innocent year

Chapter 102 Chongqing Forest

The "International Center" built in the late 80s sounds imposing, but the interior is full of marginalized people from the city.

At this moment, Qiu Shi is standing on the street of the "International Center" with the visitor.All kinds of signboards stand in front of them, including small supermarkets, restaurants, foreign exchange shops, massage parlors, sex shops with half-drawn curtains, and so on.

"Director Fei," Qiu Shi introduced, "this is the Macau version of 'Chongqing Forest' you're looking for."

The person next to him is an unknown director who is planning to make a movie about gambling, in which he explores the complex and contradictory psychology of gamblers that is almost abnormal.

The director is from the north, and he got on the line of the Tourism Bureau from nowhere. The boss asked Qiushi to be in charge of the reception, and took him to the "International Center" to collect pictures.

"Can I go inside?" the director asked.

"It's full of residents, so it's not very convenient. You can go to the two basement floors. But," Qiu Shi paused, "it's not safe down there."

"What can happen if we two old men join together?" The director laughed heartily, "It's all here."

These four words can be described as a magic weapon, so Qiu Shi had no choice but to enter through the main entrance with an artist full of curiosity and desire to create, and then walk down the stairs.

When the two arrived at B1 of the building on the east side, they could vaguely see the commercial nature of the building in the past.But now all kinds of shops have been abandoned for a long time, garbage is everywhere, devastated, and ghostly.The corners are all occupied by faces from various countries, lying or sitting like zombies.

"It's exactly the scene I want to build!" The director looked at the doomsday-like scene around him and said excitedly, "The ruins of human nature behind the debauchery, this way is shocking enough."

Directors who are too obsessed with self-expression generally fail to make high-grossing works.Qiushi silently shed a tear for this person in her heart.

Just as they were talking, a man who looked like a tramp passed by them.The two of them simultaneously received the malice from the corners of his bright red and festered eyes, and felt as if they had been thrown blood all over their faces.

"Qiu Shi," the director asked with a look of eagerness to pull him over to act in a movie, "who lives here?"

The homeless man stopped suddenly, and leaned against the dark wall, as if he was tired.

"Everyone is there," Qiu Shi replied, "Backpackers, drug addicts, foreign workers, vagabonds, most of them are frustrated gamblers."

"Doesn't the government care?"

"The government has been carrying out governance. The police, plainclothes police, and the Tourism Bureau are all investigating. But because Macau has not yet adopted a legal family hotel model, and the local hotel prices are extremely high, this has created such a gray area."

The ecological chain of the gaming industry is intertwined. There are wealthy businessmen and high rollers who spend a lot of money, and there are down-and-out gamblers who have been squeezed dry by their desires.It's just that the latter has been consciously ignored by the whole world. Everyone doesn't like to see the downfall of the losers, and at the same time try their best to hide their own embarrassment.Those senior gamblers who gambled and lost nine times will always only brag about their brilliance when they win money, and miss the thrill of adrenaline burst at that moment.

The two walked a few steps forward, only seeing a person at the crossing.He was snoring loudly, and more than half of his ten fingers were missing.It's one thing to hear about this kind of thing, it's another to see it with your own eyes.

"It seems that I have quit many times without success." The director sighed, "How can people let themselves fall to such a point?"

They turned a corner and came to a dilapidated water crab porridge shop.The signboard with red letters on a white background is still there, and there are many people inside.

"Maybe..." Qiu Shi continued what the other party said just now, "There are many invisible swamps and deep wells on the road of life. After accidentally falling, some people can climb up again or be dragged up; I can only live in despair for the rest of my life.”

Hearing this, the director looked at the overly handsome man in front of him with interest, and asked very directly: "Then have you ever fallen?"

Qiu Shi was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "I fell down, but came up again."

"Did they climb up by themselves or were they dragged up?"

"Yes, I'm lucky." Qiu Shi answered frankly.

"It sounds like a story. If you have time this time, would you like to talk about it?"

