That evening, the heat was rolling, and Zou Ming planned to meet Ah Shuang.
After staying in the company for a day and getting used to the somewhat too cold environment, the rental house that was exposed to the sun for a day became a hell. If he was not in a hurry to go back to cook, he would rather stay outside. However, it is cheaper to cook by himself, and it is also hygienic. In this city, all cheap restaurants are basically fly restaurants. It was really hot, so he quickly cooked a bowl of noodles and swallowed it, and then ran out. Although it was still hot in the evening, it was much better than in the room.
Ah Shuang's name is Chen Shuangling, a 38-year-old single woman. She is ten years older than Zou Ming. Although the two have had a physical relationship for more than two years and have done everything that should be done between men and women, Zou Ming does not regard her as his woman, not even a friend. He has never let Ah Shuang come to his place, but occasionally he would go to Xixiangtang to meet Ah Shuang and book a room in a small hotel. After an hour or two, he would return to his rental house and continue his life. He self-deprecatingly named this state "walking marriage".
Exit the electronic door of the rental house, pass under the sign of the adult product store, and walk down the steps. Although the breeze from Nanhu Lake has a fishy smell, the feeling of summer heat is much less.
The advantage of living in the village in the city is convenient transportation. After walking two hundred meters from Langxi Village and turning onto Binhu Road, you can feel the coolness and breeze by the lake. Not far ahead is Nanhu Station on Metro Line 1.
Nanhu Lake is an artificial lake built by dredging the moat in the Qing Dynasty. It is also the largest park in the city. Around the lake are important institutions such as the district government, taxation and industry and commerce, the Development and Reform Commission, and the People's Bank. There are several commercial residential communities with tens of thousands of houses but small areas. The runway surrounding the lake is a place for white-collar workers and well-fed women to walk and run. At the same time, the rental houses across the road are where migrant workers and migrant workers live. They are less than a hundred meters apart, and the gap is like heaven and earth.
Zou Ming is 28 years old this year. He has good natural conditions. He is 1.82 meters tall, has thick eyebrows, big eyes and a square face. When he walks on the street, he easily attracts the admiring eyes of women and the jealous eyes of men. However, his family conditions are very poor, so he is still single.
Zou Ming was born in a small town near a small city 300 kilometers away from the provincial capital. His parents are farmers and live in an old house built in the 1980s. At the age of 23, Zou Ming graduated from school and stayed in the city to work. Because he did not graduate from a famous university, he could not enter a big company. He could only work in a small company. He had to worry about whether the boss could pay wages on time next month. There was no other income except the 2,200 yuan salary. After deducting the rent, water and electricity, everything had to be frugal. But Zou Ming felt that staying in the provincial capital would give him a chance.
But he didn't know when the opportunity would come. He vaguely felt that he could not rely on himself. Over the years, he had tried many ways, changed positions in several industries, worked part-time, and set up stalls, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not get rid of the word "poor".
So, he was discouraged, felt that he had no ability, and regretted not being able to get into a first-class university. However, when he saw that his colleagues who graduated from famous universities in the company were not paid much more than himself, he felt at ease. He could only complain that the times did not give him a chance.
It was time to get off work, and the workers living in the nearby urban villages were swarming out of the subway station and rushing to the nearby small restaurants full of flies. Couples who knew how to live chose the vegetable stalls in the alleys that the urban management could not take care of. This scene easily reminds people of how vivid the word "ant tribe" is. When going to and from get off work, worker ants are everywhere here.
When walking off the subway platform, the cool breeze from the air conditioner made Zou Ming feel much more comfortable. Just as May began, the temperature in the provincial capital rose to 36 degrees Celsius, and the relative humidity exceeded 65%. The humid and stuffy feeling made people feel like ants on a hot pot. Although there was a wall-mounted air conditioner in the rental house, the electricity fee in the urban village was 1.5 yuan per kilowatt-hour. If you are not careful, the electricity bill will explode. Zou Ming likes places with free air conditioning.
The whistling sound of the subway train came from the depths of the stairs. Obviously, another subway train arrived at the station, and the crowd will appear again and collide with him head-on. Just feeling cool, Zou Ming didn't want to meet a large group of sweaty and haggard people head-on, so he quickened his pace and came to the second-floor platform.
Sure enough, a group of migrant workers who looked exactly like him came from the first-floor platform. He regretted that he came out a little early, but it was really hot today, so he could only hide in front of the ticket machine and wait.
