Chapter 34 Treasure Island (3) Braised Pork Rice.
After a day of beach cleanup work, Ah Kun was already suffering from back pain.
Instead of purifying his soul, it only made things worse.
During his break, he noticed people glancing at him and whispering. Knowing he still had dozens of hours left, plus the mandatory weekend classes, he felt a surge of anger.
I worked hard all day but didn't earn a penny and wasted my time. I can't go out and do odd jobs.
"You old geezer, minding your own business."
He vented his anger on the owner of the courtyard, as if he was still resentful that he hadn't secretly hidden the wallet.
After nightfall, the boy, carrying a can of red spray paint he had smuggled from somewhere else, hurried toward the familiar street.
Seeing the other person slowly stuff the spray paint can into their pocket, a tense and anxious feeling arose, and I began to worry.
"What is he going to do?"
1221: "Anyway, it's probably not a good thing."
He followed closely behind the other person silently, as the other person wandered through streets and arrived at the ceramics workshop he had visited that night.
Ah Kun first jumped up, grabbed the top of the wall with his hands, and tried to look into the yard. After a while, he also jumped onto the wall not far from the other person and looked inside.
The kitten glimpsed a small part of the room through the gap in the curtain that wasn't fully drawn. Uncle Lin was sitting at his workbench, meticulously wiping a ceramic doll with a cloth.
Before Chichi could see anything else, Ah Kun had already returned to the wall.
The other person squatted in the corner and shook the spray paint can vigorously. The can made a clicking sound and drew a big "bad luck" character on the outside of the wall.
It was too late to stop it; conspicuous red words had already been sprayed on the gray wall, looking extremely glaring.
Just as the other person was about to continue, the kitten suddenly bumped into the other person's hand holding the spray paint can, spraying red paint onto the ground and staining a small area red.
Chichi, carrying the spray paint can, watched as it rolled to the side. Ah Kun, both surprised and angry, rushed forward to snatch it, but Chichi skillfully dodged him.
She jumped onto the wall and meowed loudly into the yard: "Come out quickly! Someone is scribbling and drawing on your property!"
The quiet night sky was broken by the meow of a kitten, and the lights outside the yard came on. Uncle Lin walked out suspiciously.
Ah Kun cursed under his breath and tried to run away, but Chi Chi grabbed his trouser leg.
"Let go! You stinky cat, I even fed you!"
The other person lowered his voice and angrily tried to shake off the kitten that was clinging to his leg.
The outer gate of the courtyard was opened, and Uncle Lin appeared at the door wearing a coat and carrying the stick from before. The light from the flashlight illuminated the red characters on the wall and the paint on the ground.
Seeing the familiar boy in this scene, what else could the other person not understand?
"It's you again, you damn bastard!" Uncle Lin roared, rushing over and grabbing Ah Kun, who was trying to run away. "I didn't even make you pay for my unfinished work, and you dare to spray paint on my wall."
It slowly released its claws and landed on the ground, seeing that the other person's shoulder was being held down tightly.
Seeing that there was no hope of escaping, Ah Kun decided to throw caution to the wind and said defiantly, "So what if I sprayed it? I've already been punished, so I don't care if I get punished a few more times. It's your fault for ruining my plans that day."
"I ruined your plans?" Uncle Lin slapped him on the back. "I was trying to help you."
"help me?"
Ah Kun sneered and turned his head: "Then you really are a great person."
Chi Chi stood on Lin Bo's side and nodded to the boy: "Not helping you is helping you. Even a kitten understands such a simple principle. You're so stupid!"
Uncle Lin looked at the red paint dripping down the wall and was furious: "So what? Do you want me to call the police to arrest you again, or do you want to apologize properly? Let me tell you, I didn't make you pay for my paint last time because you're young. If you don't repent properly this time, I'll call the police to make you pay me back."
"It's just a bunch of broken jars and bowls, what's it worth? You're just trying to scam me."
Seeing Ah Kun's stubbornness, Uncle Lin said in a deep voice, "Those weren't mass-produced using molds, they were hand-thrown. There were fifteen in total. You have to compensate me four thousand yuan, plus my wall cleaning fee. If you round it all up, you can just give me five thousand yuan."
"Five thousand dollars?" Ah Kun stared wide-eyed, looking like he wanted to eat someone alive. "Go ahead and rob someone."
"I won't give you a single coin. Go ahead and call the police to arrest me if you dare. I'm just a worthless person, I'm not afraid of you."
"It's easy to manage even if you don't have money."
Uncle Lin stared at the other man: "You're using yourself to pay off your debt, you must have the strength, right?"
Ah Kun shook off his opponent and tried to run away.
"1221, charge!"
The command system stopped the opponent, and the transparent ball of light flew in front of Ah Kun and struck him hard on the forehead.
"Ouch."
Ah Kun was startled and saw stars. He covered his throbbing forehead with his hand, both anxious and angry: "Who? Who hit me?"
"You're still trying to pull this scam on me, huh?" Uncle Lin grabbed the other man's arm and dragged him into the workshop without saying a word. "You've got so much energy you don't know what to do with it, so you're always doing bad things? I'll let you do as much as you want."
Ah Kun struggled as he was dragged into the yard, and Chi Chi followed.
Uncle Lin turned on the lights in the yard and pointed to the black ash inside and outside the kiln: "Go and clean out the kiln ash inside, and then clean up the ash outside and put it in bags."
"I'll come out and check later. If it's not cleaned properly, then you'll have to pay me back for the brickwork and the wall."
