flawed

The daily chemical factory is located on the outskirts of Hongcheng, two or three kilometers away from the real city of Hongcheng.

The living area next to the factory prospered in the eighties and 90s when the factory was profitable. At the end of the 90s, factories closed down and workers were laid off. The once-prosperous city withered quickly with the closure of the factories, and turned into today's urban slums.

For these laid-off workers, the young ones can switch to other jobs, and the old men and women can't do anything else. Most of them get up early in the morning to pick up garbage to subsidize their families.There are these old people standing guard at the garbage disposal points in every community. They intercept the garbage they carry before they can be thrown away.

Jiang Yu is obviously no match for these people, he can't get anything from the garbage dump with the most harvest.

Turning back from the alley to the narrow street outside his house, this street is much more lively, and there are some small shops on both sides, operating the most basic necessities of life-grocery stores, barber shops, vegetable shops and butchers, everything you expect to find.Most of them are small restaurants, selling stir-fries, noodles, rice noodles, dumplings and porridge.In these small restaurants, it is easiest to find beverage bottles.Beverage bottles cost a dime, and for Jiang Yu, it was his most profitable business.

He hid behind the telephone pole outside the "Old Man Deng's Beef Noodles" shop and carefully observed the situation in the shop.He couldn't go in rashly, because he would be kicked out by the proprietress, even if he just went to pick up an empty bottle.

A diner is eating beef noodles facing the gate.He picked up a big clip with his chopsticks, shoved it into his mouth, then picked up a large piece of soft stewed meat and stuffed it into his mouth, chewed for a while, and then buried his head and sipped a mouthful of soup.Even though it was winter, his face was bright red and his forehead was sweating.

Jiang Yu followed him and kept swallowing while looking at the Coke bottle beside the table.He had already drank half of the Coke, and he hoped that the man would finish the bottle of Coke before he finished eating the noodles, so that the empty bottle would be left behind.There are also trash cans under each table. If you are lucky, the beverage bottles from the morning are still in the trash can at this moment.

The man finished his last sip of noodle soup and also his last sip of Coke, left the empty bottle on the table, wiped his mouth and left.

Before the proprietress came out to clean up the table, Jiang Yu quickly ran in and picked up the target he was eyeing, and then rummaged through every trash can.

"Who let you in? Get out, it's so dirty." The proprietress was in the back kitchen, but she saw him from the front door and cursed.

Jiang Yu turned a deaf ear, quickly flipped through the trash can, picked up four empty bottles in one go, and ran away before the proprietress chased them out.

The following dumpling restaurants and stir-fry restaurants followed suit, carrying the infamy of "beggars", "little hooligans" and "dirty and smelly", Jiang Yu picked up a dozen bottles.

This first phase of the battle is over.He took these victories to the garbage collection point in the back street of the community, exchanged it for one yuan and twenty cents, bought two steamed buns for one yuan, ate them hungrily, and put the remaining two cents into the breast pocket of his sweater.

Seeing that the morning is almost over, today's lunch is not settled.Wandering around the daily chemical factory in the afternoon couldn't find anything interesting, so he had no choice but to leave the alley and walk along the road towards Hongcheng City.

The people at the daily chemical factory don't want to see him, he knows, they always call him dirty.He is indeed dirty, and he can take a bath with cold water anywhere in summer, but not in winter.He also knew that the word "dirty" in their mouths had other meanings, and he always refuted them at first, but the more he refuted, the happier those people were, gradually, he was too lazy to argue.

When he arrived in Hongcheng, he was not dissatisfied with running around in the streets, but found a familiar Internet cafe, and mixed in with the people who went in and out.

Internet cafes are overcrowded, smoky, smelly and choking. The advantage is that it is warm in winter and cool in summer. Everyone is busy playing computer games, and no one cares about chasing him.And the biggest advantage is that he can pick up a lot of plastic bottles here, on the table, in the trash can, and some rolled under the table.

He lay down under the table to empty the bottle, and was suddenly kicked on the thigh.The man above picked him out and scolded him, blaming him for touching the wire, which made him lose the game.

Sometimes this kind of thing happens, those who lose in the game will vent their anger on him, kick him, or slap him twice.Jiang Yu was used to it, so he only glanced at the bottle under the case, and walked away reluctantly.

"Little boy, come here."

A man with a cigarette beckoned to him, and Jiang Yu ran over.The man took out ten yuan and gave it to him: "Go and buy me a pack of cigarettes, Huangshan, five yuan, do you know which one it is?"

Jiang Yu nodded, took the money, and Diandianer ran away.