"Is it Zou Ming?" Suddenly, he turned around and found that a middle-aged man in a suit was looking at him beside him, holding a five-yuan bill in his hand.
"Is it the instructor?" Zou Ming was surprised. The middle-aged man in front of him was Zhang Fengcheng, his instructor during military training.
"It's me!" Zhang Fengcheng smiled, "The handsome boy back then is even more handsome now. I recognized you from a distance!"
At first glance, Instructor Zhang was doing very well. He was wearing a brand new Italian shirt, straight woolen pants, and a pair of Italian leather shoes. His hairstyle was very suitable for his long and thin face, and it was obviously designed by a famous designer. The handbag was a crocodile leather LV.
"Why are you here?" Zhang Fengcheng was also very happy, "Oh, by the way, I forgot that your family is from the countryside in Guangxi. I didn't expect you to be in Nanning too. How long have you been here? What are you doing?"
Zou Ming was a little embarrassed and didn't know how to answer for a while. Zhang Fengcheng seemed to understand his difficulty and changed the subject:
"Nowadays, everyone uses mobile phones to shop. You have to use mobile phones to buy subway tickets. I can't buy tickets with this money."
Zou Ming looked at the manual ticketing side. There was only one window open, and there were 20 to 30 people queuing in front of the window.
"Yes, nowadays we all use mobile phones for shopping, WeChat and Alipay." Zou Ming looked at him: "You don't know how to use a mobile phone?"
"Of course I don't, but I forgot my phone in the car." Zhang Fengcheng explained, "Today I went to the Jinhu Road pedestrian bank to do some business. When I came out, I had a scratch with a passing car, so I parked my car nearby for repairs. When I got here, I realized that I forgot my phone in the car."
"Car accident?" Zou Ming said, looking at the instructor: "As long as no one is fine, I'll buy a ticket for you wherever you want to go." As he spoke, he took out his phone and opened Alipay.
"How can I be so embarrassed!" Zhang Fengcheng said, "I'll go home and get off at the ASEAN Business District subway station." Before he finished speaking, Zou Ming had already bought the ticket, and handed a button-sized electronic buckle to Zhang Fengcheng: "I bought it to the ASEAN Business District, right?"
"Yes, yes!" Zhang Fengcheng took the ticket and looked Zou Ming up and down: "You've grown taller than during military training. If you weren't that handsome, I wouldn't have recognized you."
Zou Ming smiled. He has been called a handsome boy by his neighbors and classmates since he was a child. Compared with boys of the same age, he has a high nose bridge, big eyes, and a height of 1.8 meters, which are rare in Guangxi. He has charmed many girls. However, men and women are different. Appearance is not very useful. After all, what I worry about every day is performance, that is, whether the boss can pay wages on time.
There are many people leaving get off work, and there is a long queue at the subway security checkpoint. The two chatted while queuing.
Zhang Fengcheng said: "I changed jobs two years ago and bought a house in the ASEAN Business District and brought your sister-in-law here. Come to my house for tea when you have time." He touched his phone and remembered that he had forgotten it in the car, so he said: "I'll leave you a phone number, add WeChat and contact me later."
Zou Ming took out his cell phone and handed it to him: "Call your cell phone and tell the repair shop that it will be troublesome if you can't find your cell phone!"
"Yes, this is a good idea!"
Zhang Fengcheng called and someone answered. He said a few words and then said he would pick it up tomorrow morning before hanging up. It was their turn to go through the security check. After passing through the gate, Zhang Fengcheng returned the phone to him: "Thank you, you helped me a lot today."
The subway roared into the station. Zhang Fengcheng hurriedly walked towards the door of the carriage. Zou Ming looked at his back with some jealousy. This man who was just in his early forties used to be a military training instructor in the military sub-district. Now, he is a successful person with a house, a car and a wife.
——Then, when I reach his age, will I still live in a rented house?
Thinking of this, he was a little depressed.
The subway heading to Xishibu arrived, and Zou Ming got on the train with a depressed mood. Line 1 runs through the city from east to west. The west of the city is called Xixiangtang, which is an old city with underdeveloped economy. There are a few universities dotted in between, so it's not too ugly. Many people got on the train, all of whom worked in the city center and returned to their rental houses in the west of the city after get off work.
