The Unloading Worker Mu Rufeng

July 15th, 2023.

Location: Changsha City, Hunan Province.

"Screeeech! Screeeech! Screeeech..."

In the height of summer, the annoying and loud chirping of cicadas echoed from the large trees in the distance.

Mu Rufeng wiped the sweat from his forehead, squinted, and looked up at the sun.

His lips were dry and cracked, and his forehead was covered in sweat.

His steps were a little unsteady, and his head felt dizzy.

"Almost there."

Mu Rufeng withdrew his gaze and looked at the Lao Bai Xing Pharmacy about a hundred meters away.

Outside the Lao Bai Xing Pharmacy, there was also a Furong Xingsheng convenience store.

Mu Rufeng quickened his pace.

Soon, he walked into the pharmacy.

A gust of cool air hit him, invigorating Mu Rufeng.

"Hello, what can I get for you?"

A young woman in a white coat, sitting at the counter, moved her gaze away from her phone screen and asked.

"Do you have Agastache Zhengqi Water?" Mu Rufeng asked directly.

"Yes, I'll get it for you."

After speaking, the young woman stood up, turned around, and took out a box of Agastache Zhengqi Water from the glass cabinet behind her.

"Fifteen yuan, I'll scan you."

Mu Rufeng didn't say anything. He took the Agastache Zhengqi Water, immediately opened it, and took out a bottle.

As the small bottle of Agastache Zhengqi Water entered his mouth, a pungent smell shot straight to the crown of his head.

At that moment, Mu Rufeng's face contorted.

It was precisely this smell that made Mu Rufeng's mind much clearer.

Then came the second bottle, and the third.

After three bottles of Agastache Zhengqi Water, Mu Rufeng felt like his sense of taste was almost gone.

"You don't need to drink so much, one bottle is enough," the young woman said quickly when she saw this.

"This damn weather, it's really too hot. If I don't drink a couple more bottles, I can't stand it."

Mu Rufeng bared his teeth, then complained, and showed his payment QR code.

"Beep! Scan complete! Customer paid fifteen yuan via WeChat."

"Yeah, it's hot. I start sweating all over just walking a short distance outside," the young woman said, looking at Mu Rufeng with some sympathy.

Mu Rufeng nodded, took the box of Agastache Zhengqi Water, and turned to leave the pharmacy.

After leaving the pharmacy, Mu Rufeng didn't leave. He turned and entered the adjacent store.

He went to the freezer and took out a 1L bottle of iced Jasmine Tea.

Unscrewing the cap, Mu Rufeng drank half the bottle in one go.

A bone-chilling coolness spread through his entire body.

At the same time, the bitterness in his mouth subsided significantly, and Mu Rufeng finally felt alive.

He then grabbed three 1.5L bottles of iced Nongfu Spring water and went to the counter.

"Jasmine Tea is 3.5, water is 7.5, total 11 yuan. I'll scan you."

Mu Rufeng responded, scanned the code, paid, and left.

Mu Rufeng, male, is 24 years old this year. As an undergraduate, he graduated two years ago.

His four years of university taught Mu Rufeng certain social skills, but in the current environment, finding a good job is too difficult.

Starting salary of three thousand yuan, are you scared yet!

Working from 9 AM to 9 PM, are you scared yet!

One meeting in the morning, one meeting at noon, one meeting in the evening, are you scared yet!

A report every day, are you scared yet!

Anyway, Mu Rufeng was scared, so he didn't choose a job related to his major.

Currently, Mu Rufeng works as a loader and unloader in a community group-buying warehouse.

He works twelve hours a day, and by the end of the day, his whole body is sore and swollen. He's earning pure sweat equity.

It's tiring, really tiring, but it's earning money!

There weren't so many troublesome things either.

For instance, several of his university classmates were also working in Changsha. After two years, the highest salary was just over 5,000 yuan, while the lowest was still around 2,000 yuan.

He, on the other hand, earned a full 7,000 yuan a month, and that included room and board.

This was even with the fierce competition in community group buying, which had made business a bit more sluggish.

Last year, when business was good, his average monthly salary could exceed 10,000 yuan, and it would be even higher during holidays.

Of course, high salary came at the cost of one's life.

Just like under the scorching sun in this 38-degree weather, unloading a truckload of goods.

The loading and unloading workers came and went, most of them middle-aged.

Only middle-aged people could endure such hardship.

Mu Rufeng, for example, was quite capable of enduring hardship and had persisted here for a full two years.

His cousin, who had brought him into this line of work, quit in Mu Rufeng's third month; he couldn't go on.

Of course, Mu Rufeng hadn't gained nothing.

His two years of work had also given the once slightly chubby Mu Rufeng a robust physique. Coupled with drinking less, he genuinely had abs.

"Xiao Mu, are you feeling better? Do you want to rest a bit longer? Let Old Wang and I handle unloading this half truckload."

A tall, somewhat dark-skinned man stood on the platform. Seeing Mu Rufeng approach, he immediately spoke.

"Uncle Liu, it's fine. I'm okay after drinking the Agastache Zhengqi Water. Here, you two have a bottle too. I also bought you some iced water. Take a few sips and rest."

Mu Rufeng followed Uncle Liu into the semi-trailer and handed them the Agastache Zhengqi Water and two bottles of Nongfu Spring.

"You keep the iced water for yourself. My stomach isn't good at my age, so I brought my own herbal tea," Uncle Liu said, placing his clipboard on the ground. He then took the Agastache Zhengqi Water.

After drinking the Agastache Zhengqi Water, he picked up a large water jug from the ground nearby and took two gulps of herbal tea.

"My body's good, give them all to me, hehe!" Uncle Wang exclaimed. After finishing his Agastache Zhengqi Water, he stepped forward, grabbed both bottles of water, and directly opened one, taking a large gulp.

Mu Rufeng smiled at this and didn't say anything.

The three of them walked a few steps towards the platform, arriving at the rear of the semi-trailer.

Here, the tin eaves of the warehouse roof provided shade from the sun.

As for the area further ahead where they were unloading, unfortunately, there were no obstructions, and the sun beat down intensely.

Uncle Wang was a thinner, weaker man, in his forties, and rather fond of petty gains.

As for Uncle Liu, he was a more honest and straightforward uncle, though a bit stubborn. He was about three to five years older than Uncle Wang.

"Xiao Mu, you're already 24 this year, haven't you found a girlfriend yet?" Uncle Wang suddenly asked.

"Not yet."

"At your age, you should be looking. Xiao Mu can endure hardship, he's strong, and he's not bad-looking. I'll introduce you to someone tomorrow," Uncle Liu said with a smile.

"That would be great," Mu Rufeng replied with a chuckle.

"I remember your daughter is graduating soon, isn't she? You could introduce her to Xiao Mu," Uncle Wang suddenly chimed in.

Uncle Liu looked a bit awkward and was about to speak when Mu Rufeng smiled and said, "Uncle Liu's daughter is from a Project 211 University. How could I possibly be worthy? I'm just a manual laborer."

"Let's not talk about that. I'll introduce you to a good girl tomorrow," Uncle Liu said, patting Mu Rufeng on the shoulder.

"Oh, right, did you guys hear? Another driver died at the liquor warehouse," Old Wang suddenly said in a low voice.

"Huh? Another one died? Is that true? Didn't another one die just a few days ago?" Old Liu's voice also became a bit somber.

Beep beep beep, the new book has set sail. Please add it to your collection, vote for recommendation tickets, and remember to follow along every day. The success of the new book period depends on your daily reads.