2009, February 4, the beginning of spring.
Lin Nian walked out of the Municipal Children's Palace with a thick stack of money in his arms. He felt inexplicably that spring this year came earlier than in previous years.
Earlier, when the little girl at the front desk counted money to Lin Nian, he thought that the other party had taken too much. After repeated confirmation, it was indeed that much. Two thousand yuan in working fees was placed in a thick wad in his hand, which made people feel unreasonable. I want to sing the song "Where Is the Spring" that my music teacher has been teaching since elementary school.
Winter turns to spring and Lin Nian, a sophomore in high school, is sixteen and about to turn seventeen.
He was an orphan since childhood and grew up in an orphanage. He met a god-sister in the orphanage and moved out of the orphanage to live with her when she came of age. For several years, the two siblings had been dependent on each other and were often financially strapped, so he never missed any opportunity to work illegally.
Lin Nian exhaled white mist as he walked on the street. Judging from the current prices in the world, although the two thousand yuan he earned this time was not too much, it was definitely not too little. His sister's monthly salary was only a little. About one thousand. For a student who is still in the second year of high school, being able to earn two thousand on his own is considered to attract the attention of others.
Lin Nian knew that the coach gave him the remuneration for a regular exhibition match. The appearance fee of two thousand yuan was unmatched in the industry. He, Lin Nian, let alone San Ban Ax, had a kendo I didn’t even take the exam for the first rank, so the two thousand I got was not a performance fee, but a favor fee.
The coach has always been very interesting to Lin Nian. It is probably because he has talent as the coach said, so he has a love for talents, but it may also be one-sided sympathy. Nowadays, everyone usually looks up but does not look down. Ability will naturally take care of you.
Coaches are capable people. Who can hold a training class in the City Children's Palace without the ability? Kendo training costs 5,000 yuan per person per session, and there are 20 people in a class per session. This year alone, the coach has led five classes.
Lin Nian worked as a part-time worker in the Children's Palace in the early days and touched the bamboo sword several times out of interest. When the coach saw that he had talent, he took him to follow him for one class, and now he can make a small fortune. Achievements all depend on the love of the coach.
The coach had asked Lin Nian before if he wanted to work for him, but Lin Nian refused because his sister wanted him to go to college, so the coach never mentioned it again.
Every family has its own sutras that are difficult to recite, and the sutras in Lin Nian’s family are particularly difficult to recite.
There is a bus stop just outside the entrance of the Children's Palace. Take Line 2 to the subway station and then transfer to Line 3. Take the subway to the terminal station and then take the bus.
Lin Nian's family lives in the inland suburb of this coastal city. There is no so-called community property system in the old housing area. There are some old houses built in rows on the large open space. The tall ones are seven or eight floors high, and the short ones are just 30 meters high. On the fourth and fifth floors, the house has some mottled walls. There are also some owners who have renovated and put up bricks in a good manner, and rented out their shops into breakfast shops or hot pot restaurants. The streets are bustling with people coming and going.
Lin Nian entered the old house area and went straight to his home - an old house with a Malatang restaurant on the ground floor. He went around the alley to the back door, went all the way to the fifth floor and knocked on the door.
"Dong dong dong."
After knocking three times, Lin Nian waited at the door with his hands in his pockets. After a while, a girl's voice came from inside: "Who?"
"Me." He simply responded and the door in front of him opened.
Standing behind the door was an older girl, wearing furry pajamas and a kitchen apron, with pink cotton slippers on her feet and a spatula in her hand when she opened the door.
Her name is Lin Xian, and she is Lin Nian's sister.
Lin Xian saw Lin Nian's face and asked, "Where did you go so early in the morning? I didn't even leave a note. If you don't come back by noon, I'm going to go to the Internet cafe to arrest you."
"I didn't go to the Internet cafe." Lin Nian crossed the threshold, changed into slippers, and closed the door: "I went to the Children's Palace. The coach asked me to play an exhibition match."
