The children of the Qiao family

Chapter 8

7
Qiao Yicheng has never realized so deeply that money is such a good thing.

He received ten yuan from his father every month, and later it rose to 15 yuan, three thin five-yuan paper notes, and he had to rely on them to take his younger siblings for a month.Now, one more small addition.

Qiao Zuwang said that there was no way to pay off the money owed to the second aunt, and the second aunt really brought Qiao Qiqi back.But within a while, Qi Weimin rushed over again and took Xiaoqi away.The second aunt sent Xiaoqi back the next day, because it was the weekend and there was no class, Qi Weimin came faster, and he was on the front and back of his mother, and wanted to take Xiaoqi back no matter what, the second aunt was so angry that she almost slapped her go down.

Qiao Yicheng looked at Qi Weimin with admiration. This guy really likes little dolls. He raised his two siblings. It seems that he can be a male childcare worker when he grows up.

In the end, the second aunt softened her heart, but repeatedly urged Qiao Yicheng to remind his father to pay back the money quickly.

Qiao Yicheng stayed with the second aunt, mother and son for dinner.

Qi Weimin hugged Qiao Qiqi and sat under the eaves to bask in the sun. The sun was shining yellow and feebly on them.It's only the beginning of winter, and it's already showing an aura of severe cold. This winter must be difficult.

Qiao Yicheng looked at his little brother Qiao Qiqi sitting on Qi Weimin's lap, dangling his calf, as if Qi Weimin's knee was the most comfortable place in the world.He was wearing an old thin cotton coat that had been reformed, the collar might be a bit stiff, and he turned his slender neck from time to time. This kid had protruding ears, his face was as thin as a palm, and his ears were sticking out.

Qi Weimin broke off the egg cake in his hand and fed it to his mouth.That kind of egg cake is wrapped in paper with a red pattern on a white background. The oil soaks out and the paper becomes transparent. Sometimes, you can eat broken eggshells. It was a relatively high-end dessert at that time.

Qi Weimin fed the little guy carefully, occasionally saying: Oh, my little teeth bit me!It made Qiao Qiqi giggle.

Qiao Yicheng suddenly became angry, and rushed up to ask Qi Weimin: While feeding him and making him laugh, do you want to choke him to death?

Qi Weimin was taken aback by his sudden anger, but he didn't get angry, and said: Yes, you can't laugh while eating.

The second aunt came out and saw them, and said angrily: "Buy this for a small head to eat, I think you burned it because you had too much pocket money!"
When Qi Weimin was scolded by his mother, he just smiled with a good temper.

Qiao Yicheng thought, he can't be such a soft persimmon, if a person has no life to get good parents, and then becomes a soft persimmon, one day he will be pinched to death.

Qiao Qiqi hid her little face in his eldest cousin's arms when she heard the second aunt's roar, Qiao Yicheng felt a little sad, and leaned over to pinch his fleshy ears.

This little guy is even more pitiful than him. He has been with his mother for 12 years anyway, and the little guy doesn't even see what his mother looks like.

Seeing the second aunt walk into the house, Qi Weimin whispered to Qiao Yicheng: Don't blame my mother, my grandma got sick recently and spent a lot of money to see a doctor, so she was also anxious.In fact, he didn't really want to leave Xiao Qi alone.

Qiao Zuwang refused to pay back the second aunt's money, and the second aunt came to the door every three days, but most of them couldn't find Qiao Zuwang, so Qiao Yicheng had to pay the second aunt back with living expenses.Now, I almost have no money to buy vegetables and rice.

Qiao Yicheng knew where his father was gambling, but he knew it was useless to find him.

Qiao Yicheng thought about it for several nights, over and over again, and finally made up his mind.

This is the only way. If he cuts off his roots, he will never think of his sons and daughters.

So 14-year-old Qiao Yicheng did the first brave thing in his life.

He ran to the police station and said to the police: Someone secretly gambled, can you catch him?

That night, the police really arrested Qiao Zuwang and his gang who secretly gambled.

Qiao Zuwang sat on the cold floor of the confinement room of the police station with his brothers and sisters, annoyed and puzzled. They had been gambling for so long and hid in the innermost room of Zhang Laosi's small courtyard. The windows are all closed, thick curtains are hung on the windows, and blankets are placed on the table. How can the police know about it, unless the family members themselves report it.

