Twenty-Nine Years Old (Part 4) [Edited]

The fat man didn't know that Bian Senlin was under inexplicable pressure because of his drunken words. As a corporate slave, he got up early the next morning and went to work as usual.

Bian Senlin also got up early. He thought about it last night and the first thing he thought of was to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.

The house that Fatty rented was located in a village in the city. The two rooms, the inner and outer rooms, were about eight square meters each. The inner room was a bedroom, and the outer room was a combination of a living room, workbench, and dining area.

There is a small balcony. The landlord built a stove on the balcony as a kitchen. Next to the balcony is a separate bathroom.

Such a small house of about 20 square meters, including water and electricity, costs about 3,000 yuan per month to rent in Donghai, where land is very expensive.

When Bian Senlin heard the fat man mention this price for the first time, he took a deep breath.

He is a junior in college, and when chatting with classmates, they inevitably mentioned their expected future salary. He remembered that he said 3,000 at that time.

Now it seems that he was too optimistic. This expected salary was barely enough to pay the rent. However, the prices nine years ago were completely different, so the comparison cannot be made, Bian Senlin thought hard.

He has no idea about housing for now, but he can consider saving money on food.

According to his observation, eating out is too expensive, and buying groceries and cooking at home can save at least half of the money. In addition, the food here in Donghai City tends to be lighter, and he is not very used to it, so it is better to cook by himself.

It just so happened that the fat man had all the kitchen utensils. Bian Senlin took a look in the kitchen, clapped his hands and nodded with satisfaction.

Now that we have a cost-saving plan, the next step is to open source.

At the beginning, Bian Senlin wondered if he could make money using his expertise.

His identity issues were still unresolved, so directly applying for a job or internship at a company wasn't an option. He also learned that pure software wasn't valuable nine years from now, and that products on the market were more about operational excellence.

Some of the outsourced orders, the better ones are taken over by specialized outsourcing teams, leaving only some low-priced and more tricky ones.

Originally, he was not picky, but after looking at them, he found that some of them were too difficult to solve with his current level of skill, and also because of the updates and upgrades in the technology stack over the past 9 years, he was unable to get started directly.

Then I can only do odd jobs for now, at least to ensure that I can earn enough money to eat.

The first thing that came to mind was food delivery. The fat guy could register an account and then deliver the food himself, but the problem was that he didn't have an electric bike, so this plan had to be put on hold.

He planned to take a look around the area to see if there were any part-time or odd jobs available, and he actually found a snack supermarket hiring.

He had already agreed on a trial job, but later found out that they needed to register his ID information, so he had to find an excuse to turn it down.

When he walked down the street and saw a small noodle shop recruiting people, he thought, small shops on the street shouldn't require ID cards, right?

He encouraged himself and walked in, but an old lady got ahead of him. The old lady was of strong build, with a loud voice and spoke very fast. She introduced to the boss her rich experience in working in various restaurants and she was an expert in the kitchen, boiling noodles, cutting and preparing meals, serving meals, etc.

Bian Senlin stood nearby, stunned. Unexpectedly, the old lady turned around, looked him up and down, and then turned to the boss in front of him and said, "This young man has a clean complexion. You can tell at a glance that he hasn't experienced any hardship. He can't do this job."

Bian Senlin: “…” Auntie, I’m still here!

The boss was a very gentle woman. She smiled and said to Bian Senlin, "Young man, our job may seem simple, but it's actually hard and tiring. I hired a few young men before, but they all ran away after just a few days."

"You're still in school, right? You're a good student. There's no need for you to do this."

You can come out the same way you entered the forest. Who would have thought that you couldn't even compete with an old lady for the job?

I continued wandering around the forest and found another restaurant hiring. It was a small shop run by a retired couple, and this time I didn't encounter any competitors.

Bian Senlin summed up his last experience and assured himself that he was diligent, studious and able to endure hardships. The boss looked at him suspiciously and was somewhat reluctant, but the boss's wife finally asked him to give it a try.

The boss hesitated for a moment, then said solemnly in dialect with a stern face, "It's a half-day trial period. If you pass, you'll get paid. If you don't pass, you won't get paid. Is that acceptable?"

Bian Senlin nodded quickly, and thus began his first trial work.

The gentle female boss of the previous company was right. This job was really tiring. He had never done it before, and after trying it out for half a day, he felt his hands and feet were so sore and numb that they felt like they were not his own.

The boss seemed to be a little annoyed by his clumsiness, but reluctantly let him pass because he was obedient and hardworking.

Before he could be happy, he was stunned when he heard the boss's next words: "Ah? Health certificate?"

"Yes, everyone working in the restaurant industry needs a health certificate," the boss said impatiently, "If you haven't had one before, just go to the hospital for a physical examination. It's very simple."

Bian Senlin: "..." He doesn't even have an ID card now, how can he get a health certificate? All this time's work will be in vain...

Bian Senlin walked back exhausted. He passed by the vegetable market and bought some vegetables. His efforts to increase income were frustrated, so he had to keep up with the cost-cutting measures.

Using what I had learned and observed during the past half day, I made two simple dishes according to the recipe. After covering the pot with a lid to keep it warm, I lay down on the sofa bed tired and didn't want to move.

He had already sent a message to Fatty earlier telling him that he didn't have to eat out today.

He took a short nap, and when the fat man opened the door and came in, he sat up with his hands still shaking, he was so tired.

The fat man moved the dining table out and brought out the warm dishes. He listened to Bian Senlin talk about his experience today, wanting to laugh but not daring to.

