Chapter 17 Chapter Sixteen

I didn't know we were having an auction until a few days later when I came home in the evening and saw the cardboard sign nailed to the tree by the front door. On the top of it is written in big characters that move clearance sale.I recognized it as the dark green paint Dalio had been using to paint the upstairs hallway before he put down his brushes and called a strike.Six o'clock on Thursday night.The big gray-blue childish handwriting on the bottom reads: Vulgar put a big bowl! Moving clearance sale?As soon as I stepped into the kitchen, I asked David.He sat at his desk and couldn't solve the crossword puzzle; I've seen people put old pots and pans into cardboard boxes, stacks of chipped plates, faded mugs, ugly vases, a A battered toaster with a missing plug and an electric food mixer long out of service, all cluttered outside.

It looks right. But we still live here.It will be several weeks before moving out. Not everything has to be thrown away.Just getting rid of stuff we don't need or want. The plates are still in use, I look around the house, these are my mother's old teacups.They cannot be thrown away. This is Pipa's idea.She said we should liquidate the assets. what is this? He frowned and stared at it.It should be a very old noodle making machine, missing a handle or something.Kind of rusty, right?And this is the bottom half of the ice cream machine.The upper part of it, Dalio couldn't find it.

assets.Is this what Pipa said? Davy giggled a few times.He is one of the few guys I know who smiles as shyly as a girl. Hi Estrie. I turned around and saw Xiaomei standing at the door, her soft brown hair falling on her face.In a sleeveless white blouse and green skirt, she looked energetic and in high spirits.I smiled at her.Hello. I just went to the store to buy something.Now prepare the omelette.Do you want a piece too? No, no need.I'll get myself something to eat later. If you change your mind she puts down her shopping and rummages through the carton for frying pans. What does Myers think about the big auction?

I'm not sure if anyone told him.He hasn't come home yet. understood.Suddenly there was a loud bang above his head.The ceiling seemed like it would come down at any moment.What's going on here? Well, David pulled a wry smile on my face, probably Dalio and Mike.Sell ​​assets. Gosh, I said, but at least Dalio is happy.He even started bragging about the episode where he was beaten up, as if that counted as being on the road.man. That's not manly, Davy said sarcastically, and I ran away.Want to hear who called you today? Other than reporters, is there anyone else? He took a sheet of paper from his pocket.Hal.Dr. Bradshaw, and Rachel, a prophet who claims to have insight into the future.lambas.

I'll pretend you didn't tell me.I watched Xiaomei break two eggs into the bowl, and started stirring with a fork.She tried to create a peaceful domestic space in this chaotic family that was falling apart.There was another loud thump overhead, followed by a wild yell. I went out to my little vegetable garden and enjoyed the warm, pleasant evening.It's funny, but it's the one I can't bear to let go of.I can't help but feel sad when I think of my hard work in the vegetable garden, whether it was raining or freezing, and how it was Miles and Leah who ended up enjoying my lettuce, beetroot, and fava beans.I knelt down to pull the weeds, concentrating so hard that I couldn't hear anything, until a figure appeared above my head, and I looked up, only to find Miles coming.

Hi.I said hello, but he said nothing, just looked down at me sullenly, so I went on: These are green-skinned zucchini.Well planted.Just keep the soil moist.Miles?Hello! how? What’s wrong with you? He sighed, not caring about soiling his handsome dark suit, and sat down on the grass next to me.He looks so hot.Small beads of sweat sprouted on his freshly straightened head, and there was sweat beside the mustache on his upper lip.Estelle, what should I do? what should you doI carefully pluck a dandelion from the soil, shaking the dirt off its roots.What do you mean by doing? Just do it.Should I tell everyone it was all a misunderstanding and they can still stay?Should I kick everyone out of the house right away?Should I at least get rid of Dalio, who keeps turning my life into a nightmare?Should I tell Leah there was a blow between us?Should Liya and I escape and leave you in this home that has become a hell on earth?Should we all

Enough is enough, Miles.Too many options. I was just wondering if the decision to live with Leah was a big mistake? No, I said, frankly, I didn't want to trip over those bags she left in the hallway anymore. I'm sorry, Miles said, we haven't decided what to do with that stuff yet.I would tell her to remove the bag. It's all right, I said, and you're right. So what else should I do? I have no idea. Should I stay where I am and stay forever in the youthful and immortal people's commune? Are we living this life? Don't you think people like Pipa did it on purpose?

