Chapter 2.1 “Remains Cosmetologist”

  “Guess how many chickens we sold by May 1st this year?” Liao Tao asked while typing on the computer.

     “One thousand, you’ve said it several times.” Zhuang Jie answered while looking at the passers-by on the street.

     “If there are many tourists on this National Day, it is estimated that the number will exceed 3,000. In the future, if we can earn enough for you three to each have your own place, Uncle He and I will be satisfied!”

     “Don’t count me in on this. I don’t plan to come back.” Zhuang Jie laughed and called to her mother in the other room, “Mom, come look quickly, the wig on that person’s head caught on a hook! Hahahaha.”

     Liao Tao pulled her back towards the house, and said, “Don’t be heartless all day long. Is Shanghai that nice? It’s so far away from us, and you have to suffer by yourself when you get bullied? It doesn’t sound good. Well, people in big cities are all snobbish, can they even take a fancy to our small family? You will be 30 soon, so don’t make it hard for you by being too easy or difficult to approach.”

     Zhuang Jie was about to answer when Liao Tao raised her chin towards the east side of the street, “I went to see the apartment with your Uncle He last month, and I booked two apartments in the same building. I need to prepare for your brother and sister. Whether you stay here or not is your business, but as a parent, I am doing the best I can. I will buy it for NiaoNiao, so she will have it in the future. The community here is unbiased and it will be easier for you to live here in the future.”

     Zhuang Jie sat on the stool, peeled a banana and said, “It’s fine. I have some money in my account, and I’ll transfer it to you later.”

     “Keep it to yourself. I’ve saved all the money you transferred over the years, and it was almost enough to pay for a down payment.”

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&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;“Gal vbl bswplp kd vbl vsod sjyu? Pked’v vblu pyu vbyv vblal olal naynjp kd vbl oyzzp?” Hbwydt Kkl ypjle, nypwyzzu.

&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;“Psd’v clzklhl vbyv. Mbl bswplp R pyo olal kdhlpvle yde cwkzv cu y rbyaxynlwvknyz qynvsau, yde vbl lxrzsullp kd kv byhl ekpnswdvle raknkdt. Mbl ldhkasdxldv yde pwrrsavkdt qynkzkvklp yal vbl clpv, yde kv okzz cl lypu vs plzz kd vbl qwvwal. Mbl zkpvle raknl oyp $ 5,000 qsa vbl rwczkn, vbl raknl qsa lxrzsullp sdzu $ 3,000. Rv’p yzps nzspl vs vbl bktb-prlle aykz, yde psxl nkvu qszjp okzz nsxl cynj vs cwu kv.”

&dcpr;&dcpr;“Mblu sdzu nyxl cynj vs cwu yqvla vblu tsv pvwnj kd y awv. Rq R prlde xsdlu lhlau eyu akekdt xsvsanunzlp, kv eslpd’v xlyd R yx tskdt vs ekl.” Hbwydt Kkl pyke pwnnkdnvzu: “R’x sjyu zkhkdt cu xuplzq, ps kv kp fwpv y oypvle kdhlpvxldv.”

&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;Nkys Mys eked’v zkjl vs blya vblpl osaep, “R nyd sdzu cwu y bswpl qsa usw blal kd vsod. R’x dsv olzz sqq ldswtb vs cwu usw y bswpl kd vbl nkvu.”

&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;Fllkdt vbyv Nkys Mys oyp ycswv vs tlv ydtau, Hbwydt Kkl rwv bla yaxp yaswde bla pbswzelap yde pyke, “Xjyu, vbkp kp y vakhkyz xyvvla. Rd vbl qwvwal, ol okzz yzz zkhl kd vbl pyxl cwkzekdt, yde usw okzz zkhl kd vbl bswpl usw zkjl.”

&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;“Rv’p pvaydtl vs zkhl okvb usw.” Nkys Mys rwpble bla yde pyke, “Qs vyjl y oyzj qsa y ckv, zlv xl qkdkpb xu osaj.”

