6.

Two weeks later, Cao Chengrui received a reply from the editor, and the article passed smoothly and will be published in the next month's magazine, and a copy will be delivered to him at that time. The manuscript fee will be called to him after the magazine is published.

Although the manuscript fee is not much, Cao Chengrui is still very happy and hurriedly called Li Ling.

Over the years, he would always keep the magazines that published his articles, and he would take them with him wherever he came and went.

"Haha, I'll just say, you're sure you're fine." Li Lingying on the other end of the phone smiled.

Cao Chengrui also smiled.

"You're fine with everything, but I said can you laugh a little bit?" Li Ling interrupted Cao Chengrui's laughter.

"Okay, no problem!" Cao Chengrui also put away his laughter and said: "I'm going to go back to Songbai when I'm sick." Will you go back with me? ”

Li Ling was silent on the other end of the phone for a long time before she spoke: "I'm afraid I won't be able to leave for the time being, even if I ask the company to leave now, it will take a month to leave." ”

"Why?" Cao Chengrui frowned slightly.

Li Ling replied in a low voice: "Because our company has a one-and-a-half-month salary, I have been gone for two months now!" ”

"I'll give you the money." Cao Chengrui didn't even think about it, and opened his mouth to say.

Li Ling smiled and said, "You want to give me your 'sweat-earned' money?" Good boy, you go back first, I'll look for you in two months. ”

Two months.

Who knows what will happen in two months?

Cao Chengrui thought so, but said "um" on his lips.

I hung up the phone and lay on the hospital bed staring at the light tube in the middle of the ceiling, and the window of the ward was getting darker and darker.

The sun is in the west.

In the evening, Li Ling sent him a message, telling him that he was working overtime tonight and could not come to the hospital to see him. Li Ling told him to eat well and not to kick the quilt at night.

Cao Chengrui replied with a "uh-huh", and sent an expression begging for a hug.

Tao Qiwu and Cao Chengrui both liked "Sprout" when they were young, and now they think about it eighteen or nineteen years ago. Cao Chengrui still remembers that he wrote a short story called "Ten Years", which is a bit of an imitation of Han Han.

But everyone knows that everyone in this world is just themselves, and they can't imitate others or play others.

Someone else's success is someone else's success, and you can never replicate it.

Cao Chengrui once said to Tao Qiwu: Before a person gets rich or becomes famous, no one will take what he says seriously, but once this person succeeds in earning fame or fortune, his mother's fart will be fragrant. So don't imitate and over-worship "successful people". And even more so delusional attempts to replicate their "successes". You must insist on doing your best, whether you succeed or not is not someone else's business, it is your own business.

Tao Qiwu will always be stunned by Cao Chengrui's mouth open, but it seems that whatever Cao Chengrui says makes sense, Tao Qiwu is willing to watch Cao Chengrui talk eloquently, even if he is talking nonsense.

"My brother, you're alright." Cao Chengrui thought about picking up his mobile phone and wanted to call Tao Qiwu, but he didn't know what to say.

He wandered around and fooled around, and now he has achieved nothing, although he has published some small articles, Cao Chengrui knows in his heart that he is half a catty.

"I'd better wait until I get back in touch." Cao Chengrui thought about it and fell asleep.

I don't know how long it took, Cao Chengrui was awakened by the urge to urinate, sat up with his head on his head and slowed down for a long time, his feet stepped on the ground indiscriminately, and finally kicked the slippers and put them on.

The patients and chaperones in the other beds in the ward were asleep, and he reached for his phone to check the time.

23:11。

Cao Chengrui didn't know if Li Ling had already gotten off work, so he sent a message casually and asked her if she was home.

He put the phone under his pillow, then got up and opened the door softly to go to the bathroom.

The hallway lights weren't very bright, and they shone a faint white glow on the walls.

Cao Chengrui blinked his eyes vigorously, rubbed his temples again, and moved to the men's bathroom.

The restrooms are not large, with five squatting positions, one sitting on the toilet, and seven urinals opposite the partition.

The light blue doors of the partition are all open.

