14. Painkillers
Zeng Xiasheng had a simple dinner, hesitated for a while, filled his kettle with water, and got up to go to the bus stop.
Nighttime sorting was incredibly tiring, the intensity of his previous prison labor incomparable. He struggled to wash after returning home each day, barely managing a shower before falling into bed. For two weeks straight, every part of his body ached, and even sitting in the shop during the day felt exhausting. Although he'd agreed with his supervisor to have two days off a month, every evening, Zeng Xiasheng would sit there and think, "I can hold on for another night. I should save time for the day I absolutely need to rest."
At first, Chen Tianhao joked that he didn't stay in the store at night and went out to have fun. Later, he gradually noticed his rapidly increasing appetite and the blisters on his palms. His persuasion was futile, so he had to tell him to take it easy and not to overwork himself at such a young age. He also promised that if he could hold on for a few more months until the branch store opened, life would be better.
The branch was not what I had expected.
Chen Tianhao originally planned to open two small shops near a vegetable market and an affordable supermarket, targeting middle-aged and elderly people, primarily offering low-cost mobile phone debugging services and selling low-end used phones for three or four hundred yuan. He had ambitions, but limited start-up capital. After much calculation, he only had enough savings to open two. However, after a month of searching, he unexpectedly met a man who had money and wanted to open a shop but no technical skills. This led to a complete change of direction, with the intention of renting a large space near Jiangming Vocational High School to sell mid- to high-end used phones and low-end new phones to the students who were just hanging around there.
As a partner, Chen Tianhao of course has to invest money, so he only gave Zeng Xiasheng a small amount of hard work fee for the recent big jobs, and kept 60% to 70% to invest in purchasing second-hand mobile phones.
Chen Tianhao was five or six years older than him. His family was poor, and his girlfriend's family didn't like him, so he was desperate to get rich and was tricked into committing fraud. His sister-in-law, however, remained loyal and waited until he was released from prison. Now, nearing thirty, it was difficult for him to find a partner in the countryside, so his family reluctantly accepted Chen Tianhao, though they still despised him to some extent.
He was too embarrassed to bring up the matter of dividing the money with Zeng Xiasheng, and Zeng Xiasheng didn't say anything, so he just took it as his consent.
In prison, Chen Tianhao's sentence was much shorter, and he didn't spend much time with Zeng Xiasheng, but he always looked out for him. Zeng Xiasheng couldn't get a word out of Chen Tianhao, who didn't get angry. He just said he'd open a mobile phone store when he got out and asked Zeng Xiasheng to come help him out after he was released. Zeng Xiasheng didn't take it seriously, but when his release was near, Chen Tianhao even came to visit him and explained the matter to him.
Therefore, Zeng Xiasheng was happy to suggest that he and his sister-in-law settle down in the city as soon as possible. Occasionally, when there were some small jobs that required cash, he would just quietly put them into Chen Tianhao's drawer and not record them in the account.
He had just screwed the lid on the kettle when Chen Tianhao's voice called out from outside, asking him to come out and help. To save money, Chen Tianhao had been shopping for renovation materials himself, and now the warehouse behind him was so full that there was no room left. Zeng Xiasheng responded, lifted the curtain, and went out to help.
As he bent down to lift the other end of the plank, a sharp pain in his back and shoulders nearly made him drop it, but he gritted his teeth and continued to lift it. Muscles are like that; once they rest, they start to act up. If you force them to work, they gradually become numb. After five or six trips back and forth, they finally stuffed all the planks into the warehouse, and both of them were sweating profusely.
Zeng Xiasheng picked up the freshly filled kettle and drank a few mouthfuls. Then, Chen Tianhao advised, "Take a day off tonight. I saw your arms were shaking a little."
He didn't say anything. Chen Tianhao saw him wipe the sweat off his face and refill the kettle. Knowing that he still planned to go, he sighed heavily.
"You're such a stickler. Even if she paid off your debt, she's a white-collar worker, easily making tens of thousands sitting in an office. Do you want you to work hard here to pay her back?"
Tang Sizhuo was sitting in a snack bar in the alley. He saw two people moving things back and forth and vaguely heard someone talking, but he couldn't hear clearly.
She didn't want Zeng Xiasheng to see her dispirited look again, so she took a taxi and found a shop to stay in. The sight of the lights coming from the repair shop and the occasional shadows of people moving around made her feel much more at ease.
With no appetite and worried about being accosted by the wrong crowd, Tang Sizhuo ordered a few dishes, but didn't remove her mask or hat, nor did she pick up her chopsticks. She simply leaned her head against the wall, staring intently out the window. The landlady, seeing her sitting there for over an hour, assumed she was feeling unwell and came over several times to check on her. However, Tang Sizhuo didn't even have the energy to speak, and at most, she shook her head, indicating she was fine.
I thought I would sit here until ten o'clock in the evening, but I didn't expect Zeng Xiasheng to come out and pull down the rolling shutter door at just eight o'clock.
Tang Sizhuo subconsciously stepped back, but Zeng Xiasheng didn't even look at her. After locking the door, he stood in the dark for a while and then slowly walked towards the alley.
Aren't you going home? Where are you going?
As he was about to leave the alley, Tang Sizhu stood up and followed him out. Her spirits had improved a little, and she actually laughed at herself inwardly. Knowingly breaking the law, this was considered stalking. But she had no intention of actually prying into his privacy. She just wanted to see him, to be close to him, that was all.
