Chapter 1 (Part 2) What People Do Before They Die

  The rain has stopped, huddled on the banks of the Luo River, I'm still shivering with fear, but I've calmed down a lot.

  The old devil dad said, don't cry over spilled milk, it's useless.

  In any case, it's a dead end.

  What should be done before one dies?

  I'm going to live it up and have a great time!

  I stood up, facing the sky, and cursed a string of profanities with gestures. I tightened my belt and began to indulge in bitter fantasies.

  First, I want to steal money and have a big feast of shark fin soup at the Drunken Wind Building. Then, I want to kill someone - Bai Yanlang, the leader of the thugs in Luoyang City, once slapped me several times, and I want revenge! Also, I'm still a virgin, every morning when I wake up, my pants are often wet with a big stain. I want to make up for this regret, the brothel Yichun is not bad, and the leaning red building is barely passable, the girls there have tender skin.

  I'm dying, but I must get my money back! It seems like I see the white-eyed wolf kneeling at my feet, crying and begging for mercy. And it's as if I see the courtesan from the brothel wearing a mandarin duck apron, pale and tender, caressing me while laughing wildly.

  As I thought about it, I fell asleep leaning on the riverbank.

  One night of continuous nightmares.

  The next day, I got up in a daze and rushed to the Lion Bridge in the city center as usual. Every morning, there were wealthy people distributing porridge there, although the porridge was so thin that you could see your shadow through it, but the queue of beggars still stretched out for a long distance.

  When my old man was alive, he refused to drink porridge given by others, saying that a gentleman does not eat food given in pity. As a result, he starved to death from hunger and cold. Haha, if my old man knew about my current behavior, he would probably be so angry that his lungs would burst.

  After selling the grass hut and buying a coffin for Father's grand funeral, I had nothing left.

  Standing at the Lion Bridge, I gaze out at the beggars scrambling to get ahead of one another, their faces flushed with greed, and find it both laughable and pitiful.

  I know I am one of them too.

  We are like wild dogs fighting over a bone with no meat on it.

  Luoyang is a very prosperous and beautiful big city, but it has never belonged to us.

  "Second brother, you're here too! Where did you run off to yesterday? Your share of the money is being kept for you by the eldest." Li Jie carefully protected the broken ceramic bowl with both hands, squeezed out of the crowd, and lifted her head to drink the porridge with a "gulp gulp" sound.

  I looked at him without saying anything.

  Li Jie wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, dragging a long trail of snot: "Aren't you going to get your porridge? If you're late, there won't be any left." After saying that, he squeezed towards the large iron pot again.

  "I don't want porridge, I want to eat meat!" I shouted loudly and ran off.

  Before I die, I don't want to be like a stray dog!

  Soon, I found a rusty cleaver and carried it with me. First, I spotted a big-bellied man wearing silk clothes on the street, then quietly followed him, thinking of finding a secluded place to rob him.

  I hadn't gone far when he found me.

  "Little runt, what are you following me for?" He turned around and slapped me with a loud crack, stars spinning in my eyes, the axe flying out of my hand.

  Damn it! I'm too weak, robbery is not going to work, let alone killing that big and fat white-eyed wolf. Forget it, white-eyed wolf, I'll spare your life because you look pitiful.

  The robbery didn't work out, so I swaggered into the Drunken Wind Pavilion to have a feast. As soon as I walked in, I was kicked out by the shopkeeper.

  "There's no leftover rice!" He said menacingly, turning his face, smiling and bowing, leading a finely dressed guest into the door.

  I stand in the middle of the street, wanting to cry but unable to shed tears. Oh, cruel heaven! Can't you even let me have one last satisfaction before I die?

  A magnificent carriage slowly drove past me.

  "Huh?" The horse carriage suddenly stopped, the thick velvet window was pulled open, and in the dimly lit compartment, someone looked at me deeply.

  The scorching sun was hot, but I couldn't help shivering. This was a pair of eerie eyes, sinister and cold, with dark red pupils that seemed to be ready to pounce on people.

  "How old are you this year?" The man suddenly asked me, his voice like a hissing rattlesnake.

  "Sixteen." I replied in a low voice, originally didn't want to tell him, but was a bit afraid in my heart. Bullying the weak and fearing the strong, this is my principle of survival.

  "How many are your eight characters of birth?" He pressed tightly, and upon hearing my answer, his pupils suddenly lit up, shooting out eerie red light.

  I feel something is off and want to slip away, but then I think again, what's there to fear when you're about to die? I straighten my back and stare him in the eye.

  My old man is fearless today!

  "You're going to die soon, you know?" He said coldly: "Your yintang is dark, and the ominous mark extends straight into your eyebrows, a great calamity!"

  My head spun and I almost fainted. This guy actually saw it too, I was doomed!

  "Can...can you save me? Is there a way?"

  "Get in." He pushed open the car door, his face a mass of wrinkles, like a strange chrysanthemum blooming towards me.

  The carriage was airtight and opaque, and the horse-drawn vehicle moved slowly forward. I couldn't understand how it was controlled since there was no coachman on the carriage.

  It seems that the other party is indeed a bit mysterious.

