Lin Shao's biological clock had always been on time. He could wake up at 6: 45 a.m., but recently, he couldn't. Since the sun hadn't risen yet, at around 5 a.m., it started to get noisy. His bed was next to the window facing the street, so it wasn't soundproof at all. The noise poured into his ears, so he couldn't sleep. He could only rub his eyes, put on some clothes, and get out of bed.
After washing up, he walked to the front of the shop and opened the wooden door. Outside, there were two topless workers carrying a wooden wardrobe. As they walked, they shouted in the local dialect, "Make way, make way!"
The old houses in this area were about to be demolished because of the new urban planning. The notice had been issued many days ago. Now, the focus of every household was to move. Willow Lane, where Lin Shao lived, was also included in the demolition area.
Now that it was almost the deadline, the demolition team was on the way. Everyone had to get up early and work late to move, so it was noisy early in the morning.
However, even if it wasn't noisy, Lin Shao couldn't sleep. He had a lot of things to move, and he was the only one left in the house. He had to be more diligent, or else he wouldn't be able to finish moving.
The house he lived in was old and ordinary. It was a small two-story building. No one lived upstairs, and the downstairs was bigger. There were three rooms in total. In the middle was the square shop, to the right of the shop was the kitchen, and to the left was his room. After Lin Shao got out of bed, he first walked to the stairwell. He first bowed to his grandfather's memorial tablet placed there and said, "I'm sorry for disturbing your peace. You haven't been quiet for more than a few days, and we have to move."
His soft voice echoed in the empty stairwell. It was a little creepy in the morning.
The black and white photos hanging on the wall were all new. He had passed away not long ago. Before he left, he held Lin Shao's hand and looked at him with his eyes open. He was worried about this grandson of his.
"Don't worry," Lin Shaodao said, "I'm doing well. I just miss you a little."
He lit a stick of incense for his grandfather and then sat on the chair in front of the store. He ate his breakfast in the hazy morning light and fresh air. As he ate, he calculated whether he could finish moving the remaining things in two days.
Lin Shao had just seen people moving the wardrobe. He was now staring at his own wardrobe with worry. Other people's wooden wardrobes seemed to be difficult for two men to carry. His was even bigger. He had asked the movers to look at it before, but they shook their heads and didn't want to take the order. They said it was really difficult to move it and advised him to just leave it here. Anyway, the wardrobe was very old, and such a big wardrobe was not practical for him.
However, Lin Shao still couldn't bear to part with it. This wardrobe was made by his grandfather, who was older than him. He had feelings for it, but there was nothing he could do.
Lin Shao was not willing to give up. He walked around the wardrobe twice, wanting to test how heavy it was. He gritted his teeth and found a spot to move it himself. However, the wardrobe was dignified and steady, and it didn't move. Lin Shao used all his strength, but he could only move it out a small crack. He tried back and forth four or five times, but the crack became bigger and bigger. He used all his strength again, but the wardrobe didn't move much. He heard a "Kacha" sound, as if something had broken.
Lin Shao: "…"
He went forward to check. Sure enough, a piece of wood from the back of the wardrobe had fallen.
This wardrobe was too old. The wood had long been old, and the structure inside couldn't hold up. Originally, it was leaning against the wall for support. Now that he moved it, the wardrobe shook a few times. Then, it moved away from the wall, and it finally collapsed.
Only one piece of wood fell on the outside, but several pieces fell on the inside. The entire wardrobe was messed up by him. Lin Shao was tired and a little angry. He turned his head and sat down on the bed. He regretted that he couldn't keep the wardrobe.
What a pity.
He sighed. He sat on the bed and stared blankly at the big hole in the wardrobe. After resting for a while, he bent down and went into the wardrobe. He took out the piece of wood that was leaning against the wall, revealing the greenish-gray wall inside. The wall had peeled off, and there were very old green bricks inside. When he touched them, there was powder falling off.
There was a reason for this place to be demolished. The house was too old, and it was about to become a dangerous house. Naturally, it had to be demolished.
