Chapter 26

Less than a meter into the room was a large wooden board standing upright, covered with movie posters of all sizes, the largest of which was Joey Wong.

To the left of the wooden board was a passage; one could enter from here, provided one had bought a ticket at the small table to the right of the wooden board.

Sitting behind the small table was a woman in her early thirties, wearing a red undershirt and jeans, tall and thin, with a low neckline on the undershirt, where one could see the flower butterfly tattooed on her collarbone.

At this moment, she was holding a cigarette in her left hand and pressing a pager with her right, asking without raising her head: "How many people?"

"Four people, Sister Mei, haven't seen you for a while, you've become beautiful again."

"Sister Mei, is Brother-in-law not here? Are you watching the shop alone today?"

Pan Zi and Lei Zi were actively trying to get on her good side while giving money, saying nice things.

Actually, they weren't familiar with this Sister Mei, but they were at an age that was neither young nor old. As long as their mouths were sweet and they understood a bit of social awareness, when there weren't many guests, they could buy a ticket for the length of one movie and cheekily stay to watch one or two more.

Sister Mei put the money into the drawer, issued four tickets, and cursed while blowing smoke rings:

"Who knows where that bastard ran off to today!"

Sister Mei's man was nicknamed Leopard; he was a relatively famous hoodlum in this area of the town, known as Brother Leopard.

Without this kind of background, it wouldn't be suitable for a woman like Sister Mei to open this kind of video hall.

After getting the tickets, Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng followed Pan Zi and Lei Zi and walked in from the left. That wooden board not only separated the passage but also served to block the light from the door.

The space inside was quite large, and the middle was full of low, small long benches, like a simplified version of a cinema.

In the past, township cinemas could rely on collective tickets from local state-owned factories and state-owned units and act as temporary activity stages to maintain popularity. Now, after gradually detaching from public attributes, they couldn't avoid gradually declining.

This gave private video halls like Sister Mei's space for rapid and brutal growth and popularization.

Under the north wall in the front was a long cabinet, on top of which was an old color television, and below it was a video tape machine.

Runsheng was very excited and whispered in Li Zhuiyuan's ear: "Xiao Yuan, this television is much bigger than the one Great-Grandfather bought yesterday."

Li Zhuiyuan responded with a smile: "This one is big, but it's for everyone to watch together. No matter how small the one at home is, it's just for you to watch alone."

Runsheng also nodded: "That's the logic. But at night, all channels are just a fixed screen that doesn't move, making a 'beep' sound.

I almost thought the new television was broken by me as soon as it was bought, it scared me to death. Fortunately, there were channels again in the morning."

"Brother Runsheng, maybe the people at the television station have to rest at night too."

"Mm." Runsheng said regretfully, "It's a pity, can't they work day and night shifts?"

"Brother Runsheng, let's sit down."

Although it was the afternoon, there were already some people sitting inside. The movie currently playing was "Prison on Fire," starring Chow Yun-fat and Tony Leung.

Currently, the movie was only halfway through.

If there were no major accidents every day, the screening time period was basically fixed, so this point of buying a ticket to come in was also specially stepped on by Pan Zi and them, and they could get half a movie for free.

It wasn't easy for teenagers to have a little spare money in their hands, so they naturally learned how to split a penny in two, realizing their entertainment maximization with the least amount of money possible.

Li Zhuiyuan also noticed that in the southeast corner of the video hall, there was a deep, mysterious small door with a curtain.

It didn't look like it was used for cooking, because there was no smell of oil smoke.

Although it started from halfway, this didn't hinder everyone from quickly investing in the movie plot.

The viewing time passed very quickly. Accompanied by the iconic desolate and melancholy lens language of Xiangjiang films of this era, the movie ended.

In fact, before it ended, Sister Mei had already come in and stood by the television, not caring about destroying the atmosphere, shouting that the next movie was "A Better Tomorrow," and to get ready for the additional screening.

After it ended, a few people left for things, but most chose to buy additional tickets.

Sister Mei's gaze swept over Pan Zi and the others, but didn't say anything, which was considered tacitly agreeing that they had bought tickets for this session.

"A Better Tomorrow" began to play.

Xiangjiang films belonged to the peak period in this era, not only almost ruling the entire Chinese cultural circle but also having a huge influence in Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia.

The video tapes in the video hall were also dominated by Xiangjiang films, and occasionally there would be films from other countries, but the covers were all very explicit.

