Late Night Bookstore

Chapter 16: The old driver took me with him

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The air is still filled with the lingering smell of fireworks and firecrackers, which is a bit choking, but it seems that this is the smell of the Chinese New Year, which is commonly known as the flavor of the New Year.

Especially for Zhou Ze at this time, life seemed to have become a little more beautiful.

It is not a love that is vowed to last forever, nor is it an exaggeration to say that the mountains are gone and the sky and the earth are united.

It's simply like a kid who has almost no pocket money picking up a ten-dollar bill on the street and there is no policeman passing by, but there is a convenience store very close to him.

After going through hell and changing my body, there are still many problems, discovered and undiscovered, that need to be solved. My personality has also changed a lot without me realizing it.

Thinking back to my previous life, when I walked out of the orphanage, all I could think about was climbing up step by step with my own hands and abilities. In fact, if I think about it carefully, the reason why I ignored Dr. Lin at that time might not be because Dr. Lin was so cute and ugly five years ago. The girl at that time should have been in love, otherwise she would not have cut out that photo and put it in her wallet.

It's a pity that at that time, I didn't have the energy or the mind to take another look at the scenery on the road. I was too obsessed, and I looked like I was full of hatred and resentment, but I pretended to be very cool, like a breath of fresh air.

Unlike now, when people die once and come back again, they feel a sense of freedom and melancholy as if they were no longer an official.

But no matter what,

The feeling of being secretly loved by someone, or even the feeling of "loving until death",

It is indeed good.

After making the call, Dr. Lin came down again. He came down in a hurry, took her women's bag from Zhou Ze, smiled, and didn't say thank you. Given their current relationship, saying "thank you" was even more inappropriate than saying "sorry".

Wave your hand,

Zhou Ze left behind a back figure.

Go back to sleep,

Then wait for tomorrow, tomorrow will be better.

Dr. Lin felt that her husband's mood seemed to have changed slightly, as if he was relieved.

Perhaps it is a good thing for both parties to be open-minded.

Instead of continuing to be awkwardly entangled together, it is better to separate freely and face life anew.

All we can say is that things are unpredictable. Dr. Lin could never have imagined that there was another soul living in her husband's body.

He was the man she had loved innocently when she was still an intern.

Zhou Ze called a taxi again, then squatted at the entrance of the community smoking a cigarette. The search message kept appearing on the screen of his mobile phone. Zhou Ze felt a little regretful. Why did he let the car owner go? He should have asked him to wait a little longer so that he could take his car back to the bookstore.

It's ok now,

On the night of New Year's Eve,

It’s really hard to call a car.

After waiting for about ten minutes and smoking three cigarettes, Zhou Ze felt a little annoyed. He stood up straight and stretched.

Although he was not very afraid of the cold, it was still very tiring to walk back like this.

Just at this moment, a black car drove over from the road in front of Zhou Ze, and slowed down when passing by Zhou Ze.

"Are you going?" The driver stuck his head out of the window. He had a big round face, was middle-aged, had a scruffy beard, and was wearing a black cotton coat.

"Let's go." Zhou Ze had no other choice.

"Get in the car. We won't charge you any more." The driver smiled.

Zhou Ze got in the car, told the driver the location of the bookstore, negotiated the price, and the driver started the car again.

This car must be new, the seat cushions still smell like plastic and leather, and the interior is also very clean.

Generally speaking, few people are willing to take out a new car to transport passengers.

"That place is quite remote." The driver offered Zhou Ze a cigarette, and Zhou Ze took it.

"Um."

"Where do you live?"

"The shop is over there."

"Oh, then business is not good, right?" That commercial center has been dead for a long time and has no popularity, and many people know it.

"You're not a local?" Zhou Ze asked.

Tongcheng dialect is different from other local dialects. It has almost a different speaking style from Mandarin and is easy to distinguish.

"I'm from Chengdu, and I work here." The driver lit a cigarette, "Go ahead, smoke. You're welcome."

Zhou Ze also lit a cigarette, took a puff, and frowned slightly. The smell of the cigarette was so light that it seemed a bit unpleasant.

"You're not going back for the New Year?"

"My wife and kids are at home, nothing's wrong. I'm not going back. I want to make some more money." The driver stretched his hand out of the window and shook off the cigarette ash. "I have four kids."

"Very impressive." Zhou Ze exclaimed.

"It was difficult." The driver smacked his lips. "My wife gave birth to a son as her first child, and a boy as her second child. I wanted a daughter, and then a boy as her third child. Fortunately, she gave birth to a daughter as her fourth child. I am very satisfied now."

"Okay." Zhou Ze agreed, took another puff of the cigarette, and then threw it out of the window. The smoke was so light, like smoking a roll of paper.