Cao Chengrui walked to the urinal near the door, and just as he was about to take off his pants, he heard movement behind him. When I looked back, there was a person in a hospital gown in the partition, with his back to him, who was tinkering with something and making a "jingling" sound.

Frowning, Cao Chengrui lifted his glasses and tilted his head sideways to see what kind of "dirty" thing this person was doing.

At a glance, I saw the person in the partition holding the flushing toilet tank with both hands, trying to lift the lid of the water tank.

"There's a plastic sealed bag in the tank with a pistol in it." Cao Chengrui's head suddenly popped up with this thought, and then he almost laughed. If you think about it carefully, most of the water valve on the water tank is not working, and this person must want to repair it.

When I walked out of the bathroom, the hallway was still unclear, and the walls were glowing white.

may have been lying down for a long time, Cao Chengrui only felt dizzy and had to walk against the wall.

He moved slowly like this, and on several occasions he almost fell to the ground.

"Are you alright?" Suddenly, someone behind him asked him.

Cao Chengrui turned around to look and vaguely saw that the person talking behind him was coming out of the bathroom, holding something in his hand.

"It's okay, it's just a little dizzy." Cao Chengrui forced out a smile and said to the people behind him.

"Then go slowly, I see that you are not lightly ill."

Cao Chengrui shook his head and said, "I'm not sick. He thought to himself that I was being beaten up, but he couldn't tell the truth, he couldn't tell anyone, "I'm not sick, my head is for people to open the scoop." ”

"I'm not sick either." The person behind him sighed and said, "I'm not sick. ”

Cao Chengrui's mind was already confused, and he didn't bother to take care of the person behind him, thinking, "What does it have to do with me whether you are sick or not?" I see you're sick, aren't you!? After thinking about it, he leaned against the wall and walked quickly to the ward where he lived.

Cao Chengrui, who was lying on the bed, fell asleep after a while, and was only woken up by the nurse at dawn to change the dressing.

He took out the mobile phone under the pillow, unlocked it with his fingerprint, and saw the message that Li Ling sent to him at 20:14 last night.

"Are you asleep? I'm home, don't worry! ”

There are also three kissing emojis underneath the text message.

7.

Cao Chengrui had previously serialized long novels on the Chinese Internet, but later became a pit and became a eunuch.

At that time, he consulted all kinds of information about locks, and deliberately found people from the lock company to make friends.

The result?

At that time, he was so mixed that he couldn't even eat, and he had a pack of instant noodles every day.

He had to look for work.

I remember the interviewer asking him, "Do you have any specialties?" ”

Cao Chengrui replied: "Writing." ”

The interviewer was slightly stunned, and then asked, "That means the writing is not bad, right?" ”

Cao Chengrui replied: "It's okay." ”

The interviewer nodded and asked, "So what was your last job?" ”

Cao Chengrui thought for a while and replied, "Write a novel." ”

The interviewer couldn't help but laugh, put the ballpoint pen in his hand on the notebook, and rubbed his eyes.

Cao Chengrui was stunned as if he had been struck by lightning, he could feel his face heating up, and his heart was beating faster.

The interviewer breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Well, I have a brief understanding of your situation, you go back and wait for the notice." After speaking, he shook his head, unable to see whether the expression was disdain or disdain.

"I'm almost running out of food right now, so I've got to take my time."

Cao Chengrui walked out of the company for the interview and called Tao Qiwu to tell him about it.

That night, he received 500 yuan from Tao Qiwu.

Outside the window, the spring breeze was warm, and Cao Chengrui, who was sitting on the hospital bed, was holding the takeout he ordered, and he thought of the past while eating.

"I'm really idle, and my mind is full of what's going on." Cao Chengrui muttered to himself, he wondered if he was getting older and starting to get nostalgic.

He pinched his fingers and counted the days of his discharge, never before did he feel that time had passed so slowly and the days had been so long.

A person's life is very interesting, there is a saying that "the heart can change the realm", and in the past there were countless episodes in his and Tao Qiwu's articles where he fought with the "wicked" and then was beaten to the hospital. Unexpectedly, Cao Chengrui really fought with the "wicked" this time, and before he could reach the stage of "fighting", he just stood up and was beaten into the hospital by someone else with a wine bottle. There were no earth-shattering fights, and he was "defeated" in less than a "round".

