(The story is a bit long, please read it patiently, it will definitely be rewarding. Thank you.)

As soon as I got into bed and planned to take a lunch break, I heard someone knocking on the door. I started knocking softly, and I thought it was the sound of the wind blowing. Then the knocking on the door became louder and more urgent. I was impatient and a little angry, so I got up and opened the door.

Outside the door was a strange young man. He had disheveled hair and thin cheeks. He was wearing a thin black jacket and shivering in the cold wind.

"Is something wrong?" I opened half the door vigilantly, ready to close it at any time.

"I am a salesman." The young man put his hands to his mouth and said with a sigh of relief.

"I don't need anything." I wanted to close the door, but he used his body to hold the door against me.

"Wait, please take a look at this first... help me." The young man hurriedly took out a book from his bag and handed it to me, smiled humbly and said, "Poetry, life needs poetry."

I relaxed my vigilance and opened the door wider. I took the book and glanced at the cover. It was a collection of poems called "Hiding My Face and Crying." I flipped through it casually and found that it was all written in separate lines. I glanced at a few lines and felt that it was a bit pretentious.

I returned the collection of poems to the young man and said, "Did you write it?" The young man shook his head and said, "No, it was written by the boss of our company." "Is the boss of your company a poet?" I asked in surprise. The young man laughed and said, "Just buy one. It's not expensive. It's only the price of a pack of cigarettes." I said, "I don't read poetry. I rarely read. I almost don't read anymore." In fact, I like reading. , but I would rather read a bunch of vulgar advertisements stuffed under the door than read a line of incomprehensible modern poetry.

I asked the young man: "Have you read it?" The young man said: "I...I can't read it." "What company are you?" I asked. The young man said: "Holland... Er... De... Lin Real Estate Development Co., Ltd., the building you live in was developed by our company."

I asked him: "What about you? What do you do in the company?" "I am a new employee...but I am still in the probation period. The boss said that if I can get every household in Xiangrui Building to buy a copy of his poetry collection, Officially hire me." The young man's honest and simple look made it easy for people to believe that what he said was true.

I took a closer look at this beautifully bound and printed collection of poems. Author: Sui Zhengyi. Pricing: 19.98 yuan.

"There are 48 households on the 24th floor of Xiangrui Building from the first floor to the top floor. I have sold 46 copies. Below the 24th floor, every household has bought a copy." The young man said from his bag He took out a register and showed me the signatures of the 46 households downstairs one by one.

"The boss of our company is very strict and must not commit fraud." The young man's attitude is also very serious.

"It's okay that the boss of your company is a poet." I said, "But he shouldn't sell the house so expensively."

"Two different things... "Poetry and housing prices are two different things." The young man said seriously, "Our new employees must pass the assessment of promoting poetry collections. It means they have no ability. If they don't have the ability, they will not be qualified to work in the company. My boss told me when." When the task is completed, we will officially start work. This is the threshold. The only thing left is the two households on the 24th floor. "

"It is almost an impossible task... but you are almost done. Yes." I admired him sincerely.

"Most residents understand our new employees. People who can afford to live in Xiangrui Building are people who are humane and sensible. I have already stepped into the company's threshold. You You won’t let my other foot stay outside forever, right?” The young man looked at me with pleading in his eyes.

I am not an impersonal or unreasonable person. It is not easy for a young man with little experience in the world and full of imagination to make a living in this city. In order to fulfill him, I am willing to buy a copy.

"Well, you don't have to buy the book of poetry. I'll pay 20 yuan for you. You only need to sign your name on the registration form to prove that you have bought the book. For this favor, you can always I should help.

"The young man said, "I think you look like an intellectual. Of course, you can also be as stubborn as some intellectuals..."

