The small novel | Liu Ping: Unlocking the lock should be formal

Text/Liu Ping

Today, after work, Zhang Deming stayed at home to watch TV. After reading it for a while, I thought there was nothing to look at, took out a book, and when I read it, I was interested.

I was thinking about a problem when I suddenly heard a knock at the door, the sound was not heavy, and the interval between knocks was a little long, like I felt a little presumptuous. Zhang Deming turned his head to look at the door and did not move. A moment later, there was a knock at the door again, this time at a short interval, noticeably heavier than the one had just been.

Zhang Deming put down the book in his hand, walked to the door and asked, "Who?" A timid voice outside: "Me." "It's a woman.

Opening the door, there stood a woman, looking sixteen or seventeen years old, wearing an apron, dirty. Zhang Deming immediately recognized that he was a neighbor to the door. There is a wet market outside the community, where women sell vegetables every day, as if they have just returned from the wet market.

"What's the matter?" Zhang Deming asked. The woman looked at Zhang Deming and said, "Uncle, I forgot the key at home and can't get into the house." The woman looked a little anxious.

Zhang Deming smiled bitterly and said, "You can't enter the house, and it's useless to find me." The woman said, "Uncle, my mother is paralyzed in bed, and I am going to cook for her." This is a whole..." After a pause, he said, "Uncle, you help me think of a way..."

Looking at the woman's helpless look, Zhang Deming felt that this help could help, and said: "Find a lock company." He told the woman that he had left a contact number for a locksmith company.

The woman thought for a moment and said, "Uncle, how much does it cost to find a lock opening company?" Zhang Deming said: "It may cost 180 yuan." ”

The woman looked a little embarrassed, and for a moment, she said: "So expensive..." Zhang Deming said: "I heard that the lock is opened at this price." ”

The woman stopped talking and stood there silently, a pair of hands subconsciously rubbing on the apron. Zhang Deming looked at the woman, thought, and said: "Well, I will help you bargain, 100 yuan is not OK?" ”

The woman nodded and said, "Uncle, is this okay?" Zhang Deming smiled and said, "I have experience in bargaining." The woman said, "Good." Uncle, please help me call the unlocking company, thank you! ”

Zhang Deming took out his mobile phone and dialed the lock company phone, "Well, the signal is not good. With a mutter, he went down the stairs and stopped in front of the flower window, grunting and talking to each other.

"The one who unlocks it will come right away." Zhang Deming came up to the woman and said, "I'll help you negotiate a good price, just 100 yuan." The woman smiled and said, "Thank you uncle!" Zhang Deming said: "They are all neighbors, thank you." ”

About 20 minutes later, the unlocker came, and it was a young man. The young man asked Zhang Deming, "Master, which one?" Zhang Deming pointed to the door of the woman's home. The lad was skilled and opened the door in less than 5 minutes.

The woman took out a hundred-dollar note and handed it to the young man, who lifted the note to look at it and neatly carried it into his clothes pocket. The young man left, and the woman said to Zhang Deming again: "Thank you uncle!" Zhang Deming smiled and nodded.

Back in the house, Zhang Deming picked up the book on the coffee table again. It was a book on locks, and whenever a new and advanced lock came out, he had to buy a book to study carefully.

Looking at it, Zhang Deming suddenly remembered the woman at the opposite door again. He felt that today this matter was done very authentically, 100 yuan is the boss of the lock company, that 80 yuan, even if the young man helps. That young man was Zhang Deming's favorite apprentice.

The phone rang suddenly, and when I looked, it was the young man calling. Zhang Deming pressed the answer button, and the young man said: "Master, as far as your house is opposite, why don't you open it yourself?" How convenient is it, why do you still call the company? ”

Zhang Deming said: "I casually opened it to others, and if there is anything in the house in the future, don't you first suspect me?" He also said: "Unlocking the lock is not a trivial matter, you can't have a little casual, you must be formal!" ”

【About the Author】

Liu Ping is a member of the China Miniature Novel Society, a member of the Sichuan Writers Association, and the vice chairman of the Dujiangyan Writers Association. Since 1989, nearly 500 literary works focusing on small novels have been published in nearly 400 newspapers and periodicals. Among them, dozens of works such as "Ghostwriting", "Grandpa Sacred Hand", "Cow Soul", "City and Countryside", "The Story of Two Soldiers", "Ah Cong", "Wheat Field in the City", "Blind Man", "Habit", "Bracelet", "Mushroom Picking Season" and so on have been selected or selected for various anthologies or awards by publications such as "Novel Monthly", "Selected Small Novels", "Selected Miniature Novels", "Readers", "Yilin", "Youth Digest", "Reading for Middle School Students", "Love Marriage and Family" and other publications. Published a collection of short stories, Mortal Things.

【"Huanhuaxi" Literary Column Call for Papers】

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