Chapter 4 The Little People

  When the Audi A6 finally left that unknown village far behind without a trace, Li Sansheng also retrieved his somewhat oppressive and unbearable mood. At this moment, Li Sansheng secretly told himself, "Li Sansheng, from now on, you are Li Sansheng, the grandson of Old Man Li."

  Li Sansheng's momentum also changed in an instant, changing into the one that Old Meng and Heizi as well as Er Long saw, the three brothers who made people respect, believe and admire.

  "Third brother, when we get to university, I reckon someone like you with a 40-year-old man's vicissitudes will definitely corrupt one after another of those innocent and lively freshmen," Er Long said with a ambiguous tone, sporting his signature watermelon-shaped hairstyle that he thought was the most handsome. In Li San Sheng's opinion, Er Long's biggest characteristic wasn't his incredible strength or endurance, but rather that watermelon head of his that remained lush and green all year round, regardless of the season. Li San Sheng and his friends had once teased Er Long, saying that if he shaved off that watermelon head, he would be even more popular with the ladies. However, Er Long insisted on keeping it, claiming that it brought him good luck.

  "Damn it, I'm going to college, not looking for a wife! You're making me and your third brother out to be the same, with that kind of integrity and character. Even if we were to pick cabbage, we'd still choose the freshest and best quality ones." Li San Sheng gave Er Long an even more ambiguous look in response.

  The Audi A6 wasn't that big, Hei Zi was driving, Lao Meng sat in the passenger seat, Li San Sheng and Er Long, this live treasure, sat in the back, the car was playing Er Long's favorite song "Love Transaction", which naturally couldn't escape being despised by Li San Sheng and his gang.

  "It's still our Third Brother who is the strongest, I'm just a poor life, it's just that if there's wine today, we'll get drunk today, and if there's no wine tomorrow, we'll drink cold water." Er Long stretched out his thumb, one side flattering Li San Sheng, while flipping his self-proclaimed handsome watermelon head. However, before Er Long could finish the action, he was slapped on the watermelon head by Li San Sheng with a big slap. Er Long didn't get angry, as if he had already gotten used to it, and just chuckled, Hei Zi and Lao Meng both rolled their eyes in exasperation.

  The Audi A6 has slowly driven onto the Jingkun Expressway from the highway entrance on this side of town. As for this section of highway, Li Sanyou had also heard others talk about how the Shaanxi provincial government had negotiated with the central government and the Ministry of Transportation and Finance to get it approved, and after it was approved, how local governments had negotiated with each other again. Behind every negotiation were the struggles between different interests, and after every struggle, there would always be some people who had to pay the price.

  Looking north from the Beijing-Kunming Expressway, the WeiBei Plain, located on the edge of the Loess Plateau, is like a giant's shoulder, where you can still see the high and majestic tombs of the Tang Dynasty's thirteen emperors at the end of the plain. The glory of a thousand years has long since dissipated, buried with history in the thick yellow earth.

  "Lao Meng, is there any inside information you can share with us ordinary folks?" Li San Sheng asked jokingly as he accepted the cigarette from Er Long.

  Two dragons took out their own cigarettes and handed one to everyone. The cigarette was not Zhonghua nor Su, but just an ordinary Baoji rolled cigarette factory produced two yuan a pack of Jin Si Hou, Shaanxi people called it "Hou Shang Shu", this is because there is a golden silk monkey climbing on the tree above, the smoke is very rough, but the taste is absolutely powerful.

  Two dragons held a lighter with a blonde woman's picture on it, smiling and lighting Li Sansheng's cigarette. When they wanted to light Old Mong's cigarette, Old Mong knocked away Erlong's hand, laughing and scolding: "Take your big-breasted sister away, just looking at her makes me want to vomit. You're really what San Ge said, you're just this kind of quality."

  Two Dragons, as usual, didn't take it seriously, turned his head and gave a nod to Hei Zi who was driving. Hei Zi smiled slightly but didn't say anything, just focused on driving with "Hou Shang Shu" in his mouth. After Two Dragons lit the cigarette, he took a hard drag and exhaled a soulful smoke ring.

  After Er Long finished this series of tasks, he retorted to Lao Meng's words: "Lao Meng, you don't know this, do you? San Ge said that the greatest vulgarity is the greatest elegance. Don't you know? It's really scary to be uncultured." If he hadn't added that last sentence with a watermelon head that could scare children to tears, people might have thought him a cultured person.

  "Hahaha... Old Meng, you're speechless now!" Hei Zi heard this and saw Old Meng being ridiculed by Er Long's one sentence, becoming tongue-tied and not speaking up. He couldn't help but burst into a loud laughter, piling on the ridicule.

  Li Sansheng shook his head, he really had no way to deal with this live treasure Er Long, the guy always wore that flattering and fawning smile on his face, as well as that watermelon-shaped head that made people think he was the biggest idiot under the sky.

  Li Sansheng understood that the reason why Erlong had become what he was today was largely his own doing, because Erlong had once said, "If Old Master were to die one day, then let me protect Third Brother for you."

