Your loneliness is more moving than this world

Chapter 18 The South Gate Hero (2)
At the door of the apartment, Daxia looked at Erya silly, Erya put down her luggage and said, "My uncle doesn't recognize me anymore, and I don't want to work with him anymore. Since we met each other by making bento, let's do it together. I have The fried dishes are better than yours.” Since then, Erya has become the leader of the bento team, and Daxia has become a professional food delivery staff.

In the lobby on the first floor of the building, the property manager found me talking with Daxia, and came over and asked, "Is this the person who delivered meals to your company?" I said, "Yes, I'm discussing the ordering situation on our floor with him." The property manager The manager turned to Daxia, raised his chin and showed his nose hairs, and said, "I tell you, box lunch sellers, do you know that people like you don't use the elevator at the lobby side? Not at all, the people who go up and down the stairs here are people with status, you can use the straight ladder at the corner to go upstairs in the future."

After the property manager left, I looked at Daxia, expecting him to save face and swear "stupid x" from a distance, but he didn't. He slowly removed his smile, pursed his lips honestly, and then laughed again, Said: "That's it, my brother and I will send it over at twelve o'clock, and I will go back and help Er Ya cook."

Even with Erya’s craftsmanship, Daxia’s bento business is still not good. There are more and more fast food in the park, mostly Korean and Western tastes. Although the dishes are not as large as Daxia’s, the price is also expensive, but Female white-collar workers like it, and now girls don't care about the price of lunch. They like trendy tastes, and they are afraid of eating too much.

Daxia didn't feel any frustration, instead she was more energetic than before. She ran around distributing leaflets in the morning, delivering meals at noon, and visiting advertising companies that were used to working overtime in the afternoon.He pursues a philosophy of life similar to that of his early years: he has nothing, no education, no wealth, no background, all he has is endless energy and persistence.He always seems to have a kind of detached optimism, thinking that compared with his peers, he has already gained love, and is fighting to marry that girl. Forget about the faces and difficulties in the market, they are just small ups and downs, career ups and downs, Not rough.

In order to smooth out some of the ups and downs for Daxia, I paid for it and told him that I would give two hundred yuan to the girls at the front desk of the big companies here. One hundred yuan is also worthy of respect.Daxia accepted my advice, and sales performance began to increase. After the first quarter, the number of temporary workers hired increased to two, and half the building could smell the aroma of Erya's food.But the good times didn't last long. A well-known fast food company that started with a number settled in the park. It had a physical store and a food delivery service, and the delivery staff were all juicy fresh meat.Daxia's [-] yuan policy was invalidated, and the food delivery staff returned to him and his cousin. Gradually, his cousin no longer needed it, and his bento career came to an end.

After the New Year, Daxia called and told me that he had a turning point. Uncle Erya finally recognized his relationship with Erya and agreed to lend them 8 yuan.They moved to the suburbs and opened a small restaurant in the civilian market near the south gate of the university, selling breakfast and fried noodles.

4.
Due to geography, we don't see each other as often as we used to, and we have less and less contact with each other.It was not until the end of summer of 2010, when I moved to the Sanjianshe community where my girlfriend’s home was located, that I had a second chance to reunite with Daxia. few minutes away.On weekends, he personally cooks for me and my girlfriend. He sits at the table and asks me with a smile: "What do you think? The secret recipe of my wife's hometown, even though it's just a bowl of noodles, I've been learning it for more than a month before I'm a teacher."

It's a pity that Daxia's situation has never been as good as the meals he made. Their business has just improved a little, and they are facing the danger of closing down. They have provoked the most famous jerk in Sanjianshe.

Back then in Sanjianshe, there were a lot of ruffians, and many idle local gangsters took pleasure in bullying foreign traders. Among them, the most powerful one was called Tiger. Tiger and his men were easy to identify: bald, tattooed, and they rode in and out in a red car. Mazda.These people specialize in collecting protection fees from foreign vendors near the vocational college, and they only pick on those with incomplete documents. Tiger claims that there are people above him who will cause trouble if they don't pay, and threatens to close the shop and arrest people with just one phone call.