Lin Xian glanced at him and sniffed. He really didn't smell the smoke. Then he turned around and ran back to the kitchen to work on the lunch in the pot. At the same time, he asked: "That coach at Musashi training class?"
"Who else could it be?" Lin Nian lay down on the sofa in the living room and turned around to see his sister cooking in the kitchen: "I owe someone another favor this time. I gave him two thousand for an exhibition match."
"Two thousand? That's a lot." Lin Xian's voice rose slightly, but it soon dropped and was drowned out by the sound of sizzling oil in the pot.
"At least the rent for next month is enough." Lin Nian took the money out of his pocket and put it on the table.
"Aunt Wang said our rent will be lowered next month." Lin Xian, who was cooking, said.
"How much?"
"five hundred."
"Good thing." Lin Nian nodded: "Then keep these two thousand for family use."
"Besides, save it first. I'll go to the bank in the afternoon." Lin Xian turned off the gas stove, put the dishes on the table and put them on the table: "Don't be lazy and sit there, go scoop up the rice."
"Oh." Lin Nian got up obediently and ran towards the rice cooker. He filled two bowls of rice with his chopsticks and sat down at the dining table.
"School is about to start. How are you preparing for the exam?" Lin Xian knocked his chopsticks on the table and asked Lin Nian.
"Just so-so." Lin Nian said perfunctorily.
"So-so? You were admitted to Shilan based on your grades. If you fail in the entrance exam, you may not get any preferential treatment for next year's tuition." Lin Xian looked at Lin Nian while holding the meal: "You know the pros and cons."
"Oh, I got it. I'll read at night." Lin Nian sighed, put a piece of bacon into the bowl and asked, "Where did the bacon come from? Did you buy it?"
"This morning, Director Li from the orphanage sent this to express his condolences... Don't change the subject. Reading at night is not enough. Not only do you read tonight, but you have to stay at home until school starts on the 19th and I will help you with tutoring. Anyway, the New Year is over. We’ve had enough fun, and it’s time to calm down.” Lin Xian chewed slowly and said, “Don’t follow that guy named Lu out to surf the Internet all day long, the smoky environment in the Internet cafe is not good.”
"He covers my Internet fees and nutrition express." Lin Nian said seriously: "Are you willing to see your brother malnourished?"
"If you go to the video store less often to rent those messy things, you won't be malnourished." Lin Xian put a chopstick of leeks into a bowl and said.
"Hiss." Lin Nian felt a chill in his heart as if his crotch cloth had been whipped out in the street.
Lin Xian glanced at him a few times and stopped talking.
The dinner table fell into silence again.
After a while, Lin Xian suddenly said: "I changed my job."
Lin Nian paused and said, "A coffee shop?"
"how do you know?"
"The coach said that his daughter met you in the High-tech Zone." Lin Nian said, "Why did you quit your previous office job?"
"Not appropriate." Lin Xian said as he lowered his head to eat.
Not suitable? There is no suitable place to sit in an office. Anyone can fit as long as they have the right butt to sit upright. Lin Nian thought, but after a moment he sighed in his heart.
How could he not know why Lin Xian said it was inappropriate? He was probably being harassed in the workplace again. This was the third time including the last time. A girl in her early 20s has just graduated from college, has no social experience, her family is not in a good situation, and her life is very good-looking. If you don't harass you, who will harass you?
"Good thing, all good things, as long as you can find a job." Lin Nian said without any expression on his face: "You didn't suffer a loss, did you?"
"So what if you suffer a loss?" Lin Xian raised his head and glanced at Lin Nian while eating.
"Then I'll definitely beat him up." Lin Nian said without hesitation: "At most, it's just a fight. I'll strike lightly without leaving any injuries. At most, I'll fine him and detain him for a few days."
"Then you will be put on record." Lin Xian shook his head with a wry smile.
"Do you think I care about this?" Lin Nian said with a smile.
"You should care." Lin Xian shrugged and shook his head: "Besides, I didn't suffer any loss."
