There was a flower shop at the end of the south street of Liuliqiao. The shop was not big, and the 15 square meters space was filled with white lilies. There was only room for a table at the innermost part.
The flower shop had just opened not long ago. The owner was a girl about 20 years old. She had delicate facial features and could not be considered beautiful, but she was as quiet as a pure white lily that emitted a faint fragrance. In the south of Liuliqiao, where aunties lived in groups, girls were like flowers, swans that toads could only look up to.
Qiao Liansheng would visit this flower shop almost every day. She would buy a lily as soon as she came in, and it was three yuan each. Actually, Qiao Liansheng should feel heartache for the three yuan a day. However, every time he bought a lily, he could see the girl's sweet smile. Qiao Liansheng felt that the three yuan was well spent.
She had delicate facial features. The corners of her mouth were slightly pursed, revealing two shallow dimples at the corners of her face. Her eyebrows were slightly curved, and her watery eyes were filled with a pure smile. This formed a girl's smiling face. It was not a flash in the pan, but it was very bright and warm. This was what Qiao Liansheng felt was worth it.
"It's so f * cking frustrating to be able to woo a woman to this extent! It makes people die of cowardice!" Looking at Qiao Liansheng, who had come out of the flower shop and waved goodbye to the lady, Ma Houwen grumbled in disappointment.
This was already the fifteenth lily that Qiao Liansheng had bought. Other than getting the girl's smile, he didn't even know what his surname was. Ma Houwen had scolded him more than once for being useless, but Qiao Liansheng, this stubborn donkey, had never reacted. Looking at the pile of lilies in the house, he laughed foolishly like a blockhead.
In the past month, Ma Houwen had dragged Qiao Liansheng along to collect monthly payment from twenty new street stalls on Liu Li Qiao street. The lowest was five to six hundred, and the highest was two to three thousand. Ma Houwen's shriveled leather bag under his armpit was no longer shriveled, and at least there were signs of it bulging.
The procedure to collect the monthly payment was very simple. Ma Houwen first talked to the new stall owner and pretended to verify the stall owner's identity. Qiao Liansheng followed behind him and took out a notebook that he bought from a small supermarket for 2.50 yuan to register. Ma Houwen bragged about his status in the Northeast Gang in an old-fashioned manner, and then naturally extended his palm in front of the stall owner. The stall owner began to look for his wallet in a panic. He took out a few red notes and placed them on Ma Houwen's palm. He lowered his head and bent over, calling him big brother in front and behind, his attitude humble and humble.
Qiao Liansheng said that doing this was immoral and felt uneasy. Ma Houwen pointed at his nose and scolded him, saying,"If you don't want to be wicked and have a guilty conscience, then leave!" Go do those jobs that cost 800 yuan a month to wash dishes for 17 to 18 hours a day! Apart from food, drink, and rent, not to mention visiting a princess in a pink hair salon, even buying a pair of tattered pants would require a few months of salary. If you want to go, go. I won't stop you!
Qiao Liansheng was stunned by his words for a long time. When he thought of Qiao Lianxiang, who had married Lame Ma, and the clean stone tablet on Dog Bone Mountain, he had no desire to refute and began to do the immoral business of collecting monthly tributes.
Qiao Liansheng's monthly salary was 1,000 yuan, including food and accommodation. This was Ma Houwen's treatment, and Qiao Liansheng had no objections. However, ever since he saw this flower shop, Ma Houwen had to pay for a lily a day. Thus, every day when he saw Qiao Liansheng coming out of the flower shop, Ma Houwen would grumble a few words. He didn't feel bad for her, but he felt that this girl was a good-for-nothing.
Ma Houwen also had times when he was kind. He would visit a small restaurant south of Liuliqiao every once in a while. Of course, the places that Ma Houwen frequented were also the red-light districts on the streets. When he was in the mood, Ma Houwen would invite Qiao Liansheng with a radiant face, but Qiao Liansheng would not go no matter what.
Ma Houwen was so angry that he scolded him for being a coward. He even suspected that Qiao Liansheng did not have a man's thing. Even if she did, she was a coward who could not stand up.
There was a table by the door with a plate of peanuts, a plate of chives, and a bottle of black earth white wine, which was famous in the northeast. Qiao Liansheng had never understood. Ma Houwen usually only gave him fifteen yuan for meals, but Ma Houwen was never stingy when it came to visiting brothels and drinking.
