Tianguanzhi

Chapter 9 Newspaper, Juliet, Death of West Tower

The creaking old-fashioned tram shuttled through the streets of Jiangning. People in a hurry crowded the seats. Some of them lowered their heads and dozed off, while others were carrying a black and white newspaper with Begonia square characters and Ji Li characters in it. Look carefully.

Gu Jianqiu held the hanging ring in one hand and read the title of the newspaper in the hands of the old man opposite with a little sunlight at dusk.

The general strike is over!
  According to this newspaper, the mighty Jiangning mining workers’ strike finally came to an end this Friday. A few days ago, the Fengtang Mine, which had been suspended for more than half a month, announced that it has fully resumed mining, and all workers are back to work normally...

"Dang-dang-dang-dang-dang~"

The brass bell on the roof made a shrill scream.

The tram passed by various exquisite Chinese and Western buildings and headed towards a group of low and cramped old-style western-style buildings. It finally stopped next to a green-painted street sign. The white printing on the street sign had faded, and the words "Hengx Road" could be vaguely recognized.

With the sound of steaming steam, the doors opened to both sides. Gu Jianqiu stepped off the tram with a shoulder bag draped over his chest, which contained samples of heart glaze tubes he had just bought from Sanhexin.

……

"I've told you many times, Xilou didn't leave any money when he died! Don't come back!"

When he went upstairs, Gu Jianqiu saw a horse-faced man wearing a black shirt and a felt hat squatting at the door of his house, chewing on pig's trotters. His sister Gu Zhaoxue's angry voice came from the door.

"Impossible, how could he have no money? He...I should have a share. Sister, please help me. For the sake of Xilou, you..."

"You leave now."

The quarrel inside the door became more intense.

The horse-faced man noticed Gu Jianqiu staring at him, and turned down the corner of his mouth. He was about to threaten him and drive him away, but when he heard the movement in the room, he rolled his eyes and cursed: "Sure~"

He ignored Gu Jianqiu and opened the door impatiently and asked: "Juliet, are you okay?"

"Okay, no problem, Brother Dao, I will definitely give you money today."

Gu Jianqiu walked to the door and immediately saw Juliet, who was wiping sweat with the back of her hand and smiling apologetically at the horse-faced man.

The woman looks to be in her mid-twenties, with fair skin, a good figure, a pair of green eyes, and facial features that are unique to mixed-race people. She wore a brown chickentail hairstyle, and a bunch of split hair hung straight down on the right side of her face, running down her neck and reaching her collarbone. There was a haggard look on her face that could not be concealed by heavy makeup, and she had a vague aura floating around her body. The taste of laudanum.

Juliet was the best friend of her eldest brother Gu Xilou. She was originally a dancer on the Lido stage, but she stopped working with Gu Xilou. When the eldest brother was still there, Gu Jianqiu saw her calling his name downstairs more than once. . Then Gu Xilou would complain while going downstairs. The two of them rode a bicycle and drifted away. The woman in the back seat hugged Gu Xilou's waist with a sweet look on her face...

"Sister, please help me, eldest sister, I'm really desperate."

Juliet clasped her hands together and begged, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

"Look at me, I've been with Xilou for so many years, please. If I don't pay back the money, they will really throw me into the Huangpu River to plant lotus flowers."

Gu Zhaoxue glanced at Juliet, and then at the horse-faced man next to him, who was holding his shoulders and showing two hairy arms. He had a fierce look on his face and felt a little soft-hearted.

She asked the horse-faced man softly: "How much does she owe you."

The man extended a gesture, spittle flying: "With interest, one thousand six hundred yuan."

Gu Zhaoxue gently stroked his forehead and said helplessly: "I don't have that much." When Gu Xilou was alive, he worked as a miner in a private coal mine in Jiangning. He usually loved to fight against injustices and had a large number of miners following him. He was very easy to deal with. The situation was easy, but Gu Zhaoxue couldn't cope with it. She had studied in the early years and had a bit of an arrogant temper. Her beauty attracted bees and butterflies. Gu Xilou was dead, and the family had a vague tendency to collapse. There won't be any trouble.

The man showed a salty smile: "If you don't have money, you can..."

"sister."

Gu Jianqiu called out softly at the door.

"Jianqiu."

Only then did Gu Zhaoxue, who had a gloomy face, notice his brother standing at the door.

The horse-faced man turned around and his eyes suddenly lit up: "Ah, you are the brother from Gu Xilou, right? You look exactly like your dead brother."

He looked at Gu Jianqiu while approaching: "Actually, you siblings are somewhat responsible for Juliet's debt. Don't say that I bully women..."

Juliet grabbed the horse-faced man's sleeve and said, "Jianqiu is still studying. He has no money."

"Why is such a big man still studying and taking exams?"

The man smiled and wiped his oily hand on Gu Jianqiu's shoulder.

Gu Jianqiu looked at him calmly and did nothing.

Without saying a word, Gu Zhaoxue rushed into the kitchen, took out a kitchen knife, and held it up in front of the horse-faced man, like a lioness protecting her calf, her eyes almost spitting out fire: "Let go of my brother."

