The Ethics of a Slacker

Chapter 130

After that incident, the old men and women at the hospital always talked about how young people these days were under so much pressure—perhaps even more pressure than they had faced back then. They didn't understand things like machines; those were for young people to figure out.

And it was precisely because of all that tinkering that every one of them ended up with mental problems.

"The other day, I saw a young man squatting there by himself, laughing out loud," an old woman whispered. She turned her head and happened to spot Li Wenchuan walking past, immediately falling silent.

Li Wenchuan acted as though he had heard nothing and nodded at them with a smile. He had no way to voice his suffering. He had been careless and failed to consider the setting.

Then he heard the old woman behind him start whispering again, apparently assuming he could not hear her. "It's that young man. When he first came, he even brought us fruit. Such a nice person—what a pity."

Another old woman echoed with a troubled expression, "Really? That's too tragic. My old man feeds pigs every day, but at least he's strong and healthy. My son just refuses to work the fields, and look at him now—he's hospitalized."

"Young people these days can't endure hardship like we used to."

"Old sister, you're absolutely right."

Li Wenchuan pressed a hand to his forehead. Let it go, let it go. He would let them talk. One moment they said it was a woman, the next they said it was a man. Maybe one day, the old ladies would claim they had heard it at night but seen no one, and that the hospital was haunted.

"What will you do about work afterward?" Jiang Hansheng asked when he