Volume 1 - CH 2

It was Huo Zihong who came, with permanent fatigue on her face, and two deep wrinkles along the lower part of her nose. Although she was old, from her appearance, she was not bad when she was young.

She was in poor health and fell ill every three or five days. In the past two days, she had a cold and couldn’t stop coughing. She poked her head out from the top of the stairs. Even if she was a little unhappy, her voice was gentle and soft: “Mu Dai, come to my room. Come here. Also, don’t keep bullying… Yi Wansan.”

She actually wanted to call him by his name, but she couldn’t remember it for a while: “It’s all you, giving him such a nickname, I can’t remember his name anymore.”

Mu Dai bypassed Yi Wansan and walked upstairs. The wooden stairs creaked. Yi Wansan heard her voice from a distance: “That’s right, he owes you thirteen thousand yuan. He sold himself for a year to work to pay off the debt. Don’t say I didn’t bully him. Even if I really bullied a slave, it’s not illegal.”

Yi Wansan got up from the stairs bitterly, cursing in his heart: You are a slave, and your whole family is a slave.

Back at the bar, the guests were almost gone. Uncle Zhang staggered to the table and swept the floor. Yi Wansan registered the most recent drinks in and out of stock on the computer, looked around to see if there was no one else, and quickly clicked on the Tianya webpage1.

He put up a post a few weeks ago called “August 18, my best boss”. In this post, his boss is codenamed Forest. He is 1.5 meters tall and weighs about 150 kg and was always harsh towards his employees conduct. Zhou Bapi2 would be ashamed in comparison.

Although it is not a hot post, the clicks and replies are quite impressive.Yi Wansan updated it, and “truthfully” recorded what happened today, to the effect that when he was washing the cup in the bar, he accidentally smashed one. The owner Forest came up and gave him a kick. He was indignant and yelled: “Don’t people who work part-time have any dignity?”

But Forest sneered, becoming more fierce: “You eat my food and live in my house, you are my family’s slave!”

Someone soon replied.

——The landlord’s3 boss is sick, right?

——The landlord yelled well, so he should slap him in the face again.

——The landlord, get out of here. Judging from the previous description, the landlord is very capable and can find a job wherever he goes

.……

Reading the replies and suggestions from so many enthusiastic people, Yi Wansan’s mood gradually recovered. He hummed a little song to organize the bar, paused and went to refresh the reply. When he saw one of them, his heart suddenly thumped.

——The landlord has a lot of imagination, so it’s a pity not to write a novel. Did you wake up? The cup hasn’t been washed yet.

The ID name is “It’s natural to repay debts”. Clicking to take a look, the registration time is not long before he posted.

Yi Wansan felt a chill on his back, and he raised his head to look at the ceiling for a long time. The second floor of the bar was occupied by people, and on the top was Huo Zihong’s room. Mu Dai should be in the room now.

It’s not… her who replied, is it?

In the room, Huo Zihong was coughing badly, and Mu Dai poured her half a cup of cough syrup: “If you are not in good health, don’t walk around. If you don’t have a good rest, you won’t have the energy to protect the villain.4”

Huo Zihong took a sip, stroked her chest and smoothed her breathing: “Mu Dai, don’t always target Yi Wansan.”

Mu Dai dragged a chair over, sat on it backwards, and corrected Huo Zihong: “I didn’t target him. He was originally a liar. You should have asked the Zhejiang boss to send him to the police station.”

At the beginning?

At the beginning, it started with the Zhejiang boss.

About two years ago, the Zhejiang boss and a few friends drove the Sichuan-Tibet Line by themselves and stopped to rest in Zheduo Mountain near Kangding. He was over 50 years old and his weight was developing laterally. He couldn’t breathe after walking a few steps at high altitudes. While sitting on the ground and resting, he accidentally glanced at the road and saw Yi Wansan’s “stunning” figure.

It is said that at that time, Yi Wansan was wearing a cycling helmet, a tight-fitting outfit, and riding a bicycle. Behind the bike was a bag weighing dozens of kilograms. His expression was solemn and his eyes were resolute.

