Chapter 1: The Entanglement of Fate and Enmity, Haicheng's Solitude
The iron stream rolled on, and the thieves boarded the train again the next day. A female thief from Shanghai caught Li Huqiu's attention, her method was quite good, she used a sleeve technique, disguised as a cleaning staff, with a small package clip (a special tool) at the cuff opening, with just one flick of her wrist, she could snatch someone else's bracelet, and if you're slightly distracted, she might succeed.
Jewelry is mostly concentrated on women, and Hao Cuizi was in trouble all the way. As long as he got a little closer, those women would cover their mouths and dodge one after another, making it difficult for him to make a move. He really regretted not taking a bath and changing into clean clothes before getting on the bus, thinking that dressing up as a beggar with disabilities would win more sympathy from women. Unexpectedly, this trick didn't work anymore.
When the car arrived in Shanghai, Hao Lai's body only had a gold chain as thick as a mosquito leg. It was so light that it couldn't even kill a fly if thrown away. This was still something he had forced Li Huqiu to steal from a lost child, taking advantage of the chaos when people were surrounding them. The old cripple was feeling depressed in his heart, but Li Huqiu quietly pulled at his sleeve and secretly handed him a small package. When they arrived at their destination, the old cripple opened the package for everyone to see. It was a whole package of gold jewelry, mostly bracelets and necklaces. The Shanghai female thief's expression changed when she saw the package, and her gaze towards the old thief had a few more hints of admiration and resentment.
The thieves celebrated the successful convening of this conference and the election of the national thief king with a big party. A grand banquet was held at Shanghai's New Jinjiang Garden. At the banquet, the Shanghai female thief Bao Wenjing, who had been tricked by Li Huqiu, invited Hao Quzi to dance together. Li Huqiu was surprised to find that although the old cripple was not good with his legs and feet, he was actually a master of dance, proficient in all kinds of Rumba and Cha Cha. After one round of dancing, when the music stopped, everyone gathered around, and Bao Wenjing proudly took out Hao Quzi's watch and ring to show off to the crowd. This was a big loss of face, but Hao Quzi remained calm and smiled lightly: "Little sister Wenjing is indeed skilled, but did you notice that you lost something when you stole from me?" After finishing speaking, the old thief brought out his hand from behind his back, and on it was actually holding a bra!
Everyone was shocked, followed by thunderous applause. The female thief, Bao Wenjing, buried her face in embarrassment into the old thief's chest. Li Huqiu watched with eyes wide open in the crowd, his eyes gleaming with delight. The old thief had played this trick to perfection, this was the ultimate technique of yielding and letting go that he had never taught Li Huqiu, a legendary skill said to be able to strip the target of all their clothes within thirty seconds.
That night, the old cripple and Bao Wenjing lived in the inner room, while Li Huqiu slept on the sofa in the outer room. The so-called partition between them was only a tea table and half a screen. Li Huqiu's face turned red as he watched the couple, but unfortunately his first sexual characteristics had not yet matured, and he only vaguely knew what the two people were doing on the bed. The old cripple's movements were quick and simple, leaving few memories for Li Huqiu that night. He only remembered Bao Wenjing's pale body, which made him feel uneasy as he turned over in bed.
On the way back, Hao Diaozi repeatedly instructed Li Huqiu not to reveal what happened that night to Yanzi. Li Huqiu thought about how disgusting it was for Hao Diaozi to climb onto Yanzi's sister and felt hatred in his teeth, so he couldn't possibly go tell Yanzi about this kind of thing.
After returning to Haicheng, Li Huqiu replaced Zhang Tiejun and was promoted by Hao Cui as the second-in-command of the organization. This was both a reward for his help in obtaining the title of "Thief King" and an acknowledgment of Li Huqiu's exceptional thieving skills. From that day on, Lao Cui taught Li Huqiu with even more dedication. He told Li Huqiu that to be a great thief, one needs to have clever methods, a big heart, and good eyesight, but these are just the basics for ordinary thieves. As a "Thief King"-level person, one needs to have something more. First and foremost, one must master an extraordinary skill that others do not possess. Secondly, one must learn how to handle various situations, such as banquets and parties, and be skilled in disguise and imitation of different people's speech and behavior. In short, one must be a keen observer of life and have broad knowledge. Li Huqiu asked if Lao Cui's extraordinary skill was the "art of yielding". Hao Cui patted his head and said that when he passes on the position to him, he will teach him this skill.
In the end of 1988, a new member was added to this special family. Only seventeen-year-old Yanzijie became a mother and gave birth to a little girl for Haocunzi. When Haocunzi saw that it was a girl, he was particularly disappointed and left without even holding her. When the nurse asked where the father of the child was, Lituchu voluntarily took over the newborn baby girl.
Everyone else was born crying and everyone else laughing, but this girl was born crying and her mother was also crying. The only one smiling was a half-grown child named Li Huqiu. Without a father to care for her, the little girl didn't even have a name, but she struggled to survive. Li Huqiu gave her a nickname, Little Swallow. After the New Year, Little Swallow fell ill with postpartum complications because of poor care during her confinement, and her body got worse day by day. Li Huqiu was heartbroken and silently took care of her, while the old cripple continued to live a life of debauchery, drinking and eating extravagantly.
September 9, 1989 was the most painful day in Li Huqiu's life. On that day, he seemed to be intact on the surface, but his body was covered in wounds, as if he had been cut by a dull knife. The pain was so severe that it couldn't numb the ache in his heart. He felt like the heart hidden in his chest was bleeding, and he squeezed out a tear with all his might, but what came out was a drop of blood. That blood seemed to be flowing from his heart. His tears had been exhausted since childhood when he trained his eyes not to cry, for he was someone who wouldn't shed tears. Fortunately, he still had blood left, and it could make the heavens aware of his sorrow.