Finally, out of sympathy, she served him a bowl of rice and handed it to him, saying, "Why are you in such a hurry? Didn't we agree to resolve the identity issue first?"

Bian Senlin took it, took a big bite of the food, and said vaguely: "Didn't I think that small shops on the street wouldn't be so strict?"

"Maybe it was possible a few years ago, but now..." The fat man shook his head: "Plus, Donghai is not like Nanchuan. First-tier cities are more standardized in all aspects."

Bian Senlin was still unwilling to give up. At worst, he would not look for a restaurant business. He discussed with the fat man and decided to borrow his identity to give it a try.

Seeing that he insisted, the fat man didn't stop him. After dinner, the fat man saw that Bian Senlin was very tired, so he asked him to rest first while he cleaned up the dishes.

By the time the fat man cleaned up the kitchen and packed the food for tomorrow, Bian Senlin was already fast asleep.

The fat man was left in a state of confusion for a moment.

The next day, Bian Senlin regrouped, but things still didn't go well.

Some people disliked the fact that his age was too old as shown on his identity information, which made Bian Senlin dumbfounded. He would only be 29 years old in 9 years. How could he be considered old if he was not even 30?

Finally, he found someone who didn't look down on his age. The boss looked at his ID suspiciously and said, "Boy, this isn't your ID, is it?"

Bian Senlin panicked when he heard this and revealed his flaw. When he realized it, it was already difficult to explain it away.

The boss chuckled and said, "You kid, take your brother's ID card. You look a bit like him, but don't you see? He's almost 30 on the ID. You look so young, are you under 18? Go away, we don't hire minors."

Bian Senlin: ...

But he couldn't explain this, so he had no choice but to return home.

The experiences of the past two days have hit Bian Senlin hard. He has always believed that as long as people have good hands and feet and are not lazy, they will not starve to death. At worst, they can just wash dishes and they can always support themselves.

But now I feel like a waste. You want to wash dishes, but people may not even want you to do it!

Bian Senlin was a little crazy for a moment. Coming to this strange yet familiar world nine years later, he actually felt an anxiety in his heart that he was not even aware of.

At first, he actually wanted to try to find something to do. Even if the income was meager, at least there would be a way to provide a safety net, which would make him feel a little more at ease.

But now…

Bian Senlin stood up and said, if it doesn’t work offline, try looking online. He just didn’t believe it!

Next, Bian Senlin was bombarded with all kinds of weird information, such as "Taotao fake orders" and "part-time typing job".

After the fat man knew about it: “…” He absolutely refused to admit that he was the same person as the demented guy.

After an unknown amount of time, a message from the fat man woke up Bian Senlin. He looked outside and found that it had become dark and it was raining heavily.

The fat man said he was at the entrance of the subway station. Bian Senlin thought that he didn't bring an umbrella, so he took two umbrellas and hurried out.

When I saw the fat man, I was stunned. Is this fat man carrying an umbrella?

The fat man said, "There's a spicy hot pot restaurant nearby that's really delicious. I'll take you there to try it."

Bian Senlin: "..."

This is a shop on the street, but because it was raining, there were not many people there, and the sound of horns from across the street could be heard in the rain.

While waiting for his meal, Bian Senlin listened carefully, and it seemed that "investment, refund, keep your eyes open; online loans, fake orders, they are all scams.", "Everyone should be on guard against online fraud, don't be greedy, don't be fooled."

Bian Senlin: "..." He finally understood what the fat man was up to.

The fat man's chubby face was filled with a mischievous smile. "Donghai has always been very active in anti-fraud propaganda. If you go out at 8 a.m., you can see police officers holding up QR codes at the subway entrances to promote anti-fraud knowledge."

Bian Senlin coughed and said, "I don't really believe it."

I didn't believe it, but I also thought about what might happen. Many people were cheated because of that "what if".

The fat man handed him a bottle of drink and said with a smile: "By the way, do you have any misunderstanding?"

Misunderstanding? Bian Senlin looked at him suspiciously.

The fat man took out his cell phone and clicked it, then put it on the table and pushed it to him, motioning him to look at it.

Bian Senlin took a look and widened his eyes: "Oh my god..."

Fatty: "This is my paycheck from last month. Although it's not a high salary in Donghai, it's more than enough to support the two of us. You really don't need to panic because you're the only one who'll starve to death."

"Oh." Bian Senlin returned the phone to the fat man: "That's because I don't want to cause you any trouble."

The fat man smiled and didn't respond. He knew the crux of the matter.

My father's roar from more than ten years ago still echoes in my ears: "Are you going to be a loser and come back to eat your father and mother?"

At that time, he had just been diagnosed with mild myopia and it was showing an upward trend. It was amazing that a poor student like him was still nearsighted.

The father, who had been silent all this time, didn't know what he was thinking about. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. One day, he suddenly yelled at Bian Senlin who was talking to his mother.

Bian Senlin was stunned by the yelling. For his father, this was just a temporary emotional release.

For Bian Senlin, this roar directly cut off all his retreat routes and shelter from the wind and rain.

In addition, since he was a child, his mother would always remind him whenever he went out, "Go home quickly after school and don't cause trouble outside."

Over time, he developed the habit of not bothering others if possible.

The fat man sighed helplessly. Sometimes he couldn't understand why they always thought that he would cause trouble for them, considering how cowardly he was as a child. When he was bullied, he would get up, brush off the dust, and run home heartlessly without saying a word.

In short, at this time, Bian Senlin himself may not have realized that he felt insecure, did not want to owe anyone, and did not dare to trust anyone, including himself.