Tao Zhiyong rushed over fiercely and punched him with his hand.
Chen Ling was not to be outdone. He raised his leg and kicked the fierce thug. Due to his long legs, the opponent's fist didn't even touch his face before he was kicked out.
Tao Zhiyong covered his stomach and was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses. He lifted up his clothes and saw that his stomach was already bruised.
"Fuck you, you little bastard!" He was like an enraged lion, his eyes, red from anger, seemed to be looking around, but suddenly he fixed his eyes and walked quickly towards the TV cabinet.
There was a vase with a thin neck and a big belly placed there.
Tao Zhiyong grasped the bottleneck, his eyes bloodshot, and smashed it straight towards Chen Ling's head.
"No!" Mother Zhou screamed and covered her youngest son's eyes.
Tao Zhiyong's attack was fierce and disorganized, and Chen Ling was almost hit in the head by him several times.
"Call the police!"
Hearing the young man's sudden shout, Tao Zhiyong sneered and turned to stare at his wife in warning: "You dare!"
Mother Zhou didn't dare, so she dragged her little son and hid in Zhou Yuanxin's room, which was the closest to them.
Everything in the room remained the same as it was when the eldest son was alive, except for a little more dust.
The little boy tugged at his mother's clothes and said fearfully, "Mom, aren't you going to save my big brother?"
Mother Zhou shuddered, "Mom can't save him." She hugged the child tightly in her arms and spoke in a low voice, not knowing whether she was comforting herself or deceiving the child, "Dad just drank too much and has a bad temper. He won't really hurt big brother. Once he's done with his temper and his anger subsides, it will be over."
"Yes, it will pass... It will definitely pass..."
The little boy looked up at her stubbornly, "You didn't help your brother when he was beaten before. Why? Mom, don't you love him?"
"Love, of course mom loves him." Mother Zhou didn't know what she was thinking of, her body shuddered violently, then she tightened her arms, curled up her legs, and stuffed her little son tightly into her arms.
"What about me?" the little boy asked innocently, expectantly, and fearfully, "If my dad beat me, would you hide like this?"
"I..." The woman's throat was suddenly blocked and she couldn't speak. She smiled uglier than crying, touched her son's hair and said, "Of course, Mom will protect you."
The little boy tilted his head and stared at his mother's face intently.
Mother Zhou's face gradually showed discomfort. She had an illusion that her six-year-old son seemed to be able to see through her weakness and selfishness.
"Stop looking!" She covered the child's eyes with her hands.
"Dad always beats my brother. He is not a good boy." The boy continued. He was full of fear of this family. His father's brutality and his mother's indulgence forced him to curl up in his brother's arms to gain a sense of security.
But now, my brother is gone.
Where did that brother go
Mom said my brother was dead.
The battle situation outside the door was urgent. Chen Ling hardly fought back. His hiding skills were first-rate. The only time he tripped over the coffee table and nearly fell down.
Fortunately, a ball of negative energy suddenly appeared in the messy living room and lifted him up steadily.
Tao Zhiyong was almost going crazy.
Although he was just a small section chief, his father was a big leader. Ever since he could remember, people around him always obeyed him.
Of course, he wouldn't allow anyone to go against him.
However, now, he was being teased like a monkey by a naughty boy who hadn't even grown all his hair!
Chen Ling was also exhausted. He took advantage of his knees to catch his breath and said intermittently: "Did you...did you also use your fists to treat...Zhou Yuanxin like this..."
Tao Zhiyong: "So what? He eats my food and lives in my house. What's wrong with getting beaten up for not obeying me?"
Chen Ling finally calmed down and cursed: "Nothing, you are just a bastard."
"You're looking for death!" Tao Zhiyong smashed the vase in his hand.
Anger and alcohol burned his emotions together. He hadn't felt this kind of anger for a long time.
Almost at the same time, the closed security door of the Tao family's entrance was suddenly opened, and several policemen rushed in, followed closely by Jiang Yu and Wu Weiwei.
Tao Zhiyong stopped sprinting and his raised hand fell down.
"Put your things down!" the police warned.
Tao Zhiyong froze on the ground, and his mind, which had been numbed by alcohol, regained a bit of clarity.
He finally understood that the young man's abrupt "call the police" was not directed at his wife at all.
"You're fucking trying to trick me!" Tao Zhiyong gritted his teeth and moved forward, but before he could touch the young man's clothes, he was pinned down from behind.
Jiang Yu strode towards the young man, grabbed him and checked him over and over again. After making sure that not even a hair was missing, the fierce look in his eyes faded a little.
Wu Weiwei came over and gave a thumbs up: "Brother Chen, this."