That day he went crazy and asked Hao Qiu Zi for his daily earnings. He wanted to give Yanzi a coffin, a sunny spot in the public cemetery where peach blossoms bloom in spring, and all of these required money.
Hao Quezi never thought that this young boy, who was still growing up, would dare to lay such a heavy hand on him. With just one move, the apprentice, who had been practicing diligently every day, knocked down his master, who possessed wealth, status, and fame, and was gradually getting old. From the first knife being pulled out of the crippled leg of the old cripple who said "no", to the old cripple surrendering and saying his first "yes", Li Huqiu stabbed thirteen knives into the crippled leg of the old cripple. The old cripple, who thought he was ruthless enough, had seen someone even more ruthless - this wolf cub, whose veins flowed with the blood of a wild wolf howling in the wind and snow of the Great Mountains of Xing'an League.
The coffin was made of the best pine wood, and the cemetery faced the sun. In spring, you could see the flowers blooming and swallows returning. Li Huqiu held a small swallow that kept chirping, standing in front of the tombstone for a long time, unwilling to leave. Although he still didn't understand love, he already knew how to love someone.
The old cripple was sent to the hospital by Zhang Tiejun. During his stay in the hospital, Li Huqiu stewed a chicken for him every day, but the old cripple feared and hated him, never speaking to him. Li Huqiu took care of him as if nothing had happened between them, helping him with everything from bowel movements to urination, without missing a single detail. The other patients in the same room scolded the old cripple for being mentally ill, yet he still bit and snapped at his filial child like a mad dog every day.
When there was nothing to do, Li Huqiu would hold Little Swallow and sing a song for her. He only knew one song, "Little Swallow Wears Floral Clothes", which was completely off-key and had a stimulating effect rather than a lulling one. Zhang Tiejun heard it several times and wanted to scold him, but he was intimidated by Li's increasingly robust physique and his ruthless behavior in the previous incident, so he didn't dare say anything. Strangely, Little Swallow seemed to be particularly fond of this, and as soon as Li started singing, she would fall asleep in no time. As soon as he stopped singing, she would wake up again.
In the last few days before her death, Yanzi's sister kept repeating one sentence: "Little Swallow, Little Swallow, why don't you switch with Mom? If you die, Mom will be sad for you, but Mom can still get by. If Mom dies, who will take care of you in this world? Rather than letting you live without love or care, and ultimately being ruined by that scoundrel father of yours, it's better to pretend you were never born." Every time she said this, Li Huqiu would hold Little Swallow and walk her to the bedside, telling her, "Little Swallow, I, Li Huqiu, will take care of you for this lifetime. Even if the sky falls and the earth collapses, I'll make sure you grow up, go to school, read books, and have a sunny road like other girls." Only after hearing this promise would Yanzi calm down and close her eyes, as if she didn't want to wake up again, fearing that next time she opened her eyes, Li Huqiu would regret his words. Little Swallow was Li Huqiu's first responsibility, and although this responsibility weighed heavily on him, both for himself and the child, he stood tall without bending his back.
The heavens seem to have a way of exacting revenge. After the old cripple was injured and hospitalized, his mangled but not useless leg refused to heal, instead growing more and more rotten, festering deep into his body. As autumn's chill set in, this rot near the root of his leg quickly turned into an overwhelming stench that repelled all who approached. Even the nurses who changed his dressings were reluctant to enter his room, avoiding him by pushing the task onto one another. Only one person was not deterred - Li Huqiu, the perpetrator of this whole affair, continued to care for him as before, feeding him medicine, washing his body, cleaning up after his bowel movements, and bringing him food. On a day in late October, as the weather grew colder, the old cripple's leg showed no signs of improvement, and he finally made up his mind to have it amputated. The old cripple had broken countless children's arms and legs throughout his life; now it was his turn, and he would be thoroughly rooted out. On the day of the old cripple's amputation, Li Huqiu brought a bottle of wine to the grave of Yanzi, speaking to himself: "Sister, watch from above as I learn all his tricks and then slowly kill him off, letting him live for no more than two years. Little Swallow will soon be able to recognize people; I won't let her have any impression of this scoundrel father."
The old cripple, after being amputated, was told by the doctor that his thigh injury was mainly caused by the disease caused by the old wound. If it wasn't for Li Huqiu's knife wound, this illness would have been discovered late and become bone cancer. Thus, Li Huqiu relied on a 300-yuan red envelope to transform from the old cripple's enemy into his 'benefactor'.
The old cripple had no one to rely on before he got used to living with one leg, and could only be supported by Li Huqiu. As the days went by, the old cripple's vigilance against Li Huqiu faded away. The group of subordinates he had gathered at the train station were now all under the command of "Da Qi Gan", a notorious gangster from North Station, who was also the mastermind behind the betrayal - Zhang Tiejun, once the most trusted person by the old cripple. Not only did they take away several skilled thieves, but even the few crippled and mute children were not left for the old cripple. The old cripple's lonely days were getting tighter, Li Huqiu, although his skills were no longer inferior to the old cripple, often returned empty-handed, and the things he brought back were usually taken by Li Huqiu to buy milk powder for Little Swallow, which could not satisfy the old cripple's craving for alcohol and meat.
The crippled old man, although getting thinner and weaker by the day, gradually adapted to his life with one leg. He began to be self-sufficient, begging for food while recovering his skills. The move that Li Huqiu admired but couldn't master was not passed on to him. Li Huqiu watched him leave every day, supporting himself with two crutches and three points of contact, thinking of other ways in his mind.
