It’s Friday again. After the last class, Qi Xiaoxia quickly returned to the dormitory, took a shower, and then packed up and went home.
Before leaving, Qi Xiaoxia put the pepper spray in the corner into her pocket.
If she can, she doesn't want to go home at all, but she hasn't gone back for several weekends. Today, her mother Li Chunxiang came to school to pick her up, and her living expenses are almost exhausted. It's impossible not to go back.
When I walked out of the school gate, my classmates and parents were almost gone. Qi Xiaoxia saw Li Chunxiang standing by the roadside at a glance, and there was a familiar car parked next to her.
Li Chunxiang is actually a stupid and pitiful woman.
When she was thirty, her husband died in a car accident. After a lot of unremitting efforts, she got the compensation, but the compensation was not warmed up yet, and most of it was divided up by her husband's relatives.
The relatives were not satisfied with the money they had to rob the small broken house in their town and drove Li Chunxiang and Qi Xiaoxia out of the small broken house.
Li Chunxiang took the little money and Qi Xiaoxia, who was only five years old at the time, wanted to join her parents' home, but her parents' home was in the countryside and the situation was difficult. Li Chunxiang had no land and could not make a living. She took Qi Xiaoxia to the county town to work and live after living in her parents' home for a few days.
However, Li Chunxiang is so stupid. She didn't know that even if the small county town is small, there are still bad people. Not long after that, the little money she had in her hands was cheated away. Although the fraud method was very poor, Li Chunxiang couldn't see it.
So since then, in Qi Xiaoxia's impression, the mother and daughter always live in the worst environment, eat the cheapest things, wear the cheapest daily necessities, wear the cheapest clothes they have bought, and live every day with difficulty.
Li Chunxiang has no skills. She has worked as a nanny, cleaning, and has set up street stalls. Anyway, as long as she can make money, she has done all the dirty and tiring work. It was not until Qi Xiaoxia went to elementary school and could take care of herself that Li Chunxiang found a stable job and worked in the factory, and the lives of her mother and daughter were stable.
Although life is still difficult, you don’t have to move frequently to cheaper places, and you can eat a meal of meat from time to time.
Later on during the summer vacation of Qi Xiaoxia in high school, someone introduced Li Chunxiang to a marriage. The other party had a good job and a good character. There was also a son who had a first wife at home. The son was in college outside the country and only came back on holidays.
When Qi Xiaoxia met her stepfather Zhou Kunxiong and her new brother Zhou Yueze, she had a good impression of them, especially her stepfather, who looked amiable and was gentle and caring about Li Chunxiang and Qi Xiaoxia.
The first time we met, after dinner, Zhou Kunxiong took Qi Xiaoxia to buy new schoolbags, stationery, new clothes and shoes. Even in the mall, Qi Xiaoxia glanced at a doll, and Zhou Kunxiong asked her if she liked it or not. Qi Xiaoxia tried to nod, and Zhou Kunxiong paid generously the next second.
Li Chunxiang, who was in financial difficulties, never spent money on Qi Xiaoxia so generously. Qi Xiaoxia, who lived to be in her teenage years, was satisfied in the face of material desires for the first time.
At that time, Qi Xiaoxia really thought that her and her mother's life would finally be overwhelmed. In the future, she no longer had to envy her classmates' beautiful clothes and be greedy for her classmates' snacks. She could also go out with her classmates with pocket money on weekends.
But later, as life slowly got on track, something became distorted.
Qi Xiaoxia remembered that when Zhou Yueze packed up his things and was about to return to school, he called her aside, handed her an old mobile phone and a pepper spray, and said to her: "I know your life was difficult before, so I understand your idea of living a better life, but some choices have to pay the price. My position can help you only these two things. If you think you can handle it, use this anti-wolf spray. If you feel you have no way out, then call the police."
At that time, Qi Xiaoxia was still immersed in the joy of hope for future life, and did not understand Zhou Yueze's words. She simply thought that Zhou Yueze was a good brother. She was afraid that she would not be safe when she went to and from school, so she specially prepared these two things for her for her, but she did not think about it first. The focus of Zhou Yueze's words was the four words "my position".
After Zhou Yueze left, her stepfather Zhou Kunxiong seemed to give all her father's love to Qi Xiaoxia. Qi Xiaoxia always did everything in detail Care, no matter what Qi Xiaoxia wants to eat, Zhou Kunxiong will be satisfied one by one.
