Chapter 7 Chapter 6: The First Narrow Escape

The next morning, I went out very early. Before I left, I saw Angkor lying on the ground, showing me a sad smile.I grabbed Angkor's hand, and Angkor's hand was as cold as a piece of iron.I want to say to him, Angkor, wait for me to come back, but I dare not.The gang leader is like an eagle staring at a mouse, squatting in the corner.Scar was standing sideways beside the gang leader like a hooligan, with one leg standing still and the other shaking constantly.In fact, he is a rogue. Angkor also wanted to say something to me, but he didn't say it after all.He shook my hand, then let go.

That day, the sun was strong, and my heart was full of sorrow.There were people setting off firecrackers on the street, and a group of blowers came towards them. Those who played suona shook their heads like big-headed dolls; those who beat gongs and drums bounced like a spring.That kind of scene is very similar to the scenes celebrating liberation in the movies "Xiao Erhei Gets Married" and "The White-haired Girl".Do these smiling people know that right now, in the manhole beneath their feet, there is my brother lying there dying? I wanted to rush over and tell them what happened in the manhole, but looking at my tattered clothes, I hesitated again.I'm a beggar, will they believe me?In their eyes, I am a beggar and a deranged person. Will they believe me?Would they believe that someone lived in a manhole?

I walked alone on the road where I begged every day, alone, lonely and sad.The sky is particularly clear today, and everyone on the street is beaming, but none of this has anything to do with me.I was forgotten by this city, and our group was also forgotten by this city. I had just walked up to the steps where I usually beg, had just set the broken bowl in front of me, and before I had time to raise my head, I was hit hard by a stick on the back, which almost made me faint.I raised my head in horror, and saw a security guard holding a long stick standing beside him. He shook the long stick in his hand and shouted, "Go away, you are not allowed to beg for food today."

I picked up the broken bowl and fled like a dog hit by a brick. I didn't know until many days later that some kind of foreign head of state came to our city that day.Relevant people asked citizens to take to the streets to welcome them, and all beggars were not allowed to go to the streets. I can't work, so I can only walk in the direction of the inspection well, otherwise, if I go out for a whole day and don't get a penny, I will be scolded by the gang leader and beaten by the boss.Also, I have been thinking about Angkor in my heart. I don't know how his injury is?What is he doing now?

However, after returning to the inspection well, Angkor disappeared. I feel great fear. There are only the gang leader and the crazy woman in the manhole.The boss was very upset to see me back.He didn't understand what was going on outside at all, and he said bitterly: "It's broad daylight, why don't you go back to work?" I seemed to be standing on the balcony of a castle in the air. When I was panicking, I suddenly saw a ladder sticking out from under my feet, and my heart was ecstatic.I said, "I have a thorn in my foot, and it's uncomfortable to walk. Is there a needle for me to pick it out?"

"No." The leader said bluntly. I walked out of the inspection well slowly, and made up my mind to run quickly.If I run one step late, I may never be able to leave until the Scars come back.Like Angkor, I might disappear mysteriously in this city. When I got out of the park, I deliberately walked in the opposite direction first, and then suddenly turned my head and walked back to see if anyone was following me. Fortunately, I found no suspicious person.I turned my head again and took a few steps forward, and suddenly I saw the scar. He was neatly dressed, with a shirt and trousers, the hem of the shirt was tucked into the trousers, like a white-collar worker working in an office.Probably because he couldn't beg today, he was going back to the inspection well.

Scar also saw me, he probably didn't expect me to appear here, with a puzzled and surprised look on his face.I didn't think much about it, I turned around quickly and ran all the way. I felt like I was running very fast, and the crowd on the side of the road flowed behind me like a river, with the whistling wind in my ears.I ran to the corner of the street, and when I turned around, the scar was actually more than ten meters away from me.Dozens of days of living as a beggar made my already weak body even weaker, depleting the only nutrients in my body.But Scar is different, he can wear clean clothes every day, sit in a restaurant majesticly, and order whatever he wants to eat.I ran out of breath, and Scar was in hot pursuit.

After running another few tens of meters, my mind was spinning rapidly. If I fought with him on the street, would it attract the police?Will someone help me?No, definitely not, when a well-dressed man beats a beggar, no one will help the beggar, maybe not even the security guard, the life of a beggar is worthless.I was doomed to be caught in the manhole by them again. A taxi stopped by the side of the road. I didn't have a penny on me, and I couldn't care less about it.I waved to the taxi driver. The taxi driver saw me and turned his head indifferently. There was a puff of smoke from the back of the taxi and drove away.

I can only continue to run forward desperately. Later I ran to a bus stop, a bus had just started, and at the moment the door was about to close, I jumped on the bus.The bus drove away briskly, and through the glass window, I saw Scar's crooked mouth and the gleaming scar on the platform. I leaned against the iron railing, and just breathed a sigh of relief when I heard the hard and indifferent voice of the bus driver: "Money!" I don't have a penny on me. Today's "business" hasn't opened yet, and I don't have any money.I looked at this young man with a mustache and said, "Brother, brother, I don't have any money, so I will make it up for you in the future."

The bus driver said coldly: "If you don't have money, get off at the next stop." I thought, it doesn't matter, the next stop is at least a few hundred meters away from this one, no matter how much Scar can run, he can't run the bus.At the next stop, I will get on another bus. If I am only allowed to sit for one stop, I will transfer again.Living as a beggar for dozens of days has given me a strong ability to survive, and it has also tempered my face to be as thick as a city wall. I walked to the back of the car, and everyone in the car looked at me with disdain.There are two empty seats in the car, but the seats next to the empty seats are full of pretty girls. They stared straight ahead and didn't look at me, but they clearly looked at me.They deliberately moved their bodies to the side of the empty seat, resisting me coming over.I stood there knowingly and pretended not to see them.

