Bad Fortune (short story)

One

At that time, I called her eldest sister.

The eldest sister took good care of me. I had to buy five or six newspapers every time, which made me feel like I owed her something the moment I received the money. So I tried to pick a little new money to find her. If you encounter a broken brain, you simply don't count them. But she couldn't, so she insisted that I take it: "A dime or two cents is also money, and everything that should be collected is accepted." It's not easy for you, big winter! ”

There had been a snowfall in those days, and it was not thick, but the wind was cold and hard, and it blew on the face like pig iron. My newsstand was just west of the road, and when the wind was strong, the table looked like it was about to be lifted. From time to time I had to pounce on it, holding down the newspaper with my arms like an eagle spreading its wings.

Since renting a newsstand, I thought that I would bid farewell to the deep mountains and old forests and make a living in the city, but I didn't expect that this place also has its cold side. One morning when I was about to make up the rent, a brother on a bicycle smiled and handed me a fake piece of money. Because I used to know that there were few opportunities to deal with money by holding bricks and blowing stones, when I smiled and put that fake money in my pocket, it was equivalent to holding the coldest thing in the city to my chest.

I tore the brand new hundred-dollar bill to shreds!

Vehicles and crowds like ants running or frolicking on the road have nothing to do with me. In the next week, I saw people like wolves, and their eyes were so wide that they could bear fruit. Maybe my eldest sister noticed my unusual mood, or maybe I was grateful that a fat woman in her fifties frequented my newsstand, and her eyes filled with tears when I told her about the fake money.

The eldest sister said, this is the first tuition you pay to the city!

She said that the city is not as good as the country, and there are all kinds of things gathered here, and all those who want to make a living in the city have to learn to distinguish them with their eyes wide open. True and false, false and true, only by tasting it with your tongue can you know whether the orange is sweet or sour.

Then she began to tell her story - I was not like you when I first arrived in town, and my face was darker than eggplant. Because I often drive a tractor, I only know how to step on the accelerator and gear up. At that time, I didn't think about anything, I just wanted to drive in the vast world to work. My shoulders are generally round and black, and who in the city is looking at you? I feel ashamed when others wear skirts and high heels.

My parents said that the revolution has to be done, and the marriage has to be married, you are thirty years old, what are you procrastinating? I said in the mirror, who dragged it? With my flesh, I can screw off other people's heads, who dares to ask me? People ignore me and let me drill into other people's arms?

The emperor was not in a hurry, and the eunuchs were in a hurry, and their parents began to nag about marriage all day long. I said, you are so anxious, you have already hugged your grandson! Dealing with it like this, in fact, it is the same as a monkey eating garlic, and he can't wait to marry himself tomorrow.

Finally, a neighbor, an old lady, came to the door on crutches. I didn't say anything, my parents almost didn't kneel down! They served tea and poured water in front of each other, just like an old lady who could send her daughter into the palace to be the imperial concubine, and the careful stuttering appearance made people uncomfortable. Anyway, I ended up marrying someone with a leg problem. Despite his disability, he has a city hukou. Kowtow two heads, put a few strings of cannons, and live a reasonable and legal life with one person. Just pass it, why not for a lifetime? I thought that everything would be fine as soon as I got married, but who would have thought that in less than half a year, someone with a problem with his legs also had a problem, and he went to prison for stealing things from the factory...... My parents are both old and advanced, and I am also a party member, so why did I choose a thief?

I didn't shed a single tear. At that time, I was like I had a lot of things on my shoulder, and I was always thinking that I had a lot to do. So after the divorce, I found someone who was ten years older than me. At first, I thought that age was not a problem, as long as people were good to me, I wouldn't say anything. But two years later, we don't have any children. I thought I wasn't ready and didn't let go like other modern youth. As soon as I went to the hospital for an examination, the result was that "dead sperm" was found! Why do you say people just carry it like this? Why did you let me do everything? In the past, I didn't believe in fate, so I only knew that one steamed bun was not enough to eat two, but now it seems that everything has a fixed number of miles.

