Chapter 1: The Entanglement of Fate and Enmity, Ha City's Lonely...

  Li Huqiu's gaze suddenly fell on the plump chest of "Dai Dou'er". What Dai Dou'er saw in that gaze was an unquenchable desire, a fervor that was even more intense than the lustful gaze of the old lecher from the big flagpole. It seemed as if he wanted to swallow her whole in one gulp. Dai Dou'er thought to herself that all men were like this, regardless of age or size. The sound of Li Huqiu's heavy breathing echoed in her ears, as if he had made a major decision. "Sister, do you have milk here? I have a daughter who doesn't like powdered milk, and I've tried over ten brands that she's all vomited up. As a man, I don't have this thing, but you're a woman, so I was wondering if I could ask you to come back and nurse her a few mouthfuls?" The target of his gaze and the direction of his hand were both her chest. Dai Dou'er couldn't decipher any hint of lust from that gaze anymore. He had clearly taken her breasts as food for his daughter.

  "Big Brother" was furious. On the one hand, he scolded himself for being useless and being fooled by a little brat. On the other hand, he huffed: "No way! If you want milk, go ask your mother! Are you kidding me or do you really not know? Women don't give birth to children just to produce milk!"

  Li Huqiu was really clueless. At that time, newspapers and magazines didn't have sex columns, so this kid's channels for understanding such knowledge were very limited. As a result, he always thought that if women had those things, they should be like cows, constantly producing milk, never thinking there would be other ways of thinking. After being lectured by the big girl, Li Huqiu didn't feel too embarrassed, pulled back his hand and smiled: "If you don't have it, then you just don't have it, what's the rush?"

  He lowered his head, bent down and put his face in front of him, asking: "Your flying knife skills are really fierce. If it wasn't for you just now, I would have been killed by those five people. Was your flying knife skill taught by the old cripple? Where is your knife hidden?"

  As she approached, Li Huqiu noticed that the layer of white skin on her face was peeling off in strips due to sweat, revealing a smooth and slightly dark complexion underneath.

  "You'll really look pretty if you wash your face clean." Li Huqiu didn't respond to Xiao Dou's question, staring at his face in admiration.

  "Do you like to see me wash my face clean?" Tie Douer tilted his neck, revealing the pinch marks on his neck. Li Huqiu noticed that there were not only pinch marks but also some disordered and dense scratch wounds.

  "If you like to watch, I'll wash my face clean from now on, but there's a condition, you have to help me get rid of those people from the Big Flag Pole." The request from the guy with the basket on his back was a bit abrupt, but not without reason.

  "I'm still a kid, how do you know I can help you?" Li Huqiu asked with a smile, his face radiant as sunshine, but he was sitting in the shadows.

  He made a flying knife gesture with his hand and said, "The old cripple has been down for so long, the South Station hasn't even changed its code, they all say it's the remaining incense of the old thief, no one dares to come over and rob, but I know that's nonsense. The big flagpole dreams about it, but he still fears this side, which is you, this little brat. I didn't know why he was afraid of you in the past, but now I do, he's afraid of your ghostly flying knife."

  Li Huqiu nodded slightly to show his agreement, saying: "Helping you is fine, anyway they've been eyeing my territory at the South Station, I'll have a showdown with him sooner or later. Helping you is just a convenient thing to do, but I want to know what's the connection between your clean face and leaving that gang?"

  "As long as I apply this thick layer of makeup, the squad leader will be disgusted by me and won't bother me endlessly. Do you understand?" No wonder she spends all day making her face as white as porcelain. It turns out it's to avoid Squad Leader Zhang, that old rascal. It seems what Squad Leader Zhang did to her is similar to what Old Lamey did to Yanzisister. Li Huqiu thought for a moment and asked: "What's your name? Where do you live?"

  "Big Sister": "My name is Zhang Manli, I have a family but can't go back. My mom died when I was 10 years old, and from then on my dad only knew how to drink. When I was 15, one day after school, I went home and my dad had drunk too much, he suddenly hugged me and wanted to do that thing with me, saying he was old and useless, just this little thought, let me fulfill him."

  Li Huqiu stared with wide eyes and asked nervously: "What happened next?"

  "I struggled desperately at the time, and later kicked him there, he sobered up, lost face, knelt down to beg me for forgiveness. I ran out in a huff, and never went back again."

  "Where do you live now?"

