Bai Xiaolu was prepared to be ridiculed, reprimanded, and even eaten by The Golden Tooth.
However, The Golden Tooth was silent for a moment before he answered his question.
"Once."
The overlord of the wasteland said, "Once."
"Then …"
No matter how dumb Bai Xiaolu was, he knew that he should not continue asking.
"She was the prettiest girl in all the farms, a hundred times prettier than Old John's wife. She could sing many, many songs. When she sang, her hair shone like the brightest sunshine."
The Golden Tooth said, "She was also a good worker. She could do any kind of work in the farms. She had always wanted to own her own winery. It didn't need to be big or famous. Even a winery would be fine as long as it was her own.
"We had already saved a lot of money, and we had already found a winery. As long as we completed the mission of 'capturing Yuri', I could leave the army and start a new life. On the night before we parted, she told me that she was pregnant. When I came back, everything would be different.
"However, hehe, you already know what happened next. I became … like this."
The Golden Tooth opened his index finger and middle finger and pointed at his two scarlet artificial eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Bai Xiaolu lowered his head.
"It's okay. Even if I hadn't been captured by Yuri, the result would have been the same. A nuclear war would have broken out, and our winery would have been razed to the ground. The situation would have been even worse."
The Golden Tooth said in a low voice, "At least for now, I'm still alive."
"What about them?"
Bai Xiaolu blurted out. He regretted it the moment he said it.
"I don't know."
The Golden Tooth shook his head slowly. "I was imprisoned in Yuri's Camp X for ten years, and then I struggled in the wasteland for another ten years. When I returned here, the farms and fields of the past had already turned into rolling yellow sand. Everything I was familiar with was gone. My wife and … my children, who knows?"
"Don't worry."
Bai Xiaolu did not know how to comfort him. He said somewhat awkwardly, "Heaven helps the good. They must still be alive. You will definitely find them."
"Alive, haha, alive."
The Golden Tooth said, "That's why I said you're stupid. Kid, you're also 'living' in this wasteland. Do you really think that this kind of life is better than death?
"I don't want them to be alive. I want them to be dead long ago. At the moment when the nuclear war breaks out, they will be completely melted in the thousands of degrees of heat in their ignorant sleep. This is the happiest result."
"What if they escaped to the underground in time and are living in the underground city without any worries?"
Bai Xiaolu said with a dry mouth, "You are an elite SEAL team member, a martyr who sacrificed yourself to carry out a dangerous mission for your country. Your family should be treated well, right?"
As soon as he said that, The Golden Tooth almost choked on his wine.
"Hahahaha, sacrifice, hahahaha, martyr, hahahaha, preferential treatment!"
He threw away the wine bottle and stared at Bai Xiaolu. The redness in his eyes turned into extremely dangerous flames. "Kid, didn't you hear what I said just now? For years, I was brainwashed by Yuri and became his minion and killing machine. I helped him carry out the dirtiest and bloodiest missions! Therefore, in the eyes of the 'superiors', not only was I not a self-sacrificing martyr, but I was also a despicable 'traitor' and the most dangerous' defector '. How could they possibly give my family any preferential treatment?
"Besides, hehe, hehehe, even if they are really the family of the martyrs, they will not be able to enter the underground city and become members of the underground race without special circumstances."
"Why?"
Bai Xiaolu found it strange. "That's not fair!"
"Fair?"
The Golden Tooth sneered. "As the scale of the war grows larger and larger, the casualties of the participating countries are in the tens of millions. How many families do they have? The underground city is only so big, and there are only so many resources. If they are given to the families of the martyrs, what will happen to them? "
Bai Xiaolu asked, "Who — who?"
"The people on Wall Street, the 1%, the people waving flags, the people in suits and leather shoes, the people sitting comfortably in the office, the people with the air conditioner, the people who operate the computer, the people who talk about 'motherland' and 'sacrifice'!" Gold Teeth roared in a low voice, "The people on Wall Street, the people in the 1%, the people who wave the flags, the people who wear suits, the sanctimonious people, the people who sit comfortably in the office with the air conditioner, the people who are always talking about 'motherland' and 'sacrifice'!"
Bai Xiaolu did not know what to say. He was really not a good talker.
"Forget it. Let's not talk about me."
The Golden Tooth waved his hand dispiritedly. "What about you, kid? Other than your brother who shares a body with you, what other relatives do you have? What about your parents?"
"I have a twin sister. She is normal. I mean, she is separated from us, but her legs are not very good now. As for our parents —"
Bai Xiaolu was not supposed to say that, but he hesitated for a moment and said, "Our mother died a long time ago, just like many women in the Wilderness. As for our father, we — we don't have a father."
"You don't know who your father is?"
The Golden Tooth smiled. "It's okay. It's normal. Eight or nine out of ten children in the Wilderness don't know who their father is."
"It's not like that."
Bai Xiaolu shook his head. "We either 'don't know who our father is' or 'don't have a father'. At least, that's what our mother said when she was alive."
"What do you mean?"
