Volume 1 Days in Shuangta - Chapter 1 Act Heroically

"Excuse me, how much is the watermelon?"

"Three catties for ten yuan. Would you like some, young man? You can have a taste before you buy it!"

Seeing the young man's eyes lighting up at the watermelon, a simple middle-aged woman said quickly.

"No, no, I'm just looking!"

"It's OK. You can taste it without paying!"

"Well..."

"Don't worry. Have a try."

While talking, the middle-aged woman handed a piece of watermelon to the young man.

"Well... Please pick a bigger and riper watermelon for me! Thank you."

The young man was about 15 or 16 years old. He was 1.80 meters tall and a little thin. But his figure was proportional. He wore a blue school uniform which was a little discolored. His features were very beautiful, especially his bright piercing eyes. But he looked a little pale and underfed.

The young man was eventually persuaded by the watermelon vendor to make up his mind. He took out a creased ten-yuan banknote from his trouser pocket.

...

The young man's name was Lu Yao. He was abandoned by his family when he was a baby.

Later he was found and adopted by a kind tramp, who was 40 years old or older. Since then, they had depended on each other to survive.

The tramp, Lu Yiqian, was a bachelor who traveled from place to place looking for work. He was very fond of the child, so he let him take his surname and named him Lu Yao.

It was after Lu Yao was old enough to remember that Lu Yiqian told him this story.

Later, Lu Yao was old enough to go to school, so they settled down in Shuangta, a small frontier town in Xinlu Province.

Shuangta City, a border city of Shina, was adjacent to Hazan.

Many ethnic minorities lived here, such as Mong, Hwui, Uyer, and Hazak. Local people were simple and honest.

However, this city was rather underdeveloped compared with other mainland cities in Shina.

The vital resistance of economic development in this frontier town was the inconvenient transportation. The only railway was still under construction. So there were no large factories. And the local business depended on tourism and agriculture.

When Lu Yao was six or seven years old, he was injured in an accident. After going to the hospital for examination, he was found to have a rare congenital heart defect.

The news just made the difficult situation even worse for the father and son.

From then on, Lu Yiqian was more concerned about Lu Yao. Each time they had good things to eat, he would let Lu Yao eat first.

But somehow Lu Yiqian only let Lu Yao call him godfather, not father.

As time went by, Lu Yao became a 16-year-old boy. But Lu Yiqian's health started failing.

During this summer vacation, Lu Yao wanted to help his godfather shoulder the burden. They heard that a newly-built food processing factory was recruiting a large number of people. The job paid 4,000 yuan per month and offered the option of live-in accommodation with all meals provided. So they came to apply for the job.

However, Lu Yao had three heart attacks in one week. At last, the personnel department of the factory couldn't stand it and dismissed both of them.

Just when they were worried, a laborer who was looking for a job told them that many local farmers were looking for hourly workers in the labor market on the street. One person could earn 100 yuan a day no matter what he did. So they began to do odd jobs for the farmers.

However, the weather was changeable these days. Flu struck. Lu Yiqian had a high fever and couldn't go out to work. He could only rest in bed. What was worse, they had to spend money on medicine every day.

Each day, Lu Yao had to rush to the market before dawn and tried to find some odd jobs that could be done earlier in the afternoon.

Although Shuangta City was no match for the "Three-Furnace Cities" in Shina in hot weather, it was also very hot in summer.

The hot sun was blazing down on the naked skin.

When Lu Yao was about to go home at noon, he saw the vendor selling watermelons by the roadside. When he thought that his godfather had a high fever on a hot day and his cracked lips were just like the sunbaked fields, he felt really upset. So he made up his mind to spend ten yuan buying one watermelon.

Lu Yiqian had never forgotten to tell Lu Yao to be positive and optimistic though they led a bitter life these years.

To his delight, Lu Yao did as he told him.

Unconsciously, Lu Yao arrived at the courtyard where he and his godfather lived.

"Godfather, I'm back. Look! I brought you something." As soon as Lu Yao entered the "gate", he quickly adjusted his mood and put those worries all behind him.

Actually, it was not so much a gate as a wooden fence. And this fence was simply tied with two interlocking iron wires.

In addition to two bed boards supported by some bricks and several pieces of simple furniture, there were only some books of Lu Yao in this room.

At the moment, Lu Yiqian was lying on the relatively large bed, which was only covered with a thin mattress.

Hearing Lu Yao's voice, Lu Yiqian managed to move towards the wall and wanted to get up against the wall.

"Godfather, what are you doing? You are still sick. You should lie down."

As soon as Lu Yao entered the room, he saw his godfather trying to get up. He quickly stepped forward to hold Lu Yiqian and stopped him.

"Godfather, look what I brought back for you."

Lu Yiqian didn't force himself and lay down again. Lu Yao lifted the watermelon above his head and shook it.

"Where did you get this? Didn't I tell you not to buy these things? We have to save money to treat your disease. Ahem..." Lu Yiqian coughed so badly that he couldn't speak anymore. And his face also turned red.

