The night was dark and the street lights were dim. When we walked out of the theater, the crowds on the road had already dissipated, and the weather was even more stuffy and unbearable.

At the end of the performance, because there was an award ceremony, I had to continue to stay in the backstage. The county leaders and experts scored the first, second and third grades and encouragement awards. The dance of the weaving workshop "The Frontier Springs are Clear and Pure" and the dance of the front spinning workshop "Youth, Youth" won the first prize. The audience had already begun to leave one after another. Cui Laoba invited the county leaders to present the awards. I saw the excited Xiao Guo and his party, and also saw Director Tong and the follower, but there was no red figure in the team. Cui Laoba seemed to be looking for it, and the crescent mouse was inquiring about it. The strange light in my eyes made me feel heartbroken.

The tall ancient bell tower is like an invisible giant, looking down at the small town under its feet, with gusts of cold wind blew above its head, and the leaves of the sycamore trees beside the road were shaking. The long-awaited storm is coming.

"Wu Ping, it's too hot, let's find a shop and have two drinks to celebrate Li Qin." Senior Brother Xiao Cai was in high spirits and suggested to us.

"Yes, let's go and celebrate." Li Qin was still immersed in excitement and warmly catered to her.

In the shadow of the ancient bell tower, I couldn't see the faces of the two people clearly, but I could feel the joy that could not be suppressed from their words.

"It's been a day of trouble, so let's take a break quickly. I came out secretly today and was discovered by the senior squad leader. I don't know how to explain tomorrow?" I was thinking about Yin Hong and was in a mess, so I just wanted to go back quickly.

"You asked Master Liu for leave today and helped save the scene. Squad Leader Xia should be grateful to you. Maybe you can get more bonuses this month." Senior Brother Xiao Cai was in a good mood and grabbed me regardless of the situation.

Although we were still planned economy at that time, it was no longer a monolithic. Some families with backgrounds and minds in the county began to start small businesses blatantly. The private residents next to the county bus station opened a series of small restaurants along the street. When the three of us came here on foot, the crowd of drinkers had not dispersed yet, and the scene was still very lively.

Because the weather was so stuffy, the store owner pulled an incandescent lamp at the door and moved all the tables and stools to the outdoors, similar to the food stalls we often use in urban and rural areas. We chose one of them to sit down. The store owner was very enthusiastic and held a handwritten menu and guided us to order food. While Senior Brother Xiao Cai and Li Qin were studying the menu, I looked around and saw many workers from the cotton mill. I guess they had finished watching the performance and came here to relax. At this time, the tables were shouting and yelling, and they had already had a red face.

Before our dishes came up, a drunken voice sounded behind us: "Li Qin - an old classmate, I have been missing for a few years, and I am still as handsome as I am."

"Oh--you are here too." Before I could turn around, Senior Brother Cai on the opposite side stood up.

"I said who will our school beauties have dinner with? It turns out it was you... Xiaocai buns." The visitor reached out and slapped Xiao Cai, staggering.

I looked up and saw clearly that it was Zhao Wu, the young master of the Zhao family. In his disobedient gaze, Senior Brother Xiao Cai shrank and smiled.

"Li Qin, when will I give you a look? I'll invite you to the Hongwei Hotel and let Xiaocai Baozi go and accompany you." Zhao Wu rolled up his sleeves and was about to pat Xiao Cai on the shoulder again, I stood up and caught his hand.

"Are you Li Qin's friend? Why don't you sit down and have a few drinks?" I followed the skills taught by my master and tried hard against the joints. Zhao Wu immediately grinned and let go.

"Brother Wu, come here quickly, are you still missing a cup?" Under the light opposite, the monkey face and Xiaopingtou people waved to the side with red faces and thick necks.

"Next time, we'll get together next time." Zhao Wu was breathing alcohol in his mouth, and his mind was still clear. After knowing my strength, he didn't take it anymore. When he turned around in disappointment, he still didn't forget to tease the beauty in front of him, "Li Qin, don't forget, I'll invite you to meet you at that time, and meet with you at the elegant seat of the Hongwei Hotel."

After Zhao Wu's riot, the joyous atmosphere just now was gone. Senior Brother Cai was a little depressed, and Li Qin looked embarrassed. I quickly opened a bottle of "Canal Puqu" and filled a cup in front of the three of them.

"Come on - let's perform for Li Qin successfully, do one." I raised the wine cup and suggested.

"Thank you Wu Ping." Li Qin pushed Xiao Cai, who was depressed as she spoke.

"Do you." Xiao Cai looked at Li Qin and hurriedly picked up the wine cup.

"I thought the bright red ones would not come today. Your front spinning is definitely not our opponents between cloth." Li Qin took a glass of wine, and her long eyelashes trembled slightly under her curved willow eyebrows, and her fair and flawless skin showed a faint red pink.

"How could Yin Hong not come? She is our factory flower and the pillar of the workshop." Senior Brother Xiao Cai didn't know if he had drunk wine, but his reaction was a little slow.

"Are you so stupid? Lu Yu doesn't want her anymore. He was punished again and lost his good job. If I were...who would have the face to perform? It's so public, so many eyes are staring, but I don't know how embarrassing it." Li Qin raised her thin lips and gave Xiao Cai anger.

"Wu Ping, what do you think is going on?" Senior Brother Xiao Cai felt a little embarrassed by his girlfriend's robbery, so he turned his eyes to me, "Aren't your master engaged to Yin Hong? With Lu Yu and their Lu family backing, Lao Cui and these people in the factory dared to make things difficult for her?"

