Chapter 2: Wang Zhi Zi

  Outside the factory area is Donggang Road, which has been repaired for a year but still hasn't been fully fixed. On one side of the road, there's a large empty space where many trucks are parked at this moment. Steel materials have been in short supply over the past two years, and each truck that goes out can bring in a profit of 700,000 to 800,000 yuan. This is also something Shen Fang has been unable to understand - if you embezzle public funds, don't you have to take on huge risks? But with just a casual approval, you can get hundreds of thousands of yuan into your account; isn't that easier, more convenient, and safer?

  After turning a few streets, they arrived at the poorest Erma Alley in Donggang District. The alley was exceptionally quiet, not even a breeze, and the scorching sun shone on the bluestones, constantly evaporating heat waves. It wasn't until then that Shen Fang felt some summer-like atmosphere. Sweat quickly soaked through his back, clinging tightly to his body, sticky like a layer of greasy pigskin.

  Creeping along the wall, eyes scanning the door numbers that are not even connected, in my impression, most of the people living here were originally retired workers from Dongfang Steel Factory. But in the past two years, many private bosses who run goods have temporarily settled down here, and as a result, there are also underground brothels and gambling dens. Not to mention the mixed crowd, the population mobility is also very large, wanting to find someone is really not an easy thing.

  Under a large pagoda tree, two old men were playing chess. Shen Fang didn't want to disturb them, so he first went into the nearby store and bought a bottle of soda water, which he drank in one gulp. Then he took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, squatted down beside them quietly watching until they finished their game. He hastily handed over the cigarettes and took the opportunity to ask about the whereabouts of the person he was looking for.

  "Qiu Qinghe... " The old man who won the chess game pinched his cigarette with two dark and greasy fingers, took a few puffs, removed the very comical large glasses from the bridge of his nose and put them in his pocket. He looked Shen Fang up and down, laughed extremely slyly, and said to the old man opposite him: "Wang Laozi, look, even a young kid who still smells like milk has come to our doorstep. Now do you believe what I said? A beautiful woman, a good gentleman, since even children are coming to join in the fun, why can't we two old brothers go take a look?"

  "It's not that they have no choice, who would want to sell their daughter like a commodity? And Qinghe has been a beauty since she was young, with a slightly better family background, she's destined to be a big star in the future. At this time, even if we neighbors can't help, it's fine, but why go watch the commotion and get ridiculed?" Wang Lai Zi sighed, shook his head, stretched his neck and asked Shen Fang, "You, do you know Qinghe?"

  "King Lazy Eye looked at you and asked, how could he not recognize Qiu Yaotou? Ever since Qiu Yaotou grew up, every time she went out, wasn't there a big group of people sneaking around behind her? Which man in this area hasn't had evil thoughts... it's just that Qiu Yaotou doesn't know him." Old Mo said, blowing smoke rings.

  In his past life, Shen Fang had seen Qiu Qinghe before, on the second night after Yao Qili's death. At that time, it was raining heavily, and Shen Fang saw a breathtakingly beautiful woman kneeling in the rain at Yao Yu's door, reluctant to leave for a long time. Shen Fang remembered that she was the only one who came to pay respects to Yao Qili. His mother had warned him not to let Fu Auntie know, but Shen Fang didn't quite understand why at that age. The delicate and sorrowful face of the woman made him feel guilty and self-reproachful, aside from the pain. It was said that she was Yao Qili's mistress outside, but Shen Fang didn't quite believe it. Later, he also investigated her and only knew that she had lived in Erma Alley, but disappeared after '93.

  At first, he called himself a little kid, now he's inexplicably mocking himself. Shen Fang couldn't help but feel annoyed, yet his face suddenly lit up with an "ah-ha" as he said: "Master, are you surnamed Xu?"

  "Huh?" Old Mo raised his head in surprise and looked at Shen Fang, "How did you know my surname is Xu?"

  "Is that bike repair shop at the south end yours?" Shen Fang crouched down, his right hand supporting his chin as he spoke slowly and deliberately, "Just now when I passed by, a man gave me two bucks and asked me to take a look if you're in the store."