Miles, I don't want to take sides.I know of no one who has performed him particularly well.But that includes you too.So does Leah. Especially Leah.He said. You can't hide behind her. I used to love being home, but now I feel like everyone hates me.He said. I don't hate you. Estelle.His tone became soft and considerate. No.do not do that. What else? You ask knowingly. Between me and Leah.I think I made a terrible mistake. Then change this mistake, if you have the heart.But don't drag me into this.It's not fair to her. She won't worry about being unfair to you.

That's her family's business. the things she said about you I do not want to know. We'd be able to go back in time without Leah. For a smart person, sometimes you are really stupid.Can't you see that we are out of the question?That relationship is over, let it stay in the past.Don't blame Leah for everything. How did you become so wise and noble overnight? not at all. He slapped some grass off his trousers.By the way, how is it between you and Owen? nothing.Whatever it is, it's none of your business. I see the way you look at each other.Are you? Enough is enough, Miles.

I don't mean to be nosy.So when will he return from his journey? I don't know, I say deliberately nonchalantly, probably Thursday.I'm pretty sure it's Thursday.I lay in bed thinking about him for several nights, remembering the touch of his hands touching my body, counting the moment when he returned, imagining that at night we would sneak upstairs like thieves, close the door, climb into the bed, cover Mute each other so that no one hears. He is not good enough for you. Miles, I can't go on with you.Either help me pull the weeds, or get out of here. The evening of the clearance sale was warm and muggy, with occasional large drops of rain falling from the low, gray sky.Dalio and Mike have moved out two tables and placed them in front of the house; Pipa and Dawei also took half a day off to sort out the items to be auctioned.Campbell sent me to Stawell in the afternoon, and I didn't get home until 5:40, and by then it seemed the whole house had been gutted and moved to the front yard.Useless second-hand goods and large items piled up the tabletop. Among the large items, I recognized an old bicycle, two chairs with missing backrests, a large armchair with cotton wool exposed, and a broken metal bookshelf. , wooden lampposts, old mattresses, a folding canvas camp bed that looked like it was from World War I, and an ugly painting with a shattered glass frame.When I saw what Dalio and Mike hauled out of the house, I realized that there was no shortage of good clearance items: a flimsy plastic bathtub in the cellar we moved in, cracked from head to tail on one side; Barbed wire; a rake with all its bristles gone; a box of leftover roof tiles; a Wellington rubber boot; half a fishing rod; Just a splintered wooden wreck with a few threads hanging from it.