"Didn't I tell you? The Lu family doesn't like her at all, she drove her back." Li Qin refused to give in and snatched Xiao Cai and said nothing.

"Who did you say that the Lu family looked down on Yin Hong?" I coaxed in my ear, as if I had been stabbed by a needle, "Where is my master? Why doesn't he protect his own partner?"

"I've heard people too." Li Qin had arguing with me last time because of Yin Hong's incident, and this time she spoke a little cautiously. "Lu Yu originally wanted to protect Yin Hong, but his arms couldn't force his thighs, so he didn't twist his house in the end."

It seemed like someone had been poured with a basin of cold water. It was in a sultry heat, and a terrifying air conditioner broke out from my back. I thought I had heard it wrong. Did she really say it? Is it Lu Yu who stands tall and strong, both civil and military, and dares to act? I can't believe it, but I can't doubt it, and I feel a sense of collapse in my heart.

I bid farewell to Xiao Cai and Li Qin and walked back along the dim road of the people.

The stars disappeared, and the wind became even worse. I took out a cigarette soaked in sweat, and scratched two or three matches before barely igniting it. As soon as I took a deep breath, I felt a strange smell of sweat soaking, which made me choke. I couldn't help coughing. I threw away the cigarette roll in an irritable mood, took out the remaining half of the bag, and squeezed it into a ball, and threw it into the shadow on the side of the road.

I walked down drunk, sweat flowing down my chest and back. The living area lost the hustle and bustle of the past. Under the street lights in front of the cinema, the crowds of people gathered to play cards and chat, and the children running around in the dark shadows were gone. A faint thunder sounded, and the storm seemed to be approaching.

Walking through the mixed forest of black horns, the cicadas inside were so hot that they were gone. I fumbled outside the yard for a long time before I opened the lock on the iron door. The moment I stepped into the yard, I alarmed a perching owl. It flew up from the ginkgo tree canopy and left two scattered cry in the dark night sky.

The thunder in the distance was clearly heard, and the gusts of cold wind in the darkness became even colder. I saw the tree fork opposite me in my drunken eyes, and the long wet hair stuck to my head of a woman in red, and her face muscles were shrinking downwards, sticking out her tongue desperately at me, with an unspeakable weirdness in her miserable eyes.

My scalp was a little numb. I don't know why she looked at me like this. She was about to turn around and go to close the gate. When I suddenly heard a muffled sound in the wind, it seemed that something had fallen heavily on the empty floor. I turned around, and my temples twitched, and it took me a long time to recover. The ginkgo tree above my head was clattering, and the small building in front of me stood in the darkness. Did I have an illusion? I suddenly remembered the Yin Hong upstairs. Could it be that Cui Laoba is here again? This invisible bastard who takes advantage of the situation! An invisible anger rushed to my forehead.

Bastard Cui Lao pao! I pulled out my self-defense stick, took a deep breath, and strengthened myself with courage. I took out a powerful flashlight from my electrician bag, held my breath and walked upstairs. The female ghost in red looked at me and danced excitedly. I followed the black corridor and headed towards the room at the eastmost end of the second floor. I pushed the electrician's special flashlight to the maximum, and the white light and shadow drove away the darkness in front of me, giving me a little calmness.

The bright red door opened a narrow gap. I stopped, and the sin I had witnessed appeared in my mind, and a coolness penetrated into my bones. I dispelled my random thoughts and slowly pushed open the empty door. The light column of the flashlight instantly pierced the darkness in the room. The light column passed through the old tables and chairs, and shook through the empty bed... There was no Cui Laopao, nor Yinhong, and nothing. Just when I was confused, a soft thing in front of the bed condensed my sight.

My heart was suddenly shocked, as if it was suddenly pinched by a big hand, and the blood suddenly solidified. What was this curled thing? The discarded old clothes, the wild animals sneaked in, or... I took a breath of air conditioning and instinctively wanted to turn around and escape, but my limbs were stuck in place and could not move for a while. The white object did not move, nor did I counterattack. I wiped my eyes blurred with sweat, plucked up my courage, and walked forward slowly. I poked it with an iron rod first, and saw that it was not moving, so I half-squatted down and carefully distinguished it. It was not clothing, not wild animals, it was a curled human body, she lay there motionless, like a baby sleeping in the mother's body.

My head buzzed, like lightning, and was stunned. In the bright light of the flashlight, Yin Hong's face was pale, his eyes were closed, and half of the broken cotton yarn was wrapped around his neck like a swan. A rose-like blood mark flowed from the corner of his purple mouth. The flashlight fell to the ground with a thud. I hit the ground with my knees and hugged Yin Hong's limp body into my arms.

"Sister Hong--Sister Hong--" I shook desperately, calling out loud.

"Crack" a sharp lightning suddenly ripped through the mysterious dark curtain. A earth-shaking thunder seemed to be about to smash the entire universe. The heavy rain that had accumulated for many days finally fell from the sky, like a tide surging, scattering vividly, and roaring with thunder.

Another lightning flashed across the sky, as if a dazzling golden thread illuminated the earth. At the moment when the lightning lit up, the corner of the red-blooded mouth whispered, and a tear as big as a bean came out from the long eyelashes, flowing through the pale and bloodless cheeks, slowly sliding on my trembling arm...
Chapter completed!