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墨書 Inktalez
"What are you doing?" The old man, holding a spatula, poured the stir-fried carrots from the pan onto a plate and looked at Jiang Yizhou, who was quietly sneaking out of the yard, and called out.
Jiang Yizhou awkwardly turned back, "Uncle, I just went out to mail a letter. I wrote a few words to my family earlier."
Jiang Maode waved the spatula in his hand, "Hurry up! If the food gets cold, it's not my problem!"
Hearing the old man's impatient tone, Jiang Yizhou sighed with relief. Some elderly people are quite particular about meal times; for example, they won't allow anyone to sit at the table after mealtime has passed, and even if someone needs to use the restroom in between, they can't touch the bowls until they've washed their hands thoroughly with soap. Jiang Maode was one of those stubborn elders.
Relieved, Jiang Yizhou knew how the old man was. He ran all the way to a nearby Mailbox, stuffed the letter inside, and then hurried back.
Upon entering the house, he saw that the kettle on the coal stove was steaming. The old man was quietly eating from his bowl. When he noticed Jiang Yizhou had come in, he said nothing; the old man still adhered to the principle of not talking while eating.
He hung up his coat without disturbing the old man, served himself a bowl of rice from the pressure cooker, sat down across from him, and began to eat.
To him, the old man was a warm-hearted elder who maintained an air of authority. He wanted his younger relatives to follow a proper path—working hard, building houses, marrying, having children, and raising them to be successful. On the other hand, he generously lent him money to invest in what he believed would be a lesson for him—the telecommunications Universal Magnetic Card.
In short, he was a very respectable elder but also somewhat lonely and had been deeply hurt by women.
"Here, I bought you that desk lamp over there. See if it's useful?" After finishing his meal and clearing away the dishes, the old man pointed to a box placed in one corner of the room. "What good is reading by candlelight at night? Aren't you afraid of burning down the house?"
Then he took his bowl and utensils and walked out through the door that Jiang Yizhou had opened.
Indeed...
Jiang Yizhou smiled as he opened the packaging box. He felt that it should be of average quality; however, this gesture had already touched him deeply. The only light in the room was a single incandescent bulb in the center of the ceiling. If it were turned on, it would likely disturb the old man's sleep. So he planned to make use of daylight and study by candlelight for a while at night.
"Snap..."
The light spread across the table without any candle smell or glare; it was much better than before. If he used a cardboard shield made from a box, it wouldn't disturb the old man.
He didn't say much; he could only silently remember this in his heart. After all, having such a good elder was enough for him to appreciate all that Jiang Maode had done for him.
However, this kind of life still needs to be taken slowly!
By next year, in March, everything will be fine. Once I let go of what I have in hand, everything will get better. Jiang Yizhou is currently both suffering and enjoying himself; the suffering comes from the exhaustion of hard work combined with learning, which can be quite draining physically and mentally. The joy is that everything is developing in a positive direction.
Even if it’s tiring, it’s still better than the aimless existence of my past life, where I didn’t even know why I was born.
Nevertheless, life always has its surprises, and those surprises are often unwelcome.
...
When I arrived at the construction site with Uncle, I found that the site had already been cordoned off by the police. A group of foremen and the boss were present, all looking worried.
“Brother Yu, what happened? Why are there so many police?” Without mentioning the elderly man looking for Jiang Youming, Jiang Yizhou was discussing the situation with a fellow villager who was also blocked outside.
Brother Yu leaned in close to Jiang Yizhou's ear and said in a hushed voice, “Someone died last night! Look over there behind that pile of dirt; a bunch of police are investigating!”
He didn’t seem too scared himself. Seeing that Jiang Yizhou still looked confused, he explained, “It’s not one of ours; probably just some idle guy who wandered in. I heard from someone who stayed behind to watch the warehouse last night that they heard noises outside. But he was such a coward that he didn’t dare look or make a sound; he turned off the lights and unplugged the phone, hiding in the warehouse…”
Jiang Yizhou followed Brother Yu’s gaze and saw a group of people who clearly looked different from those around them being interrogated by two police officers.
In an era without widespread surveillance cameras, eyewitnesses were particularly important. However, the night watchman was so frightened that he nearly wet his pants and collapsed on the ground.
That person probably had never seen such a scene before; he was already terrified last night, and now with so many officials questioning him again, it would be a miracle if he could provide any useful information.
A young police officer ran over from behind the dirt pile to report a preliminary conclusion to Liu Tou, who was talking with the developer. “Director Liu, we’ve identified the deceased as a member of a local gang. He had previously served time in prison and was likely chased here by multiple people and beaten to death.”
“Director Liu, look how wronged we are! We’re just trying to do our construction work honestly, and now we’re being blamed for this,” said the construction company boss, who had a beer belly—Jiang Yizhou's direct superior—laughing.
He immediately began to complain, “All my workers are fellow villagers; everyone knows each other. We don’t have any shady characters or gangsters among us. You see… if this delays our project, it will cost us a lot!”
Director Liu straightened his face and said, "What is it? Is a life more important or the project? I think the management has become a bit lax; let's rectify this!"
This was essentially no punishment at all; it was just like giving these workers a day off. The boss with the beer belly seemed satisfied and instructed the person guarding the warehouse and his Foreman to go back with the police to make a statement, while everyone else was announced to be on leave.
"Let's go!" Jiang Maode casually pulled Jiang Yizhou towards their residence.
Jiang Yizhou felt that this was too easy; someone had died, and it just ended like this?
"Uncle, this..."
"I know what you're thinking. This kind of thing isn't a big deal; it's not like it involves our own people. It's just that someone died on our construction site, and we still get an unexpected three-day holiday. What's there to be surprised about?"
Jiang Maode skillfully pulled out a cigarette and lit it for himself. "Don't be so naive. If you had stayed overnight here, you'd understand. There are plenty of people stealing materials at night, and fights happen often. That guy looked tall and strong, but in the end, he turned out to be a coward!"
Seeing Jiang Yizhou looking somewhat incredulous, Jiang Maode understood that he was just a bookish type. "Do you think this job is easy? It's all hard work; otherwise, do you believe someone could clear out everything here in one night?"
Wrapping his clothes around him, early in the morning, the chill from the night still lingered. Jiang Yizhou found himself missing the time spent working in front of a computer, but that thought was fleeting. He decided it would be better to think about what to do next!
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