Qiye didn't know how long he had been unconscious, and when he opened his eyes, the sky outside was already glowing with a faint light. He found himself in a ruined building of unknown age, his body tied to a reinforced concrete pillar with hemp rope, and garbage at his feet.

The strong man who knocked him unconscious was squatting in a corner not far away, smoking boredly, and the steel pipe rested within reach. Another man with a scar on his face was dozing off the wall, snoring deafeningly.

Seeing that Qi Ye woke up, the strong man immediately snuffed out the cigarette butt, picked up the steel pipe and stabbed the scar man. The latter burst into a foul mouth, and then cheered up, and the two of them walked towards Qiye one after the other.

Qi Ye was completely frightened awake, instinctively shrunk back, stared at the two people and asked in horror, "You, who are you?" What are you doing with me? ”

"Of course it's useful to catch you." The strong man said with a wicked smile, took out Qiye's mobile phone from his pocket, and shook it, "Otherwise, where are we going to find Xiaolong's bastard." ”

"Little Dragon? Which little dragon? Qiye's head was still dizzy, and he didn't react for a while. The strong man continued to explain: "What other little dragon can there be, of course, your best buddy. ”

"Who the hell are you? What are you looking for him for? ”

"He owes us a lot of money, and people run away. We can only use you to lure him out now. ”

"And what if he doesn't come out? What are you going to do with me? ”

"Don't worry, he'll be there soon." The strong man said confidently. As soon as the words fell, I saw a young man with a comb on his head, wearing earrings, and fashionably dressed running up the stairs panting, and shouted angrily at the strong man: "Bastard, let him go, what is coming at me!" ”

"Little Dragon!" Qiye's eyes widened in surprise, he didn't expect this idiot to really come to save him.

"It's good that you're here, if it's a little later, we're going to sell this little brother to a nightclub for money." The strong man said as he dragged Qiye's chin, as if he was fiddling with a product for sale.

Xiaolong's face turned red with anger, and he picked up a broken stone and was about to hit the strong man's head. The scarred man was quick-eyed, and before Xiaolong could make a move, he grabbed his arm, grabbed the stone, and punched him heavily in the stomach, warning viciously: "You be honest with me, or I'll cut your friend first." ”

The little dragon staggered to his knees, clutching his stomach and coughing sadly. After a while, he slowly raised his head, looked at Qi Ye apologetically, and said, "I'm sorry, brother, I've troubled you......"

"Don't apologize yet." Qi Ye was so anxious that he broke out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly asked Xiaolong, "How much do you owe them?" ”

"Counting the interest, it's a total of 600,000." The strong man replied for Xiaolong.

"What? 600,000? Qi Ye asked in disbelief, "Xiaolong, what are you borrowing so much money from a loan shark?" ”

"My dad has uremia, and I lend money to him to see a doctor......"

"Uncle Long is sick? Why didn't you tell me about such a big thing? ”

"What's the use of telling you? How many homes do you have when I'm still unclear? ”

"We can figure it out together, it's better than ...... now"

"Alright, alright." The strong man impatiently interrupted the conversation between the two people, "Don't talk so much nonsense. Xiaolong, I will give you three days in the end. If you don't pay it back, don't blame us for being polite. After speaking, he glanced at the scar man, "Chop off two of his fingers today and teach him a lesson." ”

The scar man sneered and took out a knife, pressed Xiaolong's hand to the ground, and raised the knife high. The little dragon was so frightened that he quickly closed his eyes, as if he heard the sound of bones being chopped off.

At this moment, Qi Ye suddenly clenched his fists and shouted loudly with all his strength: "Slow! I'll pay him back, please let him go!" ”

"Oh? This little brother is very righteous! The strong man stretched out his hand to signal the scar man to stop, looked at Qiye with interest and asked, "Are you serious?" ”

"Please give me five days, and I promise that I will not lose a penny to you."

"No, three days." The bald man stretched out three fingers with a non-negotiable expression on his face.

"Okay, three days is three days!" Qiye gritted his teeth and said, "I'll definitely find a way to get the money." ”

"Then I'll trust you for once. If you still can't come up with the money by then, it's not a small problem that can be solved by chopping a few fingers. ”

The whole day was spent in trepidation. For some special reasons, he has the responsibility and obligation to pay off those debts for Xiaolong, but for a while, he really can't come up with so much money, unless he asks that person to "help".

In the evening, Qiye walked along the riverside for more than half an hour, and finally made up his mind and stopped by a ginkgo tree. He pulled out a yellowed business card from his pocket, stared at the number on it and thought for a moment, then mustered up the courage to dial the other party's phone.

After a few rings, a low, serious man voice came from the other side of the phone, "Hey, hello. ”

"May I ask ......" Qiye swallowed nervously, his heart beating very hard. He clenched the business card tightly, his palms covered with cold sweat. He thought that he would never take the initiative to contact the man on the other side of the phone in his life, but in order to repay the money for Xiaolong, he could only give it a go. He stabilized his emotions and pretended to be calm and asked, "Are you Li Tianhua?" ”

"It's me, who are you?"