It also confirms the sentence "ideal plump, realistic skinny".

Cao Chengrui put down the lunch box in his hand, and his mobile phone rang.

8.

"Hello? What's wrong Brother Hang? "I glanced at the number, it was Zhang Hang's number.

Zhang Hang is in the same class as me and knows Tao Qiwu, but the relationship between the two of them is average. He is 1.98 meters tall, with a tiger's back and a bear's waist, but his skin is white and "beautiful". After graduating, he arranged for his family to work in a bank, and later went to the City Appearance and Environmental Sanitation Bureau.

Counting the fingers, we haven't been in touch for a long time.

"You say you're fine, what do you change your phone? Do you know how hard it is to find you? Eight hundred people asked! So why is it inconvenient for you to go back to Songbai at the end of the month? Zhang Hangyu said.

"It's convenient! You say it's a coincidence! I'm planning to go back to Songbai. I replied.

"Great, you need to do me a favor." Zhang Hang was obviously relieved.

"Say it." Hearing him say that, my heart was beating.

"I have to have an operation at the end of this month, which requires general anesthesia, and the doctor said that it is a bit risky, and the hospital asks the family to confirm and sign, otherwise it can't be done! I didn't dare to tell my family about it so serious! I'm afraid they'll get angry! I've been looking for a circle of people who don't want to help with this! You've got to do me a favor! It's also simple, just pretend to be my brother and sign it for me! His tone changed, and he pleaded eagerly.

I was stunned, and I was about to say that I was responsible for signing it. I think what would I do if he had three long and two short on the operating table? I remember that there was a TV series played by Shen Teng called "You Are My Eyes", in which the protagonist signed an operation confirmation for others in order to save people's lives, and then they were falsely accused.

Although he Zhang Hang is not going to lie to me, it is always risky.

"How did you do that?" I asked, swallowing and spitting.

"I led the team to organize the demolition of illegal buildings, and the people watching the excitement next to me coaxed together, and the fight started. You also know that the reputation of the chengguan is very bad now, can this fucking person not mess up?! I haven't reacted yet, and I don't know where someone came out of nowhere and punched me in the face! It's too strong, and one punch shattered my eyebrow bone! In this film, I saw that the facial muscles were still stuck in the cracks, and I had to go under surgery to get the muscles and nerves out, and the bone sutures were treated. Zhang Hang said in one breath and I was stunned, the chengguan beating people and the chengguan being beaten were just a word difference, but the sensational effect was very different.

"Okay! Don't worry, I'll be back in a few days! Call you in advance when the time comes! As soon as I finished speaking, I heard Zhang Hang's simple laughter.

I hung up and looked at the time.

12:25。

Every day goes by so slowly.

9.

There was a time when Cao Chengrui felt that every day was muddy, that he was wasting his life and wasting time.

He didn't have a job, he snuggled up in bed every day, doing nothing.

I don't have any inspiration in my head, and I can't write even with a pen.

Fortunately, Tao Qiwu would always send him some articles he wrote, so that Cao Chengrui could see it and help change it.

That's one, two, three...... Cao Chengrui gradually discovered an interesting thing: he could write along Tao Qiwu's train of thought, and it would become a good story if the plot was extended.

Cao Chengrui felt that he and Tao Qiwu had the same heart, and he became Tao Qiwu, and Tao Qiwu was himself.

At that time, Cao Chengrui was even used to writing according to Tao Qiwu's story ideas.

Many times in the dim light, he changed and revised Tao Qiwu's article, and then took the revised article and tried to submit it several times. At first he didn't have much hope, and if he was lucky enough to be chosen, it would only be some kind of consolation for him.

There is a saying that "habit becomes nature".

He gradually got used to "borrowing" Tao Qiwu's articles.

Cao Chengrui repeatedly told himself in his heart that he was just borrowing, and this was not plagiarism. The predecessor said: "There is a big copy of the world's articles." "It is impossible to verify who said it exactly, but it is definitely not Lu Xun, let alone Li Bai. Cao Chengrui always thinks like this in his heart.

