Autumn of 1955.

At that time, Xiao Wu was pedaling a rickshaw on Dongzhimen Street, and the news of Chen Liang's death came suddenly.

When Xiao Wu heard the news of Chen Liang's death, he felt that the world was spinning for a moment, and his grief was uncontrollable.

He hated Chen Liang extremely in his heart, because the expectations in his heart were ten times and a hundred times different from Jiang Sheng, ten thousand times.

But for some reason, Xiao Wu's eyes suddenly turned red, and his tears were like a broken water valve, surging and bursting the embankment.

It's another person who was still alive the day before, and the next day he said no, and it was gone.

Xiao Wu has experienced this kind of thing more than once, and Ke Chenliang is still a stranger to him.

Xiao Wu felt a faint pain in his heart, Xu was a certain dependence on him that Chen Liang showed yesterday, Xu was Chen Liang had the same face as Jiang Sheng, and it was the only thought that Jiang Sheng left in the world for those who cared about him.

That day was when the Shanghai Meipai Peking Opera Troupe was about to leave Beiping, and Chen Liang, as the Hua Dan of the Peking Opera Troupe, was also a person with status in the Peking Opera Troupe, and after his death, his body was to be transported back to Shanghai to be handed over to the master.

Xiao Wu thought in her heart, this is fine, then she will not notify Zhang Xiumei, so as to save her from being sad again.

I don't know why, Zhang Xiumei still knew about Chen Liang's death.

Zhang Xiumei stopped the car of the Peking Opera Troupe on the street like crazy, no one dragged it away, she climbed into the car to take away Chen Liang's body, and fiercely pointed at the person who stopped her and said: "That's my son, my son!" ”

The people in the Peking Opera Troupe had never heard of Chen Liang and his family, and they all thought that he was a crazy woman, so they prepared to expel Zhang Xiumei by force.

Zhang Xiumei yelled and was dragged to the ground, she shouted: "I am sick, I have tuberculosis, as long as I get close to me, I will be infected, whoever of you stops me, I will bite to death!" ”

As soon as Zhang Xiumei said this, the people in the Peking Opera Troupe really didn't dare to stop her, at that time, Xiao Wu had just arrived when she heard the movement, and he saw Zhang Xiumei climb into the car and drag Chen Liang's body down, but her strength was too small, she screamed in her mouth, hugged Chen Liang like a crazy woman and moved a little, and the green tendons on her face were exposed.

"Son, Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu, where are you, please inform my son Xiao Wu, he is in the old rickshaw rental company not far from here." Zhang Xiumei begged the surrounding passers-by.

"Mother." Xiao Wu came out of the crowd and shouted.

When Zhang Xiumei saw Xiao Wu, she hurriedly said, "Quick, carry your brother home!" ”

So Xiao Wu carried Chen Liang on his back, and under the gaze of the people, he carried Chen Liang back to Sanlitun.

In Sanlitun, unmarried young people can be buried on the day they die, but after Chen Liang's body was carried home, Zhang Xiumei asked Xiao Wu to put Chen Liang on the kang in the hall, and then knelt in front of the bed and kept guard.

For so many years, Zhang Xiumei has been a woman of few words in the hearts of the villagers of Sanlitun, and if the chickens of other people's houses are lost, the women of that family will definitely scold around the tunzi three times.

Zhang Xiumei never yelled in Sanlitun, except for the quarrel with Niu Aihua back then, Zhang Xiumei usually didn't even speak loudly.

But after Chen Liang's body was brought back, Zhang Xiumei cried all night long, her voice was hoarse, and she couldn't make a sound and was still crying.

Neither Xiao Wu nor Shen A-Niang could persuade them, Zhang Xiumei would kick them out of the room, saying that she had two sons and couldn't be all gone.

"Mother, you still have me, I'm Xiao Wu, let's not bury Chen Liang, you haven't eaten for three days, eat some food first, and you have to drink the medicine." Xiao Wu said at the door of the hall.

At night, Zhang Xiumei was exhausted and fell asleep next to Chen Liang's body.

Xiao Wu carefully picked up Zhang Xiumei and put it on his bed, and when Zhang Xiumei woke up in the middle of the night, he fed Zhang Xiumei some porridge.

Zhang Xiumei took a few sips and returned to the hall to guard Chen Liang's body, chanting two names all the time, sometimes Chen Liang and sometimes Jiang Sheng.

Zhang Xiumei guarded Chen Liang's body for seven days, and after seven days, the village chief of Sanlitun couldn't sit still, and came to persuade Zhang Xiumei, but Zhang Xiumei didn't listen, and did not agree to Chen Liang's burial, saying that Chen Liang would definitely come back to life.

The village chief said: "Today is the first seventh, I won't fight with you, the first seven days are over, the child must be buried, you smell the smell of this house yourself, people are about to stink!" ”

After the village chief finished speaking, he walked out of the yard, and then beckoned Xiao Wu to go out, the village chief looked at Xiao Wu's haggard appearance, and said: "Your mother is now in a daze, and you are also crazy with a piece?" ”

"I told her she wouldn't listen." Xiao Wu said.

