Jiang Xueming is a living person.
Gender is male, loves women.
Twenty-one years old, I came to Hong Kong to work four years ago.
Just to raise tuition for his sister - to avoid the education of illiterate parents, this family has one child after another who is blind.
He works as a cashier at a braised meat shop at Hung Hom MTR station.
If you also take this subway, you should be able to see such a person in a small store near the subway ticket gate.
He is just over 1.7 meters tall, which is not very tall.
He occasionally smiles when facing customers, and anyone with a discerning eye can see his enthusiasm for service and business.
If there are no guests, he looks cold. His brows were furrowed, and he seemed to be thinking all the time - thinking about how to go on with the day, but today...it seemed like he couldn't go on.
He received two counterfeit bills - to be exact, they were two tickets that looked very much like paper bills. No matter the thickness of the note or the texture of the paper, it looks like a thousand-yuan currency.
When night falls, the lights in the subway station gradually go out, leaving only a little light from the safety lights spreading toward the exit.
He held the two tickets, feeling anxious.
My nose smelled the salty smell of oil stains on my apron.
In my eyes, I saw models wearing heavy makeup like monsters after the advertising lights had lost their luster.
The steps he took out made a lengthy echo in the empty corridor.
He swallowed nervously, not daring to look at the bills in his hand. He only hoped that the two tickets would turn into banknotes in the dim light.
"If you receive fake money, you have to pay full compensation according to the order."
"The store manager said that if he received fake money... he would have to pay full compensation according to the order!"
He just muttered, as if he was in a daze.
"I'm so stupid... How come I have to pay a thousand yuan to get change for offal? Or two? How could I be fooled by this?!"
"Bai Lu has a skin disease and took three days off to see a doctor... She has to continue studying."
"She must see a doctor..."
"She wants to be well. I am her brother..."
"I..."
It is said that adults often collapse in an instant, but he didn't even have time to collapse.
He still had two hours to return to the pigeon cage-like rental house to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for his sister Jiang Bailu tomorrow.
Then take a shower, brush your teeth, and go to bed before eleven o'clock, otherwise you may not be able to catch the morning start-up bell the next day.
On the way home, he looked at the balance in his mobile bank again and again. It still contained next month's rent and living expenses, but he would have to stretch his muscles to check the revenue accounts when he started work tomorrow.
Until the old elevator doorbell made a shrill noise. The rusty door lock, which had been in disrepair for a long time, began to scream. Entering the door is the kitchen and toilet.
Jiang Xueming saw his sister standing next to the two-story wooden frame bed next door, wearing short-sleeved shorts, just standing, doing nothing or saying anything.
It was as if she had been waiting for him to come home.
The dishes and dining table that had not been cleared in time were crowded in the small room.
"Brother..." Jiang Bailu greeted timidly: "I didn't wash the dishes...I'm sorry, I'm sorry I feel very tired today."
"Stop talking, stop talking..." Jiang Xueming took off her apron very quickly and started to put away the dishes and prepare to cook.
The kitchen was very small, and Bai Lu couldn't help much, so he had to just watch. I was just worried and kept explaining.
"Brother... I don't want to be lazy... It was promised that I would wash the dishes... But today I found spots on my hands." She clasped her hands behind her back and did not dare to stretch them out.
Xueming: "Show me."
"No...I...should wait until tomorrow?" Bai Lu immediately changed her words, with panic in her eyes: "How about I take a nap? Maybe it will get better after a nap! Brother... I'm afraid of infecting you...I..."
Jiang Xueming's voice became softer, and the stone in his heart became heavier: "Show me, Bai Lu."
In the pale light.
Bai Lu's eyes were dull, and the dark circles under his eyes were suddenly exposed. Half of her right face was covered with red spots, which spread to her neck and collarbone.
He held his sister's hands and saw clusters of red spots appearing on the wrists and the fleshy mounds of the thumbs. They had grown all the way to the forearms, and many places had become lumpy and swollen.
He asked: "Does it hurt? Is it itchy?"
Bai Lu only shook her head.
He then asked: "What did the doctor say?"
Bai Lu squinted her eyes and pursed her lips. It took a long time before he spoke.
"Just say it's allergies."
He turned around and continued to clean up the room: "That's allergies, don't be afraid."
Bai Lu asked eagerly: "Brother...will it cost a lot of money?"
He took a moment to reply: "It's okay, no problem."
Bai Lu was still very nervous: "How about... how about we go back?"
