He bent down, picked up the straw mat, wrapped it around his waist, and stumbled out of the bridge arch.
The sunlight was so bright that he couldn't open his eyes.
Su Mingde squinted and looked around, and noticed that there were a few pieces of clothing hanging in the yard of a house not far away.
He swallowed hard; his throat felt like it was on fire.
"Just...just one item..."
Su Mingde said to himself, his voice trembling and out of tune.
He crept closer to the house, his heart pounding like a drum, afraid of being discovered.
A faded blue overall and a pair of patched trousers hung on the clothesline, swaying gently in the morning breeze.
Su Mingde reached for the work clothes, but stopped in mid-air.
Wasn't he kicked out of his home because he tried to steal money from his family?
"I was forced into this situation..."
Su Mingde bit his lip, but finally pulled off the work clothes and pants.
The rough feel of the fabric gave him goosebumps, but he had no other choice.
He quickly put on his clothes; his pants were too short, revealing his bruised ankles, but at least they covered his body.
The clothes had a faint smell of sweat and soap. Su Mingde took a deep breath and suddenly remembered his Dacron shirt that had been stolen.
He bought it with three months' salary savings, just to appear presentable in front of Liu Meijuan.
Thinking of this, his eyes welled up with tears again.
"Go to work first..."
Su Mingde wiped his face and decided to go to the neighborhood office to borrow some money from his colleagues for the emergency.
He looked down at his outfit; the collar of his work clothes was frayed and there were several obvious oil stains on the cuffs.
If I go to work looking like this, I'll probably be laughed at to death.
But I can't worry about that now.
The neighborhood office was not far from the underpass, and Su Mingde walked for about twenty minutes with heavy steps.
With each step he took, the pain from his injuries caused him to break out in a cold sweat.
As he passed a breakfast stall, the aroma of fried dough sticks sent a jolt of pain through his stomach.
He was really hungry; he hadn't eaten properly since being kicked out of his home.
When the neighborhood office building came into view, Su Mingde subconsciously straightened his collar, only to find that there was no collar to straighten.
This workwear has a crew neck.
He took a deep breath, pushed open the glass door, and went inside.
"Hey! Who's this?"
The receptionist, Sister Zhang, was eating sunflower seeds when she saw Su Mingde's expression and her eyes widened like saucers.
"Officer Su? What happened to you...?"
Su Mingde awkwardly tugged at his overly short trouser legs and forced a smile.
"Sister Zhang, I...I was robbed last night."
"Oh my god!"
Sister Zhang exaggeratedly covered her mouth.
"Did you call the police? You're in such a terrible state!"
Su Mingde shook his head. All he wanted to do was quickly find a colleague to borrow some money, buy a decent set of clothes, and have a good meal.
Is Section Chief Li here?
"Yes, yes..."
Sister Zhang hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.
"But, Officer Su, your outfit..."
Su Mingde walked quickly toward his office before she could finish speaking.
Several colleagues in the corridor saw him and looked surprised; some even covered their noses and took two steps back.
Su Mingde then realized that he might still smell of the stench from the bridge arch, and his face immediately burned.
The door to Section Chief Li's office was half-open. Just as Su Mingde was about to knock, he heard a familiar voice coming from inside.
"...If that kid dares to come today, I'll teach him a lesson! His work attitude is so lax; he even dared to take the day off yesterday..."
Su Mingde's hand froze in mid-air; it was Section Chief Li's voice.
He then remembered that he had indeed taken the day off to look for an apartment, but his work attitude...
In the entire organization, who isn't lax?
"Section Chief, Su Mingde is here."
Su Mingde was startled when his colleague Xiao Wang's voice suddenly rang out from behind him.
The office door was suddenly pulled open, and Section Chief Li's greasy, chubby face appeared in front of us.
He looked Su Mingde up and down, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
"You...fell into a cesspool?"
Section Chief Li pinched his nose and took a step back, his eyes filled with disgust.
All the other colleagues in the office stopped what they were doing and looked toward the door.
Su Mingde felt countless gazes piercing him like needles, and he wished he could disappear into a crack in the ground.
"Section Chief, I was robbed last night, and everything was stolen..."
Su Mingde's voice grew softer and softer.
"I was wondering... if I could get an advance on my salary..."
"An advance on salary?"
Section Chief Li suddenly raised his voice, attracting more colleagues to peek out.
"Look at yourself! The neighborhood committee is a government agency, representing the national image! Are you trying to become a laughingstock by dressing like this to work?"
Su Mingde lowered his head, his nails digging deeply into his palms.
He heard whispers and suppressed laughter coming from around him.
"I...I just..."
"Go home and clean up before you come back!"
Section Chief Li interrupted him sharply and waved his hand impatiently.
"Get out of here! Stop embarrassing yourself!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
