The shelves became trance-like, and even the people standing still became insubstantial. The long corridor was covered with scarlet carpet at some point, and the whole room lost the sunlight and fell into darkness. The pale moonlight showed through the glass door, and on the carpet
Patches of white are stamped on it. At the end of the corridor is a huge Tibetan embroidery work of art, but there is a woman embroidered on it, like a picture of a lady.
The round bun is tied with colorful satin and traditional hair accessories, which is particularly interesting at first glance. But the pale face does not seem to have any traces of blood flowing through it, and the facial features are almost invisible, and the beautiful parts are outlined with lines.
The two strokes of understatement were used, and the lips were so bright red that they seemed to bleed.
But the carpet just extended to the woman's chin, as if she was sticking out a long tongue, and he was standing on it.
The more Li Ze watched, the more he felt that she would open her mouth at any time and roll him into her mouth with her tongue.
"A total of 8 yuan, please show the payment code." The cashier patted Li Ze's hand, "What's wrong?"
Li Ze screamed, looking at the cashier with a questioning look on his face, everything returned to its original appearance: "Ah, it's okay, I'm just too tired."
"Too tired?" The cashier seemed to understand what Li Ze meant and gave him a lollipop, "Young man, life is ups and downs, don't overwork yourself. If you are too tired from work, just quit."
Li Ze was a little surprised: "Uncle, are you thinking too much?"
"Ah, isn't it?" The cashier sat back in the boss's seat and continued to stare at the anti-Japanese drama played in front of the screen. The cashier took out a pear, slowly peeled the pear with a fruit knife, and then divided it into two pieces.
Two, handed the other piece to Li Ze.
"Uncle?"
"I like to make friends and live a peaceful life. Of course, these are all now... In the past, I was also a hardworking and enterprising guy. In order to make money, I did all kinds of drifting in the north, high and deep.
"I started out as a duster, then in sales and decoration. I taught myself a skill and turned into a designer. But after I studied for thirty years, I realized that those who didn't have it were too tired and tired." The cashier's mouth was full of pear juice.
.
Li Ze nodded, "I'm listening."
"In sales, the threshold is low and the upper limit is high, but to what extent, I have never reached it anyway, but it's basically just a non-stop, smiling face every day... Well, to say that this world is like that
It’s the same thing. I live with a mask every day. Now I finally don’t have to wear a mask, but there are many things I like and people I like that I can never find again,” the cashier said.
"But now you still count as sales..."
The cashier stared at the screen and was silent for a while: "It's the same... it's different... but I opened this store, and I opened it with the money I worked hard to earn when I was young.
In this store, now that I am middle-aged, I want to have a good rest."
"Are you tired?"
"Look, you haven't entered society yet, are you a college student?"
"Freshman year."
"Well, there are still three years left. I hope you won't be playful and follow the courses during these three years." The cashier sighed slowly and began a long story, "The number of domestic graduates in 2022 reached 10 million.
, the same is true in 2023. You are a freshman this year, that is, you graduated in 2026. Maybe the number of graduates in that year will not be less than 10 million. There are few positions, many job applications, and then you have to be picky and picky.
The recruitment requirements are for fresh graduates to have one to three years of experience...it’s difficult, how are you like us before?"
"Before?" Li Ze was stunned.
"You are still too young, but you will know when you are a senior. Remember what my uncle said, you must be proficient in everything, not just the same. Don't be like my son, a computer major, who thinks that programmers are too
I want to find a game planning job, but it turns out that I need experience, projects, and internships. Not only do I need to know Unity, but I also need experience in video editing and operations."
The cashier sighed: "At that time, our salary allowed us to save and buy. House prices were not high. We went to a technical school and had a good career. But you, if you don't have a famous university degree, you can't stand out.
, wages have increased, but prices have also increased, and house prices have increased even further. I feel sorry for you."
Li Ze closed his eyes slightly and recalled the days when his mother once said that a popsicle cost a few cents. She also said that money now is not money.
He understood why the uncle sighed. The progress of the times has made life difficult.
It’s dirty, hard, tiring, and no one wants to go there anymore. Everyone wants to eat and drink spicy food.
But the bottom dollar is no match for the rising prices.
The rich are a minority after all, but the poor...
The cashier went on to say: "Earn more money while you are young. When you are 35 years old, you will understand the consequences of disproportionate energy and expectations."
Li Ze was silent for a long time and then raised his head: "It's like you resigned and came here?"
"No, I'm not," the cashier shook his head, "I'm a Yun* person. Yun* people say that they are treasures from their hometown. You will truly understand this after you go out. But the problem I came back with is not that I don't know how to do it.
I am willing to continue to work, but my father passed away suddenly... Because it is far away and I want to make money, I am reluctant to come back even on national holidays. I want to continue to make money there, so I have been back home twice in five years." Li Ze was slightly startled: "The uncle's parents..."
"No, they are very supportive of me. They often say on the phone that if you are young, you should have a good career. Do you want to make money? I make a lot. I can even give my parents 3,000 yuan in living expenses every month. But am I happy?
The days with my family have shortened, and I haven’t even seen each other for the last time.” The cashier said, “Coming to Shangri-La* is also my mother’s last wish. I have settled here with my mother, wife and son for five years, and every day
Watching my mother chanting sutras and worshiping Buddha, my mood gradually calmed down. But unfortunately, she was suffering from lymphoma, which was still in the late stage. I wanted to spend money to delay her life, but I spent 300,000 yuan and still couldn't save her.
."
Li Ze's face looked a little ugly.
"Money, do you think it is a good thing? Yes, it can buy a house, a car, food, see a doctor, travel, and create a small family. But no, it cannot buy love, justice, or even a person's life.
Here we are." The cashier said quietly.
"Uncle..."
"These are just suggestions from an old guy who has resigned many times. I don't know what you young people think." The cashier handed him a cigarette. "If you dare to criticize the boss or say something wrong about the boss, resign if you want."
, this is something we didn’t dare to do back then. Don’t tire yourself too much, you should rest, there are many people who suffer from sudden cardiac death.”
There was dead silence in the store. The cashier took out the lighter from his coat pocket and looked at Li Ze.
"I understand." After a long time, Li Ze broke the silence.
The cashier reached out and patted Li Ze on the shoulder: "You will be a very good person. Believe in yourself. Don't do emo this and emo all day long. Be more confident. In the worst case, you will be like me. You will start from the bottom and make a living."
The most important thing is that you and yourself are happy."
Li Ze walked out of the glass door, lowered his head and silently looked at the two bottles of water, a lollipop, and the lit cigarette in his hand.
