I make a living solving crimes.

People's sorrows and joys are not the same, Yan Jiecheng just thought they were noisy.

After finishing a day's temporary work at the leather factory, he was exhausted and just walked home when he heard his second brother Yan Jiefang talking about Chang Wei. He felt mixed emotions.

"Didn't they say that I can't just take over the position?"

"Brother, I don't understand either."

"Ah, who can blame me for having a good father?"

Yan Bugui said angrily, "What? You also want me to die so that you can take over my position? If I ask you to take over, can you do it? You are a junior high school graduate and you want to be a teacher?"

Yan Jiecheng complained: "I didn't say I wanted to take over as a teacher, but you should at least help me find a proper job."

"Now a regular job quota is 300 yuan. I have a big family to support. Where can I find 300 yuan?"

"Then I'll count it as a loan, okay? When I start working, I'll pay an extra ten yuan a month in addition to my living expenses." Yan Jiecheng paused and gritted his teeth and said, "I'll pay you back for three years, with interest. I'll pay you back three hundred and sixty."

The life of a temporary worker is too hard, with low pay and heavy work, but he dares not complain. It only takes a word from the workshop director to fire him.

Yan Bugui said nothing, but silently calculated the accounts in his mind.

Earning sixty in three years is more than three times the interest of depositing money in the bank.

The eldest brother is eighteen this year. In three years, when he is twenty-one, he will have paid off all his debts and can find someone to marry. Then I will lend him another three hundred yuan when they get married.

He winked at the third aunt. The two had been together for twenty years and had a tacit understanding. The third aunt immediately understood what he meant and asked, "Boss, are you really going to pay back ten dollars every month?"

Seeing that there was hope, Yan Jiecheng patted his chest and said, "Mom, I'll keep my word. I'll still have three years."

The third aunt secretly glanced at her husband's face, and after a while she said, "Then I'll help you find someone to borrow the money. This money is borrowed, so remember to pay it back."

Yan Jiecheng didn't care where the money came from. He just wanted to get a formal job as soon as possible. He went into the house, found a pen and paper, and said, "I'm going to write you an IOU now."

Yan Bugui nodded. The father and son had to settle the account clearly, so a promissory note must be written.

Liu Haizhong's family was having dinner in the backyard. The second son, Liu Guangtian, also graduated from junior high school this year. He had not found a job yet and was eagerly waiting for his father to find a solution for him.

Without a job, you have no money, and without money, you feel insecure when going out.

"Don't even think about taking over. I'm a level 5 worker. If you want to take over, you have to start as an apprentice. You can't even pay for your brother's education with the apprentice salary."

Liu Guangtian secretly glanced at his elder brother Liu Guangqi who was leisurely eating scrambled eggs, and muttered: "Then you should also support me to continue my studies."

Liu Haizhong slammed the wine glass in his hand and scolded, "You want to study? It's useless to go to high school with your grades. If you have the ability to get into a technical secondary school like your brother, I will sell everything I have to support you to finish your studies."

"How do you know I can't get into college?"

"You want to go to college? If you pass, I'll chop off your head."

"Then I don't dare to ask for it."

"What did you say, little bastard?"

Liu Haizhong was so angry that he picked up the fire chopsticks and smashed it at Liu Guangtian. Liu Guangtian dodged quickly and the chopsticks hit Liu Guangfu hard, making the little kid cry loudly.

The second aunt ignored the third child who had been wronged, and pulled the second child Liu Guangtian and said, "How could you talk to your father like that? Apologize to your father now."

How could Liu Guangtian dare to be stopped by his mother? Seeing that the hot chopsticks were about to hit him again, he reached out, grabbed half of the scrambled egg on the plate, stuffed it into his mouth, opened the door and ran away.

There was chaos in the backyard. Yi Zhonghai listened to Liu Haizhong's loud cursing voice and sighed, "That little bastard from the Chang family made the yard restless as soon as he got to work today."

Auntie was puzzled and said, "It's common for Uncle Er to beat children. What does this have to do with Chang Wei?"

