turned off her cell phone and threw it on the table, placing it together with Song Zhili's cell phone which had been turned off for a long time.

At this moment, there were only two of them left here.

There are no external factors that can disturb them.

Xia Wan walked to Song Zhili's side and looked up at the moon with him.

Song Zhili asked: "What did you see?"

Xia Wan answered without thinking: "This moon is big and round, like a naan. Song Zhili, when shall we go to eat a big plate of mooncakes?"

Xia Wan's thoughts were always jumping around. She said these words very naturally, as if she didn't care where they were at all.

As soon as Xia Wan finished speaking, she couldn't help but sneeze because of the cold wind.

Song Zhili sighed.

As if he had no choice but to compromise, he said, "Let's go to the bedroom."

The bedroom, that's where the bed is.

But because it is a certain distance from the balcony, the windows are sealed with plastic sheets, so at least we don't have to face the cold wind directly.

Xia Wan rubbed her nose with her hand, looked at the empty wooden bed, and asked, "Did you sleep here last night? It's too cold. You'll catch a cold without a blanket in this weather."

Song Zhili did not answer Xia Wan's question, but lowered his eyes and murmured: "Yes, it's cold, but they live like this every day."

Xia Wan didn't understand and asked, "Who are they?"

"The buyers of the Dragon and Phoenix buildings, the people who dreamed of moving into new houses, the victims of the unfinished buildings." Song Zhili closed his eyes and said the extremely cruel but unforgettable figures to him: "Nine buildings, a total of 473 households. In the past 20 years, 37 families have relatives who died without living in the new houses they had been looking forward to."

Xia Wan was stunned.

Song Zhili smiled sarcastically, but he looked so lonely even though he was smiling.

He said: "My father participated in the investment of this building, but he was not the person in charge. The nominal owner of the room we are staying in was my mother."

From Song Zhili's narration, Xia Wan learned that this property was once invested in by Song's father, who said it was a gift for Song's mother. However, due to a broken funding chain, the property could not be built. For his own benefit, Song's father chose to delay the construction period. In fact, he just absconded with the money and designed a plan to get away successfully.

In response to Song's mother's accusations, Song's father said that the decision was made in an emergency and that the project would be postponed for two years at most and would definitely continue with construction.

However, this delay lasted for twenty years.

Song's father had nothing to do with this unfinished building any longer. He would not spend his own money to continue the construction. What did other people's life and death have to do with him?

Song Zhili's eyelashes trembled slightly, and he continued: "Do you know? It is very difficult for ordinary people to buy a house in the imperial capital. In order to support the elderly or send their children to school, most of them have to rely on loans to borrow money to make a down payment. And Song Ze, for his own selfish desires, easily destroyed the lifelong efforts of ordinary people and even several generations of their families. To this day, some of them are still carrying a mortgage for this rotten building, like a never-ending hole. Some people died of overwork at work because of the great family pressure they had to bear, or committed suicide."

Song Zhili found it increasingly difficult to utter each word; he even felt his breathing becoming rapid.

These were the past that he hated, resented, and loathed, but he could do nothing about.

Xia Wan didn't know what to say at this moment. She could only repeat over and over again: "Song Zhili, this is not your fault. Don't blame yourself. None of this is your fault."

It happened before he was born, so what does it have to do with him?

The person who should repent, take responsibility, and go to hell for this matter is his father.

Even though Xia Wan said this, she knew that her words had no power at the moment.

If Song Zhili could let it go so easily, he wouldn't be here now.

The boy looked at her with red eyes and asked, "Would you like to walk with me?"

Xia Wan nodded.

Night.

Xia Wan grabbed the corner of Song Zhili's clothes, held up a flashlight and followed him.

However, even so, Xia Wan took every step very carefully, for fear that there was an unnoticed pit somewhere and she would step on it and fall into it.

But Song Zhili is different. Even if the road ahead is pitch black, he can step on each step accurately.

Xia Wan noticed this and asked, "Do you know this place well?"

However, what Song Zhili said next made Xia Wan even more unbelievable.

“I lived here for six months after my mother died.”

Here?

How could one live in this rotten, unfinished building without even doors or windows for half a year? Was it safe? Song Zhili was still a child at the time, how could he live here?

Xia Wan had so many questions that she didn't know where to start.

However, Song Zhili seemed to know what she was surprised about.

They stopped at the seventh floor.

Song Zhili stood at the door and looked into the house.

There are relatively more furnishings here. Although the furniture is covered with dust and cobwebs, it is still obvious that someone lived here for a long time many years ago.

