"You work outside, and there's no point in dying of exhaustion."

The mother said from the player in the car, one sentence on the other. "Will you be promoted or will you be able to get rich? I know very well that in today's society, as soon as you reach your thirties, the company will fire you, and there will be a lot of young people waiting to replace you. Sitting in the office, it just sounds good, what is the way out? ”

Ai Weili turned her head to look out the window, as if in this way, her mother's voice would pass by her ears and she would not be heard.

From just now, she involuntarily stepped on the deep throttle little by little, and the speed had already reached ninety miles; When she found out, she couldn't help but be startled, and quickly slowed down the car.

Fortunately, she was shuttling on the road between the countryside and fields, and she couldn't see a few cars, so it wasn't dangerous.

"Why don't you come home, give your brother a hand, help him do something, and I can also find some good people for you." The mother was immersed in her planning and said, "You think you are still young, you are almost thirty, and now you don't know if it will be too late to get married and have children...... What do you think? Don't you like your current company? ”

The rich green forest quickly rowed to the back of the car, and was thrown into the invisible distance; On the opposite side of the driveway, a large street sign sticking out of the dark green path was painted with a beautiful deer, and below it was a line of large letters "Welcome to Wild Deer Town" - the street sign also flashed out of the corner of Ai Weili's eyes like a forest.

The mother seemed to finally notice the silence on the other end of the phone, and was a little annoyed, and urged, "What about you, did you hear it?" You can't come back? ”

It took so much effort for her to come out, and then turn back and she would rather go and jump into the sea.

"Speak, are you listening? Why do you look like a dumb person the older you get? ”

Mother's words are not exaggerated.

Ai Weili has long discovered that when he was a child, he was famous for his sharp teeth, but he didn't know when he started in his life, and he was often speechless.

For example, the day when the man sitting next to her on the subway gradually turned red after being rejected twice. "What about a call? What do you think you are? If you want to call, you can afford to look at you, and you will not be ashamed. ”

The rush of blood and adrenaline was so strong that both of her ears were buzzing; The viciousness and injustice shown by the other party, the glances swept by others in the silence, were like a dirty rag stuffed into her mouth, blocking her from saying a word. By the time Ai Weili thought of what to respond to, the man had already gotten out of the car.

"Thank you, thank you, this is a good deed, young girls are good, one hundred and eighty is not too much for you, right? A lipstick. The uncle said, clasping his hands together, as if Ai Weili's donation alone would determine the survival of their charity.

She had already said all the reasons for refusal she could think of, but the uncle who blocked her way was still repeating the same words over and over again, as if he didn't understand what refusal was; When Ai Weili couldn't find the words anymore, she had to find her purse - even though she had never heard of the other party's charity, she just wanted to get out.

There are so many things in the world that are speechless, and it seems that as we get older, there are more and more of them, so many that people wonder if the person who is in trouble is himself.

Otherwise, why does everyone else seem to be adapting well and being so adept, but only himself is clumsy?

"I'm listening,"

After pausing for a few seconds, Ai Weili finally dug out a pale and powerless sentence from his dark and silent belly. "It's actually a good job, I'm just not happy for a while..."

The mother paused for a moment, then sighed as if disappointed. "It's in vain to tell you, when you see the coffin, you know that you shed tears. Where are you now? ”

Ai Weili turned his head to look, and the outside was no longer a flat and endless field, as if it would never end.

"Of course, I'm in the company," she said, "I'm going back to work soon, so I won't talk about it." ”

After hanging up, she sighed.

Obviously, she originally planned to ask her family for help, but she still couldn't tell her mother, and her savings were only enough to pay off the car loan for another month.

Even though she knew it was funny, she couldn't help but think that it might turn out to be an elopement between her and the car—she was going to run away with it before the bank came to take it—so she had no destination, and it didn't make a difference to her where she went.

It was at this moment that Ai Weili suddenly made up his mind.

With a flick of the steering wheel, she swerved her head down the road and cut into the lane on the other side, the tires creaking against the ground with the same screeching sound she had heard for the first time.

In the distance above the highway, the street sign I saw just now was getting closer and closer, and the deer and the characters were getting clearer and clearer; Ai Weili finally slowed down, followed the arrow on the sign, and turned into a narrow road with occasional cracks, and after the car shook a few times, she also drove into "Wild Deer Town".

Perhaps it was because it was almost dusk, and the town was covered with a layer of warm yellow and pale gold, as if the whole town had been stretched by the slanting sun, and the shadows sank between the houses, slowly and quietly.

"Thanks," she said, getting out of the car, patting the roof and whispering to it, "It's been a hard journey." ”

Ai Weili took a deep breath of the early autumn evening air, locked the car with a "drop", and stretched his limbs that had been in the car for too long and were a little stiff.

The sunset sun was unexpectedly heavy, like melted gold, mixing with the dust on the old buildings, the loess exposed after the ground cracked, the dandelion seeds floating in the air...

The metropolis of millions of people seems to be on another planet compared to this place.

It was the first time Ai Weili had visited such a small, remote town; It was clear that it was already time to get out of school, but there were not many pedestrians to be seen on the road. In the distance, occasionally someone pushed the door and walked into the roadside store, hitting the silver bell lightly and crunching, and the notes dissipated in the warm sun and light breeze.

It seems like a good place to be quiet and catch your breath.