This is his other "business" in the Internet cafe, running errands for others.There are only drinks and snacks at the front desk, and you have to go outside to buy cigarettes and meals.You can also call to order food yourself, but mobile phones are also a luxury for these people, not everyone has them.He has been here for a long time, and he is lucky to receive such a "big job".

Soon, out of breath, he took the cigarettes and change back to the man, and the man just said "put it on the table" and ignored him.Jiang Yu stood by and waited for his reward. After the man finished playing the game, he said that he had no change and would give it next time.

Sometimes it happens that he is asked to help run errands, but he is stingy with the fifty cents.If he begged again, the other party would be angry and tell him to leave, maybe he would get a slap in the face, so Jiang Yu had no choice but to walk away.

But if you have a lot of bad luck, good things will happen. In the afternoon, a woman asked him to help buy fried rice, and gave him the two yuan and fifty cents she got back.Not only did he get this "huge sum of money", but the woman couldn't finish the fried rice, so she shared half of it with him.

This day was very fruitful, and he earned a total of four yuan for running errands.I went to several Internet cafes in that area and picked up more than 20 bottles.

With the money in his pocket, he wandered around old man Deng's beef noodle restaurant again.The cheapest plain noodles in their house are three yuan and two taels, the cheapest among all the shops in Hongcheng.He hid behind the telegraph pole at the door until the proprietress delivered the food, and then hurried around to the back door. Sure enough, only old man Deng was there.

Old man Deng is not actually an old man, but a middle-aged man in his 30s.Jiang Yu put three yuan on the low table by the back door, and said timidly, "Boss, two taels of plain noodles."

Old man Deng also saw him, and he was too busy to move his hands at the moment: "I heard, you put the money away."

Jiang Yu didn't move, feeling a little embarrassed.Old man Deng never took his money, but when he really had no money, he was embarrassed to come here for free.He had heard rumors from the streets and alleys that this man almost became his stepfather, but he didn't know why he didn't succeed in the end.Looking at this short but strong man, if only he could be his stepdad, then he would have endless beef noodles.

Although it was called Erliang Plain Noodles, the man filled him with the largest bowl, and covered it with a large spoonful of shivering beef in red oil.Jiang Yu stared straight at the naked eyes, and swallowed hard, wishing he could swallow his tongue too.

The boss held the sea bowl in both hands, put the noodles on the bench at the door, put the money back into his pocket for him, and was turning around to fetch chopsticks for him, when the noodle bowl was taken away by the lady boss who came back from delivering the meal next door.

Seeing that the food that was about to reach his mouth was taken away, Jiang Yu hurriedly said with a pale face, "I have money..."

"If you have money, I won't sell it to you. Get out, and don't dirty my door."

Old man Deng took the noodle bowl from his wife and frowned: "What are you doing?"

"I just want to ask what you do. How much money does he have? You add three servings of beef to this large bowl. Boss Deng, you are open for business, not charity. The beef is more than ten yuan a catty, and a bowl Give half a catty, I ask you how much money you earn?"

The man ignored his wife, insisted on putting the noodles in front of Jiang Yu, and said, "Eat yours."

"You deserve a fart." The woman stepped forward in two steps and lifted the bowl, causing the meat and noodles to flow all over the floor.

Jiang Yu was taken aback, and his eyes were sore from the pain.For a moment, he thought that it would be nice if he was that yellow dog, and now he could lie down on the ground and eat to his heart's content.

The red-eyed old man Deng raised his hand to his wife.

The woman took a step forward: "Hit it, hit it, hit it if you have the ability. My mother has been with you for ten years, and gave birth to two sons for you bastard, and they are not as good as that dead bitch, right? , you can fight if you have the ability..."

First, a little fragrance of makeup and powder wafted into Jiang Yu's nose, and then a hand with red nails pressed on his shoulder: "I've been looking for you all afternoon, you son of a bitch is here to watch a couple quarrel."

Jiang Yu turned around and saw Bamei Rong.

Rong Bamei wore a bright red long down jacket, the hem reached to the ankle, the front had no buttons, and it was tied with a belt, with heavy makeup and big waves, she was totally different from the women in the daily chemical factory.

She was smoking with her fingers up, and her voice was as rusty as if she had smoked too much and hurt her throat: "What are you doing in a daze, let's go."

Jiang Yu didn't want to go with her, but to earn money outside, but Bamei Rong pulled him like a pincer: "Aren't you leaving? The couple is fighting because of you, you still watch, be careful to beat you." She said, tough He dragged Jiang Yu away.

Just as the two of them left the back door, a basin of boiling water was poured on the ground where the two of them had been standing.

