The men who arrived were all tall and big. Those who regularly set up stalls on West Street recognized them.
This group was the local bullies of West Street, specializing in collecting protection money. Unlike other hoodlums who charged outrageous protection fees and did no good deeds, they had a pretty good reputation in this area.
The leader, upon seeing Guaizai, laughed: "Well, little guy, it's you!"
As soon as he said this, the man in blue robes and the man in brown robes knew they had truly kicked an iron plate. They glanced at each other and wanted to sneak away, but they had only taken two steps when two men closed in behind them.
The leader knew Guaizai, and Guaizai knew him too.
These uncles had bought blood sausage from him and had praised him for being cute.
Guaizai hugged the leader's leg. The leader bent down, pinched his little face, and asked: "What's wrong? Were you bullied?"
"En!" Guaizai nodded, pointing at the two men, said: "They wanted to hit Guaizai!"
The leader, having received instructions from Fang Zichen, immediately gave his subordinate a look. Seeing a group of strong men cracking their knuckles and surrounding them, the man in blue robes' legs trembled: "We didn't hit him, it's a misunderstanding, it's a misunderstanding."
The leader didn't pay them any mind. These two men reeked of rouge and powder and looked shifty-eyed. Even if it really was a misunderstanding, so what? They'd just beat them up.
Guaizai watched them being dragged into the small alley and laughed, his eyes curving, his voice clear: "Thank you, uncles."
Even iron-willed men were melted by his cuteness.
"Next time someone dares to bully you, just tell your uncle."
After the crowd dispersed, Zhao Ger walked out with a stern, cold expression.
"Daddy~" Guaizai was still happy, pouncing next to Zhao Ger, seeking praise, said: "Guaizai did a good deed!"
"Turn your butt around," Zhao Ger said coldly.
Guaizai immediately covered his butt, not understanding: "Daddy?"
Zhao Ger squatted in front of him, his tone somewhat reproachful, and asked: "Before leaving the house, what did I tell you?"
Guaizai said honestly: "Daddy said not to run around, not to cause trouble."
Zhao Ger: "Then did you do that?"
"But father said, when you see injustice on the road, you should draw your sword to help." Guaizai said.
Zhao Ger choked for a moment, suspicious: "He said that? Just that? Nothing else?"
Guaizai muttered: "Father said, to act according to your ability, don't overestimate yourself, otherwise you won't know how you died."
Zhao Ger breathed a sigh of relief. That's what he thought, his husband couldn't be that unreliable.
"Then why did you rush out just now?"
"But Guaizai has people backing him up." Guaizai puffed out his small chest and said: "Father told me, he is the man backing me up, he will protect me. Whoever bullies me, father will beat them until they piss their pants."
Zhao Ger: "..."
His husband was still unreliable.
He couldn't let these two stay alone together in the future.
Zhao Ger felt a bit mentally exhausted.
Guaizai gave the old beggar blood sausage to eat. The old beggar occasionally would use leaves to fold little dragonflies or little grasshoppers for him.
The old beggar was a good person.
Good people shouldn't be hit.
Bad people should be hit.
Guaizai gently tugged at Zhao Ger's clothes, hung his head, and said: "Daddy, don't be angry."
He had a small bun tied on his head. His hair was fine and soft. Others who were malnourished would inevitably have rough hair, but Guaizai's malnutrition showed in his thinness.
His eyes were black and shiny, his small mouth pink, his neck no bigger than his wrist. The whole person was thin and short. When he looked at people pleadingly, he appeared very pitiful.
Zhao Ger touched his face and said reluctantly: "Daddy isn't angry, Daddy is just worried about you."
"Guaizai knows." Guaizai pressed his legs tightly together, his small hands pinching the corners of his clothes, his voice very soft: "Being hit hurts very, very much. Guaizai wanted to help him."
He said it very softly, but these words were like a heavy hammer, striking hard into Zhao Ger's chest. His heart ached terribly. He took several deep breaths to calm his wildly beating heart.
As soon as he closed his eyes, the image of Guaizai curled up on the ground being beaten and cursed by the Ma family appeared vividly before his eyes.
Only those who have experienced it, have been beaten, know that being beaten hurts very, very much.
When they were at the Ma family, Guaizai and Zhao Ger were often beaten.
Not only would Ma Dazhuang and Madam Ma beat them, sometimes Ma Laoer and Ma Laosan, if they were in a bad mood, would also hit them. They were like the Ma family's punching bags. Anyone who felt displeased could curse at them a few times or kick them a few times.
Zhao Ger usually had to work. Sometimes when it rained and it was inconvenient to take the child, he would tell Guaizai to stay in the woodshed and not come out.
Guaizai was beaten so often that he developed some fear of the Ma family. When he saw them, he would hide. But in the same courtyard, where they were constantly seeing each other, sometimes he could avoid them, sometimes he couldn't avoid them even by hiding.
The Ma family probably had bad genes in their bones. Once, Guaizai was going out and ran into Ma Laoer at the courtyard gate. He nervously moved far to the side, hung his head, trembling, pressed against the earthen wall, trying to reduce his presence as much as possible. But even so, Ma Laoer still noticed him. That day, it was unknown whether he had gotten angry outside or argued with Li Shi, but he was in a bad mood. Seeing Guaizai, he spat, went over in a few steps, grabbed Guaizai by the collar, lifted him up, slapped him, then threw him to the ground and kicked him hard twice.
Guaizai couldn't fight back. When he was beaten, it hurt so much he didn't even cry out, just silently shed a couple of tears. After Ma Laoer finished venting his anger and left, he lay for a long time, struggling several times but unable to get up. When Zhao Ger came back carrying firewood, he saw his son, curled up, lying on the ground alone like a little dog.
Lifting his clothes, his back, protruding because he was so thin, was covered with glaring blue-purple footprints.
Zhao Ger went crazy, grabbed a firewood knife and rushed to the main room, saying he would perish together with the Ma family.
The Ma family had three strong men. Even with a firewood knife, it was useless, he was beaten up. The Ma family threatened him, saying if he dared do that again next time, they would sell him and his son to a brothel.
In those times, there was no outward difference in appearance between a ger and other men. There were plenty of people with preferences for male companionship.
The Ma family had his indenture contract, they could sell him at will. His son was still young, Zhao Ger didn't dare gamble.
Guaizai knew Zhao Ger had been beaten by the Ma family because of him. After that, even if he was beaten again, he wouldn't tell Zhao Ger. He would just wipe his tears, pretend nothing was wrong, and run out to find Zhao Ger.
Because he had been beaten, he knew that when being beaten, that kind of pain would spread throughout the whole body, could make it hard to breathe, could cause temporary paralysis, could take a person's life.
No comments:
Post a Comment