Old Boy

Uncle Qu and his younger brother have been enemies for many years because his younger brother stole his eldest sister-in-law.

Uncle Qu is an old rocker, and leather pants, leather boots and leather vest are his standard daily outfits.

“Old man, aren’t you afraid of getting prickly heat in this hot weather—”

When neighbors were enjoying the cool air at the alley entrance, they would always yell at Uncle Qu when they saw him.

“Give me some grilled cold noodles.” Uncle Qu took out some change with his left hand and raised his middle finger in the air to his neighbors.

As the boss was busy making cold noodles, Uncle Ou asked in a hoarse voice, “Can you play the bass?”

“No.” The boss shook his head.

“What about the drums?”

“Won’t.”

“Our band is recruiting recently. Are you interested in joining? I can teach you.” Uncle Qu’s eyes were eager to recruit talents.

Old Dong waved his hand and sat on a stool beside him to smoke.

Before Mr. Qu could continue his persuasion, a BMW squeezed into the alley.

“Brother–” A man’s head popped out of the car window. He had white hair, was gentle and wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses.

“Let’s go.” Uncle Qu ignored him, picked up the cold noodles, and slowly walked home.

The BMW followed behind Uncle Qu, driving at a snail’s pace.

The neighbors were discussing the matter and placing bets on how many minutes it would take for Uncle Qu to explode this time.

Uncle Qu and the BMW owner are brothers who are still connected even if their bones are broken.

In his early years, Uncle Qu’s parents died early, leaving him with a younger brother who could just walk and a dilapidated house.

In order to support himself and his younger brother, Uncle Qu did not go to college. He performed everywhere and formed a band with a group of disheveled young men, singing heavy metal.

My younger brother was successful and was admitted to university. Later he became a civil servant and was promoted.

Mr. Ou has devoted his whole life to art, and has no house, no car, and no spouse. His younger brother wanted to arrange a temporary job for him so that he could receive a pension when he gets old.

Mr. Qu refused to go no matter what, saying that he would get hemorrhoids if he sat on the office chair.

His younger brother’s home in a high-end residential area left a bedroom for Uncle Ou, but Uncle Ou didn’t want to cause trouble and has been living in the bungalow he bought when he was young, saying that it is more down-to-earth.

Uncle Qu teaches retired people to sing at a senior citizen university, and his salary is just enough to support himself.

In his free time, Uncle Qu would take a few old guys who learned singing from him to rehearse rock and roll in his parents’ old house, and they lived a decent life.

The brothers were friendly and respectful to each other, and did not disturb each other until a while ago, when the old city was renovated and old houses were demolished. The dilapidated house of Uncle Ou’s parents was to be demolished, and the person in charge of this matter was Uncle Ou’s younger brother.

As a result, Mr. Qu disagreed with the demolition and became a nail household.

The stubborn holdout is the leader’s elder brother, and the people under him are also in a difficult position. The ball is kicked to Uncle Ou’s younger brother, who has to come three times a day to do ideological work on Uncle Ou.

However, every time he returned empty-handed and was scolded and driven away.

While Mr. Dong was smoking a cigarette, he heard Uncle Qu’s hoarse voice.

“Fuck off, who do you think you are? That house was left to me by my parents, what does it have to do with you?”

“You’re asking me to reason with you. Why didn’t you tell me the truth when you were dating my sister-in-law?”

“It’s really annoying to support an ungrateful person like you. If I had known earlier, I would have thrown you into the piss bucket and drowned you, you bastard—”

Uncle Qu’s brother got into the BMW with red face. Uncle Qu chased after the car and kept cursing. The huge amount of information shocked the onlookers.

“Let’s put things in perspective. Don’t go off topic.” Uncle Ou’s brother weakly defended, “Everyone has signed, except you. Your behavior is very selfish.”

“You’re so selfish!” Uncle Ou picked up the bowl of chopped coriander from Old Dong’s stall and threw it at him. The BMW accelerated out of the alley, and the whole bowl of chopped coriander was blown all over Uncle Ou’s head and face by the oncoming wind.

“Green from head to toe.” A faint murmur from the crowd drew waves of laughter.

For nearly half a month afterwards, Mr. Qu did not show up.

On a midsummer evening, a middle-aged woman in her 40s or 50s came to the boss to buy grilled cold noodles. The woman took out a bag of coriander and said, “Old District, I will definitely let me compensate you.”

“What is he doing?” Although Mr. Dong was surprised, he still accepted it.

“He has been like this all his life. He won’t owe anyone anything.” The woman was fair and delicate, and she was dressed elegantly and decently.

“Where are the people from the old district? Why haven’t I seen them recently?”

“In the hospital—” Seeing the boss’s surprised expression, the woman smiled and said, “It’s nothing. He will be back in a few days.”

