i was my mistake

"Do you really want to eat this kind of dish...Okay, okay, let me think about it...well, forget it, just ask Dad how to cook it later."

……

55. Fog shrouded

It was raining lightly in the sky.

It is always rainy all year round in the south.

The most annoying thing in winter is not the snow, but the endless, but damp rain.

The whole city was shrouded in a hazy mist, like rain and fog, but also like smoke, but it was probably not the gas from the factory, because there was no familiar smell of chemical raw materials.

At four o'clock in the morning, the sky was as dark as midnight.

The dim street lights were still on and off, and there were only a few cars parked alone on the street, as well as rows of bicycles placed indiscriminately. Apart from that, there was no one else.

Occasionally seeing someone walking slowly down the street holding an umbrella, one can feel a kind of inexplicable creepiness.

Ye Youliang yawned, with a freshly lit cigarette dangling from his mouth.

The red flame fluttered like a rootless fire in the night, sometimes bright and sometimes dim.

He took a deep breath of the cigarette, allowing the smell of inferior tobacco to stay in his lungs for a while, before being exhaled slowly.

There seemed to be more sound of wheels turning in the sound of rain. When I raised my head, I saw two bicycles riding slowly towards here.

"Father." Wan Qing lifted off the dark blue poncho, poked half of her head out, "Today we go to school early, is there any cake?"

"Yes, there are some left."

"Dad, are you still closing the stall?" Ye Chen mumbled and yawned, and stuffed his rain-stained hair into the poncho hat, and the hairpin he had just clipped seemed crooked again.

"I'll put it away right away. I was just thinking about closing it up after smoking this cigarette." My father shook the ash with a smile, put the remaining half of the cigarette in his mouth, then stood up and patted the dust on his thighs, The rag on the side wiped his hands and started to get busy.

Don't expect the roadside stalls in this era to be very hygienic, but everyone doesn't mind, after all, many people come from the countryside, and they cook at home, maybe they are not so clean!

"The rice cakes are a bit cold." Father beat the slightly cold rice cakes and spread them out, "How about some ingredients? Let's deal with the easily broken ones first."

"I can do it." Ye Chen nodded. It wasn't raining much, but she still had to wear a rain poncho when riding a bicycle, which made her feel a little uncomfortable.

Wan Qing got out of the car and stood in the alley to hide from the rain. The big white dog seemed to have become his father's old partner. It was there every time he came here. Today, he came so early, but he was still there, curled up half asleep and half awake. Well, when it sensed that someone was approaching, it turned its head and took a look this way. Seeing that it was evening, it seemed to feel that there was no threat, so it shook its ears again and continued to take a nap.

——However, the big fluffy tail at the back couldn't help but swayed a few times, as a way of saying hello to her.

"Uncle, are you going to go back to sleep?" Zhao Jinyu also came out today. The reason why he came out so early was because he went to bed early yesterday, so he wanted to go out early today and go to school for tutoring.

One is that there is more atmosphere in the classroom, and the other is that I get enough sleep so I don’t have to worry about arriving late at school.

"Yeah, I closed the stall and went back to sleep. After waking up, it's almost noon, and I'm going to buy vegetables. After buying vegetables and processing them, it's about time to come out and set up a stall." The father said with a smile, the gray smoke popped out of his nose.

Embedded cakes are definitely not bad for breakfast. They can be full and convenient. Of course, it would be better if they can be warmer.

But even if it is hot, it will probably be cold when you take it to school.

In other words, Wan Qing, who is sitting in the back seat, can still enjoy it leisurely on the road.

My father made three embedded cakes and packed them in three plastic bags. He also took out the last three bottles of 'Double Silver' brand warm milk from the foam box next to him and handed them to the three of them: "Take them all, it's here." Hurry up to eat at school, it won’t taste good when it’s cold, and it’s raining and foggy today, walk slowly on the road.”

"Got it, let's go to school then."

"it is good."

"Goodbye, uncle~"

"Haha, goodbye, ride slowly!"

