I'll Dare to Pick it Up If You Dare to Throw it Away

　　　次日,郑叹中午去焦威他家小饭馆吃饭的时候,见到阿金在门口的一棵树下站着.

Today, when Zheng Tan went to Jiao Wei's family restaurant for lunch, he saw A Jin standing under a tree in front of the restaurant.

　　昨天阿金丢了手机和钱包,也没立刻就联系他的熟人,后来郑叹直接把他带到焦威他家店里.

Yesterday when A Jin lost his wallet and phone, he didn't immediately contact anyone he knew. So Zheng Tan ended up bringing him to Jiao Wei's family store.

　　焦威他妈热情的态度让阿金很尴尬,他想欠账写个字条什么的,可焦威他妈说:"黑炭带过来的,还收什么钱啊,这顿饭算阿姨请的!"

Jiao Wei's mother's attitude towards him made A Jin made him feel extremely awkward. He originally wanted to write up a note stating how much he owed, but Jiao Wei's mum said: "Black Charcoal brought you over, what debt, count this meal on aunty!"

　　现在有些事情焦威他妈心里多少有点谱了,从焦威那里也打听出点事,对郑叹的态度完全不像对老家村里那些猫.做了这些年生意,一点眼力是有的,阿金不像是有什么坏心眼的人,再说一个人一顿饭就十来块钱,用不着计较那么多,借个善缘也好.

Now, at least Jiao Wei's mum had a better idea of the happenings. From what she heard from Jiao Wei, her attitude towards Zheng Tan had completely changed from how she would usually treat cats back in the village. After doing business for this many years, she had improved her eye for things. A Jin did not seem like an inherently bad person. Besides, the meal was only 10 yuan. It wasn't necessary to fuss over that much. She'd simply treating it as an opportunity to build a better relationship.

　　昨晚在店子里吃了饭,阿金便背着吉他往中心广场那边去,其实,如果郑叹没带他过来这里的话,他会先去广场那边唱唱,等晚上有点钱了再填饱肚子.

After eating dinner at the restaurant last night, A Jin carried his guitar and walked towards the plaza. Actually, if Zheng Tan didn't bring him here, he would've directly gone to the plaza to sing. After earning some money there, he'd then have bought himself a filling meal.

　　今天中午,焦威他妈刚洗完菜坐在门口歇息,等放学的点一到,人就开始多了,一直得忙到一点来钟,所以这空隙多休息会儿,没想到会看到阿金.

This afternoon, Jiao Wei's mum sat in the door way to take a break after washing up all the vegetables. Once school was over, traffic would start to increase. She had been occupied till 1. So with the opportunity, she decided to take a short break. BUt she didn't expect to see A Jin again so soon.

　　阿金过来吃饭,这次自己掏钱,还用昨晚上赚的钱买了点水果作为谢礼,这些钱用出去,手头也没多少了,就留着公交车费,打算着,如果实在艰难的话,就打车回去取点钱再出来.他不得不庆幸自己出来的时候没带身份证银行卡等,钱包里只有出门的时候取的两千块钱.钱丢了也就丢了,但卡和证丢了的话就比较麻烦.

A Jin came back to eat. This time, he brought his own money. He used the earnings from last night to buy some fruits as a form of thanks. After spending all of this, he didn't have much more on him. All he had left was some bus fare. He was considering that if it was too hard, he might as well make a trip back and withdraw some more money. He was glad that when he decided to come out that he hadn't also brought out his ID and bank cards. His wallet only contained the 2000 yuan he had withdrawn at the time. If he lost money, it was just money. But losing ID and a bank card would have been a massive headache.

　　阿金中午过来的时候碰到了来店子里拿饭的二毛,他见过二毛两次,知道这人跟卫棱很熟.

When A Jin came over in the afternoon, he happened to see Er Mao getting take out. He saw Er Mao two times previously. He understood that Er Mao had a close relationship with Wei Ling.

　　二毛现在常和秦涛他们往夜楼那边跑,卫棱也给他说过阿金他们乐队的事情,他还过去听了几场表演,认识阿金,就算不确定,看着阿金脖子上挂着的那个猫项链就能对上号了.

Er Mao had recently been going to the night tower more recently with Qin Shou. Wei Ling had also mentioned A Jin and the rest of the band to him. He had gone to watch a few performances so he recognized A Jin. Even if he wasn't completely sure, he was completely sure after seeing the cat necklace that hung around A Jin's neck.

