You are my wife, don't doubt it!

"When I first came to Shanghai, I was ostracized, maybe because of my personality," Xu Wuchen said with a smile, "I was even beaten up every other day."

"Oh, this." Xiao Yao felt sympathy for the guy with the same problem and patted his upper arm. "I can imagine."

"Once I was beaten up by a few bad boys," Xu Wuchen said, "I suddenly couldn't stand it anymore, so I grabbed the shortest and thinnest one among them and beat him up. No matter how the others beat me, I just focused on beating this one.

"After that fight, no one dared to mess with me anymore." Xu Wuchen told Xiao Yao.

"Ha." Xiao Yao said.

"Later, I grew up and became tall and strong," Xu Wuchen said. "I began to believe that violence could solve all problems."

"So that's how it is." Xiao Yao nodded.

"Don't think I'm taking people to argue about money everywhere. I'm not like others who go out to smoke, drink, and play games after arguing about money." Xu Wuchen squatted down and put another meal in front of a woman holding a child. "If I say I'm helping the family, you will definitely laugh, right?"

"..." Xiao Yao didn't know how to answer and could only give an awkward but polite smile.

"But actually, I forgot one thing," Xu Wuchen said, "In fact, deep down in my heart, I want to be a good person, a good student, and a good child."

"what……"

"In addition to asking me to work and participate in social activities, Father Yu often asked me to take some money home," Xu Wuchen explained. "Although it's not a lot, I know he is trying very hard to help me."

"I can imagine that." Xiao Yao nodded.

“But at first, I still felt that he was just being hypocritical.

"One day, after I came back from mass, I was lying in bed and had a dream,"

Xu Wuchen's eyes were a little dazed: "I dreamed that I returned to the village where I went to primary school. At that time, I was still a... You may not believe it when I say this, but I was a shy and studious child."

"I believe it." Xiao Yao told him.

"I dreamed that I locked myself in a room to read," Xu Wuchen continued to recall. "There were no windows in the room, only a sealed door. Suddenly, the sealed door was kicked open, and Father Yu rushed in with a double-barreled shotgun."

"Double-barreled shotgun!" Xiao Yao took a breath of cold air: "You knew he had a shotgun?"

"No, I don't know." Xu Wuchen asked curiously, "Does he really have a shotgun?"

"It's okay, just continue talking." Xiao Yao said.

Hey Bo Ge, what on earth did you do behind my back?

Chapter 197: The Crossroads of Time

2023-05-19

"It's okay, just continue talking." Xiao Yao said.

Hey Bo Ge, what on earth did you do behind my back?

"Bo Ge released me from that dark little room," Xu Wuchen continued to recall. "That 'plane head', the one you fought with, was guarding outside my door."

"And then?" Xiao Yao was completely attracted by this story.

"And then, I had a fight with that 'plane head'." Xu Wuchen said in a light tone.

"Let me guess," Xiao Yao said, "With Father Yu's encouragement, you mustered up your courage, fought side by side with the priest, defeated the evil airplane head, and won your freedom?"

Xu Wuchen shook his head: "You're only half right."

"Oh?"

"Father Yu did encourage me to try the airplane head, but he didn't intervene," Xu Wuchen recalled. "He said he couldn't interfere with other people's spiritual will."

"...and then what?" Xiao Yao felt more and more that this was what Yu Bo would say.

"The airplane head was very powerful, and I was no match for him," Xu Wuchen said, "but he held back everywhere. I was knocked down again and again, but I stood up again and again."

It sounds like something out of Doraemon.

"Finally, the crew-cut guy said he was glad to see that I had the will and courage to resist him.

"It was not until then that I realized that it was the airplane head that protected my kind side in this spiritual home and exposed my violent side to face the outside world."

"Is it really like this...?" Xiao Yao muttered to himself.

"Finally, I decided to leave this comfort zone and face the challenges outside with Feijitou." Xu Wuchen told the ending of the story.

"So, you had a dream and then you had an epiphany?" Xiao Yao said with a smile.

"Brother Xu said," Xu Wuchen reached into the collar of his T-shirt and showed Xiao Yao his small cross: "Look, I am sending you like sheep among wolves, so you must be as cautious as snakes and as simple as doves.