Only Wan Qing, who was sitting in the back seat, could lift the poncho slightly to see her father who was waving at them.

He watched them ride for a long distance, and then dropped the cigarette butt, picked up another cigarette, and started to tidy up the stall.

Probably because it was still raining today, even the flashlight was a bit difficult to clear the thick fog, and could only illuminate a short distance ahead.

"There's been a lot of fog recently." Wan Qing took a bite of the cake and murmured, puffing her cheeks, "Looks like there was a fog last week, too?"

"Yeah, maybe the environmental pollution is getting worse."

"The fart is serious. The factories have reduced production and closed their doors. The pollution should be getting less and less right now."

"Environmental pollution is not limited to the point caused by factories..."

"What are you talking about?" Because of the distance and the rain, Zhao Jinyu couldn't hear their chatting clearly.

"It's nothing—" Wan Qing waved her hand.

"Crack!!" Suddenly there was a loud noise, which startled the three of them. The sound came from Zhao Jinyu's car, causing her faucet to tilt to the side and hit Ye Chen directly.

Fortunately, the speed of the bicycle was not fast, otherwise Wan Qing and the others would have to overturn the bicycle. Even so, it was because they stepped on the ground in time to barely maintain their balance.

"What's going on?" The rain wasn't heavy, but the wind was not. Ye Chen's face was covered with rain, and there were several small drops of water on his eyelashes. Although he could see the road clearly, he couldn't understand some details. I can't see clearly anymore.

"I don't know, the car suddenly shook just now..."

"The car has a flat tire?" Wan Qing lifted off the poncho, stuffed the last bit of cake into her mouth, puffed her cheeks like a hamster, and chewed vigorously, then drank the remaining sweet milk in one gulp. As for the garbage ——She was so unqualified that she was thrown on the side of the road.

In fact, she had already been cultivated to throw rubbish in trash cans as much as possible, but since City S removed all the trash cans, she has developed the habit of having trash cans everywhere.

If the public toilets hadn't been demolished, I'm afraid many people would have returned to the state of 'if there are no toilets in the world, then there are toilets everywhere'.

All three got out of the car and took a closer look, and found that the tire was indeed blown out.

Zhao Jinyu’s bicycle rear tire had a big nail in it, no wonder the tire would blow out, and such a big nail made people doubt whether the tire could be repaired.

The only good thing is that it is not particularly long...

It's early in the morning, and the breakfast shop may not be open, so where can I find a car repair shop?

——In this day and age, there are car repair shops everywhere, but they have to be open.

However, at this time, they had only ridden five or six kilometers before they went out.

"What should I do..." Ye Chen had a headache, "Wan Qing, can you repair a tire?"

"Even if you can, you must have tools anyway, and it's been so long, I guess I've forgotten how to mend it."

"This is troublesome..."

Zhao Jinyu pursed his lips and sighed lightly: "We can only push it first?"

"After all, we get up early, and we won't be late when we get to school. It's just... well, what a headache." Ye Chen knocked on his forehead, "It's impossible to wait for others to open the door."

"Yes, and the opening time of the car repair shop is not fixed, let's go first, in case you encounter a roadside car repair stand along the way." Zhao Jinyu showed an optimistic smile again, "Let's go."

The slow speed in the foggy day suddenly slowed down.

Anyway, it was so slow, Ye Chen and Zhao Jinyu simply ate breakfast while walking, it was not a waste of time.

In the alleys on the side of the street, you can always see some unkempt people sleeping on the ground.

Those who are slightly better sleep in tricycles and hide under the eaves. There are not many such people, but along the way, there are always a few here and there.

They are not homeless, just ordinary people who have lost their jobs and have no shelter for the time being.

Under the eaves of a small supermarket, a man who is about 50 years old is curling up, slowly nibbling a bun in his hand.

His whole body was dirty, his clothes were covered in mud and paint, and his hair was also messy. I don't know if those hairs were white, or they were stained white with paint.

But at least his face was clean, without so much dirt.

