Chapter 40: Wealth like dew on white silk will inevitably invite disaster

  Half an hour later, the bus arrived at Xidan and stopped. Xidan is a major stop, and from afar, you can see a large crowd of people waiting for the bus, with four or five trolleybuses parked in front. The conductor announced the stop, and a large number of passengers got off the bus, leaving the two rows of seats on either side of Xue empty. The middle-aged man sitting next to him also got off. Xue moved his black leather suitcase from his legs to the green leather chair beside him. Before the seats in the car were full, he didn't plan to move, as there were only two more stops before reaching the final destination, Lao Tianqiao Bridge, and there wouldn't be too many passengers. After putting away his suitcase, Xue leaned back to his original position, closed his eyes, and pretended to sleep. The gentle breeze and warm sun made people's skin feel particularly comfortable and at ease, and Xue fell asleep like this.

  "It smells so good, what's in your basket, old lady? It smells so good!" The ticket seller asked a elderly woman who just got on the bus. The ticket seller was a young girl with a doll-like face.

  "The old lady, is my mountain village relatives sent a half catty of musk, said to give me to fumigate the house. Our poor family can't afford this, heard that the supply and marketing society collects it, so I'll take it over and prepare to sell it, good for the kids to get a few feet of cloth to make clothes." The old lady who answered had white hair, was thin in appearance, but looked very spirited, her voice loud and clear, all the passengers on the bus could hear clearly. While answering, the old lady took out three cents to buy a ticket.

  "Musk? This is a great thing, not only a high-grade spice, but also a precious medicine, very valuable. An adult male musk deer produces only one or two grams of musk, you have half a catty here, I'm afraid your relatives must have caught many male musk deer in the old forest to get this much. This thing is worth a lot of money, my brother-in-law is in charge of collecting medicinal materials at the purchasing station, he said one gram of musk costs four or five yuan, I don't know what a gram is, anyway it's just as much as a small fingernail, your half catty must be worth a lot of money." A young man wearing a worker's hat gave everyone some knowledge about musk.

  The driver, a middle-aged man with a red face, had shaved his head and was driving with his sleeves rolled up. He chimed in on the lively conversation of the passengers: "I know that one kilogram is five hundred grams, so this half kilogram must be at least three hundred grams, right? At five yuan per gram, wow, it's worth a fortune! You should sell it for at least fourteen or fifteen hundred yuan. Old lady, you'd better hold on tight to it, it's worth that much money, why didn't you bring your family members along?"

  At first, the young man said that one gram was worth 40 or 50 yuan, and not many people were surprised. At this time, most of the common people were still unfamiliar with the term "gram". But after listening to the driver's explanation, they suddenly became excited.

  "Old man, you're so lucky! Why don't I have a relative living in the deep mountains and old forests?"

  "Auntie, don't mention it, just give the kids a few meters of cloth to make clothes, even if you go to a clothing store to pick out good ones, you can buy a whole cartload."

  "1,450? Brother, you didn't miscalculate, did you? My monthly salary is only 28 yuan, and this would take me several years of not eating or drinking to earn. Is the stuff on this animal's body really worth so much money?" The short-haired young man closest to the old lady was shocked, feeling that his hard work had been in vain, and that it wasn't even worth a bit of powder on the animal's body, so he spoke up.

  "Did I miscalculate? I'm a high school graduate, an intellectual, don't you know? Even kids can do this simple math. What's so hard about it that it would stump someone as cultured as me?" The driver was deeply displeased that he dared to question his conclusion, thinking to himself, "Would someone with my vast knowledge say something false?"

  After the commotion, everyone stopped arguing and just reminded Old Lady to hold her basket tightly so she wouldn't drop it. The "big intellectual" bald driver also said that he would slow down when turning corners, reminding Old Lady to be careful not to bump into anything. At this time, most people were still kind-hearted and had a simple desire to help others. Unlike later generations where everything was measured by money, morality and kindness were thrown away like trash. This was probably the last era of China's four cardinal virtues and eight moral principles.

  …………..

  "Second fatty, hurry up to the gourd mouth, there's a big turn there. You hold onto things and lean over, slowly, don't let people discover that you're doing it on purpose. Also, when we bump into each other later, be gentle, don't spill the stuff in the basket, our future good days are all relying on it." The speaker was Wang Xi, the third son of Wang Xianghong, Deputy Director of the Financial Bureau of the State Planning Commission. Before the end of the month, his pockets were already empty, and he couldn't wait for his father to give him pocket money, so he took out a vase from his father's study. Wang Xi called up his buddy Qian Dabiao, planning to go to the pawnshop to exchange it for cash. Who would have thought that on the bus, they met an old lady carrying over half a kilogram of musk, and after hearing people talk about the value of musk, the two of them had evil intentions. A big deal worth over 1,000 yuan was right in front of them, how could they let it go?

  Qian Dabiao was a stout man with a big belly, wearing a floral vest and slippers. He had a cruel face and an even more cruel personality. He followed Wang Xi and did many evil things together. They would often sneak into people's homes, steal their money, and even committed a heinous crime in Cat Eye Alley, where they molested a female middle school student surnamed Liu. The girl was so traumatized that she drank pesticide and died in her room that night.