　　现在天气变暖,二毛也没睡懒觉,每天这个时候过来拿晚饭,专门去超市买的两个保温盒.将手上提着的空保温盒递过去,接过焦威他妈递来的盛了饭菜的保温盒,搁在旁边,也没急着走,坐下跟阿金聊了会儿.

Nowadays, the days were warmer. Er Mao wasn't sleeping in all the time either. Everyday around this time, he would arrive at the restaurant to grab food. He had even gone to the supermarket to buy two thermoses. He handed over the empty thermos and retrieve the thermos that Jiao Wei's mother had filled with rice and vegetables for him. He left it by him. He wasn't in a rush to leave, so he sat and started to chat with A Jin.

　　听到阿金丢了钱包和手机,二毛抒发了下感想,现在路上的小偷确实很多,尤其是学校周围的,商业街那边也多,阿金这种情况不少见.

Hearing that A Jin had lost his phone and wallet, Er Mao expressed his thoughts. Nowadays there were quite a few thieves on the streets, especially around the school. There were also quite a few around the commercial streets. A Jin's situation wasn't that much out of the ordinary.

　　"要不我借你点?"二毛随口道.

"Want me to borrow you some cash?" Er Mao asked out loud.

　　阿金小心地拒绝,他上次见到二毛的时候这人和几个纨绔子弟在一起,估计本身就是个纨绔子弟,这种类型的人如果话语不适当可能会引起反感.

A Jin respectfully declined. The last time he had seen Er Mao he was together with a few rich playboys. He probably was a rich playboy himself. With this type of person, if he chose the wrong words, he could easily find himself disliked.

　　"哦."被拒绝二毛也没在意,"我也就一说,我出门其实一毛钱都没带."

"Oh." Er Mao wasn't bothered that his offer was declined. "I was just saying, but I didn't even bring a cent out today."

　　阿金:"..."

A Jin: "..."

　　"不过..."二毛伸了个懒腰,"如果你跟那只猫熟悉,抱紧猫大腿就饿不死."

"However…..." Er Mao stretched, "If you are familiar with that cat, you might as well stick close to it. You won't starve if you do."

　　说完二毛就起身提起饭盒离开,没遇上后来过来的郑叹几个.

After finishing his words, Er Mao picked up his thermos and walked out and passed by meeting Zheng Tan who only arrived moments afterwards.

　　二毛最后那句话虽然听起来像是开玩笑,在旁人听起来匪夷所思,但阿金知道,这是实情.现在看到小饭馆里面老板和老板娘对郑叹的态度,阿金也不得不在心里感慨,这人还没猫混得好,看看人家,面子多大!

The last line that Er Mao said definitely sounded like a joke. This sounded incredulous to the people around there, but A Jin knew that it was the absolute truth. Seeing the attitude that the restaurant boss and the boss's wife had towards Zheng Tan, A Jin couldn't help but sigh. These people didn't even have it as good as the cat. Look at these people, how much pride they had.

　　昨儿郑叹将阿金一个人甩店子里没管,自己则去接小柚子,没想到今天中午过来还会看到阿金.

Yesterday, Zheng Tan had simply left A Jin by himself at the restaurant and went on his way to pick up You Zi. He didn't think that he'd still see A Jin here in the afternoon.

　　阿金跟郑叹打了声招呼,便离开店子,没打扰郑叹几个吃中饭.他准备去楚华大学里面逛逛,没上过大学,来这所名校里面走走也好,难得来一趟.

A Jin waved a greeting to Zheng Tan and left the store. He didn't bother Zheng Tan's lunch time. He wanted to walk around Chu Hua University. He had never been enrolled in a university, so coming to such a prestigious university, he might as well walk around since he was in the area.

　　下午郑叹出门准备出去遛的时候,碰到在学校里闲逛的阿金,阿金还提议让郑叹带路在校园里逛逛,可郑叹决定今天再去试试天桥那边的盲人老头,对阿金的话没理睬.

In the afternoon, when Zheng Tan prepared to leave to go on a casual stroll, he managed to bump into the casually walking A Jin. A Jin even suggested that Zheng Tan take him on a tour of the school. But today Zheng Tan had already made up his mind to go back to the overpass to test the patience of the blind old man. He had no time to waste with A Jin.

　　没见到郑叹有反应,阿金还以为这猫听不明白自己的话,但是见到郑叹往外走,想了想,跟了上去.于是,一人一猫,再次来到天桥上.