Moreover, this was a low-lying area. The wall below had been soaked in water for more than ten years. The whole thing was loose, and the adhesive between the bricks was useless.
Due to the position of the room, the lighting was not strong, and the wardrobe was blocking the light. Only a little bit of brightness could allow one to see the situation inside the wardrobe. Lin Shao was about to leave, but a silver light suddenly flashed in front of his eyes from the gap around the exposed blue brick, and then quickly disappeared.
Lin Shao was shocked. He subconsciously stepped back, but he forgot that this was a wardrobe. When he moved, his head hit the top of the wood.
He hissed and touched the spot where his head had hit the brick. Then, he carefully looked at the brick again.
It was ordinary. There was nothing unusual about it.
Lin Feng felt a bit of pain from the impact, and golden stars began to appear in front of his eyes. He wondered if he had seen wrongly. At this moment, the silver light in the gap flashed again as if following his thoughts.
Lin Shao: "!!!!"
What was glowing?
The special effects of this silver light in a TV series would only be worth 50 cents, but when it actually happened in front of him, it was a little shocking. Lin Tuo hesitated for a moment. He didn't know where the courage in his heart came from, but he couldn't suppress his curiosity. He reached out his hand and grabbed the green brick. Then, with a bit of strength, he pulled it off the wall.
The adhesive next to the green brick was useless. He didn't use much strength to pull it off. The brick crumbled into dust in his hand.
The wall was thick. Behind the brick was other people's green brick, so there was no need to worry about it collapsing.
But what attracted Lin Shao's attention was the thing behind the brick.
It was a small cloth bag. It was gray, but it was only a little old. It didn't look rotten.
Was this thing emitting the light?
Lin Shao stared at the cloth bag for a long time, but the silver light didn't appear again. The gray cloth bag lay there crookedly. There wasn't any color on the surface. It was just a piece of cloth that was simply sewn together. Even the knot was carelessly tied. It looked normal yet abnormal. This wall had been repaired for at least twenty years. It was damp and easy to soak in water. No matter how tough the cloth was, it would rot after twenty years. But Lin Shao could still feel the softness of the cloth bag against his skin. Also, there seemed to be something in the bag that was hard to the touch.
Gold?
Silver?
Or jade?
Lin Shao couldn't help but look in the direction of his grandfather's memorial tablet. He wondered if there were other family heirlooms hidden in his wall.
He nervously opened the cloth bag and looked inside.
It was dark and he couldn't see what it was.
Lin Shao turned the cloth bag over, shook it, and poured out the thing inside. But it wasn't gold or jade. It was a black oval ring with a little gray. Its weight and texture were no different from roadside stones. It couldn't be considered a treasure at all.
Lin Shao was disappointed for a while. He touched the thing and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He thought that it was impossible for a pie to fall from the sky. He carefully looked at the ring twice. He couldn't see anything special about it. Instead, he felt that it was even uglier. It looked like a bracelet, but he didn't dare to recognize it. It was mottled with scratches and potholes. How could it be a bracelet if it was so ugly?
Even roadside stalls were more attentive than this.
Silver light? Sure enough, it was his eyes that were playing tricks on him.
Lin Shao seriously reflected on whether he hadn't eaten well recently. He was so malnourished that he was hallucinating. He put the small cloth bag and the stone bracelet on the side table.
He was too lazy to think about why the cloth wasn't damaged. He pressed the brick back into the wall and moved the wooden cabinet back to its original position. He turned his head and continued to do what he needed to do.
Just then, a customer came into the store.
It was a middle-aged woman. She was carrying a basket of groceries. After looking around for a while, she saw him sitting in the room. She asked, "Boss, do you sell fresh snacks?
I heard that your snacks are delicious. "
The door was wide open. Lin Shao sat on the bed. He could see the situation in the store as soon as he turned around. He could hear and the customer could see him, but he was sitting in front of the wardrobe. He could only see the side of his body.