Qiao Zuwang learned that it was his eldest son who had denounced them through chatting with the police on night shift.

Qiao Zuwang and his group were locked up for two days, fined some money, and finally released.

Qiao Zuwang felt that after staying in the police station for two days, his body smelled like he had fallen into a latrine. As soon as he got home, he boiled a large bucket of water and took a good bath.

Qiao Yicheng felt uneasy, fawning on helping his father to boil water, carrying and pouring water, and fawning on getting clean clothes for his father to change and wash. He peeped at his father's expression, he seemed to be calm, maybe he didn't know.

Qiao Zuwang took a bath, swallowed a large bowl of fried rice, called his eldest son to his bedroom, closed the door with a bang, and took off his canvas belt.

Qiao Yicheng thought in despair: It's over.

Qiao Zu Wang didn't say a word, he raised his trouser belt and slammed it down on Qiao Yicheng.

Qiao Yicheng held his head tightly, and showed his whole back and buttocks to his father.

If he is not allowed to vent his anger, he will not be reconciled. The back does not matter. Although the old jacket is thin, it can protect it to some extent. There is a lot of flesh on the buttocks.Qiao Yicheng was also surprised that he could still maintain such calmness at such a moment.

The trouser belt hit the back with a slight whistling sound, and it took a few seconds for the sharp pain to spread along the spine to the limbs, and then to the apex of the heart.Qiao Yicheng didn't cry out for pain or beg for mercy, he just jumped like a frog, circling in circles in the small room, he got tired after a while, but he didn't dare to stop. It will hurt more.

In Qiao Yicheng's memory, it had been a long time since the last time he was beaten. Qiao Zuwang didn't often hit the child. Even if he raised his hand, his mother rushed over to protect him.

Qiao Zuwang's raised trouser belt swept across Qiao Yicheng's thighs viciously. Qiao Yicheng was only wearing two layers of single pants. The sudden shock was so strong that Qiao Yicheng screamed, which made Qiao Zuwang startled. He stopped his hands and gasped for breath.

All of a sudden, all the calculations in Qiao Yicheng's mind about how to minimize the injury and pain were dispelled. He curled up at his father's feet, almost into a circle, and began to cry bitterly.

Er Qiang and his two younger sisters have been in the main room all the time, they could hear the sound of belts slapping on the flesh from Dad's room, the random footsteps of people running back and forth, and suddenly heard the pain of the eldest brother. With the screams and cries, Erqiang was so frightened that he pulled Sanli and Simei away, and hid under the table of the Eight Immortals just like during the earthquake.

Sanli burst into tears, Simei was so frightened that she even forgot to cry, Er Qiang protected her sisters with each other, in fact, he was also scared to death, and always felt that the whistling belt could be broken at any time. It landed on him, and he wanted to go out to have a look, but when he climbed out of the table, he kowtowed, a lump swelled out in half a moment, and he retreated under the table of the Eight Immortals.

That night, Qiao Yicheng didn't go back to the house to take his younger siblings to bed.

The next day, Qiao Erqiang and his sisters did not find their eldest brother either.

Joe was completely gone.

Qiao Erqiang was not in a hurry, he thought, he could always find his elder brother when he went to school, and his elder brother would not stop going to school.

He didn't panic until he couldn't find his eldest brother at school.

Qiao Zuwang also panicked. He was only about ten years old. Even though he was a boy, it would be serious if something happened. He heard that there was a dead person under the bridge hole. He slept until midnight and was killed in a dream.

Qiao Zuwang really ran to the bottom of the Yangtze River Bridge to look for it, but he couldn't find it. Qiao Erqiang led his sister and ran out to look for it.

The second aunt and second uncle knew about it, and they also came to help find it. They also said that it would be better to report to the police, and then report to the neighborhood committee. It would be easier for everyone to help together.Qiao Zuwang felt reasonable.

A group of people searched for two full days, and finally Qi Weimin thought of a place, took Qiao Erqiang's brother and sister, and hugged Qiao Qiqi. Several people touched it and saw that Qiao Yiguo was there.

