Chapter One: Going Home

  In front of the train station in Pingjiang City, Hebei Province, Zhang Shidong took a deep breath, stretched out his arms over his head, tilted back his head and closed his eyes, savoring the flavor of his hometown. It's been six years, he finally returned, and can proudly face his parents - their son is not a waste.

  Early autumn still felt like summer, with temperatures in Pingjiang City remaining above 20 degrees. Zhang Shidong wore a pair of yellow rubber shoes, military green pants, and a striped T-shirt that cost around 20-30 yuan from a street vendor. A large burlap sack was slung over his shoulder, making him almost indistinguishable from the migrant workers traveling between cities and towns. He snapped his fingers inside the pocket of his T-shirt, and a cigarette popped out, which he caught with his mouth, lit up, and stood at the exit, gazing out at the bustling crowd. After taking a few fierce puffs, he flicked the remaining half-cigarette out with his hand.

  "Wasted the natural conditions given by parents, really no quality." The person who muttered this sentence only noticed Zhang Shidong's height of about 180 centimeters and his handsome face, but didn't see that when he left Zhang Shidong's hand, the burning part was extinguished with his fingers, and the cigarette butt drew an arc and 'happened' to fall into the trash can on the side of the road.

  "Stop thief! Stop thief!"

  Every city's train station is a mix of good and bad, with thefts happening frequently. The owner of the stolen glasses keeps shouting, while a thin figure with a knife in hand and a bag slung over their shoulder rushes through the crowd. Everyone is terrified and trying to get out of the way. A beautiful policewoman in uniform chases after the thin figure, getting closer and closer: "Stop him quickly..."

  The police caught the thief, and the onlookers gave way to the thief. The panting thief wielded a dagger with a menacing glint in his eye, implying that anyone who dared to block him would be stabbed without mercy.

  Zhang Shidong walked towards the taxi stop near the exit with a sack on his back. Just as the train arrived and people were rushing out of the station, a thief pushed through the crowd and ran past Zhang Shidong, brandishing a dagger. As soon as he did, Zhang's foot moved slightly, and the thief let out a blood-curdling scream as he fell to the ground. Ignoring the pain from his fall, the thief covered his right calf with both hands and rolled around on the ground, howling in agony.

  The thief was caught, with a fractured fibula. After the incident, when making a written record, the thief only remembered suddenly feeling a severe pain coming from his calf, and couldn't recall anything else, nor did he know how all this had happened.

  The female police officer arrested the thief while Zhang Shidong had already taken a taxi home.

  Six years, the city has changed greatly, and the familiar streets of Zhang Shidong are no longer there. Occasionally, when I see a building that hasn't changed, my heart will feel a little excitement. That internet cafe I used to go to, that restaurant's roasted lamb leg was delicious.

  Ten minutes later, Zhang Shidong was stunned. The few letters he had sent over the years were all mailed to his mother's workplace, but the old white building was gone. What caught his eye was a high-end residential area. Even the security guard standing at the gate looked at him with an unfamiliar gaze.

  Zhang Shidong shook his head: "It seems that this surprise is not going to work." From the pocket of his pants, he pulled out the latest Apple mobile phone, which made the security guard in the residential area roll his eyes. While lighting a cigarette, he dialed the familiar number that was etched in his memory.

  Kong Mei is the director of orthopedics at Pingjiang City Central Hospital, and has a great reputation in orthopedics throughout Pingjiang City. It's hard to get an appointment with him, but many wealthy and well-connected patients from the province and city will pull strings to get Dr. Kong to take a look.

  Kong Mei, who was preparing for the afternoon meeting with case files and materials in hand, heard her phone ring. She frowned as she looked at the unfamiliar number before answering it. Every day, there were many patients introduced by acquaintances, sometimes making her feel exhausted. Her husband's "serious mistake" at work also made her mood terrible.

  "Hello?"

  "Mom, it's me..." Zhang Shidong hadn't even finished saying the two words "little east" when Kong Mei excitedly shouted: "Son, is that you, son?"

  The sudden loud voice made some doctors in the conference room turn their heads, what could make Director Kong so excited?

  "Mom, it's me."

  "Where are you, son..."

  "I was on our old street, where all the old houses..."

  "I got it, you stand still at the entrance of the community, I'll let your sister come to pick you up, and I'll head back home right away."

  Kong Mei handed over the materials to someone else, smiled apologetically at the people in the conference room, and excitedly said: "My son is back from military service, I'm taking a leave of absence, and I won't be attending this afternoon's meeting."

  Technical backbone, head of the department, pillar of the hospital, this is Kong Mei. If it were someone else, no matter how urgent, they wouldn't dare ask for leave like this. Running into Deputy Director Wang face to face, he heard from afar that Kong Mei was asking for leave and smiled at her as she rushed out in a hurry, without any hint of blame or criticism.

  Zhang Yiqing's expression turned stiff when she received her mother's phone call, but blood is thicker than water, and she still walked towards the main gate of the residential area. Behind her followed a young man with similar unconventional attire and blonde hair: "Xiao Qing, where are you going? I'm telling you, this time your dad has gotten into big trouble. I heard my dad say that the 8·15 massive robbery and murder case failed to capture the culprits, and the police suspect it was your dad who leaked the information. They're currently investigating him for evidence. You have to listen to me, no one can save your dad except mine."

  Zhang Yiqing turned around, glaring at the other person: "Li Dong, don't treat me like a fool. The murderer was hiding in the Emperor's Bath Center at that time. Who doesn't know that the boss there is your father's lackey? Isn't it because my father obtained some evidence unfavorable to your father during the investigation of the case and refused to collude with him, so he was framed? I, Zhang Yiqing, would rather beg heaven and earth than beg in front of you. You can stop dreaming."