Later, we had to go to the countryside and raise one. Girl. The brain is not very flexible. I scored more than ten points in the exam, and anyway, every time I had a parent-teacher conference, I was a target of a gun, and I let others shoot at our heads.

I was anxious, and I had to smile on my face. I spent money to make up for the class, but I didn't make it up. This girl has a bad memory, is lazy, and is still stubborn. The most uncomfortable thing is that not only did the "old thing" ignore it, but he also came back with a rotten disease after a trip to Shenzhen......

Two

The leaves of the locust tree have long since fallen, and some of the dry branches have been blown away by the strong wind. There was only the wind, only confetti and plastic waste dangling in front of my eyes. The cleaners swept over and over again, and if they didn't sweep away, they fought guerrilla attacks on the streets, and the enemy retreated, and the enemy advanced and I retreated. I sat in front of the newsstand, except for sorting out the wind-blown newspapers again and again, and I was curling my neck in a daze. By the afternoon, the wind had subsided a bit, and the newspaper sales had gradually increased. Even the eldest sister bought a few extra copies.

The eldest sister wore a knee-length black dress today, showing her thick legs. There seemed to be more blood on her face than before, and spider webs covered both sides of her face, making her look a little messy. She handed me a plastic bag and said that there was a sweater that she had bought newly and that it didn't fit, so she brought it over, "Looks like your daughter-in-law can wear it, she's taller than me." Tell her not to dislike it, I really don't have anything to wear. ”

How could I be disgusted? I quickly took it and placed it under the table at the newsstand. "I'm going to the hospital for a follow-up today, and I may have to stay for a few more days." The eldest sister said while looking at the half of the steamed bun in my hand, and couldn't help sighing: "Alas, it's not easy!" Nibble on a dry steamed bun in a day. I think that when I drove a tractor, I was also hungry and full, and I often dealt with a few mouthfuls in the field. At that time, I thought that I was a piece of iron, and I was a piece of material wherever I put it, but now I know that people are not as good as an ant, and when you are sick, a gust of wind can blow you down. ”

"The eldest sister still looks quite energetic."

"Spirit? It's like a bad car, it can run with gas, and it will be scrapped if you don't refuel. Now there are not only high blood pressure and heart disease, but also stomach ulcers, rheumatoid arthritis, neuropathic headaches, ......"

I widened my eyes and listened to her talk about her condition like a doctor, and comforted: "But you have medical insurance, and you can be reimbursed for medical treatment and hospitalization. ”

"Thirty years in the east of the river and thirty years in the west of the river, maybe one day you will also come to work. Looking at what happened over the years, I found a few men, all of them are like turtle grandsons, none of them are good! I used to just think about working hard, and I said that I had a country to support it, so what were I thinking? At that time, I had to pay part of the money for the unit to divide the house, and I didn't even think about it and pushed it away. Now look at it, the house price is the same every day, and it is dozens of times higher! In the same unit as me, people sold the old house to buy a new house, changed the attic to live in a villa, and we are still sulking in the old house of 50 square meters...... At first, the fifty square meters were just a few brick walls, but the later it became, the more it looked like the emperor's palace. Because the house belongs to someone else's, I don't know what my surname is all day long. Say it at every turn, you can live together if you want to, you don't want to pull it down, whoever stops you is the grandson......" As she spoke, the eldest sister suddenly felt a little sad and almost choked.