The woman was Mr. Ou’s sister-in-law. From her, Old Dong learned why Mr. Ou remained single until now.

Uncle Qu was very romantic when he was young. He walked among many beautiful women without getting hurt by a single leaf.

Once when I went to deliver living expenses to my younger brother who was attending college, I met my “muse” at the school gate.

Suddenly, the world was silent, and Uncle Qu was tied up tightly by Yue Lao’s red rope.

“Muse” happened to be his younger brother’s classmate. With his younger brother’s introduction, Uncle Au successfully approached “Muse”.

“Muse” is aloof and cold, but Mr. Au falls in love with her so much that he is determined to marry her.

“Your sister-in-law can’t be anyone else except her.” Uncle Qu and his brother swore.

“She’s fine.” The younger brother buried his head in the book and whispered supportively.

One weekend, Mr. Au was half asleep when he heard the voice of “Muse”.

He got up and dressed, and saw “Muse” with tears on her face, standing at the door and talking to her brother.

“What’s going on?” Mr. Qu asked hurriedly.

“Her father had a car accident and is waiting for money to save his life.” Before the younger brother could finish his words, Uncle Qu took out the passbook and cash from under the pillow.

“Let’s go to the hospital quickly.” Uncle Qu got on his motorcycle and rode with “Muse” at midnight.

Thanks to Mr. Au’s financial support and connections, Muse’s father was able to save his life.

Muse thanked him: “Our whole family owes you our lives.”

Uncle Ou was tongue-tied. “It’s not a debt or not. Your business is my business, and your father is my father.”

Muse blushed and lowered her eyes, looking even better.

Uncle Ou was stunned and held Muse’s hand blankly, “I will definitely treat you well in this life, otherwise I will be struck by the sky.”

Marry a man to provide you with clothes and food.

Sooner or later, the goddess will have to enter the world, the mortal world, and having a trustworthy support is important.

The wedding date of “Muse” and Mr. Au was set quickly. Mr. Au was in high spirits all day and gave out wedding candies to everyone he met.

On the night of the wedding, the drunk Mr. Qu was helped home by his bandmates. When he pushed the door open, he saw “Muse” and her brother hugging each other tightly.

Ethical and family affairs, outsiders all retreated.

“Muse” said that she had always loved Uncle Au’s younger brother, but because Uncle Au had helped her family, she gave herself to him in order to repay his kindness.

Uncle Qu was drunk and looked at “Muse”‘s mouth opening and closing. He felt that she said more words in that night than all the words she had said before combined.

“Do you like him?” Uncle Au asked “Muse”.

Muse nodded.

“You like her too?” Uncle Qu looked at his younger brother, and his younger brother opened his mouth, which was considered as his consent.

“Then why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Mr. Qu didn’t understand.

“I don’t know how to start this conversation with you. After all, I’ve never seen you so interested in a girl before—” the younger brother explained.

Uncle Qu found it ridiculous. He staggered to his feet and said, “Bullshit!” With a hook punch, he knocked his brother to the ground.

After that, Mr. Qu’s life was shattered just like his dignity that night.

The business of performing for money was becoming less and less popular, the band disbanded, and life became difficult.

After my younger brother graduated from university, he was assigned a good job and his career started off on a bright and promising note.

After that night, the two brothers were like heaven and hell.

“Actually, nothing happened between us. That night, I just wanted to hug the man I loved for the first and last time, but I didn’t expect…” Although “Muse” has grown old, her charm is still there. It is not difficult to imagine why Mr. Qu was so infatuated with her back then.

The boss did not comment on right or wrong, “Who knows what will happen to you in your life?”

Sure enough, Uncle Qu came back within a few days, with bruises on his face and walking with a limp.

He confessed on his own initiative before the boss even asked him.

That day, after being scolded by Uncle Ou, my younger brother called Uncle Ou again and asked him to go to my parents’ old house to negotiate.

Just go, no one is afraid of who. Uncle Qu went there in a rage.

When I entered the house, my brother had placed a bag of peanuts, a bag of cold dishes, and two bottles of white wine on the table, waiting for me.

“Brother, have a drink.” The younger brother poured the wine.

“Just fart if you have to.” Mr. Qu didn’t buy it.

“All right then.” The younger brother took off his glasses, rolled up his sleeves, and punched Mr. Qu on the chin.

“You’re crazy!” Mr. Au yelled.

“I was the one who fell in love with her first. I fell in love with her on the first day of college. If it weren’t for you, we would have been together a long time ago. I don’t owe you anything, no!” my younger brother exploded.

The old story was brought up again, and Mr. Ou’s blood boiled. “She got married to me and she is your sister-in-law. Do you think you are right to hug your sister-in-law?”

