Chapter 1 (2/2)
Today was Monday, the third day of summer vacation and a workday There weren't many people on the bus
Several students sat in the front row The girls had their hair in braids and still carried their satchels properly and obediently, even though they were going out to have fun Their clothes hite and clean
Although Black Water Street was in the shopping district, the prices were down-to-earth and not expensive, and it couldn't be ters in the suburbs were all of low quality and the houses were run-down But the cheap costs attracted many visitors who didn't have a lot of disposable incoh school
Xie Yu eyed a glass ornaliht
”We're here, we're here Get ready to get off” The girl tossed her braid and held the railing as she got up ”I ate the fried nian gao here I'll take you there”
At the saers, please exit through the rear door Thank you for your cooperation”
The bus slowed to a stop The instant the doors opened, a gust of hot dry wind rushed in
Xu Yanly ”Grasshopper, where are you? Why did I hear the announceot off the bus ”Comrade Xu Yanmei, in about ten minutes I'll be at the wholesaleto take care of the s to explain it to me Think about what you promised me back then, too Hold your head up when you lanced at the ashtray full of cigarette butts on her office desk ”…”
”Mei-jie, what happened? Why the glum face?”
Xu Yan up her sleeves, she entered the warehouse and started helping the shop owners with their work ”Don't talk about it I'll die fro wholesalebusiness for , she had put up a stall by the roadside with several of her friends Later, it had become a proper shop In the end, they took over two floors in the Guang Mao Expo in the middle of Black Water Street—and these two floors contained more than a hundred small shops which formed a wholesale market
As the female boss of the wholesale market, Mei-jie's name was very well known on Black Water Street
”You're frustrated, really? It looks to ht at all,” one of the shop owners said
Xu Yan? Also, do you have perfu like that? Let et here and I stink of cigarette sive htened up and dusted off his trousers: ”So it's that precious son of yours Look how scared you are, you're… I have perfuo find it for you”
”How can I not be scared? My Xiao Yu is a good boy” Xu Yanth on a s to herself, ”I can't lead hiical son anyway Just your Godson, right?”
”What good boy? My son is in the sa of his bad grades, nobody in class dares to share a desk with hi leader and mixes with that sort of crowd Only you, Mei-jie, hold him up like some kind of treasure and don't even curse in front of hih school entrance exarades, he'd only pass if he encountered a ghost Even though Er Zhong isn't that good of a school, even a regular high school² at rock-bottoet it, don't talk about it any more Go back to work”
By the tiroup of chatty shop employees had dispersed Each stood in front of their stalls, which were atheir wares: ”Two for 99, two for 99! If you miss today, come back next year! Down jackets are out of season and this is a clearance sale!”
”Come over here and take a look! Two for 99!”
Xu Yano out for a bit If anything coive me a call If there are idiots who can't read the rooot it? Just yell at them Reason, my ass Reason is for humans, not for idiots”
Xie Yu took a roundabout route, and after visiting three different tchotchke stores he finally found a loudspeaker with a volume enhancer
It was red and white and he found it at the bottooods The shop oanted to show that it still worked even though it was covered with a layer of dust; he i ”da It was so loud it could burst eardru his h How much is it?”
The shopkeeper was very close to the loudspeaker and he didn't hear what Xie Yu said at all He rubbed at the dust on the loudspeaker with his sleeve and raised his voice to continue proht He was an elderly man and really quite old, and it was incredible that he could still yell so loudly: ”–Durable! If it's broken, full refund! Full refund!”
”How uaranteed! If there are problee its line of business, and won't change its na Goods!”
”…”
A hand stretched in front of the old man Slender, fine-boned, well-kept with clean nails
With a blank face, Xie Yu pressed the on-off switch It was finally quiet ”How much”
”Twen… twenty-five”
The elderly , ”Do you want it? If you want it I'll wrap it up for you”
Before Xie Yu could nod, the oldand put the loudspeaker in it Faster than the eye could see, he pulled several sheets of unknown origin fro, too
——Wo Second stick half-off
Not only did he man a tchotchke store, he also bore the heavy responsibility of giving out leaflets Xie Yu had now gained a new understanding of the proactiveness and professionalism of the people of Black Water Street
The oldand tossed another few sheets in Fro, the leaflets all seemed to be unique ”Side job, side job I respond to the clarion call and strive towards middle-classdoe, don't drop it Cohua: the standard Mandarin dialect
[2] An acadeh school' and ‘vocational high school'