Song Zhili introduced everything here: "When I came, there were still some people living here. For example, in Room 702, there lived a middle-aged unemployed man. Because he spent all his family savings on buying a house here, his wife finally chose to divorce him and took the children back to the countryside."

He looked at the building opposite and continued, "Coincidentally, on the seventh floor opposite, there lived a single mother with a daughter. She had a very happy family, but because she couldn't move into the new house and had to bear the mortgage, her husband worked three jobs outside and died of overwork on the construction site in less than two years."

He knew this place too well because he had witnessed too many wives and children being separated and families being broken up here, and all of this was caused by his father.

Seeing the loneliness in Song Zhili's eyes, Xia Wan changed her grip from his sleeve to his wrist and increased her strength.

Xia Wan didn't say anything, but just used this way to remind Song Zhili of her existence.

At this moment, she was willing to be his listener.

Song Zhili pursed his lips and continued, "There are also elderly people living alone whose sons have lost all their life savings and are no longer able to support them in such a big city. They have no choice but to live here. There are too many such examples. When I came here, I told them that my mother was the owner of this place and my father died with her, so I can only live here with a bank card left by my mother."

After hearing this, those people felt sorry for the young Song Zhili.

Even though their lives were so poor that they couldn't even afford the smallest single room and had to live in this empty, run-down building, they still took good care of the child. Whenever someone cooked meat, they would invite Song Zhili to eat together, and they even pieced together some money to help Song Zhili decorate his room.

They are clearly victims, and clearly have lost everything and are unable to protect themselves, but in such a desperate situation, they are still kind and convey love and hope to each other.

For example, the wooden bed in Song Zhili's room was bought for him at the lowest price by the alcoholic uncle on the ninth floor and the unemployed uncle from 702, who bargained with the boss in the second-hand market for two hours and almost got into a quarrel.

As for that wardrobe, it was moved out from the house that the graduate student who lived on the sixth floor opposite had rented before and the landlord no longer wanted it and she was going to replace it. She also specially asked someone to help transport it over and gave it to Song Zhili for use.

As for the set of tables and chairs, it is Song Zhili's most precious thing.

An uncle who used to be a carpenter saw the report card on his schoolbag and immediately praised him for his potential in study. He made a set of tables and chairs for him and told him to study hard no matter what to bring honor to his deceased parents.

Song Zhili still can't forget that the carpenter uncle gave him the table and chairs and said with a smile: "Uncle believes in you. You will be able to buy any beautiful house in this big city in the future. You are still young, and you will not live in a place like this forever."

Song Zhili was still young at that time, and he couldn't help but say: "Uncle, I swear, you won't live here forever."

One day, he would resume construction of this unfinished building and give these people the homes they deserved.

The carpenter smiled and shook his head, saying, "Uncle can't wait any longer."

That night, the carpenter uncle said it was his son's birthday, so he bought a lot of food and delivered it door to door.

In such an environment, no gift is more practical than edible food.

But some people noticed something was wrong. At that time, there were dozens of families living in the rotten-end building. Delivering meat, eggs and vegetables to every household was a considerable expense.

The carpenter uncle also brought a box of milk to Song Zhili and said with a smile: "My son used to like this brand the most. You are too thin. You should drink more milk to be stronger."

He sighed and continued, "You can't compare you to my son. You are a good kid, unlike him. That rascal in my family has been disobedient and has never studied since he was young. I promised to bring him to the big city when I have money in the future, but I can't let him live with me in a place like this, right? If I were more capable, I would bring him home and discipline him by my side. Don't look down on him because he is from the country and has never seen the world. You are such a smart and good kid. If my son knew you, I wish he could learn a little bit from you."

Song Zhili said, "Uncle, don't worry. If he comes, I will eat, live and go to school with him. I won't let anyone look down on him. I have good grades and have always been the top student in our school. It doesn't matter if he didn't like studying before. I don't go to school now anyway. I can teach him from scratch. I will definitely teach him well and let him get into college."

The carpenter uncle touched Song Zhili's head with his big hand, tears in his eyes, and just repeated: "Good boy, you are the best child uncle has ever seen."

He looked at Song Zhili with kindness, as if he was looking at his own son.

That night, the carpenter uncle sat on Song Zhili's bed for a long time, and they talked for a long time. He only left when Song Zhili felt sleepy.

But later, no one saw the carpenter uncle again.

Until he appeared in the newspaper news, it was reported that he committed suicide by undercover.

Because his wife died early, and his son was fostered in the countryside for many years without anyone to discipline him, and died in a fight last month, there was really no meaning for the carpenter uncle to live.

