Text/Xiang Nanchao
People who work in our industry are called "chickens".
And I am an unorganized individual, a "pheasant".
My family and I live in an old neighborhood near the S city train station, on a small land parcel on relatively high ground. The reason why I do this is for my children.
When my husband and I met not long ago, he was a tall, thin man with good looks, good conversational skills, and a lot of strength. At that time, I had just come from a neighboring county to live in the city. I didn't know anything or recognized anyone, but he took good care of me.
Privately, I think that a strong man is always better than a weak man. In our countryside, strong men are needed to collect crops. Little did I know that his strength would add endless pain to my future life.
We lived together for a while.
He was recently divorced and wanted me to marry him. But I still have some hesitations. I want to live a more stable life, and it is not suitable for both of us to live in a rental house.
Later, he told me that he had a house, which was left to him by his parents. The reason why he lived in a rental house was because the old house was rented out. He also took me to see the house, which is where we live now, and watched him talk to the tenants there in a serious manner, asking when he could move out. I felt that the sense of stability had returned, so we got married. .
The house is built in the middle of a small yard. It is an old bungalow from the old era. I don’t know how many years it is. It looks like an old man in his seventies or eighties. The door is still two old-fashioned large wooden doors that need to be closed with door bolts. The floor of the house is still uneven mud. When you enter the door, there is a reception area. There are two rooms on the left and right sides. The kitchen is behind the reception room. .
To the left of the old bungalow is an old second-story building, which looks to have been built at least 20 to 30 years ago. It was built by my husband's second brother and second sister-in-law. To the right and behind is a circle of temporary rental houses, housing many people struggling at the bottom of the city, including street sweepers, those selling fried dough sticks and quail eggs, those working in sewers, those doing small jobs on construction sites, and others like I am such a "chicken".
My husband’s second brother and second sister-in-law are a very strange pair of people, in my opinion.
The second brother likes to guide others to do things. He said that he is a calligraphy master and practices calligraphy every day. It is said that he once transferred 500 yuan to a calligraphy organization whose name I don't know, and then the other party mailed him a small plaque with something like visiting professor engraved on it, I don't understand. But every time the second brother talks to someone, he will add a decisive and sonorous sentence: I am a professor, I can't be wrong, you have to listen to me.
The second sister-in-law is a very competitive woman at first glance. She loves to compete with her husband. For example, if the second brother is learning calligraphy, then she will learn dancing and singing. Every day she stood on the roof of the second floor of the small building and sang her voice, first "Ah...ah...ah...", all the way up, and then "Ah...ah...ah...", all the way down. It has become a strange scenery in this small yard.
The second brother and the second sister-in-law manage the entire yard. They built all the rental houses in that circle. They are the real tenants and tenants. In fact, they are also the same as those in the movie. That way, shrewd and domineering.
The second brother and second sister-in-law also have a son, who is about twenty years old. Unlike his parents who are smart and domineering, he looks kind, kind, generous and honest.
They also had a dog. It was an ugly dog ??with long hair and was dirty all over. But they said it wasn't dirty, it was just that the dog was old. A dog that has been raised for more than ten years will never regain its youthful beauty.
They cherished this dog very much, calling it "baby" all day long, feeding it beef and mutton soup every day, giving it a bath every now and then, and often taking it out for walks, sometimes by the couple. with, and sometimes their sons.
Every time the second sister-in-law held the dog at the window on the second floor and looked at other people coming and going in the yard at an angle of 60°, she felt like a Virgin with a Looking down at all living beings with a compassionate attitude.
Therefore, I feel that in the eyes of this couple, the status of this dog is higher than that of other people in the yard, except of course my husband and my son. After all, they are related by blood. Relational.
But on a freezing night, I heard a dog barking one after another. It was painful and loud at first, then turned into a miserable hoarse sound, and then a weak whimper. Then it was silent again.
I got up from the bed. The thin quilt couldn't stop the penetration of the sound, which made me tremble with cold.
I turned my head to look at my husband. He was snoring unconsciously and lying on his back. There was still a trace of saliva that smelled of alcohol.
On the second day I heard that the dog had made some mistake and was hung by a rope from the corridor by the second brother and second sister-in-law, who seemed to be quite kind-hearted, generous and honest. The big wood was beaten to death slowly with stick after stick. I heard that the dog was covered in blood and was beaten to the point where it no longer looked like a dog.
I shivered again when I heard the news.
My husband revealed his true nature after we got married, he was an alcoholic and violent. The alcohol was the stimulant before he committed the violence, and the beating was the climax after he drank. There were even times when he clearly didn't drink, but his eyes still looked dazed and his words were confused.
My husband is very afraid of his second brother. I heard that the reason why he lived in a rented house was because he was kicked out by his second brother. He had been a vagrant for a long time. Although he was very good at bragging, he could never get work done, so he relied on cheating women outside to buy wine.
This guy is a softie outside, but always acts like the boss when he comes home. He uses his wife and children as punching bags when he is drunk. I despise him mentally.
I always feel that there is nothing wrong with selling my body. I do it for a living, and every penny I earn has a legitimate purpose. But spending every day with Xiao Yi'er dealing with this weakling to maintain the integrity of the whole family, I think this is the biggest torture in life.
Now he has finally started working as a security guard in a small business, but he spends more than half of his salary of more than 1,000 yuan a month in wine bottles, and the remaining bits are not enough for pocket money. .
I must save some money for my son until he grows up before we can leave here.
People come and go at the train station in City S. As the saying goes, "The train station is the most crowded place", and another saying: "The train station is the place where money is easy to make." A "pheasant" like me can only eat well in this messy place.
