"Brother Xiao Jian, why did you say the factory manager has no intention of giving us permanent positions?"
The boy opposite him seemed confused, so he stopped eating with his fork and asked loudly.
“Gao Hu, don’t you think about why he dares to hire us? It’s because nobody else wants us. Even if he pays us very little, we’ll still work for him.”
"He even tries to deduct the wages of regular employees, so why would he give us permanent positions and higher pay?"
Upon hearing this, the boy named Gao Hu lowered his head, and his movements became limp.
"Sigh, at this rate, I'll be living a more comfortable life than when I was begging for food."
Gao Hu was also a child with a hard life. He didn't even know where his home was and had been begging with his grandmother since he was a child.
Three years ago, Grandma froze to death on the roadside during a heavy snowfall, leaving Gao Hu all alone.
He begged his way from the north to Daye Town, where he was taken in by Zhang Jinliang.
The purpose of taking him in was the same as Xiao Jian's: to have one and a half free laborers.
He arrived a few days later than Xiao Jian and was arranged by Zhang Jinliang to live with Xiao Jian in a dilapidated cave dwelling outside the town.
The two worked together, ate together, and slept together, doing the hardest and most tiring work in the entire factory while receiving the lowest wages. They were truly a pair of unfortunate brothers.
As dusk fell, the workday bell rang.
The machine slowly stopped roaring as workers collected the last piece of cotton that had come out of the machine.
The workday is over.
Xiao Jian and Gao Hu took off their masks and washed the dust off their bodies and heads at the tap. They picked up their tattered coats from beside the pile of cotton and walked out of the factory together.
Do you have any money left?
On the way, Xiao Jian asked Gao Hu.
Gao Hu took out a few one-cent and two-cent coins from his pocket. Together they amounted to just over ten cents.
That's all.
He showed Xiao Jian the few coins he held in his palm.
"Sigh, I'm going to go hungry again tonight."
Xiao Jian sighed.
The factory only provides breakfast and lunch each day; you have to go home and find your own dinner.
The two of them together earn less than twenty yuan a month.
These teenagers, one fifteen and the other sixteen, are at the peak of their appetites. This little money is nowhere near enough to feed them.
The two walked along with long faces, kicking pebbles along the roadside.
Suddenly, Gao Ya's eyes lit up, as if he had thought of something.
"Brother, when I came out this morning, I saw that the sweet potatoes planted not far to the west of our cave dwelling had all been harvested. Why don't we go pick some sweet potatoes to eat?"
In this area of Jiaoxi, many people grow sweet potatoes every year; in some places they are also called yams.
Harvesting sweet potatoes is all done manually, so some inevitably end up in the field.
Once autumn is over and the land is turned over, these fallen sweet potatoes will have been wasted.
Therefore, in those days, many families with many children would go to the fields to harvest sweet potatoes during this season. If they were lucky, one person could harvest more than half a fertilizer bag, enough to feed the whole family for several days.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jian thought it was indeed a good idea. Before it got dark, they might be able to make a decent amount of money, at least they wouldn't go hungry that night.
"Let's go back and get our weapons."
The two quickened their pace and headed towards their dilapidated cave dwelling.
Following the overgrown path, we soon arrived at the outskirts of town.
In the distance, Xiao Jian saw a petite red figure lingering in front of their cave dwelling.
"It's Huihui."
The two of them recognized who it was.
Huihui is the factory director's daughter, the kind-hearted girl who pleaded for Xiao Weiguo back then.
Over the past year, the only thing that has brought them warmth is this kind little girl.
Zhang Huihui and Xiao Jian are the same age, both sixteen, but Zhang Huihui is two months younger than Xiao Jian and one year older than Gao Hu.
Therefore, she always called Guan Xiaojian "Brother Xiaojian," and Gao Hu called her "Sister Hui."
When the two of them had no money for food, Huihui often used her own pocket money to help them, and she also stole food from home to give them to them on several occasions.
Although it can't solve any major problems, it's the most heartwarming thing in their world.
I don't know how her father, who is so greedy for money that he wouldn't even spend money to find another wife after his wife died, could have such a kind and generous daughter.
Seeing Xiao Jian and the others return, Zhang Huihui took her hands out from behind her back.
She held a letter in her hand and waved it forcefully at Xiao Jian a few times.
"Xiao Jian, there's a letter for you."
Xiao Jian ran over and took the letter. It was from his good friend Liu Qing. Apart from Liu Qing, no one else knew that he was in this place.
"Thank you, Huihui."
As he spoke, he immediately tore open the envelope.
In his letter, Liu Qing first greeted him and then told him that his good-for-nothing brother seemed to have made a fortune and had moved to the city with his family.
What's most infuriating is that he even seduced his older sister, Liu Ye, and they're now engaged.
He admitted that he was no match for that scoundrel, and that he had suffered a crushing defeat in every encounter with him.
So much so that now even his entire home has fallen.
His parents have both sided with Xiao Weiguo, leaving him fighting alone. He asked Xiao Jian what he should do now, because if things continue like this, he won't be able to hold on any longer.
This was the second time Liu Qing had complained to him. In the previous letter, she mentioned that Xiao Weiguo had given her family a large television and a herd of livestock.
Xiao Jian didn't believe that Xiao Weiguo had become rich. If a scoundrel like him could get rich, then there would be no justice in the world.
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