Seeing as Zheng Tan didn't respond to him, A Jin thought that the cat simply didn't understand him. But when he saw Zheng Tan start on a path out of the campus, A Jin thought for a moment before running after Zheng Tan. Thus, a person and a cat, once again came to the top of the overpass.

　　而上天桥之后,让阿金惊讶的是,离那盲人老头不远的地方,挨着栏杆放着的,竟然是自己昨天丢失的钱包和手机!

After arriving to the top of the overpass, what caused A Jin the most surprise was that not too far from the blind old man, by the railings were the very wallet and phone he thought he lost yesterday.

　　问了个提篮子卖芒果的人,得知手机和钱包都是盲人老头今早上过来的时候放的.

Asking the vendor who carried a basket of mangoes, he understood that the phone and wallet were put there this morning by the blind old man.

　　阿金打开钱包看了看,一分钱没少.手机关机,开机之后各种功能完好,通讯录都没清除.

A Jin opened up his wallet to check. Not a single penny was lost. His phone was off, but as soon as he powered it back on, he checked through that all the components were working. His call list was all intact as well.

　　不仅是阿金,郑叹现在也震惊了,这老头难道还真是个大人物不成?他听卫棱和叶昊他们聊天的时候也了解过一些,没点路子没点手段,不可能这么轻易就找到丢失的东西.

Not only A Jin, but Zheng Tan was also astonished. Could this blind old man actually be some big figure? He had overheard Wei Ling and Ye Hao's conversation and understood that if there was no way, there would be no means. It was impossible to have so easily to find something that was lost.

　　但让郑叹疑惑的是,不都说牛人牛脾气吗?怎么这老头不是?自己昨天都拔他胡子了,也没见这老头有啥反应,之后也没谁找自己的麻烦.

But what put Zheng Tan off the most that most people had a bulls temper. What about this old man? He even went up to pluck strands out of the old man's beard. There was no reaction from the old man, and no one was sent after him either.

　　郑叹和阿金过来的时候,老头正在拉二胡.

When Zheng Tan and A Jin arrived, the old man had already started to play on the Er Hu.

　　曲子和昨天的不同,阿金听着这里面既没有那种凄切感也不同于昨天下午的曲风,倒是让人感觉很平静,很奇异的感觉.这个时间段这样的天气和环境,明明应该会让人感觉到疲乏或者烦躁的.当然,对于不懂欣赏的郑叹来说就另当别论了,该什么心情还是什么心情.

The song was different from the one that was played yesterday. It didn't have the sorrowful sound to it, nor did it have the same genre as yesterday's tunes. It did bring about a certain calm, thought it felt strange. At this time of day with the weather and environment, people should have been feeling tired and irritated. Of course, for Zheng Tan who had no care for appreciation for this sort of thing, whatever he felt, was simply just that.

　　没打断老头,阿金准备等老头拉完曲子之后再道谢,便走到一旁,靠着栏杆专心听老头拉二胡.阿金挺佩服这位盲人老头,虽然阿金自认为已经磨练出了些功力,但显然还不够,如果是他自己在这里弹唱的话,免不了被天桥下来往行车刺耳的嘀嘀声影响,有些急性子的司机会频繁按喇叭或者长按喇叭,没那个心态的人,估计自弹自唱的时候唱出第一句后就被喇叭将剩下的给堵回肚子里.

Without interrupting the old man, A Jin was prepared to go up to the old man after is song finished to thank him. He walked over to the slide and leaned on the railing to continue to listen to the old man's er hu. A Jin really admired this blind old man. Even though A Jin believed that he had practiced for long enough to acquire some decent skills, but it was obviously not yet enough. If he was the one who was here performing, he'd easily be distracted by the beeping sounds of the flowing traffic. Some impatient drivers would either constantly beep other drivers or keep it pressed for an extended amount of time. Someone without that type of mentality, would probably swallow all the following lyrics of the song after a single beep from a car.

　　说简单点,不过是个心态的问题,但要做到盲人老头这样却很不容易.维持本心,平心静气,何其难也.

To put it in simpler terms, it was simply a question of mentality. But to do what this blind old man was achieving was definitely not easy. To maintain this mentality and keeping calm was not an easy feat.

　　当然,就算能够扛住天桥下那些聒噪的喇叭声,阿金也不会在这里弹吉他,虽然不太明白为什么周围那些商贩们对于这个老头特别对待,但他不会在这里抢生意,这次有了老头还钱包和手机的事情,阿金就不会来这里演奏了.

