Chapter 1 Tonight

Tonight, there was only this one customer. The total income was one hundred yuan, but the only cost was a glass of water.

Of course, you could say there were also electricity and rent costs…

But you can't calculate it that way. When Xu Le was here, those were also costs, but his income was almost negligible. People always have to find suitable comparisons to gain a little satisfaction and confidence in life.

Also, because of that girl with the corgi, Zhou Ze found out that today was actually Valentine's Day.

He flipped through WeChat and found Dr. Lin's WeChat account. He clicked in and Zhou Ze wanted to send a red envelope. He tried to send 1314, but he didn't have enough money. He had enough for 131.4, but sending that amount felt a little stingy.

Anyway, she doesn't sleep with me.

Forget it,

I won't send it.

He put down his phone and casually picked up a book and flipped through it, maintaining this posture until morning.

He went next door for wontons. Zhou Ze didn't know if the skin was thin or the filling was thick. He still followed the previous routine: after downing a large bowl of sour plum juice, he immediately wolfed down the wontons, then pinched his neck and took deep breaths, suppressing the urge to vomit.

Thinking that he would have to follow this process every time he ate in the future, Zhou Ze felt that his future days seemed to be shrouded in shadow.

Zhou Ze also thought of the man in the video who was painfully drinking porridge. Thinking about it, he felt a little desolate. Eating was originally one of the greatest joys in life, but now, it was out of reach for them.

He wondered if there was an "Anorexics" club where everyone would sit around a table at gatherings, and whoever could eat a bite of food first would be praised:

"You're awesome!

My xxx is so amazing!"

Taking a deep breath, this scene was a bit chilling.

In any case, yesterday's video, including the old Daoist and the man drinking porridge, felt a little too distant for Zhou Ze for the time being.

After Valentine's Day was Lunar New Year's Eve, the last day of the year. If it were a normal year, this commercial center would definitely be decorated with lanterns and have a strong "New Year's flavor," but in reality, it was still the same old, cold and deserted.

It's like life,

Since there has been glory, there will naturally be loneliness.

Zhou Ze remembered that when this commercial center first opened, it was also in the limelight for a while, but now, no one cares about it anymore.

Xu Qinglang was doing good business today, probably because many other shops were closed. He, who was still insisting on doing takeout on New Year's Eve, would naturally receive more orders, after all, the customer's choice was also reduced.

From time to time, delivery guys in blue, yellow, or red uniforms came in and out of his noodle shop. Zhou Ze squatted at the entrance of his bookstore, smoking a cigarette and sighing.

Damn Xu Le, it would have been so much better to open a braised chicken rice restaurant back then.

Immortals in mythology like to say a sentence: One day in heaven is one year on earth.

In fact, Zhou Ze felt that this should be true, and it also applied to hell.

He remembered that when he died in a car accident... no, remembered that when he was sent to the crematorium to be cremated, it should have just been Children's Day, June 1st, and now, in the blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve.

Half a year had passed so quickly, a fleeting dream, just a confused walk on the road to the Yellow Springs.

After smoking a lot of cigarettes and thinking a lot, Zhou Ze felt a little tired. He took out his phone to see if there were any recent movies. The cinema was right next door, so he could go there to pass the time.

"Hey, do you have newspapers at your place?" Xu Qinglang came out after finishing a round of deliveries, sending off the last batch of takeout guys.

"What for?"

"To paper the walls." Xu Qinglang replied.

"So thrifty?"

"Newspapers on the walls create an atmosphere and a sense of the times. You didn't sell them all yesterday, did you?"

"There are still some left. Wait, I'll go find some for you."

Zhou Ze returned to the store, and from the box next to his freezer on the second floor, he carried out a pile of newspapers half the height of a person, and gave them to Xu Qinglang who was waiting there.

"You're not going home for the New Year either?" Xu Qinglang asked.

"Spending the New Year with books."

It was a pity that Zhou Ze didn't have a goatee and didn't have wine in his hand,

Otherwise, he could have drunk a large cup to celebrate this pretentious statement.

"Aren't you not going home either?" Zhou Ze asked after indulging in his own thoughts for a while.

