Volume 1: A Stranger in a Foreign Land Chapter 5 Your Home
Manager Liu and Wang Dali worked together to move two surviving square tables and blocked the dilapidated door of the inn.
Yang Ge dragged a stool to the bottom of the stairs, leaned against the wall and slowly sat down...
"Where are you hurt?"
Shopkeeper Liu walked up to Yang Ge with an oil lamp and looked at him carefully with a worried look on his face. "If it doesn't work, let's go get a doctor. The night watchmen have already taken care of it, so they won't give us any trouble!"
Wang Dali followed him timidly like a quail. The excitement and nonchalant expression he had when the shop was closing had completely disappeared...
Yang Ge shook his head and said slowly with difficulty, "I just got punched and kicked a few times. It's nothing. Let me rest for a while... I'll be fine after a while."
After a pause, he said in an embarrassed voice, "I'm sorry to bother you again. Please calculate the losses incurred by the store tonight and the expenses you just paid to those officials. I will find a way to repay you."
"What kind of talk is that!"
Shopkeeper Liu scoffed angrily, "If you hadn't taken the blame for our inn, how could you have gotten into this fatal disaster? If you're still willing to acknowledge me as your boss, don't even mention money!"
Yang Ge smiled and didn't dwell on the matter any further. In his heart , he observed the various damaged items in the front hall and roughly estimated the losses that Manager Liu had suffered tonight...
This money...
It makes sense for him to go out.
It's understandable not to do it.
If Manager Liu asked for it, even if he gave it to him, he would definitely not be happy about it.
But the more Manager Liu refused to give it, the more he wanted to give it to him, because he would feel uncomfortable if he didn't give it to him.
Shopkeeper Liu was so worried that he didn't notice the change in Yang Ge's expression. He just kept talking to himself, "After what happened tonight, is this matter over?"
After Yang Ge pondered for a few breaths, he slowly said, "According to common sense... yes!"
Just as Manager Liu's old face was about to show joy, he heard Yang Ge say, "But seeing how impatient these people are, unwilling to wait even a whole night, I'm afraid things won't be so easy."
After hearing this, even though Manager Liu had to admit that Yang Ge's words made sense, his face still darkened and he angrily scolded: "You crow's mouth!"
Yang Ge smiled awkwardly and touched his nose.
Shopkeeper Liu, with a gloomy face, walked around for a few circles with his hands behind his back, and then couldn't help asking, "So what should we do next?"
Yang Ge thought for a moment and replied, "I should have diverted most of my firepower to that villain just now. The rest of the attention should also be on me."
"This way, the inn can legitimately close for renovations and upgrades, and you and Dali can go home peacefully. No one will bother you anymore!"
"I don't have to stay in the inn anymore. I can hide somewhere else!"
"Maybe after a while, this matter will be over."
His words of comfort to Shopkeeper Liu were very optimistic.
However, I am pessimistic about the subsequent development of this matter.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have suddenly mentioned moving to another place to hide... If there's trouble again, he won't involve Yuelai Inn, right?
After hearing this, Shopkeeper Liu nodded repeatedly, thinking that what Yang Ge said made sense.
Finally, he suddenly turned around and slapped Wang Dali's head crookedly: "Look at this guy's brain, and then look at yourself. Did you grow a head just to look taller?"
Wang Dali's face flushed, but he covered his head and dared not say a word.
After teaching Wang Dali a lesson, Shopkeeper Liu finally felt relieved. He turned around and looked at Yang Ge and said, "You said you wanted to move to a new place. Where? I paid you your wages, and you gave all of it to your poor relatives, right?"
Yang Ge shook his head: "Don't worry about it, I'm sure we won't have to worry about food and drink!"
Shopkeeper Liu: "We don't care? We don't care if you live in a chicken feather shop? Isn't that deliberately destroying our Liu family's reputation?"
Yang Ge argued hurriedly: "I still have money. I saved part of the wages you gave me..."
Shopkeeper Liu waved his hand to stop his argument and said without refutation: "You are kind and righteous, so we can't be black-hearted!"
"Over on Chaimen Street, we have a vacant little courtyard with a separate entrance. We haven't had time to renovate it in years. It's a good opportunity for you to come over and help us revive it, so we don't have to worry about it collapsing one day..."
"For the first two months, we won't charge you rent. Just consider it as your wages for cleaning up the yard for us."
"If you continue to work for us, we will deduct 40 cents from your wages every month as rent."
"If you ever quit working for us, you'll have to pay us seventy wen a month for the rent. If you're short of even one wen, we'll take the house away!"
"Don't be so hesitant like an old woman, young as you are. Come on, at daybreak I'll take you over to look at the yard and find someone to sign the contract with!"
Although the old man didn't have as delicate and clever a mind as Yang Ge, he was able to figure out the twists and turns.
But the scale in his heart knew clearly.
Who is thinking about him?
Who only thinks about himself.
The old man’s mind is as clear as a mirror!
Of course, Yang Ge could also hear the hidden agenda behind Manager Liu's words, but he was indeed grateful to Manager Liu for helping him at this time.
He just wanted to repay a favor he owed.
But human feelings...
Why do it seem like there are more and more?
…
The yard is indeed small.
It can be said that apart from the only advantage of having its own door and yard, everything else is a disadvantage!
Not to mention that the wooden house is low, simple and old, the yard is also full of all kinds of discarded debris. At first glance, it looks like a slum full of garbage.
The lighting is not good either. Only at sunset can a little sunlight slant into the house. If you want to live a normal life here without being affected, you have to turn on the lights during the day.
What's even more outrageous is that there is no toilet in this yard. If you want to use the toilet, you can only rely on chamber pots and commodes. It's difficult to even take a shower!
But even so, when Yang Ge signed his name on the rental contract, he was still in a daze.
After bidding farewell to Shopkeeper Liu, he returned to the yard alone, closed the door, and sat among the piles of debris, lost in thought for a long time... His unbridled emotions pulled his thoughts back and forth through time and space.
A moment later it was his warm three-bedroom apartment.
A moment later, there was a dilapidated small courtyard in front of him.
It was as if he had only just come to his senses at this moment, and asked himself: "Yang Ge, Yang Ge, how did you get yourself into this situation?"
It was not until the sun began to move westward and a ray of sunlight shone through the courtyard wall and illuminated his eyes that he got up and pushed the door open to go out.
When he returned to the small courtyard again, there was a round-headed, yellow-haired puppy in his arms.
He carefully closed the gate and bolted it.
Then he bent down and gently placed the puppy on the ground.
The puppy opened its black eyes and looked at the strange place , then timidly retreated to Yang Ge's feet.
Yang Ge gently stroked its chubby little head, patiently encouraged it to move forward, and whispered softly, "Don't be afraid, Xiao Huang. This is your home from now on..."
