Shuangling: Braving the Rapids

The boy slumped into his pillow and slept soundly until he was finally jolted awake by the thunder. He groggily made his way to the window and saw dark clouds rolling down the corrugated iron roof of the auto parts market. Soon after, a torrential downpour began.

He hastily wiped his face and dragged the rickety table and chair to the porch. Rainwater wove a curtain along the moss-covered door frame, and the boy, pen in hand, stared blankly at the rain curtain—the cool moisture on his nose, mixed with the earthy smell drifting from afar, actually washed away most of the stuffiness of the past few days.

In this stifling summer heat, what could be more wonderful than a downpour?

Yue Chuan was reaching out to catch the raindrops dripping from the eaves when he suddenly heard the sound of mud splashing. Looking closely, he saw a round, chubby figure bursting through the rain, revealing a familiar round face beneath a plastic raincoat.

"Haha! Little Chuan! I've finally found you! You came to help my second sister without even telling me! That's so unfair!"

The person who came was Yue Chuan's cousin, Qin Shoufeng. He ran up to Yue Chuan, gave a sinister smile, and casually threw a handful of rainwater on his cousin.

Yue Chuan wasn't annoyed and playfully splashed raindrops in retaliation, but Qin Shoufeng waved his hand and quickly said, "No, no, no, stop fooling around. I brought you some delicious food, don't get it wet..."

As they spoke, Qin Shoufeng walked to the eaves, took out two roujiamo (Chinese hamburgers) from the cloth bag on his shoulder, and said with a smile, "Here, I brought you some roujiamo, eat them quickly!"

Having not eaten for most of the day, Yue Chuan's eyes lit up instantly at the sight of the food. He stopped pretending to be polite with his cousin, took the steamed bun, and began to chew heartily. "Brother, weren't you at my older sister's tutoring class? How come you have time to come here?"

Yue Chuan's mouth was stuffed with food, and his speech was muffled. However, given the tacit understanding between the two brothers, Qin Shoufeng naturally knew what he was saying.

"Hey, don't even mention it. Most of the students in the tutoring center are going to be seniors in high school, and I can't keep up at all. I heard from my second sister that you were working for her, and without thinking, I bought you a roujiamo (Chinese hamburger). Am I being nice enough?"

Qin Shoufeng wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth. He finished off the huge roujiamo in just a few bites. Then, he took out two bottles of soda from his cloth bag and, as usual, gave one to each of them.

During this period, Yue Chuan was busy non-stop, so eating and chatting leisurely made him feel much more relaxed. In this way, the two brothers chatted about some interesting things that had happened recently, and poured out their troubles to each other. Half a day passed by just like that.

"Chuan'er, I came to find you because there's something else I want to tell you..." Qin Shoufeng, who was laughing heartily just a second ago, suddenly frowned.

Seeing his cousin's drastic change in expression, Yue Chuan immediately guessed that he was troubled by love. He scratched his head and said helplessly, "Brother, I know you're going to talk to me about Liu Qing again. I've already told you the situation. Liu Qing dropped out of school before the final exams, but I really don't know the specific reasons..."

Seeing his cousin looking dejected and hesitant, Yue Chuan asked suspiciously, "What? It's not Liu Qing? It's... someone else again?"

Qin Shoufeng rolled his eyes at his cousin, sighed, and said, "Sigh, even Liu Qing broke my heart. Who else could I possibly replace her with?"

Yue Chuan didn't respond, knowing his cousin must have more to say. Sure enough, Qin Shoufeng shrugged and whispered, "A few days ago, I saw Liu Qing at the Xia Shang Restaurant..."

Upon hearing this, Yue Chuan didn't react much. He was a good student who was oblivious to everything else and focused solely on his studies. He was unaware of the rumors about the "Little Red Mansion".

"And then?" Yue Chuan asked.

"Chuan'er, you really are a bookworm. You've never even heard of 'Little Red House'? This restaurant is owned by Cheng Dong's older brother, Lao Chengxi!" Seeing his cousin's blank expression, Qin Shoufeng sighed and then began to "educate" his cousin about the various scandalous secrets of Xia Shang Restaurant.

"What?!" Yue Chuan's eyes widened, and he exclaimed in shock, "You mean... Cheng Dong's older brother owns this hotel, and Liu Qing works as a waitress there?"