He was originally staying outside with Jiang Yu, when suddenly his cell phone rang. After answering it, what he heard was not Chen Ling's voice, but a stream of abuse and scolding.
Wu Weiwei understood immediately and pressed the recording button.
He called the police only after Chen Ling gave the order.
The process of waiting for the police to arrive was very painful. Wu Weiwei wanted to rush in to help several times while listening to the voice on the phone. However, Jiang Yu, who was always the most nervous about his brother Chen, was calm and composed, as if everything was under control.
There happened to be a small police station near the community. Less than five minutes after the call was made, the police officers arrived quickly and entered smoothly.
Wu Weiwei was puzzled. The tightly closed security door opened with just a slight push, as if it was opened by divine help.
Thinking of Jiang Yu's calm performance at that time, he had doubts in his heart but was not sure.
After all, no matter how powerful he is, Brother Jiang is just a human being. Can a human being open a security door out of thin air? No.
"What are you daydreaming about?" Chen Ling broke free from Jiang Yu's hand at some point, walked over, and waved his five fingers in front of Wu Weiwei's eyes.
Wu Weiwei came back to his senses and asked, "What?"
"I asked you if you had recorded what you just said?" Chen Ling repeated patiently.
"I recorded it! I recorded it!" Wu Weiwei took out his mobile phone as if he was presenting a treasure, found the recording file, and tapped it lightly. Threats and curses mixed with the sounds of smashing and destroying things floated out from the phone.
Tao Zhiyong was being held by the police and was walking out. When he heard his own voice, he turned around suddenly, eyes wide open in disbelief, "You two little bastards! Bastards! I'm going to kill you!"
"Behave yourself!" the policeman warned, twisting his arm.
"Zhiyong!" Mother Zhou, who had been hiding, rushed out of the room, not caring about the child who was tripped by the debris on the ground behind her, and threw herself on her husband while shouting.
"What's going on? Police comrades, why did you arrest my husband? There must be a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding!" She suddenly turned around and stared at Chen Ling and the other two, "You were the ones who called the police, right?! You go and tell the police that my husband did nothing wrong! Go and tell them!"
Chen Ling ignored her, walked to the door, and pulled up the child who was lying on the ground and unable to get up.
The child's knee was cut by the broken porcelain bottle and blood was flowing out.
Mother Zhou seemed to be blind to what was happening, and desperately shouted at Chen Ling again: "Why don't you speak?! Tell them to let my husband go!"
"Auntie, I don't own the police station, so I don't have the final say." Chen Ling picked up the child and stuffed him into Jiang Yu's arms.
Jiang Yu suddenly had a child with a milky scent stuffed into his arms, and his whole body became as stiff as wood.
Chen Ling raised his eyes and glanced at him, then chuckled, "Relax, children don't eat people."
Wu Weiwei took a look and sighed in his heart, think, they look like a family of three.
Just as the thought came to my mind, I saw a woman shouting at the top of her lungs suddenly rush into the kitchen.
Mother Zhou took out a kitchen knife and placed the blade across her neck. "Little classmate, I beg you, go and talk to the police and ask them to release my husband. This family cannot live without him. Without him, this family will fall apart!"
The policeman who stayed in the house and was about to take Chen Ling and others to the police station to take a statement shouted: "Madam, don't be impulsive, put the knife down first!"
The kitchen knife was her last weapon. Mother Zhou refused to do so. She stared at Chen Ling stubbornly, even with a hint of hatred, "I shouldn't have let you in. You must have planned this long ago to harm us!"
"Auntie, I have no grudge against you, why should I harm you?" Chen Ling glanced at the blade that was nearly a centimeter away from his skin. He knew that this was a person who was afraid of death and couldn't bear to die, and his tense mood relaxed.
"I just said something on behalf of Zhou Yuanxin, kindly reminding your husband to be careful with his words, and he suddenly got angry and insulted me. You also saw what happened afterwards. He was the one who wanted to hit me with the vase, and he was the one who broke the vase and wanted to stab me to death." Chen Ling looked into Zhou's mother's eyes and asked, "Auntie, my life is threatened, shouldn't I call the police?"
"You... I..." Mother Zhou didn't know how to defend her husband for a moment.
While she was stunned, the police took the opportunity to snatch the kitchen knife, threw it back to the kitchen, and closed the kitchen door to prevent the woman from rushing in again to get other knives.
Chen Ling ignored her and turned to look at the little boy, "Does it hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt." The little boy was very brave. He pursed his lips, hesitated, and whispered to Chen Ling, "Big brother, I'll tell you a secret."
