Li Yan ran—she ran like the wind—terrified that Cao Yang would chase after her for money.
Cao Yang went to the convenience stall and bought a bamboo mat, a bucket, toiletries, and a two-yuan pack of cigarettes. After paying, he had only two yuan left in his pocket.
That same night, he put on his uniform and went to the workshop to tighten screws.
He didn't know how to do anything, so his team leader arranged for him to sit on the assembly line and scrub circuit boards with a toothbrush.
At first glance, the job looked easy—just pick up a board when it came by and scrub it.
But repeating the same movement endlessly was annoying, and worst of all, he had to sit all the time. The weather was hot, and his butt was about to break out in a rash.
Even going to the bathroom required reporting in advance—the team leader had to find someone to replace you before you could go.
Every one of those team leaders acted horribly, as if everyone owed them money.
Cao Yang didn't know how he survived those four hours. All he knew was that as soon as he returned to the dorm, he collapsed into bed and passed out.
He slept deeply and didn't wake until the next morning.
Then it was back to work—another four hours of scrubbing boards—before heading to the cafeteria for lunch.
After eating, there was a short break. Cao Yang noticed a crowd gathered at the back of the small shop. Curious, he went over to look. Turns out, they were playing on a slot machine.
Cao Yang was very familiar with these things—he used to help watch over a game hall back home. But this place was even more chaotic: seven or eight people crowded around a single machine, betting together.
"You bet on watermelon, I'll bet on two-stars. After all the bets are placed, I'll add a ten-point bet. If it hits, we'll settle separately."
It was a complete mess, but they all seemed to enjoy it.
This betting style had one benefit: someone would always win, so the machine wouldn't wipe them all out at once.
Cao Yang knew the machine could be controlled. The players knew too—they were just having fun, gambling on the hope that they had hit a payout cycle.
Cao Yang had only two coins left in his pocket, but he was tempted. He tossed the two coins in, aiming to win five yuan and leave.
Beep beep—two spins later, two yuan turned into zero.
"Damn it!" he cursed, then returned to work to keep scrubbing boards.
He had just sat down, hadn't even started, when someone shouted:
"Hunan guys, all of you, come out!"
Cao Yang looked up. The man shouting was a team leader, but not his own.
"All Hunan men, get out here and follow me!" he repeated.
A dozen male workers from Hunan walked out.
Cao Yang followed too. He didn't know what they wanted, but he was also from Hunan, so maybe it was some kind of factory arrangement.
The group went downstairs and headed straight for the dormitory building.
The team leader kicked open a dorm room door, and everyone rushed inside and immediately started fighting.
Hearing the banging and thudding inside, Cao Yang was stunned. He hadn't expected they were called to fight.
He didn't join in—not because he was scared, and not because he lacked loyalty— but fights needed a reason. Why were they fighting? For what? He knew absolutely nothing. Going in just because someone yelled "Hunan guys!" would make him no different from an idiot.
The commotion quickly alerted the management, and soon the police arrived, taking away the team leader and the main fighters.
Seeing that things had calmed down, Cao Yang returned to work.
He had barely sat down for a few minutes when someone shouted again:
"Hunan men, all come out for a moment!"
"Seriously?! Again?!" This time, Cao Yang ignored them and kept scrubbing boards.
"Cao, they're calling you outside," his own team leader came over to tell him.
"They're going to fight again. I'm not going," Cao Yang said, acting like a well-behaved child.
"This time it's not a fight," the team leader said. "The leadership wants to see you all."
Hearing that the leadership wanted them, Cao Yang finally put down his work and went outside.
Once outside, he saw more than twenty people standing in a line. Cao Yang joined them.
"Are there any more? Are all male employees from Hunan here?"
"No, that's all of them."
"Alright." The supervisor nodded. "All of you are fired. Go back to your dorms, pack your things, and leave immediately."
"Why?" someone questioned.
"You gathered to fight and refused to obey management!"
Cao Yang felt wronged. He didn't fight at all—he just followed everyone there, and he didn't even know what was happening beforehand.
He wanted to argue, but then he noticed that even ten or so guys who hadn't gone at all were also fired. If anyone was being wronged, they were even more innocent than he was.
There was nothing to be done. Factories handled things with one-size-fits-all policies. In those days, labor was cheap and endless—no one cared about the workers.
"What about our wages? When do we get paid?" someone asked. If they were fired, at least the wages should be settled.
"You can come back on the 15th of next month to collect it." The supervisor said this and left.
That wouldn't work—Cao Yang didn't have a single cent left. If he couldn't get paid today, he wouldn't even have money for dinner.
He tried to rally the others to demand their pay. Even though he'd only worked eight hours, it should at least cover two meals.
He raised his voice to lead them… but no one responded. Everyone quietly packed their belongings and left, leaving him standing there like a clown.
Sigh… When it's someone else's business, you all rush to fight faster than anyone. But when it comes to your own wages, you all chicken out. No wonder capital takes advantage of you.
Everyone left, and Cao Yang couldn't start anything alone. Besides, he had only worked eight hours—there wasn't much money to fight for anyway.
He returned to the dorm, packed his things, and set off again.
With a red-blue woven bag in one hand and a bucket in the other—inside were his mat, slippers, towel, toothpaste, toothbrush, and soap—he walked under the blazing sun along the streets of Chang'an, Dongguan.
He had nowhere to go except back to find Li Yan. He followed the same route as before, sweat dripping off him. Passing the watermelon stall, he stared at the iced watermelon and the glass-bottled soda inside, licking his lips.
By the time he reached Li Yan's rented room, it was already seven in the evening. He knocked, but no one was home.
He knew Li Yan must have gone to work and wouldn't be back until four or five in the morning. He just wanted a quick shower and a fan—he didn't want to wait that long. So he went downstairs to the phone booth and called her.
"Yan-jie, I'm back."
"What are you doing back?"
"I got fired."
Before he even finished explaining why he was fired, Li Yan started scolding him nonstop.
"Did you get into a fight?! Why can't you behave? What did we talk about before you came out here—did you forget everything?!"
She scolded him so harshly that Cao Yang felt his temper spike.
"Yan-jie, that's not what happened…"
"Enough! Stop making excuses! I'll let it go this time, but if it happens again, I won't help you anymore!"
"I'm working now. Just wait at the door. I get off at four-thirty—I'll open the door for you then!"
"You're far away? Can't you come back for a minute? Or tell me the address—I can go there myself to get the key."
"No need. Just wait." Li Yan was about to hang up.
Suddenly, Cao Yang spoke, his tone strange:
"Is it because your workplace is something shameful, and you don't dare let me know where it is?"