It's just that, having just finished watching a Brother Fa movie, and then connecting to another one, Li Zhuiyuan felt it was a bit hard to get into.

This feeling was very much like the older brothers in the family courtyard who, in order to thank him for helping them with their homework, insisted on pulling him to watch "Ultraman Leo" for a whole day.

One episode after another, and even fast-forwarding through the opening and ending songs. The frequency of one episode a day was indescribable happiness, but after a large quantity and satisfaction, only aesthetic fatigue remained under the same mode and routine.

Lei Zi went out once when changing tapes earlier and bought four bottles of soda from the small shop next door, one for each.

The money earned from moving bricks at the kiln factory wasn't actually much, and half of it was taken away by their parents. The money left in their hands was only enough to consume up to here.

The movie had only been playing for a quarter of an hour when four young people suddenly walked in. The leader didn't mind the heat and wore an ill-fitting suit vest, while the other three had their tops taken off and hung on their shoulders, a sense of hooliganism.

They were smoking, their voices were loud, and they even made exaggerated laughter when communicating.

They should have watched this movie long ago, and while chatting, they were spoiling the plot, and they habitually had to add a dirty word at the beginning or end of every sentence.

The people around were dissatisfied, but no one would say anything, after all, there were four of them.

Pan Zi and Lei Zi were whispering to Runsheng and Li Zhuiyuan to introduce who these four people were and what kind of reputation they had on the road.

Teenagers at this age had a very strange sense of worship for this kind of second-rate character, as if being able to know them was a very remarkable thing.

However, this generation of the old Li family, because of Li Lan, all attached great importance to education, and Pan Zi and Lei Zi were also in high school. If they had dropped out of school in junior high, they would probably be hanging out with them now.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't mind the smell of smoke, after all, Great-Grandfather Li Weihan and the others all smoked, but he didn't like the loud voices of these four people. After really being unable to endure it, he had to stand up and walk to the position against the wall in the last row, where there were chairs to sit on, much higher than the low long benches in front.

Pan Zi and Lei Zi confirmed that Li Zhuiyuan was still there, just sitting in the back, so they turned their heads back and continued watching the movie.

At this moment, the one wearing the suit vest shouted to the back: "Sister Mei, where are the people, where are the people? They've been here for so long, where are the people!"

Sister Mei poked her head out from behind the wooden board and cursed: "Calling, calling, calling your mother's soul! Don't look at what time it is now, I've called them for you, they'll be here in a while!"

"Hehehe." The suit man wasn't angry, just whistled at Sister Mei, "Looks like Brother Leopard has been smoking too much, look, yours are sagging."

"Look at your grandmother!"

Sister Mei cursed again, and her figure disappeared from behind the wooden board.

Not long after, two women walked in. Both were over thirty, wearing heavy makeup and dresses.

After the two entered, they sat down on the left and right sides of Li Zhuiyuan, and then both lowered their heads, looking curiously at this boy.

"Yo, little handsome guy, sitting here waiting for sisters?"

"Fine skin and tender meat, quite fair, but you're so young, do you understand things yet?"

The two began to tease.

At this moment, the two little brothers beside the suit man stood up, sat down beside each of the women, and then their hands began to be unruly, beginning to explore. The women didn't resist much either, interacting and teasing.

Li Zhuiyuan realized that the seats in the last row weren't prepared for normal audience members.

Just as he was preparing to leave his seat and sit back beside Runsheng, the two pairs of men and women beside him took a step ahead of him, lifted the curtain, and walked into the mysterious passage.

Soon, the sound of two doors closing came. There should be several small compartments inside.

And the suit man started shouting at this moment: "Sister Mei, Sister Mei, change the tape, change the tape!"

Sister Mei poked her head out and cursed: "It's not night yet, change a fart tape!"

The suit man was dissatisfied: "Add some fire, get some atmosphere, change the tape!"

Several other people watching the movie even followed suit.

Although Sister Mei had Brother Leopard behind her, they were all hoodlums on the road. Sometimes cursing was okay, but she still had to go along with them. Therefore, she could only walk to the video tape machine, take out "A Better Tomorrow," rummage through the long cabinet drawer, find one, and put it in.

Li Zhuiyuan noticed that Pan Zi, Lei Zi, and the others began to show excitement and anticipation, as if they were teenagers of an African tribe about to accept the most primitive coming-of-age ceremony.

Soon, the new movie began to play. It was an ancient costume one.

