Chapter Forty-Three: Zen (Third Night—Asking for Favorites and Recommendations!)

Li Shixin had once heard it said that hunger made a person especially vulnerable.

So when Li Erchun broke down and cried for more than ten minutes straight, Li Shixin let out a long sigh. “Young man, will crying solve your problems? Will it make the hunger go away?”

Hearing this, Li Erchun stiffened his neck defiantly. “Crying makes me feel better! Waaaah…”

Fifteen minutes later.

Accompanied by a thunderous rumble from his stomach, Li Erchun finally stopped sniffling. He glanced at Li Shixin, who was watching him with a faint smile, and blushed. “No, it won’t.”

Li Shixin spread his hands. “There you have it. Now, tell me, is this all the money you have left? Four yuan and fifty cents?”

“Yes,” Li Erchun nodded.

Li Shixin thought for a moment and murmured, “Actually, it’s enough.”

“What did you say?” Li Erchun hadn’t heard clearly.

“Oh.” Li Shixin dusted himself off and got up from the ground with a smile. “I said, young man, do you want to fill your belly?”

“I do,” the young man replied, “but this little bit of money… it’s not even enough for a bowl of noodles.”

Li Shixin chuckled. “Let me teach you how to get a good meal! Over there, at the noodle shop, steamed buns are sixty cents each. Go buy six, bargain with the boss’s wife, get her to take three yuan and fifty cents for them. Then, go to the convenience store and buy a bag of pickled vegetables for one yuan. After that, head over to the bank and get two cups of free hot water.”

(O_O)?

Li Erchun did the math in his head, feeling something was off. “Why do I need six steamed buns? I can’t eat that many! And why get two cups of water?”

Li Shixin turned away, chin raised slightly. “Because I haven’t eaten either, young man.”

…

Three steamed buns stuffed with pickled shreds went down, and basking in the sun with a slow cup of water, Li Shixin felt utterly satisfied.

Glancing at the young man beside him, who wore a dark expression and stared blankly at the half-eaten bun in his hand, Li Shixin smiled. “Well, young man, are you full now? Feel like crying anymore?”

“Waaaah…”

To his surprise, the words had barely left his mouth when the young man, still clutching the bun between his teeth, burst into tears again.

“Why am I so miserable? Others write novels and rake in a million a year, spending their days with beauties and luxury! Me? Every novel I write flops! Why is it that everyone else gets ahead, while I’m almost thirty and still a nobody? Boohoo…”

On the overpass, the young man sobbed and sniffled, tears and snot everywhere. Seeing Li Shixin had no intention to leave, he poured out his story.

In essence, it was the tale of a failed online novelist.

After graduating from college, full of pride, he’d decided that an ordinary job wasn’t the life he wanted. Ignoring his family’s strong objections, he resigned and began writing novels online. Years passed and nearly ten million words were published, yet he remained unknown, and his relationship with his family had completely broken down.

In the end, he’d moved to Rongdian and rented a small place, but with his royalties cut off and no income, the landlord seized his computer as payment and threw him out of his rented room.

“Everyone else gets ahead, why must I…” At this point, Li Erchun waved his half-eaten bun in frustration. “Why must I squat here on the overpass, gnawing this dry, tasteless bun? Old man, tell me, is there any justice in this world?”

Faced with this question, Li Shixin raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“Let me ask you, young man: fifteen yuan beef noodles will fill you up, and so will these sixty-cent buns. Since both satisfy hunger, what’s the difference between beef noodles and steamed buns?”

Hearing this, Li Erchun curled his lip. “Old man, don’t give me that philosophical nonsense. Let me ask you, if you had a bowl of beef noodles and a steamed bun in front of you, which would you eat?”

“Of course I’d eat the beef noodles!” Li Shixin replied honestly.

Li Erchun spread his hands. “There you have it! Since the world offers better options than just meeting basic needs, why shouldn’t we pursue them?”

