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Chapter 15 Wherever there are people, there is a world of martial arts

Chen Yong took out an opened pack of "Da Qianmen" cigarettes from his arms and handed one to the strange man. He pretended to be nonchalant, lowered his head, took a cigarette from the cigarette box, and then glanced at Zhang Jian.

Zhang Jian understood what he meant, took out matches and took the initiative to light the fire for them. The three of them stood separately, puffing smoke and chatting.

"Brother Tian, ​​please take care of my little brother. Just let him lie down for a few days to vent his anger..."

Qiu Huoming was lying on the tree and his mind moved. He vaguely felt that this matter was related to him, so he slowed down his breathing and pricked up his ears.

"He's just a young boy. Don't worry, I can handle it in a minute. Do you still have the cigarette?"

Brother Tian finished his cigarette and looked at Chen Yong with an unsatisfied look.

Chen Yong reluctantly handed him the half-remaining Daqianmen cigarette from his arms.

Brother Tian took it and put it into his coat pocket.

"Give me another ten bucks. I'm short of money lately."

Brother Tian is not very old, probably in his early twenties at most, with short hair, a sturdy build, and a shallow scar between his eyebrows.

Chen Yong hesitated for a moment, rummaged through his schoolbag, took out a book, and took out a banknote from the pages.

Brother Tian reached out, picked it up and put it in his trouser pocket.

"I'm leaving now. Don't worry, I'll go and stop him next week. His name is Qiu Huoming, right? I've got that in mind." He patted Chen Yong's shoulder. Chen Yong cried out in pain. The slap landed right on the red and swollen area.

Brother Tian chuckled twice and said, "Did you beat that kid? Don't worry, I will get your money back for you." After saying that, he turned around and walked back the way he came, shaking his upper body.

Chen Yong stood where he was, watched him walk away, then spat on the ground.

"He has a really big appetite." Zhang Jian said with some dissatisfaction.

"As long as you can get the job done, let's go." Chen Yong's face looked grim, and he walked out with his hands in his pockets.

Only after their figures disappeared did Qiu Huoming slowly climb down from the tree. He had often encountered this kind of thing when he was a left-behind child.

Because he was rich, he was once extorted for pocket money by his senior classmates.

Sure enough, bullying exists no matter what era.

After picking up my eldest sister, the two of us returned home. Today is Saturday. My father is at home, but my mother had half a day off yesterday, so she has to stay in the factory until the afternoon.

The house was deserted. My father was practicing calligraphy in the bedroom. The kitchen was also deserted and it was obvious that the fire was not on.

The eldest sister seemed to be used to it. She took down the bib hanging on the wall, put it on over her cotton-padded coat, went into the kitchen and started washing rice and vegetables. The younger sister helped her. Qiu Huoming was stunned. He glared at his father who was standing by and watching, then turned and went into the kitchen to help light the fire.

Qiu Jianshe probably felt a little embarrassed, and walked out after a while, "Huo Ming, you can also make a fire?"

Qiu Huoming ignored him.

In the morning, the coal stove was open a little, and there was still some fire in the honeycomb coal inside. Although Qiu Huoming had never made one before, he had seen Chen Suniang make a fire before, so he learned how to do it after a few attempts. He replaced the honeycomb coal and opened all the air vents at the bottom.

The fire soon became brighter, and the eldest sister then brought up the rice pot with rice and water.

The people had a clear division of labor and each performed their duties. The eldest sister cut the vegetables, the younger sister washed the vegetables, and Qiu Huoming watched the pot. He glanced at Qiu Jianshe, who was the laziest in the whole family.

Seeing that no one paid attention to him, Qiu Jianshe returned to his bedroom in boredom, picked up the brush and continued to practice calligraphy on the newspaper.

"I think Mom has spoiled Dad!" Qiu Huoming said angrily.

"But in our yard, except for Uncle Chen's family, all the people who cook are women." The eldest sister sighed and said.

Qiu Huoming was a little worried that his two younger sisters would be exploited by their husbands in the future. After thinking for a while, he said, "Then you should find a man like Uncle Chen when you get married."

