We had a cashier and were about to clear out the stall. Xiaohui took Xiaolu behind the counter and taught her how to use the scanner.

At this time, a man walked in outside the door. He was wearing a vest that was neither yellow nor brown. He was not tall, and his hair was a little messy because he had not trimmed it for a long time. He was about thirty years old, with a look of exhaustion on his face.

As soon as I walked in, I asked in a hissing voice: "Are you the one recruiting people?"

I said, "Sorry, we're already full."

"Oh." He said, "Do you really don't need people? No matter what you do, I have very low requirements for remuneration."

I thought for a moment and said to Xiaohui: "Don't we still need a handyman?"

Xiaohui looked at him and said, "It seems you really need this job?"

The man leaned against the door and said feebly: "Yes."

Xiao Hui said: "We don't want to take advantage of others' danger, so you'd better tell us your request."

"...800 yuan a month, find me a place to live."

"Is it okay to just stay in the hotel?"

"……Can."

Xiaohui wanted to say something else, but this person suddenly said, "I only have one condition: don't ask me any questions, don't ask me who I am, where I come from, where I'm going..."

Ah Po said: "We don't care where you come from, but we must know where you are going - if you want to move all our goods, where can we find you?"

Anger flashed on the man's face, but he quickly calmed down and dejectedly took out an ID card and handed it to Ah Po. There seemed to be another certificate that he took out with him, but he immediately took it back alertly.

Ah Po took the ID card and looked at it, saying, "Wang Cheng, from Sichuan?"

Wang Cheng smiled sarcastically: "Is it enough to know this?"

Ah Po stared at him hesitantly for a long time, always feeling uncomfortable, and finally asked: "Aren't you a fugitive, are you?" Only he could ask such a heartless question.

Wang Cheng couldn't stand it anymore, and he suddenly shouted: "You are insulting a soldier now!" At this point, Wang Cheng subconsciously stood up straight, with his toes at a 60-degree angle, his legs tightly together, and his legs straight.

The arms droop naturally, the middle fingers of both hands stick to the seam of the trousers, and a standard stand is achieved.

Only then did we realize: the invisible color vest he was wearing was exactly the kind worn by the army during training.

Ah Po was startled, and quickly returned the ID to Wang Cheng, saying with a smile: "Don't worry about it, I was just kidding, are you really a soldier?"

Wang Cheng withdrew from his military posture and said a little frustrated: "You can also say that I am not, I am not a normal discharger, but - my former unit number and branch are still top secret, I will not tell you, and please respect it.

I don’t want to ask any more questions.”

Ah Po murmured to Xiao Hui, "How about it? Why don't we try it for a while? The worst we can do is lose some of our products. It's hard to find one cheaper than him."

Wushuang laughed softly: "And he seems to be a soldier with a story."

I told Wang Cheng: "We are using you. Your task is to clean every day and be responsible for transporting goods when purchasing. And since you live in the store, you will also be responsible for the work at night."

Wang Chengzhi stood up and repeated loudly: "My task is to clean! Move! Next night! Got it!"

I waved my hands hurriedly: "Don't speak so loudly in the future."

Wang Cheng said loudly and solemnly: "I'm sorry for getting used to it, but I will change it!"

I introduced us to Wang Cheng, then pulled him to Xiaolu and said, "You will be colleagues from now on. I wish you a happy relationship."

Wang Cheng grabbed Xiao Lu’s hand and shook it: “We will be comrades-in-arms from now on!”

Xiaolu muttered something perfunctory and stared blankly at Wushuang. Wushuang showed her a charming smile: "Do it well."

Xiaolu nodded vigorously, his eyes continuing to be dazed.

I kicked Wushuang behind and said: "Go away, you should never come to this place again, especially when Xiaolu is looking for money!"

Xiaohui said to Wang Cheng: "I will contact the purchaser now and take you to buy daily necessities in the afternoon."

Wang Cheng straightened up immediately and said with some difficulty: "That's not urgent. Can you... take me to dinner first?"

I pointed to the small food stall across the street and said, "If you go there and eat whatever you want, just charge it to my account and I'll treat you to the meal."

Wushuang went to see Xiaohui off, and Xiaolu went to familiarize herself with the arrangement of goods on each row of shelves. Apo and I looked across and saw Wang Cheng ordering a bowl of noodles, sucking it in after a few mouthfuls, and then shaking it at the boss.

The empty bowl shouted: "Refill!"

Ah Po smiled and said, "I've only heard that coffee can be refilled in some places, but I've never heard of ramen in small stalls offering refills."

The food stall is a small restaurant on our street. The place is not big, with only four or five tables. There is only one fat owner who is busy with work. He is the boss, chef and waiter. Only his wife comes to help occasionally.

.

The fat boss is dull and doesn't like chatting with others. He always has a straight face. The four of us basically order the pot at his place every day. It's not that we do it for convenience, but because the fat man is really good at cooking.