"Then you can only come strongly, the first seven days are over, and you will be buried tomorrow morning, no one dares to come to your house for your mother's illness, greet you in advance, and come by yourself when the time comes, we can't have such a thing in Sanlitun, and it won't scare people to death if it spreads?" The village chief said.

Xiao Wu nodded, and could only agree.

When the next morning, the villagers of Sanlitun gathered at the door of Zhang Xiumei's house, and Carpenter Wang took Xiao Wu's money and dragged the coffin, Xiao Wu walked into the hall, and while Zhang Xiumei was still sleeping, he picked up Chen Liang's body and walked out of the yard.

Zhang Xiumei woke up when she heard the movement outside the door, hurriedly chased out of the yard, and saw that Xiao Wu was putting Chen Liang's body into the coffin, shouting and rushing over.

Xiao Wu stopped Zhang Xiumei and asked the villagers to carry Chen Liang's body away, Zhang Xiumei sat on the ground and cried hoarsely, her tears had dried up, and she couldn't cry sound, so angry that a mouthful of blood spurted out.

When Zhang Xiumei woke up again, she was already lying in the hospital, Xiao Wu's eye bubbles were swollen, and she was exhausted from tossing.

Zhang Xiumei stretched her hands and wanted to get up, Xiao Wu subconsciously grabbed Zhang Xiumei's wrist, Zhang Xiumei said, "I want to drink water." ”

So Xiao Wu got up and poured some water for Zhang Xiumei, and then fed Zhang Xiumei to drink when it was almost blown, Zhang Xiumei's complexion was a little better, and said, "Xiao Wu, I had a dream." ”

"What did you dream about?" Xiao Wu asked.

"I dreamed that Jiang Sheng had a younger brother named Chen Liang, but he was gone." Zhang Xiumei laughed as she spoke. "Xu yes, I think Jiang Sheng wants to go crazy."

Xiao Wu looked at Zhang Xiumei's pale face and couldn't speak for a while, he asked Zhang Xiumei to lie on the bed and not think about it, and pick her up in the afternoon to be discharged from the hospital.

At that time, the hospital in the town had only been in operation for two years, and the sanitary and medical conditions were much better than those of ordinary health centers and pharmacies, but the cost was also a lot more expensive, Zhang Xiumei didn't know that she almost couldn't wake up in the two days she was in a coma, and she didn't know how much money she spent.

In order to treat Zhang Xiumei, Xiao Wu took out all the money he had saved to build a house.

At that time, after a worker learned that Xiao Wu had spent so much money, he said a few words in front of Xiao Wu, saying that Zhang Xiumei was not his own mother after all, and such a disease could not be cured.

Xiao Wu's eyes were angry, and he pointed at the worker and said: "This is my mother, who has raised me for so many years, and this disease can be cured no matter how much money you have, don't say such things in front of me in the future!" ”

After the workers left angrily, Xiao Wu also started to worry, now it is the off-season, unlike the summer when business is good, the money earned in a month is not enough to subsidize medical expenses and hospitalization expenses, and Zhang Xiumei's mood swings are too great, and the lung infection has worsened.

Xiao Wu remembered that when he first entered the industry, Lao Qiaotou told him that there was a way to make money quickly, that is, to go to Beiping City to fight underground black boxing.

During the Anti-Japanese War, Chinese martial arts were popular, and after seeing the country, Hongmen was further developed, especially in Foshan, Guangdong and Hong Kong.

At that time, Tianjin had a Huo Yuanjia, so there were also many martial arts halls in the local area, and the major martial arts families recruited disciples to teach martial arts.

At that time, information and communication were not developed, and after the popularity of vernacular literature, many literati began to write martial arts.

Therefore, some old weapons shops and small workshops have begun to make spears, daggers, iron whips, plum blossom darts and flying needles and other hidden weapons to sell.

Although Beiping is not a place of martial arts, Hongmen is also a sect that has established a foothold in Beiping, and Qin Sanye, Xiao Beile and other celebrities in the capital have taken a fancy to business opportunities, and secretly opened an underground black market.

There will be no shortage of powerful and wealthy people in any era, and those rich people in addition to a lot of women, what they like to do most is to watch this river and lake full of fighting, they are eager to see someone can fight the tiger with their bare hands, with one against ten.

When Lao Qiaotou was looking for Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu didn't agree, because he kept remembering Niu Aihua's words back then, and remembered that Mr. Zhang said that he was imprisoned and that he was going to be killed, so he refused Lao Qiaotou and said that his mother would not fight him.

What's more, the master didn't teach him martial arts for a long time, and he told others more than once that there were people outside the world, and there was a sky outside the sky, and he thought that he was just a big strength, and he would definitely be invincible to the martial arts master.

In the end, this matter was gone, and I remembered it again until today.

Xiao Wu decided to go to the old bridge head and fight black boxing.