"Pride"

University of Great Britain dormitory.

I happened to flip through the comments on "Seven Sins" on the Internet,

Xi Yuan picked up the "Seven Sins" that had been read again and had been on the table for a few days.

Turned to the "arrogant chapter".

Compared with most of the likes on the Internet, or think the best gluttony, or lust chapters,

In fact, he thinks that the "arrogant" chapter is the best written, not that the other chapters are worse.

It's purely a matter of personal sensory preference.

At this moment, he opened it, and his British roommate, who was originally sitting on the side and swiping his mobile phone, also came over.

dragged a stool, sat behind Xi Yuan, and also looked at the arrogant chapter opened in "Seven Sins".

“…… Haven't you already read it, and you're still going to buy it yourself? ”

Xi Yuan didn't read the book, turned his head and asked.

"Oh, it's so hard for me to read this book, it's a good book, but every time I finish a chapter, it takes me days to forget his story."

"In addition, I read the news on the Internet that there will be a signed book by the author ABC, and I am ready to wait and buy it."

"You didn't read the arrogant chapter?"

"I've seen it, the story of a shoe-shine parking man, and I can't sleep all night after reading it. But that doesn't stop me from revisiting it. ”

"Aren't you afraid of staying awake all night after watching it?"

"Oh, even if I can't sleep all night after reading it, I can't put down this book and not read it, the story of this book has that charm."

The British roommate said with some exaggeration.

Xi Yuan shook his head and didn't speak again.

Turning his head, he looked at the "arrogant chapter" of "Seven Sins" that he was holding in his hand and turned over.

The British roommate looked at the words on the page, and gradually followed the author's description, and then seemed to be pulled into that somewhat desperate world, immersed in it.

The protagonist of the "arrogant chapter".

As the roommate who watched it said,

It is a shoeshine parking low-level person, humble as dust, inconspicuous in the place where he lives.

His name is Noveiler, but his name is never called throughout the story, and his name only appears in his own words.

The place where Novler lives is a metropolis in the northernmost country of Americalifornia.

The warlords of this country coexist with the evil forces, and the power of the government is squeezed into the corner, which can only function in the rich areas that are allowed to exist.

Naturally, this has led to chaos in the country, and some industries that should have been in the shadows are extremely prosperous.

Even in the metropolis where Noviler lives, a large number of people die every day from gangster vendettas, or even from the crossfire between gangster warlords and government forces.

The whole city is clearly divided into rich areas and slums, and the order in the rich areas is maintained by gangsters and government forces, while the slums are completely out of order, breeding all kinds of darkness and crime.

And Novele is one of the lowest citizens of the city, even a prostitute in the skin business can stand tall in front of him, and even a gangster can show off in front of him.

In fact, these people are his biggest customers.

According to the book, Novele is no longer young, and when most people see him, he is hunched over, a little hunched, with his head bowed.

He lived by wiping people's shoes, guiding the way, and parking cars, and he had no house to live in, but he had a fixed residence, under a pavilion in a park.

The park is closed to the public at night, so Novle goes back to live with his bags on his back at night, for which he has to pay the park caretaker a sum of money and leave before the park opens the next day.

And the reason why Novele has a job to shine shoes is only because his father used to be a shoes-shiner.

It's just that his father is better mixed than him, and once had a fixed position at the door of a big hotel, which is something he often boasts about.

And Novele can only linger in some chaotic neighborhoods, most of the time next to a certain street,

Novele is a man of low self-esteem and pride,

He often thinks that he should be a big man too,

But the reality of life is completely separated from his imagination, and anyone can shout at him.

So he has low self-esteem to the bone.

It is against this backdrop that the story of the arrogant chapter unfolds.

“…… A prostitute, wearing heavy makeup and the brightest clothes, walked up from the side of the street to Noville. ”

"Novele was bowed and bent over, and he could not see the heavy makeup on the prostitute's face, but could only smell the rich, undissipated smell of smoke on the prostitute's body, mixed with the smell of inferior, pungent perfume, and see the hooked silk stockings on the prostitute's legs."

"It's a prostitute, a cheap prostitute, with such a pungent perfume on her body, maybe it's because she has body odor, maybe only the little gangsters who don't have money can afford such a prostitute."

Noville thought.

At the same time, he buried his head a little lower, and only looked at the shoes on the prostitute's feet, lest the prostitute be offended by his gaze at her legs.

"'Polished my shoes'"

The voice of the prostitute sounded, she never paid attention to Novere,

Her movements now are like walking to the side of the steps on the side of the road, wiping the dirt off her feet.