Qiu Shi hurriedly waved his hands: "It's just the bitterness of the past."

The director smiled and did not force him: "I heard Mr. Tan mentioned on the phone that you are from Beijing, right?"

"Yes," Qiu Shi couldn't help raising the corners of his mouth when he heard the word Beijing, and there was a very gentle smile in his eyes, "I'm going home to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival next month..."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly felt a gust of wind mixed with strong body odor coming from behind him.Qiushi turned around subconsciously, a pair of red eyes were close at hand.

It was the tramp just now!

At some point, the other party had a gleaming knife in his hand.Without saying a word, he raised his hand and chopped it off.Qiu Shi swayed and dodged, but the sharp blade missed.Between the fire and the light, Qiu Shi didn't give the opponent any time to react, and raised his leg to directly attack his lower three lanes.

The homeless man suffered pain in his crotch, backed up again and again, and sat down on the ground.Seeing that he missed a hit, he didn't want to fight, he got up and fled, and disappeared into the dark passage like a spider's web in an instant.

And the director who was stunned by the side finally returned to his place at this moment, and immediately rushed out to arrest people.

Qiushi grabbed his arm and said, "Don't chase the poor, let's talk about it after we get out!"

This juncture is not the time to compete with fists and kicks, the time and place are favorable, and the two of them do not take advantage of it.

The director nodded, and finally felt the danger of "Chongqing Forest" very intuitively.

It's a bit of a detour to go back the way you came.Qiushi and Hua Jiahui had been here before, and he remembered that there was a narrow staircase leading to the back door of the building in front of him.So he gathered all his energy to look around, hoping that the tramp just now had an evil desire to steal money.

The two walked a few steps, and they reached the stairs.The sunlight shone dimly on the steps, revealing a bit of yang energy in the world.

Before Qiu Shi could tell the director to walk in front of him, suddenly, a black shadow flew down from nowhere, and Qiu Shi was thrown to the ground, making a loud impact sound.

After a burst of violence, the director was about to step forward to help when he saw the cold knife again.But this time, the dagger was pressed against Qiu Shi's Adam's apple without leaving a gap.

"If you dare to come over, cut his throat!" the tramp threatened viciously.

The director didn't dare to move, put his hands into his trouser pockets quietly, and dialed the number of Mr. Tan of the Tourism Bureau according to the sequence he remembered.

With the faint light, Qiu Shi finally saw the other party's appearance clearly.This is a 40-year-old Chinese man. The nasolabial folds on both sides of the nose extend fiercely to the corner of the mouth, cutting his face into three pieces.

"The money is in my pocket. If you want it, let me go. I'll give it to you." Qiu Shi said concisely.

"It's not about wanting, it's about taking." The homeless man opened his mouth, revealing his black gums, emphasizing the verb again, "I'll take my money."

"I do not understand what you mean."

"Are you called Qiushi? From Beijing? You hang out with Hua Jiahui." the homeless man asked.

Qiu Shi's heart was shocked, and a strange feeling surged up.

"Ha! It really is you! You stole my money, and the 500 million is mine!" The tramp's voice became sharp in an instant.

"You are..." Qiushi's brain turned rapidly, and he blurted out, "Zheng Ziliang?!"

"Back then in Lisboa, who didn't know me, Brother Leung? I won millions in one night, and I didn't even bat an eye. Because of you and Hua Jiahui, I can only live like a mouse in this place these years."

The dagger in Zheng Ziliang's hand slowly applied force, and a series of blood beads immediately burst out from Qiu Shi's neck, dripping all the way down, staining the collar of the light blue shirt red.

The skin-cutting pain spread chillily, and Qiushi felt that his throat was about to burst open in a second.

"Give me back the money obediently. You can't miss a piece of Hong Kong paper. If you miss one, I'll cut off a piece of your flesh."

Qiu Shi endured the pain, trying to distract the other party's attention: "Your uncle doesn't want you to gamble again, it's for your own good."

