Chapter 30 Lucid Dream "This person is crazy."
Chapter.Thirtieth
In late spring in Suzhou, the sky is filled with mist, and even the breath you exhale becomes gray and sticky.
In the cramped rental house, Chen Qiudu, wearing a cheap and monotonous apron, stood by the sink, scrubbing dishes mechanically and skillfully. The moisture made the thin cotton and linen long sleeves tighten against his skin, making his whole body clammy.
A crude electric fan was creaking overhead, and a woman's sobbing could be heard from the hoarse TV program with poor signal. The mother was sitting hunched over on the sofa, mending torn clothes for the neighbor next door.
The hour hand of the cheap alarm clock I bought from a street stall trembled as it pointed to one o'clock, making a "ding" sound.
Chen Qiudu swiftly took off her apron, grabbed her tool kit and old-fashioned cell phone, and walked out of the kitchen. "Mom, I'm going to work. I'll be back later tonight."
"Okay, Qiu Du, be careful."
Today is Saturday afternoon, a time for others to relax and unwind, but for Shen Qiudu, it is the day to make the most money.
From 1:00 to 2:00 p.m., Chen Qiudu would take his tool kit and walk around the slums, repairing electrical appliances, light bulbs, pipes, faucets, etc.
The furniture in the slums was cheap to begin with and would break down every few days. For convenience, everyone would generally choose to have someone come to repair it on weekends, and Chen Qiudu seized this opportunity.
In the past, the man would rarely come back home, and his mother would only do some delicate manual labor. In addition, his health was not good, and Chen Qiudu was unwilling to let him do these rough jobs. So, with his already frail body, he silently supported the entire family.
But making money is too difficult, especially in the slums where people are extremely short of money. Many colleagues don't even eat lunch and wait on the roadside just to grab business in advance.
In addition, Chen Qiudu's Omega identity and weak appearance made him not very popular here. People always felt that he was not as capable as those rough men.
Therefore, Chen Qiudu could only grab five or six orders in this hour, but it was enough.
But today, something is different.
"Hey! Little guy, you're quite skilled. Come over to my place later. My faucet is leaking for some reason."
This is the third time.
Chen Qiudu turned on the switch of this house. When he saw the repaired light bulb light up, he turned around and frowned slightly to look at the uncle who suddenly appeared behind him and greeted him.
The first time he went out on the street, he was stopped by someone standing on the side of the road. The person said that the water pipe at home was broken and asked if he could fix it. He looked very anxious.
But at that time, there happened to be three colleagues waiting for business on the side of the road. In the past, Chen Qiudu was always the one chosen at such times, but today it seemed as if they were waiting for him.
However, Chen Qiudu didn't think too much about it. He just thought it was good luck, and he would be a fool not to do something with the money.
Just as he finished, another woman stopped Chen Qiudu with an unnatural look on her face, saying that her child was naughty and had broken the water pipe, and asked Chen Qiudu to go and help fix it quickly.
But after checking the water pipe, Shen Qiudu found that a child's strength was not enough to break such a thick pipe. Moreover, it was buried in the corner of the cupboard. How naughty was that child? She was just a little girl. It was impossible no matter how you looked at it.
It looks like it was deliberately damaged.
But Chen Qiudu didn't think too much about it. The woman's husband was an alcoholic and abusive. He knew better than anyone that such men would always do disgusting and stupid things that would shock the world and make ghosts cry.
So he didn't worry about it anymore.
It wasn't until now that he realized something was wrong. It felt like these people were pre-arranged, waiting for him to show up, and then, regardless of his performance, they would hurriedly shove money into his pocket. Some even gave him extra tips based on his patience and speed.
The tips are more than the wages, isn't that crazy?
Chen Qiudu pursed his lips, followed the man back to the house with doubts, and began to check the faucet that he said was "accidentally" broken.
Chen Qiudu touched the faucet and glanced at the obviously uneasy man beside him. "Have you been drinking? Or gambling?"
"Huh?" The man looked puzzled and immediately shook his head, "None."
"So you have a violent streak?"
"No... No, how could that be possible? I don't even dare to step on a cockroach."
Hearing this, Shen Qiudu didn't even open the tool kit. He stood up and looked at him calmly, "Then tell me, was the faucet connection forcibly twisted off by cockroaches?"
"And this one." Chen Qiudu pointed to the concave part of the surface. "This one has scratches and dents from unnatural wear and tear. Is this also an accident?"
The man completely shut his mouth, stood awkwardly in the corner with his head lowered, and remained silent.
"I hate it when people tease me." Chen Qiudu suppressed his dissatisfaction and opened the tool kit to help the man fix the faucet.
After all, as a human being, one cannot be without professional ethics, even if he is just a low-level laborer.
"Next time if you do something bad on purpose, don't call me."
But before Shen Qiudu left, the man forcibly pulled him back, stuffed the change into his pocket, and said hesitantly, "You...you'd better take it."
As soon as he finished speaking, the man fled in panic as if he had seen a demon, leaving Chen Qiudu staring blankly at the large bundle of change in his hand with his eyes lowered.
For some reason, he subconsciously lowered his head and sniffed. The bundle of change seemed to have been prepared long ago. The surface was smooth without any wrinkles, and there was no musty or sweaty smell that came with the slums.