When Ai Weili saw a convenience store, he pushed the door and walked in. No matter where she goes next, she should have some food, drinks, and emergency supplies on board.

"Welcome,"

From behind the cash register, a man's absent-minded voice sounded. He didn't even lift his head, his eyes and thumbs glued to the phone screen, as if he was playing some little game, and jingling music was jumping in the air.

"Do you have a shopping basket?" Ai Weili, who had found nothing, asked.

The man, a little surprised, as if he had never heard a customer ask for a shopping basket, raised a wide square face at her; He had narrow, small black eyes, which looked like a second pair of air holes on his face.

"At the door, over there," he glanced at Ai Weili a few times, and pointed to her with his chin.

No wonder I can't find it, it's so hidden. Ai Weili pulled out the trapped and tightly stuck shopping basket from the gap between the freezer and the wall, as if it were a disaster relief salvage—there was only one left, and it was already faded and white.

I always feel that the economy of this town will not be too good, and there is a sense of twilight everywhere.

When Ai Weili walked into the container with the shopping basket, the corner of his eye swept to the male clerk. The latter stopped the game and was trying to get his upper body out of the cashier, craned his neck and twisted his head, looking at the road outside the store.

What is this doing? There's nothing out there.

Ai Weili thought as he threw a few necessities and sundries into the basket.

When the store suddenly sounded, "You're not from here, are you?" Before she could tell who the clerk was talking to, she knew what the clerk was doing: her car was parked not far from the side of the road, and he must have seen her car and deduced that he was not a local.

"Oh, I'm passing through," she said, opening the door to the drinks cabinet.

"Why did you come to Wild Deer Town?" The male clerk raised his head and asked bluntly.

Under the gaze of the pair of small, dark, porous eyes not far away, Ai Weili replied, "I like the name Wild Deer Town, so I stopped. ”

The male clerk laughed meaninglessly. "That's it?"

"That's right. Are there really wild deer in this town? Ai Weili changed the subject.

"Ha, it may have been a few decades ago, but now it's long gone, I've never seen half of it." After the male clerk finished speaking, he immersed himself in the game.

It's disappointing, but it's not surprising.

I'm really sorry for the name of the town, Ai Weili thought as he opened the drink freezer. Even in this small town, she found the kind of black tea she used to drink—the same black tea she poured on the line manager's face.

Why did she drink sugar-free black tea?

If there is a high sugar content in the tea, Ai Weili can at least imagine how embarrassed the department manager will be after she slams the door and leaves; Everything he touches will become sticky and greasy, no matter how many times he rubs it, it is difficult to get rid of that weak, vague, and persistent discomfort, which consumes people's energy for a long time, just like every day Ai Weili spends in the company.

Thinking about it from another angle, it's not a bad thing; She had wanted to leave for a long time, but she didn't know where to go...... Ai Weili comforted himself. Long pain is better than short pain, and they gave her a chance to go.

Although she didn't think about it, her next stop after leaving was to stand in front of the drink cabinet, looking at a tea bottle blankly.

"Can't decide what to buy?" The male clerk asked halfway through the store.

Ai Weili was startled for a moment, came back to her senses, threw a few bottles of sugar-free black tea in the shopping basket, and realized that the male clerk seemed to be keeping an eye on her all along, even though he had been playing a mobile game just now.

"I'm sorry, but I don't see outsiders here," the male clerk laughed, as if sensing her reaction, explaining, "So I can't help but want to talk more." ”

"It's okay," Ai Weili took a few more things, put the basket on the cash register, and when the male clerk began to count the price, she couldn't help but ask, "Is there a hotel in town?" ”

In another hour or two it would be dark, and she didn't want to be left alone and drive around in the night in a strange country.

"You're two years late," replied the clerk, "the only inn closed two years ago, and you can see that we don't have any tourists." ”

I hope I don't have to sleep in the car tonight.

The total price was cheaper than she thought, but she had better stop buying at the convenience store, because her remaining savings wouldn't last long, and she could spend a little less. Next time you go to the supermarket, try to find the one that sells knockoffs.

After the payment was settled, Ai Weili walked to the corner of the freezer with a plastic bag in one hand and a shopping basket in the other, and put the shopping basket into the stack of baskets that were also faded and white.

In the eyes of the male clerk, she turned and walked to the door, only to notice that there was a handwritten and simple recruitment poster on the door - "Sincerely recruit clerks, pay well, provide room and board".

Ai Weili stared at it silently, and after a few seconds, walked back to the cash register. The male clerk may have been hiding her gaze, and her eyes were glued back to her phone, as if she hadn't coughed and wouldn't have noticed someone coming.

When the male clerk raised her head, she pointed to the poster on the door, hoping to hide the hope and surprise in her tone as much as possible, and asked, "Are you hiring?" ”

The pair of small porous eyes squeezed into two black seams as the male clerk suddenly laughed. "yes."

"I'm here to apply, is that okay?"

"Of course, I'm the manager here." The male clerk's eyes lit up.

Ai Weili was a little unsure, looked around, and said, "Do I need ......an interview?"

"I'll be able to decide on recruitment,"

For some reason, there was a faint, burning eagerness in his tone; Ai Weili even had a suspicion that if he changed his mind now, he would quickly reach out and hold her down.

"No interviews! How about you start working tomorrow? ”