  "Wherever is cheaper to live, sometimes I follow the big flagpole and wander around, sometimes the big flagpole finds another woman, when there's no money, I even crawled into a cement pipe."

  "So you don't have a fixed place to live, come back with me today and sleep on the same kang as me and my daughter. I guarantee that no one will bully you from now on."

  Zhang Manli sized up the little kid Li Huqiu in front of her, thinking that his age made her feel a lot more at ease. After all, how much worse could things get? Could they be any worse than following a big banner pole? The only thing she didn't know was whether this kid had the temperament to keep taking her in.

  "The place I live in, you should have heard of it, it's a big place. The old cripple is nothing now, don't worry, everything is up to me, he wouldn't dare do anything to you." Li Huqiu noticed Zhang Manli's hesitation and thought she was worried about Hao the cripple, so he patted his chest in guarantee.

  Zhang Manli nodded silently after a fierce ideological struggle.

  Back at the residence, Li Huqiu led Zhang Manli straight to his own room. He turned over the black woven bag and poured out the things inside, revealing a small wooden box. Zhang Manli's eyes widened in surprise. "Is this really something you've been involved with?"

  Li Huqiu sneered, proudly saying: "Does this still need to be asked? That kid's kung fu is fierce, every thief in Ha City has a number, I dare say that except for me Li Huqiu, who can succeed against him, I myself will cut off three fingers for him."

  The small wooden box was opened, but there was no ideal hundred-yuan bill. There was only a book and a jade pendant. The title of the book read "Youshen Bagua Zhang Fist Spectrum", handwritten by Dong Haichuan. Li Huqiu casually put the book aside and picked up the jade pendant. Li Huqiu held the jade pendant in his hand and examined it carefully under the sunlight. Old Lamei had taught him that a big thief must have a certain ability to identify antique jade, otherwise he would easily miss valuable items when doing business.

  It's indeed a well-carved jade piece. Looking at its shape, it's a dragon-shaped jade pendant. Li Huqiu couldn't tell how old it was and didn't think it was particularly valuable either, so he handed it to Zhang Manli: "Here, I'm giving it to you. This thing belongs to the water element, which is good for nourishing people and warding off evil spirits."

  That night, Li Huqiu accidentally saw Zhang Manli changing clothes. After that, Li Huqiu had a wet dream. A very strange feeling, outside was cool and refreshing, inside was hot and stuffy. Outside was cool, inside was sweltering, couldn't sleep at night.

  The next morning, Li Huqiu continued his usual routine of training in both internal and external skills as well as lock-picking techniques. Zhang Manli was able to witness Li Huqiu's incredible lock-picking skills with her own eyes. His training tool was a large set of 32 inner-turning locks. Zhang Manli curiously tried it first, but failed on the first attempt, then the second, and the third... Li Huqiu took over the small iron wire that Zhang Manli thought was useless, his movements were light and agile like a chef cutting meat, the wire danced in his fingertips, inserting into the lock's hole one by one, his wrist flexibly turning, the lock core emitted a series of clear and crisp ringing sounds, the sound was as beautiful as joyful music. In an instant, he opened the entire set of locks with ease, the whole process took only one minute. Zhang Manli thought it looked easy when Li Huqiu did it, so she tried again several times, but failed countless times before finally confirming that she would never be able to open this lock in her lifetime.

  From that day on, Li Huqiu began to practice Bagua Palm by himself, feeling the subtlety of Kung Fu. Zhang Manli became a member of this special family. Li Huqiu found that he had grown a mustache on his upper lip. In Haicheng North Station, Da Qi Ganzi heard about it and felt that his hat was green with envy towards Li Huqiu, hating him to the bone.

  That day, Daqi Ganzi didn't find the thing Liu Diankun asked him to retrieve until the very end. As a result, he was caught by the Beizhan Police Station that afternoon and taken to the interrogation room, where he spent the whole night playing "pointing at the sky and drawing on the ground" and "flying paper airplanes". Just as it was about to end, Director Gong Heizi returned and gave him another round of "beef stir-fry". When he came out of the interrogation room, his whole body ached with hatred, but he didn't dare hate Liu Diankun and Gong Heizi - he hated that thieving scoundrel who had crossed into Beizhan to steal packages. Cats have their cat ways, thieves have their thief ways; after investigating in all directions, a month later, he locked onto Li Huqiu, the suspect who had stolen Zhang Manli from him, as the prime suspect. On the streets, there are rules of the street - since the goods had already fallen into Li Huqiu's hands, they were considered to have "entered the door", and Daqi Ganzi wouldn't dare give Li Huqiu a hard time at this point, no matter how much of a rascal he was. He decided to rely on his own abilities to resolve this matter.