There was no Mandarin dubbing but Cantonese, but fortunately there were subtitles. But after watching it, one would find that whether there were subtitles or not didn't have much impact.

At first, the plot was still quite normal, with a sense of relaxed drama. Li Zhuiyuan saw a short person selling steamed buns, thinking this should be the Xiangjiang version of "Water Margin."

Until, a man and a woman entered the room to drink, and then lay on the table, and their clothes began to get less and less.

Li Zhuiyuan then realized what kind of film this was.

Pan Zi and Lei Zi widened their eyes, even more focused than watching Brother Fa's movie, afraid of missing any details, as if they wanted to imprint every frame of the screen into their brains, so they could savor it carefully after going back.

Li Zhuiyuan felt that his two brothers, when looking at the blackboard in class, definitely wouldn't be this serious.

Runsheng began to blush and lowered his head. He wasn't pretending to be coy, but was really embarrassed to watch.

This period was also the golden age of Xiangjiang and Taiwan midnight movies, giving birth to a series of classics, leaving a heavy stroke in film history.

Before long, the two men who had gone in earlier came out. They acted coolly, took out cigarettes and lit them, seemingly wanting to use smoke to cover up some kind of embarrassment.

"So fast?" The suit man didn't care about his little brother's face at all, "I haven't even stirred up the mood yet."

Saying so, he wasn't willing to wait any longer, stood up, and walked into the deep passage with another little brother.

Then, before this passionate scene in the movie had finished playing, the two of them came out.

Now, all four people sat on the chairs, smoking, not as noisy as before, finally quiet.

As if interpreting what it meant to put down the butcher knife and become a Buddha on the spot.

After a while, the suit man began to shout: "Sister Mei, Sister Mei, play 'A Better Tomorrow'!"

In the state of becoming a Buddha, the heart was compassionate, and couldn't bear to "kill."

"Damn, so many damn things!"

Sister Mei was indeed very annoyed, but she could also understand. She walked in to take out the tape and change it, and even adjusted the progress, dialing the movie to the position where it had stopped earlier to continue playing.

After finishing, Sister Mei deliberately looked at them, with a smile on the corners of her mouth, carrying sarcasm.

She knew when men were like tigers that had had their teeth pulled.

Those two women were still sitting in the back. They shouldn't have come to work so early; they were considered to have been called over in advance to do four temporary quick jobs.

At this moment, they didn't want to go back either. Anyway, they would have to come over again after nightfall.

Not long after, they stood up and began to sit beside those movie viewers, chatting and talking while leaning against the men, and their fingers were also fiddling with the men.

At first, the two men who were chosen both politely refused, then politely declined, followed by pushing and shoving in a way that wanted to refuse but welcomed...

Then, they all let out a sigh, stood up, as if forced by helplessness to feed the tiger with their bodies, or as if they were helping out of kindness.

In the end, based on a determination of "if I don't enter hell, who will,"

they were pulled into the deep passage.

And Pan Zi, Lei Zi, and Runsheng were ignored from beginning to end.

They had the eye for it, knowing which people not to waste time on.

If there were good-looking ones, they wouldn't mind sitting with them to watch the movie and chat, even if they didn't collect money, they would be happy, after all, this kind of demand was always mutual.

But it was a pity that Pan Zi and the others didn't meet the standards. There was a boy who looked very good, it's just that he was too young, if he were a few years older, it would be fine.

However, the afternoon session had few people after all, and most were purely here to watch the movie. They soon had no potential targets, so they didn't sit on the chairs anymore, but walked out to chat with Sister Mei.

When the movie finished, it was already dusk.

When the movie finished, it was near dusk.

Li Zhuiyuan wanted to go home for dinner, so he said goodbye to Pan Zi and Lei Zi first, and walked out of the video hall with Runsheng.

Runsheng liked watching movies, but he loved eating even more.

Li Zhuiyuan went to the small shop next door, bought four bottles of soda and a few bags of snacks, preparing to send them to Lei Zi and Pan Zi.

Passing by Sister Mei's small table, Sister Mei was talking to those two women.

They were considered a cooperative relationship; Sister Mei provided the venue and lookout, and each order they took had to be split with Sister Mei.

Seeing Li Zhuiyuan come back again, with things in his hands, Sister Mei teased: "Yo, little brother came to bring food to sister, this is so embarrassing."

Saying so, Sister Mei made a gesture to reach out and take it.