Whenever this happens, Qi Xiaoxia remembers the matchmaker's words she secretly heard when the matchmaker came to her house to talk to Li Chunxiang. The matchmaker said: "The other party is in his forties, has a house and a car, has a good job and has a savings. He already has a son at home, mainly because he wants a well-behaved and sensible daughter. Nothing else matters. Don't you have a daughter in your family? The child is good-looking and has good grades, which meets the conditions proposed by the other party, so it is very suitable. "
Before that, a matchmaker came to the house to talk about marriage, but when he heard that Li Chunxiang had a daughter, most of them gave in. After all, their daughters are so old and sensible, and it is difficult to get close to each other. Moreover, they have to get married when they are raised, so they all think that their conditions are not suitable, and they are not said to them.
It is rare that some people not only don't think that Qi Xiaoxia is a burden, but also a plus point, so Li Chunxiang and Qi Xiaoxia were very curious about what kind of person each other was, so they met.
When they met, Zhou Kunxiong showed his love for Qi Xiaoxia, which made Qi Xiaoxia think that Zhou Kunxiong really wanted to have a daughter. Later, after living together, Qi Xiaoxia was even more lost in Zhou Kunxiong's sugar-coated shells for his "daughter".
At that time, there was no such thing as father. Qi Xiaoxia really regarded Zhou Kunxiong as her father, and Zhou Kunxiong was a good father that was completely beyond Qi Xiaoxia's imagination. Even when chatting with classmates and friends, Qi Xiaoxia mentioned Zhou Kunxiong and described him as such a good father, which made the group who always felt she was shabby and pitiful envy her.
Until one night, Qi Xiaoxia woke up in the middle of the night and saw Zhou Kunxiong sitting by the bed looking at her.
It was a summer night. Qi Xiaoxia did not cover herself with a blanket and was wearing short pajamas and pajamas. She felt that someone was touching her. She waved her hand several times and didn't wave it away, and then she gradually woke up.
When she woke up and saw Zhou Kunxiong, she didn't think much, thinking that her feelings just now were actually dreaming.
She asked Zhou Kunxiong why she was in her room.
Zhou Kunxiong smiled and said frankly, come and see if there are any mosquitoes in her room.
In view of Zhou Kunxiong's concern for Qi Xiaoxia, Qi Xiaoxia believed Zhou Kunxiong without any doubt.
But since then, strange things have increased one by one.
The second time, Qi Xiaoxia found that there was an unknown substance on her close-fitting clothes. At that time, she thought it had fallen to the ground and got dirty. She didn't care, so she washed it again.
Then, the private clothes she was basking on the balcony disappeared. Li Chunxiang helped search inside and out but couldn't find them. She thought it was blown away by the wind, but later it was taken out from Zhou Kunxiong's clothes. Li Chunxiang helped explain that he might have accidentally collected the wrong one.
Later, after Qi Xiaoxia finished her exercise class at school, she returned home with a sweat, and immediately went into the bathroom to take a shower. At that time, Li Chunxiang went out to buy vegetables, and only Zhou Kunxiong was at home.
When Qi Xiaoxia was halfway through the shower, she heard the sound of the handle of the bathroom door turning, thinking that Zhou Kunxiong didn't know that she was taking a shower inside, so she reminded him that he was inside.
But the people outside still wanted to open the door, Qi Xiaoxia thought that Li Chunxiang was back and was anxious to go to the bathroom, so she reminded him again.
The door lock was a bit problematic, and after each time it was closed, it had to twist it a few more times before it could be opened. Qi Xiaoxia saw that the people outside didn't make a sound but still tried to open it, and suddenly had a bad premonition in her heart for the first time.
Although she is still a little ignorant, she has taken physiological and hygiene classes at school and has heard a lot of social news, so her first reaction is to hold on to the door tightly and prevent people from coming in.
Qi Xiaoxia heard the person outside twisting a few more times, and the door lock was unscrewed.
She tried her best to hold on to the door, but her strength was no match for the outsider.
Fortunately, just when she was about to be unable to resist, Li Chunxiang came back and the people outside gave up.
Later she came out of the bathroom and saw Zhou Kunxiong's expression as usual in front of Li Chunxiang. He was still the "dad" who treated her very well, as if what happened just now was her illusion.