I was really going to be angry. But the young man suddenly said pitifully: " I really need this job. My dad won't be able to survive the Spring Festival... Look, you live in such a nice house and you don't lack anything except poetry - buy a copy. "

My heart softened, I sighed, turned around and took out 40 yuan and gave it to him: "Well, I want two copies and bought them for the residents opposite, so that you don't have to harass them. "

But the young man only charged 20 yuan and gave me a book of poems. "You can't buy it for others. If you could, I would have completed the task long ago. "The young man said, "In the sales business, you have to be honest and patient. "He is right. I was wrong.

I signed my name on the registration form. The young man thanked me profusely and turned around to knock on the door of the resident opposite. I closed the door. Come to the door and go back for a lunch break.

However, as soon as I lay down, I was startled to sit up by a loud roar - it was the roar from the resident opposite.

I quietly opened the door a crack. I saw a young man frightened and submissive in the face of an angry middle-aged woman.

"You've been knocking all day long!" The woman was wearing a thick white wool pajama, wrapped from her neck to her feet. , only showing her long and bloated face. It has been more than half a year since I moved in. This is the first time I have seen the resident opposite.

The young man kept apologizing: "I'm sorry, I didn't know you took a lunch break. Early... I should have come earlier!"

"What are you doing here?! How did you get into Xiangrui Building?" The middle-aged woman alertly asked the young man to step back.

< p> "I am... a salesman. The young man said, "I am working." "

"What are you trying to sell? What's the world like these days? You're actually selling door-to-door sales of high-end residential properties. What does property management do? I'll call the property management company and kick you out." "The middle-aged woman roared like thunder, which scared me.

The young man carefully handed over a book: "I am not selling health products, I am selling poetry collections. "In his opinion, promoting poetry collections is more legitimate than promoting health care products.

The middle-aged woman was stunned: "What did you say? Promoting poetry collections?"< /p>

The young man said: “Yes, life needs poetry. Putting a collection of poems in the house will make the whole family poetic. "

The middle-aged woman took the poetry collection and threw it to the ground. The poetry collection slipped on the ground and lay down at my door. "It's too much. She knocked on my door for a broken poetry collection. All day! You are not allowed to knock on my door again!"

The door slammed shut. The young man had a face full of frustration and stood blankly for a while. When he lowered his head to pick up the poetry book, he saw something in the crack of the door. Me.

He smiled at me shyly. I had nothing to say but shrugged at him.

"Can you speak for me? Talk some sense into her. "

I shook my head. Because I will not reason with an unknown person for no reason.

The young man was very frustrated. He put the poetry collection back into his bag and pressed the elevator. I Close the door.

The next evening, I went home and as soon as I stepped out of the elevator, I saw a young man sitting on the steps of the stairs and taking a nap against the wall.

“Sir, you. Are you back?" He was very alert and stood up immediately. I nodded to him. He was still wearing very thin clothes, and his lips were frozen purple-black.

"Her family is the only one. "The young man said, "If she signs, I can officially go to work next week. ”

I said: “Keep knocking on her door. If you are sincere, the stone will open, but you must be gentle when knocking.” "

The young man said: "I knocked, but there was no one. She hasn't come back yet - I've been waiting all day. ”

“Then just wait.” "After that, I went into the house. About ten minutes later, there was movement outside the house. I heard a woman's voice. "Why are you here again?"

"This is mine. Work...you help me, it's a trivial matter and a breeze. "

"Don't bother me, I don't want any poetry collection. Who do you think wrote it? Sui Zhengyi? He's a bastard. He can't even write his own name correctly, so why write poetry!" The door opened and then closed again.

The knock on the door rang again. I opened the door.

The young man hesitantly knocked on the door opposite, his movements were very gentle, as if he was stroking. I motioned for him to continue knocking.

The middle-aged woman opened the door and angrily yelled: "I said I won't buy it, what else do you want to do!"

The young man said: "I don't need you to buy the poetry collection, please. Just sign a name for me to prove that you have bought it...Help me, it’s just you.”

The young man took the register and turned it over to the middle-aged woman to see who had signed. .