Chen Ling cooperated by putting his ear close to it.
"My brother also had a long cut on his body, which was caused by my father. He bled a lot. I asked him if it hurt, and he said no. So I didn't feel any pain either. This little wound really doesn't hurt."
Chen Ling discovered that the child kept mentioning Zhou Yuanxin.
He asked, "Do you miss your brother?"
The little boy nodded, his eyes red: "I do, but my mom said my brother is dead. The teacher in kindergarten told me that when people die, they go to a very far place."
Chen Ling touched his head and asked, "Do you like your brother very much?"
"I like it." The little boy said shyly, "My brother is very nice to me. He buys me lollipops and tells me stories."
Thinking of something that made him sad, the little boy drooped his eyelashes and tears welled up in his eyes.
He choked up and said, "But dad doesn't like him, so he doesn't like to go home..."
Mother Zhou was stunned for a long time after listening to her youngest son's words. Suddenly, she collapsed and squatted on the ground, covering her face and crying bitterly.
Chen Ling walked over and asked her: "Why are you crying? For Zhou Yuanxin, or for the life you will lose."
Mother Zhou didn't say anything. She herself didn't know which one made her more painful and confused: her son's death or the panic of losing her husband.
The Tao family's home was in a mess. The crying of women and sobbing of children brought the atmosphere of the home to the lowest point.
Mother Zhou went to the police station with the police, and no matter what the police asked, she said she didn't know.
She was not lying. When Tao Zhiyong was chasing and fighting with Chen Ling, she had already hidden in a small room with the child and did not see anything.
The smashing and threats she had heard about were blocked out in her memory. No matter what it was that would harm her husband, she did not intend to tell anyone about it.
Chen Ling had a recording in his hand, so he handed it to the police. After taking the statement, he came out of the office of the interrogating police officer and looked up to see the little boy sitting alone on the bench.
The boy's calves were hanging on the chair, swaying back and forth, his mouth pouting, his eyes looking left and right.
Jiang Yu: "Go back now?"
Chen Ling glanced in the direction of the little boy. The wound on his leg had been cleaned and bandaged by a kind young lady in the police station, and a beautiful bow was tied on it.
"I'll be right back." The young man said and ran forward.
The little boy liked Chen Ling very much because he would tell him about his brother, because he was the bravest and most powerful person he had ever met.
Before this, he had never seen anyone dare to resist his fierce father.
"Big brother."
"Wait a little longer, your mother will be out soon." Chen Ling touched his head, "Are you hungry?"
"Hungry." The child usually went to bed early and slept soundly, so he wouldn't feel hungry even in the middle of the night. But now, because of the adults' affairs, he had been tossed around for most of the night, and he looked like an eggplant hit by frost, wilting.
"Wait." Chen Ling went to the vending machine and bought a can of Wangzai milk.
He opened the pull ring and put the milk jug into the child's hand. "After you finish drinking the milk, mom will come out. If you are really sleepy, go find the little sister who just treated your wound. She can help you find a place to sleep."
"Are you leaving?" the little boy asked.
Chen Ling nodded and asked, "Do you have anything else to say to me?"
"Are you really my brother's classmate?"
"yes."
"If he comes back from far away, can you let him go home? I really miss him." The child's eyes were so clear, and the longing in his heart was straightforward and pure, so pure that it made people feel distressed.
Chen Ling gently pinched his face and said, "Okay, I promise you."
"Thank you, brother."
"Brother Jiang." Wu Weiwei moved towards Jiang Yu and whispered, "I didn't expect Brother Chen to like children. Look how patient he is."
Jiang Yu narrowed his eyes slightly and chuckled, "Really?"
"Yes, he will be a good father in the future."
Jiang Yu's eyes turned cold and disappeared in an instant, "You mean, he will get married in the future?"
"Of course. My brother Chen is so handsome and capable, so his future sister-in-law will definitely be good." Wu Weiwei was immersed in his fantasy and couldn't extricate himself. "The fruit of their love will definitely be very beautiful."
He was too excited and touched Jiang Yu with his arm with a gossipy look on his face. After that, he regretted being too proud and put some distance between them again.
Even so, he didn't stop talking: "Brother Jiang, do you think Brother Chen will have a daughter or a son in the future? Can this be calculated?"
"Yes." Jiang Yu looked at the young man walking back towards him, and his tone suddenly became gentle, "Your brother Chen is destined to have no children, but I have indeed found you a very powerful sister-in-law."
How can there be no children?!
Wu Weiwei tilted his head to look at Chen Ling's face. Good, very good, very good.
Such a wealthy and blessed face actually has few relatives.
