After enduring three days of hardship, he asked the person in charge, "When will you let me out?"

The foreman looked at him and said, "You can only leave if you earn forty dollars!"

You've been here for three days and haven't done any work, but you've eaten for three days, costing four cents a day for food. Now you owe an extra dollar and twenty cents!

When did you say you could leave?

Xia Mingjiu was a little confused. "Why do I need to earn forty yuan?"

Here, sand is measured in cubic meters, with one cubic meter being one cubic meter of sand.

Sifting one cubic meter of sand only costs eight cents! Five hundred cubic meters of sand only costs forty dollars.

Three days' worth of food cost 1.2 yuan, which is equivalent to 15 cubic meters of sand.

So he's actually owing more and more?

Moreover, I have to sift out five cubic meters of sand every day just to earn enough for food!

In a moment, Xia Mingjiu understood everything in his mind!

Xia Mingjiu was a little dumbfounded. Was this going to kill him?

It's the fourth day, and as long as he goes out to sunbathe, no one still cares about him.

It's been five or six days, and it's still the same. Isn't his mother going to come and get him out of there?

Xia Mingjiu couldn't hold on any longer. He needed to send a message to his mother, begging her to come and save him!

The foreman of the sand quarry sneered: "Send a message to your mother? Someone said, if you sift less sand, you can forget about leaving!"

On the seventh day, Xia Mingjiu began sifting sand. He spent the entire day sifting but hadn't managed to sift out even two cubic meters of sand, and his hands were covered in blisters.

That day, he thought the cornbread was quite delicious, and he didn't get enough of it.

He also learned that the food was not unlimited.

When he's not working, he can eat until he's nine-tenths full, but when he's working, he feels that the food is only seven-tenths full.

I'm starving, it's so uncomfortable!

Two days later, his mother arrived, her eyes red from crying. Between sobs, she recounted how Xia Mingjiu had been brought here.

Xia Mingjiu never expected that the beautiful woman was Shen Changchuan's daughter-in-law.

What he did was quite shameful; he would be embarrassed if he saw Uncle Shen.

Come and sift sand here!

His mom can at least give him some food!

The guard said no.

His mother didn't believe in such superstitions. She knew there were higher-ups above the person in charge of the sand pit, so she went to find them.

His mother went to the sand quarry again under the guise of being a leader, but the person in charge of the quarry completely ignored her.

The items were confiscated.

His mother went to the sand pit manager again. The manager was also quite angry and went to find the person in charge.

The person in charge didn't know what they said to the leader, but the leader turned around and left.

His mother called him from behind, but he didn't turn around!

After that, Xia Mingjiu could only eat cornbread and sift sand.

It turns out that steamed buns made from two kinds of flour were rarely eaten; cornbread was the most common food!

Xia Mingjiu even tasted a sweetness in the cornbread, which puzzled him. Was the cornbread different from something else?

Xia Mingjiu was tired from sifting, so he straightened up and took a deep breath. He looked at his hands; they were covered in calluses.

The blisters haven't formed for a long time.

Looking at the other people working, they were all covered in dark soot.

Xia Mingjiu didn't have a mirror, and he guessed he didn't either.

Now he can sift ten cubic meters of sand a day, which is eight cents. After deducting the cost of food, he has four cents left.

It's far from forty yuan!

Xia Mingjiu looked up at the scorching sun. He thought to himself, "If I try my best today, I don't know if I can get the eleventh sample out. Even leaving a day earlier would be better."

Xia Mingjiu swung the shovel, "Let's get to work..."

Xia Mingjiu had just sifted a few shovelfuls of sand when he saw the sand field leader leading a man in military uniform from afar.

I don't know what they said to the manager, but they came towards me!

It must have been his dad or his mom who sent someone to rescue him!

It must be his dad; his mom didn't work last time!

His dad still loves him and can't bear to leave him here forever!

For the first time, Xia Mingjiu felt an overwhelming urge to cry; these days were finally over!

But as the person drew closer, Xia Mingjiu's excited expression froze on his face.

He didn't recognize the person, but he could guess who he was.

Xia Mingjiu should call him "elder brother" since he's older than him, but he can't bring himself to say it.

Shen Qian remained silent.

The two had never met and didn't know each other. Yet, they both resembled his father.