Who pays too much attention to the steps?

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be sure to give you a clean new pair of shoes to match your long, straight thighs. ”

Novele lowered his waist a little more, and said earnestly,

Because of Novere's praise, the prostitute lowered her head a little and glanced at Novere,

The old man, who was bent over, with his head down, and the skin on his hands and face was rough and wrinkled, spat out such a compliment, which made her feel a little sick to her stomach and nauseous.

Frowning, the prostitute endured her nausea, waited for Novele to wipe the shoes off her feet with a cloth, and threw the dollar bill on the ground.

Noviler went to pick it up with a smile on his face, and after picking up the money, the prostitute was already far away,

Novile straightened up a little, and looked up at the prostitute,

I'm afraid I'm in a hurry to entertain customers, and I don't know where the goods are.

Maybe one day he will be able to patronize it.

Noville thought so.

At this moment, another guest came,

Carrying a bag of dirty leather shoes, he walked past Novele with his head held high,

It's not that Novele is arrogant, Novele is a shoe-shiner, and there is nothing to make others proud.

The guest just threw the bag of dirty leather shoes to the ground,

He said, "I'll pick it up later."

He went straight away, without waiting for Novele to agree,

Or I didn't think Noville would refuse,

And that's exactly what happened.

At the same time as Novele heard a voice next to him,

hurriedly bent down again, lowered his head, and hurriedly responded,

"Okay, I'll make sure you wipe it cleanest, sir."

Novile didn't even see the face of the person who came, but saw the man who walked by wearing a suit and trousers.

Most of the leather shoes thrown on the ground are also worn with suits.

I don't know what it does.

Maybe it's just a posturing gangster.

Novele looked at the bag of shoes that were to be wiped with dust and dirt.

Thinking of it this way,

Squatted down, sat down on the side of the street,

With his head down, he wiped these leather shoes with a cloth,

Rubbing and rubbing, it seems to think of something,

Novele found the best pair of shoes, and wiped them with a cloth little by little.

It's like a brand new one, and it reflects some light,

It's just that there are still folds left over from the shoes worn for a long time on the upper, and Novele is not very satisfied.

Taking the pair of leather shoes in his hand, Novele first raised his head a little, and then straightened up his waist, which had been lying slumped.

I looked back and forth around, and I saw the person before, and there were no passers-by around.

Novele was relieved, lowered his head again, and looked at the pair of clean and reflective leather shoes in his hand, his eyes lit up,

Kicking each other's heels on their feet, they hurriedly took off the pair of worn old shoes they were wearing on their feet.

And put the clean shoes in thy hand on the ground and put them on.

But then he paused and moved,

I searched all over the ground, found two clean plastic bags and put them on my feet first,

Then take the plastic bag and put on the cleanest, best leather shoes,

But the shoes were smaller than his feet, and Novile could only stand on his heels.

Wear these new, clean leather shoes.

“…… Novere, how can you go out today in such ill-fitting shoes! ”

Novele straightened his back, which had always been stiff, and raised his head, which had been lowered.

He padded his feet, wore those leather shoes, seemed to be taller himself, and looked down at his surroundings,

"You shoe-shiner, wipe my shoes clean!"

Novele held his head high and said to the empty place in front of him,

It seems that wearing these good leather shoes, he also became a nobler person.

However, the shoes that don't fit can only make him pad his feet,

The plastic bag on his feet, without moving, made a noise on his feet.

……

"Hoo ......"

Xi Yuan looked at this paragraph and let out a long breath.

The plot in the article is very funny and absurd.

But it is such an absurd plot that vividly embodies the separation between the fantasy and reality of a shoe-shiner who is as humble as dust.

So much so that it is obviously a funny scene, but it makes the reader not laugh, but feels an indescribable sourness in his heart.

Even if Xi Yuan watched it for the second time, when he saw this plot, he still felt depressed and uncomfortable.

It took a long breath before he barely relieved.

"Hey......"

The roommate of Great Britain next to him also sighed,

Xi Yuan turned his head to look at his depressed roommate, then turned his head, and then looked at the story of this arrogant chapter.

……

In the text, the story of the arrogant chapter continues.

Novele secretly wore the customer's shoes without being discovered,

Novele was only wearing it for a short time, but he saw someone coming from a distance.

He quickly changed his shoes back, and returned to his previous appearance of bending over and bowing his head—even if the person who walked by in the distance was not the customer before.