"Don't look at you gnawing on dry steamed buns, there is no burden in your heart, although I have a retirement salary of more than 1,000 yuan every month, I am not as happy as you. Two people are crowded in one house, but their hearts are 108,000 miles away! You don't know what I'm living now, and I don't dare to go out! As soon as you go out, it's like a thief. He's got that rotten disease, so I can't do anything like that with him anymore, but as soon as I leave the house, I'll be able to find some long hairs in my bed...... He didn't admit it, saying that you don't want to be nervous for a day, just a few hairs, what kind of crime do you condemn me? You see people are stiff-mouthed. A family of three, my hair is so thin that I can't even cover my scalp, and my daughter also has short hair, where did you say the long hair on the bed came from? ”

While selling newspapers, I listened to my eldest sister talk about her grievances, and on several occasions I almost found the wrong money. But this woman in her fifties did not seem to have the slightest intention of leaving. She was like Boya finding a bosom friend, standing next to my newsstand, foaming at the mouth: "Xiao Zhang, the biggest misfortune in people's lives is that they can't meet someone who knows cold and hot and really cares for you!" I mentioned it to that bastard a few times, and I said that we should get together and disperse, you take your Yangguan Road, and I will cross my single-plank bridge, but people will not divorce. Do you think people are reluctant to give me up? He is reluctant to house! He was afraid that he would give me the house when he divided the property, so he waited for me to leave, and left him to keep it alone. ”

Bus No. 28 came, and the eldest sister turned around and ran over, and when I saw her somewhat fat body hidden in the car, I still had a few long hairs tangled in my mind. That's right, how can long hair grow on a bed sheet innocently?

Three

There are no bicycles and houses are rented far away, so you have to go back and forth every day to measure the length of the streets in the city for free. Needless to say, getting up early and being greedy for darkness is not as good as sitting in the office, and there is overtime pay for more than eight hours. The mere glimpse of a sudden walk into a rental house in the midst of the bright lights was enough to make a young and strong man lose his confidence. The cold stove in the ice pot, the fifteen-watt light bulb, the dirty clothes that I changed in the morning, the cobwebs that trembled slightly in the corners of the walls, the greasy dust on the glass...... All these signs will make me forget the dreams I once had, and I will only drop the old newspapers that have not been sold out, take off the shoes that do not keep out the cold, lie on the pimple bed (the bed is the old cabinet of the landlord's house), wrap myself in the quilt, and never want to move again.

I just closed my eyes when I heard a knock on the door. In this suburb of the city, where the emperor is far away, there are still people who think about me! One of the bones turned up, and went to open the door without even putting on shoes, and really saw the red, fat, green and thin lady standing in front of the door. My heart was beating hot, my face was tight, and I shuddered two words: "Please...... Enter! In fact, before the word "enter" was spoken, the lady had already opened her red lips and said sonorously: "I will not go in." It's been more than ten days since you moved in, and you've paid this month's rent first! The word "three" was like three hammers hitting my head, and suddenly I was struck with a thrill. I quickly tore off the robe of the toad that was covering my face just now, changed into a smiling face and said, "In two days, I will pay my salary in two days, and even the water and electricity bills will be paid to you at that time." "The lady is a lady after all, looked around the empty rental house, and said nothing. An old lady appeared, and like monkey hair blown out of Sun Dasheng's hand, she turned a somersault and stopped. "No! If you don't pay the room fee, move out today! Do you think we don't need money to build a house? You migrant workers are the most shameless, you ran away last month, and now there is another one! "I just felt a flame coming out of my neck. When I rented a house, I took the key from a man, how did I suddenly become two women?

I unzipped my jacket, pulled out the crumpled ticket from my arms, and began to count 1510. Although I know that this is all my "savings" at the moment, once I give them it, today's food money and tomorrow's newspaper money will be gone, but what can I do? Do you want me to kowtow to them?

The two heroines took a handful of gross tickets and left very unfriendly. The old lady also looked back at me and muttered, "Rich to pretend to be a grandson!" ”

I slammed the door shut, not sure whether to stand or sit. Looking at the few lonely dimes left on the bed, they looked like the remnants of the defeated soldiers on the battlefield. Reaching out and slamming my fist against the unclean wall, the slight pain made me realize how small I was. Once "pulling out the mountains and covering the world", stubbornly washing away the mud from my feet and wishing to gallop in another world, now it seems that it is tantamount to naivety. The hard city blocked my view with steel and concrete, and at the same time, it hit my soft underbelly with overly realistic bullets.