"Twenty-something apartments, which home should I go back to?" Xu Qinglang sighed.

"............" Zhou Ze.

The two were silent for a while, and Zhou Ze said, "Let me tell you a story."

"Okay." Xu Qinglang nodded, looking a little reserved. His hair was a bit long, and a few strands of hair hung down, brushing his lips. He reached out and brushed the hair away, his posture gentle, truly delicate and charming.

This kind of charm is hard to put into words.

"Once, also on New Year's Day, late at night on the road, a person met the richest man in the area.

The rich man was drunk.

That person asked the rich man, why aren't you going home?

The rich man replied: Home, where is my home? My family and relatives are not by my side. The home you're talking about, is it my largest manor in the city?"

Xu Qinglang listened to this story and nodded slightly, seeming to deeply sympathize.

"Then that person pressed the rich man to the ground and beat him violently, shouting:

I told you to come out and show off on New Year's!"

Zhou Ze continued to finish the story.

"............" Xu Qinglang.

The two men's chat was over.

Zhou Ze returned to his bookstore. The bookstore had heating on, it was warm, he was flipping his phone, there was no one to contact.

He thought about going to the orphanage to take a look, but then thought better of it, he didn't have much money left.

But at this time, a customer came to the door. It was a young man wearing a blue work uniform and a safety helmet. He pushed open the bookstore door and came in, shyly asking:

"Can I read books here? How much does it cost?" The other party pursed his lips.

"Just read, pay what you want." Zhou Ze waved his hand, indicating that he could do as he pleased.

"That's great. Do you have novels here?" the young man said somewhat restrainedly, "I like reading novels, the kind of online novels."

Zhou Ze pointed to a box behind the bookshelf, "They're all there."

The other party walked to the box and rummaged through it, looking very happy, but some of the books still had the covers on.

"Unwrap them and read, no charge." Zhou Ze said generously.

"Okay."

The young man unwrapped an online novel and sat down on a plastic stool and started reading.

Zhou Ze, as the owner, sat behind the counter trimming his nails. The young man sat there reading. After about half an hour, the young man stood up from the chair, took out his cigarette, and handed one to Zhou Ze:

"It's not a good cigarette, don't mind."

"Hey, cigarettes aren't a good thing anyway, what's the difference between good and bad?"

Zhou Ze took the cigarette, and the other party also took one, took the initiative to go outside the store, and smoked while blowing the cold wind.

This made Zhou Ze, who originally planned to smoke in the house, stunned for a moment. Thinking about it, he put the cigarette aside and continued to trim his nails.

After the young man finished smoking outside, he came back. This time, he didn't continue to sit on the plastic stool, but sat on the floor leaning against the wall.

Although the room had air conditioning, the tiles on the floor were still very cold, but the young man didn't care, probably because he was used to it.

About a quarter of an hour later, four more men in blue work uniforms that had been washed very clean walked over. The oldest was less than thirty years old, and the youngest was probably only about seventeen years old.

The four of them came in together, and the young man leaning against the wall waved to them. He must have called them over.

The newcomers greeted Zhou Ze, Zhou Ze perfunctorily responded and continued to trim his nails;

Zhou Ze decided to buy a set of professional nail care tools, so that he could be worthy of his nails.

It's just that the express delivery was suspended now, and most of the physical stores outside were closed, so he could only give up for the time being.

Looking up again, Zhou Ze found that the five workers were all sitting on the ground, each holding a novel in their hands.

Judging from the covers, they were all online novels, mostly fantasy. One was holding a horror novel, and he was biting his nails while reading, obviously enjoying it.

It was just that the other party's behavior of biting his nails made Zhou Ze a little disapproving.

Knowing how to cherish nails is knowing how to cherish life.

From time to time, people would laugh while reading the novels. It was a heartfelt laugh from reading the stories.

There were quite a few people in the bookstore, but it was very quiet. There was a little bit of noise from time to time, but it wasn't disturbing.

In the evening, Xu Qinglang walked in with a bowl of dumplings. After he came in, he said directly:

"Yo, it's pretty lively in the store."

Zhou Ze smiled and nodded.