When asked this question, Bai Lu felt a lot of unwillingness.
"Don't think too much. I brought you here just to avoid your parents. I want you to study hard. Why do you go back? Let them arrange a marriage for you to earn a dowry? Tie you to a sedan and send you to the mountains?" Xue Ming finally helped his sister back to bed, "Recuperate in peace."
"Well..." Bai Lu closed the curtain and peered out with a pair of dark eyes. She felt relieved when she saw brother Xueming busy with his business.
She heard the ingredients slurping in the pot.
She could smell the special chicken breast and macaroni cooked in white water. Although it tasted like leaves and mud, it was very fragrant - it was made by her brother himself.
She saw her brother clearing the cutting board quickly and tidying up his appearance meticulously.
She was full of little thoughts, thinking that since her brother was so good-looking, he should be able to find a rich woman and live a good life by then. She just had to smile more - after all, her brother didn't like to laugh.
She shouted: "Brother, let me tell you a joke. My classmate told me today."
Xueming was still tidying up his beard in front of the mirror. He glanced at the ticket on the glasses table and didn't take it to heart. "You said it, I'll listen. I'll sleep after you fall asleep. Don't be afraid."
Bai Lu continued: "My classmate said that you are a very strange person."
"How weird? They don't like me?" Xueming held the razor, raised his head, and looked at himself in the mirror. He was a man who had been polished by life for a long time.
"No, no, they like it. When we saw you at the subway entrance, they all said you don't look like an offender, but like a model." Bai Lu's tone became playful: "Whenever I have free time, I start reading books and newspapers. The beef offal seller doesn't try to please his customers either. When serving braised meat, he acts like he's pouring red wine. He's like a firefly in the dark, like..."
Jiang Xueming had a rare smile on his face. The razor in his hand seemed to understand his sister's funny intentions, and finally became sharper, "Should it be paired with a martini? Add olives and lemon slices? Another butcher's knife?"
Bai Lu then described: "Like a killer, yes...hahahahaha...a killer disguised as a cashier."
"Yeah." Jiang Xueming just responded.
"It's boring, it's boring... I've worked so hard! Why don't you just give me a hum?" Bai Lu muttered, turning over, "It's boring, go to sleep!"
But after a while she fell asleep.
When the slight snoring came out, Xueming finally finished tidying up the inside and outside. He took a bucket of clothes to the laundry room. When he came back, he stood under the clothesline in the corridor and looked at the stars.
As a man of his age, he finally had some time to break down.
He covered his face and rubbed his forehead, trying to keep his voice as low as possible so as not to disturb a bunch of neighbors.
"I'm sorry, sister...my brother is a bad person. He promised something he couldn't do, what should he do...what the hell..."
After a long, long time - a long, long time, life has to go on.
Under the starlight, he stared at the two tickets. I can barely make out the words on the bill.
[Jiujie Station]
[HK→SW]
[Platform 3, 13 cars, seat 15B]
The other ticket is for the return trip.
Jiujie Station? This unfamiliar place name left him completely confused.
"It's made to look like banknotes, just to deceive people, right? You didn't even bother to write down the bus time? You're so damn clever... The sentences for making counterfeit banknotes are different from those for counterfeit bills. Now these criminals are trying to To live a good life, you really have to do whatever you can.”
He tore the two bills into pieces and threw them away.
...
...
But - this is just the beginning.
The moment the alarm goes off when you wake up in the morning.
Xueming's thumb was already pressed on the phone, as if predicting the future. She got up, put on her clothes and shoes, and quietly and calmly covered up the sound of the lower bunk landing, so as not to disturb her sister's sleep.
Everything was completed within tens of seconds, as precise as clock gears.
His mechanical movements came to an abrupt end when he touched his work badge.
There were two more tickets in his jacket pocket. They were obviously the tickets he tore into pieces with his own hands last night - the familiar touch made his hair stand on end.
This time, there was an extra line printed on the ticket.
[Jiujie Station]
[HK→SW]
[Platform 3, 13 cars, seat 15B]
[July 7, 2024 16:11-23:55]
The bright red printed fonts are so eye-catching, and if you smell them carefully, you can still smell the smell of ink.
The same is true for the other ticket, except that the return time is not written.
Jiang Xueming stared at the two tickets in confusion. He thought about it and remembered clearly that he was very awake last night.
The sound and touch of tearing the ticket were so real that it didn't feel like a dream.