  Li Dong suddenly became furious: "You shut up, stinky cunt! If you dare to talk nonsense about me again, I'll tear your mouth apart! Things can be eaten randomly, but words cannot be spoken randomly!" As he spoke, he raised his arm to slap Zhang Yiqing's face. As the son of the deputy director in charge of public security at the branch bureau, he would not allow anyone to badmouth his father behind his back.

  Originally, Zhang Yiqing's line of sight swept over Zhang Shidong's body, it had been six years, and at that time she was still a yellow-haired girl who couldn't overlap the image of a migrant worker with her own arrogant and domineering brother. Zhang Shidong was also stunned by Zhang Yiqing's current dress, to know that at that time she said that she didn't have such a messy brother as him, if it wasn't for her to speak out her name, Zhang Shidong really wouldn't dare to recognize her.

  Li Dong's arm swung up, and he felt a wave of intense pain that made his whole body lose consciousness in an instant. Immediately after, the pain from hitting his back on the wall made him curl up in agony, tears streaming down his face as he let out a pained wail.

  What about Zhang Yi Qing? She saw a migrant worker who was smoking kick Li Dong in the stomach, and he flew 5 or 6 meters into the air before crashing into the wall.

  Zhang Shidong walked up to Li Dong, squatted down, grabbed his hair and made him lift his head. He exhaled a puff of smoke: "Don't stare at me, believe it or not, I'll dig out your eyeballs." Li Dong saw a scene that he would never be able to erase from his memory - the man's fingers had easily dug a hole in the colored brick pavement on the ground. If those fingers touched his own eyes, Li Dong didn't dare imagine. His eyes were filled with terror as his legs continuously kicked back and retreated, trying to get as far away from the man as possible.

  A ten-meter distance gave Li Dong his courage back, pointing at Zhang Shidong: "Do you know who I am? Dare to move me, I'll kill you."

  Zhang Shidong turned his head and asked his sister, "Who is this cripple?"

  After all, they were siblings. Although Zhang Shidong had grown taller and darker, Zhang Yiqing still recognized him after a closer look: "That snot-nosed kid from the Li Jian's family..."

  "Damn it!" Zhang Shidong rushed over, and before Li Dong could react, he was already by his side, grabbing his collar and giving him a big slap: "Fuck, bro's been away from home for years, you've become someone now?"

  "Zhang Shidong, stop it! Aren't you tired of causing trouble for our family? You're back and already stirring up problems..." Zhang Yiqing yelled at Zhang Shidong, a look of disappointment on her face. Six years had passed, but he was still the same.

  When Li Dong heard the name Zhang Yiqing, his eyes showed deep fear for the first time. During his childhood and adolescence, the three words "Zhang Shidong" were his nightmare, and to this day he still dreams of the figure who tied a rubber band around his penis, set his hair on fire, kicked him into the river in winter to swim, and made him slide down an ice slide naked on extremely cold days.

  Sister's words made Zhang Shidong release his hand, and a flash of guilt passed through his eyes. For the guilt six years ago, even his sister still remembered that Zhang Shidong in her heart. It seemed that he had indeed failed to be a good person back then.

  Li Dong rolled and crawled away, ignoring the pain on his body and face. This fear surpassed all the privileges brought by identity, status, and power. He thought he had forgotten, but when he met Zhang Shidong again, he realized that he couldn't erase the shadow left in his heart.

  The siblings, who had not seen each other in a long time, stood awkwardly at the entrance of the residential area. Zhang Shidong rubbed his nose and lit another cigarette until Zhang Yiqing whispered "follow me" and he trailed behind her into the compound, carrying a sack.

  "Has the life of an ordinary person become unsuitable for me?" His sister's indifference cooled Zhang Shidong's heart a lot, and in the smoke, there was a urge to turn around and leave.

  "What's going on at home?"

  Zhang Yiqing subconsciously replied with the same attitude as six years ago: "Whatever happened, you can't help anyway, just don't make trouble... uh, sorry."

  Zhang Shidong lifted his head, wanting to stroke his sister's hair, but saw the evasive eyes and resistance, his hand could only draw a circle in the air: "Were you in a hurry to go out just now? Why are you still wearing mismatched shoes."

  Zhang Yiqing was taken aback, looked down and saw the two pairs of Converse shoes with pink on the left foot and green on the right foot, and burst out laughing: "You're OUT now, isn't it popular? Don't you think I look great in this?"

  Dear siblings, that blood-dissolved-in-water emotion can't be killed by anything. The feeling of unfamiliarity and resistance all disappeared in a single joke.

  Zhang Shidong looked at his sister's hair, which was mixed with several colors, and the large skull printed on her loose-fitting hat. Her eight-point cowboy pants were torn in many places, her dark eye circles and multicolored fingernails, the layered decorations hanging from her neck, and the glittering earrings that only adorned one ear. He scratched his head: "Maybe I'm just getting old?"

  One sentence made Zhang Yiqing's throat choke with emotion, six years had passed since her older brother who had taken care of her since childhood left home to join the army in the most rugged mountainous region. Looking at what he wore and how dark his skin was, she knew he must have suffered a lot. Subconsciously, Zhang Yiqing wanted to move closer to him and let him pat her head again.

  A sudden screeching of brakes broke Zhang Yiqing's train of thought, the car door opened and Kong Mei rushed excitedly towards Zhang Shidong, tears streaming down her face as she tightly hugged her son: "Son, you almost scared your mom to death."

  At this moment, Kong Mei's true feelings broke through Zhang Shidong's all negative thoughts, going home, feeling great!