He didn't even look at him when he walked by, but he still kept his head down tightly, afraid of being discovered,

And when the original customer returned, Novele was even more so.

Bowing his head deeply, he lowered his waist more than ever, and put the shoes he had worn just now under the bottom of those shoes.

lest the guest find a clue and attract a beating,

And in fact, the guest had no time to pay attention to the reaction of such a humble man as a dusty man.

Just grab your polished shoes, throw down the money you need to pay and go.

But it also vividly reflects the subtlety of this humble man in Noville.

Although he buried his head deeply, the bent over Novele kept thinking about another thing throughout the process,

He was just wondering what this guest was doing, going and coming back so quickly,

Maybe it's some thug who came to have a private meeting with the prostitute.

Waiting for the guests to leave, Novelle sneered.

In the text,

Further down the plot,

Novele sat on the side of the street and waited for a long time, but no more guests came.

And he kept his waist bent and his head bowed.

The streets and the people on the road came and went, and he could only see the clothes on the people who came and went.

I can't see the face that's still there.

And Novele looked at the shoes and pants of these passers-by, and secretly commented in his heart.

"The shoes are so old, all gray, and they have to be worn out. No wonder I refused to come here to shine my shoes, I'm afraid I don't even have the money to shine my shoes. ”

"Driving? I don't know which driver it is...... It's not good to do something, but you have to be a dog in front of others. ”

"Dressed so brightly, it's also a prostitute, look at this new dress, I'm afraid it's very expensive."

“…… Wipe my son's shoes, and if they are not clean, I will not pay for them. ”

waited until evening, and a spicy woman came, with a student in a school uniform,

"These are school shoes, don't rub them on my son, the classmates in the school will laugh at them."

"Ma'am, I've polished my shoes the cleanest."

"That's the best, otherwise you can't afford to pay for these shoes, they are leather shoes bought at school......"

In the incessant chatter of this spicy woman,

Ended this last business of the day,

When the shoes were finished, the woman said that the time for shining the shoes was too old to delay her son's time.

He was only willing to give Novele fifty cents, and Novele was entangled with her,

At last the woman dropped fifty cents and ran away with her son.

When the wind blew, it blew fifty cents on the ground and flew everywhere, and Novele went after the money, and when he went back after the woman, he could not catch up.

Novele looked in the direction the woman had left, and sneered,

"Wearing such tattered leather shoes, but I have to come to wipe them, and I don't know what kind of school I go to."

By this time, it was already evening.

The sun is about to set,

There are no pedestrians in the streets anymore,

Noville also began to hurriedly pack his things,

The street is relatively chaotic, and at night, it's even more chaotic when gangsters and the deadly thugs are active.

Novele doesn't think he's scared,

He felt that even if he tried hard, he could win a little gangster,

But that kind of thug is like a maggot in the toilet, and his life is worthless.

And if he was injured, his guests might not be able to wait until the next day, the only person on the block who would shine his shoes.

Although perhaps those people don't need it that much.

“…… Oh, Noveiler, how did you get hurt. ”

"Mrs. Davis, don't worry, I'm just ......"

On the way back to his fixed residence, Novele felt like he was rehearsing a play.

A story that is separated from reality is staged.

……

The plot continues in the text,

Packed, with his bags on his back, Noville returned to the park.

The park has closed its gates by this time,

Novele carried his bags on his back, and climbed over the fence at the edge of the park with some difficulty.

The steel bar on the fence broke and hung a hole in Novere's pants, which hung a hole behind Noveiler's trousers.

Jean Novella scolded the park's facilities again.

This park is not allowed to enter at night.

And the money Noviler gave to the park staff was just money for the staff not to denounce.

Carrying his bags, Novele walked under the pavilion in the park where he lived every day.

This pavilion is the best part of the park, and Novele thinks so, even when it rains, this pavilion provides shelter from the wind and rain.

It's much better than the rest of the park, which is not inhabited by only one person.

There are also many homeless people, who will also turn in at night, or sleep on the grass, or lie in some shelter from the rain and wind.

And the reason why Novele was able to sleep under the pavilion was naturally because he gave money to the staff.

But today,

Nouville returned to the park, under the pavilion where he had lived,

But I saw that there was already a person living under the pavilion,

He was a somewhat burly young vagabond, naturally stronger than the old hunchbacked Novere,

Nouville was a little angry,

This is where he sleeps, how can there be anyone else.

He obviously gave money, unlike those homeless people who fell on the grass and sat on benches!