But he hadn't received Tao Qiwu's article for nearly a year.

The two people also communicate less and less.

Tao Qiwu rarely took the initiative to contact Cao Chengrui, and Cao Chengrui rarely took the initiative to contact Tao Qiwu.

tacitly, without contact, it is not bad. It's a bit self-defeating.

The last time Cao Chengrui called Tao Qiwu was to tell Tao Qiwu that he was going back to Songbai, and it was nearly half a year ago in a blink of an eye.

Could it be that Lao Tao found me...... Cao Chengrui thought about it, took a deep breath, raised his head and asked the nurse with a smile when his attending doctor would be able to sign for him to confirm his discharge.

The nurse thought for a moment and replied, "Don't worry, Dr. Zhao will take the interns, it is estimated that it will be almost finished in another hour." After the nurse finished speaking, she saw Cao Chengrui's face embarrassed and added: "You will definitely be discharged from the hospital today, don't worry!" ”

"I've had enough." Cao Chengrui nodded with a smile, then took out his mobile phone and sent a message to Li Ling: "I was discharged from the hospital today." ”

The prompt sounded, and Li Ling replied: "Will I pick you up?" ”

"No, I don't have anything to do with myself, you work hard." Cao Chengrui replied, casually sending another kissing expression.

Li Ling replied to the kiss and sent another message: "Go home obediently, and if you don't work overtime at night, I will go to you." ”

Cao Chengrui stared at the phone screen and was stunned for a long time before replying "yes".

The sun is shining outside the hospital, and the temperature difference between the morning and the evening is more than ten degrees in late spring and early summer.

Cao Chengrui wiped the sweat from his forehead, then took off his coat, thinking that he had to hurry home to change into short sleeves, and then take off his trousers and put on a big loose pants.

He has already bought a ticket for tonight and will arrive in Songbai tomorrow morning.

I went to the residence to change my clothes, packed my luggage, put away his "treasures" one by one, and then called a friend to tell him about the situation.

exchanged blessings, and finally Cao Chengrui said to his friend: "You can keep that box of instant noodles and eat it." ”

9.

Looked at the time.

21:02。

There was still a crowd in front of the train station, so I leaned on the railing of the overpass on the east side and took out my mobile phone.

At around seven o'clock in the evening, I sent a message to Li Ling, telling me that I was going back to Songbai tonight, and that there was an urgent matter over there that needed my help. She didn't reply to the message, just called me and asked me what was going on.

I told her about Zhang Hang in 1510.

She was silent for a long time before she spoke, and her tone was obviously angry: "Are you sick?" You're willing to help with this kind of thing? Got a brain? ”

"He can find me to explain that he is no other than me, that is really a friend who uses me as a life." I argued.

She snorted on the other end of the phone, "You're all in your thirties!" Don't have any other friends around him? Isn't it because no one helped me that I came to you for such a solid eye? ”

"Even so, but I've promised him." I thought about it for a while and then said, "He has been scheduled for more than ten days for this operation, and he can't delay it." ”

Li Ling roared when he heard this: "Let's go!" Hurry up! Just your heart! ”

Hang up the phone.

No matter how much I messaged him, she wouldn't reply, and she wouldn't answer the phone.

The early hours of the morning, I don't know where I'm going now. I dragged two suitcases and walked blindly.

There are stalls on both sides of the flyover, selling items such as selfie sticks and power banks.

Walking off the overpass, there were two short little girls in front of me, wearing denim shorts, white T-shirts, pulling pink suitcases, and listening to accents like Hunanese.

The two asked the security guard on duty in front of the station where to take the subway.

The security guard grinned and asked, "Do you smoke?" ”

The two little girls were stunned, obviously not reacting to what the security meant.

I said "hi", and the two little girls heard and turned their heads to look at me.

"The subway is not far from here, and you can see it as soon as you walk west." I pointed to the west and said to the two of them.