Zeng Xiasheng grew up in the most chaotic area of Jiangming City, having been involved in constant fights since childhood. He was usually sharp-witted, but today he seemed oblivious to what was happening outside. Tang Sizhuo thought he was about to be exposed several times, but he didn't care. After he got on the bus at the bus stop, Tang Sizhuo also hailed a taxi and followed him.
The bus was heading out of the city.
Tang Sizhu initially thought he was going back to his grandmother's house, but when she passed the bus stop closest to the old house, she didn't see Zeng Xiasheng among the people getting off. Finally, when the bus reached the terminal, Zeng Xiasheng got off and walked into a nearby park.
The taxi driver was very unhappy. After leaving the city, he kept complaining to Tang Sizhuo that he hadn't told him in advance, and that he would have to go back empty-handed to such a remote location. Tang Sizhuo didn't want to argue with him. She directly said that she would pay double the fare, and finally silenced the driver and dropped her off at the park gate.
Nearing nine o'clock, the suburbs of the city were completely silent, with no one around, and only the noise of machinery operating could be heard from the factories in the park.
Tang Sizhuo walked to the door and saw Zeng Xiasheng's back from afar, gradually disappearing into the night.
As they approached the terminal, she had already vaguely guessed what he was here for, but the words "Logistics Distribution Center" on the doorplate still caused a dull pain in her chest.
Is there something you need money for urgently? Why don’t you come to her?
She studied hard, got into a good university as he instructed, and found a decent job that could make money, wasn't it all for the sake of making their lives better in the future?
But he doesn't want it, he doesn't want anything.
She thought the suffering of her fate would end with the sentence, but in the end, she did everything she could, but nothing went as she wished, and her life was even worse than before.
The overwhelming feeling of powerlessness almost instantly overwhelmed her, and Tang Sizhuo regretted not going home directly. Even if she was immersed in the hallucinations of the drugs, it was better than staying here.
She finally began to feel hungry, cold, and sore all over, unable to support her increasingly heavy head. The steps to the gatehouse were covered in dirt, but Tang Sizhu couldn't even take more than one step. She sat down dejectedly on the cold tiles, burying her head in her knees, and the tears she had been holding back all day finally fell.
When Zeng Xiasheng walked into the factory, he vaguely heard some noise behind him. He turned around and found that it was a taxi passing by the door.
After a nap on the bus, he felt a bit refreshed, but he was still extremely tired, especially his joints. After changing his clothes, he fished out a pack of painkillers from his pocket, not bothering to open the kettle, so he broke open a pill and swallowed it.
He took the packaging he found in Tang Sizhu's kitchen that day to several pharmacies and finally someone recognized it. They said it was an imported painkiller with good efficacy. It was nothing special, just a little expensive. Many people would buy it to take when they had a headache or dysmenorrhea.
Of course, painkillers cannot be taken with alcohol. In that case, the man's question that day was reasonable.
Zeng Xiasheng didn't know what he was thinking. He'd just gone to ask, but as he reached the door, he thought about it and went back to buy another box. Tang Sizhuo had always suffered from period cramps, and perhaps work had added to the headaches. If she suddenly needed it, it would be better to stick with the brand she was used to. But when he actually took the box in his hands and saw the English on the back, which he couldn't quite read, Zeng Xiasheng felt ridiculous. As long as she was fine, he should have stayed away from her. Why would he have thought she'd come to him for painkillers?
So he put the medicine in his pocket, since it was the right remedy for muscle pain.
The price is high, but the effect is fast. Zeng Xiasheng put on gloves, took a deep breath, and walked towards the conveyor belt.
If only humans could function like machines, he thought idly as he continued loading goods onto the forklift. If humans could function like machines, they wouldn't feel tired, wouldn't feel pain, wouldn't suffer through unnecessary emotions. They simply had to complete their mission, running and running until they broke down.
When the bell rang at five in the morning, Zeng Xiasheng took a few seconds to pause. Standing by the conveyor belt, he felt momentarily disoriented, perhaps because the painkillers had blurred the pain and, in turn, his perception. After handing over his shift to someone new, he realized his arms were shaking violently. He tried to drink a few sips of water, but most of it ended up spilling all over himself.
The tight T-shirt was soaked with sweat layer by layer, and was covered with salt marks. Zeng Xiasheng simply took it off, wrung it dry, wiped his body casually, and then put on an empty sweater, wrapped himself in a coat, and walked out.
They had to register their time when entering and leaving, but the doorman was not there. Zeng Xiasheng leaned against the doorman's window and waited for a long time before he realized that the doorman was simply not in the room.
An elderly man was hunched over behind the gatehouse, a sliver of his army-green cotton-padded jacket visible. He seemed to be talking to someone, coughing from the cold wind. Zeng Xiasheng didn't have the energy to call out to him, so he knocked twice on the window. The gatekeeper heard him, straightened up, looked over, and waved his hand at him, making a sound like a bellows.
"Wait a moment, why is there a person sitting here? A little girl, she's cold and sick. I'm calling 120. Come over here, help her get inside and warm her up for a while."
I should refuse, Zeng Xiasheng thought. He was so tired his eyelids were drooping, and moving back to his rental apartment wasn't easy. But perhaps because he'd spent too much time with a good student like Tang Sizhuo, the thug who only knew the law of the jungle had begun to sympathize with someone unrelated.
The guard made way and went inside to make a phone call. Zeng Xiasheng leaned against the wall for support, preparing to reach out and pull the man up.
However, when he looked over, he saw Tang Sizhu leaning against the wall of the gatehouse, his eyes closed and his face flushed with fever.
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