After getting on the train and stopping, he sent a message to Ah Shuang: "I'm coming!"
Ah Shuang replied almost immediately: "I'm cooking, can you wait a minute?"
He didn't reply, and there was no need to reply. Ah Shuang was respectful and devoted to him. From the beginning of their relationship, Zou Ming regretted it. He had blocked Ah Shuang several times, but she begged him to add him back. When Zou Ming was happy, Ah Shuang was flattered. When Zou Ming was unhappy, Ah Shuang was cautious, fearing that she would make him angry. Unlike Zou Ming's ex-girlfriend, Ah Shuang never asked him for anything, or rather, never made any requests. On the contrary, no matter what state Zou Ming was in, Ah Shuang would cooperate with him to make him happy and satisfied.
The subway was very fast, and many people got off at each station, and the number of people in the carriage gradually decreased.
An empty seat appeared, and he sat down quickly, making those who regretted being slow to act look disdainful. There was still a long way to go, and he had to conserve his energy. Ah Shuang was ten years older than him, and her needs were much stronger than his.
Zou Ming remembered that three years ago, when he had just met Ah Shuang, that spring night, he was lying in the rental house watching those pornographic videos, thinking of his ex-girlfriend, and his blood was swelling.
So he opened QQ to search for people nearby, and adjusted the filter conditions to be about the same age as himself. Suddenly, he remembered that the last time the company organized a trip to Longhu Mountain, a photo with a monkey was good, so he changed his profile picture.
At this time, someone suddenly sent a conversation: Is this monkey your pet?
Zou Ming replied without hesitation that it was a monkey from Longhu Mountain, not mine.
After sending it, he saw that it was a female account, 35 years old, with a round face, and a six-point appearance, but he didn't think about it because of her age. Her online name was Ah Shuang.
Just as he was about to close it, the other party sent another message: Where is Longhu Mountain?
——Longhu Mountain is a 5A-level tourist area more than 30 kilometers away from the city. Almost all locals know about it. He didn't want to reply. But the number sent a message again:
I have followed you. Follow me and add me as a friend.
Zou Ming smiled bitterly and clicked to follow. There are many friends added on QQ for no reason, some of whom have not chatted for years. However, what Zou Ming didn't expect was that A Shuang sent a lot of messages, starting with the topic of monkeys in Longhu Mountain, and then talking about his work and hobbies. He also learned some of the other party's situation.
Finally, A Shuang asked about his girlfriend.
Zou Ming admitted that he had no girlfriend because he was poor.
A Shuang introduced himself as single, 35 years old this year, never married, currently working in Nanning, and living in Xixiangtang.
Zou Ming was surprised that she had never been married at this age. Ah Shuang said that when she was 20 years old, she went to Guangdong to work and met a boyfriend from the same hometown. The two soon lived together. After Ah Shuang became pregnant, her boyfriend disappeared. Ah Shuang could only hurriedly deal with her troubles and returned to her rural hometown. After the incident, Ah Shuang did not trust any men who were attentive to her. She came to the capital to work and worked for more than ten years. Although he longed for the company of a woman, Ah Shuang's age made Zou Ming almost never consider any intersection with this woman who was ten years older. But Ah Shuang was very obedient. She got up in the morning and never disturbed him during work hours. They chatted at midnight. In those years, Zou Ming was still working hard to make money. In addition to working normally, he ran business, worked as a loader, distributed advertising leaflets, and set up stalls. After returning to the rental house, he was very tired. When he lay on the bed and looked at his mobile phone and waited to fall asleep, Ah Shuang encouraged him, admired his efforts, and always advised him to rest early and take care of his health. It was half a year later that I met Ah Shuang for the first time. From a close distance, Ah Shuang's figure has become slightly fatter, and should be described as plump, with wrinkles on the corners of her eyes and neck.
He said to himself, after all, she is a woman, and forced himself not to turn around and run away.
After a few simple chats, Zou Ming decided to lower his spiritual world first and only meet his needs. It happened that the weather was good and it rained. There were many small hotels in the urban-rural junction, and Ah Shuang did not hesitate. From then on, she seemed to be fascinated by Zou Ming.
On the contrary, Zou Ming hated himself, hated himself for being depraved, depraved to pursue this kind of loveless physical relationship. When he took the last subway to leave, he deleted Ah Shuang for the second time.
