At 3 a.m., the landmines in front of the station

"I can afford to keep a cat now."

He took a deep breath and silently encouraged himself:

"I must get a Ragdoll cat."

"Even if the sky falls, once I've made money, I absolutely must get a Ragdoll cat."

"No one can stop me."

"Nobody's here."

—This is Su Che's little wish.

Even if they know perfectly well that the so-called "existence" is fundamentally unbeatable.

...

...

In Su Che's creative career, he once met such a person.

The other person is also an author, or more precisely, my idol.

You should know that I have never been a fan of celebrities since I was a child, let alone have any idols.

But on a stormy night, unable to sleep, I inexplicably clicked on a website and opened the "magic book" that had been placed before my eyes—

Everything changed completely.

...

He said, "Characters must have 'spirit' within them. Only by drawing inspiration from reality can these fictional characters come alive and be powerful."

He said, "A sound set of values ​​is fundamental. To build a high wall against plagiarism, one needs to have excellent professional skills, a closed-loop thinking process, irreplaceable content, and beautiful writing."

He said, "Cherish your inspiration. Inspiration is not a renewable resource; if you miss it once, you miss it for a lifetime. Don't leave any regrets."

He also said, "We should restrain our emotions. Not everyone in this world needs saving, and no work will be liked by everyone."

Therefore, there is no answer to the path of creation; one must first ensure that one can derive warmth from it.

He said this many, many times.

And in the very end, after leaving behind only this final work twenty years ago, he disappeared into the vast sea of ​​people.

Was it reincarnation or giving up writing?

Su Che didn't know.

I am certain that I must write a deeply moving book and use the power of words to warm others. Only then can I say that I have achieved the "Tao" in my heart and completed my transformation.

I found myself at the same place without realizing it.

I walked along the path, passing a flower shop.

The gate remained tightly closed.

I wonder if the bouquet inside the roller shutter has withered.

If the florist is unable to open the shop, will the bouquets wither and die without anyone tending to them?

This is a question that Su Che thinks about every time he passes by this place.

This has even created a sense of anxiety.

Because they like beautiful and fragrant things, they may feel inexplicably anxious about their external environment.

In Dr. Yan's words, "a kind of somatization."

But Su Che didn't think so.

[It's just a sensitive observation of the world.]

"Observers need to be meticulous."

He firmly believed it.

-

……

"Night Listening" is the name of a bar located on a hidden corner uphill from a side street, not on the first floor.

The location in the underworld, coupled with an inconspicuous sign, reduced rent but also decreased customer traffic, requiring word-of-mouth to grow the customer base.

At this moment, looking along the streetlights,

In the dark entrance on the first floor, a cool woman wearing a work jacket, baggy pants, a tongue stud, and earrings was puffing out a cigarette.

It seemed to be waiting for something.

Seeing that I had arrived, they looked over as well—

"Xiao Su, hurry up. There's a customer inside we can't handle."

"ah…?"

Su Che's heart skipped a beat, realizing that he had been tricked by the landlady again.

That's right, the woman is the sole owner of Ye Ling, named Ning Ye.

Although she is under 30, people still respectfully call her "Boss Lady" or Sister Ningning.

Only sweet and charming female customers are qualified to call her "Xiao Ye".

"Sis, I thought you asked me to help mix drinks and wash glasses... What do you mean you can't handle the customers...?"

Su Che walked up to her with a guilty conscience and resistance, reluctantly looking at her adult face full of wicked smiles.

"Haha, it's nothing. A girl came in and just sat there crying. I called a few guys over to ask what was wrong, but they all ran away after being yelled at. I didn't expect her to be so aggressive."

She took a deep drag of her cigarette, blew a smoke ring toward Su Che, and squinted as she said:

“Xiao Su, you usually seem quite gentle, without the street smarts that others have. You also tend to be considerate of others’ feelings when you speak, so I think having you sit with her for a while would be more effective than having others do it.”

"..."

Su Che understood, shook his head vigorously, and immediately refused:

"Boss, but I'm just a waiter, not a chat companion. Last time Xiao Wang wasn't available, you asked me to fill in temporarily, and I was already extremely angry..."

"Double the hourly wage."

He was interrupted before he could finish speaking.

"Sigh, it's not about the money, it's that I really..."

Just as I was about to politely decline again, I saw the proprietress's two slender fingers turn into three—

The addition of a long, slender ring finger painted with red nail polish.

"..."

He hissed.

He opened his mouth and inhaled the landlady's secondhand smoke.

He coughed and said:

"Okay, Sister Ningning."

……

……

Chapter 11 Water Color

"Get out! Get out of my way! You little brats, don't bother me, stay away from me! Leave me alone! Get out of my way—!"

Looking down the stairs, following the sweet yet furious shouts coming from the bottom, a girl with her hair in a hee-hair style, her eyes streaked with tears, was yelling at a waiter who came to comfort her.

"See that?"

Ningning stopped in front of the glass door, pointed at her with her finger.

"That's the girl."

"She spent a lot of money, ordered a table full of cocktails, and has drunk three so far—"

A Long Island Iced Tea, a Sunrise, a Belarusian.

I don't know her alcohol tolerance, but judging from her appearance, she's relatively sober. You can treat her like she has a 50% sanity level.

Sister Ningning smiled as she spoke, "If you can appease her, your pay will be tripled tonight. Also, you don't need to work Monday night, but you'll still get paid."

"You attach so much importance to it?"

Su Che's heart tightened, and he became slightly more serious.

He knew that Sister Ningning operated more than one bar in the center of Tianhai City, and she didn't sit there every day to inspect the place.

In the past, the customers she cared about so much were either super rich fat sheep or pretty girls who could boost the bar's popularity.

Today, the girl over there was clearly in a bad mood, but she was quite pretty.

The fact that she can order so many overpriced drinks means she must have a lot of pocket money.

"I can't guarantee I can solve the problem, but I'll try my best."

Encouraged by Ningning's gaze, Su Che pushed open the glass door, gave his colleagues a polite but distant smile, and then walked straight to the booth where the girl was.

"Che, be careful not to provoke her. We were kicked out before we even said anything. It seems like she came here on purpose to vent her emotions on someone."

Approaching them was Xiao Wang, the male part-time worker who had just been scolded.

Xiao Wang is 1.78 meters tall, dressed in a smart suit, with shiny leather shoes, and he's not bad-looking either.

Aside from having a slightly sales-oriented demeanor, there's nothing to complain about.

This colleague, as we passed each other, whispered a reminder in my ear, which I took as an example of experience.

"learn."

Su Che nodded his thanks, then went directly to the girl and sat down silently.

Now that we're closer, we can finally see the girl's unusual features and distinctive outfit clearly in the dim light.