Of course, even if he was able to tune out the noise of the oncoming traffic, A Jin wouldn't choose to play guitar here. Even though he had no clue as to why the nearby vendors treated the old man so uniquely, he wasn't going to come here to compete. Since the old man got his wallet and phone back, A Jin decided to not come here to perform.

　　郑叹不太懂欣赏乐曲,他走到老头跟前,抬头观察老头的表情.

Zheng Tan didn't understand how to appreciate music. He walked to the old man and looked up to catch a view of the old man's expression.

　　依旧是和昨天一样的,闭着眼睛,面上看不出情绪,所以,随着微风摆动的长胡子相对来说就很显眼.

But it was still the same as yesterday. Both his eyes were closed. His face left no traces of emotion. So, it was extremely eye-catching to see his long whiskers billowing in the wind.

　　不过,毕竟有了些顾忌,郑叹决定先观望下,暂时不出手拔胡子了,便来到已经装了一些硬币和零钱的木箱子旁边蹲着,闲着没事开始数这老头今天又赚了多少.

However, there were still a couple of misgivings. Zheng Tan set his heart on watching to the end. At this moment, he wouldn't be pulling on the beard anymore, but settled down in front of the coin box. Out of boredom, he started to count the earning the old man had accumulated today.

　　正低头数着钱,突然一片阴影笼罩,郑叹抬头看向站在面前的人,确切地说,来人是站在老头面前,表情略显浮夸和傲慢,身边跟着个穿着暴露身材惹眼的年轻女人,周围一些人的视线都落在女人胸前的高耸和那双白花花的长腿上.

Just as he was in the middle of counting coins, a shadow appeared over him. Zheng Tan raised his head and checked out the person who stood in front of him. More correctly, in front of the old man. The man had an exaggerated look about him which was laced with arrogance, by him stood a young woman who caught the eye of many. The surrounding people's sight were all drawn to her ample breast and towering porcelain like legs.

　　"拉得不错."那人说道,然后拿出皮夹从里面拿出一张崭新的百元票子随手一扔.

"Well played." the person said. Then he pulled out a new hundred yuan note from his wallet and flung it downwards.

　　郑叹看了看掉落在地上的钱,这着落点离木箱子没半米也有四十公分了吧?再抬头看面前的人,这人似乎一点都没有要将钱捡起放进木箱的意思,反而有些期待地等着,估计是为了看这时候谁过来捡钱.

Zheng Tan took a look at the money that had fallen on the floor. If not half a meter, this note was at least 40 cm away from the wooden box. Bringing his head up again to take a good look at the people before him, he noticed the man didn't have the intention to pick up the note and drop it properly into the wooden box. Instead the man waited with an expectant expression, probably waiting for the old man to get up to pick up the money.

　　这种行为带着侮辱意味,周围见到这一幕的人,有的打算看好戏,有的虽然面上看不过去,但也没有什么实际行动,他们犯不着得罪这种明显不差钱的主儿.

This was an obvious insult. The surrounding people who saw the scene unfold had different reactions. Some were prepared to be entertained, others were disgusted at what was happening, but no one made any specific moves. They weren't prepared to get involved with this young master who didn't look like he lacked resources.

　　阿金看了看,想着要不要出面,反正这种丢人的事情他在作为流浪歌手的时候也碰到过,有了些免疫力.只是,阿金刚迈出脚,就见蹲在木箱子旁边的黑猫走过去将快被风吹跑的崭新百元票子拨回,然后用两只前爪夹住放进木箱子里,放进去之后还伸爪子在木箱子里面拨了拨,将硬币拨在纸币上方压住,这样能防止被风吹跑.

A Jin took another look, and weighed whether or not he should step in. Anyways, this type of humiliation for your average street performer was expected, and it helped build up their resistance to such occurrences. Though, the moment A Jin was about to approach the old man, he noticed the black cat that crouched by the wooden box going after the loose pieces of cash that started to blow away in the wind. Then it would drop the cash back into the box. What-more, after dropping in the sheets of cash, the cat swirled its paws within the box, making sure that the coins held down the sheets of cash. As to prevent the cash from flying away in the wind.

　　在这整个过程中,阿金除了注意面前的事情发展之外,还感觉到,盲人老头拉的曲子里面有点细微的变化,从平静到肃杀,再到欣慰,可是再听的时候,阿金又感觉与前面没啥差别,同一首歌曲子有这样的变化吗?阿金怀疑.不知道是不是错觉.