Yue Chuan looked incredulous. In his memory, Liu Qing came from a well-off family and didn't need to work in a place like that. Another thing that surprised him was that the owner of Xia Shang Restaurant was actually Lao Chengxi!

"I saw it with my own eyes, how could it be fake? She had her hair permed and was wearing a cheongsam that was supposed to be a restaurant hostess... She was serving tea and water to the guests at the head table. At that moment, my heart broke..." Qin Shoufeng recounted the scene of meeting Liu Qing, looking completely wilted like a frostbitten eggplant.

To attend a leader's wedding banquet, Qin Shoufeng was taken to the Xia Shang Restaurant by his father. At the banquet, he saw his beloved girl being groped by an older man, which deeply shocked him. At that moment, the perfect image of his goddess, along with his youthful dreams of first love, shattered, and he was heartbroken for many days.

"Once you fall into that kind of cesspool, it's hard to stay clean. Maybe Liu Qing has already been taken advantage of..." Qin Shoufeng imagined some inappropriate scenes for children, and his eyes immediately dimmed.

Yue Chuan was stunned by his cousin's words. Although he wasn't as infatuated with Liu Qing as his cousin, the girl had been his classmate, and he still felt a little uneasy. After thinking for a moment, Yue Chuan suddenly asked, "Brother, how did you get into that kind of place?"

"Don't get the wrong idea! The first and second floors of Xia Shang Restaurant are just normal dining areas. I remember, it was Lao Chengxi who invited my dad there that day. My dad said those people were planning to mess around with minerals on our mountain..."

Qin Shoufeng told his cousin about the situation in detail. However, since his cousin was also a minor, there were some things he didn't know. For example, he didn't mention how Lao Chengxi had recruited their father into the mining business, or whether Qin Laishun had done anything to betray their mother at the Xia Shang Restaurant. He either didn't mention these things or deliberately avoided them.

"If Cheng Dong were here, that would be great. With his abilities, he might be able to rescue Liu Qing..." For some reason, Yue Chuan suddenly thought of Cheng Dong. He hadn't seen his cousin for more than half a year. Thinking of his good older brother committing a crime and going to the detention center, he couldn't help but sigh again.

"Brother Cheng Dong is a righteous man, but his boss's character is questionable. Putting aside the fact that his restaurant is involved in borderline business, the henchmen behind him don't look like good people at all! They're all like gangsters from Hong Kong movies!"

At this point, Qin Shoufeng suddenly slapped his forehead. He stared at his cousin and said, word by word, "Chuan'er, there's something else I haven't told you. Actually, I saw... I saw those guys who bullied you at the school gate before. You know what? They're all Lao Chengxi's henchmen!"

Zheng Xiong and Jiang San'er also attended the banquet, responsible for perimeter security. The two thugs were easily recognizable: one was fat with a large head and a pockmarked nose, the other a thin, bald man. They were notorious in the area, but when they saw Lao Chengxi, they both acted like obsequious lackeys, which caught Qin Shoufeng's attention. Later, he specifically inquired about the two men from his father, thus clarifying their relationship with Lao Chengxi.

"You mean, Zheng Xiong and Jiang San'er are both Lao Chengxi's lackeys? No way? Brother Chengdong... why didn't you tell me..." Mentioning these two, Yue Chuan's expression was really not good. Thinking of how Zheng Xiong had ridden him to the ground and rubbed him, the fear of being ravaged came back to him.

"Yeah! It's those two bastards! If it weren't for them, you wouldn't have been punished by the school. Humph! If it weren't for the inappropriate situation, I would have gone up and beaten them up..." Qin Shoufeng waved his fist as if he was about to fight someone. He had probably forgotten that when Yue Chuan was beaten by the two, he was so scared that he trembled all over and didn't dare to go forward to rescue him.

Yue Chuan's facial expression became increasingly unnatural; his jaw was clenched, and the muscles in his cheeks were taut, very taut...

Seeing his cousin's unpleasant expression, Qin Shoufeng didn't continue. He only realized then that even after so much time had passed, his cousin still harbored resentment over the incident. So, he quickly changed the subject, advising, "Chuan'er, I know you hate those two. But I advise you not to do anything foolish. They're just two dogs raised by Lao Chengxi, not worth any revenge! Also, I've found out about that bastard Zheng Xiong's background. Do you want to hear it?"

Yue Chuan nodded, but what Qin Shoufeng was about to say was enough to shatter his cousin's worldview...