"So, I decided that I would never be a person who threatened others with power and violence, but if someone wanted to hurt me or someone I wanted to protect, I would still beat them up without mercy."

Xu Wuchen waved his fist lightly, and Xiao Yao gave him a thumbs up.

Xiao Yao followed Xu Wuchen to what he had mentioned before as the "homeless community" - a triangular open space surrounded by some messy bamboo poles and wooden pieces, sandwiched between an unfinished construction site, a garbage dump formed by illegal dumping, and an unrepaired dead-end road. Inside, there were some shacks made of cardboard boxes covered with canvas and plastic sheets, some high and some low, mixed in with the piles of various rubbish, indistinguishable from each other.

There are indeed only two elderly people here.

Xu Wuchen gave the lunch boxes in the hands of the two men to one of the old men, saying that he was the "grandfather" here.

"Taigong" only shared a box of rice with another old man with his own pickles. The rest of the food was put into an extra clean foam box. Taigong said that it would be distributed to his companions who did not earn money today in the evening.

After a brief greeting, Xiao Yao noticed that the plastic sheet at the door of one of the shacks moved. A hand with fair skin but visibly dirty lifted the plastic sheet. The person in the dark shadow inside noticed that Xiao Yao and his friends had not left yet, so he shrank back.

Xu Wuchen was about to say goodbye at this time. Xiao Yao wanted to ask more questions, but Xu Wuchen insisted and said that it was almost time to go back and reunite, so Xiao Yao had to give up.

After walking some distance away, Xiao Yao asked Xu Wuchen: "Did you find that there was another person there?"

"Whether it's discovered or not, does it matter?" Xu Wuchen asked back.

"What if it's something like imprisonment?" Xiao Yao recalled some not-so-good news reports.

"Haha, you just asked me why I was willing to divide the money between them but I wasn't afraid of their resistance. Let me tell you, people who have fallen to this point are basically those who value survival more than anything else. If they have, or had, the courage to fight with others for that little bit of money... they wouldn't have become a living vagrant." Xu Wuchen said.

"I think, maybe not..." Xiao Yao muttered to himself.

Xu Wuchen changed the subject: "Do you think they really need these meals from us?"

"Isn't it necessary?" Xiao Yao was surprised.

"They need it, and they don't need it. Without this meal, they won't starve to death, but with this meal, they can't escape their predicament. Each of them has a lot of grievances and secrets, but it is their own choice to come to this point.

"No matter what we do, it must be done under the premise of respect - if she doesn't want us to see her, then we won't see her," Xu Wuchen explained.

"Is it that Father Yu organizing you to deliver meals is purely a meaningless self-satisfaction? Is there no real way to solve the problem?" Xiao Yao said.

"If you have a condescending attitude of giving alms, it may really be meaningless." Xu Wuchen shrugged and said, "But I don't know about others, but for me, sending food itself is meaningful."

"Ah."

"Our activities here will make the surrounding gangsters think that we are protecting this area, and they will be more or less afraid when they have bad intentions. It can be regarded as some compensation for my past mistakes, no, crimes." Xu Wuchen sighed: "As for the 'real solution to the problem' you mentioned, if there is one, it is not something I can do. Let the big guys worry about it."

As he spoke, Xu Wuchen looked at Xiao Yao with deep expectation in his eyes.

A surge of strength suddenly surged in Xiao Yao's chest.

He didn't know why, without any cause, without any sign or basis, but he could feel that the power of the fortress in his heart had been strengthened.

Is this the power of trust and bond?

Yes, Lao Tang, no poking.

Helping an old lady cross the road is more efficient than mindlessly killing monsters.

……

Everyone gathered at the entrance of War Shadow City at the previously agreed time, and then took the subway back to the church for a public meal.

After the meal there was a “sharing and communication” session, in which everyone sat in a circle in the conference room where classes usually took place and spoke one by one in a clockwise direction.

"We completed the meal delivery mission and also completed the spiritual communication," Daiyu said, standing at his position, holding a piece of paper in his hand. "Although this day - this half day's work was very hard, we gained more inner peace and satisfaction."

