Chapter 19: The Ordinary Man and the Saint
Turning back the clock an hour earlier, Zhou Haiming dragged Chen Shiwei out of the low-rent district. Chuanhai’s October was much colder than expected. He breathed out a puff of air, watching the mist dissipate before his eyes with a blank expression. It was his first time doing something like this, and Chen Shiwei was still a little nervous. He was a dull man and asked hesitantly, “Shouldn’t we call Xiao Qian too?”
Zhou Haiming didn’t answer, and Chen Shiwei didn’t dare to ask again.
The old security guard at the entrance of the community was still dozing off in his reclining chair, the alarm clock beside him clanging incessantly. As Zhou Haiming passed the gate, he glanced at the guard uneasily. Seeing that the latter was indifferent, he quickened his pace and entered the community. He wore a loose jacket, concealing an iron rod in his sleeve. The cold metal rod sent a chill through his head, and he said with a shiver, “Hurry up, stop dawdling.”
Chen Shiwei hung his head: “Haiming, let’s go back.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. This is a great opportunity for revenge.” Zhou Haiming said fiercely. “Don’t you want to seek justice for Brother Lu and Xiao Qian? We’ll sneak in, give that old bastard a whack, knock him out, and drag him out…”
“And then?”
“What then?”
“What do we do after knocking him out?”
“What do they do on TV? Don’t they always call the family and demand money?”
“Then how much should we ask for?”
“At least fifty thousand.”
Fifty thousand. This number stunned Chen Shiwei. He had never seen so much money in his life. Perhaps it was truly a simple desire for revenge, or perhaps it was pure greed, but Chen Shiwei stopped questioning Zhou Haiming’s decision and silently followed him.
The two arrived at An Gulai’s door and first knocked gently, but there was no response. Zhou Haiming took a deep breath, took out the iron rod, and smashed a hole in the old wooden door with a few blows. The neighbor next door heard the commotion and opened the door, but upon meeting the fierce gazes of the two delinquent youths, he quickly closed the door and pretended not to see anything.
An Gulai’s home was dead silent, as if no one had ever lived there. The two searched upstairs and downstairs roughly, but they couldn’t find An Gulai, let alone his daughter.
As the two rummaged through An Gulai’s house, An Baili, hiding under the bed, clutched a fruit knife tightly in her hand, her face pale. When she woke up, Lu Li was nowhere to be found, and she was so anxious that she was at her wit’s end. Just as she managed to calm down, she heard someone breaking in. An Baili only had time to find a fruit knife that hadn’t been used for many years. She didn’t dare to resist and could only cower under her bed.
If she were found by the bad guys, she would use this knife to kill herself. But she had just reconciled with Lu Li… Thinking of this, An Baili couldn’t help but start to cry.
Footsteps sounded at the door.
“Only this room hasn’t been thoroughly searched.”
“Search it. Take anything valuable.”
An Baili’s heart pounded. She didn’t even realize that her legs were trembling. At this critical moment, An Baili’s mind was filled with Lu Li’s smile. He stood with his back to the sun, reaching out a hand to her as she crouched in the corner, saying gently, “You look good in a skirt.”
The footsteps were getting closer.
“It seems like someone could hide under this bed?”
“Let’s see.”
An Baili’s heart was in her throat, her lips bitten raw. She held the fruit knife in front of her with all her might. At this moment, another hurried footstep approached from afar:
“Zhou Haiming! Stop right there!” It was Lu Li’s voice. He was still panting heavily. Lu Li leaned against the doorframe, unable to straighten his waist. His legs were completely numb, as if they weren’t his own. Damn it, he should have exercised more. He just hoped he wasn’t too late: “Zhou Haiming, what are you doing?”
Zhou Haiming and Chen Shiwei were each carrying a bulging backpack. They were stunned when they suddenly saw Lu Li. “Brother Lu, I… we, it’s not…”
Lu Li didn’t have the patience to listen to their answers. He finally caught his breath: “What did you do to the people in this house?”
“There’s no one here…”
“Slap!”