The Golden Tooth asked curiously, "What do you mean by 'don't have a father'?"
"A very strange meteorite fell a long time ago near the village where we lived. The plants around the meteorite were very lush, and many strange and never-before-seen small animals often appeared."
Bai Xiaolu said, "Once, our mother accidentally entered the depths of the meteorite forest. She seemed to have slept under the meteorite, and when she came back … we were born."
"Ha!"
The Golden Tooth could not help but laugh.
"We also feel that it's ridiculous. We don't know why our mother would make up such a lie."
Bai Xiaolu said with a red face, "This kind of thing is very common in the Wilderness. People are always born like beasts, die like beasts, and reproduce like beasts. Nine out of ten children don't know who their father is. So what? At least, there must be a father. I really don't understand why our mother would make such a lie. It's not something to be ashamed of.
"My sister and I asked our mother repeatedly. It didn't matter who the father was. We could accept it no matter who it was. Even if she didn't remember, at least she told us that there was a father, and we would be satisfied.
"But our mother insisted that there was no such person. She got pregnant because she touched a meteorite. She said that the three of us siblings were all 'children of meteorites.' Sigh. After that, she became a little crazy and died not long after.
"You know, boss, there was a time when I hated my mother very much. I hated the crazy things she said. Why did she have to lie to us with such a ridiculous joke? Why did she have to say that we 'don't have a father'?
"If we have a father, even if we don't know who he is, we can imagine as much as we want. He might be an invincible hero, or he might be an evil but very powerful villain, or he might be an evil and horrible devil, or he might be a wanderer, or he might be a handsome member of the underground race. It's all good, right? It's all good.
"But 'children of meteorites'? A broken stone that fell from the sky! This joke is not funny at all! "
"It's not funny."
The Golden Tooth said, "But don't hate your mother. Maybe she has her reasons."
"Of course. We don't hate her anymore. We just feel that she's very pitiful."
Bai Xiaolu sighed. "After all, we have nothing in the Wilderness. It doesn't matter even if we don't have a 'father'."
Speaking of this, the two of them fell silent again, not knowing what to say.
Perhaps it was a coincidence, but they both looked at the center of the carpet, where John Senior and his son were playing 'Strong Hand'.
Their gazes were very sticky, and they could not break free for a long time.
"Brat, if one day, you find your father," Qin Wentian said.
The Golden Tooth said, "What do you want to say to him? What do you want to do?"
"I don't know. What about you?"
Bai Xiaolu shook her head. "If you find your child, what will you say to him? What will you do?"
"I don't know. I've never thought of such a thing. They should have died a long time ago."
The Golden Tooth finally retracted his gaze and exhaled. He waved his hand weakly and said, "You should rest. I should also have a good rest."
"… Okay."
Bai Xiaolu moved her feet with difficulty and moved inch by inch to the door. She grabbed the door frame and stood for a long time. Suddenly, she turned around and said in a trembling voice, "B-Boss, is' Strong Hand 'fun?"
"… Maybe."
The Golden Tooth sat up and looked at Bai Xiaolu. "Maybe it's very fun."
"Then, then can you teach me how to play?"
Bai Xiaolu felt that she was about to cry.
She thought that The Golden Tooth would refuse or at least hesitate.
She didn't expect The Golden Tooth's lines to suddenly soften.
"Come here, brat."
The Golden Tooth waved, smiled, and knocked on the carpet beside him. "Sit down. I'll teach you how to play."
…
They played 'Strong Hand' for a long time.
They said that they would only play one game, but in the end, they played one game after another. 'Strong Hand' was probably really fun.
"This is the 'Opportunity Card' and this is the 'Public Fund Card'. When you reach this question mark, you have to draw a card. Do you understand?"
"Ha, I own the water plant and the railway company. You're dead, brat!"
"This way, if I buy all three plots of land of the same color, the rent will be doubled. Is that right, Boss? Then you'll have to pay me, right, Boss? "
"Hey, hey, hey, the escape card!"
"What, what, what, I still have to pay income tax? There's such a thing! "
"I won. I won this game again, right, Boss? Hahahaha, Boss?"
They played one game after another. The two chess pieces wandered and wandered in the "streets" that had long been turned into ruins. They gained and lost again and again. Bai Xiaolu was completely immersed in the game and completely forgot that he was in purgatory in the depths of the wasteland.
"Again, again!"
The boy's face was red. He waved the toy money and the land deed and shouted excitedly, "This time I'll definitely beat you!"
This time, The Golden Tooth spread his five fingers and gathered the chess pieces and dice. He shook his head at the boy.
"That's enough, brat. It's over."
The Golden Tooth smiled. His voice was hoarse.
Bai Xiaolu was stunned. The smile on his face and the blush on his face gradually froze, stiffened, and dissipated.
"Can't we play one more game? Just one more game! "
The boy pleaded. He wanted to cry again.
"Even if we play one more game, it will still end."
The Golden Tooth opened his palm and let the chess pieces and dice roll and collide in his palm. He mumbled, "Everything will end. Listen, the music is over."
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