Every time I shuttle between hell and reality, that tight pulling feeling becomes more and more intense.
It's like when the air pressure in an inflatable rocket reaches its limit.
With a "puff" sound, the entire rocket will be ejected. It will bring you back to reality from hell.
When Ding Xiaoyi returned to the hotel.
It's already noon outside.
"Jingle Bell……"
A ringtone from the front desk rang on the landline. After Ding Xiaoyi pressed the speakerphone, as expected, it was the customer service staff urging him to check out as soon as possible.
After hurriedly washing up, Ding Xiaoyi put on a spare set of clothes.
I put my backpack on, checked out of the room, and found a restaurant for a simple meal of noodles.
At this time, a piece of news happened to be playing on the hotel TV.
[Latest news, through the unremitting efforts of the alliance police detectives, the suspects of many robberies in this city were finally arrested...]
On the TV screen, the so-called suspect, wearing a black mask on his head, was escorted by several tall police detectives as he stepped out of the car.
"Hey, I finally caught it! This kind of scourge deserves death!"
People who were eating together in the restaurant couldn't help but start discussing it. After all, this incident happened in my hometown, and everyone felt closely related to it.
No matter what the outside world is like, when talking about their hometown, everyone will hope that their hometown will always be peaceful and peaceful.
From beginning to end, Ding Xiaoyi just immersed himself in eating noodles.
He didn't pay attention to the news reports because he knew very well that the robber was already dead.
When I met him, he was already a cold corpse, but he still had the consciousness of a living person.
After a quick meal, Ding Xiaoyi carried his backpack and took the hovercar to East Street.
Following the location information on the phone, I arrived at No. 121 Yima Street. The large black and red iron gate was a bungalow house. After ringing the doorbell, I could vaguely hear the sound of someone walking behind the door.
"Who is it?" A voice asked from behind the door. After waiting for a while, the black and red door was opened.
An old lady in black linen clothes opened the door a crack. I couldn't tell the old lady's specific age, but she must be in her eighties. The muscles on her body had relaxed, and it felt like a layer of flesh had fallen off her arms.
leather.
But she is full of energy, has a rosy face, and looks very kind and kind. I imagine that when this old lady was young, her appearance would not be much worse.
"What can I do for you?"
Ding Xiaoyi smiled, raised the phone in his hand, and showed the old lady the message on it:
"I was the one who called yesterday to rent a house."
The old lady thought for a moment, as if she was recalling yesterday's events. After taking another look at Ding Xiaoyi's cell phone, she remembered the agreement between the two of them today.
"Hello, young man, please come in."
The old lady put a kind smile on her face and opened the door to make way for Ding Xiaoyi to come in.
Although she is very old, Ding Xiaoyi can feel the high quality from this old lady.
As soon as he entered the door, a cool breeze hit his face, blowing away the heat brought in by Ding Xiaoyi.
He glanced around and saw that it was a two-story small building with retro architecture and wooden beams. In the huge yard, there were two old trees planted on the left and right. The trees were tall and had big crowns. The trees covered the huge yard with their shade, making this hot and humid place...
In the summer, you can also feel a sense of coolness.
Under the shade of the trees, tables and chairs carved from stone are arranged very elegantly.
It gives people the feeling of time-traveling antiques.
"Please take a seat."
The old lady motioned Ding Xiaoyi to sit down and poured a cup of hot tea for Ding Xiaoyi.
"Okay, thank you grandma, what do you call me?"
Taking the tea with both hands, Ding Xiaoyi asked softly.
During the phone call yesterday, he could tell that the other party was an elderly man, but he didn't expect that he was already so old.
Even with the current alliance's medical methods and the development of various vaccines, most of the incurable diseases in humans have been immunized.
But human lifespan has not really been extended.
Even because of the high workload and pressure, few people can live to a long life.
"Just call me Nanny Zhang." Nanny Zhang said with a reserved smile.
"Then please call me Xiao Yi." Ding Xiaoyi said, taking out her ID card from her wallet and handing it over so that Granny Zhang could confirm her identity information.
Perhaps because he had no parents since he was a child, and the old man raised him single-handedly, Ding Xiaoyi is still very kind to the elderly and is happy to deal with them.
Because these elderly people will always have their own stories throughout their long lives.
Ding Xiaoyi's actions made Grandma Zhang very satisfied.
I had a good impression of the energetic and polite young man in front of me.