Before he could finish his sentence, Lu Li walked up and punched Zhou Haiming in the face. To prevent Zhou Haiming from resisting, Lu Li tightly locked his neck. This sudden change stunned Chen Shiwei, who could only watch as Lu Li subdued Zhou Haiming on the ground. It all happened in a flash. One second Lu Li was asking questions calmly, the next he was attacking Zhou Haiming.
“What are you doing?! Lu Li! Are you crazy?!”
“You’re the ones who are crazy!” Lu Li pressed Zhou Haiming’s neck with his thigh and looked at Chen Shiwei threateningly. “Is this how you repay me? Breaking and entering? Kidnapping? Assault? Huh?! Answer me!”
Chen Shiwei was a man without his own opinions. Hearing this, he just took two steps back: “No, no, it’s not like that, we just…”
“We’re avenging you! Avenging the children of our low-rent district!” Zhou Haiming was still shouting hysterically. “Lu Li, I misjudged you! You’re a traitor after all! Just like what Shuming said, you’re a traitor! You’re no longer on our side! Are you?!”
His words chilled Lu Li’s heart. He suddenly felt that everything he had done for them was not worth it. What revenge? They were clearly blinded by greed! Last time, it was Zhou Haiming who shouted, “I’ll risk my life to help you.” This time, it was also Zhou Haiming who shouted, “You’re a traitor.” Perhaps both were his true feelings, but his true feelings were too cheap.
“Lu Li, let me go! We’re still friends! Chen Shiwei! What are you waiting for, pull him off me!” Zhou Haiming roared.
Lu Li had always considered the low-rent district his roots, and he always hoped that the people living there would have a better life. But it seemed like it was just his wishful thinking. Some people, when called mud, would really become mud, allowing themselves to be trampled on, and even taking pride in being able to stain other people’s heels.
Enough was enough.
Lu Li suddenly let out a long breath, and the knot in his heart that had been there for years loosened. In his previous life, when he wanted to give back to the low-rent district, he found that his former friends had either moved away or disappeared, and he had lost contact with them. That’s why, after his rebirth, when faced with Chu Xiaodong’s request, he readily accepted it, hoping to make amends.
“Ruan Qian told me.” Lu Li’s words silenced the furious Zhou Haiming. “Zhou Haiming, if you want to fall, don’t drag others down with you. Go fall by yourself.” After saying that, he released Zhou Haiming. After being freed, Zhou Haiming just clutched his neck and backed away: “Lu Li, from now on, we’re done. You have nothing to do with our low-rent district anymore! Don’t pretend to be charitable to us anymore, and we won’t have anything to do with you!”
“Shiwei, let’s go!”
“An Gulai has been sent to the police. The past grievances are completely settled.” The “past grievances” he was referring to were not only about An Gulai, but also about him and his past friends. Perhaps life was a process of constant abandonment, abandoning innocence, abandoning beauty, abandoning past friendships, and abandoning misplaced sympathy.
Zhou Haiming paused, said nothing, and left angrily with Chen Shiwei.
After the two left, Lu Li sat on the ground and rubbed his sore thighs: “Baili, are you alright?”
An Baili poked her head out from under the bed pitifully: “You, you knew I was hiding here?”
“Of course.” Lu Li couldn’t help but smile. He finally understood something. “When you were wronged in the past, you liked to hide under the bed when you didn’t want to talk to me, just to see me worry when I couldn’t find you.”
He wasn’t a saint. He couldn’t satisfy everyone, and he couldn’t abandon An Baili either. He was just an ordinary person, as ordinary as they come. Perhaps he wasn’t greedy for money, but he was lustful, he liked beautiful women, he liked An Baili, he liked Chu Jingyi, and he liked Wen Hupo. Life was short, like morning dew on earth. Since he couldn’t be a saint, he might as well be an ordinary man who faced his true heart.
Pretending to be a saint was too tiring, it wasn’t for him.
An Baili crawled out from under the bed, tears streaming down her face. She was about to hug Lu Li, but he embraced her first, and then kissed her passionately, just like their first love.
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