human suffering

Chapter 3 Was it taken?

The year before last, the picture of the old man pushing open the glass door appeared in Cai Gen's mind.

A pair of labor insurance cotton shoes with holes, a green army coat with cotton exposed, and frostbite on his wrinkled face.

The hand holding the bean bag is also full of holes due to work, so I dare not hand it forward, as if I am afraid of being robbed.

"Boss, the bean bag I made myself costs 5 yuan and 10."

At the beginning, the old man's eyes were shy, shy, and forced to be helpless, which could make Cai Gen feel the same.

So, I bought a bunch of bean bags.

Last year, the old man came again, the military coat has been replaced by a black padded jacket, and the bean bag has risen from 5 yuan to 10 yuan.

In the eyes of the old man, he could still see the embarrassed expression because of the price increase. Cai Gen did not buy it, but agreed that he could give the old man another meal.

This year, the old man's brand-new mask, snow-white gloves, and sturdy fleece cotton shoes indicate that the old man's life has changed for the better.

Cai Gen saw nothing in the eyes of the old man. If he had to say anything, it would only be the resentment of being rejected.

The old man on the ground, seeing that Cai Gen did not pay attention to himself, hurt his self-esteem.

He stood up stubbornly, dragged his twisted thighs, and took a step forward. Across the bar, he stretched out his blood-stained glove, grabbed Cai Gen's neck, and shouted angrily,

"It's all your fault, you have to be responsible, you have to"

Cai Gen was wandering, but he didn't dodge the old man's outstretched hand because he was absent.

The neck was caught, and the white gloves were sticky and strong, and the pinching hurt.

In response, he instinctively grabbed the old man's wrist, the moment he grabbed the old man's wrist.

Cai Gen's consciousness was suddenly taken away from his body, and he appeared in a young man's body without letting go.

With dark eyes, unable to speak, unable to move, he completely experienced the feeling of a young man.

Moreover, that kind of empathy is not beautiful, very not beautiful.

Even every minute, every second made Cai Gen want to die.

The quartz clock on the wall was walking fast and slow, allowing time to flow without stopping. Cai Gen, who was not waiting in the store, didn't even ignore the old man selling bean buns.

I don't know how long it took, but Cai Gen came back with a memory that didn't belong to him.

Of course, the old man who sold bean buns came back with him.

After the old man regained his senses, he quickly released the hand that grabbed Cai Gen's neck and began to retreat desperately.

I fell to the ground because my thighs could not master the balance very well.

He couldn't take care of the bean bag in his hand, he quickly stepped on the ground with both hands, and tried to step back until his back was against the glass door, and there was no way to retreat, and then he stopped.

The eyes that had turned blood red just now due to excitement, are no longer hostile, all fear, and asked tremblingly,

"Who was that just now? Where have I been?"

Cai Gen wiped the blood stained on his neck, which was very sticky. After rubbing his neck several times, he was relieved from the pain. Looking at the expression of the old man, his heart became more and more depressed.

I'm not dead, who are we afraid of?

Seeing that the old man was far away from him, it was already the farthest distance. The panic of seeing a dead person for the first time had subsided, so he lit another cigarette and said lightly.

"The guy just died last month. He was only 24 years old. The gas in the mine exploded and he was stuffed inside. The gas boiled the groundwater and he soaked in the water for 9 hours."

The narrow space, the stones on his body, the boiling water, and howling desperately, every minute and every second was a torment. Cai Gen experienced it for 9 hours.

After taking a cigarette, he continued to recall,

"The young man was an orphan since he was a child. He suffered a lot in the past. His wife was 8 months pregnant, and he didn't want his child to suffer like himself, so he worked overtime to save money for the confinement sister-in-law, but the result didn't come out."

The tenacious desire to survive, the hope for the unborn child, and the concern for his wife, accompanied by great pain, tortured Cai Gen for 9 hours.

He took another puff of cigarette, and continued to say with a bit of sigh,

"The child was born prematurely this month. It's a son. My father and I haven't seen him. It's a month away, and I haven't seen him."

It's such a pity that a young life is so gone, yet to be gained.

Not daring to approach the bar any more, the old man began to want to leave, not wanting to be in the same space as Cai Gen, and said tentatively,

"Boss, then I'm leaving?"

Cai Gen seems to be still thinking about what he just said, immersed in the regret of a young life dying so early, he didn't care, and replied,

"Well, let's go."

The old man opened the glass door, and crawled out from the crack of the opened door as if running for his life. He climbed over the lights at the door of the restaurant and disappeared into the night.

The bell on the glass door, crisp and sweet, also disturbed Cai Gen's contemplation. When he touched his face, it turned out to be full of tears.

Are you scared to cry by the old man?

No, it should be because he felt sorry for the young man's experience, and he was only a month away from seeing his son.

What's wrong with trying to live?What's wrong with trying to make money?What's wrong with trying to make life better for my son?

That's right, why go through that pain?

The young man persisted for 9 hours, and Cai Gen also went through those 9 hours. Except for a lot of whys appearing in his heart, there were only tears on his face.

Although he didn't reach 9 puffs, Cai Gen irritably put out the cigarette butt. Did he encounter a supernatural event?

The moment he grabbed the old man's wrist, he and the old man had the same feeling and saw the same picture.

Hold out your hand, what's the matter?

It all happened like that, I don't know why, even the explanation to the old man and the experience of the young man seemed to have been prepared in advance in his mind.

Did you get caught?

Looking again at the ground where the old man had just sat, the bloodstain from the thigh was gone, and the milky white floor was neat and clean.

Watching the quartz clock on the door, it's 2:10, two hours have passed. Could it be that what I just experienced was a hallucination?definitely is.

However, the black spot on the bar that was scalded by the cigarette butts shattered Cai Gen's rationalization fantasy, and he wiped the black spot with his hand, still stubborn.

Follow the black dots and look at the two gods of wealth, do you pretend to be invisible?

Cai Gen lit another cigarette to stabilize his mood.

Let's call my wife to see it tomorrow, it's a bit scary.

"You have a new take-out order, please process it immediately, you have a new take-out order, please process it immediately."

The harsh music came so suddenly that Cai Gen's heart twitched in fright, and he quickly took the order at the computer next to the bar.

Take a look at the address, Red Romance Hotel, Room 8804, two Taiwanese braised pork rice, two cans of beer.

I looked at the quartz clock again, 2:[-], well, it's time to replenish my stamina.

With a cigarette in his mouth, Cai Gen came to the back kitchen, turned on the gas skillfully, boiled water, put two bags of Taiwanese braised pork in the pot, and covered the pot.

Open the freezer, take out two servings of rice, put it in two microwave ovens, screw it on for 3 minutes, and start waiting.

After taking a cigarette, he began to recall what happened just now. It should not be a hallucination.

Although Cai Gen is naturally timid, he has opened a 5-hour shop for 24 years, and ordinary bizarre things can also be resolved by strong psychological quality.

But this time, it's a little scary, and it's not an ordinary thing.

"Ding" and "Ding" two reminders of the microwave oven interrupted Cai Gen's thoughts again and put the cigarette on the ashtray.

Quickly take out the rice, take out the material packet from the pot, open it with scissors, and pour it evenly on the rice.

Cover the lunch box, put it in a plastic bag, and take the chopsticks, napkins, and spoons.

Fasten the bag, put it in the takeaway bag, and when the cigarettes are out, take the takeaway bag to the bar.

　The powerful dragons, heroes and tigers fight, they are treated with cold eyes, like ants gathering mutton, like flies competing for blood;Quoted from "Cai Root Tan"

　　

　

(End of this chapter)