Qi Ye did not answer, and continued to ask: "Do you remember what happened in Longjing Village on the afternoon of March 24, 2004? ”

Hearing this, the other party immediately became vigilant, and asked cautiously again, "Who are you?" ”

Qi Ye still didn't answer, and said coldly: "I saw you kill someone." That afternoon, you strangled a woman in a rape field at the entrance of the village. ”

"You ......" The other party was poked in the sore spot and was speechless for a while. Through the phone, Qi Ye could imagine the other party's angry and frightened expressions. He struck while the iron was hot and quickly stated his conditions. "You are a vice president of a university, and your family conditions should be very good, right? Otherwise, if you give me 600,000 yuan, we will treat it as if it never happened that afternoon, how about it? ”

"You want to blackmail me?"

"Yes." Qiye replied frankly, "If you don't give money, I'll go to the police." He thought that the other party would be very scared when he heard the word "call the police", but he didn't expect the other party to be silent for a moment, and just said calmly: "Since you have hidden this secret for twelve years, it means that you never thought of calling the police from the beginning, or you didn't dare to call the police at all." Listen to your voice is very young, you should have been a child twelve years ago, right? I don't think I would have thought of keeping this secret and using it for blackmail in the future. If you suddenly contact me and ask for 600,000 yuan, it means that you need this money urgently, and you will not make such a choice until you are desperate. In that case, what good is it for you to call the police? ”

"You mean I'm not going to call the police?" Qiye asked with a sneer, sweat already wetting his collar unconsciously.

The other party took a deep breath and said slowly, "You are Qiye, right?" I thought about it carefully, and the only person who could see that scene at that time was you, who ran to the old locust tree at the entrance of the village every afternoon to play. When the police questioned you, you said you were napping and didn't see anything. Why didn't you tell the police the truth? Why are you lying? ”

"I ......" Qi Ye was dumbfounded by the question, and the whole person froze there not knowing how to react. Seeing that this negotiation was about to fail, he didn't expect the other party to suddenly change his tone and soften. "Xiaoqi, in fact, you don't have to blackmail me at all. If you want money, just tell me, and I will do my best to help you no matter what difficulties you encounter. You know, I had a great relationship with your father when I was younger, and I wouldn't watch his son become an extortionist. ”

"Why should I believe what you say?"

"Because you don't have a better way than to trust me, do you? You urgently need 600,000 now, don't you want to get money from me? ”

Seeing that Qi Ye didn't answer, the other party continued: "Xiao Qi, although there are many people who look down on your background and are prejudiced against you, I believe that you are a kind and good boy. Come to my office tomorrow at noon, and we'll have a good chat. Some things are not as simple as you seem, and although I have killed someone, I am really not the heinous villain you think. Give me a chance, and I'll explain it all to you. ”

"Killing is killing people, there's nothing to explain." Qiye said mercilessly.

"What about your father? He also kills people, is he also a heinous devil in your heart? ”

Hearing this, Qi Ye suddenly became anxious, and shouted into the phone: "No, he's different!" After saying that, he couldn't wait to hang up the phone immediately, but the other party hurriedly stopped him and said, "Wait, tomorrow at half past twelve at noon, you come to the office of the vice president of R City Normal University to find me." You trust me, I won't hurt you. In addition, I will try to find a way to help you solve the money problem. ”

Hanging up the phone, Qiye threw the crumpled business card into the trash can next to him.

He looked up at the night sky, reddened by shimmering neon, and a delicate face came to mind. In any case, this shady deal must not be known to the innocent girl. Otherwise, the secret he had suffered and concealed for so many years would be meaningless.

At noon the next day, Qi Ye came to the headquarters of the Normal University near the bar street with a nervous heart. In his spare time, he often comes here for a walk and is already very familiar with the campus environment.

Although he was a little worried that Li Tianhua would take the initiative to ask him to meet and have other intentions, and might even kill him for what happened twelve years ago, but for the safety of Xiaolong and Uncle Long, he still decided to take a gamble.

He brought a sharp fruit knife for self-defense, and as a last resort, of course he didn't want to tear his face with Li Tianhua. He followed the address he had been told to the sixth floor of the Administration Building, where the Vice Chancellor's office was located on the west side of the stairwell. He raised his hand to look at the time, and at 12:34, Li Tianhua should have been waiting for him inside. He politely knocked on the door twice, found it unlocked, and walked in without permission.

As soon as he entered the door, Qiye was shocked by the scene in front of him. In the room, a middle-aged man was lying on the carpet with his back facing the sky, half of his head had been smashed open. A large puddle of blood mixed with brain tissue flowed, and the room was filled with a disgusting smell.

Qiye desperately covered his mouth so that he didn't let himself scream. After a few seconds of calm, he turned around and rushed out of the office, hiding in the bathroom and throwing up.