"I couldn't tell that you're wearing a pair of glasses and looking so weak, but you still have the guts of a Northeastern man when you drink!”After downing two glasses of wine, Ma Houwen's face was flushed red. He narrowed his reddened eyes and stared at Qiao Liansheng's refined face, which did not have the slightest reaction even after downing two glasses of white wine. He revealed an expression of disbelief.
Qiao Liansheng had no sense of propriety. There was no need for men to examine whether she was a man or not. If it was a female creature, Qiao Liansheng would definitely try to prove it, even unbuckle her belt and take out a man's natural plaything to tell her what a man was and what a man's courage was.
"Do you plan to continue playing like this?" The two of them clinked glasses again. After drinking half a glass of white wine, Qiao Liansheng asked a question without any rhyme or reason. He touched the green ring on his left thumb, his eyes under the glasses appearing very deep.
"Then what do you want?" Ma Houwen frowned slightly and asked. He opened his mouth and spat out a thick smell of alcohol.
Qiao Liansheng was stunned. The half-blind woman wanted him to come to Beijing but had no other instructions. For several sleepless nights, Qiao Liansheng kept his eyes wide open in the dark, wondering if the half-blind woman was a divine fortune-teller like the Ma family's daughter-in-law next door had said. She had long known that she would be doing the immoral business of collecting monthly tributes at Liu Li Qiao, so what was her next step? After turning over countless times, he could only say one word in his mind: Confusion.
"Is that ring yours?" As Ma Houwen threw the peanuts into his mouth, he glanced at the green ring on Qiao Liansheng's left thumb.
"You know him?"
"I've seen him once." Ma Houwen hesitated for a moment before nodding. He picked up his wine glass and took a big gulp. He frowned slightly and said,"Two years ago, an old man wore it. The old man is not simple. The old man's surname isn't Qiao, but Xia."
Ma Houwen's tone was very slow. He watched Qiao Liansheng's expression through his narrow eyes, but Qiao Liansheng's unsurprised expression made him very disappointed. Disappointed, but not to the point of giving up.
Qiao Liansheng didn't respond. He picked up the bottle and poured wine into Ma Houwen's cup. He began to raise his cup to Ma Houwen frequently, downing a cup in one gulp.
Ma Houwen was very cooperative. His monkey face always had a wretched smile on it that others could not see through.
After drinking three bottles of black soil, Ma Houwen's face was as red as a monkey's butt. His speech was unclear as he stammered,"Pour the wine! I'll risk my life to get drunk today!" The way he shook his head and knocked on the table attracted waves of disdain from the other customers in the restaurant.
Qiao Lian Sheng's eyes were also red, but his actions were still controlled. Putting down the wine glass and looking at Ma Houwen's expression, Qiao Liansheng knew that it was about time. The saying that one speaks the truth after drinking had a long history and had been tested many times.
Qiao Liansheng stuck out his left thumb and waved it in front of Ma Houwen's eyes. Ma Houwen started to talk more.
Two years ago, Ma Houwen had been collecting monthly tributes in the Xinfadi area controlled by the Jiangxi gang. There was a courtyard near the Xinfadi area. The courtyard was very large, but only an old man lived there. At that time, Ma Houwen, who was drunk and pretended to be rich because he had two promiscuous papers on him, accidentally barged in and shouted in front of the old man.
The old man smiled and didn't say anything, allowing Ma Houwen to make a scene. In less than ten minutes, more than twenty people from the Jiangxi gang rushed over and dragged Ma Houwen out of the courtyard like a dog. After that, they even apologized to the old man respectfully.
Ma Houwen knew that he had offended Taisui. After asking around, he found out that the old man's surname was Xia. He had retired from the city and had once been famous. As for how famous he was, no one could say why. They only knew that the Jiangxi gang in Fengtai District was very respectful to the old man.
A month later, Ma Houwen's monthly payment at Xinfadi was exposed. The Jiangxi gang searched everywhere with the photos. In just one morning, they were found and hung up and beaten half to death. Half an hour later, Ma Houwen, who thought he was going to confess, was released.
The one who said that Ma Houwen should live was the old man surnamed Xia who lived in the courtyard house. Although he could live, he couldn't stay in Xinfadi anymore. Before he left, Ma Houwen waited at the entrance of the courtyard house for an entire day. He wanted to thank the old man, but the old man just waved at him and entered the courtyard house, closing the door behind him.
Ma Houwen had sharp eyes and happened to see the green ring on the old man's waving thumb. The two words "Jun Lin" engraved on it flashed in Ma Houwen's eyes and he had not forgotten it until now.
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