Chapter 1: A Down-and-out Middle-aged Man
Capital city.
Outside the Fifth Ring Road, the vegetable market.
The howling cold wind was accompanied by the squeals of pigs, and the crowded Caishikou was the most lively.
Chen Pingsheng was smoking Lao Baisha cigarettes which cost 4.5 yuan a pack and blowing out a puff of white smoke rings. After a while, a few fashionable aunties came to his tricycle.
The durian, which was purchased at 15 yuan per pound, was sold at 16.8 yuan, but people still thought it was too expensive. After much discussion, they bargained down to 90 cents.
Gotta…sell every single deal we can.
"The urban management is here, run!"
"Fuck, didn't you come here yesterday? Why are you here again today?"
Just as he was about to scan the code to collect the money, he drove away on his tricycle.
If I run too late and get caught, all my half-month work will be wasted.
I don’t know when it started, but this leader of his hometown and a big shot in the school had his life turned into a mess.
Fortunately, he got married early and his wife is five years younger than him. Although they don’t have a house or a car, they still have a warm home.
The days of drifting in Beijing are not so lonely anymore.
After parking the tricycle, he used the key to open the door with a creaky sound.
There was a little baby hiding behind the door. As soon as he entered the door, he rushed over and stuck to him like a little pendant.
Chen Pingsheng picked her up and pinched her little nose. The little baby was so cute. No matter how hard he worked outside, it was worth it as long as he could see her at home.
This is his five-year-old daughter Chen Anan.
"Chen Pingsheng, you're back just in time."
Inside the room, a city beauty with wavy hair was sitting on a small sofa.
She crossed her arms across her chest and crossed her legs with an expressionless face, and it looked like she had no good intentions.
"Sister-in-law, when did you come here?"
"Hmph." Song Wu snorted coldly, ignoring his polite words and said bluntly, "I'm here to ask you to let my sister go."
"What do you mean? I don't understand."
Chen Pingsheng's face changed, but Song Wu didn't care about his face at all. "Don't play dumb. My sister has been with you for six years, from the time we got married until now. Do you think she still has any of the youthful exuberance she once had? Has she had a good day since she followed you?"
"She had to wash dishes while pregnant to earn money. Less than a month after giving birth to An An, she was working two jobs."
"Six years."
Song Wu grew angrier as she spoke. "For six years, my sister has been forced to live with you in this dark, tiny rental apartment. Chen Pingsheng, if my sister hadn't chosen you, would she have had to live like this?"
Chen Pingsheng's breathing stagnated, and his eyes kept changing, no matter how many emotions he had.
There is no way to refute it at this moment.
Maybe everyone would think that it was because he was too lazy.
In fact, it was just the opposite. He was very hardworking. He would go out before dawn every day and would come back very late.
Looking back to when he first came to Beijing, he had no academic qualifications and no special skills.
I went to the construction site under the scorching sun, carried cement and moved bricks, and worked there for a whole year. Later, I heard that there was money to be made by driving a truck and traveling around.
Now he sells durians like a guerrilla on a tricycle. Although it is not very decent, he can still make a net profit of 10,000 to 20,000 yuan every month.
But what’s the use of this?
As his sister-in-law said, with his income, even if he didn't eat or drink for ten years, it would still not be enough to pay the down payment for a house within the Third Ring Road of Beijing.
When will days like this end?
An An still has to study and there are elderly people at home who need to be taken care of. Whenever it is late at night and everyone is asleep, he always thinks of the oath he made.
I want to provide my wife with a life of luxury before she turns 30, but I don't have the ability to do so.
I want to be the pride of my parents, but I can't do it at all.
Life, it not only crushed his waist but also his former ideals.
Song Wu cursed him with all kinds of nasty words, but she never called him lazy.
She just hated her sister. Why did she choose a man like this who had no education and no birth at the most beautiful age?
If she had listened to her parents and married a city dweller, her income might not be as high as Chen Pingsheng's, but she would have lived a very stable life.
It's nothing. In the face of these sky-high priced concrete houses, one house is enough to crush the ordinary person's mediocre life.
Chen Pingsheng fell silent, and Song Wu left angrily.
When his wife came back, she brought a bouquet of flowers.
Once upon a time, his wife was the white moonlight of many people, pretty, beautiful, gentle and kind.
He always thought that being able to find such a woman was a sign of saving the galaxy in his previous life.
Song Yanxi is only 25 years old now. Although she has given birth to a child, she still maintains an excellent figure, with a slim waist, perky hips, long legs and delicate facial features.
It’s just a pity that since I married him, I have never bought a decent set of cosmetics or worn a brand name coat.
The beautiful girl in the past is now stirring the spoon with her bare hands, with a low ponytail casually tied up and a few strands of messy hair scattered on her temples.
"Bang..." The door closed and Song Yanxi changed into the pair of white cotton shoes that she had worn for five years.
"Mom, my aunt has been here."
Chen Anan trotted over to her, and Song Yanxi hugged her to herself with a faint smile.
Chen Pingsheng prepared a meal, one meat and one vegetable as usual. His family lived an extremely frugal life.
All this is to settle down in the capital as soon as possible.
Song Yanxi put the bag in her hand on the table. When she opened it, she found half a roast duck and some spicy chicken feet.
"Wow...an extra meal today."
Little An An clapped her hands happily. Song Yanxi touched her head and brought a small stool over for her to sit on.
"Pingsheng, today is our sixth wedding anniversary."
No wonder he spent money to buy these things. It turned out to be their wedding anniversary. In the past, he might have been very happy, but now it was hard for him to smile.
It has been six years, and none of the things I wanted to achieve have come true, and there is no sign of the happy life I wanted to give my wife.
"Why aren't you talking? Did my little sister say something nasty again?"
Song Yanxi frowned slightly, put down her chopsticks and grabbed his hand.
Chen Pingsheng didn't want to explain too much on this topic, so he simply made an excuse: "No, I saw the weather forecast and it said it would rain again tomorrow. You know, when it rains, I can't go out to make money with my tricycle."
"If you can't go out, then you can't go out."
Song Yanxi said distressedly, "You haven't had a few days of rest this year. It's just the right time to take An An out to play while it's raining. Don't go moving with others when it rains."
She was still as gentle and kind as ever, and the more so, the more ashamed Chen Pingsheng felt.
But this is all he has.
Apart from doing some manual labor, he usually sells durian. Unlike those young people who say they want to start a business, he only dares to think about it when he goes to bed at night.
Life doesn't allow it.
When people reach middle age, they become more and more anxious when they think that the future may be like this.
"I haven't even found a house yet, how can I rest?" Chen Pingsheng shook his head.
Song Yanxi pursed her lips, wanting to say something but not opening her mouth.
She went to see it today and found that the price of the small house she liked had increased again.
The down payment was almost enough, but now it’s quite a bit short.
There was nothing to complain about this day; he was already tired enough.
When resting at night, Song Yanxi carried little An An to the small bed next to her, covered him with a thick quilt, and then she timidly lay down next to him.
Chen Pingsheng felt her fullness and tried hard to hold back the tears from the corners of his eyes.
He also thought about returning to his hometown in the small county, building a big house in the countryside and living a simple life.
Let’s just live like this for the rest of our lives.
But there was always a voice in his heart telling him that as a man, he should at least let his wife and children live the life they want.
How long can you escape?
“Ding~”
A sound came from my hazy mind. I don’t know what it was. I can only go and see it tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)
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