  "Is it a man?" Old Mo's glasses jumped up like a needle poking his butt, grabbing Shen Fang's arm, his face scrunched up, "What does that man look like? Is he bald with an eagle nose and a face full of acne?"

  "Really... what's wrong?" Shen Fang had an innocent face, "He is your daughter's boyfriend, right? I saw him as soon as he went in, hugging and kissing your daughter..."

  "Damn it!" Old Mo ran home, cursing as he went, "Bitch, cheap goods, this time I'll catch you and chop you up, you dog couple!"

  Sitting down on the wooden bench in front of Lao Mo's mirror, Shen Fang found Wang Zuizi smiling at him with a profound meaning, and couldn't help but sigh, "Nowadays, isn't it advocated to be free to love, and not allowed to arrange marriages? Why is Xu Shifu still so angry."

  "That's not his daughter." Wang Zuozi lowered his head, slowly moving the chess pieces, with a mischievous smile at the corner of his mouth, just like Shen Fang's, "That's his new wife he just bought from the countryside."

  "Really?" Shen Fang exclaimed, "This is going to be exciting! I wonder if Master Xu can beat that bald guy. Shall we go take a look?"

  "Is there really a bald head? Or is it something you made up?" After arranging the chess pieces, Wang Lai Zi raised his head and squinted at Shen Fang who was laughing loudly. "Old Xu has always been a shrewd person, but I didn't think he would also have a moment of blindness... How did you know that he's the boss of Xu's Repair Shop?"

  "My nose is good, my eyes are also quite suitable, although I'm not a connoisseur, but I rarely misjudge. Shen Fang naturally revealed an expression that was far from matching his age, 'I didn't wrong that woman either, when I passed by and heard footsteps inside, she ran out immediately, seeing it was me, she had a very disappointed and heart-aching expression, just now Master Xu scolded her as cheap goods, also not wronging her.'"

  Wang Wazi nodded, feeling that the young man in front of him was somewhat different from others. He sniffed his nose and looked at him with his eyes, saying that it was simple, but without decades of accumulation day by day, ordinary people would find it difficult to grasp so many things from trivial matters. Moreover, he had just been subjected to some anger, and in an instant, he counterattacked, as if he had come to tease Old Xu from the very beginning.

  The pieces were all set, and the two of them naturally started playing. Shen Fang was a master of Chinese chess, having won the championship in the Hangzhou University Chess Tournament during his college days. He played with ease, but instead of mercilessly checkmating Wang, he always left a way out that required careful consideration for half a day to figure out.

  "Alas, I'd rather die quickly than drag it out!" Wang Zilai tossed his general chess piece into the iron box on the ground and asked Shen Fang for a cigarette, "Do you have something to do with Qinghe?"

  "I'm here to buy her back as a wife." Shen Fang replied with a smile.

  Wang Cui's eyes stared at Shen Fang for half a day, squeezing out two words from her mouth, "Really?"

  "It's fake. But if she's willing, I wouldn't mind buying a top-quality wife to take back." Shen Fang sighed and casually slid the chess pieces on the board with his left hand.

  "Have you seen her? Isn't she beautiful?" Wang Lazi had a smug expression on his face, as if Qiu Qinghe was someone special to him.

  Shen Fang didn't know how to respond, so he thought for a moment and nodded, "A long time ago, I caught a glimpse of her, she was indeed beautiful, the kind that could make people crazy and ruin families...I think even after twenty years, she would still be a stunning woman...but women like her usually don't have good endings, unless they're with the right person..."

  Wang Wazi seemed to be thinking of something, and after a while, he raised his hand and pointed to the three-story red brick house across the street. "Her home is just there, on the third floor, second room from the left at the top of the stairs. It seems like she only returned last night."

  "Didn't she live here?" Shen Fang asked in surprise.

  "I'm studying in Shanghai, and it's almost the end of the semester. This thing has caused such a commotion that I had to rush back, and now my exams will probably be delayed too... Alas, I'm also a poor girl...". Wang Lazi bowed his back to pick up the chess pieces, waved at Shen Fang and walked into the small shop.

  She's already in college? She looks older than I imagined. I wonder what her relationship with Yao Qili is, if she's really his girlfriend, then I can only admire Yao Qili's irresistible charm!

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