Li Shixin pursed his lips in amusement. This chubby kid had quite the tongue on him.

Having already scored a free lunch, he saw no point in arguing further. Picking up his net bag for bottles, he stood up.

To his surprise, the young man grabbed him by the arm, pointing at the net bag. “Old man, where are you going?”

Li Shixin spread his hands. “To pick up plastic bottles, of course.”

“Heh!” Li Erchun sneered. “You’ve got about twenty bottles in that bag—enough to buy you a steamed bun tonight. So why keep collecting?”

Li Shixin blinked. “Because… I want beef noodles for dinner!”

…

Faced with Li Shixin’s blunt double standard, Li Erchun was momentarily speechless.

Seeing the young man stewing with unspent frustration, Li Shixin said calmly, “Young man, do you know what sets us apart?”

Li Erchun frowned and shook his head.

Li Shixin chuckled. “The difference is, I focus on how, if I work hard collecting bottles this afternoon, I’ll be able to have beef noodles for dinner. That fills my afternoon with purpose and joy, and if I actually achieve my goal and eat noodles, I’ll be even happier. But you…”

He pointed at the half-eaten bun in Li Erchun’s hand and shook his head. “You eat your bun grudgingly, all the while brooding over why you can’t feast on delicacies, when you’ll ever have them, and why you don’t have them now.”

Seeing Li Erchun’s stunned face, Li Shixin smiled and withdrew his hand. “That’s why you’re miserable.”

With that, he hefted his net bag and turned away.

…

After walking a few steps, he looked back and saw the young man still staring after him, so he paused.

“Young man, are you busy this afternoon?”

Li Erchun shook his head.

“I’m a man of pride too. I mooched a meal off you at lunch—if word got out, I’d lose face. Since you’re free, why not tag along with me to the mall? If all goes well, I’ll buy you beef noodles for dinner. How about it?”

…

All afternoon, Li Erchun carefully observed the old man ahead of him.

In the multi-level mall beside the West City Bus Terminal, the old man made rounds on every floor. Whenever he spotted an empty bottle in a trash bin, he’d retrieve it, unscrew the cap, crush the bottle, and place it in his net bag. Passing by each shop, he greeted the owners with a smile, asking if they had any bottles or newspapers to throw out.

He didn’t move quickly; he seemed to operate at three-quarters speed, drifting between the mall’s four floors. Yet, somehow, his net bag swelled fuller and fuller.

By closing time, the once-flimsy net bag was so full that Li Erchun had to help carry it. Packed tight, there were over a hundred empty water bottles! In addition, they’d collected two large bundles of advertising leaflets.

“Watch closely: twenty-two jin of waste paper, eighty cents per jin, that’s seventeen yuan. Fourteen jin of bottles, a yuan and a half per jin, twenty-one yuan. That’s thirty-eight yuan in total—here, take it.”

As evening fell, in a recycling depot near the bus terminal, Li Shixin weighed out the day’s haul. Jiggling the bills and coins in his hand, he raised his brows at Li Erchun.

“What did I tell you? Enough for beef noodles, right?”

He didn’t realize that at this moment, Li Erchun’s thoughts were far from beef noodles.

Dragging his large suitcase and having spent the afternoon laboring as a porter for Li Shixin in the mall, Li Erchun was completely exhausted.

“Old man, it’s late. We still don’t have a place to stay tonight. Why don’t we look for a cheap guesthouse, rent a bed, and tough it out together for the night?”

Hearing this, Li Shixin burst out laughing. “So, after all my hard work this afternoon, it was just so I could squeeze onto a guesthouse bunk with you? Then what was the point of picking up bottles all afternoon?”

He waved his hand with a chuckle. “I said I’d buy you noodles, and I will. As for where to sleep tonight… let’s enjoy our noodles first—worry about the rest afterward!”

Watching the old man’s retreating figure, hands clasped behind his back, Li Erchun stomped his foot.

“How has this old man managed to survive this long, living like this?!”