One Piece: The Long Road

Chapter 1: Haze

Near the beginning of winter, the days are short and the nights are long. The street lights on both sides of the street light up early, and pedestrians come and go wherever the lights go.

A middle-aged man in a large black trench coat tightened his hands tightly around his collar, his steps were not slow, and his face was filled with a sense of anticipation. He remembered that when his wife and children were waiting for him at home, they were not slow. The pace suddenly accelerated again, and he couldn’t wait to return to the warm home.

Wang Li, who saw all of this in his eyes, felt a pain in his heart. “I really want to have such a sense of anticipation, but…” Wang Li, who smiled bitterly, shook his head, as if to shake this unrealistic idea out of his head. The oncoming cold wind made Wang Li’s neck shrank reflexively. Today’s temperature is very low, and the thin clothes made Wang Li tremble slightly.

Wang Li, 12 years old this year, makes a living picking up rubbish. In this age group that needs nutrition, but living two days and three meals a day, the body that has been unable to eat for a long time is scrawny. His thin body trembled slightly in the cold wind. He was wearing a large sweater that couldn’t even be patched. His dark cloth trousers were pulled, and several holes revealed the yellow skin inside. to the effect of warmth.

Wang Li was unfortunate and fortunate. Unfortunately, at this age when he should be happily studying in school, he had to search for salable waste for his own food and clothing. Fortunately, when Wang Li wandered to this place without a purpose, he met the old man.

It was an equally cold day. Wang Li, who was so hungry that he was completely weak, fell to the ground with black eyes, and happened to meet the old man who was about to go home.

“Would you like to take it back?” The old man frowned and looked at Wang Li, who was lying on the ground, hesitating.

“Hey, at such a young age…it’s also a miserable person.” The old man finally decided to take Wang Li back, so he walked to Wang Li who was lying on the ground, looked down at Wang Li who was shivering and sighed, then bent down and hugged Wang Li When he started, the old man who was about to put Wang Li on the car only felt that there was no weight on his hands.

This is the first meeting between the old man and Wang Li. The beginning is good, but it does not correspond to a good ending. In the case of limited resources, the old man who can eat enough has more mouths like Wang Li, and in this winter of hunger and cold, he finally passed away.

When the old man was about to leave, Wang Li once asked the old man if he had any regrets, but an old man with a kind smile was imprinted in his eyes. This is a question that does not need to be answered. A warm current. When the old man left, Wang Li didn’t cry. The long-term wandering gave Wang Li a tough heart. He knew that crying was useless. All he needed to consider was his future livelihood. The old man left a rusted, leaking tricycle and an abandoned house for Wang Li.

“If I hadn’t met the old man, I would have frozen into a popsicle in a corner no one knew about.” Wang Li laughed at himself. It was my luck to meet the old man, what more can I hope for now. Standing up, Wang Li stopped thinking about it, and pulled the tattered tricycle to Guiyun Junior High School. It was the time for students to leave school, and Wang Li could always get a lot of empty bottles and cans in the hands of the students. .

As soon as he arrived at Guiyun Junior High School, there were endless hawkers clamoring in his ears. There were all kinds of food stalls, and the fragrance filled the air. It was very eye-catching, but it only made Wang Li’s stomach shrink.

The youthful female students dressed in decent school uniforms surrounded the various food stalls, forming a beautiful scenery, which attracted many idle gangsters, but in Wang Li’s eyes, they were not. Not as attractive as a few empty drink cans. The little hands that were purple with cold were tightly gripped on the handlebars of the tricycle, as if it would be able to cover the cold and bone-chilling handlebars. Slowly pushing the small tricycle, his eyes kept sweeping the surrounding ground, trying to see if there were empty beverage cans discarded by the students, but the purpose was all kinds of packaging plastic bag garbage, and there was no empty beverage on the ground. of the jar.

“Hoo,” as long as I collect a few more, tomorrow’s food will be available, come on, come on!” Wang Li, who sighed regretfully, clenched his small fists to cheer himself up secretly, and pushed the tricycle slowly forward. The harsh noise immediately followed. Wang Li didn’t dare to walk too fast, he was afraid that if he walked too fast, he would miss even a drink can. “Damn it, could it be that those lazy cleaners have changed their **** today? “Wang Li cursed in a low voice. There was nothing on the ground that could be exchanged for money, only the dust blown by the wind obscured his vision, as if mocking Wang Li.

But Wang Li was not discouraged, because as long as he passed the front corner, he would see a small garbage dump, where Wang Li had to visit every day. Looking at the garbage dump that others were afraid to avoid, Wang Li gradually revealed a smile. He walked forward quickly in small steps. He came to the wall of the garbage dump, put up his little feet, and looked at the small garbage dump.