"I'm not old-fashioned, nor do I favor boys over girls. I just like children and want to have more, haha." When talking about his own children, the driver started to talk more.

"The youngest one has not yet paid the fine. When you are ready to go to school, you can pay the money and get your household registration done. By the way, what kind of store do you run?"

"bookstore."

"How's business?" The driver asked, unrelated questions.

"Not very good."

"Yes, you can buy books online these days, and you can get coupons."

There was a car accident on the road ahead, and the traffic police set up a roadblock there. The original four-lane road is now only a single lane. Fortunately, there were not many cars on the road late at night during the New Year, so it shouldn't take long.

"It's really unlucky that a car gets hit during New Year's Day." The driver blew out a smoke ring. The tone of his voice was very much like that of a leader, with a hint of criticism.

Zhou Ze leaned back, changed to a more comfortable sitting position, and asked:

"Is this your new car?"

"Yes, my son gave it to me."

Zhou Ze smiled and asked, "How old are you? How old is your son?"

"Hehe." The driver narrowed his eyes, "My son, try your best. Nowadays, age is not a barrier for ambition. As long as you have hands, feet and brains, and don't let bad luck keep you from being poor, you won't be able to endure poverty."

"That's right." Zhou Ze nodded in agreement.

“Ding ding… ding ding…”

The car behind me seemed to be in a hurry to get home, honking its horn frequently, urging the car in front to pass quickly.

"Hurry, hurry ...

The driver also had a bit of a crazy temper and leaned out of the car again to curse at the car behind him.

But the cars behind honked their horns even more frequently, as if they were deliberately demonstrating.

"Hey!"

The driver pretended to open the car door, ready to get out to have a good talk.

Just then, the traffic policeman who was clearing traffic in front gestured to the cars on this side to pass quickly. The driver then sat back awkwardly, started the car and drove over.

"Business is not good today." The driver began to mourn again, "I should have gone home to see my wife and children."

"It's okay." Zhou Ze did not comment. He saw that the noodle shop next door was doing okay business. Most of its competitors were closed for the Chinese New Year. Even though the demand was smaller during the Chinese New Year period, it was still doing more business than before.

Especially just now, Zhou Ze had been trying to get a taxi for such a long time but no one took the order.

"Hey, it's not easy." The driver still shook his head. "I don't dare to rest either. I have to pay for my children's tuition every month. I usually work during the day and drive half the night. It's a boring life. Even if it's cigarettes, I can't bear to smoke a pack of better ones."

Your cigarette... seems to be fake.

Zhou Ze took out his own cigarettes, smoked one, and played with it in his hands.

"But it's okay. The Internet is convenient now. It's nice to have a video chat with my wife and kids before going to bed at night. I can see them." The driver showed a relieved look on his face.

Zhou Ze closed his eyes slightly. He couldn't sleep, but at this moment, he didn't really want to talk or chat.

But even without Zhou Ze's feedback and reaction, the driver continued to speak. It was New Year's Day and he was alone in a foreign land. Of course he felt lonely.

The driver talked about everything from the child's name, to the child's school, to his parents, to the customs and habits of his village.

In the end, Zhou Ze just leaned his forehead against the car window and urged: "Master, drive faster."

The driver was driving too slowly, maybe only thirty miles per hour.

You know, this is an elevated road.

Zhou Ze even wondered if the other party was too lonely, so she deliberately drove slower to find someone to chat with, but Zhou Ze had no interest in being a confidant.

"Hey, it's a new car. I'm not familiar with it yet, so I don't dare drive too fast." The driver touched the steering wheel with some caressing, "This car is not valuable, it's even very cheap, but it's also a gift from my eldest son, I have to cherish it and treasure it.

I will try to use this car to do business for a few years, and when my eldest son finds a girlfriend, I will buy him a house. I will make the most of the baby first. I don’t want the older one to take care of the younger one, which is unfair to the older one. After all, it was me, the father, who decided to have a child. As long as I can still work and go to work, I have to grit my teeth and take care of it. I am not an irresponsible person, and I will not do something like giving birth to a child without caring about raising it.”

Zhou Ze frowned slightly.

He felt a little annoyed.

Then he lit up one of his cigarettes and took a puff.

"Master, really, please be faster." Zhou Ze missed his freezer a little and felt a little regretful. He should have asked Dr. Lin to drive him back.

"Don't be impatient, young man. It's New Year's Day. We are destined to be together. There's no need to rush us. I understand. I understand. I'm an experienced driver..."

Zhou Ze flicked the ash off his cigarette.

I accidentally didn't open the car window.

A pinch of cigarette ash fell on the inside of the car door.

Next,

There was a hole burned in the inside of the car door by cigarette ash.

A hole the size of a thumb.

The cool breeze outside kept blowing in through the small hole.