"There are so many young people in the hospital who don't have jobs. Xu Damao had to learn from his father for three years before he could get a job and earn money. Yan Jiecheng is working as a temporary worker, and Liu Guangtian is still unemployed. It's nothing like the Chang family kid who became a police officer smoothly. How can the other young people accept this?"

Auntie knows that people are more worried about inequality than scarcity, but there is no reason to blame the Chang family for this, right?

Yi Zhonghai frowned and asked in confusion: "I heard Chang Weiniang say that the public security department can't take over. Is this true?"

"That's what she said before. Chang Wei Niang said that I have to go to some school first and get my diploma next year before I can take over."

"Alas, they are just fooling us ordinary people."

"When Xu Damao just came back, I heard him say that Chang Wei seemed to have been featured in some newspaper."

"Don't listen to Xu Damao's nonsense. When has he ever told the truth? Can anyone get on that newspaper?"

As they were chatting, Jia Dongxu knocked on the door and came in with his head hung. The master and disciple sat opposite each other in silence for a long time.

Behind a wall, He Yushui was thinking carefully about what Chang Wei said yesterday.

Post office, letters, money orders...

As night falls, the darkness is like a canvas, dotted with stars, shining with mysterious light.

Chang Wei ran out of his house and ran all the way to Deshengmen. He slowed down his pace after leaving the city gate and walked leisurely into the black market along the moat.

Looking at the names on the heads followed by words like "scalper", "unemployed", "agent", etc., Chang Wei couldn't help laughing.

There is no secret at all.

He walked around and looked at the second-hand stalls one by one.

Stall owners passing by would light their flashlights and shine them over their stalls for a few seconds.

The rule here is that you are not allowed to shine the flashlight at people.

In fact, the photos don’t show any human appearance. Their heads are covered, leaving only a few holes. Who knows whether there is a human or a ghost under the rags.

When he came to a stall, he stopped, squatted, took a watch and examined it carefully under the flashlight. "How much is it?"

"One hundred and thirty-five."

"Where is the one hundred and thirty-five? Are you robbing money?"

"Do you know what it is? This is Enicar, a Swiss watch."

Even when it came to the point of selling off his belongings, the stall owner remained unyielding, sitting upright on a stool, fanning himself with a paper fan, looking leisurely.

Chang Wei really didn't know this brand. In his previous life, his knowledge of imported watches was limited to Rolex and Omega, and Patek Philippe, which appeared most frequently in novels, but he had only heard of it but didn't know what it looked like. As for Enicar, he had never even heard of it.

"Fifty."

"Kid, go play."

"Hey, old man, I really want it."

"You are deliberately causing trouble." The stall owner replied and ignored him.

Chang Wei smacked his lips, wanting to leave but reluctant to part with the watch.

He originally planned to spend thirty or forty yuan to buy a second-hand domestic watch to make do.

But as soon as the light swept over him, he was attracted by the watch. It was made of steel, with three large hands and a date. A closer look revealed a white outer ring with a grid inner ring, Arabic numerals, and no scratches on the glass.

Seeing that he was not leaving, the stall owner said patiently, "I won't lie to you. This is an Enicar automatic waterproof watch. I've had it for more than ten years and it has never made a mistake. Go to a state-owned department store and check it out. You'll find the same one for three hundred and thirty."

"You are old stock."

"Kid, there are no second-hand watches. The older the watches are, the more expensive they may be."

Chang Wei thought about it for a long time but still didn't want to give up. He fumbled out a handful of bills from his pocket, counted them again and again in front of the stall owner, and said in a dilemma: "I have 92 yuan with me. I'll give it all to you. Is that okay?"

"No one bargains like you."

"Oh, forget it."

He was about to stand up, but the stall owner stopped him and asked, "Really only ninety-two?"

Chang Wei turned out all his pockets, shook his empty schoolbag, and spread his hands.

"Okay, okay, let's just make friends. Take it."

The stall owner said the last two words through gritted teeth.