Erya said that the tiger didn't ask for much, three hundred yuan a week.But Daxia expressed her distress. He came from selling bento and knew how hard it was to earn the three hundred yuan, not to mention the huge debt between himself and his girlfriend and uncle.He was afraid of Tigers and the gang, and knew that many businessmen in this place were paying protection fees, but he just didn't want to.

He stood at the door, watching Tiger and his men go in and blast away the noodle-eating customers, kicking the boiling soup pot, while Erya and his cousin stood still and did not dare to move.The tiger returned to the door, slapped Daxia hard on the mouth, and said, "Boy, if you still have this tomorrow, you can open the door." Since then, Daxia and his shop have become "stars" in the market, and piles of The idlers gathered outside to enjoy the tiger kicking the fan. No one called the police, and Daxia didn't allow others to call the police. He shouted: "Whoever calls the police, I will be in a hurry!"

Erya found me and asked me to come forward and persuade Daxia to pay the protection fee. She didn't feel sorry for the money, but she didn't expect her boyfriend to be so stupid.Er Ya said with tears: "You have known him the longest, tell me, has he always been like this?" I said, "Forget it, let's call the police, or you can change your business altogether. He doesn't see me now." , and didn’t answer the phone, it seems that he is determined.” Erya cried even harder, wiping her tears and said: “I want to call the police, but Daxia won’t let me, saying that if I call the police now, the business will really be impossible, Tiger They will be released after being detained for a few days at most, and they will not let us go after they are released. I also thought about moving out, but most of the money for opening this shop belongs to my uncle, and my aunt has been forcing us to repay the debt, leave Here, how do we pay it back? Damn Daxia, if I knew this, I shouldn't have come to him in the first place."

A long month has passed, and Daxia’s store has long since lost customers, and the window glass was knocked to the ground little by little by the pattering autumn rain. He came to the market on time every day to open and close, and sat on a chair Watch the people coming and going.The number of times the tiger came to make troubles became less and less, and he hated this ugly bastard to the extreme. This kid accidentally exposed the lie of "someone above", at least the so-called "relationship with the Industrial and Commercial Bureau" never appeared.Other vendors in the market began to default on the protection fee one after another. They gave Tiger the reason: "Whenever the clown who sells oily noodles pays the money, we will pay." Tiger issued an ultimatum to Daxia: the protection fee will be reduced to weekly. Two hundred yuan, either pay the money, or close the shop and leave within two weeks.On the last day of October, he will bring all the people here to make a deal. If you are afraid, you can call the police.

I don't know where his courage comes from. In fact, in my limited memory, I have never seen him have real courage. He is just an amateur who looks bold and righteous, but only relies on brute force to survive [?Amateurs, civilians, ordinary people.

], he has long been used to being ridiculed and bullied, and he has ignored many faces and difficulties. His unknown life has avoided all kinds of waves and variables, and what he is demanding is nothing more than a corner of peace.

At seven o'clock in the morning, he came to the market, reopened the dilapidated door under the eyes of everyone, and stood in front of his shop with small eyes. A ray of sunlight slipped through the roof, illuminating countless unyielding souls in the world.

I hastily asked for leave from my work unit, took a taxi to the scene of the incident, but did not find Daxia and his family members. The entire canopy was full of people whispering and watching, police cars whizzed through the crowd, and vendors stretched Shouting curses at the back seat of the car window.

The tiger spared Daxia's life and only broke his leg. Daxia will be a cripple for the rest of his life, just like his father.The captain of the police force also discounted one of the tiger's legs on the spot. When the tiger escaped, he violently attacked the police and tried to snatch a tricycle (tricycle), so the captain had to draw his gun.The bullet shattered the tiger's knee, and he fell into the muddy water on the side of the road. Under the pressure of the police, he let out a miserable scream like a fat pig waiting to be killed. At that time, everyone understood: there was no one around him at the police station. .

I followed Erya into the ward, and said to Daxia who was wearing bandages, "Why do you take money from Tiger's family?" Daxia rolled her eyes and said, "Keep your voice down...come and talk." Sit down and say, "Have you read the news? The procuratorate is prosecuting Tiger and his gang, and the government wants to get rid of all the bastards in Sanjianshe. You are one of the main witnesses. If you open your mouth, he will definitely not come out." Come." Daxia grinned and said, "Even if I don't open my mouth, he can't come out. Others have jointly reported it, and the officer of the market management office has also been arrested. All the confessions came out, and there was also the robbery of the cash truck, do you think he can still come out?” I said, “Who told you this?” He said, “The police officer who made the record called me and said Yes, I gave him all the video materials in the store for more than a month, and he still scolded me for not calling the police earlier and for not cooperating with their work."

