Rebel's Journey

  City S.

  Bitterly cold winter month of December

  It was after 5 am, and the sky was falling with goose feather-like snow.

  In Northeast China's winter, at over 5 o'clock in the morning, the sky is still pitch black, and the streets are cold and deserted. Not to mention pedestrians, even cars are rarely seen.

  A mother and daughter walked against the wind and snow on the street. The two wore thick down jackets, woolen hats on their heads, and scarves covering their faces, with only their eyes exposed outside.

  Mother led the child with one hand, and held a heavy package with the other, occasionally looking around, as if searching for a taxi. However, at this time, it was snowing heavily, making it difficult to find a passing taxi.

  The mother and daughter duo walked forward with difficulty, braving the wind and snow that cut like knives.

  When the two of them walked near a bar called Caesar, two black shadows suddenly darted out from a small alley on one side of the bar. The two men were not very tall, one slightly fat and the other slightly thin.

  The fat man held a hammer in his hand, while the thin man grasped a gleaming dagger.

  Two men blocked the mother and daughter's path, nervously looking around from east to west, and shouted loudly: "Bag! Hand over your bag!"

  Every time it's just before a festival or holiday, there will always be a wave of people who take risks and try to make a fortune without putting in any effort.

  Today, this mother and daughter unfortunately encountered such a person at a time when there were few people around.

  The mother was frightened by the sudden appearance of the two men and let out a scream, while the little girl hid behind her mother in terror.

  "Money! Get all the money out, quickly!" The thin man pressed the blade of his dagger against the young mother's chest and said fiercely through gritted teeth.

  "Big... big brother, I'm a migrant worker from outside, and I don't have any money either..." The young mother said with a pale face, stuttering.

  "Shut up, you damned thing! If I don't get paid, I'll kill you!" The skinny man's eyes shot out a fierce and terrifying light, and he reached out to grab the little girl hiding behind her mother. The little girl was both shocked and scared, clinging tightly to her mother's leg and bursting into tears.

  "Hand over the money quickly!" The thin man couldn't budge the little girl, and immediately swung his dagger at the young mother with a low growl.

  Seeing that the young mother still hadn't taken out any money, Fatty didn't say another word and swung the hammer in his hand straight at her head.

  The young mother instinctively dodged to the side, but her feet slipped out from under her and she fell with a thud into the snow, taking the little girl who was clinging to her leg down with her.

  "Second brother, what are you hesitating about? If you don't give her the money, just stab her!" Fatso roared furiously.

  The thin man gritted his teeth, picked up the dagger, and was about to stab the fallen mother and daughter.

  At this time, a low voice suddenly came from not far away: "Hey, I'm saying you two are treating me as if I don't exist!"

  The sudden voice startled the four people on the scene, and the fat and thin men quickly turned their heads to look around, but behind them was empty, where was anyone?

  The two of them felt a chill run down their spines and simultaneously cried out in unison: "Who? Who's speaking?"

  Whoosh! Just a short distance from the entrance of the bar, in the corner of the wall, a 'snow pile' suddenly moved. That 'snow pile' incredibly grew taller, and snowflakes fell down.

  "Mom, there's a ghost..." The young mother and little girl also saw the moving 'snow pile', the little girl was so scared that she kept rushing into her mother's arms.

  All of a sudden, the snow heap shook violently several times, and the floating snow fell down one after another. Only then did people see clearly that it was not a snow heap, but a living person, a young man under twenty years old, wearing relatively thin clothes.

  Who would have thought that on this cold winter's night, someone was crouching beside the entrance of a bar, with so much snow accumulated on him, it's unknown how long he had been there.

  The young man first rushed to the little girl hiding in her mother's arms, smiled and said slowly: "Little girl, don't be afraid, I'm a human being, not a ghost." After finishing speaking, his eyes turned to look at the two people who were fat and thin.

  "Hey kid, what are you hiding in here for?" Fatso asked, gripping his hammer tightly and trying to sound brave.

  "A handful of people."

  "What?"

  "A few heads!" The young man said slowly. He wasn't lying, he was indeed counting the number of people entering and leaving the bar.

  But Fatso and Skinny didn't understand what he meant at all. Skinny felt a chill in his heart, and stammered: "Brother, I...I think he's just crazy, let's not bother with him, let's go quickly!"

  After guarding for several hours, he finally found a target to take action, and the fatty really didn't want to give up. His eyes rolled around, without warning, he suddenly swung the hammer in his hand, aiming at the young man's head and viciously smashed it down.

  His attack was swift and sudden, making it hard to defend against, but the young man seemed to have been prepared, his arm only slightly raised, easily blocking the hammer-wielding hand, and then, with a clenched fist, he struck forward.

  A loud crack was heard in the ear, and the fat man let out a strange cry, covering his face and retreating, the hammer in his hand also falling to the ground.

  He looked at him again, took a few steps back, and sat down on the snowy ground with a thud. The bright red blood slowly seeped out from the gap between his fingers.

  "Brother——" The thin man couldn't help but let out a loud cry, and then he made a strange howl, charging at the young man with his dagger.

  He was quick, but the young man's movements were quicker. The latter slightly shifted his body to let the dagger's blade pass by and then pushed forward with his elbow.