  Li Huqiu's home had an additional woman, and many things changed dramatically compared to the past. Firstly, Little Swallow, although Li Huqiu bought her expensive clothes, she was always dirty before Zhang Manli arrived. At most, she would be clean for a day or two after changing into new clothes. Li Huqiu was more accustomed to washing his and his daughter's faces until they were spotless, but didn't mind if their clothes were a bit messy. After Zhang Manli came, Little Swallow's clothes became much cleaner, and Zhang Manli was a woman who knew how to be grateful. She always busied herself in the courtyard, as if afraid she wasn't doing enough. The house inside and out was spotless after her cleaning, and every time Li Huqiu returned home, his mood brightened along with the cleanliness he saw.

  Another person who has undergone a huge change is Lao Quezi. The old cripple had been walking around in a pitiful state for days, trying to look as miserable as possible in front of the passengers at the South Station, and even if he couldn't solve his hunger by stealing, he could still fill his belly with the alms of the passengers, and even accumulated some extra money. Since discovering that Li Huqiu had brought back the forbidden pendant from the big flagpole, Lao Quezi swept away his previous depression, and dressed up in a new outfit. He wore a suit, a hat, and white tourist shoes, looking awkwardly foreign in front of Zhang Manli. When he tried to get close to Zhang Manli, he was encountered by Li Huqiu twice, who looked at him with contemptuous eyes, "Old cripple, even if you dress yourself up like a peacock, you're still just a plucked peacock." Lao Quezi didn't dare to confront him head-on, and could only slink away in defeat, like a defeated rooster.

  Hao Qiu Zi was not willing to be suppressed by Li Hu Qiu. During the Spring Festival that year, one day Hao Qiu Zi took advantage of Li Hu Qiu's absence and broke into their house. Zhang Man Li fought him bravely, but he failed to achieve his goal. As he got up after being pushed down, he casually threw a small metal object onto the coal heap near the stove. This small movement escaped Zhang Man Li's eyes, but it didn't deceive Xiao Yan Zi's curious gaze. When Li Hu Qiu returned home, he happened to see Xiao Yan Zi playing with that strange small metal object. At first, he didn't pay attention, but after asking about what had happened, he felt a sudden movement in his heart, took the thing away, pressed it down slightly, and put it into the coal heap. As a result, half an hour later, the thing suddenly caught fire by itself. Li Hu Qiu quickly used a quilt to smother the flames. Hao Qiu Zi was severely beaten by Li Hu Qiu for this reason. From then on, Li Hu Qiu was vigilant against Lao Qiu Zi everywhere, but Lao Qiu Zi's behavior suddenly changed and became extremely humble and honest.

  After the New Year, in 1992, May.

  On this day, when the sun was high in the sky, Da Qi Gan saw a familiar figure at the North Station. The distinctive one-legged man was easy to recognize, and Da Qi Gan walked over, patting him on the shoulder, "Old Cripple, what's going on with you? Were you driven here by that little brat? If you're really starving, beg me, your brother, maybe I'll take pity on you and give you a piece of land to scrape together some food."

  The old cripple looked at the big flagpole and smiled slyly: "You can't even feed yourself, you've been trampled on by others, and now your woman has been taken away from you. What qualifications do you have to show off in front of me?" The big flagpole's face turned red with anger, scolding him: "It's all because of your mother's idleness that he learned martial arts from you, and even taught him how to play with flying knives." After speaking, he rushed up to fight the old cripple, but was caught by the old cripple with one hand on his collar. The two faced each other at close range, and the old cripple said fiercely: "Let's join forces and think of a way to kill that little rabbit, chop him into pieces and sink him in the river! You'll get revenge, I'll get my revenge, do you dare to do it?"

  PS: Sodium is highly active and burns in water to produce sodium hydroxide and hydrogen. However, it oxidizes rapidly in air and must be stored in kerosene. Moreover, sodium is extremely corrosive and cannot be touched by hand. Thanks to reader Radoy for providing the correct information. The content of this work will not be modified to avoid misleading readers, so I make this declaration.