Walking out of the alley, people still shouted and neighed. Harvesting rags, selling soy sauce and vinegar, popping corn, and fried peanuts and melon seeds, they are like a scenery on the outskirts of the city. I walked through the "landscape", and in the shouting and noise, I also left a lonely stroke on this urban canvas. Inside the store, the TV shows colorful images, and children outside the store are playing with a pet dog with a bowl. The eyes of the billiards player are fixed on the direction of the ball, the bamboo cage of the person who buys the bun is lifted open and a puff of steam comes out, and the fish and ducks on the dining table of the restaurant are staggered. I'm the only one who is an idler, with no purpose, no direction, no money to buy a bowl of ramen, no friends to say a word, just a cooing skin, silently playing in the winter night......

Four

I was sponsored by my eldest sister.

In the hustle and bustle of the city, a fat woman about fifty years old, while handing me a hundred yuan, also spread the enthusiasm of life to my heart. Who am I? What can I do? "Eldest sister, to be honest, I originally decided to go back to my hometown tomorrow." At that moment, I didn't dare to look at my eldest sister's eyes, and felt that a big man who accepted other people's alms for no reason was still weak-hearted, and a little unreasonable.

"What are you going to do? Will you be able to earn money when you go back? What is the point of living in the mountains all my life? Xiao Zhang, I can see that you are a person with strong self-esteem, don't take this money to your heart. Hold on, insist on mixing up here and coming out! How many migrant workers in the city have houses and cars, you are no worse than them, as long as you work hard, you will definitely have a profit! ”

"Eldest sister......" I looked up, and stopped talking.

"Say no more. In fact, every family has a scripture that is difficult to read. I...... I had another fight with him last night. I'm just not convinced, I don't believe I can't catch her! It must be the X son next door, and there is no one else, otherwise how can he do things under people's noses? You see how bold it is, just as I went downstairs to buy a pack of sanitary napkins, there was a war in my bed! The eldest sister became angry as she spoke, and her bloodshot face suddenly tightened, almost bursting like a balloon.

"The eldest sister should also be sensible, and she can't convict others by grasping the slightest clue." I want to persuade my eldest sister that I can't be indifferent with the hundred pieces of charcoal in the snow in my pocket. "Clues? Am I the one who easily wrongs people? The sheets that had just been laid were suddenly imprinted with two thumb-sized water stains, what do you say? Accidentally spilled drinking water? Spilled on my bed? Besides, can the water idea be the same as that thing? That bastard refused to admit it, and he didn't admit the stolen goods with the bull's head on his back! I've seen it through, if you can't meet someone who knows cold and loves you, you don't want to have a good life in your life. ”

"What then? …… Or just leave and find another one? "I looked at the eldest sister a little timidly.

"Why is it so easy? Not to mention that people don't leave whether they live or die, they just leave, like us, who can look down on people like us, who can look down on people who have no money, no house, and no appearance? Looking at the eldest sister standing in the wind, I wanted her to warm up, but also made her feel that I was not a very old-fashioned man, so I pretended to be humorous and said, "I can." ”

It may have been completely unexpected by the eldest sister, she suddenly focused her eyes, stared at me, looked at me for a few seconds, and said with a smile: "I didn't expect that Yan people would also tell jokes." ”

"Really, eldest sister, I think you're very kind." The eldest sister was a little moved, maybe she had heard too little praise in her life, so she couldn't help but stutter a little when she spoke: "You are also very ...... Very good, get up early every day...... I just can't get the proof, if I have the proof, I can get away with that bastard! ”

"Don't be in a hurry. When I was in a hurry, I felt slow. ”

"Can I not be in a hurry? You have put decades of youth on board, people eat and drink yours, and you still use your money to see rotten diseases at every turn. You've worked hard all your life, and what is left at the end of the day? The house is in someone else's name, and the daughter will have to get married sooner or later, do you think I have nothing now? ”

"Don't you still have me?"