oops!When I saw Owen staggering out the door dragging a dirty canvas bag, I couldn't help but exclaim.He had only just returned from Italy that morning, but by the time I got home from get off work he was already enjoying the auction with gusto.what is that?I said. The tent, he said, was always leaking.Seriously like sleeping under the gutter. good.But you can't throw away Miles' shoe rack.He is using them all.What about the shoes hanging on it? Owen shrugged and dragged the tent past me, the short crooked stakes scattered all over the place.But then he stopped and gave me a look that melted my stomach. Hi Estrie.Pipa appeared from the door and greeted me.Her hair was disheveled on top of her head, and there was a smudge on her cheek.She was full of energy and radiant.If you have something to drop, you'd better act fast.Fifteen minutes later, there will be customers at the door. No one will buy these things. Do you want to bet? What about the Miles people? He and Lia probably want to avoid it. What about David? He went to buy beer for everyone. I lean my bike against the wall outside the house and walk to the table.On the table are all kinds of books recipes, novels, biographies, dictionaries, atlases, travel books, books on mathematics, economics, music, law, books borrowed from the library and even schools; as well as kitchen utensils, video Belts, DVDs, beaded cushions, an area rug, lumpy duvet, torn sheets, mop, duck-shaped hair dryer, a shoebox full of wind chimes, empty cookie tins, and a few pairs of my Identify playing cards with missing cards. So lovely.I bent over a little box of jewels, are these yours, Pipa? I don't wear them anymore.she said indifferently. Some are beautiful.You can't sell these beads. I can. Then I will buy it from you. Estelle, our goal is to clear the warehouse!Dalio said. I stopped him and looked at his face.His face was still bruised and swollen, and he spoke with a lisp.How are you?I asked. fine. You should rest. No, he said, I need this clearance sale. Dawei came back with a bag that was about to burst from the cans of beer, and he began to distribute beer to everyone.I took a can and went back to the bedroom to see if there was anything I could throw away.If Pipa's bedroom is Aladdin's treasure trove, mine is minimalist.I sat on the bed and looked around and realized how little I had. I heard someone bouncing up the stairs, and then the footsteps stopped.Then someone knocked on my door.who is it? it's me.Owen. Oh, I got up from the bed, brushed my hair, please come in. The door opened, and Owen closed the door after he entered. I have something for you, he handed out a small box, bought from Milan. give me?I don't know what to say.Thanks. You need to open it. Yes. I pushed the lid off to reveal a pair of small round silver earrings with spokes that looked like two tiny bicycle wheels.You must see the connection. I took off the earrings I was wearing and put new ones on.what do you think? It's nice, he said, but what do I know about this big bastard?He paused.I have to go.There are still things to move. A dozen or so people had already gathered around the table.Most of the people who come to my house are unknown to me, and sometimes I am discouraged by this: After living here for so many years, most of the neighbors in the neighborhood are still just strangers to me. I walked to the table and looked at the fragments of memories of everyone living together, now being rummaged and scratched.Soon, these things will be scattered, and we will go our separate ways. Pipa and Dalio took out some clothes from the box and scattered them on one side of the table.I walk over and pick up a printed dress, running my fingers through its soft material.Some clothes are really not bad, I said, why don't you want them? Pipa gave me a questioning look, as if implying that I am a layman on clothing and fashion.I have a rule, she said, that once in a while I look through clothes, and if I find something I haven't worn in six months, I throw it away, no matter how much I like it.Because if I'm not wearing it, there must be something wrong with it. That's it, I haven't seen you wear these clothes. I said, although I don't have a lot of money at the moment, I might pick two or three.How to sell clothes? £5 each.Dalio said. real or fake?someone behind me asked.I looked back and found that the person who spoke was a woman with a coquettish dress and long dark curly hair.Every piece is? Big jump auction.Dalio said. The woman rummaged through the pile of clothes with great interest, and her armpits were full of dresses, skirts and blouses.Her enthusiasm set off a whirlwind of frenzy among the other women gathered.Still holding the skirt in my hand, I also tried to grab a beautiful black Victorian blouse with a lace collar in the middle.All other clothes were taken away in an instant, and women from Maitland Street, and even from far away, offered a lot of money to Dalio and Pipa, who were almost terrified.I handed out my ten pound note and was about to take the prize back to the bedroom when I passed Mike who was trying to get the floor lamp out of the door. Are there any lights left at home?I asked him. it is summer now.Mike said so. When I came to the front yard again, the news of the auction spread all over the streets, and the number of customers who came to my door surged.The only remaining clothing items are military coats left by previous tenants.But there are many more items worth snapping up.People pay for things that the cleaners won't take away no matter what we say.Dalio had priced the non-working toaster at fifteen pence.An old man offered five pence, and Dalio said it was a deal.The thought of our