"It's OK, godfather. I'm fine now, right? Sometimes what the doctor says is not necessarily right." Lu Yao continued after a pause, "The doctor said I had a diseased heart and I would die if I didn't have an operation before I was 15 years old. But I'm 17 years old now. And I'm still standing in front of you. So, thanks to you, good is rewarded with good. Godfather, don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"Well, you're just making me happy."

Looking at Lu Yao's cheerful face, Lu Yiqian felt sick at heart.

In recent years, Lu Yao had a heart attack more and more frequently. In order to save enough money for the operation as soon as possible, they had moved several times. They lived further and further away from the school, and the conditions were getting worse and worse. Therefore, Lu Yao's academic performance was delayed. He used to be one of the top students in his class but failed to make the top 20 in the last exam.

Lu Yao carefully cut the watermelon in half with an old kitchen knife and scooped the pulp into a bowl. He cupped the bowl in his hands and handed it to his godfather for fear that he might drop it accidentally.

"Godfather, eat this watermelon. It's so hot today. If you eat more, maybe you will become well soon."

"Kid, you eat first. I'm not thirsty. You have to go to work in the afternoon. You eat it."

They persuaded each other. Lu Yiqian finally began to eat after Lu Yao ate a piece of watermelon.

"Godfather, I've put it in front of your bed. I'm gonna go to work now. I worked fast in the morning, so I should be able to come back early in the afternoon. And I can take you for a walk so that you can recover quickly."

"OK, take care of yourself. If you feel tired, just take a rest. Don't push yourself too hard."

"I see. Godfather, you just take it easy. I gotta go."

Lu Yao arranged everything for his godfather before he left. He gently closed the "gate" and then ran to work.

The lunch break was short, so he had to run fast.

It was still very hot in the afternoon. The hot sun made the skin on his arms dry and flaky.

If it weren't for the heart disease, Lu Yao would have been a strong young man.

Although he was only 16 years old, he was about 1.80 meters tall. He looked a little thin. But in fact, he was very muscular. He had been fighting for a living all year round and had done a lot of physically demanding work. Each time he lifted his clothes to wipe the sweat on his head, people could see his eight-pack abdominals.

They lived in a remote place. At noon, there were few people in the alley.

"Help! Help..."

Suddenly, Lu Yao heard someone calling for help around the corner.

Oh?

What happened?

Lu Yao ran towards the sound without hesitation.

Around the corner, he saw a young gangster with a red vest, a big gold chain, and a fauxhawk, stopping a young girl in a white dress and smiling a crooked smile.

The gangster was touching the girl's hair and face with his dirty hands.

Anyone with discerning eyes could easily see that the girl was bullied.

"Help me! Help me! Ah..." The girl in white saw that someone heard her calling and was coming, which brought hopes for her as if a drowning man had caught the last straw.

She was a very beautiful girl, about seventeen or eighteen. Her skin was tender and her features were strongly defined. She wore no make-up and had a black ponytail. She looked like a white lotus in the white dress. When she turned around, Lu Yao was shocked because she looked like a film star.

"Beast, let go of that girl..." Seeing that, Lu Yao shouted out a classic line without thinking.

"Little boy, you asked me to let go of her? You want to replace me, huh? Ridiculous! Get out of my face! It's none of your business. You're too young to be the hero! How dare you! Don't you know my name? I'm Master Qian! Get out of here!"

Being interrupted by Lu Yao, the gangster became angry and cursed impatiently.

Lu Yao was young and had a sense of justice. He found the man named Master Qian was very arrogant, so he stepped forward and pushed him away.

"B*st*rd, you are risking your neck!"

Master Qian intended to scare him away. But he didn't expect that Lu Yao would fight with him without saying a word.

Thud!

When Lu Yao came near to him, he hit him hard with his fist.

Although Lu Yao was brave and had a sense of justice, he was still a student who had no experience of fighting. He got punched by Master Qian and couldn't help stepping back. He was bleeding from a gash near his eyes.

His eyes ached badly.

Lu Yao wiped the blood on his face with his hand. Without hesitation, he rushed to Master Qian again.

Lu Yao was a mere slip of a lad compared to Master Qian, an experienced gangster.

Soon after, Lu Yao was beaten black and blue by Master Qian.

He was a bit wobbly.

Seeing that, the girl in white was touched. Although she was scared, she didn't run away but called for help and rushed to help Lu Yao.

Fortunately, some passersby also heard the cries for help and followed the sound.

There were footsteps in the alley.

Master Qian also realized that he had no choice but to run away.

"Little b*st*rd, I'll remember you. Let's wait and see. I won't let you go easily."

Master Qian left after saying that.

Lu Yao breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the gangster running away.

But at this time, his heart suddenly beat fast. He felt limp. And then, he had a blackout and fell to the ground.

"What's wrong with you?"

Seeing Lu Yao fall into a dead faint, the girl in white was startled and immediately called an ambulance.