"Brothers, want to eat something?" Xu Qinglang asked the workers sitting in the store.

Everyone looked at each other,

A little at a loss.

"Forget it, I'll treat you." Xu Qinglang was, after all, a man with twenty-something apartments, "It's not easy for you brothers not to go home during the New Year. You're all out here working hard to make money. Brothers are brothers all over the world."

"Then, thank you boss, boss will get rich." The oldest worker stood up and thanked Xu Qinglang.

"You're welcome, you're welcome."

Xu Qinglang put down Zhou Ze's dumplings and went back to his shop.

Zhou Ze drank a little soup, and then forcibly swallowed two dumplings. The hateful Xu Qinglang forgot to bring him sour plum juice, he couldn't eat them.

He took out the cigarettes on the table and walked out from behind the counter.

"Change them yourself after you're done reading. I should have the complete set here anyway. Anyway, my shop is just a losing business here, so don't be polite with me."

Zhou Ze handed out the cigarettes one by one,

The workers were flattered to receive them one by one.

Then everyone stood up and walked outside the store together, squatting in a row and smoking.

They didn't want to dirty the store's environment.

Zhou Ze thought about it and also walked out of the store. Outside, the wind was a bit cold. He also squatted down next to them and smoked together.

The workers were chatting,

Those who were married talked about their wives and children;

Those who were not married talked about their sweethearts in Tongcheng or back home,

Teasing each other,

Joking with each other,

Although everyone knew each other well,

They still had things to talk about.

Judging from their accents, this group of workers came from all over the country, not from the same village.

Tongcheng is close to Shanghai and belongs to the Yangtze River Delta region. Although it can't compare with Shanghai in terms of size, the amount of labor used here every year is still very large. As long as you are willing to endure hardship, you don't have to worry about finding a job or earning money.

After passing out cigarettes to each other twice,

Zhou Ze opened his mouth and said, "Brothers, are you really not going home for the New Year to take a look?"

"No, everyone at home is fine."

"It's too much trouble to go back and forth, and there's still work to do in the first month of the new year. The boss will also give out red envelopes. We can't take it for nothing, and we can send more money back home."

"Haha, today is pretty good, we have novels to read and cigarettes to smoke, this New Year is also fun."

"Boss, when are you closing?" one of the workers asked.

"I'm not closing." Zhou Ze replied.

"Boss isn't going home?"

"The missus at home doesn't listen, so I'm not going back."

Zhou Ze immediately felt heroic!

The workers all gave Zhou Ze a thumbs up and cheered for him.

Of course, no one echoed too much. You could tell from their accents, and Zhou Ze was running a bookstore, not a fruit stand, so the workers guessed that Zhou Ze was a local.

There must be a reason why the locals stayed in the store and didn't go home during the New Year, so everyone didn't continue to joke about it.

Moreover, they were all the pillars of their families, working hard to earn money, and the elderly and children at home were all taken care of by their wives. They were tired, they were exhausted, but their wives were the same.

Life is built on hardship, endured through generations, who's life is easy?

Zhou Ze was just about to continue handing out cigarettes when a shout came from a distance:

"Xu Le!"

Zhou Ze raised his head and stood up, only to find a Porsche Cayenne parked on the opposite side of the road, a familiar car,

Well, his wife's car.

The one who shouted was the sister-in-law. She was indeed frightened by Zhou Ze in the bathroom a while ago, but now she had returned to normal. It was impossible for her to think that her brother-in-law was a ghost, so she just attributed it to being dizzy from being frightened at that time.

Of course, she couldn't possibly have a good temper towards Zhou Ze, after all, he had scared this young lady so much that she peed her pants, how embarrassing!

"Xu Le, come home for dinner!"

The sister-in-law shouted.

"I'm not going back, the shop is busy and lively." Zhou Ze waved his hand.

What a joke,

Go back to see that pair of idiotic parents-in-law during the New Year?

Suffer the anger of this ignorant sister-in-law?

Most importantly,

Go home eagerly during the New Year to sleep in separate beds?

Looking for abuse?

"Sis, is this guy a psycho! Unreasonable, inexplicable, and stubborn!"

The sister-in-law pouted in the back seat.

