"ah!"
"Zuo Changming, was your left eye really stitched up by your grandfather?"
A young woman in a post office uniform gasped and clung tightly to her companion, asking incredulously.
“But, Lili, Xiaoxue, don’t listen to that blind boy Zuo’s nonsense. He’s told this story countless times.”
Just then, a middle-aged man with a buzz cut, also wearing a post office uniform, walked in.
“Zhang Guangyin, but I think Brother Changming spoke very well. I was quite frightened.” An Lili’s face was a little pale, and she looked flustered.
“He’s told the same story hundreds of times, how could it not be vivid?” Zhang Guangyin said with a disdainful look, turning his gaze back to me. “Blind Zuo, all you do when you have nothing better to do than make up stories to scare little girls.”
I gave an awkward laugh, handed Zhang Guangyin a cigarette, and said, "Brother Yin, I've finished delivering all my packages for today, and I don't have any to pick up. I'm just passing the time by telling you a story."
"Yes, Station Master Zhang, it's almost time to get off work anyway, and I'm also curious to know what happened to Zuo Changming's story after that?" Lin Xiaoxue's expression was a little unnatural, as if she was very interested in the story I was telling.
"Alright, since you want to hear it, and I have nothing else to do anyway, I'll stay and listen to what Blind Zuo has to say next." Zhang Guangyin pulled out a chair and sat down next to An Lili, lit a cigarette, and took a deep drag.
I am 23 years old and currently work at the post office courier station in our township. There are a total of 7 people at the courier station. The boss's surname is Huang and his name is Huang Haitao. He may not come to the store even once a month, so the station manager has the final say on everything, big or small.
The station manager is Zhang Guangyin, the boss's brother-in-law. He is 35 years old this year. His job at the station is the easiest. He makes two trips a day. In the morning, he picks up packages from the county town and delivers the packages collected by the store to the headquarters in the county town in the afternoon. Since he bought a house in the county town, he only needs to make one round trip a day.
An Lili and Lin Xiaoxue are sorters at the station, responsible for sorting and entering packages into the computer.
Lin Xiaoxue is a long-time employee, just like me. She has worked at the courier station for three or four years and is 25 years old this year. Her husband also works at the courier station, and they have a son.
An Lili is a new employee, having joined the company less than a month ago. She is 21 years old this year. Although she is not very pretty, she has a great figure, with curves in all the right places.
I knew that Zhang Guangyin had feelings for An Lili. Although he was the station chief, An Lili didn't seem to care about him at all, even though he was a married man. Several times, Zhang Guangyin had tried to invite her to dinner under various pretexts, but An Lili refused.
Zhang Guangyin didn't dare to be too blatant, because his wife was a shrew, extremely fierce.
Two years ago, Zhang Guangyin's wife, Huang Meilian, suspected that Zhang Guangyin was having an affair with a divorced sorting worker at the courier station. She stormed into the store and the two started fighting. Zhang Guangyin stood by and was slapped several times, too afraid to move.
So Zhang Guangyin now has the desire to steal but not the courage.
I am a courier at the express delivery station, responsible for the collection and delivery of express packages from the station all the way to our village, Dafeng, which spans more than ten kilometers.
In addition, there are three deliverymen: one named Zhong Lingui, who is Lin Xiaoxue's husband, and the other two named Xu Dalong and Feng Enbin.
"Brother Changming, what happens next?" Although An Lili was scared, she was also very curious about what would happen next.
Zhang Guangyin was very close to An Lili, and he urged me on, seemingly eager to hear what happened next.
But I knew what this jerk was up to; he just wanted me to scare An Lili with my story so he could take advantage of her.
Although I don't have a good impression of Zhang Guangyin, I don't dare to offend him, since I still have to work for him. In a remote town like ours, a monthly salary of three thousand yuan is already quite good, not to mention the commission for collecting packages. Although it's a bit tiring, I'm still quite satisfied with this job. It's relatively free, and I can move around every day.
I glanced at the three of them and continued telling the story.
After my grandfather stitched up my left eye, it was as if those ghosts couldn't find me. That night, nothing happened in my house except for my crying.
Ever since my grandfather sewed my eyes shut, apart from the four teeth that grew in, I've become much more normal. I cry easily, even when I'm hungry.
My mother died early. Whenever I was hungry, my grandfather would take me to the homes of breastfeeding mothers in the village to beg for milk. However, my teeth grew in too quickly, and I would bite people every time I drank milk, so the women in the village did not like to breastfeed me.
Moreover, I didn't drink milk powder when I was a child, so my grandfather had no choice but to buy two sheep to raise.
I grew up drinking goat milk from the age of one to three. Before I was three, I almost never left the house.
When I was four years old, I started going out, but the children in the village didn't like to play with me because I was blind in one eye. They even gave me a nickname, "Left-Blind Man".
I didn't make my first friend until I was seven and started preschool. His name was Feng Taichuan, and his nickname was Bao Si. He was my best playmate when I was a child.
And so, under my grandfather's care, I grew up peacefully until I was twelve years old.
I remember that I was in fifth grade that year. One day, my left eye hurt terribly, so I asked for leave and went home.
I remember that my grandfather looked very unwell that day. He examined my eyes, didn't say anything, and just told me to go back and get some sleep.
I remember that day was the 14th day of the seventh lunar month. Everyone in the village was busy killing ducks to offer as a sacrifice, but my family did nothing. My grandfather sat alone at the door, smoking his pipe.
I listened to my grandfather, ate a little something, and went back to sleep.
But my left eye was hurting so badly that I tossed and turned in bed all day, unable to sleep. It felt like my left eye was about to split open.
In the afternoon, my grandfather came to my bedside and said a few words to me.
He said a pork seller would be staying at my house tomorrow, and I could call him Fifth Grandfather. He also said that Fifth Grandfather was his comrade-in-arms when he was young, so we wouldn't have to worry about pork anymore.
After Grandpa finished speaking, he looked at me with a kind expression, patted my head, and turned to leave.
As Grandpa patted my head, I felt my left eye hurt less. A wave of drowsiness washed over me, and I vaguely watched Grandpa's departing figure. It felt like I was lonely, yet also like a kind of relief.
Before I fell into a deep sleep, the only thing I was thinking about wasn't whether I would be able to eat pork in the future, but that I really wanted to see that so-called Fifth Grandfather tomorrow.
Since I was old enough to understand, only my grandfather has been by my side. I wish there was another person in the family, so that the house wouldn't feel so lonely.
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