10
Go back? Where? Her home?
You should call the police. This was Zhuang Xiaodie's first thought, and then she thought of the pitiful salary in her pocket. She couldn't afford any long-distance travel. During this time, Nian Jinsi stared at her, and Zhuang Xiaodie had to turn her head away and said, "Have you made up your mind?"
Nian Jinsi said, "Yes."
Zhuang Xiaodie sat on the edge of the bed, pretending to be very concerned: "When did he start beating you?"
Nian Jinsi was stunned for a moment. She had been half-kneeling on the bed, but now she slowly sat down, hugging her legs with both hands. She said, "Does this matter?"
Zhuang Xiaodie said, "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it." She stood up and said, "But I need to think about that matter. After all, I still have to go to work, and Shen Tu Hai here also needs my care. I can't just leave casually."
"I can ask for leave for you. I'll talk to your boss." Nian Jinsi leaned forward and was held back by her own knees.
"Don't—you're used to freedom, you don't know how hard it is to get time off." Zhuang Xiaodie said, "You've been here for several days. Is the studio okay?"
"What could be the problem? I can just send a notice that something has happened at home and I'll be taking a few days off." Nian Jinsi tilted his head, his chin unconsciously rubbing against his knees. "How about—you just say you're going home to attend a funeral. That should give you some time off, right?"
"Whose funeral are you attending?" Zhuang Xiaodie didn't expect her to say this. She was speechless and almost wanted to laugh. "Do you know what you're saying?"
"I don't know, do you know?" said Nian Jinsi.
Zhuang Xiaodie's heart felt like it was being scratched by icy claws. She shuddered and stood up. "I know you're scared, but I really can't leave. So, when you're almost home, I'll call the police and have them accompany you. That way, he won't dare to do anything."
"No need!" Nian Jinsi said in a low voice.
This time, she was even more excited than before. Zhuang Xiaodie quickly glanced at her, feeling that something was wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She had no choice but to continue with the current topic: "What should we do? Don't you want to see him?"
"So I want you to accompany me."
Zhuang Xiaodie said, "I'll accompany you? Look at my small body. If he starts fighting, I won't be able to do anything."
Nian Jinsi murmured, "It doesn't matter."
"--What?"
"Can I stay a few more days?"
"How many days? Never mind, it's up to you, but I have to go to work, so I'm afraid I don't have time to go shopping with you." Zhuang Xiaodie said, "You can get the money yourself when you wake up. The clothesline is next to the washing machine." She turned to leave when she heard Nian Jinsi sigh behind her. She turned around and saw her body slumped directly onto the bed, looking very childish. Zhuang Xiaodie wanted to make a few jokes to cheer her up, so she walked closer, but when she saw the expression on her face, she was startled and left silently.
It wasn't just worry, it was more like the regret of not having achieved something. Perhaps Nian Jinsi was frightened by the beating. Zhuang Xiaodie closed the door and turned around when she suddenly heard a door close softly not far away, as if it was from the direction of Shentu Hai's room.
So young and already getting up to sleep? Zhuang Xiaodie quietly walked to the door of Shentu Hai's room. The crack in the door was dark; at least the light wasn't on. She paused for a moment, hearing no sound. Perhaps she had misheard.
Zhuang Xiaodie lay back down on the sofa. Two hours remained. She closed her eyes and tried to drift off to sleep. In a few days, she'd find an excuse to get Nian Jinsi to leave, then run away. Mission accomplished. She rolled over. She could call the police about Nian Jinsi's case, but she truly couldn't help with Shen Tu Hai's. She just hoped the girl would figure it out.
-
The boss was chatting with an old man. The two seemed to be quite familiar with each other. They first chatted aimlessly about trivial matters such as the weather and the good meat and vegetables they bought. They kept chatting from the time when the store was full of people at noon to when it was deserted. Zhuang Xiaodie finally had time to take a break. She brought out a bowl of dumplings from the kitchen and sat beside them to eat her late lunch, while eavesdropping on the conversation between the two.
"...There were more in the past few years, but now there are fewer. Young people are also superstitious and don't like to do it!" The old man raised his hand to touch the top of his head. His hair was shaved to only a few millimeters long. The sound of rustling sound came from his palm. "I was exhausted from running the day before yesterday. My family told me to rest."