Zheng Ziliang yelled loudly: "For my own good? For my own good, you should leave all the money and real estate to me! He deserves to die without a place to bury him! Tell you, I actually urinate into the sea every night and let him drink enough of me. Damn it! Hahaha! Now that I catch you, I can be Brother Leung again!"

Qiushi stared at the sharply dilated pupils of the other party: "Okay, Brother Leung, you stay closer to me, and I will tell you where the money is quietly, so that no outsiders can hear it."

Zheng Ziliang's hand holding the knife trembled slightly: "Don't lie to me, I will really kill you."

"I'm not going to lie to you," Qiushi said, "You can go back to the capital when you get the money. Go to Grand Lisboa, Wynn, MGM... Brother Ah Leung is lucky and prosperous, and he will definitely kill the world."

Zheng Ziliang was so stimulated by the imaginary picture that his breath became short of breath, so he slowly put his ear to it.

At this moment, Qiu Shi gave the director a wink, and the latter understood and approached them lightly.

"The money is here..." Qiu Shi paused, "Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture."

"What?" Zheng Ziliang was stunned.

"After the Wenchuan disaster, I donated the money to build a primary school for Mr. Zheng and Master Jiu. Now that you have come to me, I will count it as a merit for you, brother Leung. I hope you will not be reincarnated as a bad gambler in your next life. Harm others and harm yourself." Qiu Shi said word by word.

"Building a school?! You're crazy! That's my money! I'm going to use it to recoup my money! Betting leisurely for leisure, betting bankroll for long bank... I can turn 500 million into 1000 million, and I will delay it for three, no , I want to drag five! I have 6000 million! I will kill you!"

Zheng Ziliang spoke incoherently, and raised his hand to insert the knife into Qiushi's left chest.

Fortunately, the director was already close to them at this time, grabbed Zheng Ziliang's right hand from behind, and snatched the dagger away in one go.

Taking advantage of the fact that there was no shackle around his neck, Qiushi threw him to the ground with a sudden force.But the director returned the same way to him, and immediately bent down to suppress Zheng Ziliang and held the knife against Fang's neck.

"How is it? Is it serious?"

Qiushi wiped the blood on his neck with his shirt sleeve: "It's okay, just a skin injury."

The director took out the cell phone that had been on the call all the time and threw it to Qiu Shi.

"Aqiu, Director Fei, how is your side?! I have called the police, and the police will be here soon!" Mr. Tan's voice came from the phone.

"We're fine, now let's escort this lunatic to the back door of the building to wait for the police."

Qiushi was worried that there would be trouble if he stayed in the basement for a long time, so he and the director walked up the stairs holding Zheng Ziliang's shoulders instead.

Unexpectedly, in the middle of the walk, Zheng Ziliang suddenly stopped and started laughing.

"If I were you, I wouldn't be happy," the director looked fresh at the lunatic, "Don't add drama to yourself, just wait for your prison meal."

Zheng Ziliang watched the daylight leaking from above, and took a deep breath: "I don't want to be in prison."

"Then what are you going to do? Repent to God or seek the final salvation?" The director's exploration of human nature broke out again.

"I want... you guys to die with me!"

He stomped his foot unexpectedly and violently, and the wooden steps that had been in disrepair instantly fell apart.The exposed black hole was like a monster's bloody mouth, swallowing the three of them together.

The falling process was like a slow motion movie in Qiushi's mind. He felt that he kept hitting various things, and some of them helped him to relieve part of the gravity of the fall.

The moment he landed on the ground, the back of Qiu Shi's head almost bumped into an extremely hard object.There was a burst of acid water in his stomach, and the disgusting feeling was like countless caterpillars burrowing around in his body.But then, all senses were swallowed by darkness.

Before completely falling into a coma, Qiu Shi thought in a daze, Brother, I'm sorry, I'm afraid I won't be able to go home for the holidays.