Chapter Fifteen: Escaping the City

  "That year, I was still young. Only eight years old. It was a summer day, the weather was very hot. My father was ill, lying in bed. He kept coughing, sometimes even spitting blood. Big mouthfuls of it. I saw it and was scared to death. So I went to find my mother."

  My mother was collecting clothes in the house, at that time, I really didn't know. My mother wrapped up the collected clothes to do what. I went in to find her and said my father was lying on the bed spitting blood, I was scared. My mother turned around, looked at me, with tears streaming down her face. She squatted down, stretched out her hands and hugged me tightly, kissing me hard. Then she said to me: "Ertuozhi (my nickname), Mom is sorry for you, sorry for your dad. After mom leaves, you must take good care of your dad." After that, my mother cried again.

  I really didn't understand at that time, I didn't know my mother was going to leave us and go to a very far place, and would never come back. I just thought my mother was going to work for someone else again, so I said: "Hmm, mom, where are you going?"

  "Mother stretched out her hand and stroked my head, saying: 'Ertuizi, Mom is going to a very far place. From now on, Mom can't take care of you and your dad anymore, and you've grown up too. Remember what Mom says, take good care of your dad.'"

  I nodded in agreement: "Mm, I'll take good care of Dad."

  My mother hugged me again and cried. I didn't know why she was crying. So I said to my mother, "Mom, don't cry, you go, I'll listen to you and take good care of Dad."

  My mother heard my words and stopped crying. She stood up, picked up her bundle, and said to me: "Ertuizi, Mom is leaving. You must live well and take care of your father." As she spoke, she turned her head, turned around and left.

  "Mom, should I tell dad?" I asked my mother.

  "Don't tell your dad, he's ill."

  "What does Father want to ask?"

  "Just tell them Mom went out to work. Remember." The mother said and left our home without looking back.

  It was later that I found out that Mother couldn't bear our family's poverty and had run off with someone.

  "Oh, is that so? Haven't you looked for your mother?" Li Guoting asked in a low voice.

  "Look for her? No way. I'd rather she were dead. I don't have a mother like that." Zhao Erhu said with hatred.

  "What happened after that?" Li Guoting asked again.

  "After my mother left, my father somehow found out, but it wasn't from me. In just a few days, he died too. I knew that Father must have known about Mother leaving home and was angry to death. After Father's death, I stayed at Grandfather's house for a year, but Grandfather treated me poorly, often beating me and scolding me for being useless. In a fit of anger, I ran away."

  "Where did he run off to?"

  "I've been to all those places, the town, the county seat, and other villages. At first, I didn't have enough food to eat, even if I just wanted a little bit, people would give me the cold shoulder. One time, a family even set their dog on me, and it bit me. Now, my calf still has the scar from that dog bite."

  "I wandered around, slowly, and I learned how to steal things. I climbed walls, stole food from people's houses, even snatched clothes hung on lines, and once I even stole a woman's embroidered pants." As he said this, Zhao Erhu turned his head to the side and let out a low, sly chuckle.

  "You rascal..." Li Guoting said with a smile.

  "I got a bit older, and I started snatching things from kids smaller than me. One time, I snatched a bundle from a woman and was caught by some people who almost beat me to death. Later, they tied me up and sent me to the county police station. The police there also gave me a good thrashing before throwing me into a big prison."

  "In the big prison, I met an old man. Oh, that old man was something else! If he wanted to steal something from you, you couldn't even hide it. Later on, I became his apprentice. He's my master. Do you know who he is?"

  Li Guoting shook his head and said, "How would I know."

  "He's the notorious thief king in Guangyuan City, nicknamed 'One Whirlwind'. They say that when he steals something, it's like a whirlwind - as soon as he passes by you, your money and watch will all be gone."

  Li Guoting listened and clicked his tongue, saying: "Is it really that amazing?"

  "What do you think? My master is formidable. I followed him to learn how to steal after I got out of prison, it's not easy to learn, every day, just inserting my fingers into the hot iron sand, I had to insert them hundreds of times. My fingers were scalded countless times, I've lost count."