It was a construction site, quite far from Qiao's house. When Qi Weimin went to play with his classmates, he met Qiao Yicheng. He and his classmates also fell in love with going there on Sundays.

There are many cement pipes piled up on the construction site, one next to the other, one connected to the other, like a maze, and some children built a small nest inside with straw, which can be used as a base for good people when playing guerrilla games.

Qiao Yicheng lay down on the grass nest, and Qi Weimin led the second strong and they called his name and refused to come out.

The cement pipe was dark, with one end against the wall, and another pipe across the entrance of the other end, leaving only a narrow space, God knows how Qiao Yicheng got in.

Sanli and Simei squatted in the narrow space and called: brother, brother.Er Qiang pulled the younger sisters away, stretched his arm in and tried to pull his brother out, but he couldn't reach it.

At this time, a strange thing happened, the two-year-old Qiao Qiqi who had been standing by the side suddenly got down on his stomach, and got into the small space like a puppy.

Qiao Yicheng was lying there, listening to the cries of his younger siblings and Qi Weimin, his whole body was in pain, and his tears flowed down on the grass, hurting his face, but he just refused to move.

He didn't want to go out, didn't want to see anyone.

Suddenly, a warm little hand touched Qiao Yicheng's ear, which startled Qiao Yicheng, but this hand was too warm, and it was what Qiao Yicheng, who was almost frozen to death, touched in the past two days , the warmest thing.

Qiao Yicheng raised half of his body, facing Qiao Qiqi's small face squarely.

Xiao Qi's eyes were so bright in the dark cement pipe, Qiao Yicheng couldn't see his face clearly, he just thought he was smiling.

Xiao Qi was really laughing and giggling, maybe he thought it was a fun game.He leaned his face towards his brother, spit out his mouth, and sprayed all the saliva on Qiao Yicheng's face.

Sanli also crawled in, but only half of her body got in. The space was too small to squeeze in.

Qi Weimin shouted with Erqiang outside: Qiao Yicheng, come out, brother, come out.

Qiao Yicheng got out slowly, and Qi Weimin led his siblings to forcefully push away another cement pipe blocking the road. Qiao Yicheng's hands and feet were almost frozen, and he moved very slowly.

He saw his younger brothers and sisters, and they all looked at him helplessly, like a few desperate little animals.

Only Qiao Qiqi was smiling.I don't know what I'm talking about.He spoke late and was not clear.

In the end, it was Qi Weimin who carried Qiao Yicheng home. He was slightly taller than Qiao Yicheng, but much stronger.Qiao Erqiang hugged Qiao Qiqi and followed behind. Qiao Qiqi was not used to being in his second brother's arms, twisted and struggled to get down, while biting his small fist, smeared Er Qiang's face with saliva.

Qiao Yicheng fell ill after returning home and lay on the bed for two days, losing a lot of weight.

This illness can be regarded as a little reward.

The first harvest is that when the second aunt came to see him, she made him soft-boiled eggs that he hadn't eaten for a long time, and made them twice.

Second, during the period of his illness, Qiao Erqiang started to cook three meals, but he still looked decent, and he himself did it with joy, it seems that he has the potential to be a cook .

The third and the biggest gain.

Qiao Zu didn't want to gamble anymore, and went home to sleep every night.

Their living expenses have also risen to 20 yuan a month.

Second Aunt Qiao Qiqi's living expenses also increased by two yuan.Although Qiao Zuwang complained that now that he pays twice a salary, his pockets will be empty immediately, and everyone is a debt collector, but life is better after all.

Qiao Yicheng went back to school again, and when he was sitting in the classroom, winter came.

It's really cold this winter.

With a cold expression, Qiao Yicheng justly proposed to his father that a stove should be installed in the house for heating.

Qiao Zuwang bought tin sheets, and the second uncle tapped and welded them for them, and made several long and thin pipes, which were installed on the coal stove.

This winter, the main room of Qiao's house is not cold, and occasionally there will be the smell of roasted potatoes.The soft white smoke drifted out from the thin chimney that protruded from the window, and scattered into the light blue winter sky.

(End of this chapter)