The man and Brother Fan broke up, which may be the inevitable ending. Fan Debiao even knew that there would be such a day, so he made all the preparations from the beginning. The company was registered by him, and he didn't mention any shares to the man; He has always had five insurances and one housing fund, and he has never talked to men; He is in charge of how much money he earns, and men don't even have the right to ask. So when the man parted ways with him, Fan Debiao did not lose a penny, that is to say, the man did not even have the capital to negotiate with him. The man also learned from this experience that friends are friends and business is business, and if you can't distinguish between these two points, the final result will be that your friends' business will fail together.

The Spring Festival of 2006 is coming soon, and what men are looking forward to is not the joy of the approaching New Year, but the problem of numbness. The agent really came to collect the money without moving, because the last time the man had begun to delay the payment of rent, the agent keenly smelled that the tenant had a financial problem, so he immediately adjusted his strategy, replacing the sweet girl who used to collect rent with a bald man, and the previous way of communication that was easy to talk about and discuss was replaced by a tough pursuit. Last time, the man paid the rent to February 15, 2006, but just after New Year's Day, the agent began to call to urge the fee, and also found a lame reason, the Spring Festival company holiday, in order not to affect the tenant to rent a house, in advance to the tenant to handle the payment matters.

broke up unhappily from Brother Fan, and it was impossible for the man to ask him for money again, that is to say, the man worked in Fan Debiao's company for more than a year, and earned a total of 2,000 yuan. So he had to start looking for a job, but sadly, before the Chinese New Year was not a good time to recruit, and there were hardly any suitable jobs.

In order to save money, the man did not dare to go to the Internet café every day to submit his resume, so he could only go once a few days, which also affected his progress in finding a job. The man's living expenses during this period of time are almost to the point of being stingy, and he will go through the various expenses every morning when he gets up: how much is left in the mobile phone bill, how much money is left in his pocket, and how long is there until the next rent payment......

The pace of the Spring Festival is gradually approaching, and a large number of people who work in Beijing from other places began to go home one after another, and the two eldest brothers Yu, who shared a house with a man, also left fifteen days before the Spring Festival. This year, the man can't go home for the New Year, because he can't even afford a round-trip ticket. With the character of a man, it is impossible for him to ask his family for money, because as long as he opens his mouth, it shows that there is something wrong with his work and life in Beijing, and his parents will inevitably be worried. In the concept of a man, there has never been a concept of borrowing money, he has always been a highly independent person, no matter what hardships he encounters, he hopes to solve it by himself and not trouble others. The man thought about what he said to his parents and was about to make a call home.

He first checked the balance of his phone bill, and there were still thirty-four yuan. He wants to keep the whole conversation under four minutes, because if his phone is down, he may not receive the interview notice. The man took a breath, adjusted his mood, walked to the big mirror in the living room, put on a smile, he felt too fake, not happy enough, and brewed his emotions again before dialing the phone at home.

"Hello?"

"Mom, it's me."

"Oh, it's my good son, haha, your dad said yesterday that you haven't called home for so long, and I don't know when you'll be back, I was about to text you to ask." The man listened to his mother while looking in the mirror to see if his smile was in place.

"Oh, that's it, Mom, didn't I tell you last time, I started a business with Brother Shengli's college classmates."

"yes, I know, is that job easy?"

"It's not bad, because it's an emerging market, no one is competing, and now our business is gradually stable, and we're doing well."

"Oh, that's good, I'm worried that you're too tired to work on your own, so it's not as easy as a part-time job."

"Look at what you said, it's not easy to work part-time, you don't know, I worked overtime every day when I was in DT, and the taxi drivers downstairs all knew us, and there was a row of taxis parked at the door of the company in the middle of the night every day, just waiting to pick up those of us who advertised, haha." The man let out a string of laughs with difficulty.

"Oh, then when are you coming back, the ticket is not easy to buy, right? Your Uncle Hou's child is also in Beijing, and the ticket back is very difficult to buy, have you bought it? ”

The man paused and said, "Mom, I'm about to talk to you about this." Because we just started a business, there are relatively few people, mainly just me and Brother Fan, we just took over a big customer's business, because the New Year will be executed, there are a lot of things to do in the early preparations, if the New Year is rested, it will definitely not be done, Brother Fan and I discussed, we will work hard this year, no rest. ”

"Ahh There was a disappointed voice on the other side of the phone, and my mother didn't know what to say for a while, so she fell silent.

The man hurriedly explained with relief: "Mom, don't worry, I'm not resting, or I'm not going back and forth, it's too much of a toss." I'll go to Brother Fan's house on the 30th day, it's also very good, we never know what the atmosphere of the New Year in Beijing is, this is just the opportunity to experience it, how good, hahaha. The man's dry laughter made him feel strange, when had he ever laughed like this?

Mom finally accepted this fact and said, "Okay, I don't know about you anyway, but you must pay attention to your body and pay attention to your diet." You have the same physique as your father, you are easy to get angry, eat less chili peppers and drink more water......" Mom was nagging over there, and the man didn't count her down impatiently as before, but listened quietly, he never felt that his mother's nagging was so warm.