  "What's the use of holding an iron rod in your hand?" Li Guoting asked curiously.

  "Practice stealing, it's quick to learn. Think about it, the iron sand is scorching hot, you have to insert your fingers into the iron sand, if you don't move quickly in and out, wouldn't your fingers get burned? When you can insert your fingers into the iron sand without getting burned, then you've succeeded."

  "Learn to steal like this."

  "It wasn't bad, was it? Those years, following Master, I lived a good life, eating at restaurants, staying in big halls, wearing nice clothes. I even wore a pocket watch." As he said this, Zhao Erhu couldn't help but nod his head with pride.

  "Good, good." Li Guoting said with approval.

  "One time, I went to Changsha with Master, stole a military officer's wallet, got over 100 big silver coins. Master specifically took me to have a 'Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl' meal."

  "What is 'Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl'?" Li Guoting asked.

  "You don't understand, do you? Country bumpkin. I'm telling you, it's a steamer basket with two golden pythons inside. Both are steamed to perfection. Between the two pythons is placed something that looks like a meatball made of some kind of meat, topped with a red bead. It's called 'Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl'. Delicious!" At this point, Second Tiger smacked his tongue again.

  "Shut up, you're making me drool..." said Li Guoting.

  "Alas, unfortunately, later on, my master and I climbed over the wall at night and snuck into a foreign-style building, stole a leather bag, and were discovered as soon as we came out. A large group of soldiers chased us. My master protected me and told me to run first. Later, I heard a row of gunshots behind me, and when I turned my head back to look, my master had fallen to the ground. I didn't dare to go save him, there were pursuing soldiers behind, so I ran out by myself."

  Just as the two tigers finished speaking, they heard someone walking towards the ladder under the thatched cottage where they were sleeping.

  "Who is it? Who's up there?" someone shouted from below against the ceiling where they were hiding.

  "Something's wrong, our conversation has been overheard by the person watching us." Zhao Erhu said quietly to Li Guoting.

  "Come down, if you don't come down, I'll call for help." The man's shout came from below again.

  Li Guoting and Zhao Erhu both became tense.

  "What's to be done?" Li Guoting asked.

  "Big brother, let's run, otherwise, when people come, we'll be caught." Zhao Erhu said.

  "Thieves! Thieves!" The people below shouted loudly.

  "One, two, three. Run!" Zhao Erhu shouted. Li Guoting and Zhao Erhu split up and jumped down to the haystack below, where they fed the horses. Then, the two of them rolled off the haystack, got up, and ran for their lives.

  The man who was feeding the horse below just happened to be Rui Xiang. At dawn, he got up to feed the horse and heard a faint conversation coming from above. He listened carefully and realized that someone was talking about stealing something. So he shouted out loud, but unexpectedly, this shout startled Li Guoting and Zhao Erhu, who jumped down and ran away in different directions. The man feeding the horse was frightened and by the time he came to his senses, the two men had disappeared without a trace. He quickly called for the guards, and with a "ding ding dong" sound of gongs, more than a dozen guards gathered, each carrying knives and guns, and chased after Li Guoting and Zhao Erhu along the escape route.

  Li Guoting and Zhao Erhu ran desperately along the foot of the city wall, with the pursuing soldiers closely following behind. The sound of gongs and shouting echoed in the quiet dawn sky. The startled sparrows and pigeons roosting on the branches at the foot of the city wall flapped their wings and flew into the morning sky.

  Zhao Erhu and Li Guoting ran and ran, and soon they saw that not far ahead, there was a sewage pipe leading from under the city wall to the outside. The two of them ran up front, took a look, and saw that the pipe was about as thick as their bodies. So Li Guoting said: "Brother, I think we should crawl out of the city through here. If we keep running like this, we'll definitely outrun them."

  Zhao Erhu said, "Alright, I'll listen to big brother. I'll go first." Saying that, Zhao Erhu was the first to crawl into the pipe, and Li Guoting followed closely behind.