Even if you suffer a loss, you won't tell me. Lin Nian took a bite of rice and said nothing.
"By the way, you went out when Dean Li came this morning. She said she wanted to see you." Lin Xian raised his chopsticks to change the subject.
"Look at what I'm doing, I'm not missing any arms or legs." Lin Nian didn't seem to like what Lin Xian was talking about, Dean Li.
"It seems to be about the college entrance examination." Lin Xian paused while picking up the food: "Dean Li said that if you don't have a choice yet, she can recommend you to study abroad."
"Studying abroad?" Lin Nian raised his head in confusion: "When did our orphanage have a relationship with a foreign university? If you say we have connections with foreign orphanages, I still believe it."
"Dean Li doesn't look like he's making fun of us." Lin Xian hesitated and said.
"But even if it's true, it's still too early. I'm only in the second half of my sophomore year in high school." Lin Nian was a little confused: "And studying abroad requires financial guarantee, right?"
"Dean Li said that she is willing to be a guarantor." Lin Xian picked up the bowl and put it down again, seeming to want to explain the matter carefully: "It is said that she recommended a private university in the outer suburbs of Chicago."
"America? That's even more nonsense. What kind of family conditions can afford to study in the United States?" Lin Nian showed lack of interest: "And you have to take the TOEFL exam, which is really troublesome."
At this point, Lin Xian simply said directly: "Dean Li said that the school is willing to provide scholarships."
Lin Nian fell silent, lowered his head to dig two bowls of rice, thought for a while and said, "Dean Li is not going to sell me to the Middle East to mine coal, right?"
"It's possible." For the first time, Lin Xian did not condemn Lin Nian's rebellious speech, but was seriously thinking about this possibility - now this situation does seem to be quite conspiracy-like.
The two siblings have worked hard to survive these years and have learned a truth: all the pie in this world is laced with Ecstasy, just like the free cocktails given by passers-by in the bar are not actually free.
"I heard from Dean Li that the name of the school seems to be Kassel... Kassel?" Lin Xian thought for a while and said, "Why don't you go to the Internet cafe this afternoon to check if there is such a school."
"You can't even remember your name, so you should find an excuse to deal with it." Lin Nian shook his head and said, "By the way, let me tell a few people who have connections from other orphanages and let them pay attention to Dean Li. , nothing can be determined in today’s world.”
"Then what university are you going to study in? Do you have a direction?" Lin Xian nodded and asked.
"I have no direction." Lin Nian said, "I can't afford to go to school if I do well in school, but I don't want to go to school if I do poorly in school."
"If you fill out your college entrance examination application well, there will always be a way to deal with tuition fees." Lin Xian knocked on the edge of the bowl: "Whether you can pass is a matter of ability, whether you can afford it is a matter of finances."
"In the past, there were so many talented people who starved to death. In the end, it was still an economic problem." Lin Nian said nonchalantly: "It doesn't matter what happens to me."
"You know what to do." Lin Xian said no more after saying this.
She has always known the art of leaving blank spaces in her speech, but this art often makes her think a lot about the person at the table. The more she thinks about it, the more uncomfortable she becomes until she understands and then gives in.
"Yeah." Lin Nian replied.
"Take care of yourself after eating. I have work in the afternoon and won't be back to eat in the evening." Lin Xian put down the bowls and chopsticks, took off his apron, walked into his room, closed the door and changed clothes.
Lin Nian at the dining table held up his chopsticks for a long time, and finally put them down. He suddenly lost his appetite.
There is a breeze blowing in from the wide open window in the living room. This year's late spring cold has come earlier, and the room is filled with coolness, which reaches to the bottom of people's hearts. If you smell it carefully, you can smell a scent that is unique to this place. The astringency of a coastal city.
2009, February 4, the beginning of spring.
Lin Nian is 16 years old and Lin Xian is 20 years old. They are both orphans and depend on each other in this coastal city.
