Li Erlu was born in a well-off family. His father is a civil servant and his mother is a people's teacher. Originally, according to his family conditions, he would study hard in the future. After graduating from college, his parents would find connections and arrange him to a good working environment.
.
But when he was five years old, he was abducted by human traffickers and brought to a beggar gang.
Originally, according to tradition, he would have his hands and feet broken and thrown into the street to gain sympathy and ask for money from those who were overflowing with sympathy, but Li Erlu was lucky because his fingers were relatively slender, so he was sent to another door.
Specially trained to steal things.
Li Erlu is very smart. He doesn't resist or make trouble like other children. Instead, he tries his best to have a good relationship with the traffickers and flatter them. In this way, he lives a good life even in such a den of thieves.
When he was one year old, he was already considered the 'eldest brother' among the thieves of his age.
"Brother Donkey, I heard that we caught another girl today, she's very pretty." Li Erlu and a group of his brothers had just come back from working outside, and one of them gloated to him.
Li Erlu has seen this kind of scene too many times. Generally, good-looking children who are sent here will have their hands and feet broken and thrown into the street to gain sympathy.
When Li Erlu was passing by, he saw a little girl tied to the ground, with her mouth tied up with tape. This little girl had big eyes and was very cute.
Li Erlu was stunned at that time. He was working in such a dark job every day and living in such a dark corner. When he saw these eyes, it was like seeing a ray of light in the darkness.
What is love at first sight? Hormones running rampant?
This may be what all adults think, but Li Erlu didn't understand this at the age of eleven. When he saw this girl for the first time, he just wanted to protect her with all his strength.
Just when the traffickers were preparing to torture the little girl that night, Li Erlu found a trafficker he was familiar with, said a lot of good things, and finally secretly stuffed him with a thousand yuan, which he had quietly saved for so many years.
money coming down.
The trafficker liked the sensible Li Erlu, so he didn't break the girl's hands and feet, but threw her into a thief training class.
The den of thieves is located in a large waste-gas factory. All the thieves sleep in one factory building to facilitate the management of the traffickers.
Most of this group of thieves are boys, and among them are older children aged sixteen or seventeen.
The night the little girl first arrived, there were one or two older children aged fifteen or sixteen who were ready to harass her. These children had grown up in a den of thieves. Although they were only sixteen or seventeen years old, they had already understood many things that only adults would understand.
things.
While the older children were playing around the little girl, Li Erlu rushed out and had a fight with the older children.
Li Erlu was only eleven years old, so he was naturally beaten and bruised. However, Li Erlu was usually taken care of by the traffickers. Seeing how hard Li Erlu worked, the older children stopped bullying the little girl.
That night, Li Erlu held the little girl in his arms in a dark corner, looking at other people with bright red eyes, not letting others get close.
"You, what's your name?" The little girl was hugged by an older boy. Naturally, she felt uncomfortable all over. However, knowing that Li Erlu had good intentions, she did not refuse.
"Li, Li Erlu." The usually cheeky Li Erlu stuttered when the little girl asked.
"My name is Qi Shui Ning." The little girl looked at Li Erlu and smiled.
In the following days, Li Erlu began to teach Qi Shui Ning how to steal things.
"Brother Erlu, don't you think stealing things is bad? If you steal other people's things, others will definitely be very anxious."
"You can't talk about this here."
"Brother Erlu, I stole a chicken leg today. Eat it quickly."
"Didn't the management ask you to steal money? Why did you steal chicken legs? Forget it, I stole two wallets today, give you one, otherwise you will have nothing to eat tonight." Li Erlu said and handed it to himself.
The only wallet I stole today was naturally beaten to death by the traffickers in the middle of the night.
In this way, as the days passed by, Li Erlu also felt that he fell in love with Qi Shuining more and more. Qi Shuining was his only sunshine and his only motivation in this dark den of thieves.
Every evening at dusk, Li Erlu would always take Qi Shui Ning to the roof of the factory and stand on it to watch the sun go down.
Qi Shuining likes to sing to Li Erlu very much. Her voice is very clear, just like an oriole. Every time she listens to Qi Shuining singing, Li Erlu always feels particularly calm in her heart.
One evening, Qi Shuining, who had just finished singing to Li Erlu, asked in a low voice: "Brother Erlu, do you think we can't continue to be thieves?"
Li Erlu thought for a while and said, "This is good. When you grow up, you will perform well and maybe you can become a manager."
The so-called managers are naturally human traffickers. Among all the children who are captured, the managers are the biggest. If anyone dares to disobey, the managers will take out a stick and beat them hard. Anyone can be bullied.
In this chaotic den of thieves, becoming a manager is almost everyone's goal.
"I want to escape. I want to be a singer and a star in the future. I can't stay here." Qi Shuining looked at Li Erlu with wide eyes and said, "You should also have a dream and go to college.
study hard."
"Don't be stupid, you can't have dreams here." Li Erlu shook his head. Although he was only eleven years old, he had seen too many thieves trying to escape, only to be caught and interrupted by the management staff.
Their hands, feet, and even their tongues were cut off, and they were sent to the streets to beg for food.
"But I do." Qi Shuining laughed happily, while Li Erlu looked at him dumbfounded. He thought to himself: You, you are all my dreams.
As Li Erlu said, you can never have dreams in a den of thieves. For them, this kind of thing can only be a desire.
Soon, Qi Shui Ning disappeared, completely disappearing from Li Erlu's life. Li Erlu didn't know what happened, but when he went to the street to steal something, he discovered a little girl who looked very much like Qi Shui.
Ning, but this little girl's eyes have been gouged out, her hands and feet are all broken, and she is lying on the ground begging for food.
The pair of eyes that captivated Li Erlu completely disappeared, and after seeing Qi Shuining's fate, Li Erlu's dream of Qi Shuining also collapsed.
Here, can people really have dreams if they are not hungry?
Every day Li Erlu would go to the street where Qi Shuining asked for money and quietly drop some of the money he had stolen under the broken bowl. Qi Shuining would always speak when he heard the sound of money falling into the bowl.
Say thank you.
The only thing left by Qi Shui Ning was her sweet singing voice.
And a month later, Qi Shuining never appeared on this street again. She disappeared like evaporation. And Li Erlu also began to become more good at flattering, and even more pleased with the so-called 'management staff,' and finally
Finally, when I was sixteen years old, I found the opportunity to call the police.
When the police arrested the traffickers, Brother Lu walked to the place where Qi Shuining sang to her every day.
"Shui Ning, you may have disappeared, but I want to tell you that I will go home soon, and then I will listen to you and find a university to study. From today on, I will be a person with dreams.