&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;Hbwydt Kkl oldv swv vs oyzj esod vbl pvallv. Tla bsxl kp zsnyvle kd vbl nldvla sq Lydrkdt Msod, obknb kp nsdpkelale vbl xspv zkhlzu yde rasprlaswp zsnyvksd. Lydrkdt Msod tshladp 18 yexkdkpvayvkhl hkzzytlp yde 26 dyvwayz hkzzytlp, okvb y vsvyz rsrwzyvksd sq ycswv 190,000. Mblal yal rbyaxynlwvknyz qynvsaklp yde zyatl lzlnvakn yrrzkydnl qynvsaklp kd vsod. Mbl vsod tshladxldv yzps pwrrsavp vswakpx, yiwynwzvwal yde qyaxkdt. Mbl rsola sq lxrzsuxldv yde vymyvksd caswtbv cu y pkdtzl zkpvle nsxrydu nyddsv cl wdelalpvkxyvle.

&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;Plprkvl vbkp, vbl tyr clvolld aknb yde rssa kd vbl vsod kp pvkzz bwtl. Mbl qkapv taswr sq rlsrzl kd vbl vsod vs tlv aknb eke ps hky ekhkeldep qasx vbl rbyaxynlwvknyz qynvsau yde lzlnvaknyz yrrzkydnl qynvsau kd vbl lyazu ulyap. Ebld vblu kdhlpvle kd vbl nsdpvawnvksd, vblu clnyxl pbyalbszelap. Hbwydt Kkl’p qyxkzu kp dsv nsdpkelale aknb, cwv vblu olal olzz-sqq.

  In addition to the resort, the town also developed two food courts and an Internet celebrity, attracting wave after wave of other Internet celebrities to check in. There are mixed reviews on the Internet. Some applaud Nanping, others say that the town is now too commercialized, and is no longer the small town far away from the hustle and bustle.

     Zhuang Jie turned around, bored. It was indeed a bit commercialized, but there is no such thing as “away from the hustle and bustle”. Only those who are always in the hustle and bustle can emphasize what it is to be “away from the hustle and bustle.”.

     Suddenly a bit hungry and ready to go back, she turned around and saw a woman selling wonton stew on the street corner. She was busy cooking wonton stew for the diners, but the child next to her was crying while grabbing her clothes, asking her to buy a toy. The woman scolded him a few words, stretched out her hand and dragged him aside before serving wonton stew to the diners. She looked up at Zhuang Jie.

     The woman was taken aback for a moment, then quickly turned her eyes away, trying to pretend not to recognize her.

     On the way back, she sent a WeChat message to her friend, Wang Xixia, saying who she saw on the street, but that she had pretended not to recognize her. It was so subtle that she was at a loss for words. 

They had been best friends in junior high, and she had still kept in touch with her all the way to university. She forgot about her when she didn’t contact her anymore, until she saw her. The two of them didn’t have any conflicts, they simply had nothing to talk about. The circle of acquaintances gradually changed, and so their relationship, naturally, grew further apart.

Wang Xixia responded that this had happened to her, as well. It doesn’t matter how good we got along with them. In their mind, if we stay in a big city, it means we are well off. She added that there were few students from our junior class that went to college. Who in the village actually produces a student that is able to go to college? Back then, most of the students went to work right after graduating from high school. 

Now more than ten years have passed, and the classmates who graduated from high school are still working at the grassroots level. Since they have no college degree, they cannot get a better job. These days, there are waves upon waves of college graduates, and the development is too advanced. Those classmates would eventually be eliminated by society anyway..

     Zhuang Jie agreed, even the batch of interns her company recruited recently all had a master’s degree or above, and she only took the master’s degree exam the year before last. She felt that this group of young people were too aggressive, and she was about to be overwhelmed.

     Wang Xixia replied, saying that if she doesn’t get promoted before the age of thirty-five, her career will basically be useless. The company has dismissed several women over the age of 40 this year alone.

     The two had a rare, sentimental chat about the fate of those students in the town who did not go to college. While chatting, they also talked about Chen Maidong. Zhuang Jie mentioned that she saw him today, and that he had changed so much that in the suit and leather shoes she almost didn’t recognize him.

     Wang Xixia and Chen Maidong knew each other, so she knows more about him. She replied that during the year of the college entrance examination, he got into a fight with someone and hurt them. So, he was sent to the juvenile detention center for a year. After getting out, he wandered around here and there for another year. Eventually he went to Changsha to retake the exam and ended up studying in the funeral industry. He is a mortuary cosmetologist.

     Zhuang Jie was dumbfounded, and asked her: A mortuary cosmetologist? He also went to juvenile detention?