Chapter 001: Purely Accidental

  "Dong dong dong", Yang Decheng climbed up to the seventh floor and knocked on the door with a gasp.

  Inside came a "rustling" sound, and something fell to the ground, then there was no more noise. Yang Decheng pressed his ear against the door and listened carefully, continuing to knock on the door.

  After a long time, a timid girl's voice came from inside: "There is no one at home."

  Yang Decheng carefully looked at the paper in his hand, checked the door number, and raised his voice: "Comrade Jin DouDou, don't be afraid, come out, I'm not a bad person, I was sent by the community to handle some necessary procedures for your family's 'low-security' benefits."

  There was no movement inside the house, so Yang Decheng had to summon all his strength and continue knocking on the door, almost pounding it.

  It's really helpless, the relief fund for low-income households allocated by the government this year has already arrived, but to receive the subsidy, we need to collect the low-income certificate, ID card, and a deposit slip with only a few cents left from the recipients. This is to facilitate the approval procedures and payment of funds. Most families who meet the conditions have already received the subsidies, leaving behind those who refuse to cooperate, all of whom have some kind of problem or another, like this girl in this household, who suffers from severe autism.

  After knocking for a long time, another voice finally came from inside: "Who are you?"

  Yang Decheng swallowed his saliva and raised his voice, saying: "I'm from the community, please hand over your ID card, low guarantee letter and savings book, I'll help you with the formalities to get the money. If not, this money won't be able to reach your hands."

  "Money... why didn't you give it to me?"

  "Think about it, without your documents, when we get to the finance department and say who should receive the low-security fund, who will believe us? Who will trust a smooth talker like you? So, for anything, there needs to be a procedure. Don't worry, I'll take the documents and leave, then come back and bring you the money. Hey, if you're still worried, find your documents and pass them through the door crack to me."

  "I... I've never seen you before, don't know who you are, can't give you anything."

  Yang Decheng endured the fire and impatiently said: "It's still like that, then you open the door and see if I'm not? You won't let me in even when I ask you to open the door. Can I cheat you? Cheating people only cheats them out of money, is there anyone who actively gives you money? I am really a community worker, our community..."

  Yang Decheng spoke eloquently for a while, then fell silent for a moment, before Jin DouDou asked timidly: "Are you really from the community?"

  "This is my true community."

  "What's up? You're looking for me?"

  "Ah, I... " Yang Decheng was momentarily stunned before remembering his purpose: "Oh, I'm here to collect your ID card, low guarantee certificate, and savings deposit receipt, so I can process the low-security fund payment for you. Please cooperate, most people have already received theirs, just a few households like yours with incomplete documents, this procedure can't be done, how can we issue the money?"

  "Has everyone else been paid? Then why haven't I?"

  "Because..." Yang Decheng vaguely remembered that he seemed to have said it before, but now his head was dizzy and he couldn't think of it for a moment, so he repeated it again.

  After a long time, the girl in the house said firmly: "I... I have never seen you before, don't know who you are, can't give you anything."

  “……”

  Yang Decheng returned empty-handed after struggling for half a day and continued to climb up the next building with a sense of frustration.

  This family's surname is Wu, and there are two rascals living here. The older brother is called Wu You, and the younger brother is called Wu Lü. The older brother rides a tricycle for a living, while the younger brother needs to be supported by others. It's said that he has some mental issues...

  Yang Decheng finally opened the door, and his brother, smoking a low-quality cigarette with his shirt off, opened the door. Upon hearing that it was to distribute the minimum living allowance, he hastily rummaged through boxes and drawers to find the certificate and bankbook, then smiled obsequiously: "Comrade, my ID card was cut up by my younger brother, I really don't have one, will these two things do?"

  "That won't do, an ID card is the only valid legal document for transferring money, if you've lost it just go get a replacement, or get a temporary one first."

  "But... look at my brother's situation, he doesn't want to go, what can we do?"

  "As for others, I'll tell them."

  "Yes, in this house."

  The door that had been tightly closed was opened by Wu You, who rubbed his hands and said: "Ah, it's you Yang comrade today. Last time it was a little girl from the community, I said don't open the door, but she insisted on me opening it, as a result she got scared and ran away with a sprained foot..."

  The door opened, and a man was seen sitting on the windowsill, with the gentle breeze blowing in. His long hair flew together with the curtains, looking very carefree. He had a long beard, and under his thick eyebrows, a pair of deep eyes stared out the window, never turning back. His legs were bent, with his elbows resting on them, and his hands supported his chin, giving off the aura of Rodin's sculpture "The Thinker".

  He is stark naked...

  "Wu, comrades from the community want you to take a photo and get a temporary ID card."

  "The thinker" slowly turned his head and looked at Yang Decheng with a faint gaze, saying faintly: "Not going!"

  Yang Decheng began another round of persuasion, but the "sculpture" that had fallen into deep thought stared at a white poplar tree outside the window, sometimes frowning and sometimes smiling, as calm as Buddha, but never looked back at him again.

  "Yang comrade, you see..." his brother asked worriedly.

  "Alright...". Yang Decheng, who was at a loss for what to do, pulled out a camera from his black bag: "You think of a way to get him down. If not, the backlight is no good and I'm afraid it won't be clear. Get him down and I'll take a photo of him, then we can use that as proof to issue him a temporary ID card."