Her original intention was to tease the boy and make a joke, who would have thought that this boy not only didn't dodge with the things in his arms, but actively spread them out and moved closer, making it convenient for her to take.

She really took a bottle of soda over.

Li Zhuiyuan put down another bag of spicy strips for her.

This action, instead, made Sister Mei a bit confused.

Then, Li Zhuiyuan went in and gave the soda and the remaining few bags of snacks to Lei Zi and Pan Zi.

When Li Zhuiyuan came out again, Sister Mei pointed to the soda and spicy strips on the table: "Take them away, why would I eat your child's things."

"It's fine, treat it as a treat for you."

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. He had no intention of currying favor with Sister Mei, and he probably wouldn't come to the video hall again in the future. But Sister Mei had let them watch half a movie for free today, and Pan Zi and Lei Zi were still being tacitly allowed to continue watching inside.

"Hehehe."

Sister Mei and the two women behind her all laughed, only feeling that this boy was very interesting.

At this moment, a shout came from outside. An old man rode a tricycle while shouting and riding, carrying a middle-aged man lying on his back with his limbs spread out on the cart. His feet and hands were all spread outside the cart, like a turtle with its belly facing up.

Li Zhuiyuan noticed that the middle-aged man's ten fingers were all showing a blue color, and his lips were even more frighteningly purple.

Sister Mei ran out anxiously, arguing loudly with the old man riding the tricycle.

The old man waved his hands and explained aggrievedly that he had only collected money to deliver the person, and it had nothing to do with him.

The context of the matter also became clear in the argument.

The unconscious middle-aged man was Brother Leopard, Sister Mei's man. He went to a bathhouse in Shijia Town in the afternoon to take a bath, and then got a "big back rub."

Li Zhuiyuan didn't know why he still went to a bathhouse to take a bath in summer.

He didn't know even more what "knocking a big back" meant.

He could only understand it as a big-force back-knocking massage, and Brother Leopard should have been unable to take the force, which was why he fainted during the back-knocking.

The bathhouse boss didn't send the person to the hospital, but called a tricycle and pulled the person home.

Sending to the hospital would cost money, and they weren't willing to pay.

Sister Mei was so angry that her face turned red and white, and she pinched the man several times with force. The two women beside her kept persuading her. In the end, Sister Mei could only add a little more money, and she also got on the tricycle, urging the old man to ride to the town health center.

But the old man had already pedaled until he was exhausted after pulling the person from Shijia to Shinan. After all, his work in Shijia Town on weekdays was only short-distance. At this moment, even if Sister Mei was willing to add money, he really couldn't ride anymore.

But the middle-aged man in a coma was already in a very bad condition, and he couldn't be woken up by slapping his face. If he wasn't sent to the hospital, the person might be gone. Sister Mei was so anxious that she was cursing and crying.

"Xiao Yuan?" Runsheng looked at Li Zhuiyuan.

Li Zhuiyuan understood what he meant, so he nodded. Runsheng walked up, signaled the old man to come down and sit in the back, and then he rode the tricycle.

Great-Grandfather's house had a tricycle flatbed cart. According to Great-Grandfather's instructions, Runsheng had also been practicing riding the cart these past few days, and now he knew how.

It's just that for short-distance cargo transport, a hand-pushed flatbed cart was more convenient.

At this moment, although there were three adults sitting on the tricycle, this bit of weight didn't count for anything to Runsheng at all, and he rode out quickly.

Li Zhuiyuan could only wait in place for Runsheng to return before going home together. However, he didn't return to the video hall, but went to the small shop next door to buy another bottle of soda, sat on the long bench on the side, drinking soda while waiting.

There was a billiard table on the open space outside the small shop. At this moment, two young guys were playing. These two people had very poor skills. Li Zhuiyuan watched for a while and then couldn't help but feel sleepy, leaning against the small shop wall and yawning.

After about half an hour, Li Zhuiyuan saw Brother Leopard return.

Li Zhuiyuan was very confused. The patient had returned, so why hadn't the person who sent the patient to the hospital returned yet?

Fortunately, before leaving home, he told Auntie Liu and the others that he was going to the town to watch a video with Pan Zi, so even if he went back late, Great-Grandfather wouldn't worry, just thinking the child was greedy for play and forgot the time.

Brother Leopard's body didn't return to the listless decadence when he was in a coma earlier. When walking, he even revealed the swagger and disdain unique to middle-aged hoodlums, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders.