Could it be that all the physiognomy books left by my adoptive father were pirated copies
Wu Weiwei was puzzled and was about to ask more questions when he heard Chen Ling say, "Let's go back."
Wu Weiwei could only shut up. After all, gossiping in front of the person concerned was a very immoral thing to do.
Chen Ling accompanied Tao Zhiyong in circles in the living room tonight and was exhausted. He yawned all the way. When he got home, he didn't even want to take a shower and fell asleep immediately.
Jiang Yu stood at the door and looked for a moment, then hesitated slightly when he was about to step in.
The smell of the school uniform that was tinged with the youthful atmosphere was almost gone.
Chen Ling was sleeping soundly and had no idea that he was being watched. Perhaps he was dreaming about delicious food, for he smacked his lips twice, turned over and continued to sleep.
At two o'clock in the middle of the night, the door was blown open a crack by the breeze.
The Wuzhu coin turned vigilantly on the spot, but did not smell anything unusual. It shook twice on the door frame and returned to its stationary state.
Chen Ling had a dream while he was drowsy.
In his dream, he was trapped in endless darkness, surrounded by a strong smell of blood, deep hostility and gloomy energy.
He felt as if his body was stuck in a quagmire, being gradually enveloped by soft and moist mud. Unlike other places, the mud had no fishy smell, but instead had a faint cool fragrance.
The black mud isolated him from the disgusting smells and the biting cold air from the outside world.
He was like a small boat standing still in the center of the ocean, floating and wrapped in tenderness.
As long as he remained obedient and motionless, he would be safe until the swamp was willing to let him go.
"I'm going to die..." In the early morning, accompanied by a groan, Chen Ling sat up from the bed with difficulty.
My limbs feel heavy, the flesh around my waist aches, and my neck hurts when I move the slightest bit.
He felt as if he had been beaten up in his sleep.
He fell back with his head tilted back and remained paralyzed for a long time. He took a deep breath, got out of bed, and went to the bathroom.
In the mirror, the pinch marks on his neck had faded so much that they were almost invisible.
The marks that even the master's talisman could not completely erase healed on their own within just two or three days.
Chen Ling immediately suspected Jiang Yu.
After washing up, he rushed to the door of his room and asked Wu Zhuqian: "Did Jiang Yu come here last night?"
"No." Wu Zhu Qian said confidently.
Chen Ling asked again: "Are you sure?"
After the five-zhu coin was questioned, he suddenly became uncertain, "It seems that the door was blown open a little by the wind, just a little bit."
Chen Ling rubbed his brows and said, "He has been here."
"But I don't feel the breath of other people." Wuzhuqian was full of doubts.
Chen Ling thought to himself, the ancestor is not a human being, but a thousand-year-old ghost who can restrain his breath and come and go invisibly.
No wonder he had such a strange dream last night and felt sore all over when he woke up in the morning. It must be because the old ancestor climbed onto the bed again last night and held him in his arms as he slept all night.
Chen Ling rushed out aggressively, and sure enough, Jiang Yu was full of energy and in a very good mood, and was even teasing a parrot.
I'm afraid the sun is rising from the west.
Chen Ling walked over, took the nuts from the man's hand, and threw them into the parrot's trough. "You came into my room last night."
Jiang Yu held someone and sucked all night last night. Now he is like a sated big cat, calm and gentle. When asked, he admitted it honestly and made a request: "The smell of the clothes you gave me is almost gone. It's better to change them."
Chen Ling was confused by the man's frank attitude, without any guilt or shame.
Jiang Yuqu tapped the young man's forehead with his finger, then suddenly moved closer and whispered in his ear, "Or, leave the door open for me at night."
Why do these words sound like the teasing between underground lovers...
Chen Ling closed his eyes, bit his cheek and said, "You wait."
He ran back to the room, took out a piece of clothing at random and stuffed it into the man's arms, "Put it away quickly, don't let the master see it!"
Zhao Xunchang was neither in the house nor in the yard. He must have gone out for a walk.
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Xunchang came in from the courtyard gate with his hands behind his back. Seeing the two men, one smiling calmly and the other acting sneakily, he frowned and said, "What are you doing so early in the morning?"
Chen Ling hurried over and took his master's arm and walked in, "Nothing."
"No, why should you feel guilty?" Zhao Xunchang was afraid of hearing some lovey-dovey plot, so he quickly waved his hand and said, "Forget it, I don't want to know either."
Chen Ling: “…”
Zhao Xunchang glanced at Jiang Yu who was walking towards his room and snorted coldly. There must be something fishy going on between the two of them. He lowered his eyes and put on a serious attitude, "Jiang Shengxing came yesterday and brought a bird expert hired from abroad. They made a preliminary design for the plants planted in the breeding pilot and the distribution of the plants. This is the design drawing."