Seeing this, Ah Kun tried to turn and run away again, but 1221 went up and hit the other person on the head again.
The boy, who had initially looked defiant, became suspicious and looked around, wondering if someone had thrown the stone as a prank.
"What are you looking at? Get to work."
Uncle Lin tossed two brooms, one big and one small, to Ah Kun, then closed the courtyard gate and went into the workshop.
Ah Kun looked at the thick layer of ashes in front of him, kicked the broom, sending both brooms far away from him, and then, looking at the wall, he had the urge to climb over and escape again.
He had barely glanced at the wall and hadn't even had a chance to act when he was hit on the head twice more by unknown sources.
Ah Kun felt a chill run down his spine, as if he had encountered some kind of supernatural phenomenon. That old man probably had some kind of divine power that made him suffer retribution if he disobeyed.
"Hehe, now you know fear, huh?" 1221 said smugly.
“We’ll keep an eye on him from here,” Chi Chi said to 1221. “Let’s see how he runs.”
After several attempts, he finally picked it up, pinching his nose, and muttered, "Scan it if you want, what's the big deal?"
He waved the broom haphazardly inside the kiln, sending up clouds of ash that covered him in dust. Even the little cat next to him sneezed loudly.
Just as Chi Chi was about to press down on the other's broom with its paw, it was glared at fiercely by the other: "Get away, what are you doing next to me?"
"Of course, it's to keep an eye on you."
The honey-eyed kitten meowed a lot, but it was all in vain.
The other person felt she was in the way. Just now, she had tried to stop him from spraying paint as if she were a little human. She was quite cunning. He used one foot to pretend to drive her away: "Go away, go away, go to the side."
She nimbly jumped away, but didn't go far, keeping an eye on him from a clean spot.
She watched as Ah Kun scooped out all the kiln ash and swept it onto the ground, making the ground dusty. Then she looked around and saw a rag under the eaves near the workshop.
Chichi picked up the rag and began wiping the floor, mimicking how humans do it.
Ah Kun watched the kitten clumsily trying to do human chores and grinned crookedly, "This tiny kitten can already pick up trash and mop the floor? Are you a cat spirit?"
As he grew up, the people around him either sneered at him or looked at him with disdain, but this little cat, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, helped him time and time again.
It's really annoying.
Seeing that the kitten had gotten itself all dirty and its once snow-white paws had turned black, Ah Kun couldn't bear to look at it anymore.
He snatched the rag, picked up the kitten, patted the dust off its fur, and tossed it into a relatively clean spot: "I'll clean up, don't make a mess."
After finally cleaning the kiln, the aroma of cooked food filled the room.
Ah Kun sniffed and called inside, "Old man, I'm leaving."
"Wait a minute." Uncle Lin came out of the house. "Let me check."
He looked you over inside and out, and since you were fairly clean, he nodded and said, "You pass."
"So much nonsense." Ah Kun threw the broom on the ground without any politeness. "I'm leaving."
"Come in and eat," the other person said casually. "We can't let the people who do the work leave hungry."
Ah Kun hesitated for a moment, thinking that the old man was trying to trick him again. Unexpectedly, after saying that, the old man turned around and went back into the house. The doors and windows were wide open, and the fragrance became even clearer.
It made his stomach rumble.
The work had taken a toll on my energy, and the little bit I ate in the afternoon had long since been digested.
Chichi called out to the still hesitant boy, nudged his leg with his paw, and pointed inside the house: "Go eat, he's a good person."
Ah Kun muttered "That's ridiculous," and strode into the main room as if he were sulking with someone.
On the table was a large plate of braised pork rice and a dish of preserved radish omelet. The oily and salty aroma filled his nostrils. Hunger overcame his stubbornness, and Ah Kun pulled over a chair and shoveled the rice mixed with braised pork into his mouth.
Uncle Lin brought out a glass of water. Seeing the boy wolfing it down, he said nothing, simply placed the glass next to the boy, sat down opposite him, and started carving a teacup.
The only sounds in the room were the clinking of bowls and chopsticks and chewing. The light shone on the bowls, plates, and ceramic items scattered throughout the room. No one spoke, and the atmosphere was strange and awkward.
But this did not affect Ah Kun's appetite.
He eats bread and rice balls or convenience store bento boxes every day, and it's been a long time since he's had such freshly made home-cooked meals. Once he picks up his chopsticks, he can't stop eating.
Watching the other person devour their food, I couldn't help but swallow hard again.
I don't understand how this person can eat everything with such relish; every time, it makes the cat want to try what kind of delicious food it is.
The kitten shamelessly jumped onto another stool, ready to get a closer look at the "mukbang" (eating broadcast), but the other party misunderstood and saved a piece of braised meat from their mouth, throwing it on the ground.
Chichi glanced at the boy who had gone back to eating, then tasted the piece of braised meat.
The meat was tender and melted in her mouth, making it even tastier than she had imagined.
Ah Kun quickly finished his rice, leaving only a shiny, oily bottom, and broke the silence: "I'm leaving."
"Come back to work tomorrow night."
Uncle Lin stopped what he was doing and said to the other party, "Either come and work for me, or pay back the money. Think about it: do you want to pay back the money or come and work to pay off the debt?"
"Are you ever going to stop?"
Ah Kun turned around impatiently: "I have my own things to do. I have to go to that damn community service and attend classes. I don't have time to come every day."
"Help me with my work, and you'll get paid if you do a good job."
Uncle Lin casually remarked, "Think about it yourself."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com