Chapter 53: The Working Journey Has Ended

Actually, I really didn't want to write this bit of rambling, but for the sake of my readers who support me, I decided I should say something after all.

Starting from Number Two of July, I embarked on a journey of working a summer job, and also began a lesson that refreshed my understanding of society.

Actually, I thought I wouldn't be able to persist, but unexpectedly, when we first started the summer job, we hoped for twenty yuan an hour, but in the end, our bottom line was lowered again and again, until I finally chose to accept 14 an hour.

Stepping into society is truly more complex than we imagined; this complexity stems from people, and from the strangeness and confusion of being in a foreign place.

I experienced the feeling of my hands being rubbed raw, swollen, and bleeding, my feet not losing their swelling for a whole week, and even the pain of squatting down being unbearable.

Working during the day, returning to the rented room at night to wash clothes, braving the sweltering heat, typing without air conditioning and with only a ceiling fan blowing hot air, I only had six hours of rest a day.

But in the end, I did Break; on July 15th, because two out of 4,500 products had issues, I was made to redo them all, without even being paid for the labor.

On July 16th, there were still two that had issues, and I was made to redo them all; I finished two days' worth of work in one day and nearly died of exhaustion in the factory.

On July 17th, I resigned.

I also never thought that because I had no money, I would be hesitating in a shop inside the train station, hesitating while having eaten nothing all day, yet lingering in the shop because a bottle of water cost four yuan.

In the end, looking at how I could get home with just one more transfer, but having only a few dozen yuan on me, I didn't buy it; why didn't I buy it? Because I was worried about not having enough money to get home, and I didn't want to open my mouth to ask my parents for money again, I really didn't want to...

After hesitating for a long time, I finally bought a cup of instant noodles to serve as my rations for the day.

I have never felt so much like a failure, a failure to the point where I would rather go hungry than not carefully calculate every cent of my expenses.

I have experienced a lot and seen through a lot, but my previous experiences were far less poignant than this personal encounter.

I also never thought that one day, I would spend the night in a train station.

Clutching my luggage, waiting for dawn, looking forward to the last train home...