Zhao Xunchang took out his mobile phone and showed a picture.
The picture shows a conceptual picture of a breeding pilot project. The breeding pilot project made of glass is like a small tropical rain forest. This environment is most suitable for macaws to live in.
Zhao Xunchang said: "Jiang Shengxing asked me to ask you, is it him who contacted the vegetation matter, or is it you who contacted it yourself?"
"I can go by myself." Chen Ling said, "Didn't I reach an agreement with Mr. Tang that day?"
Of course Zhao Xunchang remembered this, "Then I'll tell him."
Chen Ling's fingertips slid across the screen of his master's mobile phone, and a photo of a young bird appeared in his field of vision.
The chicks changed every day and grew very fast. In just three or two days, some purple-blue down had grown on their bodies. Chen Ling touched the little parrot's head, which still only had a few fine hairs, through the screen and said, "It's so well-behaved."
"They are very well behaved." Zhao Xunchang was very proud. "Qian Qing said that these two birds have a very good appetite and are in good spirits. Their calls are loud and beautiful. The most surprising thing is that they can find their father. As soon as Xiao Lan leaves, they will chirp within half an hour."
"Two of them in one nest?"
"That's right." Zhao Xunchang also found it magical. "When Qian Qing first put the artificially hatched bird into the nest, the chick was pulled out of the nest. Later, our Xiao Lan went there and everything was settled."
Parrots in the wild only hatch one egg because of the environment. Now that they have no worries about food and water and no natural enemies are eyeing them, there is no need to abandon their children.
If this is the case for birds, why can't Zhou Yuanxin's mother be brave enough to protect her own children
Chen Ling remembered Tao Zhiyong's words last night: "I can get him kicked out of school with just one word." He suddenly changed his mind and said, "Master, I'll call Mr. Jiang."
Seeing his expression suddenly become serious, Zhao Xunchang guessed that something was wrong and waved his hand, saying it was okay.
It was still early, and Chen Ling was not sure whether Jiang Shengxing had gotten up. After having breakfast and inspecting the construction site on the mountain, he called Jiang Shengxing.
After briefly talking about the procurement of vegetation for the breeding pilot project, he turned the topic to Tao Zhiyong: "I would like to ask you to help me find out whether Tao Zhiyong from xx unit has any private relationship with the teachers or principal of Rongshen Middle School."
The future ancestor's wife called in person to ask for help, so there was no reason for Jiang Shengxing to say no. "Okay, I'll give you a reply this afternoon at the latest."
Chen Ling breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you."
"You're really embarrassing me. It's my duty, it's my duty." Jiang Shengxing hung up the phone and gave the instructions.
Chen Ling was not the type to just sit and wait. In the afternoon, he sat in the shade, holding a teacup in one hand and a mobile phone in the other, and posted a message on the forum of Rongshen Middle School.
Subject: I saw Zhou Yuanxin!
Content: This is what happened. During the evening self-study session last night, I secretly went to the place where Zhou Yuanxin hanged himself to smoke. After smoking one cigarette, I stamped out the cigarette butt with my foot. When I looked up, I saw a person falling from the tree branch. I was almost scared to death. I swear, I saw him with his head down, smiling at me! I am really scared now. Is there any follow-up to the last time we talked about going to the temple? When will we meet
As soon as the post was published, comments popped up like mushrooms after rain.
Stop playing goddamn magic! Go to a fucking temple.
The person upstairs must be Cheng Le from Class 5. If you talk so arrogantly, then why were you so scared that you wet your pants last night
Chen Ling was startled and sent a private message to the commenter on the second floor: What happened last night
The person replied quickly: Which class are you from? Why is it a new level one account
Chen Ling: Class nine.
That person: Damn, he’s from Zhou Yuanxin’s class. By the way, did you really see him last night
Chen Ling: I saw it, and I was so scared that I almost peed my pants.
Chen Ling: Did Cheng Le also see Zhou Yuanxin last night
That person: Not really, but it’s almost the same.
Perhaps because typing was too troublesome, after a pause, the other end sent a long voice message.
"Cheng Le and the others were playing poker in the dormitory last night. It was the poker game that Zhou Yuanxin loved to play when he was alone, which was bridge building."
"I don't know how it was Cheng Le's dormitory's turn. Anyway, when Cheng Le was building the bridge, the three-layer stack of playing cards collapsed and the playing cards were scattered all over the floor."
"According to the previous rules, the next unlucky person... should be Cheng Le."