Song Zhili found a cloth bag at the head of his bed.

That was the carpenter uncle's last savings, two hundred and sixty-three yuan and seventy cents wrapped in a piece of cloth, and he left it all to Song Zhili.

That day Song Zhili felt that he should cry, but he didn't.

This time, the carpenter uncle will definitely be able to reach his son earlier, teach him in time, and not let him go astray again.

And it was because of this that Song Zhili truly realized that he could not stay here forever to escape reality.

This is just a bad end, not a utopia.

Moreover, his father and his mistress wished that he died outside, so that everything would be theirs. This would only make his relatives sad and his enemies happy.

So after half a year, Song Zhili returned to the Song family, the place he hated so much that even every breath of air he breathed seemed disgusting.

Even so, he was no longer as thorny as before, arguing with his father coldly and mocking his stepmother. Instead, he knelt down and begged his father to let him go home.

He had smoothed out all his edges outside, and in Song Ze's view, his son had suffered enough hardship outside and was finally willing to bow his head.

After all, he was already surprised that such a young child could hold on for so long.

From then on, Song Zhili was what everyone saw.

Gentle and tolerant of everything in the world, perfect to the point of being impeccable, these are also the conditions he must possess to survive in the Song family.

Because he had to stay, he had to put down roots.

Only in this way will he be able to take back what originally belonged to him one day in the future, and return everything that does not belong to the Song family to others.

When Song Zhili said this, his voice was relatively calm and his emotions gradually stabilized.

I've been to a place so many times that I can eventually control myself even if I'm emotionally moved by the scene.

Wei Chiyan and Jiang Yushi didn't even know that such an incident had happened. They just thought that he had been hiding away for self-protection because he was too devastated by his mother's death. Although Xie Chen knew that he had lived here for a long time and knew what he cared about deep down, Song Zhili had never told him in such detail about every detail that had happened here.

This was the first time that he completely tore open the scar in his heart.

The blood is dripping, filled with the past.

Xia Wan looked up, because the person who was trying hard not to cry was actually her.

Song Zhili seemed a little surprised by Xia Wan's reaction. Then he smiled faintly and reached out to wipe Xia Wan's tears: "Why are you crying?"

Xia Wan shook her head and said, "I was just wondering why this scumbag has not received retribution until now, and has ruined the lives of so many people. Why can he still enjoy everything with peace of mind?"

He said, “Yes.”

One day he will do it.

Xia Wan looked into Song Zhili's eyes and said seriously: "I will help you. No matter what you want to do, we will help you."

What do you want to do?

Song Zhili smiled, but thought for a long time.

Finally, he said: "I have lost my home for a long time, and I want to give these people their homes back."

The author has something to say:

I will answer all the questions here about why people can buy popular properties but still have to pay off mortgages and end up in poverty.

My understanding of unfinished buildings basically comes from some videos I watched on Bilibili. Popular buildings that once required connections to buy ended up being unfinished buildings and people with mortgages had to move in. This is a real story that happened in a certain city. There is no need to discuss whether it is reasonable or not because it is reality.

My personal understanding is that buying a house is a lifelong career for Chinese people. Everyone will definitely buy the best for their children and families. I think it is already very impressive for ordinary people to be able to save up the down payment in a big city, and it is also normal to pay off the mortgage. How can so many people just buy a house in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou with full payment? Moreover, there must be a gap between the rich and the poor among the four or five hundred households here. Those who really don’t need this little money will not come here. The people Song Zhili met must have emptied their family savings to buy a house, and naturally there is no way out when they encounter a badly finished building.

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution during 2022-07-31 19:00:42~2022-08-01 00:17:22~

Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: Sunflowers Falling to the World, Cellphone Jammed, Xiaoxiaoling, and Moyue 1;

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Hu Pigeon 52 bottles; Triumphant Return, Fuyang 20 bottles; Xiaoji Yu Di 10 bottles; Name is not more important than face 8 bottles; Grapefruit is not sweet, Qiqi is not Qiqi 7 bottles; Romantic Little Fairy, Awakening, Chongran, Waiting for a Handful of Summer Stars, Cheese Lobster 5 bottles; Guaiguai, Aurora 3 bottles; Qingwu, I don't care whether you have something to do or not, It's all right, Xueluo, Songkeke 2 bottles; Jingjia, □□□□□, Xingjinwanhuizhou, Hashimoto Kanna, Shadow Guchu, I'm going to sleep, Ask God for mercy, Quiet but not quiet, Laiyigen, Danyunwangyueshushu 1 bottle;

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!