"You earn so much, why don't you retire and enjoy your life?" said the boss.
"Alas! No, no, you have to see if you can enjoy happiness!" The old man shook his head. "Some people have some free time, drinking tea and playing cards every day to stay healthy, but I can't do that! If I idle away, I'm bound to have problems!"
The boss laughed and said, "Why are there so many problems? Just close the shop and take a few days off. If something goes wrong while you're idle, aren't you afraid of getting tired and causing trouble?"
The old man sighed and said, "Look at what you said, combining work and rest. I'm doing that now, busy for a while, then taking a few days off. A few years ago, others didn't dare to do it, but I ran every day. Isn't my health pretty good now?"
"There are ways to relax when you're free and ways to be busy when you're busy." Zhuang Xiaodie finished almost a bowl of dumplings and quickly added.
The old man listened, looked over, pointed at her, and said with a smile: "That's right, it's the same way of living."
The boss smiled but said nothing.
They chatted for a few more sentences, and the old man mentioned that he was getting tired easily recently and was afraid of problems, so he didn't want to drive anymore. He wanted to hire a young man who would be responsible for driving normally and at most help with the moving.
The boss said, "This square is full of people. Just go out and grab any one."
The old man said, "That won't work. Putting aside the fact that others may not know how to do it, the main thing is that you have to drive the car smoothly. You should go fast when you need to go fast and slow when you need to go slow. Don't be arrogant or impatient, and especially don't curse."
Zhuang Xiaodie finished her dumplings but did not leave. She sat there and poked at the chili oil crumbs at the bottom of the bowl. She seemed to be daydreaming, but she was actually listening attentively. She got a driver's license when she was in college, but she always kept it in her pocket and never had the chance to take it out to use.
The boss seemed to glance over here and said, "Why can't you curse? I think most of the drivers have road rage."
The old man waved his hand: "Don't curse casually."
Zhuang Xiaodie couldn't help but be curious: "Why?"
The old man laughed: "Are you afraid of death?"
Zhuang Xiaodie was slightly startled. The boss slapped the old man across the face: "How can you talk like that?"
"dead?"
"The more elegant one is the deceased," the old man said. "As for me, I'll be responsible for seeing them off. Can you drive?"
For some reason, Zhuang Xiaodie nodded. But as soon as she finished, she realized what was happening and quickly glanced at the boss. The boss looked calm and said, "I thought you were free today and you came to sit here for a long time. Turns out you're here to poach me."
The old man chuckled: "That depends on whether you let him go or not, don't you think?"
The boss raised his chin and glanced in Zhuang Xiaodie's direction: "It all depends on her. I can come and go freely."
Zhuang Xiaodie's heart was pounding. This was better than running or taking a taxi. She glanced at the boss again.
Nothing was decided that day, so the old man answered a phone call, left his cell phone number, and left. Zhuang Xiaodie took the number and looked up to see that the boss had already found the previous recruitment advertisement.
"boss--"
The boss said: "I have known this old man for several years. He is quite reliable."
Zhuang Xiaodie was speechless for a moment, and the boss dragged a stool and sat down, saying, "Do you know how I ran away in the first place?"
"How did you run away?"
"Aside from my money and ID, I didn't bring anything with me." The boss tapped the table. "Now that you've walked out from under the bridge, what do you do in the kitchen every day? Go and broaden your horizons."
After receiving her salary, Zhuang Xiaodie was still in a daze. The boss patted her shoulder and promised, smiling, that she would treat her to dumplings if she came to the dumpling shop again. After that, she gently pushed Zhuang Xiaodie, who was confused and walked out of the shop.
It was late afternoon, the sun was shining brightly, and there were people all around, but she could not hear any of the noise. She lowered her head and looked at the number on the piece of paper the old man had just left.
Do you want to fight?
If she needed a car to escape, this car was obviously not her best choice, not to mention it was the old man's survival tool. For a moment, she wanted to go back to the dumpling shop and tell the boss that she wanted to continue chopping stuffing in the kitchen.
Yes, that’s it for now.
She turned around and saw an unexpected person standing just a few steps away.
——Nian Jinsi.
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