“How could that be?!” Wang Li was stunned, his smile solidified instantly, there were no bottles and jars that could be sold in the small garbage dump, only piles of useless garbage lay quietly on the ground, a foul stench to. In the past, despite the poor harvest, Wang Li would find a large number of empty cans in this small garbage dump every day, but today he could not see a single empty can.

“What are you going to do tomorrow?” The distressed Wang Li forcefully disturbed his hair, which was even more messy.

“Sigh…” Wang Li, who sighed, was pushing the car and was about to return to the small waste house when a rush of wind came from his ears, and Wang Li, who had not yet reacted, only felt a pain in the back of his head. The crisp voice of “Clang” caught Wang Li’s attention. He turned around and looked down and saw an empty Coke can rolling slowly on the ground. Wang Li frowned and had an ominous premonition in his heart.

really! “Haha, look, this little beggar is so stupid!” A 12-year-old fat man pointed at Wang Li and laughed recklessly, causing the plump fat on his face to tremble constantly. Haha laughed, creating a loud noise that pierced Wang Li’s ears. Every child had a rare one or two empty drink cans that Wang Li had worked so hard to find, as if they were carefully prepared for something. generally.

Wang Li, who frowned, looked at the ridicule on the faces of the children in front of him. The harsh laughter kept swaying in his ears. Wang Li, who ignored it, bent down and silently picked up the Coke can on the ground. It was just such a behavior. It made the laughter around him even more wanton, but Wang Li didn’t care. Wang Li was used to such a situation. From the initial confusion and anger to the current numbness, Wang Li can only pretend that little fat people do not exist.

“Haha, look, haha, I’m dying of laughter.” The little fat man sneered out of breath, clutching his stomach, “So you want an empty jar so much, then give it to you!” Fatty didn’t stop in his hand, and threw the empty can on his right to Wang Li, causing a gust of wind to land on Wang Li’s back. There was a crisp sound, and it was bulging in the schoolbag beside the little fat man’s feet. From the bulging marks, it could be vaguely seen that there were a lot of empty bottles and cans in the schoolbag.

Seeing that the little fat man had taken the lead, the surrounding children threw the empty bottle and can at Wang Lina unwillingly. Poor Wang Li could only squat down, cover his head with both hands, try his best to protect his vitals, and silently endure the pain that came from his body. There was an indeterminate clatter from the ground. Fat people would take revenge like this.

“One day, I will make you regret it.” Wang Li said in a low voice. He was very unwilling. He still clearly remembered that on that day, the same place, the same people, and the same little fat man had nothing to do with it. He insulted him for reasons and threw small stones at him, but at that time Wang Li fought back and rushed towards the little fat man. Under the unbelievable gaze of the little fat man, he beat him to the ground. The little fat man who was knocked to the ground was stunned, and the sudden pain made the little fat man cry. The cry attracted the little fat man’s father, and when he saw the little fat man who was beaten to the ground by Wang Li, he was angry. Fly in the direction of the slap. The little fatty’s father, who seemed to feel unresolved, kicked Wang Li, who was lying on the ground, fiercely.

“Next time I see you bullying my precious son, you’ll be dead!” The middle-aged man said bitterly, he didn’t look at Wang Li after speaking, he helped the little fat man and walked home.

Wang Li still clearly remembered the hot pain in his cheek and the severe pain in his foot. He really wanted to fight back, but in the face of the overwhelming power of the little fat man’s father, he could only think about it. At that time, Wang Li understood that impulse is the meaning of the word devil.

After the severe pain comes numbness, not just physically, but also inside. The pain came fast, but it didn’t go away quickly. Soon, the ammunition in the hands of the surrounding children was finally exhausted.

“Huh…” Wang Li breathed a sigh of relief, maintaining a squatting posture, not daring to act rashly, he was afraid that any action would lead to a rude reception from the fat man. The little fat man who threw out the empty can is still not satisfied, but compared to bullying a little beggar, the cartoon broadcast at 18 o’clock is more attractive. The little fat man raised his wrist, there was an exquisite electronic watch, the number 17:55 kept beating, as if reminding something, the little fat man hurriedly said goodbye to his playmates, and then ran towards his house, Seeing this, the surrounding children dispersed and ran towards their own homes.

Wang Li, who remained in a squatting position, stood up slowly until he could no longer hear a sound, and there were bursts of acupuncture-like stinging pain on his feet. Not caring about the feeling of his body, he took advantage of the dim light of the street lamp to pick up the empty bottles and cans scattered on the ground, put them on the tricycle, and looked at the pile of bottles and cans on the car. He would jump for joy, but now, Wang Li couldn’t be happy at all.

“Why do you do this to me, is it just because I’m a beggar? Why? I’m not reconciled, one day, one day, I will trample you under my feet, I swear, I swear!” He murmured an oath, his hands clenched into fists, his knuckles pale.

Dragging his tired body to the small waste house, at this moment, Wang Li’s heart was cloudy.