Dr. Lin smiled, "Let's go home and eat with Mom and Dad first."

"Yo, from the sound of it, you're planning to come out tonight?"

"I'm, after all, his legal wife." Dr. Lin didn't say anything more, started the car and left.

Watching the car drive away,

Zhou Ze shouted to the workers around him, "Brothers, is my wife pretty?"

"Pretty!"

"You're blessed!"

"Too beautiful!"

"Hahahaha."

Xu Qinglang walked out of the shop with a large tray,

"Come on, braised pork over rice, brothers, let's eat!"

The workers were a little restrained and a little embarrassed. The oldest worker said a little embarrassed, "We didn't bring any...when we came out."

"We agreed before, I'm treating the brothers to a meal! If you mention money again, you're not treating me as a brother. We're all from different places, who knows when we'll meet again. There will be times when I'll need you brothers."

"Okay!"

"That's the word!"

"When you come to my hometown..."

"Come on!"

The workers all took a large bowl of rice and went into the bookstore. Everyone squatted on the ground, placed the bowls on the plastic stools, and ate heartily.

One worker was still reading a novel while eating, and was knocked on the head with chopsticks by a worker next to him.

"You're blinded by lard, if you accidentally dirty the book, how will the boss sell it?"

"That's right, let's eat first."

The atmosphere was very lively. Zhou Ze returned behind his counter. He ate three more of the dumplings that had cooled down. This time, he didn't know why, maybe it was because of the atmosphere, but his nausea was much less than before.

After the meal,

Everyone continued to read.

The room had heating and novels to read, it was very harmonious.

Before he knew it, it was ten o'clock in the evening.

The oldest worker stood up, stretched, and said, "Brothers, it's time to go back. Let's help them clean up the room."

"Okay!"

The five workers helped Zhou Ze clean up the shop from top to bottom.

"Boss, we're leaving, thank you for today."

"You're welcome." Zhou Ze waved his hand.

They left,

Unlike the girl with the corgi last night, who left a hundred yuan after reading for a while, they read for a whole day and half a night, and didn't leave a single penny.

But Zhou Ze didn't care at all, and didn't have the slightest dissatisfaction.

Stretching, Zhou Ze planned to call Xu Qinglang to take back the bowls and chopsticks in the shop. When he walked to the noodle shop, Zhou Ze saw Xu Qinglang sitting behind the table looking at the newspaper.

Well, the newspaper was still the one Zhou Ze gave him during the day.

Xu Qinglang was wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, he did look a bit scholarly, as expected of a man with twenty-odd apartments,

He had an air of sophistication!

"Clean up the bowls and chopsticks over there." Zhou Ze said.

"Okay, I'll go now."

Xu Qinglang took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and got up to clean up the bowls and chopsticks next door.

On top of that large pile of newspapers was a copy of the Yangtze Evening News, dated seven days ago;

On the front page of the newspaper was a large, bold headline:

"Residential Building Fire, Bravery Touches Hearts"

Last week, a fire broke out in a densely populated residential area in Tongcheng, and the fire was severe.

Five young construction workers from a nearby construction site ran in to rescue people, risking their lives, saving more than twenty old people, women, and children, but after their last rush into the fire to rescue people,

They were unable to run out again.

The Yangtze Evening News cover had a large photo,

This was a group photo of these five people,

They stood shoulder to shoulder, making an old-fashioned V-sign, seemingly a photo taken when they first came to the construction site and lived in the same shed,

Faces, young but also with some vicissitudes and wrinkles,

In the photo,

They smiled a little restrained, but also very brightly.

Xu Qinglang walked into the bookstore,

Looking at the five bowls of rice placed on the plastic stools in front of him,

They hadn't been touched at all. The food had long since lost its warmth,

In each bowl of rice, there was a pair of chopsticks stuck straight up.

"Brothers,

Eat well,

Drink well."

Xu Qinglang murmured.

Outside,

The sound of firecrackers rang out,

Tongcheng hadn't banned fireworks, for a time, the sky was full of colorful lights, very lively and festive.

Zhou Ze raised his head and looked outside,

He said in a low voice:

"It's New Year's."