The most important thing is that this young man is not like other renters, who are either lazy or procrastinating, have a family to support, or are too impetuous and exaggerated.
"I am getting older and my health is not good. I will need to live in a nursing home for a long time in the future. This is the place where I grew up and it is also my only home."
When Grandma Zhang said this, her wrinkled hands gently touched the old tree beside her.
Those cloudy eyes became a little hazy for a moment.
It was as if I was trapped in some kind of memory. At that time, there would always be the sound of several furry children playing and playing under this big tree.
At that time, people did not live in towering buildings.
Every door faces each other, and neighbors on the same street will visit each other and chat about home affairs.
Even during holidays, those uncles and uncles who cannot be named would always get drunk in the yard.
At that time, her brothers and sisters would keep her awake until 12 o'clock at night, and at the sound of midnight bells, she would see the sky full of fireworks.
After a while, Grandma Zhang was surprised to realize that there was a guest beside her.
He quickly came back to his senses, wiped away the tears from the corner of his eyes with his fingers, and apologized to Ding Xiaoyi: "I'm sorry, when people get older, they will always be in a daze unconsciously."
The old man is often in a daze, and sometimes he sits in the yard by himself all afternoon.
So he understood this situation very well and nodded sincerely: "It doesn't matter, maybe the memories left for you here are too precious."
Grandma Zhang was very surprised by the calmness and patience shown by Ding Xiaoyi.
Even his grandchildren find it difficult to sit with him, chat and drink tea.
Young people, who are not active in mind, like new things.
If you want those young people to accompany you, this old guy, you won't be able to chat with each other.
"The monthly rent here is two thousand alliance coins. I can only charge you one thousand. The prerequisite is that you have to help me take care of this place. I don't want to see the furniture in the room gathering dust, nor do I want to see it.
There is a cobweb growing in the corner, and if you are willing, we can sign a contract."
Ding Xiaoyi could see that this Granny Zhang was definitely not someone who was short of money.
Judging from this courtyard, this retro house, wooden beams, and the layout of the courtyard, this courtyard is worth a lot of money.
The reason why I rented it out was actually just to find a companion for the house so that it would not become desolate over time.
"You are such a generous elder, I think I will take care of this house until you recover and go home."
His agreement made Grandma Zhang very satisfied. She turned her eyes lightly and said, "Then let's pay half a year's rent first."
For 6,000 alliance coins, renting this two-story building with a private courtyard is a bargain.
Even those buildings are more than this price.
Although the address is in the old city, it is not in the commercial center of City S.
But what is the difference for me? I am not a financial elite or a big boss.
There is a snack street when you go out from here, and turn left to Jiudu Road, the main road in S City.
For homebodies, this is simply the best choice.
When Grandma Zhang entered the room to get the contract, Ding Xiaoyi took out the money from his backpack, counted out 6,000 alliance coins and put it on the table.
When Grandma Zhang came out, she saw the cash on the table. She couldn't help but look at Ding Xiaoyi thoughtfully, and asked with a smile: "Xiaoyi, what do you do?"
Work!
Ding Xiaoyi was startled about the work issue.
Yes, what kind of work do you do?
Your family is bankrupt and you have no legal source of income? You always stay at home, but you buy a lot of things. Over time, you will always arouse some people's suspicions.
So he needs a job, a job that can explain his source of income.
However, work cannot constrain him and prevent him from going home to catch the sea. In other words, he must have enough freedom.
So after careful consideration, I eliminated unsuitable occupations.
There are only a handful of careers left, and there are only two that suit me.
The first is a network worker.
In today's era of developed Internet, network workers have become normalized, and there will no longer be those exaggerated scenes in history.
For example, send a certain online e-sports master to a terrible illegal school, and eventually be tortured alive and become a fool.
From today's perspective, this kind of plot is really exaggerated.
There are also those illegal reform schools recorded in history books, which reveal ignorance and ignorance everywhere.
So network workers can be a very good identity cover.
But the problem is that it is too easy for such workers to be traced.
With just a little search on your mobile phone, you can find out the worker's information. After all, we are in an era of open information, so the Internet is cleaner and more harmonious than ever before, and you have to think carefully even about swearing.
After all, all accounts on the Internet are real-name, and you must speak responsibly.
I cannot do this work myself.
So Ding Xiaoyi chose the second job that suited him, raised his head, with a sunny smile on his face, and said to Grandma Zhang in front of him: "I am an online store owner!"