  "Ah ah, thank you Comrade Yang, thank you Comrade Yang."

  "Snap!" The flashbulb popped, and "The Thinker" was caught on film in all his nude glory, teeth bared and claws outstretched. Then Yang Decheng took off like a shot, one of his slippers flying out from under the door just as it closed, whizzing past his head with a loud whoosh.

  Yang Decheng wiped the sweat and congratulated himself: "My god, I've finally collected all the documents for this household. Hmm? Where's the low guarantee and deposit slip? Dammit, forgot to take it..."

  "Bang bang bang", Yang Decheng, out of breath and flustered, started knocking on the door again...

  He was also very helpless about this job, but what else could he do? After graduating from a third-rate university, he had only found this job. In the still of the night, he would often sit on his bed, staring at his small JJ, contemplating the spirit it embodied: able to be long or short, thick or thin, hard or soft, and able to stretch or bend. Learning from it, the setbacks in front of him were nothing. And so, he was also at peace with himself. Besides, having grown up in an orphanage, doing this job was a way of giving back to society anyway.

  With such self-consolation, Yang Decheng, with one eye black and blue, appeared again at the door of Old Xu's house. Old Xu was called Xu Haisheng, who was said to have been a big shot on the street of cultural relics and antiques in his heyday, but later he was cheated out of a large sum of money by someone using counterfeit goods, which led to a mental breakdown, making him an intermittent mentally ill patient.

  The door creaked open with a single knock, and a thin old man appeared at the entrance, eyeing Yang Decheng with a paranoid gaze. Standing outside was a young man of medium height, clean and neat, carrying a black leather bag and wearing black-framed glasses.

  Xu Lao said coldly: "My family's electricity bill has just been paid, we don't owe anything!"

  "Wait, wait," Yang Decheng pushed the door open with a smile all over his face and dryly said: "Hehe, I'm not here to collect electricity fees, I'm...a comrade from the community, come to help you with the low-security relief fund distribution."

  "Is it relief funds?" Old Xu's eyes lit up: "Come in."

  Old Xu's home was almost impossible to set foot in, as it was filled with all sorts of antiques and artifacts from ancient times to the end of the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China. However, judging by Old Xu's shabby appearance, it was likely that most of the genuine items had been left behind. When Yang Decheng asked him for his ID card, a guarantee letter, and a deposit slip with only one cent remaining, Old Xu immediately became furious, as if he had seen a notorious swindler, and wanted to throw him out.

  "I'm saying, Old Xu, if you don't give me the documents, how can I process them for you? Hey, you're even pushing me, I'm from the community, don't you recognize me?"

  Old Xu sneered: "Is the community that great? The person who cheated me out of money back then also said it was from the State Council."

  "Yang Decheng sternly shouted: 'I'm telling you, Old Xu, today you must hand it over, whether you want to or not. If you do, I'll give you the low-security fund. If you don't hand over the certificate, you won't get a single cent. Did you understand? Not a single cent will be given to you!'"

  "What?" Old Xu's eyes suddenly turned red: "You embezzled my money, you cheated me out of my money, you scoundrel! I should have gotten it, why didn't you give it to me?"

  "Not good, Old Xu is going to go crazy." Yang Decheng came to his senses and turned around to run, but as soon as he heard that Old Sun was going to swindle him out of his money, he grabbed an ancient vase from who-knows-which dynasty and pounced on Yang Decheng like a mad tiger, heavily smashing it towards the back of his head...

  "Bang!" The bottle shattered, and Yang Decheng fell head-first to the ground.

  When the community director heard the news and led people to hurry over, controlling Old Xu's head and picking up Yang Decheng with a broken head and bleeding, Yang Decheng, who was on the verge of death, moved his pale lips and muttered a sentence. Director Niu hurriedly leaned down his ear and listened carefully. Yang Decheng shuddered and summoned up his spirit to say clearly: "Director Niu... Director Niu..."

  "You say, you say, it's all the same to me, I'm listening."

  "Cow... Director Cow..., he... He hit me like this, want... Want to hold him accountable..."

  "This... " Director Niu said with a difficult expression: "Comrade Decheng, he... he's crazy, killing someone wouldn't be enough to make up for it, this matter is quite hard to deal with..."

  "I... I haven't even had a chance to argue yet, it's so frustrating..."

  Yang Decheng let out a long sigh, and a wisp of resentful spirit thus fluttered away.

  At the grand memorial meeting, Director Niu choked back tears as he spoke to the staff of the office, community masses and municipal reporters: "Comrade Yang Decheng was an orphan, brought up by the Party and the people. After joining the workforce, Comrade Decheng was kind and gentle, worked diligently, endured hardships first and enjoyed later, and was diligent and conscientious, never complaining. He is our office's recognized outstanding employee... At his last moments, he repeatedly entrusted me to ensure that the 'low-security' distribution work would continue in an orderly manner, satisfying the masses, the government and society. This is a great comrade who was strict with himself and lenient with others, whose noble character is worth our serious study. Comrade Yang Decheng's life was a glorious one, a life of struggle...