Qi Xiaoxia told Li Chunxiang about this in front of Zhou Kunxiong, but Zhou Kunxiong insisted that he didn't know that Qi Xiaoxia was taking a shower inside, and thought the door was broken and pushed hard.
Li Chunxiang also stood on Zhou Kunxiong's side, saying that it must be a misunderstanding, because everyone who knows Zhou Kunxiong praised his character, and his image outside is really good.
But the obvious force outside the door and the feeling of panic that made Qi Xiaoxia panic were so clear, so Qi Xiaoxia began to be careful from that time.
At this moment, Qi Xiaoxia followed Li Chunxiang into the car of stepfather Zhou Kunxiong.
Zhou Kunxiong drove away from the school gate while still playing the role of his good father, caring about the situation in her school.
Qi Xiaoxia answered one by one.
Although I knew that Zhou Kunxiong would not do anything to him in front of Li Chunxiang, Qi Xiaoxia still put his hand in his pocket and held the anti-wolf spray tightly.
I remember the first time I used this anti-wolf spray. One night she participated in a school event and got home a little late, so Zhou Kunxiong came to pick her up.
When Zhou Kunxiong was at the school gate, he deliberately delayed the time. When everyone was about to leave, Zhou Kunxiong took Qi Xiaoxia home.
Zhou Kunxiong drove the car and stopped in a riverside park halfway, then rushed towards Qi Xiaoxia. After the incident in
bathroom, Qi Xiaoxia became nervous every time she was alone with Zhou Kunxiong. She also understood the intention of Zhou Yueze to spray her against wolf, so she always carried it with her.
Qi Xiaoxia was very nervous all the way, so she was holding a pepper spray in her hand. When Zhou Kunxiong rushed towards her as she was sitting in the passenger seat, she quickly sprayed Zhou Kunxiong's face.
Zhou Kunxiong did not expect that she would have this move. She was sprayed with pepper water on her eyes and nose, covering her face in great pain.
Qi Xiaoxia took the opportunity to get off the car and ran home to tell Li Chunxiang about the matter.
But when Qi Xiaoxia entered the door, she saw Li Chunxiang taking medicine and hesitated.
In recent years, Li Chunxiang has become poor in her health due to work and has to go to the hospital for frequent visits. After being with Zhou Kunxiong, Li Chunxiang quit her job and raise her health at home because she doesn’t have to worry about money.
If they live back their previous life, then their living expenses, her tuition fees, Li Chunxiang’s medical expenses, where will this money come from? Do you have to drag that body out to work again?
Qi Xiaoxia endured it again and again, but still couldn't tell the matter.
Later Zhou Kunxiong came back from the hospital.
Li Chunxiang asked him what was going on, and he stammered at Qi Xiaoxia and couldn't speak.
When I saw Li Chunxiang, I just cared about him. Zhou Kunxiong also realized that Qi Xiaoxia did not tell Li Chunxiang what happened on the road, and felt relieved.
Qi Xiaoxia quietly returned to the room. She knew in her heart that since there was no way to escape from such an environment, she could only seek flaws with the tiger!
"A family of three" planned to have supper outside before going home.
At the dinner table, Zhou Kunxiong picked up food for Qi Xiaoxia while eating. When Li Chunxiang saw it, she smiled with satisfaction.
Qi Xiaoxia couldn't see anything on the surface, but when she looked at her bowl full of vegetables, she felt a little disgusted.
The family doesn’t care so much about using public chopsticks when eating, so Qi Xiaoxia feels that the dishes in her bowl are very unclean.
When she didn't know what Zhou Kunxiong was thinking before, she had eaten the dishes he picked for her. At that time, she understood this considerate as thinking that her father's care for her daughter, and she didn't think it was anything, but now she feels nauseous about anything that has been stained by Zhou Kunxiong, so Zhou Kunxiong picked up the dishes for her with chopsticks stained with her saliva, which was really hard for her to swallow.
No matter how good some things are, once they are stained with things that should not be stained, they will become disgusting.
Zhou Kunxiong, who was ulterior motives, actually asked Qi Xiaoxia with a smile why she didn't eat it, and if the food was not to the taste.
Li Chunxiang also cared about her and asked Qi Xiaoxia if she was sick.