  "You can call me Wu Ka."

  "Wu ka?"

  What a strange name, doesn't seem like one of us Chinese. I glanced at him with the corner of my eye, Wu Ka was very old, so old that I couldn't tell his age, but his hair was jet black and shiny, hanging down long, covering both sides of his face.

  He doesn't look like a barbarian, or rather, he doesn't look like a human being.

  The sound of the wheels rolling was monotonous and dull.

  Wuka asked me many questions, and when I told him about the death of Master Gaya, he suddenly smiled mysteriously, stared at me, and muttered to himself: "Indeed a natural spiritual medium, found it, finally found it."

  "Is there a way to save me?" I asked him. There's no free lunch in this world, and this eerie guy might want me to do something for him. No problem, as long as he can keep me alive, whether it's eating, drinking, whoring, or committing crimes.

  A lean camel is better than a dead lion.

  "As long as you listen to me and do what I say, you'll be able to survive."

  To be honest, I don't quite believe in this guy. Master Jia Ye's prophecies aren't the faces of those prostitutes, saying change and it changes. However, he is my poor life-saving straw, even if he can't save me, I can still make a fortune before I die.

  "No problem, I'll listen to you. Now I'm hungry, I want to go to Zui Feng Lou!"

  "Time is running out, there's an inn up ahead, let's eat and then leave the city immediately."

  "I was stunned: 'Are we leaving Luoyang?'"

  "Are you going to wait here until you die?"

  Damn it, I still wanted to trick some money out of my virgin body. But never mind, one step at a time, there will be other opportunities later, I comforted myself, losing one's virginity is precious, but life is even more valuable.

  At the entrance of Dongguan Street, I loosened my belt and had a big meal at the restaurant. I ate braised beef in soy sauce, crispy-skinned duck, steamed chicken with egg custard, sugar and vinegar spare ribs, stir-fried shrimp, and three delicacies fish soup. I ate until my throat was full, and before leaving, I wiped my mouth with oil and took a jar of Niangjiu red wine.

  The feeling of belching after eating a full meal is really damn satisfying!

  I licked my fingers and walked towards the carriage with a full stomach, at least I didn't starve to death.

  The twilight is spreading, the magnificent lanterns are initially lit up, in the distant high-rise buildings, songs and dances are swirling, and the strings are swaying.

  I immediately felt warm and comfortable, and my little brother got hard.

  "Hurry up." Wu Ka urged me stiffly.

  I suddenly felt dazed and was about to leave Luoyang, a place I had lived for 16 years.

  It doesn't matter where I go, it's all the same to me.

  "Wait!" I shouted loudly: "I still have one more place to go!"

  Wuka's gaze was sharp as a wolf's fang: "I don't have time to waste with you, stop playing tricks on me."

  I shuddered: "I, I must go. Otherwise, I would rather die."

  At this moment, I felt that Wu Ka was like a terrifying monster, with his hair standing on end. He stared at me for a long time before finally agreeing. I let out a sigh of relief, not because I was fearless, but because I knew in my heart that I must be very important to Wu Ka.

  Under my guidance, the carriage stopped outside the garden wall.

  Wu Ka gave me a strange glance, I stood under the big locust tree, dazed, and then climbed to the top of the tree in one breath.

  The garden is quiet, with only the evening wind blowing through the swing, swaying gently.

  In the thick grass, the summer insects are chirping faintly.

  The boudoir behind the garden, with tightly closed windows, what is Miss Wang doing now?

  The brothers in the gang all laugh at me for being a toad who wants to eat swan meat. In fact, they don't know that when I secretly look at Miss Wang, my little brother has never stood up.

  Although Miss Wang was pretty, with fair skin and a plump bosom, I didn't steal glances at her because of these things, nor was it because three years ago on a snowy dusk she had given me a piece of broken silver.

  I like to steal glances at her because she put silver into my hands with her own hands.

  Her snow-white hands, my dark black hands.

  She doesn't mind me being dirty.

  The night wind is like a dream, the golden locust flowers are like tiny bells, faintly floating fragrance.

  That piece of silver, I didn't keep it, spent it long ago. Because I knew that keeping the silver would not keep other things.

  Toads can't eat swan meat.

  Miss Wang is as far away from me as this magnificent Luoyang city.

  This life, I can only look secretly from behind a wall.

  Watching her smile, watching her get married.

  This life, I can only be a scoundrel.

  I don't know why, but I feel a little heartache.

  The empty and desolate garden.

  Miss Wang's laughter is like a dream.

  Sixteen years of Luoyang, like a dream.

  My youth is like a dream.

  "Damn it all!" I bellowed, pounding my chest and sliding down the tree trunk, striding towards the horse carriage.

  Goodbye, Luoyang!

  Goodbye, begging cheating thieving robbery gang!

  See you later, deadbeat dad! Anyway, I don't have money to burn incense for your tomb either!

  Twenty years later, I'm still a good guy!

  Under the starry night sky with gathered clouds, horseshoes clattered, and a horse-drawn carriage drove out of Luoyang City.

  Right, at the foot of the city wall, I urinated a powerful stream and used bricks to crookedly write: "Lin Fei was here for a visit."