  Liu's father was consumed by grief and sought justice from the two men. However, Wang Xi had him beaten up instead, breaking one of his legs. Liu's father then went to the local police station to report the crime, but they said there was no evidence and couldn't file a case. He then went to the public security bureau, but they pushed the responsibility back to the police station.

  Liu's father was filled with anger and sadness, so he wrote a petition in his own blood and knelt outside the district government building. This act had a significant impact, and someone came out to comfort him and took his petition. The district committee leader in charge of politics and law understood the situation and instructed the district branch to handle the case strictly.

  However, that night, Wang Xi's father, Wang Xianghong, called the leader at home, and after a friendly conversation, the case was quietly dropped. Liu's father was also taken to a hospital for mental treatment, and his family was torn apart.

  "Auntie, hold on tight, we're approaching the Hu Lu Kou, the car behind is following closely, I'll speed up a bit." The driver yelled without turning his head. The aunt responded with a sound, and the speed of the car indeed increased significantly. Just as they turned a bend, there was a loud crash.

  "Hey, old lady, you're blind! You broke my ancestral treasure, the three-flower-and-moon vase. This was passed down from my great-grandfather's grandfather, an emperor's treasured item! You have to compensate me!" Qian Dabiao took advantage of the car turning a corner and lightly brushed against the old lady's body. He didn't dare use force, fearing he would knock over her basket, which would be like losing rice while trying to steal chickens.

  The sound of the porcelain bottle shattering startled everyone and also woke up Xue Xiang who was enjoying his afternoon nap.

  "Hey, I didn't even move, you can't blame me! I didn't touch it at all, I... really, it's not my fault!" The old lady's wrinkled face was full of anxiety. She was a rural elderly woman who had just found out that the things in her basket were valuable treasures. Her heart was racing with fear, worried that something unexpected would happen. But the more she feared, the more trouble came. Now, seeing the chubby young man in front of her saying that she had damaged his family's heirloom, wasn't this asking for her own life?!

  "Stop trying to get close to me, who are you to my kid? You're just a country bumpkin who's never taken a bus before, what's there to be excited about? You turned a corner and got all worked up, almost getting my precious thing lost. If you don't compensate me today, I'll make sure you regret it. The head of the Tianqiao police station is my cousin, so watch yourself." Qian Dabiao raised his head, stretched out a thick finger to poke at the old lady's shoulder, and spoke viciously.

  The old woman's face turned white as soon as she heard that she was going to be taken to the police station. She, a commoner, was most afraid of dealing with officials. For a moment, the old woman couldn't help but apologize to Qian Dabiao. Qian Dabiao had a clear goal in mind and wasn't having any of this, grabbing the old woman's clothes and demanding compensation.

  The onlookers couldn't bear it anymore, and the kind-hearted driver spoke up: "Big brother, when I was turning, I specifically reminded this aunt, she was holding her basket and didn't even have time to react, how could she be moving around? Besides, we haven't arrived at the station yet, why aren't you sitting in your own seat, what are you getting up and walking for?" The driver's words hit the nail on the head, leaving Qian Dabiao speechless.

  "Yes, I was sitting next to the old lady, she had one hand holding the basket in her arms and the other hand grasping the backrest in front of her, how could she have bumped into this big brother?" The speaker is a little girl with a backpack on her back, her voice is childish and innocent, at this moment everyone in the car knows that the fat man in front of them was actually a pickpocket.

  "Young man, what you've done is not right at all. Even if you're going to swindle someone, find a rich target, why harm an old lady from the countryside?" An elderly man couldn't bear it anymore.

  "Yes, it's said that the old lady has treasures hidden in her basket, and greed got the better of him." The woman with a ponytail, Hua Xin, hit the nail on the head.

  By this time, Xue didn't know what had happened, he sat quietly and watched to see if that beautiful figure would emerge.

  Qian Dabiao was furious, he loosened his mother's clothes, his eyes wide open, waving his two arms and shouting: "Rebel! Damn it, you're blackmailing me, Qian Er Fatty, without even asking which direction the city gate of 49 City opens. Give Laozi more money, or I'll ask my brother to arrest all of you and throw you in jail."

  Qian Dabiao's menacing and intimidating words made everyone in the car dare not speak. No matter when, when the person being bullied is not a close relative and you have no ability to stop the evil forces, protecting yourself is always the top priority, and righteousness becomes a legend. Qian Dabiao saw that he had shocked everyone in the car and was very satisfied. He rolled up his loose floral vest, revealing his fat belly and a thin, sharp boning knife. Everyone saw it and didn't dare to speak anymore. Even the bald driver who had just wanted to stop the car and reason with Qian Dabiao was now focused on driving, hiding his embarrassment.

  "Comrade, please be civilized in public. Also, I saw very clearly that you intentionally bumped into the old lady and broke your own porcelain bottle. If you insist on making her pay for it, I suggest we all go find Officer Wang to clarify things. The Tianqiao Police Station is just a short walk from here."

  As soon as she spoke, a curve appeared at the corner of Xue's mouth.

  You finally couldn't hold it in anymore.

  The four virtues of the country: propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame.

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