Chapter 5: Enemies Meet on a Narrow Road
"I didn't take anything special. It was pretty much the same as the tests we usually had."
Su Xiaoxiao thought for a moment before saying:
"However, before the exam, our school organized a physical examination. Normally, they only measured height, weight, and things like that. But this time, they actually drew blood."
"Brother, you should have seen it. Several boys in our class fainted at the sight of blood. They usually act so tough and boastful, but when it was time to have their blood drawn, they screamed like ghosts. It was hilarious."
"Physical examination... and they drew blood too?"
Su Xiaofan was stunned.
However, he didn't think too deeply about it.
High schools often organized physical examinations for students. It seemed to have nothing to do with university admissions.
But Su Xiaofan still felt that something about his sister's special admission was strange.
There were so many students in the school.
Why was his little sister the only one recruited?
"Forget it. I'll focus on preparing her tuition first. When I send her to Yanjing, I'll visit the school and find out what's going on."
Su Xiaofan shook his head.
He carried the shredded chicken dish outside and looked at his sister staring at him eagerly.
"Eat quickly. It's all yours."
Because Su Xiaofan had been sick and missed the college entrance examination, and because he had never experienced any kind of special admission himself, he didn't understand these things very well.
There were more than a thousand students in his sister's graduating class.
Being selected from among them was basically like being one in a thousand.
Since he had confirmed that the matter was real, they could only let her go first and figure things out later.
As for the tuition fees, Su Xiaofan had already made a plan.
If he still couldn't find a solution in the next few days, he would borrow thirty thousand yuan from Brother Gang temporarily.
"Brother, you eat too."
Su Xiaoxiao picked up a piece of chicken and held it toward his mouth.
"I can pick it up myself. You eat yours."
Su Xiaofan didn't open his mouth. Instead, he picked up a piece himself.
"Recently, the pandemic seems to be getting worse. You need to pay attention to hygiene at school. When you eat with classmates, make sure to use serving chopsticks. Don't act so wild all the time. You should behave more like a girl."
Since the beginning of last year, a pandemic had swept across the world.
At its worst, even the antique city had been shut down for several months.
Although it later reopened, the effects continued.
The number of visitors to the antique market had dropped significantly, leaving only about one-third of the usual crowds.
Naturally, Su Xiaofan's business had suffered as well.
The weather had also become strange.
It was only mid-May, but it already felt like summer.
The temperature at noon reached thirty-six or thirty-seven degrees Celsius.
Yet at night, it suddenly dropped to around ten degrees.
Just like today.
The sky had been sunny during the day, but by evening, dark clouds had already covered everything.
The clouds hung extremely low, and a heavy storm seemed ready to arrive at any moment.
After the siblings finished eating, the rain finally came.
And it came suddenly.
Large drops of rain, as big as beans, slammed against the windows with loud cracking sounds.
After Su Xiaoxiao finished cleaning the dishes, she cut up a plate of watermelon and looked outside at the heavy rain with worry.
"I wanted to go to the supermarket, but how am I supposed to go out in this rain?"
"What do you need to buy? Just have delivery bring it."
The apartment Su Xiaofan rented was located in the old city center.
Although the residential community was old and worn down, daily life was extremely convenient.
If they needed something, they could call the small supermarket downstairs, and it would be delivered within three to five minutes.
If the supermarket didn't have it, they could simply order through an app and have a delivery worker bring it to their home.
"Delivery isn't convenient."
Usually carefree and outspoken, Su Xiaoxiao suddenly became shy.
Her voice was much lower than usual.
"There are daily-use ones and nighttime ones. I can't explain it clearly to them. I have to buy them myself."
"Hmm? You mean sanitary pads?"
Su Xiaofan's hearing was sharp.
The moment he heard his sister's barely audible voice, he immediately understood.
He had already been working in society for years. He wasn't some clueless schoolboy anymore.
Naturally, he understood what she meant.
"Then you definitely can't go out in the rain. I'll buy them for you."
Su Xiaofan stood up.
"It's not like I haven't bought them before. Alright, you stay home and watch TV. I'll be back soon."
Back when Su Xiaofan was studying high school in the city, his younger sister was still attending middle school in the countryside.
