The scumbag didn't talk much all afternoon, as if he was stimulated by the old couple, and I was depressed, so I went back to my stall and sold a charger, a box of carbon pens, and a leather wallet.

The profit of these small commodities is less than 20 yuan, and I am a little disdainful of the large order that Zhang Xueyao gave me.

Regardless of the peak season or off-season, the paving of the slag brother has a good income every day, the highest record of a day of net profit during the peak season is more than 1,500 yuan, and the maximum net profit of a day during the off-season is more than 600 yuan.

For example, today, Brother Scum's business is very good, although his words have become less, but there are many repeat customers, a young couple will come to buy a fashionable coat, a middle-aged man will come to buy cotton gloves, and an elderly person will come to buy a knitted scarf, I can see that I am envious, I only feel that my mouth is too stupid and my face is too thin.

Brother Scumbag once told me that he used to be a person who often had low self-esteem, but because of life, he had to show his face and go out, hide his submissive and weak character, and show the public always an optimistic, cheerful, shrewd and capable appearance.

This kind of sleek and old-fashioned attitude to things, not everyone can learn, they all say that the country is easy to change, the nature is difficult to change, see yourself thirty years ago, see the world after thirty years, maybe the scumbag brother is old and sophisticated, and he has seen through his own temperament early, he blends into the world, mingles with the people at the bottom of the society, earns a lot of money, left and right, but is afraid that he will bear loneliness alone.

I remember going back to my hometown to attend Sun Kai's wedding before, Brother Scumbag called me every night to ask me when I would return, just imagine, in that dark and damp, no daylight in the small space, the lights went out at night, the air was thin, everything around was quiet, I could only hear my faint snort and heartbeat, thinking of my family and children in a distant country, how sad and helpless it was, a drop of bitter tears poured into my heart, soaked the heart that had already cooled down.

A nearly forty-year-old tough guy, in the middle of the night, put the quilt on his head, secretly shed tears, I heard the scumbag sobbing more than once, he never told me how tired he was, how tired his body was, every day before work, he unscrewed the bottle of painkillers, poured out two white pills and threw them into his mouth, so that he could withstand the pain and fatigue of the day.

My small commodity business was a little bleak, and when it was close to evening, I closed the stall early and sat down next to the stall.

"Why did you close the stall so early? It's not time yet. ”

Brother Scum hugged his knees and turned to look at me, with doubts on his face.

"Business is not good, profits are too small, the things I sell are sold in supermarkets and stores, who will come to me to buy a lighter or bath towel, and I have no repeat customers."

I took out a cigarette from my pocket, lit one and handed it to the scumbag, lit one myself, and smoked it slowly.

"Is it that girl surnamed Zhang who bought your clothes, and you are proud to make a little money?"

The scum brother glared at me, coughed up a mouthful of phlegm, walked to the garbage bin opposite, and spit inside.

I sighed deeply and said: "No, Zhang Xueyao bought a batch of my clothes, this is only temporary, their company is also a garment factory, there is no need to buy goods in my big money, what I am worried about now is the problem of repeat customers, I see that you are selling goods now, neither shouting, nor selling, even so there are customers who come to buy clothes, which makes me a little incomprehensible." ”

After hearing this, the scumbag brother squinted his eyes, spit out a smoke ring, stuffed his fingers into the circle and stirred up and down, he looked at me again, and said lightly: "You have only been setting up a stall for a few days, you want to have repeat customers, I have been setting up a stall for several years, and there are only a few irregular customers. ”

When I heard this, I stood up with a hula and said angrily, "Who wants to get something for nothing? I went out early and returned late, worked hard to make money, one did not deceive customers, worthy of my conscience, and two did not sell fake and shoddy products, so that customers can rest assured, how can I not get it for nothing, I make money by my own ability. ”

My emotions were extremely excited, my hand holding the cigarette was trembling all the time, my eyes widened and I looked at the scumbag, my breath was short, and my face was crimson.

Brother Scumbag stretched his waist calmly, he put the cigarette in his mouth, leaned back, leaned on the backrest, and whispered: "What are you yelling about, sit down." ”

The soot fell on my shoes, and I bent down to dust it, and after glancing at the scumbag brother again, I slowly sat down.

"When can your kid's temper change, no wonder you always suffer, you go straight to me and it's okay, like others, who will still get used to you, who will carefully teach you how to behave and how to do business."

Brother scumbag looked at me and sighed: "I have said before, doing business is a metaphysics, even in the best years, there are people who lose their money, go bankrupt, and even abandon their wives and children, avoid debts, even in the worst years, there are people who make a lot of money, a bumper harvest, you are a young man, there will be more development opportunities and ways out than me in the future, I will be forty years old soon, this is not my hometown, let alone a place where I live in my old age, I have my own wife and children, I have to take on more responsibilities, So I will try my best to solicit customers, even if they respond to me is white eyes, insults, contempt, I don't care about all of these, as long as there is a customer who says, the quality of the clothes you sell is OK, the price is not expensive, then I think it is worth it, repeat customers are not dragged by themselves, but by your reputation and reputation, as well as your service attitude. ”

Brother scumbag gushed endlessly, I only felt a little sleepy, raised my head, I looked at an old locust tree not far ahead, it grew two meters away from the warehouse gate, autumn to winter, withered leaves were blown off by the cold wind, weakly scattered under the tree, announcing the end of their lives, but the new shoots were covered with branches, that touch of oily green, soothed my heart irritability, and solved my long-term confusion and difficulty.

