Hetang Village, the river in front of the village is full of lotus flowers.
That year, the river water receded, the ponds dried up, and it hadn't rained for a long time. However, a green lotus leaf was growing vigorously. The lotus leaf was as tall as a person, as dense as a forest, and shaded by green umbrellas. The mud had turned into hard ground, and it was difficult to walk on it.
, the fragrance of lotus flowers is like in a dream.
The land on the river beach is dry and cracked, and there are densely packed tadpoles in many potholes. They may be dead in the sun in half a day.
Shi Yanxin was still a young man at that time. He was digging lotus roots with his father. He picked up the tadpoles and threw them into the river one by one.
The father asked: "What are you doing?"
Shi Yanxin said: "Save the tadpole."
The father said: "There are so many tadpoles on the river bank, can you save them?"
Shi Yanxin said: "Save one, it's just one."
Every lotus flower in this world blooms where it should.
Everyone in this world appears where he must appear.
His father dug the lotus roots, cleaned them in the pond, and took him to the county market in a wooden boat to sell them.
He sat cross-legged, guarding the stall, watching the people coming and going in front of him, and watching the clouds rolling in the sky. All of this had a Zen feel. The boat he came from was tied under the bridge, and he sold out all the lotus roots on the bridge.
If the breeze passes through the hollow, the remaining lotus root buds will bloom in the future.
Only by abandoning the boat can one reach the shore; only by abandoning the lotus root can the lotus grow.
The fate of the world is not over, the love is not broken, and a lotus seed becomes the source of tracing.
No matter in the mud or in troubled times, you should be like a lotus flower, not polluted.
His father said to him: "No matter how poor or miserable you are, don't be a thief."
The thieves in the market were all from Hetang Village. When Shi Yanxin saw a certain thief, he would call him "Second Uncle." But his second uncle waved his hands in embarrassment, pretending not to recognize him, and stared at the pocket of an old man.
They stole wallets, meat, vegetables, bicycles, and BP machines hanging around their waists.
It was 1999. Young people in the county wore their hair in the popular Aaron Kwok-style parting in the middle. Their T-shirts were tucked into their pants to expose the BP machines hanging on their waists. Their mantra was: Call me if you need anything. At that time, the streets and alleys
These songs are sung:
"It takes a thousand years to wait, just wait! It takes a thousand years to wait, but I have no regrets! Who is saying in your ears that your love for me will never change..."
"The river flows eastward, and the stars in the sky are like the Big Dipper... When you see an injustice on the road, you roar, and you take action when it's time to take action..."
"Let us be companions in the mortal world, live a carefree life, ride horses galloping, and share the prosperity of the world..."
Time flies like water. The vegetable market back then was expanded into a river, but now it is full of thousands of sails.
Shi Yanxin said to his father: "I don't want to sell lotus roots."
The father said: "What do you want to do?"
Shi Yanxin said: "To get points is to steal things just like them."
The villagers in Hetang have a strong character and laugh at poverty but not at stealing. The villagers call theft mofen. In several surrounding villages, some girls' families who are looking for a son-in-law have to ask how many mofen are in the man's family. If the answer is mofen
There are several of them, and the woman is actually very fond of them. If there are many points, it means that the family must be wealthy.
The village chief raises chickens and sells eggs. He works hard but doesn't make much money.
The neighbor renovated the house within a few years. It has six bungalows, the courtyard wall is more than three meters high, and the large red-painted iron gate is very impressive. This is all because the neighbor's two children stole the money in the city, even though the source of the money was unknown.
, but it still makes people jealous.
The village chief said to his son: "Haifei, you learn some skills and try to score points."
The village chief's son is the thief's cloak.
That year, Shi Yanxiner
At the age of ten, Shui Yanzi was fourteen, and the thief Cape was only six years old. The three of them had a teacher, who was the famous thief king in the village.
The King of Thieves once went to college, majoring in machinery manufacturing. During the "Cultural Revolution", he was beaten into a mental illness, which was good and bad. Therefore, he did not marry a wife. He traveled around the country alone and stole. He never made a mistake and quit when he was old.
, return to the village and enjoy life.
The yard of the Thief King's house has no walls or doors. There is a grape tree in front of the house. A cat is lying on the root of the tree. There are several small gourds hanging on the grape trellis. They are not yet mature and are green and beautiful. No one dares to come there.
The King of Thieves steals things, and many people have seen his skills, and there is an endless stream of people who admire him and become his disciples.
Shi Yanxin, Shui Yanzi, and Thief Cloak were standing. The Thief King was lying on the rocking chair under the grape tree, shaking his body without even looking at him.
The thief king closed his eyes and calmed down, and said slowly: "If you don't have the ability, you can't be my apprentice."
The three of them were a little nervous and did not dare to speak.
The thief king said: "I don't accept female apprentices. Women are clumsy and can't do this business."
Shui Yanzi said: "I am no worse than men."
The thief king said: "Then I will test you."
The King of Thieves stood up from the rocking chair, picked up the cat under the grape tree, untied the bell from the cat's neck, and tied it to the grape branch.
The king of thieves said: "If you can untie the bell and don't let me hear the bell ringing, I will accept you."
This is a bit difficult. Shui Yanzi is only fourteen years old and is not tall. He can't reach the bell hanging under the grape branch even if he stands on tiptoes and stretches out his hand. Moreover, the thief king tied it with a wooden knot. This knot is easy to tie, but it is very difficult.
It is difficult to untie. Forestry workers often tie this kind of knot to pull the wood. When untying the knot, it is not easy to make the bell make no sound.
The King of Thieves lay on the rocking chair again, closed his eyes and said, "I'll give you ten minutes."
Shui Yanzi thought hard and couldn't find a way.