However, Zou Ming found that with his own efforts, he was getting further and further away from the goal of buying a house and a car. In just two or three years, the housing prices in the same area rose from 8,000 to 13,000. The down payment that was about to be collected was getting further and further away. According to his saving speed, he could save up the down payment in the spring of the second year, but the several "land kings" auctioned caused the land and housing prices to soar. He found that the housing prices had nearly doubled. According to his saving speed, it would take at least three years.
He felt discouraged that his income was stagnant while the housing prices were rising rapidly. It happened that his stall was detained by the urban management, so he gave up the spare time to make more, and went to work every day to keep a source of living expenses. After get off work, he would take a short walk by the lake, and then go back to the rental house to play games to relieve his anxiety.
Whenever he finished playing games, took a shower and went to bed, and stared blankly at his phone, Ah Shuang would contact him, mostly to ask about his well-being, like a sister. He didn't like this feeling very much.
During that time, Zou Ming was in a bad mood. He rarely replied, and sometimes his replies were mostly spoofs, but his spoofs were regarded as humor by Ah Shuang. Ah Shuang not only didn't blame him, but always covered her mouth and laughed.
Looking at the men and women in the car, he suddenly thought of his last girlfriend Xiao Yang.
Since college, he has had two or three girlfriends, but none of them worked out. Now thinking about it, most of them were ignorant of the world at that age, believed in love, and valued appearance, and his appearance was good. But in the sophomore and junior years, there were more temptations, and poverty became Zou Ming's weakness. No gifts or cheap gifts were regarded as not loving enough. Coupled with the worry about future life, girls will become more and more realistic. Therefore, Zou Ming's love experience has a beginning but no end.
Zou Ming's parents and his married sister are all in the countryside. They planted sugarcane and corn on a few acres of mountain land to support him until he graduated from college. They have done their best financially. Zou Ming couldn't bear to ask his parents and sister for money again, which was beyond their ability to bear.
Of course, there are exceptions.
When he was working in a real estate agency, his beautiful female colleague Xiao Yang took the initiative to show her affection and invited him to dinner, movies, and disco.
Xiao Yang, like him, came from a small rural town. After graduating from a technical secondary school, she worked in the city for three years and had just broken up with her boyfriend. According to Xiao Yang, the reason why she decided to break up with her boyfriend was partly because her boyfriend was not doing his job properly, smoking, drinking, playing cards, and playing Mark Six. On the other hand, it was also because Zou Ming appeared around her.
Like normal couples, the two of them looked at each other and secretly liked each other. They added WeChat and QQ, hugged and kissed during the period. After a night movie, after eating supper, when sending her back to the shared rental house, the two accidentally looked at each other, and their eyes were shining.
The fire started, and Xiao Yang directly said that she brought her ID card. The shared rental house she lived in was inconvenient for five or six girls, so she could go to a hotel.
Zou Ming was naturally overjoyed, but they had a dispute over whether to go to a hotel or a cheap motel, and whether to buy a 10-yuan condom or a 48-yuan Durex. Xiao Yang left in anger.
Xiao Yang was Zou Ming's first girlfriend after he graduated and attended a work conference, and she is still his last girlfriend. He concluded that the reason for the breakup was poverty.
He had just entered the industry and had no performance yet. He paid 800 yuan in rent with his guaranteed salary of 1,500 yuan, and after paying 200 yuan for water and electricity, eating every month was a problem. Isn't it a private space for men and women to make love? In his eyes, a 50-yuan motel and a 300-yuan hotel room are the same, and there won't be much difference in condoms.
He also knew that he looked good, so he used photos as his QQ and WeChat avatars.
Ah Shuang also thought he was handsome and talented. Ah Shuang didn't understand why he didn't have a girlfriend because he was poor.
"Will you marry a poor man?" He asked angrily.
"I've been poor and rich before." Ah Shuang replied: "It's enough for two people to feel good!"
"A man who doesn't buy you gifts and never gives you money to spend. Will you be good to him?"
"Yes," Ah Shuang said, "As long as he treats me well!"
Zou Ming laughed sarcastically: "If he doesn't have money, how can he be considered good to you?"
"It's not about money that matters." Ah Shuang insisted.
Not long after that chat, Zou Ming blocked her. As in the following few times, Ah Shuang begged and added him back.
In this way, Ah Shuang, as a woman without a name, lived with him for three years...