There is a way, Apo and I won’t talk about it. Xiaohui and Wushuang, who are very demanding in the quality of life, can’t fault it. Although Fatty’s whole body is greasy, the things he makes have an indescribable freshness.

It was so powerful that it tightly tied our stomachs.

Wang Cheng seemed to be enjoying his meal now. He raised his hand and kept shouting "renew the bowl." The fat man ignored him and looked at me. When I nodded, he got another bowl of noodles for Wang Cheng.

Wang Cheng rolled the noodles into a small pile with chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth, poured the soup into his neck, raised the empty bowl and shouted: "More bowls!"

...When Wang Cheng continued to the fourth bowl, Ah Po said to me: "Do you think this guy looks like a soldier?"

"No," I said, "They are definitely special forces, and they are very special! It takes three days without food and one meal at a time."

"...Besides deserters, are there any such types of troops now?"

I shook my head and said, "I don't know. Maybe he is a sniper. He often needs to stay in one place for three days to complete his mission."

"Eating is easy, but what about defecation?"

I scratched my head and said, "Compared to the task, such a small thing can be done in your pants, right?"

Ah Po shuddered: "I would rather be a sniper's target than a sniper!"

After Wang Cheng finished the sixth bowl of noodles, he put down his bowl and chopsticks and walked back. He nodded to us and said, "Thank you. I'm full. If you have any work, ask me to do it." After that, he sat down on the steps at the entrance of the supermarket.

Holding my legs and basking in the sun, I felt an indescribable loneliness on my face.

Ah Po curiously leaned forward and knelt down, and said somewhat flatteringly: "Brother, what kind of army did you belong to before? I really can't tell you?"

Wang Cheng glanced at him, looked away indifferently and said, "You'd better not know, it's not good for you!"

Ah Po curled his lips and stood up and left him, whispering: "De Xing!"

…

Although there were no fireworks and flower baskets, the new opening of our supermarket was not a big deal on Wangfu Street after all. Many residents came to congratulate me. I was given heavy discounts on some random purchases, and everyone with children was given lollipops.

, it was indeed a lively afternoon.

As the people gradually dispersed, a bald man came over from across the road. He was wearing a cotton vest with two ribs. He had strong muscles and a blue tattoo on his left arm, but the vest was blocking the view.

.

This man was in his thirties, fat and strong, with big, round eyes, and a layer of evil aura. He walked straight up to me, raised his chin and asked, "Do you own this supermarket?"

I had never seen this person before, so I respected him for being a bit ruthless, so I said with a smile: "Yes."

The man nodded expressionlessly, turned around and said, "I own the 'Four Friends' mahjong parlor. I will go there to play when I have time."

I looked across and saw the place he was talking about. There was a faint sound of mahjong playing inside. I remembered that the shop had been closed since I became the director of the neighborhood committee. Today was the first time I saw it.

It's open, but I didn't expect it to be a mahjong parlor.

The man smiled sarcastically and said, "Oh, externally we have to call it the Senior Activity Center, right, Director He?"

I said: "Why haven't I seen you before?"

"Just released!" the man said nonchalantly: "I knocked off one of the man's ears in a fight and sat there for half a year."

Seeing that I stopped talking, the man said in a rough voice: "Nothing else, we are all neighbors and you are in charge of the film. I came over to say hello, and we will play together if we have nothing to do. If there is any difficulty in the Jianghu, you will support me."

"Brother, now that I have come out, this flag is still there, did we also work in the past?" He said, twisting his shoulders back and forth, intending to let me see his tattoo.

I really took a look and saw an animal with fancy tattoos on it. The ears and mouth were short, the eyes were dark and very lively, and four slender claws grew on the chubby body.

Still dragging a fox tail...

I looked at it for a long time and couldn't figure out what kind of animal it was, and I didn't want to offend him rashly, so I could only hesitate and said: "What are you..."

The man suddenly became embarrassed and said: "I originally wanted to get a wolf tattoo, but the mouth tattoo was short. Then I wanted to change it to a fox, but the claws were longer. Then I thought I would change it to a leopard, but the belly tattoo was bigger...

"

His tattooing skills were a bit rough. He probably worked as an art editor for "Miscellaneous Talk" before getting tattooed.

The man finally said: "Later, everyone said this thing looked like a civet, so they called me civet."

I said, why does it look so familiar? This thing was always on the posters during the SARS epidemic!

The civet's expression changed and he solemnly said: "My name is Gao Shan. You can just call me Brother Shan from now on."

Apo said coldly: "Who are you?" I waved my hand to him.

The civet glanced at Ah Po and saw that he and I were the same, and said in a bad tone: "I am a civet, so you may not have any use for me." He waved at me.

, "I'll go over and ask your brother to be more careful what he says next." He said and left.

Apo looked at me helplessly and said, "Can I beat him?"
To be continued...