sunken square

"No." Chen Yuechi cleared his throat, "Drowsy."

The voice from the other end of the phone was not so clear, it seemed to say: "You are turning black and white."

"Is something wrong with you?"

"I have something to ask for your help. Do you have time to work overtime tonight?"

"If the salary is still the same as last time, I can't help you."

Guan Rong laughed, this time Chen Yuechi heard it very clearly, the laughter was very soft, but it seemed to ring directly in the heart.The other side said: "Okay. I gave you the money and returned it to the wrong person."

Chen Yuechi also smiled: "I get off work at seven o'clock today, can you wait?"

"Exactly." Guan Rong said, "You come to the back street after get off work, do you know how to get there?"

Chen Yuechi thought for a while, and suddenly felt a little nervous: "Where are the streets with many bars?"

"Correct."

Chen Yuechi didn't speak for a while, but Guan Rong said, "Don't worry, it's a normal bar, no messing around."

"I'm not..." Chen Yuechi said, "I'm not worried about this."

It seemed that they were busy there, Guan Rong smiled again, answered something casually and said that he would hang up.Chen Yuechi said "OK" and politely waited for him to hang up the phone.

Guan Rong seemed to be planning to wait here to hang up, but Chen Yuechi took down the phone and waited for a few seconds, it still showed that he was in the middle of a call.He was afraid that Guan Rong would have something to say, so he put the phone back to his ear, just in time to hear the music coming from the microphone.

It was Guan Rong who was playing the piano.

I don't know how long it took before Chen Yuechi hurriedly put aside the phone and hung up.There is an immoral sense of eavesdropping.

Chen Yuechi put away the dried umbrella, put it in his schoolbag, and went out with his own long-handled umbrella.I don't know how long the rain will last.

After finishing work at [-] o'clock in the evening, Chen Yuechi walked out. Sister Huan just came in, grabbed him and said, "Xiao Chen, wait a minute, help me go to the street to pay the money."

Chen Yuechi was taken aback for a moment. Sister Huan looked at his expression and realized that he still had something to do, so she waved her hand: "I still have a part-time job? It's okay, let's go."

"I'm sorry, Sister Huan!" Chen Yuechi apologized and went out.

He usually would not refuse the things given by the store, but today he agreed to Guan Rong, and he definitely couldn't delay it casually.

The rain had stopped, but the sky was still low.After nightfall, there is probably still time to go.

The backstreet that Guan Rong mentioned is the local red light district.At that time, the wind of "strike hard" was still far away from here, and there were occasional small disturbances brought by the local police station, but it basically did not affect the business of the sunken square.

The back street is roughly divided into two halves. There are many shops such as foot washing shops, massage shops, and barber shops, occupying half of the short street.In the other half, most of the dance halls are named after "nightclubs", and there are also quite a few bars, all of which are business models that are gaining momentum now.The two types of shops probably target different customer groups.

Although it is a red-light district, as Guan Rong said, there are normal shops in the middle.However, these stores are not normal in this area.

Chen Yuechi walked through most of the sunken square.

This was the first time he had entered the backstreet so deeply. He also came here once when he first arrived in this city, but turned back after walking less than a third of the way.It was really unexpected to be able to come in this time.

Passing through an alley, Chen Yuechi saw several girls at the intersection.These girls also do that, but they don't rely on the store, they are their own masters.A few of them were standing idle, and two were smoking.If people passing by do not approach, they will not make any movements.

It seems to have a feeling of being independent from the world.

Before entering life in the sunken square, this was an image imagined by Chen Yuechi in his tortuous but limited life experience.The image of the red-light district imposed by the outside world has been described with a pen called discrimination or novelty.Tracing is possible precisely because the imaginary person is outside this "kingdom".

The time of living here is getting longer and longer, maybe Chen Yuechi will understand this way of life one day.Anyway, he thought, it's a way of life.

With apologies in his heart, Chen Yuechi quickly scanned the girls' faces "offensively", while restraining his expression, trying not to make the looking eyes look too abrupt.

There are no recognizable faces on the side of the road.After going through it thoroughly, he let out a sigh of relief, whether it was relaxed or heavier.

I can't tell whether I want to see that face or not.

I don't know what kind of image he is in the eyes of the girls, a curious boy who accidentally bumped into him?Or a dirty man who came here on a special trip but has no guts?Or maybe they just don't care about anyone who looks at them and doesn't deal with them.Will they despise or ridicule?Do they also pick up stray dogs on the side of the road?

Sometimes they can see certain essences of people at a glance.

Thinking in a mess, he had already reached the place Guan Rong said after a while.The bar at the bottom of the street.

Looking from the opposite side, you can see that the bar has no signboard yet, but the light at the door is on.It looks like a newly renovated store that hasn't had time to open yet.

Chen Yuechi passed a car and was about to go there when he saw Guan Rong coming out with a man behind him.The man was wearing casual clothes and was about the same height as Guan Rong. He looked gentle at first glance, but gave off a very strong feeling.

Across the road, Chen Yuechi and Guan Rong met their eyes.Guan Rong looked as usual, but Chen Yuechi felt that he seemed to be suppressing some emotions.

Maybe it is the illusion brought by the rainy day.

Chen Yuechi felt that he should say hello, but Guan Rong's eyes had already moved away.It's very similar to when we first met, I only regarded Chen Yuechi as a stranger who accidentally bumped into his eyes.

The voice was hidden in the throat and did not come out.

A small black car was parked on the side of the street near the corner. The man who was following Guan Rong just now took two big steps, went to the passenger side first, and opened the door.Guan Rong ignored him, opened the back door and sat in.

The man's hand was still on the door handle, he shook his head for a while, closed the car door, and walked around to the driver's seat.

The car turned around and happened to pass in front of Chen Yuechi.You can't see what's going on in the car from the outside.Chen Yuechi stood there all the time, and saw that the car window was lowered when he passed the corner at the end of the street.

Guan Rong is looking at him.

Half a minute later, the text message alert sounded, and Chen Yuechi saw the text message sent by Guan Rong: "Sorry, I have something to do at the moment. I can't push it away."

Chen Yuechi looked at the bar opposite, the door was open, there should be someone there.He replied: "It's okay. If you're not here, should I go in and help?"

After a while, the text message came again: "Why don't you go about your own business first?"

Such a euphemistic tone was used, which was different from the Guan Rong in Chen Yuechi's impression.Maybe it's a bad mood that turns a person sour?He replied "Okay", hesitated for a moment, and decided to go back the same way.

After walking a few steps, a strange feeling of being watched suddenly appeared.Chen Yuechi turned his head abruptly.