Summer mornings are not too cool, and the weather in June is enough to wear short sleeves.
Taking off a clean short-sleeved shirt from the rope extending inside the room, Liu Weicheng went to the corner and washed himself with clean water from the bucket mixed with hot water from the thermos.
I took off the band-aid that had been on my forehead all night, carefully avoiding the wound and cleaning it.
After washing up, my sleepiness slowly began to subside. I got ready, took the keys to my room, opened the door and left, walking through the alley towards the hardware store where I worked.
The distance is not too far, about ten minutes' walk.
When Liu Weicheng arrived at his destination, the store was already open. It occupied a small facade and had various tools placed inside. There was an ajar door inside the store that opened into the backyard.
A tall middle-aged man was preparing to work. Hearing the sound of the door being opened, he immediately raised his eyes and looked at the door.
After seeing Liu Weicheng's figure appear, his face, which did not look like a good person in the first place, became even more ugly with his expression.
When he opens his mouth, he speaks vulgar words.
"You bastard, why are you here at this point? You might as well die in the family!"
The attitude is very bad.
When such words reached Liu Weicheng's ears, his calm expression immediately changed.
He frowned and looked at the man in front of him. As an apprentice in a hardware store, the middle-aged man in front of him could be considered his master. Strictly speaking, it is more appropriate to refer to the master-apprentice relationship as boss and employee.
Liu Weicheng didn't have much favorable impression of the man in front of him.
When the other party's curses came into his ears, his body instinctively felt uncomfortable but then he calmed down again. It seemed that Liu Weicheng had become accustomed to such behavior.
Perhaps it was this submissive attitude that made the other party despise him more and make him more comfortable in bullying.
The middle-aged man took off his gloves, stood up from his crouching position, pointed in the direction of Liu Weicheng, and said impatiently.
"Don't even think about taking your wages today, go and get me a glass of water!"
"..."
"Why are you still standing here?"
After the words fell, the middle-aged man noticed that Liu Weicheng was standing there motionless. He originally looked at the machine on the ground and looked back at him, looking at him impatiently.
Seeing that Liu Weicheng remained silent and looked at him with an indescribable look, his inexplicable anger rising, his expression changed and he strode towards Liu Weicheng's location.
He raised his hand, intending to slap him hard on the head.
Unexpectedly.
The palm did not slap Liu Weicheng on the head. Liu Weicheng, who had always closed his eyes and endured it silently, now took a step back to avoid the slap.
The man obviously didn't expect that the other party would dodge. The slap missed him and he lost his center of gravity and almost fell.
He finally managed to stabilize his body, but before he could get angry, the next second his waist felt like someone was kicking him. The force was so strong that he couldn't stand still and fell to the ground.
"You dare to kick me!?"
After coming back to his senses, the man's face began to turn red. This unexpected development made him angry and asked a question that made people laugh.
"Is there a problem with kicking you?"
In the past, Liu Weicheng would not have dared to fight back, but now he will not be bullied like before.
Facing the stunned man who fell to the ground, Liu Weicheng had no need to continue arguing with him. He raised his hand to push away the covered hair, touched the injury on his forehead, squeezed it a little harder, and the improved wound was restored again.
leaving blood behind.
Dripping down the cheeks.
The middle-aged man who was about to get up was a little stunned when he saw this scene. Then before he could react, he saw Liu Weicheng rubbing blood on his face. What was originally a minor injury immediately became serious.
Before he could speak, the other party suddenly turned around and rushed out the door. At the same time, he heard the other party's calls for neighbors.
Bad thoughts came to mind, and the middle-aged man got up from the ground in a panic and chased in the direction where Liu Weicheng ran away just now.
It’s lively and everyone likes to watch it.
In less than half a minute, the surrounding area was already surrounded by people. When they saw the hardware store owner rushing out of the store in a panic, everyone, even those who didn't know the situation, immediately understood what was going on.
The accusatory words reached his ears, and faced with the scorn of others, the man hurriedly opened his mouth to explain.
"I didn't hit him, this kid did it himself!"
"Isn't this nonsense!"
"That's right, whoever has nothing to do with getting blood on his face!"
"Hey, you... I usually treat others badly, but who would have thought that I would hit them!"
"It's really not a thing..."
People only believe what they see in front of them. Compared with the unscathed shop owner, they are more willing to believe that Liu Weicheng, whose face is covered with blood, is the victim.
It seems to be human nature to protect the weak, not to mention that at this time, Liu Weicheng had blood on his face and kept complaining that he had a headache. His sense of justice was overwhelming, and he was planning to call the police to arrest him.
By the way, they surrounded the entrance of the store, fearing that the store owner would escape accidentally.
Faced with the condemnation of the masses, the middle-aged man tried his best to explain...but his explanations were like falling into the sea amid the condemnation, and all explanations seemed to be shirking responsibility.
Faced with the constant criticism and criticism from everyone, and looking at Liu Weicheng surrounded by people, it was not until this moment that he got to know Liu Weicheng again.