The middle-aged woman said: "Why should I sign? Can I sign casually?"

The young man turned around, pointed at me, and said to the middle-aged woman: "The gentleman opposite also Already signed."

I nodded. The middle-aged woman glanced at me and said to the young man: "He can't control me. If I don't sign, don't knock on my door again."

I couldn't help but say to the middle-aged woman : "Just sign it for him. He needs your signature to apply for a job, and you are the only one missing from Xiangrui House. It's not easy for young people, so please help if you can..."

Middle-aged man The woman was a little unhappy, looked at me contemptuously and said, "I can't sign based on your words - I don't know you."

I asked for trouble and closed the door.

I was away on business for three or four days. When I came back, I saw the young man sitting on the steps of the stairs again, his hair messed up by the cold wind. He looked up at me and said nothing.

I said: "Have you been waiting for her these days?"

The young man was depressed, his head drooped, holding his satchel, but still made no sound.

"She's not at home?" I pointed to the cold door. The young man squeaked: "Yes, the whole family is here."

"She is still unwilling to give you an autograph?" I asked.

The young man's head shook slightly.

"New Year's Eve is coming soon. You should go home first and come back after the Spring Festival." I said, "Tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow at the latest, I will go back to Changsha to reunite with my relatives."

p>

The young man did not answer.

I said: "It's cold outside. Come sit in my room and I'll cook you a bowl of noodles to warm yourself up."

The young man stretched his waist and half of his body was about to get up. , and sat down again.

I opened the door and pulled him into my room several times. But he refused. When I pulled him again, his eyes were full of tears.

"My dad is dying," he said.

"Then why don't you go back to see your dad soon?" I said. He shook his head firmly.

I went into the house. Put your luggage away and go into the kitchen. Before the noodles were cooked, there was suddenly a fierce fighting sound outside. I quickly went out to take a look. Four or five people suddenly crowded out of the corridor. They came out of the house opposite, four men - one old, one middle-aged, and two taller young men. The middle-aged woman stood at the door and cursed fiercely. The two young men grabbed the young man and beat him. The young man retreated to the corner to resist and fought back with negligible strength. The middle-aged man seemed to be afraid that the two young men would suffer, so he quickly joined the fight and punched the young man on the head across the two young men. The old man stood tremblingly in the door, coughing out of fear. A middle-aged woman directed three men to fight. The young man's face was covered with blood, and he soon lost the ability to fight back and defend himself.

I shouted: "What are you doing!"

The three people stopped beating. The young man fell in the corner, holding his head and curling up into a ball. The middle-aged woman said: "This little scoundrel harasses us every day, insults us, and even beats me first. Look at my neck. As soon as I opened the door, he rushed over to me like a mad dog and grabbed me. It was bleeding." I'm covered in blood!"

She was afraid that I couldn't see, so she walked up to me and let me see. I saw that she did have a scar on her neck.

I said: "He is just a kid selling a collection of poems..."

The three beating men looked at me with evil intentions. The middle-aged man said: "Then do you think we hit the wrong person? We were wrong?"

I did not answer his words. I went over to help the kid up, but he refused me. He was still curled up and shaking. He suffered multiple injuries to his hands and head. Although they were superficial injuries, they were painful enough.

The attackers all went back to the house. The corridor quickly returned to silence, as if nothing had happened.

When I returned to the kitchen, the noodles were already cooked. I filled a bowl and took it out, but the young man was nowhere to be seen. Apart from sporadic blood stains on the ground, there was no evidence of a fierce fight.

The next day, I didn’t see the young man. On the third day, I went back to Changsha to celebrate the Spring Festival.