The two little girls looked at me suspiciously, their brows shrunk slightly, their faces full of vigilance and nervousness, and they involuntarily leaned closer to the security guard.

Then I saw the security guard with his hands behind his back, tilting his head sideways, glancing at me, pouting his teeth, and spitting on the ground again.

I arched my hand, smiled and turned to walk along to mine.

There are so many luxury cars in the capital, and you can park them casually, which may also be that I can't figure out the traffic management in front of the station.

In the restaurants on the street, you can see travelers eating noodles with their luggage, and on the steps of the street, you can see people sitting on woven bags eating instant noodles and eating bread.

The door of the hotel is full of people, and the Internet café is brightly lit, even if it starts at 15 yuan an hour, it is already full.

I'm also a little hungry.

I wasn't happy at all when I thought about going home, but a little uncomfortable.

My parents are working hard, and I'm out and about, and so far I've achieved nothing.

"I'm hungry, kind-hearted people can help me with some money." The road in front of me was blocked.

Although the temperature difference between morning and evening is large, it is now more than 20 degrees, but the person in front of him is wearing a thick black cotton suit, a hat woven of wool of unknown color, his whole face is covered by unkempt hair, he is hunched, barefoot, and he can't tell whether it is a man or a woman.

"I'm hungry too." I sighed and took ten dollars out of my pocket and gave it to him.

"Thank you, thank you." The person on the other side took the money and bowed vigorously and said, "A well-wisher must be rich and noble, and he must be rich and noble." ”

I smiled and nodded and said, "Borrow your auspicious words." ”

I walked sideways over him and walked forward, and as I walked past him, I heard him mutter, "You have to walk in the right way." ”

I turned my head and saw that the man was far away.

9.

"Tao Qiwu! Guess who I am!? ”

"Cao Chengrui!" Tao Qiwu blurted out on the other end of the phone, a man with a female voice, who else could there be besides Cao Chengrui?

Tao Qiwu couldn't help but get excited, and said happily: "You fucking okay!" Where have you been in the past six months? You didn't say to call me, I thought you were dead? He complained to Cao Chengrui on the other end of the phone: "Why are you in Beijing? What the hell is going on with you for half a year, didn't you say you were coming back? You said you could send a message! No fart! ”

"Oh, don't mention it, I will be on the high-speed train at two o'clock in the morning, and I will arrive at Songbai at 8:45 tomorrow morning, you remember to pick me up at the West Railway Station, and we will meet and talk." After Cao Chengrui finished speaking, he instructed again: "Don't forget to pick me up!" I've taken a lot of stuff! And arrange for me to eat sauerkraut hot pot tomorrow! ”

"Alright, grind and chirp! Be safe! Tao Qiwu hung up the phone after speaking.

Cao Chengrui, who put down his phone, rubbed his eyes and yawned.

He put away his suitcase and sent a message to Li Ling: "Don't be angry, the mountain people have their own clever plans!" After thinking about it, he sent another one: "You take care of yourself, I'll wait for you to come to Songbai." ”

Cao Chengrui, who had finished sending the message, let out a long sigh.

The waiting room on the second floor didn't even have a place to put his feet, so he had to stand on the stairs and huddle with many people.

Cao Chengrui and Tao Qiwu have a very tacit understanding, the protagonist in the story they write is either called Tao Qiwu or Cao Chengrui, and they all use their real names.

Once the two had a drink and talked about it.

Cao Chengrui said to Tao Qiwu: "It is more immersive to write in this way." ”

Tao Qiwu put down the roast pig's trotters in his hand and looked at Cao Chengrui: "How did you set up the female character?" Are they all people you know in real life? Or is it a fantasy? ”

"Of course there are prototypes, but it's certainly not exactly the same." Cao Chengrui took a sip of liquor, and then said: "For example, you are the old man Jin Yong's "The Condor Heroes"! Is there a woman like Xiaolongnu in reality? Even if the prototype is a certain movie star, the appearance can be copied, and the details and character must be artistically processed! My female characters are also processed, not real. ”

Tao Qiwu took out a napkin, wiped his hands and said: "When the truth is fake, the truth is also false, and the fake is true." ”

"It's not that art comes from life and is higher than life." Cao Chengrui put down the wine glass, tugged at his throat and rubbed his eyes again, and said: "What everyone has experienced in reality is not necessarily true, whether anyone lied to you who can say for sure?" ”

The announcement in the waiting room sounds to remind you that you can check in and board the train.

