Fan Fiction |
by StArrY^^
Adapted from TV serial and Book-- "Di 8 Hao Dang Pu"
-(Chapter 1)-
-||* #08 *||-
A man was walking along a street that was bustling with activity. The street was literally littered with people and everyone pushed around in their haste to get to destination at the desired pace.
The night was still young, even though it was already half-past ten.Some die-hard ah-sohs were absorbed in choosing the cream of the crop from the stacks of goods, while the harried shopkeepers tried their best to dissuade them and reassure them that all the goods were equally good.
"Aiyar... This one, cheaper can?" One of the ah-sohs asked a shopkeeper.
"Auntie... Cannot lah... Very cheap liao! How to run my business like this?" The shopkeeper took a firm stand in this.
"Aiyo~ I tell you ah... This one," she surveyed the tin of pineapple tarts and said, "$2.50 can le la!"
"WHAT?" The bespectacled shopkeeper's glasses nearly fell off his nose. "NO lah... Auntie, cannot like this one..."
"What cannot like this?! $3?" The ah-soh brushed away his attempt and started the haggling-prices war.
"$4!"
"Haiyor... Small tin only... Sell so expensive? $2.80 ah!"
"What? CANNOT! $3.90!"
"Don't like this mah... New year leh... Be more ah... be- be... aiyar... what's that word? Just be more ching chai lah!"
**ching chai = qing cai. which means more sui2 bian4~~ hehez..**
"$3-3.50!"
"Boy ah..." The ah-soh went on relentlessly.
"No! Auntie! $3.50! Take it or leave! I tell you ah... You are blocking my business ah!" The shopkeeper decided to risk losing a customer for the sake of the many others in queue.
"Aiyor! So niaow! OK lor~ $3.50 jiu $3.50!" The ah-soh stuffed 2 dollar bills,a one dollar coin and
a fifty-cent coin into the shopkeeper's hand huffily and waddled out of the shop, the pineapple tin safe in her paper bag.
**niaow means something like stingy...also means xiao3 qi4**
The man who had been walking along this particular street was heading for a certain direction. He had walked on this pavement before, twice in fact. From far, he looked like an ordinary man. But if you take a closer look, you would notice that he was limping. His left trouser leg is empty. His left leg had been amputated and in its place now, is a prosthesis.
His head kept low throughout the whole journey. In his eyes, you can detect a tinge of melancholy. He was gaunt, unshaven, and his eyes sunk into his skin, like mere hollows in the skin.
Ever since a certain day, he had never lifted up his head high while walking. A dispirited man would never be able to hold his head up high, but would just condemn himself to watching the many different pairs of footwear that pass by him each day.
After some time, he stopped and lifted his head. He knew that he had reached his destination. A signboard swam into his vision. There was a single Arabic digit on it. "8". The corners of his mouth curved up a wee bit as he stood before the huge mansion.
He pressed on the silver polished doorknob and the large doors opened. A gust of wind greeted him. He stepped in and walked towards another door which creaked open by itself. The doors behind him closed with a decisive "clang". His nerves stayed intact, as it was not his first time here.
He entered a long hall, brightly lit by two rows of wall lamps and a grand chandelier at the central of the whitewashed ceiling. The floors of the hall was covered thoroughly with a luxurious magenta carpet. He walked across the endless hall which had numerous doors on two ends of the wall. At the eighth room, he stopped. He turned to face the door and rapped on the door. The door opened by itself and he entered an entire new realm.
The room was massive. A lengthy counter stretched from one end of the room, to the other end. A sofa was tucked neatly at one end of the room, in front of the counter. Shelves of books rested on the walls behind the counter. A man and a lady were behind the counter. The man sitting lazily in a black recliner seat. Stationary and sheaves of documents sprawled on the counter. The man made his way slowly to the sofa and sank into the soft comfort of the lavendar loveseat. Although the sofa was comfy enough, the man did not stop fidgeting in the seat.
He stared nervously at the couple behind the counter.
"Boss... I've come- again." He swallowed a lump in his throat and spoke again. "I remember, the first time I came here, I pawned my stocks for some money. Next, I pawned my left leg for more cash... This time... I need more immediate cash again... I have to get hard and fast cash for the sake of my family... But...what can I pawn?"
The Boss looked at the man intently. The lady beside him chirped, "What about one of your kidneys?"
The man stared hard at the lady. His kidney? He was a doctor himself. He knew that losing his stocks and leg would not affect his health nor career. But... his kidney?
"Well, you have 2 kidneys..." The lady's voice trailed off.
After a few minutes, the man said, "OK... I will pawn my kidney this time around."
The Boss nodded gravely and came out from the counter. The lady followed, with a piece of paper and a pen.
"Mr Ray, pls sign your name here on this contract if you have no more doubts." The Boss said kindly, motioning the lady to hand the contract and pen to the aforesaid Mr Ray.
Mr Ray took the pen and signed his name with wobbly fingers. The Boss splayed his fingers before his eyes and wiggled his fingers. Mr Ray felt a lightness in his head and soon, he lost consciousness.
The Boss inserted his hand casually beneath Mr Ray's shirt and felt for one of his kidneys. After confirming it, he took out the organ deftly. The lady opened the lid of a glass bottle and he slipped the organ into the bottle. She turned the lid carefully and made her way to the room. The Boss washed his hands from the tap behind the counter and sat back on his chair.
When Mr Ray's consciousness returned, he was back at home, on his bed. He touched the side of his back where his kidney had once been. He knew very well that one of his kidneys had left his body- forever. And the money in his bank account gained a few more digits.
The lady, with the bottle containing the kidney, walked calmly through the doors which opened and brought her into another endless room. The room had many shelves and many different pawned goods laid on the shelves. She walked to a shelf which contained the assortment of goods Mr Ray had pawned. She put the glass bottle beside a bottle which contained his left leg, well preserved. And beside the leg was a box with Mr Ray's stocks.
After putting the kidney in place, she walked into another room to record the pawned goods for the day in a large, binded book. The book would be handed to their superior annually, who will scan through it and the records will disappear after which. Thus every year, she would start recording on the first page once more.
She finished her records and went back to the room with the lengthy counter.
The man whom she called Boss was a handsome man, with his features set firmly in his oval shaped face. He sported a neat hairstyle and had two adoring dimples that show up whenever he smiled. His complexion was fair and he looked ageless. In fact, he was ageless. Both her Boss and her were ageless. They would live forever, and they've already been in this line for almost a hundred years.
As for the lady herself, she was a beauty as well. Her hair was long and shiny, and a few locks framed her peach-shaped face perfectly. Her eyes were large and soulful, and her luscious lips drove men crazy. She had a pink complexion and her cheeks shone with radiance. Completed with a curvaceous figure, she was almost like a replica of the Goddess herself.
The #08 PawnShop was run by the handsome Boss and the beautiful Boss's helper. They were not lovers, just simply partners.
~*~
WhooSHZ~! So How's IT? Hahahaz... I was wondering about putting this up marz? Since it's not my own copyrighted story.. Hehez.. If anything happens, I'll jus close it down!! Hehez..
Comments, pls?
=)