Confessions of a Thief

Seven

"Eating powder? Six yuan for vegetarian food, eight yuan for meat, and twelve yuan for powdered food." Lin Chiang lifted the lid of the pot, and the dense water vapor wrapped his chiseled face.

Zhuang Ze stood with a blank face, obviously two days ago, it was still a place selling steamed buns, how did it become a noodle shop overnight, and there were only two kinds of food in the noodle shop - vegetarian and meat.

"Tsk, talk! If you don't eat it, I'll cook it for others first."

"Hey! Xiao Lin, here's a bowl of meat, add flour!" An old man who picked up garbage put down the woven bag, sat down and yelled.

"Okay!" Lin Qi glanced at Zhuang Ze again, Zhuang Ze lowered his head, pinched his pants tightly with his fingertips, obviously expressionless, but Lin Qi felt that he was sad.

The bone broth was bubbling in the pot. After a while, Lin Qi skillfully put the noodles into the big bowl of meat, boiled a few slices of lettuce on top, and neatly added an egg. When he carried it over and turned around again, Zhuang Ze had disappeared.

"Tsk." Lin Qi lit a cigarette and sat down to rest next to the old man. The business in the slums is very bad, and most of the people who live there are old men and women who don't want to spend money on noodles. They go out to buy steamed buns, or cook them at home. Eggs can be eaten.

"Xiao Lin, I'll give you the money." The old man finished eating the noodles and brought out 20 yuan. Lin Yang accepted it, but when he was about to make up the money, he was held down by the old man. The old man slammed his mouth and said, "That kid just now , if he comes again, you will cook him a bowl with flour and meat, and it will be my fault.”

Lin Qi was taken aback, and gave the money to the old man, saying: "I asked him to do it, and you keep the money. What's the matter with him? Do you know each other?"

The old man sighed: "He doesn't know me! But no one here knows him, poor boy."

Eight

The next morning, Zhuang Ze went to water his little orange tree as usual. He seemed a little absent-minded, because the money he stole last time was almost used up. He obviously didn't have much water and electricity, but he was charged [-] yuan. I know that someone replaced his water meter with his own.

After pouring the water, Zhuang Ze walked out of the residential building with a pair of battered and yellowed white canvas shoes, and walked to the bun shop habitually, but forgot that it had been converted into a noodle shop, and he might never eat buns again.The fact is that it is so impermanent, the people and things he is used to and rely on keep leaving him, but he can't make a sound to keep them, let alone hold them.

"Come here!" Lin Qi waved to Zhuang Ze while cooking the noodles.

The business of the noodle shop is rare today. It seems that because a leisure club opened opposite the slum, many people go there to apply for jobs. The magnificent facade echoes the crumbling residential buildings, making it even more high-end. A barrier separated two completely different worlds.

Zhuang Ze turned his head and was about to leave as if he didn't see anyone calling him.

"Hey!" Seeing this, Lin Chou directly threw the chopsticks back into the pot, and the long-legged man in jeans ran after him in two strides, clasping the other's elbow with his hands stained with soup, and said Don't say anything, just go to the store.

"Ugh! Uh, uh." Zhuang Ze opened his mouth and struggled, but still couldn't speak, so he reached out and grabbed his hand.

Lin Qi shoved the man into the store like a cat, and then brought him a bowl of hot noodles, and said domineeringly, "The matter of the bun shop..."

Zhuang Ze looked at him as soon as he heard these words.

"The boss said that his daughter graduated from college and worked, so she doesn't need to stay here for that little money. She said she wanted to go home, and I just took over when I moved here. I'll take care of your breakfast in the future."

Zhuang Ze was stunned for a long time when he heard the words, and picked up the chopsticks without saying a word under the gaze of the other party, and while the other party was busy, he left his last 12 yuan and left.