I stood up, slowly walked to the foot of the locust tree, carefully observed the new shoots on the branches, the tenacious, endless green leaves, showing the tenacious character of being born to the sun and not afraid of the cold, I threw away the cigarette butt, stepped on it with my feet, picked a young leaf on the branch, put it in my nose and inhaled it gently, this refreshing taste of the soul, let me indulge in it, unable to extricate myself.

Brother Scumbag walked up to me, patted me on the shoulder, and said softly: "This kind of tree grows in the south, and it has to return its dead leaves twice a year, and then grow again, unlike us in the north, where the leaves fall off, and you have to wait until the spring of the next year to grow." ”

"You sniff."

I handed the leaf in my hand to Brother Scum, my eyes full of anticipation.

Brother scumbag shook his head with a smile, took the leaf and threw it in his mouth and chewed it, I stared at him with wide eyes, a little confused.

"The leaves of the locust tree are picked in spring and summer, and after drying, they can be used as medicinal herbs."

Brother Scumbag put his hands in his pockets and slowly walked to the back of the paver and sat down.

When I heard this, I hurriedly walked over and asked, "What disease can be cured?" ”

After thinking for a moment, he looked at me and said, "It can treat hemorrhoids and blood in the stool." ”

"And what did you just eat?"

I sat down next to Brother Scum, took out my mobile phone and looked at the time, at 6:30 in the evening, the sky slowly darkened, the temperature plummeted, the surrounding stalls had been closed, they dragged the big woven bags, and walked to their warehouse.

"In fact, when the older generation was in the old generation, because of the lack of food, many people would eat some locust leaves. The way to eat locust leaves is also very particular. Generally, in the spring, the leaves of the locust tree have just grown and are still relatively tender. The locust leaves are the most delicious at this time. The leaves of the locust tree can be mixed cold or used as a filling, and they are very delicious ingredients. The locust flower can also be used as honey and dyes, so the locust tree is full of treasures. ”

I listened as if I didn't understand, and then looked up at the old locust tree not far away, and the awe rose, an old tree can make such a great contribution to mankind, what about yourself?

After I helped Brother Scumbag clean up the stall, Brother Slag asked me, "What kind of vegetables did the guy who moved in buy new?" Do you need something to pick it up? ”

I shook my head and said, "I don't know, I'll call him and ask him, Zhang Xueyao will come to the house for dinner tonight, or you will cook it yourself." ”

I took out my mobile phone, found Qin Li's phone number, dialed it, the phone beeped for a long time, and just when I hung up immediately, Qin Li answered the call.

"Hey, Wang Tao."

He spoke in a low voice, as if he hadn't woken up yet.

"What about sleeping?"

"Well, I'm so tired, I didn't rest well last night, I made up for sleep, and you closed the stall?"

"Now that we're going home, what are you buying? Do you need to bring it back and do you want something else? ”

Brother Scumbag and I walked out of the market gate, and an old man stood by the iron gate, ready to lock the iron gate.

"It's just some seafood that you often eat, squid, conch, clams and the like, don't you eat seafood?"

I smiled and said, "Okay, that's enough, I'll get home with Brother Scumbag right away." ”

After hanging up, I stuffed my phone into my pocket, tightened the zipper of my jacket, and rubbed my cold, cold hands.

"Is it seafood?"

Brother scumbag pursed his lips and looked at me with curiosity on his face.

I nodded and continued walking.

When I was about to get to the basement, I called Zhang Xueyao.

"Hey, Xue Yao, where are you?"

Brother Scumbag returned to the yard, and I walked into the small supermarket across the yard to buy two dozen beers.

"Haven't gotten off work yet, and the dish is ready?"

Her voice was slightly tired, as if she had been working overtime for a long time.

"This is what I started, there is a scumbag brother, are you still afraid that there will be no good food?"

With my phone tucked over my shoulder, I picked up two dozen beers at the supermarket door and put them on the counter, ready to check out.

"You wait for me, I don't know what time I will work overtime, no more than an hour at the latest."

There was a crackling sound of the keyboard tapping, as if there was something important to work to be done.

I smiled and said, "Okay, I'll wait for you." ”

After hanging up the phone, the low battery alarm of the mobile phone sounded, I hurriedly clicked on WeChat to scan the code, a drop, the code was scanned successfully, but the mobile phone ran out of power, automatically turned off, I looked at the clerk a little embarrassed, and asked: "Do you have a charger here, my mobile phone is out of battery, and I can't pay." ”

The clerk looked like he was twenty-seven or eighteen years old, looking down and playing with his mobile phone, drawing a thick makeup, his eyelashes were a little terrifying, his hair was dyed purple, two long earrings hung down to his shoulders, shining silver, and he was wearing a crop top shirt with a low-cut collar.

She kept playing with her phone, as if she was broadcasting something live, and didn't pay attention to me, I felt a little bored, so I took the beer and hurried out of the supermarket, intending to go back to the basement to get some cash.

As soon as I came to the corner of the yard, a child was squatting there, I walked a few steps quickly to the child, she was eight or nine years old, ragged, unkempt, but from the delicate cheeks, it should be a little girl, I took a long breath and asked softly: "Little girl, why don't you go home when it's dark?" ”

There was a hint of unspeakable sadness in her clear eyes, and she looked a little flustered when she saw me crouching down in front of her.

"Where is your home, shall I send you back?"

I leaned in a little closer, trying to pull her up.

"I don't have a home, I'm not going back."

She suddenly screamed, and I almost sat on the ground in fright.