It's just a pity that those two young guys playing billiards didn't seem to understand the ways of the road, and didn't know how to take the initiative to greet Brother Leopard when he passed by them.

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan suddenly saw that Brother Leopard, who had walked out of the coverage range of the billiard table, had his leather shoes with the heels lifted.

This scene instantly reminded him of the posture of the big-bearded father and son leaving home to go to the fish pond that night.

They also walked on tiptoes, with their heels suspended, so they swayed when walking.

Li Zhuiyuan's heart tightened suddenly. He suddenly realized something.

At the same time, Brother Leopard also seemed to perceive a gaze looking at himself. He stopped, stood on tiptoes, turned his head slowly, and swept toward the small shop.

Li Zhuiyuan also immediately pressed his head against the wall, and even picked up the soda in his hand, took a sip, and pretended to be very bored looking at the billiard table.

Brother Leopard's gaze swept back and forth several times, but didn't find that special gaze.

Immediately after, he continued to move forward on tiptoes and walked into his own video hall.

Li Zhuiyuan maintained his original posture without moving, thinking in his heart: Although it wasn't the seventh day after death yet, it was understandable that Brother Leopard was in a hurry to go home and take a look.

Immediately after, Li Zhuiyuan became worried again, because Lei Zi, Pan Zi, and the others were still in the video hall.

But they shouldn't be that unlucky, right?

At this moment, a woman wearing a skirt walked out of the video hall. When Sister Mei sent Brother Leopard to the hospital, she had instructed them to help look after the shop.

The woman walked straight toward the small shop, and Li Zhuiyuan was sitting at the entrance of the small shop, which meant she had to pass by almost sticking to him.

Li Zhuiyuan discovered that she was also walking on tiptoes, but unlike Brother Leopard earlier, there was another pair of feet stepping under her feet.

It was a pair of leather shoes, very familiar.

And then, behind the woman's legs, a pair of men's legs were also tightly attached.

As for the part further up, unless Li Zhuiyuan lifted his head, he couldn't see it, but he could roughly imagine: Brother Leopard was almost sticking to her body, her feet were stepping on Brother Leopard's feet, and she was almost equivalent to Brother Leopard's clothes, or called a puppet.

So, what did this count as?

It's just that, whether it was "Records of Jianghu Monsters" he had read before or "Righteous Path Demon Subduing Record" he was reading now, the theme was the dead, and non-dead existences belonged to being out of scope for Li Zhuiyuan.

The two young guys at the billiard table whistled at the woman. The woman didn't pay attention and walked to the small shop owner to ask for a pack of cigarettes.

The owner asked in surprise: "Why are you smoking this kind?"

The woman answered: "Want to change the taste."

The owner gave the cigarettes and wanted to tease a few more sentences according to his usual habit, but found that the woman had a dark face, so the teasing words in his throat were swallowed back.

The woman turned around, tore open the cigarette paper, took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep breath.

"Sss-huff..."

"Sss-huff..."

Li Zhuiyuan heard two sucking sounds, one male and one female.

Obviously, the one who wanted to take this puff of smoke wasn't the woman herself.

The woman obviously wanted to return to the video hall, but she stopped in front of Li Zhuiyuan, bent down, and looked at the boy who was "half-dozing and staring blankly."

Li Zhuiyuan wanted to use this way to muddle through. He knew that Brother Leopard was invisible earlier, but the woman could be seen by people around.

However, the woman reached out and pushed his shoulder. There was no way, Li Zhuiyuan could only show a confused expression of just coming back to his senses from a daze, and looked at the woman with some confusion.

"Little handsome guy, go inside and wait."

The woman's face was now very close to Li Zhuiyuan, which allowed Li Zhuiyuan to clearly see the second man's face behind the woman's head.

When the woman spoke, Brother Leopard's mouth was also moving in the same way.

"No, no. The smoke inside is too big, it makes me dizzy, I'll wait here."

"It's getting dark, it's not safe to be outside, come, follow sister inside." The woman grasped Li Zhuiyuan's hand.

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan felt two hands grasp his wrist at the same time, one warm, one cold.

"Not going, not going." Li Zhuiyuan shook his head, then shook off the restraint of those "two" hands with force, and walked to the billiard table, "I want to watch billiards, I want to learn this, these two brothers play really amazingly."

"Haha, little brother has an eye for it."

