My 26-year-old female tenant: Gufan on the Island

Robben's instant noodles went into his mouth, and before he had time to chew them, he had a ferocious expression on his face, and then spat them into the plate of shrimp shells; I was a little surprised, and I was stunned for a long time before I asked him: "Did you eat shit?"

"It tastes worse than his shit... I've accepted it's so rotten, but it's still so salty!"

I laughed, and then sneered: "It seems that even if you accept this reality, it is not so easy to swallow..."

This time it was Robben's turn to be stunned. He had wanted to act fearless, but to him, the instant noodles, a symbol of reality, were like a monster with many tricks. It always found an angle he couldn't observe and opened its bloody mouth towards him...

I wanted to gloat over other people's misfortune, but the next moment, I fell into deep thought uncontrollably. It seemed that in this complex interpersonal society, acceptance and escape were both so undesirable... This made me suddenly not know how to live, or survive... As far as I can remember, my spirit has not had a full meal for a long time, and my spirit is almost dried up, so I keep company with wine every day.

It was at this time that the proprietress came over to us with a kettle in her hand. As she added water to the pot, she said disdainfully, "The soup is almost dry, how can it not be salty... It's just a matter of adding some water, why are you pretending to be a philosopher!"

Robben and I looked at each other and wanted to say something when the proprietress turned around and walked towards another table, asking if they wanted to add water to the pot.

……

That night, Robben and I finally came to an understanding. We lit a cigarette together, and then used the cigarette to cover up our psychological embarrassment. Finally, Robben spoke first and said, "Are we a little too twisted?"

Of course I didn't want to admit it, so I subconsciously looked at the boss lady's back and replied, "The water in the soup pot is easy to find... Where can you find water that can make life less bitter and less salty?"

"Yeah... where can I find one... I've been unemployed for almost half a year!"

After saying that, Robben also fell into deep thought. At this time, the proprietress came back and said, "I'm afraid you two will have to work hard again... I, the cashier, will be off work soon. Please settle the bill first... Who will pay it?"

I looked at Robben and Robben looked at me, but no one moved.

The lady boss urged again, "Hurry up, we've been busy until midnight every day for the past ten days during the New Year. Our cashier girl is counting on getting off work early today so she can have dinner with her boyfriend. You two should stop wasting time."

Robben and I knew what was going on, so I asked, "Sis, when did you start to dislike us? ... I didn't see you rushing other tables."

The proprietress was a woman from Northeast China, and she was outspoken. She just scorned Robben and replied, "Ever since he was so picky about eating instant noodles... I didn't even charge you for the instant noodles, I gave them to you as a gift... Where does your temper come from, demanding this and that!?"

I laughed out loud...

The lady boss glared at me again and said, "You are not a good person either... not helping someone in need is a sign of being heartless!"

Robben was stunned at first, then he also laughed out loud.

As he laughed, his expression suddenly became as gloomy as mine. He probably realized that we were the same: we were all reptiles who were trampled under the feet of life but still humbly wanted to retain a little dignity.

I definitely wanted dignity, so I took out two hundred yuan from my wallet, handed it to the proprietress, and said, "No need for change." Then I turned to Robben and said, "Let's go to Huifang Restaurant to continue drinking. The proprietress there never eavesdrops on customers, and they only serve stir-fried dishes and rice... never instant noodles."

"Why didn't you say so earlier... Let's go, let's go, let's go... to Huifang Hotel."

After that, we left two figures running away in the night. We really were running away, because we were never respectable people.

……

Because we were short of money, Robben and I didn't actually go to the Huifang Hotel. We just bought a dozen beers and then went to the moat. This was the first time I drank with a man by the moat. The moat is very important to me, but for drinking, it is very cheap because it never requires any venue fees, it just depends on whether you are in the mood to drink.

Suddenly, raindrops began to fall. There was a pavilion behind us, but Robben and I did not move. We each drank a bottle of beer. Robben finally spoke first: "Let's not pretend... If there is even a slight possibility... I still want to live a good life."

"Who the hell doesn't want to live a good life!"

"Then do you think that having a woman is a necessary condition for living a good life?"

I was silent for a while, then asked, "Then do you think that having money is a necessary condition for living a good life?"

"You're just being competitive! I just want to talk to you about the standard of living a good life."

"Standards? ... Having a woman is a good life, and then you think having money is a good life. Once you have money, you think having many children and grandchildren and spreading your family around is a good life... There is no end to these standards, it's endless."

"You're going off topic again!" Robben sighed, then smiled and said to me, "If you can't find the answer or direction for Suzhou, go to Luoyang to find Le Yao... Le Yao said that it snowed heavily in Luoyang tonight. When we get up tomorrow morning, it will be all white. How pure and crystal clear!"

I was silent at first, then I laughed and said, "I'm not going to find a wine-selling scammer who is just trying to get free food and drinks."

"What if this could be the best choice you've ever made in your life?"

"If and maybe are used repeatedly... this is a grammatical error."

"I just want to make this possibility more cautious."

"If you say so, I have a possibility here as well."

Robben looked at me, waiting for me to continue.

I finished the beer in the bottle, and then I spoke again: "CC has told me more than once that it's not a big deal that you don't have a place to sing... If you want, she can open a bar with you, and you can sing in your own bar... Then you don't have to worry about the people in the bar association... I think you should go find CC, and this is the beginning of your good days."

"I'm talking to you about Le Yao... and you're talking to me about CC... Can we still have a good chat?"

"Why are you so anxious? Don't you understand the principle of not doing to others what you don't want others to do to you?"

Robben fell into silence, and then finished a bottle of beer in silence...

……

This process made me feel a bit bored, so I finally took out my cell phone from my pocket which had been neglected for a long time; to my surprise, Chen Bailu actually sent me a message fifteen minutes ago.

"Brother, are we still going to the bar?"

I wanted to call him back, but then I remembered that he couldn't talk, so I quickly sent him a message: "Are you out?"

He seemed to have been waiting for my reply, so he replied immediately: "Yeah."

"What's going on? Didn't you say you have to pay more than 100,000 yuan?"

This time, Chen Bailu did not respond. He asked persistently, "Are we still going to the bar?"