Shi Yanxin whispered: "Hey, there is a stool by the wall..."
The thief king's original intention was to ask Shui Yanzi to climb onto the grape trellis and untie the bell gently. Unexpectedly, Shui Yanzi got Shi Yanxin's guidance and moved a stool from the wall. Although it only had three legs, she stood carefully
Above, the fingers hold the tongue of the bell to prevent it from making any sound, and the other hand breaks off the grape branch and successfully unties the bell.
The King of Thieves said a little disappointedly: "This is opportunistic and cheating... Even if you pass the test."
The thief king continued to test the thief's cloak, perhaps to take care of the village chief's son. The test questions were very simple. The stool only had three legs. The thief king asked the thief's cloak to go to the forest behind the village and cut a suitable willow branch to make it.
Stool legs.
The thief's cloak shivered in fright, and retreated inwardly.
The forest was a mass grave, overgrown with weeds, and some willow trees growing there. Almost every tree had burrs, which looked strange. Even during the day, an adult would be timid when walking into a mass grave, let alone when it was getting late.
, coupled with the legend of rural ghosts, letting a six-year-old child go to that cemetery is as terrifying to him as if death is imminent.
The thief king threw him a woodcutter and said, "You need courage to do this. If you are afraid, just go home."
The thief in the cloak lowered his head and thought for a while, picked up the hatchet, and returned half an hour later carrying a willow branch. He did not have the courage to go to the graveyard, but cut down the tree by the river, and lingered outside for a while, calculating.
It's time to return. The child's eyes dodge, not daring to look at the King of Thieves, but he has already thought of how to lie and excuse himself.
Shui Yanzi said: "Haifei, you are so brave, you dare to go to that forest, there are graveyards in the forest."
The thief's cloak said: "Sister Yanzi, I'm not afraid at all."
Shi Yanxin said: "Have you encountered a ghost?"
The thief's cloak said: "Brother,
I didn’t encounter any ghosts, I saw human bones there, they were white.”
The Thief King sneered without saying anything, as if he had read through his mind.
The king of thieves asked Shi Yanxin: "Your father sells lotus roots, but he is an honest man. Why do you let you get points?"
Shi Yanxin said: "Master, this is what I want to do."
The thief king said: "Don't call me master yet. I haven't agreed to accept you as my apprentice yet. Let me test you first. Do you know who the founder of this business is?"
When Shi Yanxin was selling lotus roots, he liked to read and had read four famous works. He replied: "The founder is Shi Qian."
The king of thieves said: "To become a disciple, you have to kowtow to the ancestor. I watched the news on TV and said that the city museum is holding a painting exhibition, "One Hundred and Eight Generals of the Water Margin", among which is the portrait of Shi Qian. You stole that painting?
Come, I will accept you as my apprentice."
Shi Yanxin had never stolen anything before, so it was his first time to go to a museum to steal something. This was really a huge test.
The King of Thieves said: "I'll give you three days."
The King of Thieves put forward higher requirements, requiring Shi Yanxin to notify the museum before stealing.
Shi Yanxin accepted this difficult task. He asked Shui Yanzi and the thief Cape as helpers. The entire theft process has been mentioned before and will not be repeated. In short, he successfully stole the painting and hung it on the wall of the hall.
He went to the incense table, kowtowed, and formally bowed to the King of Thieves.
The King of Thieves said: "There are three realms of thieves.
"The first type is stealing, holding a wallet on the bus, and carrying a box at the train station. This is a petty thief and is not worth mentioning.
"The second type, thieves, are both good and evil, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.
"The third type is those who steal the country. There are many usurpers in history, such as Wang Mang, Cao Cao, Li Shimin, Wu Zetian, and Zhao Kuangyin. They stole a country and prospered for a lifetime."
Shi Yanxin stole a painting, the museum called the police, and the leader of the Public Security Bureau vowed on TV that the thief would be caught.
The thief king was furious and said: "Tell this man that I will steal his police uniform."
The King of Thieves personally demonstrated. He took his three apprentices and sneaked into the home of the leader of the Public Security Bureau at night. He stole the leader's police uniform and put it back in the museum booth along with the painting. He taught on the spot how to break into a house, how to unlock a house, and how to hide.
Including the details of clothing and the time of committing the crime, they were carefully guided and taught.
The King of Thieves asked his three apprentices to learn some basic skills first, such as staring at the incense head to practice night vision, holding bricks between two fingers to practice strength, and catching flies with bare hands to practice reaction ability.
The king of thieves said that the trick to stealing from pedestrians is to divert attention. For example, if a person wraps his trousers around the rear wheel of a bicycle, the person pushing the bicycle will inevitably look back, and the other person can steal the bag in the basket in front of him. If he steals alone,
You can throw some change on the ground, and then "say you dropped the money." The person will definitely lower his head to pick up the money. At this time, you can take the opportunity to reach into his pocket.
After learning the basic knowledge and then advancing, the King of Thieves taught the lock-picking skills in detail. He could open the security door with just chewing gum, open handcuffs with banknotes, crack passwords and open safes with a doctor's stethoscope.
Among the three, Shi Yanxin and Shui Yanzi are the most proficient in academic skills, and they are better than their masters.
Because Thief Cloak is still young, he is always playful and often absent-minded, and has not learned much about stealing techniques.
A few years later, the king of thieves died without any illness, and the process of his death was very bizarre. He took a bus to a place, and his seatmate was an honest-looking farmer who had fallen asleep and had a bulging pocket. He couldn't help but steal it.
That man's wallet. As a result, it turned out that it was his own wallet, and the honest farmer sleeping next to him was a fellow farmer. He stole a wallet, but his money did not increase by one point.
He seemed to have figured out something, laughed three times, and then died after laughing.
