One sunny afternoon, Su Ruizhe stood outside a barbecue shop in an old school uniform, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
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He had really missed this fragrance…
“Wu Shu! Give me ten skewers of chicken, ten skewers of
mutton
and ten skewers of beef!” Su Ruizhe swallowed his saliva.
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The owner of the barbecue shop, Wu Qi, was nearly forty years old, of medium stature, and 175 cm tall. He wore a pair of glasses and looked very gentle and refined.
Su Ruizhe’s financial condition had always been tight. He had to save for seven or eight days to be able to buy and share some meat with his grandpa.
He had an addiction to his mouth
but had never spent so much money at once.
Su Ruizhe rubbed his hands together, took out a few crumpled banknotes, and placed them in Wu Qi’s basket. A slightly tender and beautiful face showed a simple smile. “Uncle Wu, I earned money today, so I wanted to reward myself.”
“Earned money?” As Wu Qi cooked the barbecue kebabs, he looked at Su Ruizhe and asked, “How did you earn money?”
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Wu Qi knew of Su Ruizhe’s family situation. His father had died unexpectedly, and his mother ran away, not wanting to suffer. His old grandfather had raised him. He managed to get into No. 1 Middle School through hard work, but then tuition became a big problem. His grandfather, who had survived by living frugally, had to go out and collect garbage to earn more money.
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Wu Qi also looked after the poor child and let him work in his shop during the holidays. For Su Ruizhe, the income of a little more than a dozen yuan a day was no more than a drop in the bucket. He could barely afford to feed and clothe himself. When school begins again, tuition and living expenses would become a big problem.
Now Su Ruizhe said he made money? Where could a young child make money?
Su Ruizhe smiled shyly and pulled out a small plastic bag from behind him. “These are my own vegetables. I picked and sold them.”
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“Huh? Did you plant them yourself? Show me.” Hearing that it was money earned from selling vegetables, Wu Qi relaxed and quickly reached for the bag in Su Ruizhe’s hand.
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“Oh, how many different kinds are there?” There were seven or eight different kinds of vegetables in the bag. Although the quantity was small, it was better than nothing.
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Wu Qi’s barbecue shop sold not only roasted meat but also roasted vegetables. Su Ruizhe’s vegetables were of higher quality than the ones he bought from the market. So, he immediately took a red hundred yuan bill from the money-box and stuffed it into Su Ruizhe’s hands.
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Su Ruizhe wiped his lips and put the money away. His round cheeks and smile showed two beautiful dimples. He laughed and thanked him. “Thank you, Uncle Wu. I’ll sell you some new vegetables in a few days.”
“Here, thirty skewers of barbecue for you.” Wu Qi picked up a plastic box and filled it with Su Ruizhe’s order.
“Thank you, Uncle Wu. Goodbye.” Su Ruizhe said goodbye to Wu Qi and turned away from the barbecue shop.
The aroma of roast meat teased his nose. Su Ruizhe did not wait to take out a skewer of meat and bite into it.
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Oh! The bliss!
Su Ruizhe was about to burst into tears. He didn’t know how many years it had been since he had last experienced this delicious taste…
Su Ruizhe wolfed down more than a dozen skewers of barbecue as he walked, then looked around carefully and turned to walk down an alley.
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When he came out of the alley again, the small box containing barbecued meat was gone and was replaced by large bags of fresh cherries.
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“Sweet and big cherries, ten yuan a kilo!” Su Ruizhe found an open space at the roadside near the vegetable market and squatted down. He opened the bags and set them in front of him. The bright, fresh cherries immediately attracted the attention of many aunties.
“Boy, can I taste it?” One auntie asked loudly.
“Certainly.” Su Ruizhe handed over a cherry, two dimples blooming on his cheeks; he looked cute and lovely. “Aunt, this is my own harvest, absolutely fresh.”
The auntie nodded, she could see that the cherry was fresh. There was still some water left on it, which meant that it was obviously cleaned, so she put the cherry directly into her mouth.
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“Uh! How sweet! ” The sweetness and rich juice spread throughout her mouth, and the auntie’s eyes lit up at once. “Young man, weigh three kilograms for auntie!”