Qi Xiaoxia had no choice but to find an excuse to say that she had eaten too much lunch at school.
After dinner, I got home. It was already dark. After watching TV for a while, Li Chunxiang returned to the master bedroom to wash and urged Qi Xiaoxia to go to wash as well before going to bed. Qi Xiaoxia nodded and said she knew.
But after Li Chunxiang returned to her room, she went back to the room directly. She came back after washing at school, just to prevent anything.
When Zhou Kunxiong saw Qi Xiaoxia standing up from the sofa, he suddenly spoke: "If you want money, you have to be more behaved."
Qi Xiaoxia beat him up, Zhou Kunxiong was going to threaten himself with money again!
Since Zhou Kunxiong was sprayed with chili water, they began to fight openly and secretly and slanderously.
Zhou Kunxiong grasped her weakness: money!
But Qi Xiaoxia is much smarter than Li Chunxiang. He knows that Zhou Kunxiong is the best in management and cares about the most is reputation. He has used this several times and has gained the sweetness.
Last time, Zhou Kunxiong also used money to threaten her what she wanted to do to her, but she took the pepper spray to him. Zhou Kunxiong probably suffered a loss once and knew the pain of this thing, so he did not do anything to her in the end, but in the end he did not give Qi Xiaoxia living expenses.
Later, seeing that the time to go back to school was coming, she didn't get the money. The old neighbor aunt came to the house to borrow things. She had a sudden inspiration and spoke to the neighbor aunt, saying that Zhou Kunxiong forgot to leave her living expenses when he went out, and asked her and her neighbor aunt to borrow first, and when he came back, he would send the money to the neighbor aunt's house.
Given Zhou Kunxiong's usual good reputation, the neighbor's aunt gave the money to Qi Xiaoxia without any doubt. After Qi Xiaoxia got the money, she sent a message to Zhou Kunxiong asking him to remember to pay back the money to his neighbor, otherwise his good reputation would be stained.
Zhou Kunxiong had no choice but to submit.
But this method is only used once, and Zhou Kunxiong threatened her that she would deduct Li Chunxiang's medical expenses.
Qi Xiaoxia came back this time. Qi Xiaoxia knew that Zhou Kunxiong would definitely not let her go easily, so he was warning her.
Sure enough, in the middle of the night, Qi Xiaoxia, who was alert, heard something outside his room.
Although it was locked, before going to bed, Qi Xiaoxia moved the desk and chair to block the door. She was just afraid that she would fall asleep accidentally. If Zhou Kunxiong wanted to take the opportunity to enter, these movements would wake him up.
Li Chunxiang is mentally weak and takes sleeping pills before going to bed at night. Qi Xiaoxia thinks she can still deal with it in view of the current situation. She and Li Chunxiang also have financial desires for Zhou Kunxiong. She doesn't want to have a complete breakup with Zhou Kunxiong, so she doesn't want Li Chunxiang to know Zhou Kunxiong's dirty thoughts.
Qi Xiaoxia watched the door being knocked open from outside one after another, opened her phone, connected to the speaker to turn the sound to the maximum, and then clicked to play the alarm music downloaded from the Internet.
Soon, the harsh alarm sounded in the quiet night, and the movement outside the door soon stopped.
Such a sound was very abrupt in the middle of the night, and the neighbors around were also alarmed and the lights were lit.
Qi Xiaoxia waited until she heard someone knocking on their door outside, and then she closed the police music.
She knew in her heart that she had survived another crisis safely this night.
But I couldn't help but think hatefully that I would stay for another night tomorrow night. If Zhou Kunxiong dares to come again, she will call the police directly!
When I woke up the next day, Zhou Kunxiong looked at Qi Xiaoxia with a terrible gloomy look.
But Qi Xiaoxia is no longer afraid of him, but instead summarizes experience in the struggle with him again and again. He cannot be forced to deal with Zhou Kunxiong because physically, she is not his opponent, but she cannot show that she is afraid of him, so that he will become more and more arrogant.
Zhou Kunxiong probably didn't expect Qi Xiaoxia to be so difficult to deal with, so he didn't dare to make any noise the next night.
It was time to go back to school again. Qi Xiaoxia's main purpose of coming back this time was to ask for money, but Zhou Kunxiong once again didn't get any cheaper at her, so of course he didn't plan to give her money.