On the contrary, it has a bit of wheat smell, but when you smell it carefully, it doesn't taste like wheat.
But Chen Qiudu was too lazy to think too much. He was short of money now. Since people wanted to give him money, he would take it. After all, it was the compensation for his labor, so it was not a loss.
As for what the person behind the scenes wanted to do, as long as Chen Qiudu and his mother were not in danger, he had no time to think about it and just played with him.
Just as Chen Qiudu was about to leave, he was stopped by a man who came rushing over. Before the man could say anything, he put away his tool bag in front of him and interrupted him: "We're done for today. Go find them."
He casually pointed at his colleagues on the roadside who were worried about not being able to find work today, then turned and left without looking back.
When passing by those men, several jealous and obscene glances fell on Shen Qiudu intentionally or unintentionally.
"Is this the guy who stole our business? I don't know how he makes money..."
"With his small body, he can do better than us? I'm speechless. Next time I meet him, I will definitely make him pay the price!"
Those men spat on the ground as if to vent their anger. They didn't know Shen Qiudu at all and had no connection with him, but they were able to break his defense and spread rumors without blushing or beating their hearts.
Of course, Shen Qiudu could hear it since he was not far away, but he didn't care anymore.
Over the years, these words were even spoken by his own father. He was devastated, helpless, and desperate, but these emotions could not change anything, so Chen Qiudu became numb and dull.
From two in the afternoon to nine in the evening, Chen Qiudu works as a cashier at the convenience store on the corner.
In fact, this convenience store doesn't really need any manpower, but the sister who runs the convenience store couldn't bear to see Chen Qiudu doing hard labor alone on the construction site, so she softened her heart and let Chen Qiudu come to work here on Saturdays.
The reason why that sister took such good care of Chen Qiudu was because her good friend was the daughter of the gambler who took her father to gamble. Just last month, she dragged her and insisted on selling her to pay the money.
Therefore, the convenience store sister has more sympathy for people like Shen Qiudu, and she wants to help Shen Qiudu.
When Chen Qiudu just stepped into the convenience store with his tool kit, his sister hadn't left yet. Seeing Chen Qiudu, she quickly waved for him to come over.
"Qiu Du, why are you here so early today? Don't we usually tell you to rest a little longer and come back around 2 o'clock?"
"Something happened today so I won't be working for now, but it's nothing, so I thought I'd come early to help."
"Okay, I'll go back first. Call me if you have anything."
The convenience store sister glanced vaguely at the strange man sitting at the table in the corner, looked at Chen Qiudu who was trying hard to find work for himself, sighed helplessly, and left.
When the store closed, Shen Qiudu finished the work at hand and looked up to find a man sitting at a table in the corner of the store.
He wore a black baseball cap, stood tall, with his back to him and facing the glass window. Through the glass window, he could even see Shen Qiudu's own figure.
But there are usually people like this in convenience stores, sitting in the corner without saying a word, sometimes buying a drink, sometimes buying a bucket of instant noodles, so Chen Qiudu didn't pay much attention to it and continued to do his own thing.
But today the convenience store was just like it was during normal business hours. The flow of people suddenly increased. A group of people came almost every five minutes and bought a lot of things. But judging from their clothes, they didn't look like people who would spend money lavishly. But they mostly bought snacks, cigarettes and alcohol. They even urged him to pay the bill, and it didn't look like they were joking.
Furthermore, the convenience store lady said that as long as he collected money during his work, Chen Qiudu would get a corresponding commission. Therefore, Chen Qiudu actually hoped that there would be more people so that the convenience store lady could make more money.
And Mother's Day is coming soon, maybe I can save enough money to buy my mom a gift.
Thinking of this, Chen Qiudu felt in a good mood and worked more efficiently. Time passed by minute by minute, and soon it was time for dinner.
Usually, Chen Qiudu would just quickly eat with a bag of bread or a small bucket of cheap instant noodles, and this time was no exception.
Just as he opened a bag of bread, the man sitting in the corner suddenly moved.
He took a few rice balls, instant noodles, and a bottle of drink from the shelf, put them in his arms and placed them in front of Chen Qiudu.
"Bill, please."
The man's voice was low, as if he was deliberately lowering it. He kept his head down the whole time and didn't look at Shen Qiudu. His broad shoulders directly embraced Shen Qiudu's body.
Although his clothes looked dirty on the surface, Chen Qiudu was 100% sure that he was not from the slums, whether it was his dress or his posture and temperament.
However, Chen Qiudu had no habit of prying into other people's privacy. He quickly put down the bread he had already taken a bite of and hurriedly paid the bill for the man.
"It's fifty-three in total. How do I pay it?"
"WeChat."
After paying, Shen Qiudu was about to help the man pack the bags when he suddenly raised his hand to stop him.
The man raised his bony fingers, pointed at the bread that Chen Qiudu had put aside, and suddenly asked, "Is your bread delicious?"
Shen Qiudu was stunned. "Not bad."
"Then I'll take it, one for one."
While Chen Qiudu was still not reacting, the man immediately picked up the remaining bread and ran away. Chen Qiudu was the only one left in the convenience store, staring at the bag of food in a daze.
So the one-for-one he mentioned was exchanging his bag of food for a bite of bread that Chen Qiudu took?
This guy is crazy.
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