“Good!” Su Ruizhe smiled and took out a plastic bag and a small electronic scale from his schoolbag. He put half of a bag of cherries into the plastic bag. “Aunt, with three kilograms of cherries, I’ll also give you a
potato
”
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
Then the auntie saw that there was another bag beside Su Ruizhe’s feet. There were some round potatoes in it. She was very happy to see the sale. She paid and took the cherries away.
Suddenly, a group of gangsters came up along the street, all dressed messily. However, a man walking at the end was very conspicuous.
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The man was 1.9 meters tall and had long legs. His face couldn’t be seen clearly, obscured by a pair of black sunglasses, but his nose was tall and his face was very rigid. Slight stubble gave him a rougher look.
He wore a tight black waistcoat on his upper body, which outlined tight muscle lines and matched his wheat-colored skin. He looked like a strong man with a handsome face.
It’s a pity that he’s just a
gangster
Su Ruizhe raised his head and looked at the group of familiar punks. His eyes turned red unconsciously.
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“Oh, elder brother is too fierce! You have done nothing, but people and children are about to be scared to tears!” A yellow-haired man saw Su Ruizhe. The child’s skin was too white and grew too well.
His big black eyes looked as if he wanted to say something
. At the moment, his eyes were red and his shoulders shrunk as if frightened. He resembled a little quail, but he was more lovely.
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“Oh?” Zhan Yun took off his sunglasses and revealed a pair of long, narrow and deep eyes, looking in Su Ruizhe’s direction.
Su Ruizhe only felt that his heart was about to jump out of his chest. He pinched his palm and dared not to open his mouth and shout out to big brother Yun.
As a result, the eyes became redder…
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“Ah, what’s wrong with you kid…? We didn’t charge you for protection, we just talked to you! Why are you afraid of that?” Then the yellow-haired
guy approached Su Ruizhe and squatted down in front of him. He could not understand why he was afraid.
Su Ruizhe also felt that he was too disgraceful. He quickly drew back his tears, wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeves, opened his big wet eyes, and tried to squeeze out a smile. The smile also brought about a
little baby’s fat cheeks
, which made him look like he wanted to be pinched. Two small dimples appeared on his cheeks, making him even more cute and lovely.
“
Tut
“Cherries! Big sweet cherries…” Su Ruizhe rubbed his hands together and asked timidly, “
Do you want to taste it
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Zhan Yun gave him a deep look, reached out, picked up a cherry, and placed it in his mouth. The sweet taste immediately filled his mouth. It was really the first time that he had tasted such a
delicious cherry
“How many cherries have you sold?”
“There are still more than a dozen kilos left…”
“Give me ten
pounds
.”  After that, he stood up and said to the yellow-haired guy, who had just been kicked aside by him, “A’Wang
, pay the bill!”
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“Oh!” The yellow-haired guy quickly took out a hundred yuan bill from his pocket and threw it to him. He also said in a particularly aggressive way, “Keep the change!”
Su Ruizhe quickly bagged the cherries and gave the bags to the yellow-haired guy. He whispered back, “Just right… No change…”
The yellow-haired guy who heard him almost tripped over himself. His brothers all pushed him teasingly, and the group of people left.
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As he watched Zhan Yun’s shadow disappear past the street corner, the look in Su Ruizhe’s eyes faded gradually…
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He… doesn’t know me yet…
There were a few aunts and aunties who had been looking around and finally rushed up when they saw the gangsters leaving. They quickly snapped up the remaining cherries from Su Ruizhe. Didn’t the old people on East Street feel good? Buy ten kilos at a bargain! If you’re slow, it’d be gone!
The last few potatoes were also sold. Su Ruizhe brushed the dirt off the back of his pants and went home happily.
After he passed through a few narrow streets, Su Ruizhe finally arrived at the small one-story house he had shared with his grandfather. He opened the old, peeling wooden door and looked into the familiar small house. Su Ruizhe’s eyes couldn’t help but flush.
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“Grandpa…” Su Ruizhe sobbed, tears slowly dripping down his cheeks. “If I could come back earlier… Just a little earlier…”
But he remembered that, in a month, the world would become an apocalypse full of animated corpses. He thought it might not be bad for Grandpa to leave at this time.
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<footer class="footnotes">This chapter has finally been edited and we are working on the rest!</footer>