Normally, he should go out and greet the customer. However, there was nothing left in the store. Also, he was still tired from moving the wardrobe. He really didn't want to move. He waved his hand and said, "We don't have any fresh snacks. We haven't had any for the past few days. The kitchen is empty.
The things in the basket over there are the last. They're all small snacks. They're quite delicious. They're all sold at a discount. If you want, you can choose whatever you want. You can pay for it. "
The things he sold in the store were all sweets like biscuits and candy. Usually, he would bake some fresh snacks and sell them while they were still fresh. Now that they were gone, the store only had some packaged food left. Although the woman was a little disappointed, she still went to take a look. She carefully looked at the expiration date and felt that it was okay. She picked some biscuits and chocolates and put them in a bag. She estimated that these snacks would sell for about 50 yuan in the supermarket. But now that the store was preparing to move, she directly cut the price by more than half. "Boss, is this enough for 20 yuan?"
Lin Shao didn't even look at what she picked. Naturally, he didn't have any objections.
There weren't many things in the basket. He would sell as much as he could. If he really couldn't sell it, he would keep it for himself.
The middle-aged woman looked at him and nodded. She felt that she had gotten a bargain. She took a few more things from the basket. In the end, she counted them as 30 yuan. She took out 50 yuan from her wallet and called Lin Shao out for change.
Lin Shao sat on the bed. He didn't want to move. He just wanted the customer to put the money under the basket. However, the customer really didn't have any change. He could only stand up and slowly walk out.
The middle-aged woman didn't look at the boss carefully before. She only saw his side profile. At that time, she was a little confused. This store looked very old, but the boss looked very young. Now that Lin Shao was walking towards her, she carried the bag full of snacks. The meaning in her eyes was a little … hard to describe.
The boss of this store wasn't just young.
He was really good-looking. It was now the early autumn season, and he was wearing an ordinary gray knitted sweater. The knitted sweater looked a little old, and the edges were pilling. It was also a little loose, but when he wore it, it looked outstanding. It looked clean and comfortable.
His hair was a little long. It was scattered and not tied up. His skin was a little pale. Under the fine hair on his forehead was a pair of round eyes. He looked young, like a high school student. He also had a somewhat well-behaved feeling that was very popular with the elders.
Lin Shao took out 20 yuan from his pocket and handed it to her. However, the woman didn't take it. She put the 50 yuan on the table. After hesitating for a while, she took out another 20 yuan from her wallet. She lowered her voice and said to him, "These things are 70 yuan. I know the price. 30 yuan is a joke. You … sigh, it's not easy to run a small business."
After she finished speaking, she left. She turned around and looked at Lin Shao.
In addition to the amazement when she first saw him, there was more pity in her eyes.
The boss was so good-looking, but when he walked towards her, he was limping. His right calf was very unnaturally bent and felt weak. When she looked over there, the old wheelchair in the corner that she didn't pay attention to came into her sight.
The impact of a good-looking face and the fact that he was a disabled person was in front of her. The pity in her heart was even stronger.
Who would be so hard-hearted as to take advantage of a disabled person?
Lin Shao's hand holding the 20 yuan froze in the air for a while. He silently took it back.
He seemed to be used to this. After putting the 70 yuan on the table into his pocket, he turned around and limped back to his room.
Lin Shao didn't know how many times he had seen this kind of look and behavior. Two years ago, he would feel like there was a fishbone stuck in his throat because of this. He felt like it was reminding him again and again that his right leg couldn't be cured.
With his personality, he wouldn't lose his temper in front of others. He could only hide and sulk. He wanted to vent his anger, but he didn't dare to smash things because he had been lying in the hospital for half a year. His grandfather had taken out all the money in the family. If something was broken, it would be one less thing. He could only smash his own enamel cup. The cup was smashed crooked by him. After that, he stopped being angry about it.
Because he was used to it.
After his grandfather left, he didn't have much to lose his temper.
Lin Shao still kept the enamel cup that he had smashed many times. There were a few pieces of silver tape on it. He still drank from it.
He sat on the bed for a while. Then he stood up and packed up the other things.