Shuangling: Braving the Rapids

After taking a shower, Jin Haiquan took Yue Chuan to a snack shop on the street corner.

As soon as they sat down, Jin Haiquan used chopsticks to pry open the beer bottle cap, poured the boy a full glass of beer, and said in a very hearty manner, "Young man, you've worked hard! Come on! Cheers, let's have a drink to relax!"

After working side by side for most of the day and developing a bond through showering together, Jin Haiquan found Yue Chuan increasingly pleasing to the eye. So, despite his wife's objections, he took Yue Chuan to a restaurant. Other laborers would never enjoy such treatment.

"Boss, I'm not very good at it..."

Just as Yue Chuan was about to refuse, Jin Haiquan immediately waved his hand and said, "Why call me boss? We're all relatives. You're like my brother-in-law, just call me Brother Quan. Come on, let's have a drink!"

After a sip of ice-cold beer, Yue Chuan's muscles instantly relaxed, and the heat in his stomach also subsided.

For the first time, Yue Chuan thought beer was a good thing. Could it really be like Jin Haiquan said, that beer can relieve fatigue?

Seeing the boy down his drink in one gulp, Jin Haiquan laughed heartily, gave him a thumbs up, and said, "Not bad! You're a good lad! As long as you work hard these two months, I definitely won't treat you unfairly. I'll pay you like a long-term worker, not like a summer worker. How about that?"

Hearing this, Yue Chuan was overjoyed. Imitating an adult, he raised his glass in a toast and said, "Thank you, boss! I'll definitely work hard!"

"Don't be so polite with me. I was an apprentice in this shop when I was your age. Even if we weren't related, I wouldn't do something as unethical as deducting wages. So, if you have any difficulties, just tell me, and I'll do whatever I can to help you!" Jin Haiquan was the type of person who got drunk easily. At this moment, his square face turned very red, making him look quite comical.

Seeing that his boss was in a good mood, Yue Chuan was no longer reserved. He scratched the back of his head and asked, "Brother Quan'er, I'd like to read for a while tonight. Could I borrow a table lamp?"

"No problem! I'll get it for you after you finish eating!" Jin Haiquan replied, patting his chest.

Originally worried that the boss would ask too many questions, Yue Chuan was pleasantly surprised when the other party readily agreed. He was in a great mood and drank a few more glasses of wine. The two of them drank and chatted, having a very enjoyable time...

When Jin Haiquan left the snack shop, he was already walking unsteadily, but he hadn't forgotten his promise to the young man. A short while later, he personally delivered a chair with a backrest and a lamp to the boy's room. It seemed that this man had also suffered hardships; he had been rained on himself but knew how to hold an umbrella for others. This alone was enough to deeply move Yue Chuan.

Most of the shops in the auto parts market had already closed, and no one knew that a young man was hiding in a damp and stuffy room, studying late into the night.

Here, he could earn money and study at the same time, so Yue Chuan naturally stopped complaining about the poor environment. Compared to that, he was more concerned about the danger of falling behind his classmates—those well-off city students were all attending various tutoring classes during the summer vacation. If he didn't study hard while working, he might not even have a chance to catch up after school started.

The boy made a silent vow that even if he was exhausted during the day, he would squeeze out two hours at night to complete his studies.

The idea was good, but putting it into practice was fraught with difficulties. Yue Chuan was physically weaker than the average person and had limited energy, making it impossible for him to balance earning money and studying!

To make matters worse, other disturbances arose. Just in the dead of night, uninvited guests started causing a ruckus in the house: several rats scurried about, gnawing at the bed frame and digging holes, making a racket that caused Yue Chuan considerable discomfort. Besides the rats, there was also a swarm of annoying mosquitoes. The swarms were like a coordinated attack; even after swatting a dozen or so, a relentless stream of "suicide squads" would still try to bite him, making it impossible for him to defend himself.

