Chapter 1 A pillow of yellow rice
August 5, 2002, Logistics Office of Wu'an County Workers' Cultural Palace.
Sun Tao woke up on the recliner as the warm sunshine shone on him.
It must be noon, the sun is shining brightly outside, and the temperature is at least 30 degrees Celsius. Even the wind blowing in from the window is hot. The broken ceiling fan above my head is spinning hard, but it doesn't work at all.
……
He clearly remembered that it was still snowing outside when he handed over his shift last night.
……
Sun Tao is a security guard. Yesterday was February 9, 2024, New Year's Eve, and he was on duty at the monitoring center alone.
Colleagues need to reunite with their families, but he doesn't, so when the New Year comes, the usual "Old Sun" in everyone's mouth becomes "Brother Sun".
After all, it was New Year's Eve, so he specially brought a pork elbow, two pieces of beef with soy sauce, a dumpling stuffed with chives and eggs, and two bottles of Wusu beer.
He remembered clearly that he also watched the Spring Festival Gala on his mobile phone and played poker with Liu Qian.
Sun Tao stood up in confusion and walked around the room, making Sun Tao even more confused.
He was no stranger to the place in front of him, the Logistics Office of Wu'an County Workers' Cultural Palace, his first work unit.
He came to intern at the end of 2001, which was the last semester of his third year in technical secondary school.
In June 2002, he went back to school to receive his diploma. In July, he signed a labor contract with a three-month probationary period.
……
Wasn't this place demolished ten years ago?
……
Sun Tao pinched himself, it hurt!
I poked around and found that everything was original and genuine, exactly as I remembered it. There were three seats in the office. The other two people were Zhang Xuesong and Li Guoqiang. They both went home to eat and sleep at noon. Lao Zhang’s thermos cup was still open. The mouth is on the table.
Sun Tao reached out and picked up the mobile phone on his desk. He bought the blue Nokia 3210 for 200, and it was 90% used secondhand. Both colleagues said it was probably stolen, otherwise it wouldn't be so cheap. He was just lucky.
The time on the mobile phone is 1:07 pm on Monday, August 5, 2002.
No matter how clear the memory in the dream is, it cannot compete with the reality in front of you!
When what was reflected in the mirror was a handsome eighteen-year-old boy with a slim figure, a white vest and blue pants, Sun Tao was sure that he had just fallen asleep.
He stroked his hair. He had just cut it yesterday afternoon and the stubble was still pricking his hands. He actually dreamed that he would be there twenty years later.
This is what it means to be a pillow of yellow rice!
Although it was definitely a dream, my emotions still couldn't calm down.
Sun Tao stared blankly out of the window. He usually dreamed. After waking up from the dream, he would only be left with a faint feeling of sadness, and most of the content would have been forgotten.
This time is very different!
……
He was fired from his workplace because he peeped at an actress changing clothes. My reputation is so bad that my relatives, friends, neighbors and even strangers laugh at me, and even my parents can’t hold their heads up;
A technical secondary school graduate who left his hometown and could not find a good job. He worked as a network administrator and went to jail. He distributed flyers and sold houses. He drove Didi and delivered express delivery. He lived in Internet cafes, bathhouses, and the basements of rental houses. He spent half his life wandering around. The situation was precarious, and he finally died in the security room.
……
It's so unlucky that I woke up from my dream, but the depression, grievance, emptiness, and despair are still deeply imprinted in my memory.
Sun Tao rubbed his face, trying to free himself from that dark emotion.
——
While still calming down, a rapid ringing of the phone took him no time to think about it.
"Ding ding ding, ding ding ding", the office phone rang.
Sun Tao ran over and picked up the phone, "Hello, this is the Logistics Department."
"Hey, Xiao Sun, right? I'm Liu Dali."
"Ah! Director Liu, yes, yes, I am Sun Tao."
Liu Dali, the deputy director in charge of infrastructure logistics, is the immediate boss of Sun Tao’s immediate boss.
"Xiao Sun, the actors reported that there is noise in the speakers in the dance rehearsal hall. You can go over and have a look during the lunch break. If you can fix it, fix it as soon as possible. If it can't be fixed, contact the after-sales service and don't delay the business."
"Yes, yes, I'll go take a look right away."
"Go ahead and report to me as soon as the results are resolved." "Dududu..." The leader hung up the phone.
The leader was waiting for a reply. Sun Tao picked up his blue coat and picked up his tool bag without hesitation. He had not yet passed his internship period and there was no room for laziness in his work.
Just as he opened the door and entered the corridor, the hot air outside blew and he froze in place.
……
Isn't this just what happened in a dream?
I remember it vividly.
In the dream, what happened next would directly overturn his originally smooth life.
In the dream, the leader also told him that there was no one in the dance rehearsal hall and asked him to repair the sound equipment now.
Next, he would rush over.
The leader said that there was no one around, so when he arrived at the place, he casually carried his tools and went in. It turned out that there was a new dancer changing clothes behind the screen, and it seemed that he was only wearing stockings.
Their eyes met, he apologized and immediately turned around and walked out.
Security has blocked the door.
Some people claimed to have seen him peeping, and they also said they saw him rushing into the rehearsal hall with a red face and blazing eyes, with evil intentions...
The next step was for the boss to talk to him, but the boss didn't listen to his explanation and directly asked him to find a reason to resign on his own initiative, saying that it would make everyone look good.
Sun Tao believed the leader's lies and obediently wrote his resignation application, thinking that he would be able to keep his reputation if he lost his job.
As a result, while others were still talking to the leader, the reputation of the nymphomaniac had already spread.
——
Sun Tao hesitated.
If you don’t go, the leader is waiting for a reply. Do you want to work anymore?
Went, what if it was the same as in the dream?
……
In the middle of summer, during lunch break, the birds were chirping and the cicadas were chirping, but no one was in sight.
Sun Tao walked all the way and searched everywhere, and his hard work paid off. There was a cleaning lady taking a nap under the shade of a tree.
"Hey, eldest sister, eldest sister."
The aunt in her 50s glared at him, "I can't stop sleeping even after a nap. Who do you call eldest sister?"
Sun Tao smiled and nodded, "I'm really sorry, Auntie, can you do me a favor?"
The young actors at the Palace of Culture all had their eyes set high above their heads. When they saw people like security guards, cleaning staff, and cafeteria aunties, they didn't even bother to pay attention to them.
Sun Tao spoke so politely, the cleaning lady was a little surprised.
"What's the matter? I'm just a cleaner. I'm good at cleaning. I can't help with anything else."
"Well, you can definitely do it. The leader asked me to go to the rehearsal hall to repair the sound. I don't know if there is anyone inside. You can just take a look for me."
"You just have to see it yourself. Otherwise, just stand at the door and shout and ask."
"Auntie, please help me. If I, a boy, cause any misunderstanding, it will be bad."
……
There is really a girl changing clothes behind the screen!
Sun Tao followed from a distance and saw a woman standing in the shadow of the corridor. When the cleaning lady appeared, she came out with an expression that seemed quite surprised.
The speakers are all minor issues.
When the call came back to Liu Dali, he said "oh". It was clear that he was in a hurry just now, but now it doesn't matter anymore.
As soon as the phone was hung up, Zhang Xuesong and Li Guoqiang came to work.
The lights of the big stage needed routine maintenance. All afternoon, the two old employees directed Xiao Sun to spin around.
——
If you don't count that strange dream, this is an ordinary day.
After a tiring day, Sun Tao walked back to the dormitory with his head lowered.
Please collect it. The outline is actually in the introduction. The theme is still daily writing, not pure love, huh.
(End of chapter)