broken toaster being lovingly repaired and given a new lease of life to continue toasting the elderly is deeply moving.It's like an old horse that has been running around for many years and finally arrived at the animal sanctuary.But the noodle maker without the handle is still intact, no one buys it and no one loves it. You are Estelle.Belle?someone asked. I turn around.The questioner was a bespectacled, balding man in his early sixties, wearing a gray suit, tie, and black shoes. I am.I said. You were the last person to see my wife.He said. I was going to say it wasn't the last one, but I swallowed it because it sounded like ruthless sophistry. Who are you? I'm Joey.Farrell, he said, Paige's husband. I am sorry, I said, that the case shocked and disturbed me at the time. Did you see that boy?As he spoke, he pointed to a teenager who was trying out an old Walkman that Dalio was selling. I do not know him.I said. Neither do I, he said, but I know who he is.As soon as my wife died, he robbed her with those gangsters. You mean the teens who broke into cars? That's right. how do you know? The police sent me to the police station and showed me the photos.He is one of them. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and blew his nose loudly.After knowing who was coming, I looked at him carefully.His face was sad and haggard, and a piece of beard had been shaved off the line of his jaw by careless use of a razor.But now no one should pay attention to his grooming.I vaguely remember him being taken into the police station for questioning, but he was more than a witness.Did the police suspect that he had killed his wife? The police only charged them with theft and he said, can you believe it?Those guys are out on bail, and they're just out there now.How could someone be so brazen? I don't know what to say.It seems that nothing is right at this juncture.Although I could say that the boy lived in this area, so it's not surprising that he was here, but it seems too unsympathetic to say so.In the end I have to say: what they did was outrageous, but they had nothing to do with your wife's death.They don't know anything about it, they're just a bunch of stupid kids trespassing on other people's cars. That's what the police say, too, Farrell said, but how do we know it's true?They could have attacked her in the street, left her dead, and come back after dark to rob her. Have the police considered this possibility? I don't know.I mentioned it to the police and they said they would investigate in that direction, but I don't think they took it seriously.Just keep asking me how often I fight with my wife and if I suspect she is cheating.I know what they mean.The police even made me talk to a fucking psychiatrist.He also asked about my mother. Yes, I said, I've seen him too. Farrell didn't respond to what I said, obviously just looking for someone to confide in.Thousands of words poured out, as if what he wanted to say had been stagnant for weeks since his wife was brutally murdered. This is how the same thing?As he spoke, he stared at the chaotic scene before our eyes. Most of our residents are moving out, I said, so some members of the family decided to hold a clearance sale. Farrell blew his nose loudly.It was the right decision, he said, and if I could, I'd move out too.I have lived here for over thirty years.People always say that this area will develop.But that kind of scum still continues to run rampant here. I didn't answer.I'm a little worried that the teenager he's referring to will hear that and we'll get into more trouble. Paige was a reserved person, Farrell said, and she insisted on being an orderly neighbor.That's how everyone sees her, isn't it? I mumbled something in response.I don't want to tell him that I don't know his wife at all.It wasn't until after her death that I heard her full name for the first time. She is observant, Farrell said, and believes that one should not sit on the sidelines and do nothing.Those little ghosts lived in apartment buildings and came late at night kicking trash cans, breaking windows, and pushing passers-by.Others turned a blind eye, but she once reprimanded them for this, and even called the police to deal with it.They didn't do anything outrageous.But those little ghosts knew that she was not a person who would let it go, so they wanted to teach her a lesson. Hope the police arrest the culprit soon.I said. The police had given up, he said, and I kept calling and they kept saying there was a case under investigation.Come to think of it, when was the last time you saw the police here? I didn't answer, because I didn't want to add details and confuse the incident. Look at that kid, Farrell said, trying to steal the Walkman.I will not let him succeed.I grabbed his sleeve to stop him. Stay away, I said, he'll sneak home and find the Walkman doesn't work at all.This punishment is enough. Farrell looked at me awkwardly.He was obviously ready to go.If you want to come over for a cup of tea, he said, you know, come to chat or something, I am usually at home in the afternoons and weekends.I can come and have a sit before you move out. That's great.I said. I will also prepare cookies.He said. marvelous. He turned and left.It's a deal.He said.And I watched him walk slowly through the crowd and onto the sidewalk alone. I wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of people, so I went back inside and met Leah outside Miles' bedroom. I didn't know you were home.I said. I just got back, she said, and it's a dirty mess outside. I thought it was pretty funny, I said, you won't believe what people buy. She frowned.Oh, right.Estelle, Miles brought me a bag of clothes this morning.Did you see it?