  That time, Li Sansheng endured the humiliation of kneeling down for Er Long, was beaten by that group of Inner Mongolian men until he spat blood, and his waist remained straight to the end. Li Sansheng, enduring the pain of two broken ribs, told Er Long, who had already lost consciousness, "Er Long, although we are small people, when life treats us like a dog's mother and uses all its might to torment us, we must still hold our heads high and live on. This is not the pitiful self-respect or self-abasement of small people, but rather the last bit of pride that small people should keep in order to survive."

  After that, Er Long changed and became a smiling and harmless fool who didn't care about anyone, saying "Third Brother said we have to smile, we have to survive, we have to live better than everyone else."

  Bloomberg once said that living better than others is the greatest revenge.

  "The domestic economic situation is not optimistic, the old men are running upstairs all day, and I am happy to be quiet." Old Meng said with a smile after taking a sip of smoke.

  "You little scamp is blessed but doesn't know it, and I don't know what kind of luck you've got, to be favored by that old man." Li San Sheng laughed and scolded.

  "A good person is a good everything" Lao Meng is also nonsense and confusing.

  Lao Meng's life trajectory will eventually be fixed somewhere, Li San Sheng can't confirm it now, even if Grandpa had secretly calculated a fate for Lao Meng before, but thinking about the guys from Guanzhong who came out of the Wei North Plain, which one would not be a coward.

  Loess Plateau Wei River bank, can't shake the sky or move the earth, but in their bones, they have a strong resilience, unwilling to give up, as long as there is still a breath left, they will exhaust all their strength to crawl forward another meter.

  "Heizi, Lao Meng, after all, Beijing is not our territory. If we can tolerate it, let's tolerate it, and don't be stubborn. You two are not like me and Er Long, lone wolves with no one to worry about. You both have family backing you up, and many people are waiting for you to soar to great heights one day." The car had already arrived at the Weihe Bridge, looking out at the river that nurtured the CCTV host who called us "lazy" - the Yellow River. In my heart, I sneered. Under the Qinling Mountains, by the banks of the Yellow River, how could the people living in the ancient capital of Guanzhong be something you could understand?

  "Hmm" Hei Zi nodded vigorously, in this circle, Li San Sheng said that if he were to compare family background, he would naturally be inferior to Hei Zi, Qing Wa and Da Ya, those officials' children from Qin Ling College. If it's about looks, Wang Zi and Lao Meng would instantly kill him off. As for fighting skills, Er Long and Da Da are both figures who can take on multiple opponents at once, so Li San Sheng wouldn't even get a turn.

  But these guys all trust one person from the bottom of their hearts, and that is Li San Sheng, a brother who is worthy of having your back.

  Li Sansheng didn't know back then how his grandfather had managed to get him into that aristocratic academy, a place destined to be unknown to the world, only known by a select few. At the time, it was Long Shu who had stepped forward, and Li Sansheng had entered this academy that produced abnormal characters, unremarkable and inconspicuous, just a small fry, destined to be ignored by everyone.

  The test scores were always mediocre, and sports and other things were just average. In the class and in school, she was destined to be a small person who couldn't get along with girls and boys wouldn't take seriously. However, due to a coincidence, she got to know this group of second-generation rich kids from Qinling College outside of school, and until now, everyone considered Li Sansheng as the core figure of this circle. Li Sansheng was like a lubricant, integrating all the people in the entire circle together.

  "Third Brother, look ahead!" Hei Zi called out to Li San Sheng who was deep in thought, pointing at a Range Rover on the parking strip of the highway ahead. The license plate number was a rare red Beijing A, which only those familiar with license plates would understand. It belonged to the Beijing Military Region Command and Staff Department, very NB (awesome).

  "The Beijing Military Region's car" Li Sansheng furrowed his brow, seeing that the car had obviously broken down. The performance of Range Rover is well-known to all car enthusiasts, and breaking down on the highway was a bit embarrassing.

  Several people at this time also saw a man and two women next to the Range Rover, the man was anxiously repairing the Range Rover, the front hood had already been opened, and smoke was coming out of the engine. The two girls were busy helping, seeing the Audi driving from afar, one of the girls waved her hand vigorously, looking like she didn't have much hope for this Audi either. Maybe they had already hailed many cars on the road without anyone willing to help. This place is far away from the service station on the Jingkun Highway, and ordinary people don't want to get involved in trouble if possible, let alone a Range Rover with a military license plate.

  "Third brother, will you help or not?" Hei Zi seemed very calm. When it came to some unusual things, Hei Zi would always be cautious. A Land Rover with a military license plate had broken down on the highway, which was hard to explain. Something strange must have happened.

  "Help, why not help, besides there are two beautiful women," Li Sansheng said with a playful smile.

  Hei Zi nodded after listening. Although he wasn't clear why San Ge wanted to help these people, San Ge's words were always trustworthy. He slowly pulled the car over and stopped next to the Range Rover.