"Come, little brother, stand on the side and watch carefully, brothers will teach you."

The two young guys who played billiards very poorly obtained huge satisfaction because of this compliment from the boy, and actively pulled Li Zhuiyuan between the two of them, letting him watch their professional movements.

The woman stood up straight, but didn't continue to demand to take Li Zhuiyuan back to the video hall, but walked back on her own.

Beside the billiard table, although Li Zhuiyuan was staring at the white ball foolishly entering the hole, his peripheral vision had always included the woman's figure.

This picture of two people sticking together while walking was really too eerie.

For safety, it seemed he should call his two brothers out now.

"Hey, hey, hey!" The small shop owner was very dissatisfied and walked out: "A game hasn't finished yet, either renew the fee or stop."

The billiards at this time weren't calculated by time, but by games. If two strangers gathered to play, it was the loser who covered the cost of this game.

Therefore, the owner hated a pair of friends with poor levels coming the most, as one game took too long.

"What are you shouting for, it's not like we can't afford it."

"That's right, it's not like we can't afford it."

The two young guys both began to reach into their pockets, but after their hands went in, they seemed to have forgotten how to take them out.

He didn't know if they really had no money in their pockets, or if they were deliberately waiting for the other side to take the money out first.

Li Zhuiyuan also touched his pocket at this moment.

The two young guys' gazes immediately stared over.

"Little brother, do you have money?"

"Mm, I have."

"Then you renew a table, just now brothers were deliberately teaching you how to play, so it was slow, and the boss was unhappy."

"That's right, we were all for you."

"Oh, sorry, my fault." Li Zhuiyuan took out a paper note from his pocket, "I'll renew the table for you."

Smiles immediately appeared on the two young guys' faces.

Li Zhuiyuan pointed to the video hall again: "My brothers Pan Zi and Lei Zi are inside, can one of you help me call them, let them come out and take me home."

"Little brother, why don't you go in and call them yourself?"

Li Zhuiyuan answered very shyly: "They are playing a movie about men and women inside, I'm embarrassed to go in."

"Hahahahahaha!"

Li Zhuiyuan took the money to the small shop owner to renew the table.

One of the young guys walked into the video hall to help call people.

Not long after, he came out. Li Zhuiyuan specially looked, there was no one behind him, and he wasn't on tiptoes either.

It's just that Pan Zi and Lei Zi didn't come out.

"Little brother, those two brothers of yours said to let you go back yourself, they want to watch the movie."

The other young guy asked curiously: "What movie is playing now?"

"Don't know, but it's quite stimulating, the man is standing, holding the woman upside down, very intense."

The young guy made gestures while speaking.

"Damn, it can actually be filmed like this, should we also go in and watch?"

"I won't watch it anymore, I'll go home after finishing this table, if I go back too late, my mother will scold me again

Immediately after, Li Sanjiang looked at Qin Li again: "A-Li, when are you leaving?"

"Leaving tomorrow morning, to the station."

"So fast? Are the things ready?"

"A-Ting helped me pack everything. There aren't many things, just bring a few clothes back."

Li Sanjiang reached into his pocket, took out the money, and handed it to Qin Li:

"Here, the big part was spent on the television. This is the remaining money. You might need it to pay for your uncle's medical treatment when you return to your hometown. Take this money first. By the way, don't forget to buy some Nantong specialties to take back to your hometown, like Xiting crispy cakes and Baipu tea dried tofu."

"Sanjiang Uncle, I can't take your money. You take it back quickly."

Li Sanjiang's expression turned stern: "You brat, take it if I tell you to!"

"I really can't. I can't take your money anymore. Look, my whole family is eating and drinking at your place, and you've given me wages."

"That bit of wages is also Uncle taking advantage of you. Take it if I give it to you. If you don't take it, Uncle will be angry."

Liu Yumei said at this moment: "Take it, and remember your Sanjiang Uncle's kindness."

Qin Li then accepted the money and bowed solemnly to Li Sanjiang.

Li Zhuiyuan ate his meal with his head lowered silently. He didn't believe Uncle Qin's words about returning to his hometown to take care of his uncle at all. He had been to the east room to worship the spirit tablet, and this was clearly a posture of the whole family, no, the whole clan being gone.

Uncle Qin leaving could only be because of last night's matter.

Li Zhuiyuan could perceive that they had been living at Great-Grandfather's place, always trying their best to avoid some kind of taboo. Uncle Qin's departure was also for the sake of safety.