For things like this, he often bought them for her from supermarkets in the city.
Not only sanitary products, but even underwear and bras.
Thinking about it, he truly had played both the role of father and mother for his sister.
Their unreliable father had never worried about these matters.
After the rain became slightly lighter, Su Xiaofan took an umbrella and went downstairs toward the supermarket.
The neighborhood supermarket wasn't large, but it carried a complete range of goods.
Because the rain was so heavy, Su Xiaofan couldn't be bothered to go to a large supermarket in the city.
"Uncle Niu, you're only eating now?"
Entering the supermarket, Su Xiaofan shook off his umbrella and greeted the owner.
The small supermarket was owned by a resident of the community named Uncle Niu.
Usually, Uncle Niu managed the store himself.
When it was mealtime, Aunt Niu would bring over prepared food.
Su Xiaofan had lived in this community for nearly three years and was very familiar with the couple.
"Everyone knew it was going to rain today, so many people came to buy things earlier. I didn't even have time to eat."
Uncle Niu put down his chopsticks and tossed Su Xiaofan a cigarette.
"With rain this heavy, the electricity might go out later. Xiaofan, buy some candles before you leave."
"We've reported this problem so many times. Those damn power companies just refuse to spend money fixing things. Wouldn't it be better to repair everything properly once?"
Although old communities were convenient, they also meant outdated facilities.
The wires in Su Xiaofan's neighborhood were still the old electrical lines installed during the 1980s and 1990s.
During summer electricity peaks, power outages happened frequently.
Thunderstorms made things even worse.
So everyone in the neighborhood had experience.
Whenever it rained, they kept candles at home.
"Uncle Niu, I heard the old city area might undergo redevelopment soon."
While choosing the things his sister needed, Su Xiaofan smiled.
"You own two houses here. Once they demolish and rebuild, you'll become a wealthy man overnight."
"They've been saying that for ten years, and I still haven't seen anything happen."
Uncle Niu curled his lips.
"If they rebuild it in the same location, that's fine. But if they give us apartments out in the suburbs, we'd rather they didn't demolish anything."
"Old city redevelopment usually means rebuilding in the same place."
Su Xiaofan placed the items on the counter.
After Uncle Niu scanned everything, Su Xiaofan paid with his phone.
"I'm leaving, Uncle Niu. If the rain keeps falling, close the shop early and go home."
Carrying the sealed plastic bag and opening his umbrella, Su Xiaofan walked toward the door.
Before he could even push it open, the glass door was suddenly pulled from outside.
Su Xiaofan, who was walking out, collided directly with someone entering.
Su Xiaofan was over 1.8 meters tall.
After years of waking up early and working late at his street stall, his body had become strong and sturdy.
The person coming from the other side was less than 1.7 meters tall.
The collision immediately sent him flying backward.
He landed heavily on the concrete ground outside the supermarket's rain shelter.
"Ow... Big brother, I'm really sorry. I didn't notice you were coming out."
Seeing that he had knocked someone down, Su Xiaofan didn't even bother opening his umbrella.
He rushed into the heavy rain and helped the person up.
Only after pulling him up did Su Xiaofan notice that besides the man he had knocked over, four other people were standing under the supermarket's shelter.
Because of the heavy rain, he couldn't see their faces clearly.
"Hey, kid. It's you."
Just as Su Xiaofan helped the man up, a familiar voice suddenly sounded beside him.
At the same time, his wrist was grabbed tightly.
Under the supermarket lights, Su Xiaofan looked at the person's face.
He immediately froze.
What a coincidence.
The person he had knocked down was none other than Wu Chuanbao—the man who had come looking for him earlier that day.
"Kid, why don't you keep running?"
Seeing Su Xiaofan, Wu Chuanbao was overjoyed.
Earlier that day, Wu Chuanbao had failed to block Su Xiaofan at the antique market.
He was unwilling to give up.
So he found a place far away from Su Xiaofan's stall, handed out cigarettes, and casually chatted with other vendors while intentionally bringing up Su Xiaofan.
Temporary stalls in the antique market were not fixed.
Su Xiaofan only had reserved spots because of his good relationship with Zheng Dagang.
Neighboring stalls changed frequently.
