Chapter 129 Brother Shi told me a surprising news
The high-speed train passed over mountains and rivers, crisscrossing the vast land. Along the way, I carefully explained to Yifan the rules of this line of work.
The most important rule is: Don't call me Master. Just call me Uncle Wan.
In front of others, don't act like an apprentice, but rather a helper, such as boiling water, sweeping the floor, and driving. If you don't understand something, you can ask me behind my back and I can teach you.
He was a little confused.
I explained that my own master, apart from me, had no other disciples. He had no disciples, but I had disciples. This...
Yifan immediately understood and nodded, "I see, uncle. I'm an employee of the rice noodle shop. If you're too busy, I'll help."
I patted his head and said, "That's right."
At this time, my brother-in-law called. I stood up and went to the connecting point between the two carriages. After the call was connected, I said, "Brother-in-law, go ahead."
My brother-in-law said, "Shanhong, I've thought about it and decided to keep the renovations as simple as possible. You'll be moving to Fengyanting at the end of the year, so renting a storefront there would be much more convenient."
When I heard that, I said, "You're really thinking long-term. If you live over there and work here, the gas money you save a month will cover part of the rent."
My brother-in-law said, "Besides, Brother Shi said he can rent you his storefront over there at a 50% discount."
I said, "Fifty percent off is too little, how about eighty or ninety percent off?"
My brother-in-law said, "That's settled then."
My brother-in-law is quite smart. He thinks things through carefully and in the long term.
In that case, we won’t hold the opening ceremony for now. After we move in, we’ll rent a storefront and then treat everyone to a meal.
After we got off the high-speed train, my brother-in-law drove to pick us up. Yifan called him "uncle" affectionately. My brother-in-law smiled and said, "What a good seedling."
When we got home, it was lunchtime. The younger generation came over and we kept calling out to our grandparents, uncles, and aunts. The feeling of family in a foreign land overflowed in everyone's hearts.
My mother prepared a hearty lunch, and we gathered around the table, enjoying the meal and discussing it. My brother-in-law's opinion had already become the consensus of the family. Everyone felt that Fengyanting Phases 1 and 2 were nearly occupied, with Phases 3 and 4 under construction. If they could develop the business there in the future, the prospects would be very promising.
I said, "Let's postpone the opening ceremony and move there." Everyone in my family agreed.
The next day, I went to my master's home and shared my idea with him. He shook his head and said, "We have to have an opening ceremony. The decoration doesn't have to be fancy, but this is a declaration of your independent practice, so it has to be lively."
At this time, the master's wife came in and said, "You are about to open your shop, so we would like to express our gratitude to you."
After that, she took out a paper bag and said it was He Jin.
I kept waving my hands.
The master's wife's face darkened: "Take it, you are short of money now."
I absolutely refuse to accept it.
The Master's wife said, "Can I keep the money with you? You can return it to me when you have money."
The master frowned. "Can you be more generous? You should learn from Mr. Deng on this point. You've been with me for almost five years, and you can't tell whether they're giving it to you for real or just pretending?"
My heart trembled, and I said, "I know you really want to give it to me, but I don't need money at the moment."
"You don't need money, so why borrow from Brother Shi?"
My face flushed crimson. I felt so embarrassed I wanted to dig a hole in the ground.
"You go now," the master's wife said, pushing me out of the study while handing me a paper bag. I took it, got in the car, and drove a short distance. I stopped and looked back at Youranju, tears welling in my eyes.
It is a warm place.
A place that often brings tears to my eyes.
It is a holy place in my heart.
…
If I have ever seen a good man, one who is intelligent, magnanimous, chivalrous, and of high character, it must have been in a book. This is the first time I have seen one in real life.
I once read a novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami and remember him saying this:
Why do people read novels? Because reality is a hard wall that can make people run into obstacles, feel disappointed, depressed, and even lose confidence, while novels can soothe people's painful hearts.
The reason why novelists write novels is because reality is a solid wall. They always want to give strength to the powerless, confidence to travelers, and hope to the desperate.
Words are a form of spiritual salvation, allowing people to see the distant flames. This isn't the original text, but I roughly remember it as meaning something like this. It's one of the most soul-stirring sentences I've ever read.
I never imagined that the kind of holy figure described by the novelist would appear in my life. Wan Shanhong, your life on earth is not in vain.
You are fortunate to have known the Master, and therefore, you have seen the light, seen hope, and felt the human warmth that can only be found in novels.
When I got home, I counted the money and it was exactly 70,000. Master and his wife's meaning was self-evident, suggesting that I pay off Brother Shi's debt.
I sat in the night talk room for a while, made a phone call, and found out that Brother Shi was at home, so I crossed the street. Sister Shi was outside buying braised meat. She nodded to me, indicating that Brother Shi was waiting for me in the living room.
Brother Shi saw me carrying a bag and stared at me. Then he made some tea. I smiled and said, "Brother Shi, I'm here to pay you back."
He frowned. "Do you think I was unwilling to lend it to you because I was not happy? My idea at the time was to go back and entertain the guests first, and then talk to you in detail later."
I shook my head. "Brother Shi, if our relationship wasn't good, I wouldn't call you to come over if I asked you to lend me money. Instead, I should come to your house and discuss it respectfully. Because you are me, and I am you, so..."
"I know, I know...but you are short of money."
I repeated that my master gave me 70,000 yuan.
Brother Shi shook his head and said, "I'm not very sure about my words. Master asked me to send some braised meat, so I mentioned that Shanhong might be in financial difficulty."
"I'm not in financial difficulty now. You borrowed the money from your sister." I pushed the purse toward him.
Brother Shi was quite generous: "Okay." After that, he carried the bag and walked inside. When he came out, he was holding a bottle of wine, and then took out a few plates of braised meat and said, "Come, let's chat."
After three glasses of wine, Brother Shi lowered his voice and said, "My brother is at the Public Security Bureau. They recently solved a major serial case. They will announce it in a few days. It's very bizarre."
My heart trembled, and I lowered my voice: "How bizarre is it?"
Shi Ge said with disdain, "A criminal gang of three men and two women, they used the pretense of romance to seduce married men, then recorded the encounters and extorted money from them. They made millions. Among them were bureau chiefs, big bosses, and company employees. They defrauded several counties and cities, and no one reported the crime."
Brother Shi raised his glass, clinked it with mine, and said mysteriously, "In our city of Urumqi, this gang just capsized."
I asked, "You happened to meet someone who wasn't afraid, so you just took the risk and reported the crime?"
Shi Ge smiled mischievously: "Yes, this person is divorced, and thought online dating would be exciting, so he started dating someone. As a result, the defendant recorded the video, and the other party demanded money, otherwise the video would be posted online. He paid the money once, and the other party came to ask for more money..."
I smiled faintly: "There are many strange things in the world."
When I came out of Brother Shi’s house, a ray of sunlight hit my face and I felt very comfortable.
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