Standing in the compartment, I listened to the rumbling engine of the old-fashioned bus and watched the speeding scenery outside the window. A feeling of happiness welled up in my heart, and tears blurred my eyes. It's great to be free! A few minutes later, the bus stopped and I was kicked off by the driver.However, this place is no longer the territory of the gang leader, and it is far, far away from that sinful place.I breathe the free air, and my heart is like a flower blooming.I looked at the houses on the street, the shops on the street, and the people walking on the street.They have their own thoughts on each face, some are smiling secretly, some are pretending to be deep, some are scratching their heads, some are thinking about their own thoughts... All this is so beautiful, as beautiful as a lens in a movie. Ten years later, I can still remember the scene of that day.There was a sweet smell in the air that day, everyone on the street was beaming that day, the sun was orange that day, the sky was azure blue that day. That day, when I walked to the newspaper office, it was already dusk. I stood at the door of the newspaper office and suddenly burst into tears. I remembered the scene of reporting for duty on the first day, the scene of eating for the first time, and the scene of walking on the road of the newspaper office on the first night.Like those provincial youths described by Balzac, I shouted to the wide avenue: "Paris, here I come!" In just a few dozen days, it seemed like a lifetime away. At that time, it was the busiest time for the newspaper office. The reporters had just returned from interviews and were busy sitting in the office writing articles.Ten years ago, the reporters of the Northern Newspaper did not use computers. They received a few stacks of squared manuscript paper and a few ballpoint pens from the editor-in-chief's office every month.Their manuscripts are all written on these square manuscript paper.Every newspaper has several entry clerks.These entry clerks are usually girls, and they type the manuscripts written by reporters into the computer.They often have to ponder for a long time in front of the reporter's scribbled handwriting, racking their brains; they all use the Wubi input method, with a pair of small hands flying over the keyboard like wings, a posture that often envies reporters from rural areas who don't know how to use computers.This is also the time when editors are busy. They have to open various portals to search for the hot news of the day. I climbed the stairs and walked through the offices, all I saw were busy figures.I went all the way to the director's office on the innermost floor. The director was also busy, and when he suddenly looked up and saw me, he yelled and rushed over to hug me in his arms.I smell sour all over, but he doesn't care.When he let go, our eyes filled with tears. This hug made us life and death friends in the future.One day a few months later, when he said he was going to the south and asked me if I would go, I said without hesitation: "Go." The director's cry alarmed the people who went to work on the whole floor of the stairs, and many people ran over to greet me.Some of them I just met, and some of them looked unfamiliar.The boss also came. He shook my hand and said, "I've been looking for you, but I couldn't find you. Later, we had to report the case to the police." I said, "I just want to call the police, those beggars are gangsters." I slept soundly that night, and as soon as I fell, I felt like I was sliding in the dark, like I was on an ice rink.Finally, I slipped into the depths of the darkness, my whole body relaxed, let the darkness support me, I was like a feather, floating in the wind, resting with the "wind". I don't know what time it is, I was pushed awake, opened my eyes, and saw the glare of the sun shining on the window.The director said, "Get up, the police are waiting for you." Beside him stood a policeman, as burly as a steel plate.I followed him out of the newspaper's dormitory and into a police car.The police car drove into the park, and there were dozens of uniformed and ununiformed policemen standing in the park, all with serious expressions.The park is under martial law. I took the police to the side of the manhole cover.The manhole cover is still intact. At this moment, the gang leader and the bosses have not gotten up yet.Their morning starts at noon. An hour later, the manhole cover was pushed open from below.The policemen waiting by the manhole rushed forward, one came out and grabbed one.Several bosses were captured without a fight. The bosses were being taken to the van outside the park when Scar saw me all of a sudden.His eyes almost burst into flames, and he said bitterly: "So you are a policeman, I have misjudged you. After I came out, I peeled your skin." A chill ran down my spine. A policeman slapped Scar's words back into his mouth, and Scar stopped speaking. Several policemen got into the manhole.After a while, the gang leader was brought out. He saw me and lowered his head.The crazy woman was also brought out. A policeman took off his clothes and put them on her body. The crazy woman struggled and shouted: "Don't go! Don't go!" The voice was vague, and she was also taken into the police car. This triad-like group of beggars has all been arrested so far. A month later, the police told me that the gang leader was a fugitive murderer.Three years ago, he had a dispute with his neighbor because of the village base, and he beat the neighbor to death with a hoe.He didn't dare to stay in his hometown, so he ran to the provincial capital, and was worried about meeting acquaintances, so he chose the manhole as his place of residence. The gang leader was later shot dead. Scar and several bosses were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of varying degrees.Now, I don't know if they came out or not.Even if I come out, I come to the south, thousands of mountains and rivers away, Scar will not find me. Angkor did not die. He walked out of the manhole that day to supervise disabled teenagers begging, but he did not expect to restrict begging that day.Due to his serious injuries, he passed out on the road and was sent to the hospital by kind people.Angkor provided a lot of evidence when the police cracked down on this underworld-like beggar gang. There is no news from the mad woman. Ten years have passed, and Angkor doesn't know if he is okay. Has he returned home?Are the children all grown up?Has a new teacher come to their school on the bank of the Yellow River?