However, most vendors knew each other.
Su Xiaofan remembered the principle of not revealing too much to strangers.
He had never told anyone where he lived.
But after spending so long in the antique market, people generally knew that he lived in a neighborhood not far away.
They also knew he had a younger sister in high school.
Because Su Xiaofan had not been cautious enough, Wu Chuanbao easily gathered all this information.
Recently, Wu Chuanbao's tomb-raiding activities had stopped.
With nothing else to do, he brought several people around and searched nearby.
Coincidentally, when they reached this neighborhood, heavy rain began falling.
The group, soaked like drowned rats, planned to enter the supermarket to escape the rain.
They never expected to run directly into Su Xiaofan.
"Big brother, we're doing business. One person wants to buy, one person wants to sell. Why would I run?"
Su Xiaofan gave a bitter smile.
He pulled Wu Chuanbao two steps beneath the rain shelter.
This improved Wu Chuanbao's expression slightly.
Actually, Wu Chuanbao wasn't looking for him because of the eight thousand yuan.
He wanted to use Su Xiaofan to obtain the real "Daisheng" and complete the transaction with the buyer from Hong Kong.
"Now that's more like—"
Before Wu Chuanbao could finish speaking, he suddenly felt his right hand loosen.
The arm he was holding instantly slipped free.
And Su Xiaofan, standing in front of him...
Shot into the rain like an arrow.
His speed was even faster than the rabbits Wu Chuanbao often encountered in the mountains.
"Little bastard!"
Wu Chuanbao gritted his teeth in anger.
He waved toward Wu Chuanpeng and the others before chasing into the rain.
By the time Uncle Niu came outside after sensing something was wrong, everyone had already disappeared.
"Damn it. Looks like I need to move."
Su Xiaofan had lived here for three years and knew the terrain extremely well.
However, he didn't dare run directly home.
Instead, he circled around the neighborhood.
After confirming that he still hadn't shaken Wu Chuanbao and the others, Su Xiaofan sped up.
Once he turned the corner ahead, he would leave the community.
Then he could climb back over the wall.
Those men definitely wouldn't be able to follow.
His plan was good.
But he didn't expect the ground to be slippery because of the rain.
Combined with his high speed, his foot slipped while turning.
His entire body crashed toward the wall ahead.
Unfortunately, the neighborhood's electrical box was installed on that wall.
Unable to stop himself, Su Xiaofan could only twist his body slightly.
His back slammed heavily into the electrical box.
"Bang!"
The electrical box, which needed repairs every ten days or half a month, was already badly aged.
It couldn't withstand the impact of someone weighing over one hundred jin.
With a loud explosion...
A dazzling flash of electricity erupted.
Because rainwater conducts electricity, a glowing electric net appeared in the rain like a spider web.
At that moment, as if attracted by the electrical current on the ground, a thunderbolt exploded from the sky.
Blinding light filled the entire night sky.
Countless branches of lightning spread outward like tree limbs.
The dark night became as bright as day.
And the thickest lightning branch connected directly to Su Xiaofan standing on the ground.
Under that daylight-like flash, Su Xiaofan's shocked expression was clearly seen by Wu Chuanbao, who stood more than ten meters away, his body slightly numb from the electricity.
But the very next moment...
The lights throughout the entire neighborhood suddenly went dark.
The overloaded electrical system had finally short-circuited.
"Damn... how... how did this happen?"
Looking at Su Xiaofan lying motionless in the rain like a wooden stick, Wu Chuanbao was completely stunned.
He never imagined things would end like this.
Wu Chuanpeng, who arrived shortly after, also saw the scene.
He stammered:
"Second Brother... should... should we call the police?"
"Call the police? To save him or arrest us?"
"Do you want to die? Hurry up and leave!"
Wu Chuanbao wiped the rain from his face.
He turned on his phone flashlight and looked at Su Xiaofan, who was completely still on the ground.
Then he grabbed Wu Chuanpeng and ran out of the neighborhood.
In Wu Chuanbao's mind, Su Xiaofan was already dead.
"Damn it, he's not the God of Thunder. After being electrocuted and struck by lightning, even a hundred lives wouldn't be enough."
(End of Chapter 5)
Comments
Post a Comment