A-level agent

Author: Tang Nan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: To prepare for Daqing's wedding, the family used up all their savings. After the older brothers got married, they moved out one after another, leaving the house ready for use. Father insisted on giving Daqing the big, sunny room he had always lived in as his new home and moved to the smaller room himself. To make the new home look presentable, they chose a sunny day to completely repaint the house. After adding a set of furniture, Daqing's savings were almost spent. To buy a TV, he borrowed money from his cousin Shuying, who ran a restaurant. In this northern mid-sized city, the main streets were the two intersecting roads in the city center, and most shops were concentrated there. Shuying's restaurant was located in the middle of this street. To the east was a snack shop that had been open for many years, and to the west was a newly opened bathhouse. In this economically depressed city, the bathhouse had surprisingly good business. On cold winter evenings, the streets became very quiet as soon as it got dark. Daqing thought, "Since there's no business anyway, I might as well sit in Shuying's restaurant for a while." He parked his car on the side of the road and carefully locked the door. As he pushed open the curtain, a wave of warmth mixed with the smell of smoke and alcohol washed over him. He looked up toward the counter but hadn't even seen where Shuying was when he heard her warm greeting: "Daqing, you're here! Come in and warm up." The small shop was tidy but not very big, and the business was decent enough to show that Shuying was a capable woman. The restaurant had two rooms, with about eight tables. Against the wall was a counter about half a person's height, behind which Shuying was busy recording the day's sales in a ledger. The restaurant served home-style dishes, and only three tables were occupied. One table had five people, and the other had six. At the window table, a man in his forties was drinking alone, with one cold and one hot dish on the table, along with a plate of five-spice peanuts provided by the restaurant. When Daqing greeted Shuying, the man looked up, his hand holding the wine glass pausing mid-air as a fleeting glint flickered in his eyes. He stared fixedly at Daqing without speaking. Daqing also felt like he recognized the man. Thinking that he drove a taxi around the streets all day, he guessed it might be one of his past passengers. He ignored him and took the steaming tea Shuying handed him, bringing it to his lips to inhale the warmth. Shuying paused her work and warmly called out to Daqing, "What would you like to eat?" "Boss, another bottle of beer!" the customer at the window table shouted to Shuying, but his gaze returned to Daqing. Daqing thought, "Is this guy a bit drunk?" Considering that Shuying, a woman, was running this small restaurant alone, it was common for her to encounter drunkards causing trouble, and she was really tough. Just as Daqing was thinking this, the man stood up, walked over to Daqing, and patted his shoulder: "Daqing, it really is you. Where are you making your fortune now?" Seeing Daqing's confused expression, the man shook his head: "What? You don't recognize your old classmate now that you've made it? We used to