Qin Yi was slightly startled, looking down, he saw a shabby old man nervously watching him from beneath the bridge.
He seed like a holess man.
"Young man, from the looks of you all lost and desolate, did you have a falling out in love? Co down and talk it out with this old man."
Qin Yi couldn’t help but smile: "Uncle, I have no intention of jumping into the river."
The other must have mistaken him for soone heartbroken, ready to jump into the river in a suicide pact.
"Then why are you in this deserted place standing so high up? Co down quick, looking at how thin you are, don’t let the strong wind blow you down."
Qin Yi couldn’t help but laugh, how strong would the wind need to be to blow him down?
"Uncle, I’ll just stand here for a bit, don’t worry."
"Feeling down?"
Qin Yi paused, nodded, and said: "A bit."
"Let tell you, no matter what happens, you can’t use death to escape, that’s a coward’s way out. A real man stands tall even when the sky is falling."
"Young man, from where you’re standing to under the bridge is a dozen ters. Falling from this height won’t kill you, at most you’ll be disabled. If you’re lucky and land head down, then maybe you’ll die, but you’d die horribly, have you seen a smashed waterlon? It’s just like that, can’t bear to look at it."
This guy had an interesting way of talking, and Qin Yi found the gloominess in his heart dissipating quite a bit.
"What if I jumped into the river?"
The holess man nodded: "Jumping into the river, you’ll definitely die. The silt in the river is heavy, once you’re in, it’ll block your mouth and nose, suffocating you. Have you seen soone suffocated? Eyes bulging, mouth agape, tongue sticking out this long..."
He gestured a few tis in front of his chest as he spoke.
"Have you seen Black and White Impermanence? Tongue sticking out that long, it’s a terrifying way to die. If you’re lucky, soone might fish you out. If unlucky, buried in silt at the bottom of the river, no one will find you, you’ll just count as a missing person."
Qin Yi nearly laughed out loud: "Weren’t your mouth and nose blocked by the silt? How’s the tongue sticking out?"
"Well..." The holess man scratched his head awkwardly, "Let tell you, once you’re dead, the silt in your mouth gets washed away by the river, your tongue isn’t controlled by nerves, so it sticks out, longer and longer."
"Hahaha..." Qin Yi couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing, this guy was quite the storyteller.
The holess man looked a little embarrassed: "Young man, don’t not believe it. I’ve lived here for over ten years, haven’t I seen all sorts of dead people?"
"You’ve lived here all along?"
"For over ten years, I’ve seen this bridge go from bustling to utterly deserted. Let tell you, this place you’re standing on is my turf, if you die and ss up my ho’s feng shui, I’m not letting you off."
Qin Yi found the holess man quite interesting, going to great lengths to stop him from committing suicide.
"Young man, you don’t believe this is my ho, right? Let tell you, this desolate place is all my territory. Co down, I’ll show you my ho, and you’ll believe it then."
Qin Yi nodded slightly: "Alright, then I won’t die for now."
"That’s more like it! Co down, I’ll invite you to be my guest at ho, and chat properly. I’ve got good wine and food, my wine you can’t buy even if you have money, I guarantee you’ve never tasted it."
"Really? Then I’ve got to try it." Qin Yi said as he walked down from the bridge.
The holess man waved, then turned and walked under the bridge.
"Your leg?"
Qin Yi followed and saw that the holess man leading the way was practically dragging one of his legs as he walked.
"It’s ruined, been like this for many years, I’m used to it." The holess man said philosophically, then pointed ahead: "Young man, this is my ho."
Qin Yi was a little surprised, underneath the bridge was spacious, with a dozen cent pillars standing, and between the pillars, there were different sized wooden boards connected, forming a circle, partitioning a room.
"Did you make all of this?"
The holess man was a bit proud: "Of course, I picked up all these boards, I made all of this myself. Co in, the wind outside is strong..."
As he spoke, he opened a wooden door, and a dim red light shone out, flickering shadows cast by candles and oil lamps.
Qin Yi followed him inside and was rendered speechless.
This room made of wooden panels was fifty or sixty square ters, with a bed, tables and chairs, and even plants, all arranged neatly without any odd sll.
This doesn’t look like a holess man’s ho at all! Even most young people’s rooms aren’t this tidy, except for the slightly poorer environnt.
"Did you make this?" Qin Yi was greatly surprised because the chairs were all different shapes, made out of scrap tires, cardboard boxes, or half a motorcycle, it was like a work of art.
The holess man’s face bead with pride: "How is it, beautiful, right?"
Qin Yi nodded, these things were all discarded pieces, yet in this person’s hands, they beca treasures, truly resourceful.
The holess man walked over to the table, sat down, pulled a plastic bag from off the table, and took out three transparent plastic lunch boxes filled with food.
Then he fished out a transparent plastic jug from under the table, containing a clear liquid, likely alcohol.
"Young man, co over and sit."
Qin Yi walked over and sat on a chair made from half a motorcycle.
"Young man, my ho isn’t bad, right?"
Qin Yi nodded: "Indeed, it’s not quite what I imagined."
"Haha... did you think a holess or beggar’s ho would all be stinky dumpsters?"
Qin Yi was a little embarrassed, that’s indeed what he thought before.
"Let tell you, those beggars whose hos are like garbage piles, they’re just lazy. Why are they beggars? One word, lazy. You’ve never seen a beggar begging at the crack of dawn, have you? They all move at noon, evening, and why is that?"
"Lazy!"
"Exactly! As long as a person isn’t lazy, as long as they have hope in their heart, there’s no obstacle that can’t be overco. Even if you’re holess, a beggar, you can still live with quality."
"I admire that!" Qin Yi said sincerely.
The holess man laughed heartily, passing a pair of packaged disposable chopsticks to Qin Yi: "These were given by the restaurant owner, this food isn’t leftovers, they’re freshly cooked. The lady likes , she prepares food for every day, it’s so annoying."
Qin Yi chuckled.
The holess man glared at him: "You think I’m bragging? That lady’s husband died early, her child works away and rarely cos ho, she runs a small restaurant alone. One day a few punks were causing trouble, I happened to walk by, those kids, I could knock them down with one punch each."
Qin Yi could tell, even though the man’s leg was la, his arm muscles were solid, with quite a bit of strength. He teased with a smile: "So you were a hero rescuing a beauty."
"Beauty, my ass. Actually, she didn’t need my help, she could’ve handled those punks herself, she thought I was ddling and picked up, strong as a mother bear."
Qin Yi burst out laughing, the gloom in his heart completely swept away.
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