Just when Qi Xiaoxia thought she was about to return without success, a guest suddenly came to her home.
Qi Xiaoxia was delighted. God really helped me. Since Zhou Kunxiong refused to give it to her, she would ask for it openly!
In front of the customer, Qi Xiaoxia spoke up to ask Zhou Kunxiong for money.
Zhou Kunxiong looked at Qi Xiaoxia with a gloomy look, and tactfully said he would give it to him later.
Qi Xiaoxia said that last time he said he would give it to him later, but he forgot, which made her want to borrow from her neighbor.
, and Qi Xiaoxia also acted scheming when the opportunity was taken, asking the customer to speak for her, and finally got the money smoothly.
is on holiday in one month. When Qi Xiaoxia spoke, she deliberately knocked on bamboo gang , and suddenly got enough living expenses for her holidays, so she wouldn't have to come back every week to beg him.
The winter vacation is the Spring Festival, and my step-brother is back, but because he has to work in the hospital for an internship, he goes out early and returns late every day.
Neighbors who work and work outside have also returned one after another.
more people, more gossip, which made Qi Xiaoxia hear something from the neighbors.
That day, Qi Xiaoxia came back from outside and when she walked downstairs, she heard someone talking about Room 606, which is their home.
"The family named Zhou in Room No. 606 is upstairs. He married a new wife and also brought his daughter with his daughter."
"Yes, the two I married before also brought their daughters. Later, they said that they had a disagreement and moved away soon after. I don't know how long the mother and daughter can last."
"You don't know, the previous one who took his daughter away made the police come. Lao Zhou has a good reputation and is very sensible in dealing with people. Why can't they survive with others? He even made trouble with the police. "
" Yes, Lao Zhou has such a good personality. Except for his first wife who died of illness, they were divorced and divorced. This is the fourth marriage, why can't they get along with others? "
" Last time the police came to the door, I heard that Lao Zhou's son didn't like the mother and daughter and Lao Zhou started fighting. Lao Zhou was beaten very hard by his son, and in the end, Lao Zhou couldn't persuade his son to divorce. "
As he was talking, the neighbors talked about other families again, and Qi Xiaoxia only left this time.
She pinched the pepper spray in her pocket and recalled the words of her neighbors.
It turns out that before them, two mothers and daughters had moved in from this family and moved out, so Zhou Yueze knew what kind of person Zhou Kunxiong was!
Zhou Yueze will fight Zhou Kunxiong and she believes it, but she doesn't believe it because she doesn't like the original mother and daughter.
In her eyes, Zhou Yueze is a very caring person, otherwise she would not have prepared a mobile phone and pepper spray for her. It is very likely that Zhou Yueze fought with Zhou Kunxiong in order to protect her mother and daughter.
Qi Xiaoxia remembered what Zhou Yueze said to her again. Now that Zhou Yueze knew that their life was difficult before and understood that they wanted to live a better life through Zhou Kunxiong, he did not explain it clearly. He just said vaguely, "Some choices have to pay the price." Even more because he felt sorry for them, he gave the right to choose to themselves, which was a good intention.
Qi Xiaoxia suddenly felt relieved when she thought of this.
She and Li Chunxiang did have a hard life before. She thought Zhou Kunxiong was their hard work, but she found that reality was another kind of difficulty, but fate was really hard to figure out. In the darkness, she could see Zhou Yueze's light.
Qi Xiaoxia secretly swore that one day, when she gets out of the predicament and becomes stronger, she will make no one bully her and Li Chunxiang!
Just like that, another year passed without any trouble. Zhou Kunxiong probably felt that he had nothing to do and had the idea of divorce.
When Li Chunxiang told Qi Xiaoxia that Zhou Kunxiong was going to divorce her, Li Chunxiang's face seemed to have suffered some big blow.
is the same. She always thought that life was good and never thought that Zhou Kunxiong would marry her. In fact, the purpose was not simple, so of course she didn't understand why Zhou Kunxiong wanted to divorce.
The reason for Zhou Kunxiong's divorce was also very high-sounding - his personality was not in line.
Of course he couldn't express his dirty thoughts.
Just to Qi Xiaoxia's surprise, Zhou Yueze suddenly came back at work hours after he knew that Zhou Kunxiong was planning to divorce.