The Spring Festival passed quickly. During this Spring Festival, I wrote a letter to Sui Zhengyi, whom I did not know, hoping that the company could officially hire the young man responsible for promoting poetry collections in Xiangrui Building. I guarantee that he will become a good employee. After I came back, the first thing I did was start from the first floor and go door to door to find the heads of households to sign the letter. In the end, it only took less than half a day to collect the signatures of all the heads of households in Xiangrui Building except the head of the household opposite my house. . The evening before I was about to send the letter to Sui Zhengyi, there was an irregular knock on the door at my house.

I opened the door. Outside the door is a middle-aged woman. She is very short, has sparse hair, and has a striking brown scab on the left side of her face. She wears a thick native cotton shirt, which is old but clean. Maybe she wasn't very old, but she looked haggard and old, and she seemed to have no strength left in her body.

She must be a woman from the countryside. No one in the city dressed like this anymore.

"I am You Zhi's mother." The village woman looked apologetic but very calm. A satchel hung from her shoulder. I recognized it. It was a gray canvas satchel that held a collection of poems. It was also very clean.

"I am promoting a collection of poems for my son." The village woman spoke very appropriately, neither humble nor overbearing.

The village woman took out a book of poetry from her satchel and handed it to me. I smiled politely and said: "I have already bought your child's poetry collection."

"He said that there is another family on the 24th floor of Xiangrui Building who is unwilling to buy it. Isn't it you?" The village woman was a little dissatisfied. Take my word for it.

I pointed to the opposite side and said: "That household didn't buy it." The village woman said guiltily: "I remembered wrongly, the right side of the elevator entrance and the left side of the stairs - I climbed The one on the opposite side of the stairs is on the left... I'm sorry to bother you." She turned around and knocked on the door on the opposite side. After a while, the door opened. It's that middle-aged woman again.

"I am You Zhi's mother." The village woman handed the collection of poems to the middle-aged woman and said, "I am promoting the collection of poems for my son."

Middle-aged woman He was taken aback, but soon understood, and a look of vigilance and impatience quickly appeared on his face: "How many times have I told your son that I don't need a collection of poems. Why are you bothering me on your son's behalf?"< /p>

The village woman straightened her waist and said tepidly: "My son is no longer here. My son said before he was alive...it's just one family away."

A gust of wind blew, and my heart tightened.

"Is he dead?" The middle-aged woman's face changed drastically, showing fear and uneasiness.

"Dead. He died before his father." The village woman said calmly, "Father and son are together." There was no sadness on the village woman's face, as if she shouldn't be sad Similar.

I was very confused.

Facing the village woman who was half as short as herself, the middle-aged woman finally lowered her arrogant head.

"Everyone in the village has read this book and they all say it's worth 20 yuan. Although the child's father can't read, he still says it's worth it. Why do you just say it's not worth it?" the village woman sighed. .

The middle-aged woman was at a loss and suddenly knelt down with a "plop". "I didn't mean it. I...I was wrong!"

"It has nothing to do with you. I don't blame you." said the village woman. The middle-aged woman is still frightened. She was not wearing the thick white wool pajamas, and her body was shaking violently.

The village woman put the collection of poems on the threshold and said, "I will give you this book for my son." Then, she calmly turned around and walked towards the stairs.

The middle-aged woman stood up suddenly, quickly took out 20 yuan from her pocket, held up the banknotes in her hand and chased after him, saying: "I'll sign! I'll sign it for him!"

< p> The village woman hesitated for a while, but in the end she did not turn around. She just said lightly: "No need."

Everything was so caught off guard. I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to ask the village woman: “How did your son die?” But what I said was: “You can take the elevator.

"

The village woman walked to the corner of the stairs and still didn't look back. Her voice when she answered me was still very calm: "No...I can't take your elevator in vain." ”

The village woman walked downstairs step by step in a leisurely manner. Soon I lost sight of her.

When I looked away from the village woman When I took it back, I realized that the middle-aged woman and I were standing side by side at the top of the stairs, looking down. Our eyes met for a moment and then we separated.

She picked up the book of poems and quickly opened the door. Close it.

I had no choice but to close the door.