The anger that the eldest sister had just raised was extinguished by my words, and she suddenly said with some emotion: "I didn't expect the half-old to meet a soulmate." Just say this to you, I'll ask you to take a shower at night.

Five

A woman in her fifties had a story with me.

Walking through the narrow staircase, in the dim light, the eldest sister bought tickets for two people. At the time, I thought we would go to different showers, so I took my ticket and walked forward. It wasn't until an elderly woman who was a caretaker pushed open the door of the double bathroom that I was suddenly shocked!

At that moment, I suddenly turned around and went out the door, and then ran in the direction of my rental without looking back.

When I entered the rental house, I didn't know whether I was in or out of a cold wind, and it was like experiencing a dream in my head, which suddenly became distant and unattainable. It's been almost three months since I left my hometown, and my wife and children at home began to calculate the time for me to go out the moment I got into the long-distance bus......

Nightmares in the middle of the night are frequent, and I have nightmares twice. And a bit of a fever. I sat up without turning on the light, my mouth was dry, and my headache was splitting. I wanted to drink water, and I knew that the kettle was also empty, so I swallowed my saliva. I don't know what happened at home? When they left, the rice bag was almost bottoming out, how many of their mothers did they live during this time? When I got married, I borrowed a lot of debt, and in the past few years, not only have I not made up for the shortfall, but I have often eaten too much food. Someone in the village asked his wife, "Why are you marrying Zhang Weiguo?" She smiled and said, "Just for the good of others."

I can't help but ask myself: Where are you Zhang Weiguo?

Six

When I woke up at dawn, I went wholesale newspapers as usual.

The sun is shining and the wind is calm. There are no trees near the rental house, so you can't see the colors of spring. I only guessed from the extremely fast crawling speed of a black beetle that it was time to sow seeds.

The streets are still full of traffic, and the fast pace of the city suddenly makes me miss the slow life of my hometown.

I went to a public phone booth and called my hometown and asked them to call my woman over to talk. The woman I called "fat ass" heard my voice the moment she heard my voice: "Do you remember...... What about our? …… It's been three months...... "I hurriedly laughed and said, why don't you remember? I'm dying! I always want to wait to earn money and then go home, but the more I wait, the more I don't, and I guess the business will be better when the weather is warmer.

"I don't want money. You're back! Everything was planted, wheat and flax were dried and sprinkled, and as long as it rained, there was a harvest. I caught another pig, raised a few chickens, and the doll was about to go to school, and I went to the city to buy him a new school bag......" I couldn't say a word during the eager statement of the "fat ass". Because of guilt, I didn't know what I was going to say, so I just listened quietly. In ten minutes, I didn't say three sentences. I wasn't like that before. At home, I often act like a well-spoken professor, often giving my mother a few political lessons. At that time, although I was eating cornmeal, I was talking about the delicacies of the mountains and the sea, and although I lived in a small house that often leaked rain, I fantasized about a five-star hotel.

It is said that "poor couples mourn everything", but me and "fat ass" can always create warmth and pleasure in a state of poverty. I was grumpy and self-expressive, but she was docile and forbearing, so that the disputes that were often caused by trivial things would be quietly put to rest. I've been married for ten years, what have I given her? A woman who holds a child in her left hand and simmers on the kang with her right hand, a woman who enters the city with five yuan without blushing, who is single-mindedly running a family that is almost out of cooking, and never makes any excessive demands, what has she gained? I originally wanted to find a vacant land of my own in the steel jungle of the city, and then take them all over, and enjoy the life of the city people, but now it seems that it is too far away and too luxurious.