At the same time, the man didn't have much time to think about it. He had to go to work - he put the ticket back on the table.
As soon as he walked to the elevator door, he immediately met a courier boy.
"Is this Mr. Jiang Xueming? You have express delivery."
"Leave it outside the door. I'm in a hurry."
"It's your ticket. It says on the mail package that it is very valuable and is insured for more than 30,000 yuan. It must be delivered to you in person."
Jiang Xueming was stunned for a moment, and then felt an inexplicable chill in his heart, as if his whole body was frozen.
The courier boy just put an envelope in Xueming's hand and hurried to deliver it to the next family.
I can't take care of any work anymore. What's happening now is too weird.
The shipping address on the envelope was also Jiujie Station. When I called the phone number, it was empty.
He opened the envelope, and the ticket inside was exactly the same as what he had just touched.
There is no ticket number, only the place of departure and arrival, as well as the name of the station and the time of departure and arrival at the station.
This ticket is orange in color and looks like a thousand-yuan currency, but there is no emblem on it. Instead of an inverted five-pointed star emblem and barley ears pattern, it does not have any printed proof of the bill.
Moving his thumb away, Jiang Xueming could still see a little bit of brown ink stained on his finger, like dried blood.
He just felt evil, as if someone invisible and intangible had extended an invitation to him.
But here comes the problem.
"Where the hell are the Nine Realms!?"
People in daily life immediately forgot about work, as if they had found a way to tide over the difficulties.
But instead of going to some damn Jiujie Station, I immediately called the local police station.
He had no choice but to place his hope in the police officer, hoping that the police officer could help him recover the money.
...
...
That morning, Xueming entered the Hung Hom Police Station and explained the matter to the people's police. And fully inform the police of the specific details of the process.
When he showed the ticket in his hand to the police comrades... something even more incredible happened.
"Mr. Jiang Xueming, the ticket you are talking about looks like a counterfeit banknote? Is this the one you have?" The police officer was a little confused and his expression was very confused.
At this moment, Xueming looked at the ticket in his hand and didn't quite understand what the police officer was asking.
"Yes, this ticket. Can't you see? It's the ticket...it also says..."
"It says one thousand yuan is payable upon presentation of the ticket." The police officer interrupted: "Printed on September 1, 2003, by order of the board of directors. Ticket number AK887411, is it this edition? I can read it. It's currency. Oh, it’s not a ticket.”
"Currency?" Jiang Xueming was stunned.
The police officer asked disgustedly: "Where are you from? You don't even recognize the money? Do you think it's a ticket?"
"Oh..." Jiang Xueming didn't react for a while, wondering in his mind, could this weird ticket be just money in the eyes of others?
"Here, I'll go check the money." The police officer took away the note in Xueming's hand and went to the next door department.
During the waiting period, Xueming felt anxious. Not only the inexplicable experiences in the past two days, but also the skin disease on his sister made him anxious.
After a long time, I heard disappointed boos coming from the department next door.
The police officer finally returned.
"Hey! Get the money! Don't report false police reports if you have nothing to do in the future! Are you under a lot of pressure in life? Do you want me to call Bai Che to see a psychiatrist for you? What about the fool? Do you want to go to jail?"
"Is this real money?" Xueming stood up immediately. He couldn't believe it.
"Yes, I thought I could make meritorious deeds." The police officer stared at Jiang Xueming suspiciously: "This is real money. The banknote detector will not deceive people. Did you pick it up?"
"No, no... no, no... I'm under a lot of pressure. I've been having hallucinations lately, so I'll pay attention next time." Jiang Xueming thanked him and backed out.
"(ˉ▽ˉ~) Tsk~~ I thought there was a major case of counterfeit money!" The police officer waved his hand, "Let's go, let's be safe on the road. If you need the psychiatrist's contact information, I also have it here. What about next time?" Do you still want to pay more attention next time? Next time you come to the Bon Festival to bring ghost coins? Crazy thread!"
Jiang Xueming smirked all the way, and hurriedly stepped back to the door: "Thank you...Thank you."
Within a few seconds, he was back.
Xueming asked politely: "Um, officer, do you know this place called Nine Realms?"
"I know both Kowloon and the New Territories. What the hell are the Nine Territories? Why don't you go to the map navigation and ask Siri to draw a middle point? Also, don't call the police officer, call Sir."
"Okay Sir..."
After leaving the police station, he looked thoughtfully at the ticket in his hand.
Life has to go on.