The boss was very surprised. Where he was panting after two steps, Yi Wansan pedaled up the slope with a heavy load. What kind of spirit is this?

He hurriedly greeted Yi Wansan: “Young man, come down and take a break.”

After another chat, the boss was deeply shaken!

Yi Wansan said that his dream is to travel around the world by bicycle. At present, he has already ridden in more than 20 provinces in China. He also shook out a flag to show the boss. The signatures on it are densely packed. Many of them were signed by international friends who came to China to travel. They were all in foreign languages. Yi Wansan proudly pointed to a ghost-like signature and told him that it was signed by the Belgian ambassador to China.

Then he explained his next plans, riding into Tibet, climbing Mount Everest, and then leaving Tibet, riding to Nepal, Pakistan, India, and if possible, to the European continent.

While talking, he took out a hard steamed bun, broke it in half, sandwiched two pickles in it, chewed it, and cherished it. He wrapped the rest of the steamed bun in a plastic bag and put it back in the bag.

The boss persuaded him to eat more, and only after asking did he know that the remaining steamed bun would have to be eaten in two meals.

The boss of Zhejiang spent his youth in an era of spiritual and cultural barrenness. When he had the money to realize some wayward ideals, he already had enough spare capacity, and it was easy to blindly see his shadow in his younger generations, so he immediately started the idea of funding Yi Wansan. He didn’t have a lot of cash on his body, and he raised some money from friends in the same car, totaling 13,000 yuan.

Yi Wansan was very moved, asked him to sign the flag, and told him: “I will take pictures all over the world with the flag with your signature!”

If it weren’t for the lack of ATMs on Zhenduo Mountain, the boss would probably impulsively give him another 10,000 or 20,000.

The matter should have ended like this. Who knew that more than a year later, at the Juxuan Suiyuan Bar, the two met again like it was fate.

At that time, Yi Wansan changed his attire, wearing a floral kerchief, a white shirt, and ripped jeans. It wasn’t the same image taken in the past. The boss didn’t recognize him at first, but Yi Wansan leaked it himself.

He talked to a few friends and dogs who met for the first time on the road: “Now, many big bosses like to drive Sichuan, Tibet and go mountaineering by themselves, which seems to be very demanding. I concluded that these people, in seven words, are rich, are stupid, and are old. These people are not short of money, and they remember their youth. At this time, you have to find the selling point, and sell your ideals and feelings to resonate with them. Let me tell you, I have been squatting on the Sichuan-Tibet Line for a while, and I saw this kind of self-driving car with a mainland license plate. Those people are polite. They gave me a lot of food and drink, something Red Bull5? Later, I made a small profit of 800 yuan from selling drinks. There are also stupid ones, the one with the deepest impression, I rely on it, gave me a full 13,000 yuan!”

The Zhejiang boss sat at the back table and started to listen to gossip. The more he listened, the more wronged he felt. When he heard the last sentence, he directly threw the table with a yell of anger and rushed over. There were more than fifty people, and they showed the agility of young people in a daze.

……

Mu Dai stared at Huo Zihong: “Aunt Hong, kindness varies from person to person. Yi Wansan should have been sent to jail. You actually spent money for him.”

Huo Zihong smiled: “It’s not for nothing. It’s 13,000 yuan. He has to work in a bar for a year. It’s quite cost-effective to take that loss.”

Mu Dai put his chin on the top of the chair backrest: “Don’t talk with overflowing compassion, while still showing the wolf into the house6.”

“Don’t be biased. These days, Yi Wansan is doing a good job.”

Mu Dai sneered: “I dare to guarantee he’ll do something, either to the account or to the goods.”

“People can change, you can’t hold their past against them forever. Mu Dai, that’s what’s wrong with your character, it’s too twisted.”

Mu Dai stopped talking, and after a while, her emotions suddenly stopped: “Whatever you like. I’m actually adopted, so I shouldn’t be so aggressive when talking to you. I’ll change it next time.”

