CHAPTER 8 : THE MOLDY BREAD
“Hmm ... help
yourself.” Uncle Wang was taking a nap lying on the couch, his eyes were still
not open.
“Oh… “Zhang Yang went and picked up the worn out cellphone
from the desk. Because the cable was too old, it must have been there for a
long period and the charger was not connected to the power, so the cellphone’s function
was minimum.
They said that Uncle Wang deliberately managed to stay on the
guard’s office, where his cell phone was often stolen. And, only after he exchanged the previous
phone with this old one, he never lost his cellphone again.
This always made Zhang Yang wonder, Why not get a land line?
It is very convenient to use and cannot be moved easily.
Naturally, Zhang Yang was too lazy to ask about these matters
as it had nothing to do with him, he just knew that uncle Wang has the
cellphone. He had never failed to make a phone call before, and this time was
no exception.
“Liu Biao …Help”
“What’s the matter?” A lazy but strong voice came from the
other side of the phone.
“I’ve got no money. I haven’t eaten anything since morning,
come and save me.”
“Bosh! Can anyone be so miserable?”
“Ah, Yes, I’m so hungry I cannot even move…” Zhang Yang
walked around with a long face.
“Wait for 20 minutes, I’ll be right over.” “No…. 30 minutes.”
“Why does it take so long? I’m starving to death.” Zhang Yang
had an intense feeling of hunger in his stomach that he could swallow up a
whole cow.
“My God, you hungry animal! Don’t worry, you won’t die by
starving for half an hour.” The phone
hanged up from the other side.
Zhang yang carefully put the phone on the table, his face
looked depressed, normally Liu Biao would not take more than ten minutes to
meet him after a call, but to his surprise , today, when he actually needed him
the most, he’s not available for another half an hour.
“Poor child, open the first drawer.” Uncle Wang raised his
hand and said.
“Oh”
“Do you see a black plastic bag?”
“Yes”
“Eat it! It’s bread.”
Zhang Yang opened the plastic bag, his eyes flickered, but
he was a bit uneasy about the color of the bread being grey, he couldn’t help
but ask “How long has this bread been there?”
The old man sat up straight with surprise.
“Cough ...”
“Yes ... How long has
it been..?”
“It seems … about a week.” The old man hesitated as he
seemed unsure about the exact day.
“For a week..? “ Zhang Yang was stunned.
“I don’t want to ...
I have to ...”
Zhang Yang took a mouthful bite of the bread with tearful
eyes, he would rather eat the stale bread and get killed than to listen to the
old man’s spiritual and mental torments.
The old man (Uncle Wang) had participated in the Vietnam
War, as a matter of fact he was only sent there when the war had almost ended.
The old man didn’t even know how the Vietnamese look, but because of the
occasional crossfire in the border the old man was considered as a war
personnel. And now, each month he still receives an allowance from when he was
discharged from the military service.
Of course, someone else secretly told Zhang yang about this.
On the other hand the old man himself was blowing his own trumpet, announcing
his accomplishment, basically saying that if it wasn’t for him in the Vietnam
War, China certainly wouldn’t have won.
At the beginning, he also managed to fool a group of
students to worship him as a war hero, but gradually as his words started to
monopolize everything, the layer of glorious image that was created in the
student’s heart started to collapse. But the elders still did not have any idea
about it.
“ How am I going to persuade Professor Li’s wife?” seeing
Zhang yang taking a bite from the bread, the old man laid back on the couch and
closed his eyes, feeling pleased.
” I think you should take it slow, no one wants to talk
about love, when they just lost their husband.”
“Hey! I considered that fact too, but… Still….. , I’m not in
a hurry!”
“Then what’s the issue?”
“That fat man from the dining hall, he’s going to Professor
Li’s house almost every day. If I do not act sooner, someone else might beat me
to it.” Said the old man with a depressed expression on his face.
“In that case... Cough … you should immediately go to her
house and tell her that you like her. You should stop fooling around at this
age, time is Money. You’ll be over sixty in no time. Every day is a new
opportunity.”
“I…. pff…. Who doesn’t have much time..?”
“However, if it’s really like that, I will go to her house
after work.” The old man sighed and suddenly spoke in a loud voice and startled
Zhang Yang.
“……..”
Looking at the old man
face, alone, the face of injustice. His wife was dead for more than a month
now, actually he went to the courtship the night before. Zhang Yang did not
have any choice but to pray Buddha to bless and protect uncle Wang from bad
luck.
“…..”
“Zhang Yang, hurry up!” A rough voice came from outside the
door.
“Ah uncle Wang, Liu Biao is here, I’ll get going now.”
Hearing Liu Biao’s voice, Zhang Yang hurriedly stood up and
felt as if his savior had arrived.
“Oh ... Okay... Be careful and tell that kid to not walk
around all day and night with a bunch of gangsters.”
“Go on”
The old man became feebly again, and the whole man curled up
in his couch looked so lonely.
“Uncle Wang, I’ll go now, don’t keep the fan facing towards
your chest. It’s very easy to catch a cold.” Zhang Yang, looking at the old
man, that rugged body curled up in the couch, he suddenly felt halfhearted.
“Go.” The old man seemed sleepy, he waved his hand and then
closed his eyes.
Zhang Yang did not say anything. He just adjusted the fan to
the minimum speed and slowly get out of the guard’s room, and then closed the
door.
“Hurry up, don’t slow down like a bitch.”
At the school’s gate, there stood a tall guy, wearing a suit
with a white shirt, striped tie, thick eyebrows, eyes like that of a leopard,
looked ordinary at the first sight.
A worn out Yamaha 250, entirely covered with grease dirt stopped by the side.
thx alot for the chapter!
ReplyDeletecan you put next chapter link on the page? it's quite hard to go next chapter
ReplyDeleteDone !!! :)
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