Rong Bamei glanced at it, her expression was not good, but she didn't say anything.She just grabbed Jiang Yu's arm and pulled it all the way.

Jiang Yu didn't want to be pulled by her and twisted around.Bamei Rong cursed angrily: "If you twist it again, believe it or not, I'll beat you up?" As she spoke, she really raised her fist and her eyes bulged.

Jiang Yu calmed down a bit, but she was still dragging her forward, and she kept cursing all the way: "Why is this dead child so awkward, you are not likable at all, you have to be more likable, and there are people who will reward you more." You eat two bites. You will starve to death sooner or later.

"Your aunt is really not a person. Regardless of the deep hatred you have with your mother, you are her nephew of the Jiang family, so you really let you run around like a wild dog. After taking your relief, I can't wait to let you die.

"These people in the daily chemical factory are nothing. Don't think that those men who give you good looks are good people. Those who are the least things are those people..."

Cursing all the way back to the daily chemical community, Bamei Rong's house and Jiang Yu's house are two adjacent units.

He dragged Jiang Yu all the way back to her house, but encountered resistance when entering the house.When her daughter saw Jiang Yu, she screamed, kicked her legs, took off her slippers and smashed them at the door to prevent Jiang Yu from entering her house.

Rong Bamei forcefully dragged him into the house, and then took her foolish daughter to the bedroom and locked her up.There was bang bang bang bang bang bang on the door of the bedroom, and even a door panel could not stop the girl's shrill howl.

Jiang Yu stood awkwardly at the door, and Bamei Rong came over and pulled him to sit down at the dining table, and began to scold again: "Don't pay attention to that damn girl, she always knows about Sapo, she's still a snobby."

As she spoke, she went to the kitchen and brought a large bowl of rice covered with a layer of roasted pork with potatoes.She put down the meal, didn't say much, just sat on the edge and watched TV.She turned the TV up to the max, stifling her daughter's howls.Jiang Yu ate his meal amidst the noisy TV and the girl's cry.

When the rice and gravy were swallowed together, he couldn't hear anything, and his mouth, stomach, eyes, and heart were filled with the good rice.He swallowed a whole bowl of rice in less than 3 minutes, and then wished he could lick the bottom of the bowl clean.

Seeing that he finished eating so quickly, Bamei Rong was not surprised at all, and pulled out a new cotton coat from the bag.She forcefully took off Jiang Yu's too narrow clothes and put on new ones for him.

Bamei Rong is very satisfied with the new clothes.The one she is holding in her hand was also bought last year. The child looks different every year and grows too fast.She doesn't have that much spare money yet, so she buys new clothes every year for a dirty boy with no relatives and no reason.

"I threw away the old one?"

"Give it back to me." Jiang Yu reached out and took it back.

"You turned 12 today, do you know that?"

Jiang Yu knew that his birthday was the sixth day of the winter month, but he didn't know what year and month it was.

It turned out that it was his birthday today and he turned 12 years old.

He silently calculated in his heart that his mother passed away not long after his 10th birthday, so it has been almost two years since he passed away.

"There's nothing else, you go back." Rong Bamei went to open the door for him, let him out, and couldn't help cursing, "I'm also a white-eyed wolf, I don't even know how to say thank you."

Jiang Yu just glanced at her, turned and ran away.

He looked down at the new clothes, but it was getting dark, and he couldn't see anything, but it was warm.It could also be that he had just eaten a big bowl of hot rice, his whole body was warmed up, and his back was slightly sweaty.

There is something in his belly, he should be able to sleep well tonight, and his steps became lighter, trotting all the way.

His house is on the fourth floor, and most of the lights in the corridor are broken.But Jiang Yu is very familiar with walking, and he can find the door of the house even in the dark.After climbing two floors, he felt that today's corridor was a bit different from the past, but he couldn't tell what was different.

It wasn't until he climbed to the third floor that he realized that the difference was that there was a strong smell of cigarettes in the corridor, and the source was the man sitting smoking at the door of his house.

It was getting dark outside, and the light in the building was even darker. With the dim light and shadow, Jiang Yu could be sure whether it was a tall man or a bald man.

He didn't know what a bald man was doing sitting in front of his house.It stands to reason that he doesn't know such a person. Thinking about the fact that there is no such person in the entire daily chemical factory, it is definitely not the person who came to him.But for some reason, Jiang Yu's calves trembled. What if he was a bad person... He hesitated between the two options of going home and running downstairs.

The man obviously caught a glimpse of him, and spoke in a calm voice, "Do you know Jiang Yu?"

When Jiang Yu heard the sound, he ran away.