Sweet Nostalgia of the 80s

”That’s great!” The old man said, then placed his hand to his mouth and blew a whistle, three long and one short.

”Grandpa, your whistle is really good,” Sheng Xiaoguang noticed, ”Is this part of your magic tricks too?”

”Oh! Do you want to learn it? After I’m done with the magic, I can teach you,” the old man said.

The innocent children weren’t suspicious of him, squatted down, and watched the old man attentively.

Unbeknownst to them, a van parked at the entrance of the amusement park.

A few men alighted from the van and quietly approached the old man’s magic stall.

”Old man, still doing tricks? Do you know what time it is?” one of the men asked, chewing on a cigarette.

”Ah, just trying to make a little money,” the old man sighed.

”Isn’t that enough? Are you risking your life just to earn some money? Heading back or not? Your legs aren’t good, remember? After our delivery, we still need to get you. Let’s go!” said the man with the cigarette.

”Ah! Alright. Kids, I have to go. If you still want to watch, you can come to see my magic for free on weekends,” the old man said, leaning on his cane as he slowly stood up.

”Grandpa, why don’t you charge us?” Bean Sprout asked with a puzzled expression.

”Because, grandpa likes you,” the old man said with a smile, gently holding Yu Ziyang’s little hand, ”My granddaughter is just like you! Grandpa loves little girls. Let’s go, will you help grandpa to the car?”

”Okay.” Yu Ziyang didn’t suspect anything.

Ning Chenyang followed the old man, a small question remained unresolved in his mind.

As he pondered, he unconsciously started to veer off in another direction, then suddenly realized there was a man following him.

Wherever he moved, the man’s shadow followed.

Weren’t they here to take the old man back?

Why do they need so many people?

Ning Chenyang had a bad feeling, the whistle earlier felt off to him.

Grandpa used to tell him stories of the guerrilla troops, mentioning how they often used whistle sounds to convey messages.

Soon after the old man’s whistle, these men appeared.

Three long one short!

Does that mean three boys and one girl?

Wasn’t it common to use whistle sounds for alerts? One burst of machine-gun fire was like a cuckoo calling, two rifle shots like magpies chirping twice.

The more Ning Chenyang thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.

He suddenly remembered how Yan Huan seemed extremely frightened after meeting the old man, could there actually be something wrong with him?

Ning Chenyang became more wary.

They were close to the van now.

Ning Chenyang suddenly clutched his stomach, shouting, ”Ouch! My stomach hurts!”

”Chenyang? What’s wrong?”

”You were fine just now, why does your stomach hurt?”

Bean Sprout and Sheng Xiaoguang looked at him, puzzled.

”I don’t know, it just really hurts! Can you take me home, I’m feeling terrible!” Ning Chenyang said, winking at Bean Sprout.

”Chenyang, what’s wrong with your eyes?” Bean Sprout, confused by Ning Chenyang’s winks, didn’t understand.

Sheng Xiaoguang caught on quickly and stopped walking, going over to support Ning Chenyang: ”He’s not feeling well. We should head back now.”

”Okay.” Yu Ziyang noticed it was getting dark and there were fewer people on the street, worried about Chenyang’s condition, she decided not to help the old man to the van anymore.

She tried to pull her hand back but found that the old man was gripping it even tighter.