Mom was almost done, and the man took over and said, "Okay, Mom, I know, then you and Dad will talk to you, and I'll go back to see you when this project is over, you have to take care of yourself." ”

Hung up the phone, the man was sad for a while, he felt sorry for his parents, he was away for a year, and he couldn't even go back to accompany the old man during the New Year. He imagined two gray-haired old men, sitting in front of the TV and watching the Spring Festival Gala alone, and couldn't help shedding tears. The Spring Festival Gala, without the company of family members, is just an ordinary party, and it is family affection that gives life and meaning to this party. Every year, when the man's mother asks the man when he will go home, she will use the Spring Festival Gala as a time node: When will you come back to watch the Spring Festival Gala? Can you catch the Spring Festival Gala? And this year's Spring Festival Gala has lost all meaning for the parents of men.

Beijing is bustling and crowded on weekdays, but it is sparsely populated during the Spring Festival, and millions of migrant workers have gone home for the New Year, and the old Beijingers are mainly family gatherings, and the streets, markets, and neighborhoods are suddenly much quieter. Old Beijingers may happily enjoy a quiet time, but for men, such quietness makes him feel cold and lonely. No job, no money, no future, no hope...... The huge pressure hit his heart at the same time, and the man even began to hesitate whether to continue to stay in Beijing.

The food left by Brother Yu was almost clean the day before the thirtieth, but no matter how hungry the man was, he never ate the quick-frozen dumplings, because it was his Chinese New Year's Eve dinner of the thirties. On the twenty-ninth day of the Lunar New Year, the man slept until more than 1 o'clock in the afternoon, and he was so hungry that he couldn't stand it, so he got up and looked around the house for food, but except for the bag of dumplings, everything he could eat was gone. The man was dizzy with hunger, and he sat on the bed and looked out the window helplessly. Suddenly, he saw a bag of instant noodle seasoning left over in the corner of the bookcase. He stood up, walked over and picked it up and looked at it, turned around and took a bowl, poured out the spices, and rinsed some boiling water. Suddenly, the whole room was filled with the smell of braised beef noodles. The man picked up the bowl, blew the hot air with his mouth, and took a sip along the edge of the bowl, it was so fragrant! He closed his eyes and took another sip, as if he was drinking a bowl of old pot of mutton soup. A bowl of spice soup was in his stomach, and the man felt that his body was much warmer, and he lay down on the bed again and fell asleep groggyly.

The Spring Festival Gala of the Chinese New Year's Eve began. The laughter of the party mixed with the cacophony of the broken TV filled the room, and the man turned up the sound of the TV to the maximum, he wanted to use this sound to drive away loneliness and loneliness. But the empty echo seemed to backfire at his childishness. The man's eyes were fixed on the screen, but he couldn't concentrate, because his mind uncontrollably appeared like his parents and Jiajia, and their images were like entering a dream. The leftover dumplings on the table were already cold, not because the man couldn't finish them, but because according to tradition, he should eat another dumpling on the morning of the first day of the new year.

Ding zero, the man's phone rang suddenly. He stared at the phone for a long time, as if to make sure that he, a person forgotten by the world, would remember. He slowly picked up his mobile phone and saw that it was Liu Li calling.

"Hello?" The man asked weakly.

There was noisy laughter and the noise of the Spring Festival Gala on the other side of the phone. "Du Nannan, have a good New Year." Liu Li's exaggerated voice could be heard to be a little drunk.

The man smiled reluctantly and said, "Thank you, you also have a good New Year." ”

Liu Li's reaction was obviously sluggish, and it took a long time to say: "By the way, how did you arrange it in the past few days of the Spring Festival, you have time to come out and get together." ”

The man rubbed his eyes and said, "Not this year, I didn't go home." ”

"Huh?" Liu Li seemed to sober up a lot all of a sudden, and asked, "Why are you in love, and you won't go home for the New Year?" ”

The man didn't speak. Liu Li was silent for a moment, "Did you marry a daughter-in-law and forget your mother, did you go to Yangcheng with Jiajia?" ”

Before the man could speak, Liu Li was anxious, "Hey, don't be like this, I'm not in the mood to care about you, where do you like to go, what does it have to do with me." ”

"I broke up with Jiajia." After the man said this, the other end of the phone was silent all of a sudden.

Liu Li didn't speak for a long time, and the man thought she would ask why, but Liu Li didn't.

"Where are you?"

"Beijing."

"In your rental house?"

"Hmm." There was silence for a while.

"When did you break up?"

"It's been a few months."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

The man smiled bitterly and said, "Why do you want to tell you?" Then there was silence.

"Then why don't you go home?"

The man thought for a moment and said, "It's too much of a toss." ”

"Are you out of money?" Liu Li asked.

The man really admired the woman's intuition, but he didn't answer.

"Why didn't you look for me? I didn't leave Beijing until the 23rd of the lunar month. ”

The man didn't know how to answer. Liu Li sighed, and then said, "Okay, you take care of yourself, I'll go to you after the New Year, hang up." ”