“I never thought of taking her away from you. I know you have sacrificed a lot for me, and I am willing to make you happy, even at the expense of my own happiness. That night, we agreed to keep our love for each other in our hearts. We didn’t want to hurt you, and we never thought about hurting you, but for so many years, you never listened to our explanations.”

“I don’t want to listen to a sh*t. We’re already hugging each other, why do you need to explain?” Uncle Qu waved his arms and rushed over, wrestling with his younger brother.

When “Muse” went over, Uncle Qu had locked his brother’s arm with a scissors kick, and both of them had bruises on their faces.

After being sent to the hospital, they were placed in the same ward.

Every day nurses would come to warn them not to quarrel, as it would disturb other patients’ rest.

During those days in the hospital, the two brothers argued about everything they had ever said in their lives.

On the day of discharge from the hospital, my younger brother asked with a hoarse voice, “Brother, are we still going to have that drink?”

“Why don’t you drink?” Mr. Qu’s voice became even hoarser.

“I really should have had this fight with you twenty years ago,” the younger brother lamented.

Mr. Ou wanted to laugh, but he held it back. “Twenty years ago, you could only get beaten. How could you get away with it like you do now?”

The boss asked, “Have you guys finally put aside your grudges?”

“Brother, there is no hatred or grudge between us. I’m just angry that he always hides things from me and says he does it for my own good. Do I need that?” Uncle Qu let out a long sigh.

“Then what have you been trying to achieve all these years?” Mr. Dong didn’t understand.

“I am…” Uncle Qu gritted his teeth, “I am just angry at myself. I am dumber than a pig. I couldn’t tell who my brother likes. The more they coax me, the angrier I get. If I hadn’t seen them hugging each other, wouldn’t I have become a bastard who stole my brother’s woman?”

It annoys others and even more annoys myself.

In the name of love, people devote themselves without asking others whether they are willing to accept this heavy “good intention”.

A few weeks later, Mr. Ou changed into a new outfit, which was very blingbling and looked very valuable.

“You’ve upgraded your weapons a lot, old area, where did you make your fortune?” the neighbor joked.

Mr. Au raised his middle finger. Mr. Boss saw that he looked good and asked, “Are you lucky in love?”

“There has never been a shortage of peach blossoms, but I just don’t want to pick them.” Mr. Qu boasted brilliantly.

Mr. Qu signed the contract for the demolition of his house, and the demolition money was deposited into his account, which instantly filled his pockets.

“How did you figure it out?” asked the boss.

“Hey, that’s how it is, people.” Uncle Qu didn’t want his old house to be demolished. On the one hand, he wanted to be angry with his brother, and on the other hand, he felt that it was a past that he and his brother had shared memories of, and he couldn’t bear to let it go.

When Muse went to the hospital to visit his brother, while he was checking up, he said to Mr. Au, “He knows you don’t want to use our money. If the house is demolished, it’s up to you whether you want the money or the house. This is what your parents left behind. It’s enough for you to retire, and he feels at ease.”

“I don’t need him to worry about me.” Mr. Qu said stubbornly.

Muse threw the half-peeled apple in her hand over to him, “You are his brother, his only relative. He will always have you in his heart.”

Uncle Qu munched on his apple and said nothing more.

“Over the years, he didn’t argue with you no matter how angry you were. He just felt that he owed you something. This time, he fought with you and argued with you because he wanted to let you know that he hadn’t had a better life than you in this half of his life.”

Muse gathered her hair and continued, “He has said more than once, when will you be able to enjoy his blessing? Brother, I beg you, please be good and make him feel better, even a little bit, okay?”

The love that one bears most deeply is deep in one’s bones and flesh, and cannot be removed or cleansed out.

Uncle Ou’s cell phone rang, “What? Eating hairy crabs? No, no, it’s hard to eat. Besides, I have to rehearse with the band tonight.”

After waiting for a few seconds, Uncle Qu seemed to remember something and said, “By the way, our band’s equipment is old and we’re planning to replace it. Can you sponsor us a little? How much? Thirty to fifty thousand will be fine. Is that too much? I don’t care. I’ve already boasted that my brother has agreed to buy us a set of equipment. It’s up to you to decide—”

After hanging up the phone, seeing the boss’ half-smile, Mr. Ou explained, “Isn’t this letting him spend money to relieve his stress? This way, he won’t always feel like he owes me.”

The boss rolled his eyes and said, “Come on, you are so ungrateful. If I were your brother, I would put you on the blacklist right now, you spendthrift.”

Uncle Qu didn’t try to argue and just smiled.

He looked like he was content with having his brother.

Many relationships in this world end in vain, and many people can give up easily, but how can you let go of your siblings? They are connected by blood and bones.