  He was too fast, his moves were so swift that people couldn't find a chance to dodge.

  Bang! The thin man was also hit by the young man's elbow on his face, the dagger fell to the ground, and he covered his face with both hands, bleeding from his mouth and nose, retreating continuously.

  Seeing that he had not fallen to the ground, the young man sneered and walked up to him, sweeping out a leg with a swift kick, which landed squarely on Xiao Zi's ankle.

  Crack! Even the mother and daughter standing aside could clearly hear the crisp sound of bones breaking.

  "Ah......" The thin man let out a miserable scream like a pig being slaughtered, his body rolling in the air before falling to the ground, where he writhed about in agony.

  The young man crouched down and looked carefully at the two people, one fat and one thin. They were not very old, probably just in their early twenties, or maybe even younger.

  He patted Xiao Zi's head and said, "You won't die, what a ghost!"

  "Ow... ouch... ow..."

  "If you're afraid of pain, don't come out and rob, then don't do illegal things!" The young man saw the fat man next to him struggling to get up from the ground, he didn't think twice, swung his arm and punched out a fist, hitting the fat man's back of the head, who let out a grunt and fell back onto the ground.

  "Did you bring your cell phone?" the young man asked the thin man.

  "Brother, you... you're also a robber?"

  Slap! The young man raised his hand and slapped a palm on the top of Laozi's head, asking again: "Did you bring your cell phone?"

  The skinny guy's nose and tears flowed out at the same time, nodding continuously, with a sobbing tone: "I brought it... I brought it..." As he spoke, he trembled and took out his mobile phone from his pocket.

  The young man took over, quickly dialing the phone number. "Hello, is this 110? There's a robbery on the south side of Heavy Industry Street, yes, Heavy Industry South Street, in front of Caesar Bar..."

  After reporting to the police, the young man threw his mobile phone back to the thin man and stood up. He looked back at the mother and daughter. The two were both shocked and frightened, especially the little girl, whose small face was full of fear.

  It seems that this experience will leave a big shadow in her heart! The young man sighed, turned his eyes around, bent down and slapped each of the two brothers on the head, saying: "Come on, before the police arrive, let's sing a song first!"

  "What song? Sing... what song?"

  "Go with the flow!"

  "What... what is a big river?"

  Slap! The young man slapped the fatty's head again and said, "Are you Chinese? Haven't you heard of 'A Wide River'?"

  "I've heard, I've heard......" The fat man was beaten with his hands tied behind his head, nodding repeatedly.

  "Can you sing?"

  "Good, good!"

  "Then sing."

  "A winding river, with waves wide and far-reaching, where the wind blows through the rice flowers, filling both banks with fragrance..."

  Bang! Bang! The two fat and thin men opened their mouths to sing, but before they could finish a sentence, they each received another slap on the head.

  "Are your parents dead? Singing a dirge? It's too damn unpleasant!"

  "Friends have arrived, there is good wine, if it were those wolves..."

  Slap, slap! The two people's heads were slapped again, one fat and one thin.

  "What's going on? What's happening? Where the hell is everyone?"

  "Brother, stop fighting, we're both dizzy from your beating..."

  "Are you guys out of your minds? Let me help you two wake up!"

  Bang, bang, bang——

  "Oh no, oh no, stop hitting, stop hitting, let's sing, let's keep singing..."

  The two brothers began to sing again from the beginning, and their trembling voices were so desolate.

  Two wicked men, with their hands clasped to their heads, lay on the ground, singing "A Big River" with a nose full of snot and tears, and the little girl finally burst out laughing, giggling nonstop.

  The young man turned around and winked at her with a smile.

  At this time, the young mother also saw that the young man was not a bad person. She got up from the ground, carefully pulling the little girl to the front of the young man and said in a trembling voice: "Young brother, thanks to running into you this time, otherwise..."

  The young man smiled faintly and said, "No need to be polite, elder sister. It's just a small effort."

  "Little brother, you're here so early..."

  "A few heads." The young man's answer was the same as before, and in fact, he was indeed counting heads.

  The young mother didn't understand what he was saying either and continued to ask questions. At this time, the sound of a police siren came from afar.

  The young man listened with a tilted ear, nodded to the young mother, and smiled at the little girl, revealing two rows of clean small white teeth, reminding her: "Remember, I'm human, not a ghost!"

  After finishing speaking, he took two steps back, lifted his foot and kicked the two brothers who were lying on the ground, saying: "Continue singing, sing until I'm satisfied!"

  A wide river, with waves so broad, wind blows the rice flowers, fragrance on both banks, my home is just...

  In their trembling voices, the young man's figure had quickly disappeared into the night, and the young mother hadn't even had time to ask his name.

  Even many years later, the little girl had grown up gradually, but every time she heard this familiar song, she could clearly recall the image of that mysterious big brother and his radiant smile. It was so gentle that even in the cold wind of December, it would make people feel warm.

  Saving a child from the calamity of bloodshed is saving her life, erasing the shadow in her heart is saving her humanity. The young man achieved both between laughter and play, this should be truly great kindness.

  (PS: Why did the young people check the number of people at the entrance of the bar? For details, please see the full text. Of course, it will take a long time to write this in the full text.)