The late summer night was a little cool, like water fresh out of a well.

A few big dogs and kittens rummaged through the garbage heaps in the deserted alley, and Wang Qiang followed the bark of a big yellow dog and turned into a smaller alley.

This side is about a kilometer from the North Square, which is not far, and the price of the nearest hotel will be very expensive.

It's not the first time he's come to Shanghai, but no matter in his past or present life, he hasn't been here for 94 years, he seems a little unfamiliar, and he is always afraid that a gangster will suddenly come out.

Walking on this strange path, the big yellow dog's flattering bark can calm Wang Qiang's tension in a foreign land, and not far away, you can see two rows of small grocery stores on the small street that have not yet closed, and all kinds of baked biscuits exude the smell of smoke.

Wang Qiang is a little tired, he has been running around on the train recently, and his body has long been tired, he just wants to hurry back to the hotel to take a shower and sleep for a while.

In front, the sign reads Friendship Guest House in five big characters.

Wang Qiang knew that he had touched the hotel and might be too tired, so he hobbled to the iron door, patted it, and shouted inside, "Help open the door." ”

"Haning?" a woman's voice came from inside, probably meaning whom.

Wang Qiang's hair was scattered, and he stroked it twice, "The tenant who opened a room with you in the afternoon." "The guest house closes in the evening, not as convenient as the big hotel.

Looking in along the iron railing, a woman with a stern expression came out.

The middle-aged woman took the key to open the door, and said in a not-so-smooth Shanghai dialect: "Why is it so late? She even glanced sideways.

Wang Qiang felt the contempt in her eyes, smiled, and didn't take it to heart, the real old Shanghai has a better attitude, only the women in front of him, who later moved to Shanghai, will have an inexplicable sense of superiority, as if they are all countrymen, of course, Wang Qiang is indeed a countryman, but the countryman in Shanghai's population does not refer to a countryman, but a contemptuous title.

asked for a hot water bottle, and Wang Qiang carried it back to the room.

Take out the key and open the door.

Push the door in, the smell inside is not very good, he even smelled the smell of hair oil on the old woman in the countryside when he was five years old, and it is also a woman who he can call his grandmother who has not shampooed her hair for a month, in his memory, grandma tang's oily back of her head is stuck with a fine pattern silver hairpin, Wang Qiang is very uncomfortable when he smells the smell of hair oil on her body, wow wow crying, grandma Tang pulled out the hairpin and scared him to stab him, and then carried him or more like carrying him to the wooden bridge in the countryside to blow the cold wind.

Grandma Tang didn't like him at all, Wang Qiang was very disgusted with this old woman's face at that time, he often glared at Grandma Tang fiercely when he was a child, perhaps, this was the first enemy in his life. It's just that my mother smiled politely every time she saw my grandmother, and she smiled very attentively, and this smile contained a share of my mother's contempt, because the family was poor, and my grandmother was one of the long-term creditors of her family.

Today, in the small hotel room where Wang Qiang left his hometown, he smelled a distant and familiar smell, and there was a warm smell of oil on his head, which stimulated his heart, but he was already sore, yawning and pulling out the footbasin from under the bed, and feeling out the toothpaste and toothbrush he was carrying, he ran outside to brush his teeth and wash his face, and then came back with some cold water, poured some boiling water and wiped it comfortably on his body, the conditions were simple, and there was no way to take a good bath.

If it weren't for the goods, he would have even wanted to live in a room for three people, after all, the price is cheaper.

After taking a shower, Wang Qiang suddenly thought of selling a lot of Walkmans today, and said to himself: "Look at how many units have been sold." As he spoke, he squatted down and opened the snakeskin bag, and counted the walkmen inside.

"One...... Three...... Fifteen...... Twenty ......"

After a while, he had finished counting and was surprised to find that fifteen Walkmans had been sold in one night.

When the sleepiness came up, Wang Qiang climbed onto a small bed that might be only one meter two, and pulled out the lights casually.

Whew, whew.

Asleep, it was very fragrant.

……

Morning.

The sun's rays shone in through the narrow window and fell on the sleeping Wang Qiang's face.

He felt warm and couldn't help but yawn, then slowly opened his eyes and struggled to reach for his pillow watch to check the time.

Eight thirty-five.

It's still early, go to bed again...... Eight thirty-five?

Wang Qiang woke up from the bed suddenly, knocked on his head with some annoyance, overslept and missed the stall in the morning, hey, I'm so tired these days, I slept for more than ten hours, forget it, go down first to renew the room fee, and then eat something and go out.

Thinking about it, he washed up, locked the door tightly, ran downstairs to the front desk, and shouted, "Sister, are you there?"

A woman's voice came from inside, "Urgent?" ”

Wang Qiang pulled a chair near the counter and sat down, stretched, and waited slowly.

About two minutes later, the middle-aged woman ran out of it, saw that it was him, and said lazily, "What's the matter?"

"Stay for another day and pay for the room. Wang Qiang stood up and said.

The middle-aged woman stretched out her hand and said simply and clearly: "Money." ”

Wang Qiang put his hand into his pocket, all the money he earned last night was in it, the amount was a bit much, the bag mouth was a little small, it was not easy to take it out, he grabbed it hard, clanged a few times, a few coins fell on the cement floor, he held a thick stack of money and squatted down to pick up three coins, only then leaned under the counter and pulled out a piece of ten, and then quickly stuffed the other money back into his pocket, as the saying goes, wealth is not exposed, he just showed it because he was careless, fortunately there is only one proprietress here, otherwise I am afraid it will make people red.

Hand over the money, if you stay, the shop will cost two yuan a night, a three-person room will cost five yuan, and a single room will be more expensive than him, ten yuan.

The middle-aged woman glanced at her, her originally stern expression melted instantly, and she said with a smile: "Yo, don't you see, it's still a small boss?"