Erya was speechless, sitting beside the bed tearfully peeling a banana for Daxia. Daxia put down the banana, looked at me sideways and said, "Chaozi, I understand what you mean, but we are poor, and poor people can't do much." It's a big deal, isn't it? Now it's the best, and I don't feel bad about taking this money. It's the hard-earned money of us people. With it, the debts on Uncle Erya's side will be paid off. Erya and I Ah, you can go to other places to open a decent store. Also, let’s start the training class that you and your friend held. It’s a pity that it’s closed. Whoever has never failed in business, let’s continue to do it. lend you money."

There was a burst of sadness in my heart, I wiped my eyes and looked out the window for a while, then turned my head and said to him with a smile: "Daxia, let me tell you something, do you still remember the local snake who led someone to beat you in school? Our old man The classmate said that this kid was sentenced to death, he helped a person running for the village head to make trouble, and he was killed, and your fellow villager Dayong who was with him also went in because of this incident." Daxia straightened her face and looked at Deng Deng said: "I know about this, Eileen told me on the Internet the day before yesterday, she said that she didn't want to get involved and wanted to divorce Dayong. Sigh, I don't know what to say, it's fate."

After coming out of the hospital, I walked on the road in the dark, quietly recalling our life in that county that no longer exists. I think Daxia won. He lost for more than 20 years, but once he won so much thorough.None of this has anything to do with fate, it’s just a matter of human nature. Once the treasures become smart, few people will be their opponents anymore, because they have things that we have never had or dare not have.

5.
In the summer of 2014, Daxia’s crippled father died in the Third Hospital of Niucheng. He spent more than 20 yuan to hold the most beautiful funeral in history in his hometown. Various bronze drums, open-air movies, and sideshows were all tossed There is more than half a moon in the small mountain village.On the day of the funeral, luxury cars wrapped in white cloth were driving in the procession, and flowers made of gold leaf fluttered in the wind. Daxia walked in front of everyone holding a mourning flag, her head held high all the time.

His fast food restaurant has grown to three, which has attracted the attention of his peers. In the end, he chose to cooperate with the company starting with the number.After the reorganization of the store, the employees began to jokingly call him "Jay Chou". Everyone liked this title and felt happy from the bottom of their hearts.Jay Chou has put on weight, his round flesh covers most of the indecent edges and corners, he no longer looks as scary as he did back then, the obesity that most people are afraid of has become a blessing for people like him.Jay Chou's wife has also put on weight, she is black and fat, she won't see us old friends, even if there is a window across, she won't come out.Daxia told me that Erya had this kind of temper, and he didn't see it in the early years. She hated people like me. People like me looked down on her husband back then, and now she doesn't need to look down on us.

"Why do you have to pay back the money?" He leaned on the railing and said, "Didn't your friend say that the training class is in need of money? Go ahead and talk about it if you don't have enough money." I said, "Forget it, I know the class I opened .Knowing that you are not short of money now, paying you back is to cut off my own thoughts, I am not a business material." I turned my face and asked him: "I heard from Dayong that you are helping his wife now, What's going on?" He said, "It's not really a help. It's not easy for Eileen. She brought her children to Beijing with her husband and couldn't find a decent job for more than half a year. I borrowed some money from them. They went to Anzhenmen to sell oil-splashed noodles, and I heard that the business is very good, and the child will soon go to primary school there." I laughed and said, "You are a good person, Daxia, a good person... yes Now, did I tell you before that you are a good person?" He said: "No." I said: "You are a good person, really, Daxia, you are better than us." He also laughed and said: " What kind of a good person am I, I am only good to the people I like, and if they know it, I am content."

"When you are in your twenties, you don't fight with a straight face. Do you have to wait until you are 30 or 40 years old? Who wants your old face at that time?" So I am the guy with a straight face, my The job is good enough, just want to join the cruelest battlefield for the last fight before "becoming good".

(End of this chapter)