Left with no other choice, Yue Chuan thought of using wind power to repel mosquitoes. He turned the ceiling fan to its highest setting, but after running for a short time, the rusty fan blades made a creaking noise, as if they were about to fall apart at any moment, which frightened him so much that he quickly turned it off.

He couldn't concentrate on his book at all, so he climbed into bed, but the stuffy room made it impossible for him to fall asleep. Frustrated, the boy grabbed a bucket and ran to the front yard, taking three cold showers before he could barely endure the agonizing night…

After a miserable night, Yue Chuan got some rat traps and mosquito coils from the landlord the next day. The accommodations were slightly better, but the excessive physical exertion had already exhausted him—the boy no longer had the strength to even turn the pages of a book, and it was a miracle that he could maintain a basic routine.

Only now did Yue Chuan realize how unrealistic his plan of "working during the day and studying at night" was. Those neatly written study plans in his notebook were utterly worthless in the face of reality.

Ideals are lofty, but reality is harsh. Working is working; it's nothing like going to school. He shouldn't have any illusions about working at all. If there were such a wonderful thing as earning money and studying peacefully at the same time, why would it be available to a poor boy like him who crawled out of a mountain village?

By the time the boy realized the reality, he was already deeply mired in trouble. Now, he not only has to carry the heaviest tires in the auto parts market, but also deal with the treacherous workplace. Can a minor really withstand the harsh realities of society?

On the afternoon of the fourth day, the real trouble began.

A customer arrived at the shop in a Jinbei van. He had a scar on his right cheek, and you could tell from his appearance that he wasn't a nice guy.

That was indeed the case. This guy not only made Yue Chuan wash the tires and car body clean, but also insisted that he clean up the vomit on the seats. The stench of that filth seeped into the sponge, and Yue Chuan used half a bottle of cleaning agent but still couldn't suppress it.

Despite working hard for most of the day, Yue Chuan was still complained about by the "scarred man" for his poor cleaning. Even though Er Niu knew that the other party was being unreasonable, she still made Yue Chuan apologize to the customer.

He did the work, suffered the consequences, and was even scolded. This was unbearable for Yue Chuan. If Jin Haiquan hadn't arrived in time to help him out, the matter would most likely have escalated.

After getting into a grudge with the "scarred man," Yue Chuan's days became increasingly difficult. And this plague seemed to come on exceptionally frequently, always walking into the car wash with a cigarette dangling from his lips, beckoning to the boy with a finger: "Hey shorty, come here and light my cigarette."

That arrogant demeanor made him look like he was ordering around his own guard dog.

Jin Haiquan was fiercely protective of his own, and whenever he saw the Jinbei van turn into the market, he would always cut between the two of them. But he was the boss after all, and he had to take care of the business. If he wasn't careful, Scarface would seize the opportunity to cause trouble—either flicking a whole pack of cigarette ash onto the freshly wiped windshield, or suddenly saying that the tires weren't clean enough.

On the seventh day at noon, Yue Chuan rushed into the office, clutching his worn-out rubber gloves. The veins on the boy's neck bulged, and he had only uttered half a sentence about resigning when Jin Haiquan's warm hand pressed down on his shoulder.

"Listen to your brother, don't think too much. Work for one more month, just one more month. Once my old employee comes back, I'll let you go. Then you can take the money and go to school without worry."

One sentence shut down all of Yue Chuan's grievances. The boy opened his mouth to pour out his troubles, but Jin Haiquan cut him off first: "Society is a cesspool, and there are always maggots jumping on people. If you really take it to heart, those maggots will be overjoyed."

He suddenly pointed out the window, "The weather forecast says there will be thunderstorms this afternoon. Since we don't have any customers anyway, why don't you go find Shoufeng and relax a bit..."

The boss had already made his point, so Yue Chuan couldn't just leave. But he had neither the interest nor the energy to go shopping or have fun. So, the boy quickly packed up his tools and simply hid in his room for a long nap...