When Wan Qing and the others walked in his direction, he also swallowed the last bit of the bun, then took out a utility knife, and slowly trimmed his beard.

It's not pretty, but at least it can be kept clean to a certain extent.

When the three of them walked by, his eyeballs couldn't help moving over.

"The tire is blown."

"Yes." Zhao Jinyu blinked and looked at the 50-year-old man, who didn't know whether he should be considered an old man or a middle-aged man.

"Let me see if it's broken badly."

"Can you fix it?"

"Yes." He patted the big and heavy toolbox beside him, with a bit of unconcealed pride on his face, "I know a lot of things."

"There are tools too?" Ye Chen interjected.

"The old ones are here."

"Thank you, please help me take a look!" Zhao Jinyu was a little excited.

"Well, let me take a look." The man who didn't look decent came up and narrowed his eyes seriously, "What a big nail."

"Yes, can it be repaired?"

"Yes." His answer was very concise, but it made people feel extremely reassured.

"Uncle, are you repairing cars here?" Zhao Jinyu watched curiously as he removed the inner tube, and asked suspiciously.

"I just walk around, order everything, repair everything, see if there is any work, and do it when there is work, repair bicycles, repair circuits, repair umbrellas, and repair everything."

"What did you do?"

"So? Hey, let's not talk about it!" He shook his head, as if he didn't want to say more, but just lowered his head and started working. His rough hands were full of calluses, but his movements were exceptionally flexible.

He took out a small inflator, first filled the inner tube with air, and then listened carefully for the place where the air leaked. After confirming that this was the place, he took out a toothpaste-like tool, smeared it, and then pasted it like a dog skin plaster It's a thing, and it will be repaired if it is full of energy.

"Well, it's alright."

"Thank you! How much?"

"A corner." He held out a finger.

"I'll give you one piece, I don't have any change." Zhao Jinyu took out a brand new steel coin from the coin bag.

"It's okay, it's okay, I have money to find..." The man began to search in his pocket, but his expression gradually became a little awkward.

A few bits and pieces of money, put together, are only [-] cents...

……

56. All done

Gently pushing away the misty fog, the repaired bicycle moved forward again, probably due to some delay, the street was no longer so silent, and occasionally there were a few noisy sounds.

In a low bungalow on the side of the road, a man in thin clothes came out of the door. Looking in from the open door, he could see the whole picture of his room.

——There is only one bed in it, and there is nothing else. In fact, there is nothing else to fit, even a small foldable table.

Holding the dental cup, he squatted down, installed the valve that could be said to be the key to the faucet, and opened it to let cold water suddenly pour into his cup.

The water was a bit big and wet his slippers, but the man didn't care, he just poured some into his mouth to rinse his mouth, then spit it out in a 'yuck', and started the first thing every day - brushing his teeth.

Some people also moved the briquette stove to an alley where the rainwater can be slightly blocked, and started the stove to boil water.

The masses of the people always have many ways to make their lives go on.

They laughed and chatted with each other, and they were having fun.

——Or they have long been used to all this and don't feel particularly bitter.

Zhao Jinyu couldn't help but take a few extra glances. When she was at home, it was troublesome even to use gas to heat hot water. Two days ago, she asked her father to ask someone to send back a 'high-end' electric kettle that can be turned off by itself. .

Although the sky is still pitch black, these people who have woken up give the world a feeling that it will be bright but not yet bright.

Small screws are carrying civilization forward...

Gradually, there are fewer houses on both sides, which means that it has entered the edge of the city and is closer to Yinjiang High School, which is located within the factory area.

Along the way, you can also see some large trucks passing by, and some workers who also ride to work.

——Some of them are heading towards the factory, while others are heading towards the city.

The former still has a job, while the latter has probably been laid off.

Today I walked the path as usual, but the woman with the red umbrella was not there.

This is also very normal, even if it is mentally ill, it is impossible to be there every day, maybe it has gone to other places, or it may have been locked up.

Of course, it could also be dead.