"Chunna~"

Facing the sharp knife, the horse-faced man stared wide-eyed: "What a bastard you are. You used a knife to scare me. My godfather is the dragon-skinned policeman of Yiyuan Dog Farm. Are you brave enough to stab me? I'll fuck..."

His hand was held by Gu Jianqiu, and a wad of banknotes was stuffed in his hand.

"One thousand six, please count. My mother is still sleeping. The old man is too old to be frightened. Don't be so loud. Just take the money and leave." The horse-faced man was stunned, then lowered his head and nodded the banknotes in his hand. , it is indeed one thousand six hundred yuan.

"It would have been over if I had just given you the money."

He stuffed the money into his pocket and left without saying a word. Juliet swallowed and smiled apologetically at Gu Zhaoxue: "Sister, I will pay you back the money as soon as possible. I'm leaving first."

After saying that, he ran away quickly.

"Where did you get the money?"

Gu Zhaoxue approached Gu Jianqiu and asked eagerly.

Gu Jianqiu took out the Hualong Soldier's work permit and waved it to her sister, and said with a smile: "I found a job, sister. On my first day on the job, I cured my boss's pet dog, and he gave me a bonus of two thousand yuan." .”

"Really?"

"If you don't believe me, come to work with me on Monday."

Gu Zhaoxue caressed her brother's face, pondered for a while, and nodded: "I believe that among my three brothers, you are the calmest. You never make me worry. You will not lie to me."

"Sister, dinner isn't ready yet?"

"Oh, I, I forgot, it's all them. Sister, do it now."

Gu Zhaoxue stood up and wiped her hands.

"Hey, there's no soy sauce at home." Gu Jianqiu stood up and said, "I'll buy it."

"Okay. Buy the red brand, Tianyu likes it."

"understood."

Gu Jianqiu picked up a bamboo chopstick on the dining table, turned around and walked out.

Walking out of Tianrenfang, Juliet chased after the horse-faced man.

"Brother Dao, Brother Dao."

Ma Lian frowned impatiently: "Why are you still chasing after me?"

Juliet licked her chapped lower lip and said a little embarrassedly: "You, you miscalculated. I lent you nine hundred yuan. Based on three cents, it should be one thousand four hundred yuan today. What did you just collect?" I paid 1,600 yuan, is that 200 yuan..."

"Chunna~"

The horse-faced man smiled angrily. Just as he was about to say something, he noticed a figure slowly approaching behind Juliet.

Gu Jianqiu.

"You fucking..."

The horse-faced man, sensing that the visitor was unkind, wanted to say something, but a fist clutching bamboo chopsticks already covered his vision.
-
  "Ahhhhhhh~ If you dare to touch me, my godfather will not let you go!"

The horse-faced man fell to the ground, covering his neck with his hands, and a sharpened bamboo chopstick penetrated his neck from left to right.

Juliet was petrified, paralyzed on the ground and unable to move.

Gu Jianqiu grabbed Ma Lian's collar and took away the 1,600 yuan he had just taken from his hand. However, he did not put it back into his pocket. Instead, he rolled the money into a pile and stuffed it into the man's mouth. He stretched out a finger, waved it in front of his eyes, and then punched the horse-faced man hard on the mouth.

Woo!
  The broken teeth left two blood marks on Gu Jianqiu's fist. The horse-faced man was hunched into a ball, whining inarticulately. The fear of death made his limbs weak, almost depriving him of all the will to resist, and he could only let Gu Jianqiu do what he did like a sandbag.

Gu Jianqiu opened his right hand, and in his pleading and frightened eyes, he broke off his middle finger cleanly, connecting the ten fingers to his heart. His eyes suddenly widened on the horse's face, and he opened his mouth to scream in pain, and vomited out a mouth full of broken teeth. and banknotes swollen with blood.

"Actually, you are not one of Longpi's Taibao at all. All of Longpi's men have a blue dragon tattooed on their little fingers. But there is nothing on your fingers. He has no godson, only two godsons. They are his right-hand men. One is called Guipi. , one is called Fopi. You are just a little gangster selling laudanum. You and Juliet played a double act, just to defraud my sister of her money."

As Gu Jianqiu spoke, he broke off two more of his fingers. The horse-faced man's wails grew louder and louder. He kept twitching in pain and almost fainted, until none of the five fingers on his right hand was spared.

"Listening to your tone just now, do you know my eldest brother? What do you know? How did my eldest brother die?"

Gu Jianqiu pinched Ma's face with his other hand.

Ma Lian's face was almost deformed, his pupils were bloodshot, and he said vaguely: "You, your eldest brother is making trouble in the mine, and thousands of people are not working. Mr. Longpi found someone to kill him. The killer came from Jin Ju invited me! I really don’t know anything else! Please let me go, I really don’t know anything else.”

Gu Jianqiu took a deep breath and stopped entangled. He glanced at Juliet next to him, then withdrew his gaze and turned to leave.

Suddenly, as if something had occurred to him, Gu Jianqiu turned around and walked back, took out a large stack of money, counted out a few hundred-yuan bills, and stuffed them into the horse-faced man's twisted right hand.

"Go find a doctor. The injury on your neck looks scary. You can't die."

(End of this chapter)