Seven

Suddenly, I heard the voice of a child. It was so close and familiar that I couldn't help but widen my eyes – and sure enough, it was my child! They stood beside the "fat ass", staring at a pair of timid eyes.

I was so frightened that I suddenly jumped out of my chair.

"You ...... When...... Coming? I left the newsstand and took a few steps forward, trying to pull the child's hand, but the little guy hugged the leg of the "fat ass" and cried. It's only been a long time since they've seen each other, and they've actually had some recognition. "What a worthless guy, I cry when I see my father!" While I was embarrassed, I touched my eldest son's head.

"You're so good! I've been out for three months, and I called once! The "fat ass" glared at me and squatted down to coax the child. She was still wearing the pink cotton coat she had bought three years ago, and her hair was dry and turned, apparently washed with laundry detergent.

"Three months? Not so fast. "I deliberately hid haha." Why hasn't it been half a year? You went out on the 19th day of the 11th lunar month, and now it's the 23rd of February, you calculate. ”

She turned her face to stare at me, and I had to clench my fingers and pretend to count. In fact, for two normal men and women, do you need someone else to calculate more than a hundred long nights?

The child stopped crying, and the "fat ass" also stood up, and when my eyes fell on her two places that were no longer very protruding, my heart was twisted as if it were uncomfortable. After three months of separation, the "fat butt" has lost a lot of weight, and her face is also yellow, and she has become a serious yellow-faced woman.

I quickly collected the newspaper and led the three of them to a nearby noodle restaurant for a meal. I knew that I didn't have much money in my pocket, but I still pretended to be big, and I made a table with noodles and meat.

The two children are happier than the New Year, and they don't know what to eat with chopsticks. They sat and stood for a while, and sometimes they couldn't help but scream, which was too busy for "fat butts". While helping them wipe the oil stains on their bodies, she reprimanded in a low voice: "I don't know what my surname is when I see your father!" ”

I said let them go crazy, it's probably the biggest world they've ever seen. I didn't want to be "fat ass" but glared at me and said, "How big of the world do you think you've seen?" If you are an official and sell newspapers, you won't kick our girls? ”

"How is that possible? You're your dad's little padded jacket, and it's also my flower pants, and you can't take it off once you put it on! ”

Before she finished speaking, she had already been kicked in the leg: "Shameless!" She finally "giggled" and laughed.

The laughter mixed with the noise of the children reminded me of those days when I was poor but full of laughter. "Fat Ass" is not very literate, but she can endure hardships and hardships, she is not like a woman in the city who pursues romantic feelings, and she does not have cosmetics to clean up and dress herself, she just knows how to maintain this family well, and nothing else, it seems that she has not thought much about it.

As twilight fell, the lights on the street became brighter, and our family walked in a sea of lights. The child couldn't pull it, pointing to the sky and drawing stars, babbling and singing non-stop. "Fat ass" also pointed to the endless stream of vehicles and said, why are there so many cars? Is anyone sitting?

The rental house was dirty and messy, and the concrete floor was never mopped. I once planned to buy a mop, but I pushed it again and again, and I have persevered to this day. The moment the "fat ass" opened the door and pulled the light, she was stunned by the chaos in front of her, perhaps in her imagination, her husband's residence should be much cleaner than it is now. "Do you look like a pigsty, tsk......" She didn't say a word, picked up the broom and got up in the house. I just laughed along, at most coaxing the child to turn his head on the pimple bed.

After cleaning, the house suddenly opened up. When the dust settled, I ran out and bought a bunch of snacks and came back, and the children screamed around the food. They can't wait to tear open the plastic bag, taste this, sniff that, and don't know where to start. They all felt rare and wanted to have it, so they just stuffed it into their arms, for fear that the other party would snatch it. "Fat Ass" sat on the edge of the bed, looked at me and the child at the same time, and finally said with emotion: "It's crazy to circle the dolls at home, when have they seen so many good things!" ”

作者‬：彦妮