Sigh, the cost of holding a soy sauce bottle once was really high.

He secretly looked at Liu Yumei and found that Liu Yumei was also just casting her gaze at him. The two locked eyes briefly.

There was deep meaning in Liu Yumei's eyes, and a smile on the corners of her mouth.

Li Zhuiyuan knew this was a silent warning.

He could never again ask the Qin family for help when encountering tricky things like in the past. Asking for one meant losing one. This duster really didn't have enough hair for him to pluck.

After dinner, Runsheng couldn't wait to turn on the television and tune the channels.

Li Sanjiang didn't go to the second floor to listen to storytelling either, but sat here, smoking.

Soon, a passionate melody came out of the television. It was the county station, playing "Ultraman Leo."

Runsheng sat back, grabbed a few sticks of incense in his hand, lit them with matches, and watched seriously while gnawing, as if he were eating spicy strips.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't rush back to his room to read Wei Zhengdao's new book, but moved a small stool and sat with A-Li to watch television.

Li Sanjiang asked Runsheng curiously: "What is that guy wearing red leather clothes?"

"Great-Grandfather, it's Ultraman."

"What about that round one flying?"

"It's a saucer creature, a monster, a bad one."

"Oh, is that so."

Runsheng hadn't watched less television before, sometimes at the village, sometimes at the employer's house, and even in shops, but they were all intermittent.

However, in this era, most children with the conditions to watch television found it difficult to watch this kind of drama systematically from beginning to end. It was inevitable that they would be delayed or miss it due to things in the middle, or the television station would change programs before the drama series finished.

Although there were already home video tape machines now, firstly, the machines were expensive, and secondly, the circulation of video tapes was inconvenient, which also gave rise to the rise of video halls everywhere, charging admission for a group of people to watch together in one room, and there would be fixed times at night when the boss would play adult stimulating films.

After one episode finished, it started playing a commercial for ointment to treat psoriasis.

Runsheng continued to stare seriously at the commercial, hoping that after the commercial ended, it would continue to play the next episode. Although, in all likelihood, there wasn't one. After he continued to be in contact with the television for a period of time, even without a program schedule in his hand, he would be able to remember clearly in his heart what programs would be played in each time slot of these few channels.

Mm, by the way, he could even recite those commercial lines.

After waiting for a long time, Runsheng turned his head to look at Li Zhuiyuan and asked: "Xiao Yuan, have you watched this?"

Li Zhuiyuan nodded.

"How many episodes are there?"

"Forty or fifty episodes, I guess."

"Wow, that's really good."

When he was in the family courtyard before, Li Zhuiyuan had been pulled by several older brothers to watch video tapes at home together. They had collected many sets of the complete collection, but in their version, this was called "Ultraman Neo."

The localized works of this period were still dominated by the Xiangjiang and Taiwan versions, which also led to differences in translation habits.

Liu Yumei walked over at this moment and said: "A-Li should rest."

These words were said to Li Zhuiyuan.

"A-Li, go back to the room to rest with your grandmother, see you tomorrow morning."

A-Li stood up obediently and returned to the room with Liu Yumei.

Li Zhuiyuan left the small stool. When walking up the stairs, he looked back and saw Runsheng and Great-Grandfather, who were still sitting in front of the television watching commercials with relish, through the paper offerings in the house on the first floor.

Recalling last night, Uncle Qin, who was speeding while carrying him on a motorcycle.

The violent collision between tradition and new trends, the friction and biting between backwardness and advancement, it was really hard to imagine that so many things could be misaligned and stacked in the same era.

It's just that people in this era, including himself, were unable to perceive it most of the time, even though this stormy sea was right beside them.

Perhaps only after many years, when everything settled, and looking back, would they be surprised to realize what kind of bizarre era they had been in.

"Xiao Yuan." The one who broke Li Zhuiyuan's train of thought was Uncle Qin, who was standing at the top of the stairs on the second floor, as if he had been waiting for him.

Li Zhuiyuan ran up.

"Squat in a horse stance."

"Alright."

Li Zhuiyuan knew this should be the last lesson.

According to Uncle Qin's past teachings, Li Zhuiyuan stood in a horse stance and began to breathe, letting himself enter the state very quickly.

Uncle Qin's hands wandered incessantly over Li Zhuiyuan's body muscles and joints, seriously adjusting every point of force.

After continuing for a period of time, Uncle Qin said: "Alright."