July 15, 2023.
Location: Changsha City, Hunan Province.
"Cicada~~ cicada! Cicada~~ cicada! Cic..."
In the height of summer, the irritatingly loud cries of cicadas came from the distant trees.
Mu Rufeng wiped the sweat from his forehead and squinted up at the sun.
His lips were cracked, and his head was drenched in sweat.
His steps were somewhat unsteady, and his head felt a little light and dizzy.
"Almost there."
Mu Rufeng lowered his gaze and looked toward Lao Bai Xing Pharmacy a hundred meters away.
Beside Lao Bai Xing Pharmacy was a Furong Xingsheng convenience store.
Mu Rufeng quickened his pace.
Before long, he entered the pharmacy.
A cool gust of air met him head-on, instantly refreshing Mu Rufeng.
"Hello, what would you like to buy?"
The young woman in a white lab coat behind the counter lifted her eyes from her phone screen and asked.
"Do you have Agastache Zhengqi Water?" Mu Rufeng asked bluntly.
"Yes, I'll get it for you."
After saying that, the young woman stood up, turned around, and took a box of Agastache Zhengqi Water from the glass cabinet behind her.
"Fifteen yuan. I'll scan you."
Mu Rufeng said nothing. He took the Agastache Zhengqi Water, immediately opened the box, and pulled out a bottle.
The moment the small bottle of Agastache Zhengqi Water entered his mouth, a sharp, pungent smell shot straight to the crown of his head.
In that instant, Mu Rufeng's face twisted.
Yet it was precisely that smell that made his mind clear up considerably.
Then came the second bottle, and the third.
After downing three bottles of Agastache Zhengqi Water, Mu Rufeng felt as though he was about to lose his sense of taste.
"You don't need to drink that much. One bottle is enough," the young woman hurriedly said when she saw this.
"This damned weather is way too hot. If I don't drink a couple more bottles, I can't take it."
Mu Rufeng bared his teeth in a grimace, complained, and displayed his payment code.
"Beep! Scan complete! Customer paid fifteen yuan via WeChat."
"Yeah, it's hot. I'm drenched in sweat after taking just a few steps outside." The young woman looked at Mu Rufeng with some sympathy.
Mu Rufeng nodded, picked up the box of Agastache Zhengqi Water, turned, and left the pharmacy.
After exiting the pharmacy, Mu Rufeng did not leave. Instead, he turned and entered the shop next door.
At the freezer, he took a chilled one-liter bottle of Jasmine Tea.
Twisting open the cap, Mu Rufeng downed half the bottle in one go.
A bone-deep chill spread throughout his body.
At the same time, the bitterness in his mouth faded considerably. Only then did Mu Rufeng feel like he had come back to life.
He took another three chilled 1.5-liter bottles of Nongfu Spring and went to the counter.
"Jasmine Tea is 3.5 yuan, the water is 7.5 yuan, eleven yuan total. I'll scan you."
Mu Rufeng responded, scanned the code to pay, and left.
Mu Rufeng, male, was twenty-four this year. As an undergraduate, he had already graduated two years ago.
His four years of university had taught Mu Rufeng some social skills, but in the current environment, finding a good job was simply too difficult.
A starting salary of three thousand—tell me, are you scared yet?
Working from nine in the morning to nine at night—tell me, are you scared yet?
A meeting in the morning, a meeting at noon, and a meeting at night—tell me, are you scared yet?
A report every day—tell me, are you scared yet?
Anyway, Mu Rufeng was scared, so he did not choose a job related to his major.
These days, Mu Rufeng worked as a loader at a community group-buying warehouse.
He worked twelve hours a day, and by the end of each day, his entire body was sore and swollen. He was truly earning money with blood and sweat.
It was exhausting, truly exhausting, but it paid well!
And there were not nearly as many tedious, headache-inducing matters.
Several of his university classmates also worked in Changsha. After two years, the highest-paid among them earned only a little over five thousand, while some made barely over two thousand.
As for him, he made a full seven thousand a month, with food and lodging included.
That was only because competition in the community group-buying business had become too intense, making business somewhat bleak.
Last year, when business was good, his average monthly salary could exceed ten thousand. During holidays and festivals, it could be even higher.
Of course, high wages meant gambling with his life.
For instance, in thirty-eight-degree weather, under the vicious blaze of the sun, he had to unload an entire trailer of goods.
Loaders came and went in batches, and most of them were middle-aged people.
Only middle-aged people could endure such hardship.
Mu Rufeng himself was considered quite capable of enduring hardship, having persisted here for a full two years.
The cousin who had brought him into this line of work quit during Mu Rufeng's third month on the job. He could not keep going.
Of course, Mu Rufeng had not gained nothing from it.
Two years of work had given the formerly slightly chubby Mu Rufeng a strong, sturdy body. Coupled with drinking less alcohol, he really did have abs.
"Xiao Mu, are you feeling better? Do you want to rest a little longer? Old Wang and I can unload this half-trailer ourselves."
A tall, somewhat dark-skinned man stood on the loading platform. Seeing Mu Rufeng approach, he immediately spoke.
"Uncle Liu, I'm fine. I drank Agastache Zhengqi Water, so I'm all right now. Here, you two have a bottle too. I also bought you some ice water. Have a few sips and take a break."
Mu Rufeng followed Uncle Liu into the semi-trailer and handed the Agastache Zhengqi Water and two bottles of Nongfu Spring to the two men.
"You keep the ice water for yourself. I'm getting old, and my stomach isn't good. I brought my own herbal tea."
As Uncle Liu spoke, he placed the plastic board in his hand on the ground and took the Agastache Zhengqi Water.
After drinking it, he picked up a large water jug from the ground at his side and gulped down a couple of mouthfuls of herbal tea.
"I'm in good health. Give them all to me, hehe!"
After Uncle Wang finished his Agastache Zhengqi Water, he stepped forward and snatched both bottles of water. Then he opened one and gulped down a huge mouthful.
Mu Rufeng smiled at the sight and said nothing.
The three of them walked a few steps toward the loading platform and arrived at the rear of the semi-trailer.
Here, the metal awning above the warehouse happened to block out the sun.
As for the unloading area farther ahead, sorry, there was no cover there. The blazing sun beat down mercilessly.
Uncle Wang was a rather thin man in his forties who liked taking small advantages.
As for Uncle Liu, he was an honest and kindhearted but somewhat stubborn man, perhaps three to five years older than Uncle Wang.
"Xiao Mu, you're already twenty-four this year, right? Got a girlfriend?" Uncle Wang suddenly asked.
"Not yet."
"At your age, it's time to find one. Xiao Mu can endure hardship, he's sturdy, and he doesn't look bad either. I'll introduce you to someone tomorrow," Uncle Liu said with a smile.
"That would be great." Mu Rufeng chuckled.
"Old Liu, isn't your daughter about to graduate? Wouldn't she be perfect to introduce to Xiao Mu?" Uncle Wang suddenly said.
Uncle Liu looked somewhat embarrassed at that and was about to speak when Mu Rufeng smiled and said, "Uncle Liu's daughter goes to a Project 211 University. How could I possibly be worthy of her? I'm just someone who does manual labor."
"Let's not talk about that. I'll introduce you to a good girl tomorrow." Uncle Liu patted Mu Rufeng.
"Oh, right, have you heard? Another driver died at the Liquor Warehouse," Old Wang suddenly said in a low voice.
"Hm? Another one died? Is that for real? Didn't one die just a few days ago?" Old Liu's voice also became somewhat grave.
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