Volume 6: Summer Chapter 4 Weeds
Lin Yu looked at the postcards on the shelf. They were no different from the ones he saw last time. He asked, "Will you buy them when you come in?"
"I haven't opened the door many times this year. I have too much to do." Jiang You finished a leek box. He wiped his hands with a tissue and drank a mouthful of porridge. "Generally speaking, everyone who comes here will buy one or two tickets. I have to make a living too." He looked at Lin Yu. "Since you are here, please help me clean the yard."
"Okay." Lin Yu agreed.
"Well, I'll get you a small shovel and some gloves," Jiang You stood up, walked behind the counter, and found a set of tools from the cabinet below. He handed it to Lin Yu, "You go first and pull out all the weeds that look like weeds. I'll work with you after breakfast."
Lin Yu took the tools and walked out.
Jiang You saw him walking around in the yard, squatting down in the area where the weeds were the densest, and starting to pull out the weeds.
After Jiang You finished his porridge and washed the bowls and cups, he went to the yard and started working with Lin Yu.
The sun was getting brighter and the weeds in the yard were almost cleared.
Jiang You wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. He stood up, walked to the pond and washed his hands. Then he seemed to think of something and walked back to the store. He took out an empty Coke bottle from his bag and walked to the pond again. He unscrewed the bottle cap, filled it with some water and screwed it back on. After shaking it vigorously a few times, he walked to the pomegranate tree and poured water on the side.
Lin Yu used a broom to sweep the weeds and other garbage together.
Jiang You walked to the swing and sat down. The swing swung for a while. He looked at the yard that had become fresh again, took out his phone, and took a few photos. Then he sent the photos to Liu Boyang on WeChat.
Jiang You: I cleaned up the yard and it looks better than when I first finished it.
Lin Yu threw the garbage into the trash can on the street and walked back. He walked over to Jiang You and asked, "Is there anything else I can do?"
"Take a break. I'll bring a chair over so you can sit under the shade of the tree."
After saying that, Jiang You walked towards the store. Soon, he came out with two cans of ice cola in one hand and a folding chair in the other.
He put the folding chair next to the swing, stuffed a can of Coke into Lin Yu's hand, and then sat down on the swing again.
I opened the iced Coke and took a sip. The coolness washed away the heat. "It feels good. I need to trim the branches of the flowers in the flowerbed. Maybe they will bloom again next year..."
The phone vibrated and Liu Boyang replied to him.
Liu Boyang: You can plant some sun-loving plants in the flower beds.
Jiang You: I am planning to build a climbing rose wall. Do I need to put a bracket on the wall?
After finishing typing, Jiang You drank another sip of Coke and asked Lin Yu: " Do you have anything to do this afternoon?"
"No."
"I'm going to help out at the bookstore next door this afternoon. They're holding a book signing event. If you're free, come with me."
"Okay, what book signing is it?"
"He's an artist, with a lot of fans, and he's quite active on Weibo," Jiang You glanced at him, "Are you really going to help me sell postcards? Why don't you do something else with a bright future, like selling cold drinks in the summer?"
"I'm also reflecting on this. When the beverage factory was doing its best, there was some luck involved, but the entire company was united in its efforts. But then, somehow, new problems kept popping up every day, and they were all problems that had to be solved, which disrupted the company's development rhythm."
The phone vibrated again.
When Jiang You picked up his phone, he saw a 32-second voice message from Liu Boyang.
He clicked on it and listened.
Liu Boyang: Building a flower wall on the wall will destroy the overall style of the yard. Climbing roses grow too fast, too full, and too bright, which conflicts with the style of the yard.
Jiang You just finished listening when he saw Liu Boyang sent two more voice messages. After converting them into text, he read them . They were both trying to persuade him not to build a flower wall, saying that it was a Chinese courtyard style and the white wall itself was a scene. So he replied: I'll think about it again.
Then he said, "I don't understand company affairs. The most I sold in a single day was only about 30 postcards, and that was two years ago. I was more diligent then, but I can't compare to you who sell tens of thousands of bottles of drinks a day." Jiang You put his phone back into his pocket. "But as a human being, you will always encounter various problems, just like weeds. We may have pulled them out today, but after a few days or the next rain, they will sprout again. I don't know where those weed seeds came from. Maybe they were blown by the wind."
"After returning from Chucheng, I feel much calmer."
"That's good."
"I have a feeling that I was really dead when I was in Thailand," Lin Yu drank a sip of Coke. "I feel that although I am still in my body, I am separated from the world. I have lost my career and my girlfriend. I seem to be trapped in a nightmare with terrible monsters chasing me. I don't know if you can understand my feeling."
"From your description, I can probably feel it a little bit."
"That night at Jiujin Mountain, I seemed to have finally escaped from the nightmare and returned to this world. That sense of disconnection disappeared."
"You defeated the monster."
"She finally told me she was sorry."
Jiang You took out a half-pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed one to Lin Yu. "Your soul originally resided on my postcard, relying on it to establish a connection with your body. Now you have digested it and once again declared your sovereignty over your body. This is a good thing."
Lin Yu lit the cigarette using Jiang You's lighter.
After smoking half a cigarette, he asked, "What exactly is a postcard?"
"Laws, probably."
"What is that?" Lin Yu asked
"The will of the Spider King allows you to continue to exist in the world." Jiang You said seriously.
"Then I will now..."
"You have mutated and can fight against ordinary monsters."
Lin Yu took out a black bead from his pocket and asked, "How should I use this?"
"You have to figure it out on your own," Jiang You looked at the muscles on his arms, "Don't worry, the institute has thoroughly studied you and certified you as a human being. You won't be captured and sliced up for research again."
"That 's what you asked me to do."
“It’s the same.”
"What is our relationship with the institute?"
"It doesn't matter."
Lin Yu asked again: "Do you have any suggestions for me?"
Jiang You stood up and took a few steps forward. "Work hard, make good money, be available whenever you are called, and work hard. That's all. OK, let's go to the bookstore to see if there is anything we can help with. Maybe we can even get some lunch."