Throughout this entire process, other than noticing the entire scene unfold before him, he also felt a slight shift in the music that the blind old man played. From calm to a creeping chill, then to comforting. But then when he listened carefully again, he didn't find anything off. Could a single song have so many transitions? A Jin was doubtful. Maybe he was just hallucinating.

　　从面前这人扔钱到现在,老头并没有停止手上拉二胡的动作,仿佛不知道这一切似的.

From the moment the man had flung out the money to now, the old man hadn't slowed down the movement of playing his Er Hu. As if he was completely oblivious to the world around him.

　　来人没想到会有这样的一幕,又从皮夹子里抽出一张一百扔地上,郑叹继续重复之前的动作.

Passerbys did not expect to witness something like this. The man took out another hundred dollar bill and flung it on the floor. Zheng Tan continued with his previous set of actions.

　　将钱放进木箱子之后,郑叹看向面前的人.你敢扔老子就敢捡,反正咱现在只是只猫,不怕丢人.而且,老头今天的收获不行,虽然钱没数完,但郑叹大略估算,有个八十来块钱,面前这人一扔就是一百块,不捡白不捡.

After dropping the bill in the box, Zheng Tan looked towards the man who stood in front of him. You want to throw bills, than old boss here will pick them up. I'm only a cat now anyways, what face do I have to lose. And today's' earnings weren't much in comparison to the usual. Though he hadn't finished counting, but Zheng Tan estimated there to be approximately 80 or so dollars. To have someone drop a hundred bucks this easily, it would be a waste to let it go.

　　这种人傻钱多人品堪忧智商捉急的人郑叹见的多得去了,曾经的郑叹也干过这种二逼事情,现在想起来,往事不堪回首.

This type of idiot who along with his dumb money and bad personality probably had some intense IQ problems. Zheng Tan had seen his fair share of people like this. Even he had done similarly similar things in his past. Now that he thought of it, he wished he could bury it back into the furthest reaches of his mind.

　　来人一连扔了五张百元票子之后,他旁边的女人终于忍不住了,拽了拽,在他耳边说了两句,那人才满脸不爽地将皮夹子一合往兜里放,匆匆离开了.

After the man through down 5 hundred dollar notes, the girl who stood beside him finally couldn't take it anymore and tugged on his shirt and whispered something to him. That person shoved his wallet back into his packet and left quickly with a look of annoyance.

　　"嗤——"

"Ha——"

　　不知道是谁开始笑,周围的几个小商贩都笑了起来.

Unsure of who it was that started, the surrounding vendors all started to laugh one after another.

　　"哎,养只猫也好啊."

"Ah, raising a cat is so nice."

　　郑叹没理会周围人的讨论,回头看了看老头,依然没发现老头有什么表情变化.

Zheng Tan ignored the surrounding gossip. He turned back and took another look at the old man and as expected, the old man's expression were still unchanged.

　　时间差不多的时候,郑叹便离开天桥,阿金跟了上去,今天钱包在,昨天没买成的鸡柳买了吧,而且,接下来两天他准备在楚华大学逛逛,今天在里面晃悠的时候,找到了点灵感,阿金不想浪费.

Soon, Zheng Tan decided to leave the bridge. A Jin also followed closely behind. Now, having reunited with his wallet, he probably should go back to buy that chicken fillet. Moreover, he was planning to check out Chu Hua University later. With all the wandering he did today, he finally had a sliver of inspiration. There was no way he was going to let that all go.

　　在郑叹离开后不久,老头停下手头的动作,然后抱着二胡静坐,等着夕阳落下的时候离开.

Not long after Zheng Tan departed, the old man stopped player. He simply held the Er Hu and sat there quietly and waited till the sun set to pack up.

　　"哎,这老头今天下午拉的时间好像长了些."卖芒果的低声对旁边卖玩具的说道.

"Ah, isn't this longer than what the old man usually play for." the mango vendor whispered to the toy vendor.

　　"...大概心情不错吧,一下午就赚了五百多块钱呢."买玩具的小摊贩羡慕地道.

"...Maybe he's in a good mood. He got 500 bucks within a single afternoon." The toy vendor spoken solemnly with envy.

　　具体老头到底是什么心情,谁也说不准.

What the old man thought though, now that was the true secret.