Xiao Yao yawned loudly.

It’s not that he wasn’t interested in the activities at hand and Daiyu’s speech, it’s just that it was the time when he usually dozed off during his afternoon nap.

"It's already past two o'clock..." Xiao Yao tilted his head slightly and whispered to Yu Luying: "When are we going to see Zhou Qi?"

"Shh." Yu Luying placed her index fingers on her upper and lower lips.

After Hairtail finished his speech, there was a burst of sparse applause in the room.

Next is Zhang Jialong.

"...a warm feeling came over me. I realized that this was not just a practical activity, but also about the connection between people. I realized that in this noisy city...we forgot to pay attention to those who really need help...an unprecedented sense of satisfaction...realized...that in all aspects of life, we can use our own strength to help others..."

...The writing styles of these two bastards' manuscripts are exactly the same. I'm afraid they were written by the squad leader on the same page.

……

Zzz…

Zzz…

Xiao Yao was suddenly awakened by a heavy hand: "Ah, ah!"

When I looked up, I saw my brother Yu Bo with a furious look in his eyes, and Yu Luying who was laughing secretly with her hands covering her mouth.

The others have disappeared.

"I, I fell asleep?" Xiao Yao stood up and said, "I didn't mean to do that! Where are the family members?"

"It's over." Yu Luying told Xiao Yao.

"Let's go," Yu Bo said simply, "Let's go to the hospital to see Zhou Qi."

"Look Zhou Qi, why are you so active?" Xiao Yao was a little curious about Yu Bo's attitude.

"We worked so hard to rescue her from the palace, shouldn't we go and say thank you?" Yu Bo answered carelessly.

"Stop lying." Xiao Yao curled his lips.

"Uncle wants to confirm whether Zhou Qi is safe. After all, Teacher Yao, Teacher Song and the others..."

"Okay, I understand." Xiao Yao nodded.

Yu Bo said seriously, "If Zhou Qi is fine, I want to know the whole story of how she got involved in this matter. You are friends, so maybe you can get the truth."

"Friend?" Xiao Yao tilted his mouth.

When the three of them walked out of the side door of the church, Yu Bo turned back and locked the door.

When he went to drive, Xiao Yao and Yu Luying were standing at the door of the church and saw the hairtail.

This guy was standing at the side door of St. Francis College, hugging Yan Xiao.

It's that posture where they hug each other's waist, lean their upper bodies back, and whisper.

Yan Xiao wore a black T-shirt and wrapped his sports jacket around his waist, looking full of youth and vitality.

When Daiyu saw Xiao Yao, he gave him a non-standard American military salute.

Yan Xiao’s sneakers are so nice, Yan Xiao’s wide-leg pants are so nice... Damn, what a bargain, Xiao Yao thought.

"You're jealous of something irrelevant?" Yu Luying said with a sullen look on her face, "Any beauty can be your wife, okay?"

"What?" Xiao Yao turned around awkwardly, imitating the way Daiyu hugged Yan Xiao, and put his hands around Yu Luying's waist.

Then, it was slapped away.

Xiao Yao took a step forward and reached out his hand again.

"Uncle." Yu Luying said.

Xiao Yao quickly retracted his hand, turned around and stood at attention.

A black car "slid" over silently.

Yu Luying sat in the back seat, Xiao Yao sat in the passenger seat, and secretly sent a message to Shen Jie.

Don Quixote: I saw Yan Xiao again. She is the beautiful girl you introduced to Daiyu.

Don Quixote: Damn, those two were being so affectionate in front of our school gate, so arrogant.

Don Quixote: ...Wife, when you are released in a few days, we will go to the school gate and show some affection.

……

Seeing that Shen Jie did not reply to him immediately, he sent another message "We are on our way to see Zhou Qi now" and put the phone in his trouser pocket.

Unlike usual, the song playing in the car stereo was not Gregorian chant, but Pu Shu's "Those Flowers".

"That laughter reminded me of my flowers, which bloomed quietly for me in every corner of my life. I thought I would stay by their side forever. Today, we have left in the vast sea of ​​people. They must have grown old now. Where are they? We are all going our separate ways..."