Wang Qiang smiled, didn't answer, and asked, "Boss, where is there a public phone nearby?"

"I have it. The middle-aged woman brought up a red telephone from under the counter, and her tone was much better than before, "Short distance or long distance?"

"Long distance. ”

"I'm looking for the key. ”

The middle-aged woman opened the drawer, took out a small key, inserted it into the keyhole of the telephone and twisted it, and said with concern, "Don't forget to add the area code." ”

"Thank you. Wang Qiang lifted the microphone and put it to his ear, entered the number of the village committee, and now the communication is very inconvenient, especially when it comes to the countryside, he can only call the village committee, and then let the village committee call people.

Toot, toot.

It rang two or three times, the phone went through, and a woman's voice came from the other side, "Pull one?" in the local dialect, who does it mean.

Wang Qiang also said in local dialect: "Is it Aunt Yuefen? I am Wang Baoguo's son." ”

"Oh, it's a hadron. The village secretary wondered, "Where are you? Why are you still calling the village?"

"I'm in Shanghai, can you help me call my mother?"

"Okay, you'll call in twenty minutes. ”

"Okay, thanks. ”

Hung up the phone.

The middle-aged woman hurriedly leaned over to the monitor and looked, "One minute, one dollar." ”

Pulled out a coin and gave it to her.

"Refreshing, last time there was a countryman who played a long distance with me, and after two minutes, I asked him for two yuan, and he was still arguing with me, hum. The middle-aged woman was not very satisfied, and then smiled: "It's still a boss like you who is refreshing, I'll never call those countrymen next time, it's annoying." ”

Wang Qiang smiled and chatted with her, and the middle-aged woman was not impatient at all, as if she was a different person from last night.

During this time, two guests checked out.

The middle-aged woman grimaced at them, took the key and impatiently pointed out the way to the two, then turned back and said with a smile: "Little boss, what are you doing?

Wang Qiang couldn't stand her snobbery, and pretended to look at his watch, "Do a small business, the time is almost up, take me on the phone." ”

"Good. The middle-aged woman picked up the phone again and took the initiative to unlock it.

Lift the microphone again and call the village committee.

This time, it took five or six rings to connect, and the familiar voice of his mother came from the other side, "Qiangzi?"

"Oh, Mom. Hearing her voice, Wang Qiang's heart warmed inexplicably.

My mother said, "Why did it take days to call? ”

He quickly explained: "I was on the train two days ago, I returned to Shanghai yesterday, and I only took time to spare today, are you okay at home?"

"Good, good. The mother's voice was full of joy, "You asked Lu Wei to help?" I don't know if I haven't been in contact, it's quite a thick guy, I came over at five o'clock in the morning every morning to help me lift the cage, and helped me push it to the town, and Junjun's girl, I want to accept her as a daughter, not to mention how sweet her mouth is." ”

learned from his mother that Lu Wei not only did not lose his trust, but also helped deliver the fish to the town, Wang Qiang was very happy, felt that he did not look away, and casually chatted with his mother for a few words, but he did not dislike the expensive phone bill.

After chatting for a while, my mother suddenly said, "By the way, I'm going to sign up in the next two days, when will you come back?"

Sign up so early?

Wang Qiang was stunned for a moment, and then thought about it carefully, the high school at home seems to be ten days and half a month before the start of school, because the next military training, speaking of military training, he also remembered an interesting story, 1990 or when he doesn't remember much, it seems that Tsinghua University or Peking University is a five-year system, of which military training is one year, fortunately the university he went to is not so harsh, so he doesn't know what kind of experience military training is for a year.

"Maybe in another ten days. ”

"That's ...... tuition"

"If you don't borrow it from someone first, you really can't pay some interest, and I'll pay it back when I come back." Wang Qiang said.

My mother hesitated, "Is that okay? We don't have much money." ”

Wang Qiang glanced at the middle-aged woman staring at his face, turned around and lowered his voice, and whispered: "Mom, don't worry about the money, I have earned one thousand six outside in the past few days." ”

In fact, this thousand six was earned last night, not these days, but he was afraid of scaring his mother, so he deliberately said that for a few days, he sold thirty-one jeans and fifteen Walkmans last night, and the jeans can earn about eighteen or nineteen yuan, and the Walkman earns seventy each, almost one thousand sixteen.

Even so, the mother was taken aback, "One thousand sixteen?"

After a sigh, Wang Qiang said: "You borrow money to sign up first, and then say that you will pay it back in ten days, and wait for me to come back." ”

"Good. ”

After a few more conversations, he hung up the phone amid his mother's urging.

This time, after seven minutes of fighting, Wang Qiang didn't ask the middle-aged woman to say, and directly took out seven yuan from his pocket and threw it over.

The middle-aged woman's face smiled like a chrysanthemum.

"Boss, where can I have breakfast here?" asked Wang Qiang.

The middle-aged woman took the initiative to say, "I cooked some porridge here, why don't you eat some together?" she hurriedly added, "I won't charge you money, add a pair of dishes and chopsticks." Although Wang Qiang's voice was low just now, and he still used the local dialect, she still understood, and secretly spoke, obediently, earn 1600 in a few days? This young man is amazing, she can't help but want to be close to Wang Qiang, and ask what kind of business can make so much money.

Hearing that Wang Qiang could save expenses was not polite, now he can save a little is a little, after all, the burden of earning 10,000 yuan a month is on his shoulders, he smiled and said: "Okay, then thank you." ”

"No thanks, be your own home. The middle-aged woman happily shouted inside, "Old Zhu, fill more bowls of porridge." ”

A man's voice came from inside, "What are you doing?"

The middle-aged woman stuck her waist and shouted: "Let you be prosperous, talk a lot." ”