From Chief to Ball

But even though he thought about it, he lost his mind under the temptation of huge profits, and secretly believed that he would not be the one who had flowers instead of silver coins in the end.

If there must be a penultimate one, why can't it be me?Why must I be the last one?

This is the idea of ​​this year. Compared with last year, at least some people have begun to think about this issue, but no one has punctured their own or others' dreams.

However, now even people like Chen Jian publicly stated that in his eyes this flower was worthless, and instantly shattered the fluke in everyone's hearts.

After a while, the person holding the flowers turned around and ran, and Chen Jian shouted from behind: "Hey, what are you doing? Slow down, don't fall, it hurts when you fall on this concrete floor."

The man didn't turn his head back, but just shouted: "What are you doing? I'll sell this flower for a few dollars while no one else knows about it! What I want is money! I don't like flowers!"

The voice is about to fall, and the person has disappeared at the intersection.

In an instant, seven or eight of the onlookers turned around and ran away, and those who remained were those who had never done this kind of speculative business or had done it but had already cashed in.

It doesn't matter who made this orchid craze, what matters is who will be the last person Chen Jian said.

……

A few days later, in a small textile workshop near the Min River, a female worker came to the river with a bucket of dirty water to dump.

The thick and heavy bucket seems to be very light in the hands of the female workers. Some thick arms are half-naked in the cold winter, and a torn kerchief is wrapped around the head, and an apron with many stains is tied.

Perhaps the hands holding the bucket a long time ago were a pair of immature girls' hands, but now they are as rough as bark, with a few chapped openings flaring wantonly on the back of the hands, exposing the bright red flesh inside.

The nails and the pads of the fingers were stretched out by the yarn, and the face became dry and yellow and rough at a young age due to years of hard work.There were two unhealthy red spots on his cheeks, and he coughed occasionally, but he hurriedly hid his cough.

Under the turban of Baotou, there is a hidden scar, which seems to be left after being hit by some blunt object, but now only a less obvious scar remains.

The female worker lifted the heavy wooden barrel to the embankment, and when she was about to dump it, she saw an older man standing not far away, holding several pots of brightly colored orchids, and seemed to be crying there.

The female worker didn't know what the man was crying for. She looked at the pots of orchids in the old man's hand and sighed faintly.

"If only...if only my potted flower hadn't been stolen..."

Poured into the slop bucket, but my mind was not on the water, but thought that I once had such a pot of flowers symbolizing hope, healing, and health, and it was on my window sill to accompany my father through the last days of serious illness.

At that time, the orchid was only two silver coins per pot. At that time, she just hoped to use the last little money in the family to exchange for hope for her father. It is said that this kind of flower can bring back to life those sailors suffering from strange diseases.

But her father was still dead, but the potted flower was in the nothing left after her father's death, which gave her hope for the future.

She remembered that two years ago, at this time, the orchids had grown to dozens of silver coins per pot, and her own pot was blooming brightly again.

Even though I liked it, I didn’t have the qualifications to love flowers or hope and beauty at that time. I just wanted to sell it the next day and exchange it for the most vulgar but hopeful silver coin.

But he didn't want to, the orchid was stolen by someone there that day, and he was injured.

At that time, she was still a girl, her hands were still a little white and tender, and sometimes she even thought of such extravagant words as hope, beauty, future, and happiness, and she still had time to look at the flowers in front of the window and giggle.

After that, she cried for the last time in her life after losing the flower, because no one looked at her when she cried, let alone comforted her.

He rolled up his hair, returned the house that had been sold because of his father's medical treatment, and looked for a job in the city to make ends meet.

She remembered that at that time, there were still good people in Mincheng.

A small shop named Qiaoji Sauce Shop took her in and asked her to do some chores so that she would not starve to death, and she could also steal beans.

At that time, although I stopped crying, I hadn't grown up yet.

Although I don't cry anymore, I always imagine that if the pot of orchids hadn't been stolen, what would my life be like?

When secretly chewing beans, I always think this way, and even imagine that I put on silk and jade beads, get married, and have my own small workshop...

But if you eat too many beans, you will fart. After letting it go a few times, the fantasies you had before are much less.

She used to be as cautious as a rabbit, her voice became thicker, her arms became stronger, she learned to swear, and she no longer blushed when the old women in the market were talking... But she couldn't remember the way she leaned against the window and watched What does a smile look like when the sun is red and the flowers are blooming?

The owner of the sauce shop is quite kind-hearted, even if he knew she ate beans secretly, he wouldn't scold her.

But a year ago, for some reason, the business of the soy sauce shop, which was originally doing well, became worse and worse.The owner of the sauce shop also had a gloomy face every day, and later developed to drink drunk every morning.

At that time, one morning she accidentally bumped into the boss of the sauce shop, and was kicked hard on the chest by the drunk boss, causing her to cough.

Soon after, the apprentices all left, the soy sauce shop was closed, and the owner's youngest son sold the shop and opened a textile workshop.

It was a very good family, either poor or because they knew that she coughed because she was kicked, so they let her stay and work in the newly opened textile workshop.

In addition to spinning, I also help with some housework and tidy up, so that I can have a place to sleep at night, such as laying some straw in the workshop to sleep.

They are very tired from working every day and go to bed late. The female workers are not very old, but they never say those blushing and heartbeating words.

It's not that I don't want to, it's that I'm pregnant for a while when I feel happy under the belly, then I can't work, but I will starve.

Besides, the child born is his own flesh and blood after all, so he is still a bit reluctant to drown in the slop bucket and ask others to help him press it, but everyone is busy, so where is the time?

In this case, she also stopped dreaming, all kinds of dreams, including the dream about what would happen if her orchid hadn't been stolen.

Not only do I not do it during the day, but I don’t even do it at night because I am too tired.

Tired to even dream.

The sigh after pouring water and seeing the orchid today is the first time in two years that she has expressed such emotion again and again.

But it was just emotion, and after sighing, he brought up a bucket of river water and wanted to go back.

But at this time, the old man who was holding several pots of flowers not far away suddenly put the flowers on the edge of the embankment, and jumped into the river with a plop.

The female worker thought, wouldn't it be cold to jump into the river in this weather?

However, after watching for a while, she found that the old man did not float up, and the female worker understood.

I thought it was just suicide.

So he returned to the workshop with the bucket in hand and continued his day's work.

The next day, it was still yesterday, and I went to the river with a bucket of water as usual.

There were a lot of onlookers around the river, and two people used iron hooks to fish out the dead bodies in the river, and the soaking was a little whitish.

The female workers looked around, and the two men with iron hooks tied the dead body with ropes with a smile, and said with a smile: "There are a lot of people who died these days, and I'm really too busy."

Someone next to him asked, "Is it because of orchids?"

"What else could it be? The old man and his wife originally had some land and a mill, and they had some money outside the city. The old man bought a few pots of orchids the year before last, and made a fortune last year."

"This time it's amazing. I asked people to borrow money, mortgaged the land and the mill, and squatted in the city every day. Now it's the end of the new year, and these flowers in my hand can make a fortune. Who would have thought Something like this happened."

"The land is gone, the mill is gone, and I borrowed a lot of money from relatives and friends. My wife just got the news a few days ago and died of distress. There are a few speculators in our city, aren't they about to hang themselves?"