Li Chunxiang went to the hospital and was not at home. Qi Xiaoxia was doing homework in the room, but their quarrel was too loud, and Qi Xiaoxia couldn't hear it.
But after listening, Qi Xiaoxia regretted that she shouldn't eavesdrop.
It turns out that the things happened as Qi Xiaoxia guessed. The first two who had remarried Zhou Kunxiong before had a beautiful daughter. Zhou Kunxiong always harassed the two girls. After the girl's mother found out, she decisively divorced Zhou Kunxiong.
After experiencing those two failed marriages, Zhou Kunxiong summed up his experience and asked the other party to have poor financial conditions when he told the matchmaker, because such people are more careful in calculating, but in fact they want to use money to control others and let others submit.
I just didn't expect that after finally finding Li Chunxiang and Qi Xiaoxia who meet the conditions, Qi Xiaoxia is a smart and dare to resist. He never took advantage of it once, so he planned to divorce and find another woman with a beautiful daughter, and her daughter must be well-behaved and dare not resist.
Zhou Yueze knew about Zhou Kunxiong's dirty filth when he first remarried, but he was young and had no financial ability at that time, and was still subject to Zhou Kunxiong, so he had no way to do anything to Zhou Kunxiong.
The time he fought with Zhou Kunxiong, he felt that he could beat Zhou Kunxiong in all aspects of his body, so he wanted to teach Zhou Kunxiong a lesson. I hope he won’t have another next time, because he really felt that it was really embarrassing to have such a father and couldn’t show off.
However, he did not expect that although Zhou Kunxiong divorced that fight, Zhou Kunxiong remained unchanged and found a mother and daughter to form a family.
When we first met, Zhou Yueze looked at Li Chunxiang and Qi Xiaoxia's shabby clothes and heard the matchmaker's introduction to their previous lives. He was a little unsure of how to help them. If Zhou Kunxiong's good things were ruined, Li Chunxiang and Qi Xiaoxia would go back to live the shabby life again.
But don’t you say that you would rather cry in the BMW than laugh in the back seat of the bicycle? Zhou Yueze felt that he only knew Li Chunxiang and Qi Xiaoxia, and did not know what they really wanted, so he gave the choice to them.
Fortunately, Qi Xiaoxia is different from the two girls before, and she actually makes Zhou Kunxiong suffer losses again and again.
Finally, Qi Xiaoxia heard Zhou Yueze say to Zhou Kunxiong: "Do you feel that you are not doing well recently? Let me tell you that I gave you the medicine. I studied medicine and I have a good grasp of the dosage. You can know the result by just going to the hospital for a check-up. So I advise you to give up your idea of divorce and live a good life with others. Maybe you will rely on others to take care of you in the future?"
Zhou Kunxiong heard this and his voice trembled: "I am your father. You actually gave me medicine. I want to call the police."
" OK, report it. When the police asked me why I drugged you, I would tell you all the dirty things and let everyone know your true face. Not only will you lose face, but others will also call you hypocritical and pretend! "
" If you do such a thing to your father, aren't you afraid of retribution? "
" You are not afraid of doing such things for underage girls. What do I fear when I act on the grounds of heaven? I warn you, I am disgusted with you. When you are old and have difficulty mobility, I will definitely not be able to take good care of you. So you'd better put away your dirty desires and maintain your current life peacefully. With Qi Xiaoxia's character, if you treat her well now, she should respect you well in the future. So whether your old age can live a good life depends on whether you can be her stepfather now! "
Qi Xiaoxia opened her eyes wide in shock. She didn't know much about this step brother, so it was really unbelievable that he could do such a thing to Zhou Kunxiong, but when he thought of him spraying his phone and pepper water, he felt it was reasonable.
Later, after Zhou Kunxiong came back from a hospital, he told Li Chunxiang that the divorce was something he said before and asked Li Chunxiang to think that it was nothing.
Qi Xiaoxia knew that it should be Zhou Kun Xiong went to the hospital for a check-up, but she secretly looked through it and did not find Zhou Kunxiong's case. I don't know how Zhou Kunxiong's physical condition is.
However, she knew that she could live in this family with peace of mind.
Just as Zhou Yueze said, she is not a person without a conscience. One code is one code. For Zhou Kunxiong who supported them when she and Li Chunxiang were in trouble, she would return it to Zhou Kunxiong when he needed help in the future.