"Uncle Chen is handsome and can do housework. He is a very nice person." The younger sister interjected with some envy.

My younger sister is about the same age as Uncle Chen’s daughter. They both go to Guxiao Primary School. Uncle Chen is a driver for his boss. He has only one son and one daughter, and their life is much better than my family.

The area near the wall of the bungalow was turned into a vegetable garden by several diligent women, including Chen Suniang.

It is spring now, and the vegetable seedlings are growing green and lovely. According to custom, I have jurisdiction over the area directly opposite my house, so my younger sister went out with a basket to pick vegetables.

Qiu Huoming waited for the rice to boil, then held the handle of the pot and rotated it around the side against the stove to allow the heat to be evenly distributed. After a few minutes, he took the rice pot down. Now let the rice simmer in the closed pot for a while, and the rice was considered cooked.

The eldest sister deftly placed the wok on the coal stove. There were three dishes for lunch today. One was radish cooked with the remaining oil residue, another was scrambled eggs, and the last dish was stir-fried tender leaves picked by the youngest sister.

The elder sister's gestures were very steady, and it was obvious that this was not her first time.

Qiu Huoming walked around his small room and went to the back of the house. There were two plots of land in his vegetable garden. The area was small, but lush and green. In addition to green vegetables, there were also garlic sprouts, which were usually taken care of by Chen Suniang.

In the vegetable garden under the wall, besides my little sister, there was also an old woman squatting on the next field sowing vegetable seeds.

"Grandma Zhu, you are busy." Qiu Huoming recognized her. Her granddaughter took the college entrance examination in the same year as him, but she was in the key middle school in the county. When they were young, they often played together, but they almost stopped interacting after entering junior high school.

"Huo Ming, why don't you come to my house to play recently? My Xiu Min is still missing you."

As soon as the voice fell, a girl in a flowery cotton jacket came over from the corner of the bungalow. When she heard her grandmother's words, her face immediately blushed, "Who said that? Grandma, don't talk nonsense."

Qiu Huoming touched his nose and took the basket from his little sister, "Grandma Zhu, I'm going back."

Before he could take a few steps, he saw a tall and strong young man rushing up from behind Du Xiumin.

He is Zhang Yougen, the only son of Director Zhang. He is usually idle and often gets into fights. Director Zhang gave him a job in a nearby unit. He works in the unit for three days and rests for two days, and has been punished several times.

Qiu Huoming used to hang out with him when he was a kid. Zhang Yougen lived in an apartment building, so why did he suddenly come to the bungalow area today?

"Huo Ming, you're home, that's good, I'll go into your room and hide for a while, but don't tell anyone I'm here."

Before Qiu Huoming could react, he had already rushed into his small room and closed the door behind him.

Du Xiumin pointed in the direction of the gate and whispered, "There's a little girl with a few people blocking him! They said he was dating her, but suddenly changed his mind..."

Qiu Huoming slapped his head, what a fuss.

He glanced at the little sister who was looking up and trying to eat the melon with her ears erect, and reached out to pat her head, "You go back first."

The little sister walked back slowly and reluctantly.

"Thank you. I'm going back too." Qiu Huoming followed with the basket.

"Hey, which school are you planning to apply to?" Du Xiumin asked behind him.

"Let's wait until the preliminary exam scores come out." Qiu Huoming replied vaguely.

In the vegetable garden, Du Xiumin bent down and helped her grandmother up. Her parents had a questionable background, so she had lived with her grandmother since she was a child. She was particularly concerned about her grandmother's health, fearing that something would happen to her and she would be left alone.

Qiu Huoming actually felt quite sympathetic towards her, but he couldn't help her at the moment.

He asked Zhang Yougen who was hiding inside through his door, "Brother Yougen, do you want to eat at my house?"

"No, no, I've eaten before. Don't talk to me. It won't be good if someone finds out. Go out and help me see if anyone is blocking me."

"Ok."

Qiu Huoming looked helpless. He didn't know what made this old man so popular. He had many girlfriends in the past few years and his reputation had been bad for a long time. Yet there were still some fearless people who came up to him.