Chapter 113: I’m Not A Drunkard
To speak of people, they are very strange. When two people are together, there isn’t much of an issue.
Once they are apart and missing each other, contradictions easily arise. This might be because the longing makes them less sensitive.
It’s also possible that this thing called lovesickness, when it’s too much, instead becomes a burden.
The boy left a message online and casually said something to his younger sister. The girl became furious after seeing it. No matter how much the boy explained, she wouldn’t listen.
The two fell into a cold war. The boy would speak, and the girl wouldn’t reply. At this time, the boy had already developed a drinking problem.
In the boy’s own words, “I’m not a drunkard, I’m just too sad when I’m sober.”
More than ten days later, the girl finally replied to the boy and told him not to contact her anymore, as she had found a new partner.
The boy couldn’t believe it, thinking the girl was deliberately lying to him to make him angry.
However, the boy learned from the girl’s older sister that it was true. This was because the girl’s parents had arranged for someone from a nearby village to be her partner.
The girl’s older sister also showed the boy a photo of the girl sitting on someone else’s lap.
“Bang~!”
The boy’s last line of defense was shattered to pieces by this bolt from the blue.
The boy desperately tried to contact the girl, wanting to confirm again, but the girl ignored him.
A month later, the girl admitted it and told the boy she was engaged and would get married after the new year.
At this moment, although the boy was sad, he didn’t blame the girl. Instead, he lamented how incredibly scheming the girl’s parents were! They separated the two first, claiming their child was still young, yet secretly introduced her to a partner and got her engaged, planning to marry her off the following year. Was this because the girl was young? Alas…
The boy slept and drank all day, sleeping when he was drunk, and only tidied himself up to go out for events like weddings or other occasions if friends invited him. During all other times, he remained in this state, continuing for half a year.
One day, the boy realized something: if he continued like this, wouldn’t his life be ruined? What would be the meaning of it all?
Someone else was getting married, and he was just drinking all day! He was unwilling. He was determined to make something of himself to spite the girl’s parents.
With this thought, the boy started going out to work. He took on any job, not fearing hardship or exhaustion. His courage became extreme; he dared to walk across a seven or eight-meter-long thin angle steel on the roof of a four-story building with his bare hands. Even if there was a hollow space below where he could see the concrete ground directly, he was not afraid. This was because, at that moment, he no longer feared death or anything else.
There were a few times at work when he almost had an accident, which greatly frightened those around him. The boy, however, just smiled and patted his hands, carefree.
The following year, before the girl’s wedding, the boy added her on WeChat and sent his blessings. They exchanged a few polite words, and then unfriended each other.
In the third year, the girl gave birth to a child and posted a photo on QQ space. The boy actually checked it from time to time. Upon seeing the photo of the girl’s child, the boy felt relieved because he saw that the girl was very happy.
He remembered a sentence he had once said: liking someone shouldn’t just be about possession, but about hoping to see them happy. The boy’s understanding of love was encapsulated in one phrase: “willingly.”
The boy continued to work desperately. Because the boy had taken to drinking and had a habit of spending money extravagantly since childhood, always spending on those around him, he hadn’t saved much money over the years. It was then he realized that working desperately alone wouldn’t make him rich.
Yet, he was also very confused about how to proceed with the rest of his life.
Three years later, although the boy had done many jobs, he still didn’t have much money, just enough to spend. He also opened two credit cards, and when he was truly broke, he would spend from the cards, but never exceeding fifteen hundred. And he would pay it back the following month. At most, he would only have about eight thousand yuan saved.
The boy was looking for work everywhere alone when he came across a foot massage place hiring. Curious, he walked in. The store manager told the boy that the trial period was three days, after which he would become a formal employee. His first month’s salary would be two thousand five hundred plus commission, the second month two thousand seven hundred, and starting from the third month, two thousand eight hundred, with commissions bringing it to around three thousand.
The boy didn’t think too much about it, wanting to make do for now. Who knew that after only half a day, the boy couldn’t stand it anymore and directly stated he was quitting.
The store manager asked the boy why he was quitting when he was doing well. The boy frankly replied that his temperament was proud. Working there, he sometimes had to help people with their shoes at the door. His pride couldn’t endure it, so he wanted to do something else.
Seeing that the boy was a very good person, and despite only working for half a day, he worked diligently, the store manager said, “Look, how about this? I’m short on staff here. You can just help me out. You don’t like helping people with shoes, so I’ll move you upstairs to tidy up the private rooms. And unlike others, it won’t be about how much you earn in the first month, second month, and so on. I’ll pay you one hundred yuan a day. You can keep looking for another job, and when you find something suitable, just tell me. I won’t withhold your money; I’ll pay you directly. What do you think?”
The boy thought about it and decided it was acceptable. He stayed temporarily. Later, he met a brother with a very compatible temperament. After meeting, they drank together every day after work for over twenty days, which showed how well they got along.
They never argued, and they were as close as real brothers.
After three months, unaware of the passage of time, the store manager sister was diagnosed with cancer. Someone else took over temporarily, and then the boy was transferred to another store to help out.
Initially, the boy was unwilling because he didn’t want to be separated from his brother. However, he had no choice and couldn’t disobey the transfer.
After a few days of helping out at the new store, the store manager there spoke with the boy, wanting to recruit him. The terms were still one hundred yuan a day, with holidays and commission.
The boy thought about it for two days and agreed. This was because in this store, he was very idle, much more relaxed than at the previous one.
After arriving at this store, the boy occasionally had arguments with other employees over minor things. After each argument, if the person he argued with needed help, the boy would directly go and assist them. He clearly distinguished between work matters and personal matters.
Even in their personal lives, if the boy saw someone who needed help, he would offer it. In his words, “Our argument is our argument, and my helping you is my helping you; they are not the same thing.”
With his personality, even if he had a major disagreement with the store manager, they would argue loudly. However, this store manager sister treated him exceptionally well because they got along very well in their personal lives. Their arguments were generally due to work-related differences and never about personal matters.
It was as if he were a supernatural being! Wherever this boy worked, even as an ordinary employee, people would gradually be drawn to him. Despite being an ordinary employee, he would implicitly have more special privileges than others and could manage many things.
Even when buying fruit for the store and negotiating prices, he quickly became familiar with people in the market. If the fruit he bought turned out to be bad, they would give him extras as compensation. This was something ordinary people couldn’t achieve. The boy could eat whatever fruit he wanted from the market.
There wasn’t a stall owner who didn’t recognize him. Even the delivery uncle was very familiar, and they would always chat for a bit, and he’d offer the uncle a cigarette.
When the boss came, he would also offer the boy an apple, letting him pick whatever he wanted and eat the biggest ones.
