Working on a construction site was physically demanding. After lunch, there was an hour and a half of rest to avoid the midday heat, with work resuming at 2 PM.
Zhou Xiaoling had somehow found a piece of cardboard, spread it on the ground, patted it, and invited Chen Qiaoyu to nap with her.
Chen Qiaoyu didn’t find anything strange about two young girls lying on cardboard. She just felt a bit envious as she touched the thick, sturdy cardboard.
This cardboard was so much better than what they had back home.
Thinking about how developed the country would become in the future, how ordinary people could eat their fill and use such good things, Chen Qiaoyu felt a surge of strength in her heart.
When they resumed moving bricks in the afternoon, Zhou Xiaoling asked in confusion, “Qiaoyu, why aren’t you wearing gloves?”
Along with the hard hats, they had also been given labor protection gloves—knitted from white cotton yarn—to protect their hands from being cut by broken bricks and debris.
But Chen Qiaoyu looked at the clean, bright white yarn and couldn’t bear to dirty or tear them.
They didn’t have anything like this in her village. Only city workers got these knitted yarn gloves.
And even they wouldn’t use them carelessly. They would painstakingly save them up, and when they had enough, unravel the yarn to knit pants for t heir children.
Right now, Chen Qiaoyu had her hands wrapped in plastic bags she’d picked up at the site. And even those, she was reluctant to use.
Zhou Xiaoling felt quite helpless. Where on earth had Chen Qiaoyu come from?
She was a pretty, delicate-looking girl, yet everything about her screamed poverty.
The afternoon was much hotter than the morning. Brother Cheng brought over a large water dispenser barrel and reminded everyone to drink water to prevent heatstroke.
Chen Qiaoyu took a disposable cup and gulped down the water.
Through Zhou Xiaoling’s constant chatter, she had already learned a lot about this world. When she saw something new, she would only marvel quietly to herself, managing to keep a calm exterior.
But drinking the water still made her feel happy.
It was iced—cool and refreshing, soothing her to the core.
Brother Cheng was honest. When he said there wasn’t much work, there really wasn’t much. By 5:30 PM, he announced that the day was over.
Chen Qiaoyu reluctantly loaded the last two bricks onto the cart. She had grown attached to the work.
She had never seen such a good job before—meals provided, soup provided, water provided, hard hats and gloves given out.
Just for the lunchbox with meat, egg, and plenty of oil, she already felt it was worth it.
Brother Cheng called over someone wearing a red hard hat to inspect their work. The red hard hat nodded, apparently satisfied.
Then he left with Brother Cheng. Zhou Xiaoling said, “They’ve gone to settle the payment.”
Sure enough, Brother Cheng returned shortly after and told everyone to gather at the construction site entrance to return the hard hats and work passes.
Then he started calling out names and handing out wages.
She had experienced so many shocks throughout the day, but at this moment of getting paid, Chen Qiaoyu’s heart still raced like a drum.
However, the next second, she froze.
“This…”
What was this!
Chen Qiaoyu looked at the bright red and green “money” in her hand, wanting to cry but having no tears. Her heart shattered.
This wasn’t the money they used back home!
Even though she hadn’t lost anything, the 150 yuan she had dreamed about all day had turned into a few pieces of paper she couldn’t use. Chen Qiaoyu felt darkness closing in.
Zhou Xiaoling and the others were still quite happy.
Zhou Xiaoling counted her money and said, “Brother Cheng is pretty honest. He doesn’t withhold wages and pays on the same day.”
She turned her head and saw Chen Qiaoyu looking like she was about to cry. Somewhat confused, she asked, “Qiaoyu, what’s wrong?”
“N-nothing’s wrong.” Chen Qiaoyu looked at the money in her hand, swallowed her sorrow, rolled it up, and tucked it away safely.
Seeing her like this, Zhou Xiaoling wondered if Chen Qiaoyu was facing some kind of difficulty and needed to earn money.
But since Chen Qiaoyu didn’t bring it up, she didn’t want to pry, afraid of touching on something painful.
Zhou Xiaoling thought for a moment, then suggested, “Qiaoyu, let me treat you to dinner!”
Chen Qiaoyu quickly refused: “No, no, it’s fine. Brother Cheng gave me three boxes of rice!”
She was still very happy about that.
But Zhou Xiaoling had already taken her arm without giving her a chance to protest: “How can you have rice with no dishes? Come on, let me take you out to eat!”
Zhou Xiaoling led Chen Qiaoyu through a few twists and turns until they reached a night market street.
The sky hadn’t even darkened yet—summer days were long—but the night market was already bustling with activity.
Many people who had just gotten off work didn’t want to cook under the blazing western sun, so they headed straight to the night market, spending a little money on cold dishes and snacks to get by.
Chen Qiaoyu looked around in wonder. She had heard Qingyang mention that the educated youth had listened to the radio and learned that some places had already allowed individual businesses to operate, but she had never seen people doing business so openly.
She stuck close behind Zhou Xiaoling and asked, “Won’t you get arrested for doing business here?”
Zhou Xiaoling waved it off casually: “Why would you get arrested for doing business? …Oh, you mean the city management? No, this is a pedestrian street specifically for nearby villagers to run small businesses. The city management doesn’t come here.”
Then she muttered, “But if you go toward the city center, that’s different. They’re strict there—city management all over.”
Chen Qiaoyu thought to herself that it was a good thing she had asked.
Just as she was thinking this, Zhou Xiaoling suddenly got excited and tugged Chen Qiaoyu’s arm, pointing at a stall: “Roast chicken! This place’s roast chicken is really good! Let’s have this!”
Without waiting for Chen Qiaoyu to refuse, she dragged her over to the stall.
Chen Qiaoyu stumbled from being pulled along. Only after reaching the stall did she quickly say, “This… isn’t this expensive?”
Each household in the village was only allowed to keep five chickens, and even during the New Year, they weren’t necessarily willing to slaughter one.
She had only met Zhou Xiaoling today, and now Zhou Xiaoling wanted to treat her to roast chicken?
Chen Qiaoyu was so shocked she felt her jaw might drop. She frantically waved her hands in refusal.
But the impulsive Zhou Xiaoling had already spoken directly to the roast chicken vendor: “Boss, one roast chicken to go. Chop it up for me! Thanks!”
The vendor, sweating profusely in the heat, picked out a chicken with golden, sizzling, crispy skin.
In no time, he chopped it into pieces, sprinkled on cumin and chili powder, and bagged it up: “Fifteen yuan.”
Zhou Xiaoling paid cheerfully.
By now, Chen Qiaoyu had frozen in front of the stall, her wide-open mouth slowly curling into an unstoppable smile.
That’s right!
If she could earn money here, why couldn’t she spend it here?
Chen Qiaoyu didn’t know whether to blame the overwhelming shock of the day or the fact that she was so poor from farming every day that she’d never even thought about spending money on things.
She slowly composed her expression, hiding her nervousness in her clenched fists, and asked Zhou Xiaoling with feigned calmness, “So how much is that roast duck?”
Zhou Xiaoling answered casually: “Roast duck is twenty-one, but I don’t think it’s very good.”
Chen Qiaoyu stared at the roast duck. No way, she thought. Something so crispy, golden, and sizzling with oil couldn’t possibly taste bad.
Chen Qiaoyu pulled out the money she had earned today, took out the fifty-yuan note, mustered her courage, and handed it to the vendor: “Boss, give me one roast duck. Chopped up too, and… put plenty of chili powder on it.”
She and Qingyang hadn’t had anything good to eat in a long time, let alone something so flavorful.
She wanted lots and lots of chili—so much it would make her sweat!