As the iron gate slammed shut behind her, Xu Runli squinted at the sky.

The leaden-gray clouds hung low, like a tattered piece of cotton soaked in water, suffocating the whole world.

She clutched the crumpled release certificate in her arms, her fingers picking at the rough edges of the paper until her knuckles turned white from the force.

"Xu Runli!" The warden's voice echoed in the empty courtyard. "Remember to report on time and don't cause any more trouble."

Xu Runli didn't turn around, and staggered towards the bus stop.

The blue cloth jacket he was wearing had faded from washing, and the cuffs were frayed. The wind blew in, seeping into his flesh along the seams of his bones.

She remembered the corduroy jacket she wore before entering the detention center. It was sent by her ex-husband, Jiang Zhicheng, and was navy blue with a small red flower pinned to the chest.

Those were her most presentable clothes, now long gone, lost somewhere.

The bench at the bus stop was covered in dust. As soon as Xu Runli sat down, the woman next to her moved aside, her eyes filled with disdain that felt like needles, making Xu Runli shrink back.

She looked down at her shoes; the rubber soles had cracked, revealing straw inside, which had been stuffed in when they were mended last month. It was better than going barefoot.

The bus arrived, and she pulled out a crumpled bill from her pocket. The ticket seller glanced at her, then took the money and pinched it between two fingers as if she were holding something dirty.

There weren't many people in the carriage, but no one wanted to sit next to her, and the air around her seemed to freeze.

Xu Runli gazed at the street scene flashing past the window. The skyscrapers made her dizzy, and the light reflected from those glass curtain walls was even more dazzling than the searchlights in the detention center.

She was going to stay with her cousin; that was the only place she could think of.

My cousin runs a small restaurant in the suburbs. When I visited her in prison last time, she said she was willing to give her a meal.

But when she actually stood at the restaurant entrance, Xu Runli hesitated again.

The red oil signboard swayed in the wind, and the aroma of meat wafting out made her stomach churn. On the glass door, the words "clean hands and feet" on the red paper that read "Waitress Wanted" were particularly eye-catching.

"Runli?" Her cousin poked her head out from inside, her apron stained with oil. Seeing her like this, her brows furrowed. "How did you get like this?"

Xu Runli opened her mouth, but her throat felt like it had been rubbed with sandpaper, and she couldn't utter a sound for a long time.

My cousin sighed and pulled her towards the kitchen: "Come in first, don't block the business at the door."

The smell of cooking oil in the kitchen made her cough, and the sewage on the floor was sticky.

Her cousin stuffed a steamed bun into her hand: "Have something to eat first. There's a lot of work to do, washing dishes and mopping the floor. If you do a good job, I'll give you some food, but don't worry about wages."

Xu Runli bit into the steamed bun, the dry, hard crumbs stinging her throat.

She saw a mountain of dishes in the sink, with greasy bubbles shimmering on the surface, much like her own years of aimless drifting.

"Thank you, sister," she said, her voice muffled by a mouthful of steamed bun. "I will definitely do my best."

But she's too clumsy with her hands.

The dish soap made the bowl slippery, and I slipped and fell, shards of porcelain scattering on the floor, breaking into tiny pieces.

My cousin's scolding immediately erupted: "Are you here to work or to sabotage us? Do you still think you're living the life of a pampered young lady in the Yun family? You can't even do this simple thing right, no wonder you got in jail!"

Xu Runli squatted on the ground picking up porcelain shards. Her fingertip was cut, and a drop of blood dripped into the sewage, spreading into a small red blotch.

She recalled how she used to scoff when she was young, thinking that she looked particularly unsophisticated when she did manual labor. Now she realizes how fortunate she is to be able to wash a dish peacefully.

At night, she slept in the kitchen storage room, where piles of cabbages smelled damp, and mice scurried about on the beams, as if counting her heartbeats.

She wrapped her tattered cotton-padded coat tighter around herself, recalling the winter before she went to the detention center, when her husband was still alive, and her mother was still alive...

But now, things have changed.

Yun Tangyin must be doing well, right?

At the time, she just wanted to prove herself, but now she's appreciating the true meaning of it.

She herself made the process of life so salty it was bitter, so bitter it was unbearable.

Her cousin kicked her out after she had only worked there for three days.

The reason was that a piece of meat was missing, and no one in the kitchen admitted to it. My cousin's eyes were fixed on her like nails: "If you didn't take it, who did? You can't get rid of your dishonest habits!"

Xu Runli didn't argue; she knew it was pointless.

She packed up her few belongings and left.

A tattered cotton-padded jacket, half a hard, dry steamed bun, and a crumpled photograph—it was from her childhood.

At that time, Xu Runli was still hoping that Yun Zhixiong would take her back to the Yun family and she would become a rich young lady, never having to work or suffer again.

As I left the restaurant, it started snowing again.

Snowflakes fell on her tattered cotton-padded coat and melted in no time, the damp and cold air seeping into her bones.

She wandered aimlessly, passing a vegetable market where she saw people throwing away rotten vegetable leaves.

She walked over as if drawn by a magnet, squatted down and picked out the edible bits, her fingers frozen red, like carrots.

"Hey! What are you doing!" The stall owner came over with a broom in hand. "Get away from here, don't dirty my place!"

Xu Runli ran back with the vegetable leaves she had picked up, but her foot slipped and she fell on the icy road.

Vegetable leaves were scattered all over the ground, covered with mud and snow, just like her fragmented life.

She lay on the ground, suddenly not wanting to get up. Tears mixed with snow water flowed into her mouth, bitter and astringent.

"Big sister, are you alright?" a voice rang out from above.

Xu Runli looked up and saw a pair of cloth shoes covered in flour. Looking up, she saw a faded blue apron, and above that, a somewhat familiar face.

He is a distant nephew of the Yun family, and he sells steamed buns at the vegetable market.

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