Huo Zihong was taken aback for a moment, and sighed for a long time. She handed a note to Mu Dai: “Mu Dai, help me go to this place. If it is convenient, I will leave tomorrow.”

“En7.”

After a short silence, Mu Dai said, “Then I will go back to my room first, I have to pack my bags.”

This is the temper of Mu Dai. Usually, Mu Dai would ask why Huo Zihong went, what she was doing with this person, and if she had any instructions, but when Mu Dai was depressed, she would only reply with one word: “En.”

Huo Zihong walked to the door and watched Mu Dai’s figure disappear at the bottom of the stairs. Uncle Zhang came up with a broom and dustpan for routine cleaning. When he swept to Huo Zihong’s door, Huo Zihong said: “Sometimes, I am very worried about Mu Dai. This child, she is not close to anyone.”

Uncle Zhang whispered, and didn’t look up: “Normally, when Mu Dai was adopted, he was three or four years old. In that kind of place, she had suffered. What I was most impressed with was that she was allergic to peaches. As soon as she arrived at your side, you handed her a peach, and she quickly picked it up and bit it.”

Huo Zihong answered softly: “But, in the first half of the year, every time she ate, she didn’t dare to take meat. When I said which dish was delicious, she didn’t eat that one. The little bear child put so much thought into it.”

At the end, he suddenly felt a little sad: “If it hadn’t been for the incident eight years ago, Mu Dai might be much better now.”

Uncle Zhang straightened up, made a fist with his right hand, and beat his waist and heart: “Actually, our little boss is very well now. Really, you go and see what is reported in the news. The little boss is recovering very well.”

The familiar sound of footsteps came on the stairs. Yi Wansan’s scalp trembled, and the webpage was closed with lightning speed.

Mu Dai came over with a calm face. Originally, she wanted to ignore him directly. After thinking about it, she stopped by the bar and said, “I’m going to Chongqing tomorrow.”

“Really?”

While Yi Wansan was overjoyed, he realized that his joy was too obvious. His voice immediately sank, and his expression changed to disappointment: “No, I won’t see you for several days.”

In fact, what he wanted to say was: Go, go, don’t come back.

Mu Dai smiled, and Yi Wansan was uncomfortable with the smile. He understood the little boss meant for him to be well-behaved.

Yi Wansan glanced at the two bottles of wine on the wine rack very guiltily.

When he returned to his room, Yi Wansan passed by the door of Mu Dai’s bedroom. Through the half-open door, he saw a suitcase spread out on the ground, half of which was colorful, a cat-headed toiletry bag, an elephant-headed bottoming T-shirt8, short boots with tassels, bracelets with bells and shells, and the other half, all the clothes were decorated in black.

Yi Wansan said in his heart: This poisonous woman is a genius.

1 天涯网页 – Tiānyá wǎngyè – referring to the Tianya Club, or “End of the world” club. It’s a blog / forum platform.

2 周扒皮 – Zhōu​bā​pí – Referring to Zhou the flayer (or exploiter?) in The Rooster Crows At Midnight. Evil, greedy landowner bleeding the people on his land dry.

3 Landlord meaning OP / original poster. In forums, OP is the landlord, with everyone else being a ‘floor’. So first reply would be first floor, then second, so on.

4 I really don’t know. Original is “… 不好好休息，倒有精神去维护小人。” I think she’s prodding Hou Zihong about how HZH tells her not to bother with YWS…? Help

5 “… 给我大把吃的喝的，什么脉动红牛” – I don’t know. I did my best, but “脉动”, which is like – pulsing, throbbing, etc according to my dictionary is really throwing me off. Even looking at the characters separately didn’t help. I really don’t know.

6 Something like, don’t speak kindly of him when he’s a troublemaker.

7 Similar to a hum or grunt of acknowledgment / acceptance. Mm-hmm, hmm, etc.

8 “… 猫猫头的洗漱包，大象头的打底T恤, …” – I have no clue what is meant by this. If someone knows, please tell me; I’m so lost and NONE of my dictionaries are helping ;m;