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926words
In the hospital,I faced my little uncle's body.
The words that the neighbors had said kept repeating in my mind.
"Your little uncle was cooking in the kitchen.Everything was fine at first.I don't know what happened,but the gas cylinder exploded.Just..."
"The surveillance footage on the roadside showed that there was a child sneaking around behind the window of your father's kitchen.Then he lit something,threw it in through the window,and ran away.After that,well...the explosion happened..."
"Ah,we asked that little rascal.He said he tied a lot of firecrackers called'torpedoes'to your father's gas cylinder.Your father didn't notice at that time.He lit the fuse and ran away...Nora,his parents said they were willing to pay for the damages..."
...
I clenched my fists,and the face of that brat,Ethan,began to appear in front of my eyes.
He often came to cause trouble these years.
Either he mixed sand into the flour bag or used a knife to cut open the soybean milk cups.
He often stole the breakfast and ran away.
Every time,my little uncle would let him go,using the reason that we should be more tolerant as neighbors.
I never expected that he would go even further that time.He deliberately turned a blind eye and a deaf ear.
He grabbed a handful of fried dough sticks and stuffed them into his mouth.After taking a bite,he threw them back.
Pointing at my little uncle,he shouted,"One-eyed!You're a one-eyed!The breakfast made by a one-eyed is poisonous,poisonous!"
I was so angry that I grabbed him and slapped him.
I could tolerate whatever he did,but I couldn't tolerate him insulting my little uncle!
But...
I never imagined that that slap would bring about his vicious revenge.
He wasn't a child.He was a beast!
I clenched my fists tightly,and my nails dug into my flesh without me realizing it.
I just felt the excruciating pain in my chest.
I hated him,but I hated myself even more.
If I had insisted that my little uncle transfer the breakfast shop.
If I hadn't impulsively slapped him.
Maybe none of this would have happened.
Unfortunately,in this world,there are no"what ifs"...
No matter how much I regretted it,my little uncle couldn't come back.
Suddenly,a woman's shrill voice came from outside the door.
"It's just a dead one-eyed old man.Just pay some money and it's over.What else do you want?What's the use of bringing the child to apologize!Besides,he's already sixty years old.He's lived long enough to die."
In the hospital corridor,the community auntie blushed and waved her hands desperately,telling the woman holding the child to stop talking.
"We've already said that our family is willing to pay.At most,it's three or five hundred thousand.We're not unable to afford it!Over the years,that one-eyed old man made breakfast.
We took pity on him and patronized his shop many times.The child is ignorant.Just give him some education.There's no need to make us bring the child to the hospital to see a dead person...He's only eight years old.What does he know?"
The man who had been silent beside them saw me standing at the door of the ward at a glance.
Subconsciously,he protected the boy holding an ice cream behind him.
Then he raised his head arrogantly and looked me up and down.
There was not a bit of apology on his face.He just said coldly,"How much do you want?Name your price.Don't make it embarrassing for everyone."
I just slowly raised my head,trying my best to hold back my tears and the overwhelming hatred that made me want to kill.
I said word by word,"Can the money you give bring my little uncle back from the hands of death?Sixty years old...Does that mean he deserves to die?"
The man was left speechless by my question and even seemed a bit impatient.
My gaze fell on Ethan,who was still making faces at me.
And it gradually focused on his closed eye.A terrifying idea had already formed in my heart.
"You...If you want money,just say how much you want quickly."The woman looked at me warily and pulled the child behind her.
The way she protected her child made me want to laugh.
I thought to myself that this little beast,who could do such a thing,couldn't have done it without their"good education".
"Is she mentally abnormal?!"The woman whispered to the community auntie with a look of disgust on her face.
She directly took out a card from her wallet,"There's five hundred thousand yuan in this card.Consider it as our family's compensation to you..."
"I don't want the money."I looked at her coldly and said.
She looked shocked,and then a sneer spread across her face,"Do you think it's too little?Five hundred thousand is already a lot.Your one-eyed father is almost sixty years old.At most,he could have lived another ten years.
I calculate that he earns fifty thousand yuan a year.At most,that's only five hundred thousand yuan!All right,six hundred thousand,and that's the limit."
"I don't want the money,not even a cent."I was still calm,but my eyes were fixed on Ethan.
He seemed to sense something and was so scared that he hid behind his father.
"Then what do you want?!"The man was getting impatient.
"I want your whole family to kneel in front of my little uncle's mourning hall for seven days and seven nights to repent for your mistakes.Can you do that?"I stared at them steadily,as if giving them an ultimatum.
"You're crazy!"The woman pointed at me and cursed.She threw the bank card in front of me,grabbed the child,and turned away.
Watching that family of three walk away hand in hand in front of me,the only word in my mind was"disappear"..."