Cao Chengrui looked at the bustling crowd in the queue, and then looked in the direction of the station entrance, he couldn't see the outside, he wanted to see something, but he couldn't see anything.

10.

“…… If you only pay attention to the embellishment of words and ignore reality, then the text becomes meaningless, empty and boring. Cao Chengrui closed the book in his hand and looked at the front seat with a frown.

Since getting on the bus, two women and a man in the front row have been eating "supper" with their children in their arms: roast chicken, sausages, biscuits, bread, instant noodles, stir-fried vegetables packed by restaurants, beer and yogurt.

There were also two old men sitting in the aisle. This big family eats and drinks, the key is that the children are still eating and throwing, and Cao Chengrui has been smashed three times by broken biscuits.

Adults only care about eating and drinking for themselves, and they don't care about children.

Cao Chengrui, who was going to go to bed after reading a book, couldn't sleep at all.

He straightened the seat and tapped the back of the front seat lightly, trying to remind him.

The woman in the front row didn't feel it, and was still laughing with the sister next to her.

"Be quiet! That's a little bit more! Finally someone couldn't help but say something.

Before the three young people in the front row of Cao Chengrui could speak, the old lady on the other side of the aisle stood up and shouted in the voice: "This is a public place, and it's not your home!" Why can't we talk? ”

"I see you're not too young, can we have some quality? Did you know that this is a public place? "At the back of the carriage stood a boy who looked like a student.

"What do you say?" Hearing that the old lady of her family was said this, the young woman in the front row of Cao Chengrui stood up suddenly, turned her head and yelled at the back of the carriage.

Suddenly stood up like this, Cao Chengrui was shocked, the seat space was already narrow, and the woman's voice shouted, spraying Cao Chengrui's face with a foaming star, and there was a smell of sausages.

No one spoke in the carriage, and Cao Chengrui wiped his face and didn't speak.

I only heard the students behind the carriage say: "Take care of your children, take care of your old people!" It's not easy for us, you don't need to rest, we still need to rest! ”

"This isn't your car! If you have money, you can fly there! The woman was at a throat again.

The man in the front row of Cao Chengrui was also anxious, stood up, shook off the clothes covering his body and walked back, scolding as he went: "Little rabbit, do you know how to talk?" It just looks like you're amazing, isn't it? ”

The child who threw the biscuit to Cao Chengrui cried "wow".

Someone at the scene had already started taking photos or videos with their mobile phones, but no one was talking.

The male student's face turned red, put down the backpack he was carrying in his hand and said, "It's just you who are wrong!" You still have the face to yell at me? ”

The attendant also rushed over when he heard the noise, and said good things vigorously, what everyone takes a train is fate, mutual understanding and understanding, etc.

Finally, the flight attendant patted the male student on the shoulder and said, "Respect the old and love the young, he is still a child!" And you shouldn't talk back to the old man. ”

"That's it! Today's young people don't respect the old people at all! I've been working for 62 years! How much have I contributed to the country? Now that I'm old, why don't you even let me speak? The old man pulled the old lady to sit down and shouted, "The young people are finished now! From this moment on, the old man and the old lady have been talking about how hard and tiring their work was back then, how they contributed to the modernization of the motherland, and how young people are now completely finished, uneducated, unable to endure hardships and have no knowledge.

All of the above, and I have been talking about it endlessly.

Cao Chengrui was so sleepy, but the ear chakra was full of nagging from the old man and the old lady, mixed with abuse from time to time.

He couldn't sleep at all.

He wondered if he would rely on the old and sell the old in the future.

He wondered if he was also "naughty" and uneducated when he was young.

He wondered what it meant to respect the old and love the young.

He thinks about his life.

Preview: Cho Chengrui -End-

(1) The subsection is also changed again, and it is reissued