I put on a pair of tighter jeans and tucked my clothes into the waistband so that my waist came out. Although I still looked a little fat and bulging, those men didn't care too much about it. He also lowered the zipper on the collar, so that the advantages of fat people can be shown. When people are fat, their breasts become bigger, and they all love this.
I was waiting behind a bus stop sign. Behind it were guardrails and barbed wire. Under the guardrail and barbed wire was the train track. Many people getting off the train would come here to take the bus. There were many baskets for sale here. Vendors selling fresh fruits and many homeless people also hang out here. Fortune tellers and "pheasants" also love this area, and everyone understands it tacitly.
Two old fortune tellers were squatting next to me. They were sitting on their own small benches. In front of them were a piece of yellow paper, a booklet and a fortune teller. They looked inscrutable. An eminent monk. They dipped their fingertips in saliva and pinched and counted the old sisters-in-law and younger sisters-in-law who came to ask about good luck. In fact, their stomachs were full of feces and urine.
One of them, a fortune teller with three or two hairs hanging on his bald head, always wanted to take advantage of me without spending any money, but I refused, and he never talked to me again.
Those of us who are "pheasants" are the same as those who tell people's fortunes. In fact, we are all the same.
At this time, a short-built middle-aged man came over, wearing a dirty suit and looking a little honest. He squinted his eyes and came closer. I understood it, grabbed his hand and touched the zipper of my trousers on my lower abdomen. He asked: How much does it cost?
I stretched out my other hand and gestured with three fingers.
The man in the suit thought for a moment, then pulled his hand back and left.
Business is really not good today and I haven’t placed a single order, but I am not willing to lower the price easily for this kind of passer-by. The sisters have established rules and the market in this area cannot be messed up unless Is an old customer.
Fifty meters ahead from this bus stop, there is a row of renovated house facades. Each facade is about four to five square meters to ten square meters. There are sellers of small hardware, sex products, and vegetable seeds. , and some people choose their names based on their horoscopes.
The owner of the shop that specializes in reading people’s horoscopes and giving names is my old customer.
His shop is one of the best in that row of shops. His wife is taking care of her grandson in the countryside. She usually comes to me when she needs help. But he was very stingy and only gave me ten yuan a time. Considering that he was an old customer, I didn’t care about him.
He has a small cubicle with a small single bed separated by plywood at the back of the shop. We usually solve problems there. He is very fast and can do both checking the shop and being happy.
This time he took out ten yuan and gave it to me as usual. I saw that he still had a five-dollar piece in his hand, so I quickly grabbed it and told him, should I be generous sometimes?
The old man’s beard curled up and down. He quickly took back the five dollars and told me plausibly: When doing business, you must also follow the rules. Only if the rules are not broken can the business be done. long.
I could only watch angrily as he stuffed the five dollars back into the drawer under the counter.
Occasionally, urban management officials come here to evict people, and fortune tellers and fruit vendors with baskets bear the brunt.
Although we "pheasants" have no ties and are not afraid of eviction by the urban management, we are always not honest enough to do this kind of thing, and it is impossible to attract customers under the nose of the urban management, so generally everyone Follow and run.
That day the urban management officials came again, and we dispersed in a hurry.
I crossed the side road and ran non-stop towards a dark alley. As I was running, I suddenly heard someone shouting from behind:
From Liang Xiaoyao’s house! From Liang Xiaoyao’s family! Come back soon! Something happened to that person in your family!
I stopped suddenly and turned around.
Liang Xiaoyao is my husband who is a softie at home but a tyrant at home. They have eight brothers and sisters. He is the youngest son and everyone calls him Liang Xiaoyao.
The person who called me was a sister who lived in a rental house in the same courtyard. She was also doing a job with me outside, but she didn't come out because she felt a little uncomfortable that day.
She rushed to me panting and said:
The one in your family was carried back and something big happened! I'm afraid I won't survive! You go back and take a look!
I rushed home again without stopping. It was actually only ten minutes from my home to the bus stop that stopped every day. I crossed the road, ran against the flow of people on the sidewalk, then went up a small slope, ran a few steps and climbed up a flight of steps, and there I was. Our yard.
The door in the middle of the old bungalow was open, and there were many people inside, making a lot of noise. There is a wooden board lying across the muddy floor in the middle of the living room. My soft-hearted husband is lying on it. The hands he usually uses to hold wine bottles and hit women are hanging limply on the ground. His eyes are closed, and his face looks like a dead fish. Up belly.
I walked over in confusion, and all the sounds in the world seemed to have disappeared.
Who is that person on the board? Did he die like this?
It’s quite neat.
I was neither sad nor happy, I just squatted in front of the man in confusion and looked at him. At this time, someone pulled my arm from behind and said: From Xiaoyao's family, I'm sorry.
I suddenly woke up, jumped up from the ground, and shouted: Son! Where is my son?
The crowd dispersed, and my son was pushed over from behind. He timidly pulled the front of my shirt. There were two bruises on the arms exposed outside the sleeves. They were from his father’s hair. Use your fingers to pinch your temper. He asked me timidly: Mom, Mom, is dad dead?
I hugged my son and cried loudly.
The funeral went smoothly. The husband had many brothers and sisters, and with the strength of many people, he was able to handle things quickly.
The cowardly husband drank too much and got drunk while on duty at work. His brothers and sisters found a lawyer, and somehow managed to file a work-related injury report. In the end, they were compensated hundreds of thousands, and I also got a lot of it.
I don’t think I need to be a “pheasant” anymore. I can consider starting a small business or something. When the son gets older, he won’t have to be embarrassed by his mother’s career.
That good-for-nothing coward, his death made the greatest contribution in his life.
.End.