I didn't expect...this guy's scheming was so deep.
————————————————————
dusk.
In front of the ATM machine.
Looking at the amount of 5,000 that had just been deposited on the screen, the pain in Liu Weicheng's head was slightly relieved by the income.
Following the police's adjustment, the hardware store owner settled the matter privately. The amount of five thousand is considered a large amount of money in this day and age.
Liu Weicheng kept crying out in pain throughout the whole process. He went to the hospital for long examinations and was eventually diagnosed as a minor concussion. In order to avoid jail time, the owner of the hardware store had no choice but to reach a settlement with Liu Weicheng and left after paying the compensation.
At the same time, this also means that Liu Weicheng is no longer an apprentice in the other party's store.
Liu Weicheng thought for a long time alone last night.
After learning about his life in this world, he made a plan for today.
He was often beaten and scolded. Before going out this morning, he took off the band-aid on his head last night because his hair had not been trimmed for a long time. He used this to cover the wound well.
And he also deliberately went to work nearly half an hour later than usual, expecting that the store owner would definitely do something to him like before. Although this move made the wound worse, it also greatly improved his finances.
.
Since graduating from junior high school and going out to work, Liu Weicheng has sent most of his salary to his aunt every month, so he does not have any savings and only has less than 1,000 in his bank card.
After understanding the grievances he suffered, Liu Weicheng no longer planned to continue working as an apprentice in the hardware store, so he took advantage of the situation and made his first pot of gold from the other party.
The result was very successful.
Although he lost his job, Liu Weicheng did not feel any regret at all.
After getting the money, he walked around to get a feel for the surrounding environment. By the way, he found a barber shop to cut off his hair that had not been repaired for a long time. After the hair that was like a chicken coop was gone,
The whole person looks much refreshed.
After depositing the money in the bank, carefully return the bank card and put it in your pocket.
With the joy of a good harvest, he was about to walk home first when he heard an uncertain call in his ear after he had only taken a few steps.
"Liu Weicheng?"
"..."
The pace of his march was disrupted, and Liu Weicheng looked up at the person calling him.
What caught his eye was a familiar face.
Li Shiyi.
The two looked at each other, and Li Shiyi was a little unsure for a moment. After taking a closer look at Liu Weicheng, she relaxed her brows and showed a faint smile.
Yunyun, who was led by her and carrying her schoolbag, also looked at him curiously.
"You cut your hair..."
Li Shiyi raised her left hand to brush her hair and spoke. She paused for a few seconds and then looked for a topic.
"I wasn't sure it was you just now. I feel more energetic after cutting it short..."
"I would rather you describe it as refreshing than energetic."
He didn't have much fondness for the word "spirit", so Liu Weicheng took advantage of the situation and used his words. He looked down at the little boy who was being held by the other party and showed a smile that he thought was hearty.
Yunyun shrank behind her mother.
"..."
"What's wrong, is this Uncle Liu from yesterday? Don't remember?"
Seeing that her daughter was a little scared, Li Shiyi gently pulled the child's little hand and explained. Unfortunately, it was of no use. Yunyun was still hiding behind her mother, only showing half of her face.
He seemed very afraid of strangers.
This scene was somewhat embarrassing. Looking at the mother and daughter in front of them, Liu Weicheng could only laugh awkwardly.
He looked up and looked to the side, and happened to find a small shop not far from him. Without thinking, he turned around and ran towards the shop.
When I came back half a minute later, I already had a carton of yogurt and a lollipop in my hand.
He tied it with a straw and handed it over with the candy.
With the same hearty smile as before, but this time the result was completely different.
Yunyun tentatively leaned out and took it carefully.
Seeing her daughter biting the straw, Li Shiyi glanced at Liu Weicheng in front of her.
"I've spent a lot of money on you, by the way... I'll give you the money we agreed to yesterday. I originally planned to go to the store to find you..."
"No."
Before the other party finished speaking, Liu Weicheng interrupted directly and moved his eyes away from Yunyun to look at Li Shiyi in front of him.
"I no longer work there, and my boss paid for my treatment, so let's just consider yesterday as a free service before leaving my job."
"..."
Stunned for a moment, Li Shiyi didn't understand why Liu Weicheng stopped working in the hardware store after a night.
"That's not possible, just as much as you need..."
"I still have something to be busy with. Let's talk about this another day."
After saying goodbye, Liu Weicheng did not give the other party a chance to continue arguing. He raised his hand and rubbed Yunyun's little head, which was drinking milk, and then left here as if running away.
Just as it was a coincidence when we met, it was also quite unexpected when we left.
By the time Li Shiyi reacted, Liu Weicheng's figure had disappeared among the passing pedestrians.
After a while, she seemed to react.
His eyes moved back from afar, looking at his daughter who had finished drinking the yogurt and was biting into the lollipop bag...
His originally dull mood improved a little, and he lowered his head with a smile and said to his daughter.
"Let's go home."
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Tickets, no need to say more, brothers all understand~