(a)

In the morning, the pedestrian street is still empty, the breeze is blowing, and the small flower pots on both sides of the street are raising fat and tender yellow flowers, and the tender yellow is lined with the clear brown of the street tiles.

Chang Xia sometimes stopped in the middle of the street, at a loss, where should she go? Crossing the street, where is the front? She doesn't know. After going back, where is that road?

In the small town, her home is only a few minutes away from where she works. Above her head, against the thick sky of the unit. They seem to be alone, but in fact, there is an invisible shadow of the unit that has been moving with them.

Now, she has been stripped out of the unit.

Hesitating on the street, occasionally I saw one or two figures carrying bags hurriedly passing by. The stress and loneliness of survival make the cool morning breeze freeze, and every breath you take makes your heart ache as if it is being squeezed. Her mouth seemed to freeze, and she was desperate to find someone to speak, but no one spoke to her.

It seemed that she could only hold on if she kept walking.

Until I walked into a small alley. I saw a small façade along the street, a small blackboard-sized dilapidated wooden board stood at the door, and the chalk words on it were written crookedly, such as the house for rent. Seeing someone coming, the man greeted him attentively: "Rent a house!" ”

Chang Xia had a blank expression on his face. Yesterday afternoon, I heard Zhuang Zhuang say that if she wants to rent a house, she can go to a small agency to have a look.

Chang Xia heard the word "intermediary" for the first time. It's definitely a new term. In the kingdom of small towns, where is there any intermediary?

Eight years ago, when the graduation assignment was assigned, Chang Xia stepped into the backyard of the unit at sunset, and the arranged single accommodation was already waiting for them.

From then on, it was like walking into the mansion of life. From the single accommodation to the residential area of the unit, Chang Xia now knows that this road is as warm as walking in a hot spring.

It is as natural that the unit should give a house to live in, just as it is necessary to pay a salary. Jobs in big cities were originally not arranged.

Now, what Chang Xia sees should be the "intermediary".

The man asked Chang Xia to enter the house, sat behind a desk, and told Chang Xia that he would have to pay 50 yuan for the agency fee to see the house, so that she could find a satisfactory house.

Fortunately, the cost is not high, probably for a person like Chang Xia, the intermediary feels a little immoral to deceive her.

Although he was a little reluctant, Chang Xia quickly took out a whole piece of fifty yuan from his bag, which seemed to be following the local customs.

After paying the money, the man gave Chang Xia a few phone numbers for Chang Xia to see for himself.

(b)

Chang Xia hadn't eaten for a day, and he was tired and didn't know what it was like to be hungry, but he was so sick that he wanted to vomit. I can't cry anymore, it's that huge loneliness, no one can even say a word to you.

In the town, walk down a street, forever, the street seems to be waiting for you in the same place.

And the city, like a spinning magic disk. It is rejection, in Chang Xia's heart, frantically rejecting everything around, so many cars, so noisy cars and crowds.

Chang Xia completely lost herself. The city was a terrible machine, engulfing her.

"Go back, go back, why bother here? The heart is uncertain, and the work is unstable. After coming out, there is no ambition, and I can't even fix the matter of accommodation. ”

By dusk, the last phone number on the paper was contacted. The landlord told her how many buses to take.

There were few people in the bus, and it seemed to be close to the suburbs, and you could see the large fields outside the bus. The golden afterglow of the setting sun faded outside the car, and the twilight shrouded the sleepy and moving bus island.

The dusk seemed to be tugging at the lights on the side of the road, and finally left in the light. Chang Xia was moved by the tectonic plates beneath his feet, and one land and another island inexplicably coincided, and then moved again, hitching on another mountain and river.

Chang Xia suddenly woke up, it was time to get out of the car.

I found a pay phone in a small shop and called the landlord. The landlord told her which way to go, but she ran back and forth in front of the shop several times, but she couldn't find the path the landlord said. had no choice but to throw another dollar coin to call, and the landlord wondered why this girl couldn't find her way? The two of them checked the platform again. It turned out that Chang Xia got off the wrong platform.

Chang Xia stood there for a moment, and then waited for the car again. After getting out of the car, I called the landlord again, and the landlord squeaked and said that the house had been rented out when she was in the car just now.

There was silence for a moment. When the landlord hung up the phone in a hurry, Chang Xia forgot to scold the landlord. In fact, she didn't know whether to scold the landlord or not, she just hung up the phone weakly.

Leaning against a pillar on the side of the road, his legs bent apart and the pillar supported his exhausted body. A delicate pouch hung feebly from her hanging hand, telling her that if she stayed here, the quiet days of spending a month or two of her salary on an expensive pouch or a set of clothes would be over.

The curtain around her was like countless bats flapping their wings around her. All this paints a static oil painting of a lost soul.

Where to go? Where is the road behind you? No hukou, no job, no health insurance, no home, no love.

(3) On the first day, looking for a house was fruitless, and early in the morning of the second day, Chang Xia found the intermediary again.

The man didn't lie to Chang Xia, after listening to Chang Xia's story, he said, like you, there is no bed, no quilt and other necessities of life, and the monthly rent is so small, it is really difficult to find, but I have another one, which should be more suitable for you. Because, the landlord requires that the tenant must be a girl.

Why does it have to be a girl? Chang Xia didn't care about the strangeness. When I called, it was an old man who answered the phone, and there was no need for Chang Xia to ask, the old man asked repeatedly: "I have to ask a little more, do you have a boyfriend?" It's okay to have a boyfriend, but you can't bring it back to live. Because I have a daughter who goes to college, I don't want to lure a wolf into the house. ”

Chang Xia understood, it turned out that this was a kind loving father who cared for his daughter's growth.

Chang Xia replied: "I just came, I don't know anyone, and I don't have a boyfriend. ”

"Oh, that's good!" The old man on the phone was clearly satisfied.

Chang Xia envied the girl she had never met, this girl must be as delicate as a flower, in the garden of youth, her father watered her, drove mosquitoes around for her, she knew that an orphan girl named Chang Xia, no job, no place to live, and almost no food to eat, looking at this girl in the sun in the wind and cold. This girl must not know that she is so happy!

In fact, if the family is well-off, why do you even have to rent out a room in your own room! It's just that the envy at that time was deep, just like a hungry person, looking at an ordinary meal is better than a delicacy.

"I'm afraid I won't find your house!"

"It's okay, we'll pick you up at the public station." The old man hurriedly said.

When she met a good person, Chang Xia thought to herself, especially in this strange city, when someone went to the platform to pick her up, she felt a little warm and comforted by acceptance.