The system only arrives when you're old? Then let's create a super-rich family!

As dawn broke, the rising sun slowly climbed over the city skyline.

Summer days are long, but in June, the morning temperature, while not as scorching as midday, is still quite high.

Especially in big cities, where there are concrete floors everywhere, the heat absorbed during the day is released at night, making it feel like steaming dumplings.

The night's heat hadn't dissipated before a new day began, so the city's lowest temperature never dropped below 28°C.

The migrant workers in the abandoned, dilapidated building woke up early. They hadn't slept well because of mosquitoes, the heat, and their worries. Everyone had dark circles under their eyes and looked haggard.

With no hope of getting their wages and no end in sight, and not a single penny in their pockets, if they just sit and wait to die, everyone will starve to death in this abandoned building.

They had to take advantage of the cooler sun to go out and try their luck, looking for odd jobs that paid daily.

A group of people got up from the hard floor, quickly tidied their work clothes which were covered in oil and dust, and without even taking a sip of water, they walked out of the deserted and dilapidated building in twos and threes.

The streets were clean and quiet in the early morning, with a cool breeze.

They walked along the main road towards the city center.

Everyone clung to a last, humble hope that there would be odd jobs in the city's shops and construction sites, enough to earn a few dozen or a hundred yuan to barely make ends meet and get through this most difficult period.

Li Qiang led Li San and Tie Zhu on foot for more than two hours, crossing most of the city, from the desolate suburbs to the bustling city center.

The closer you get to the city center, the more jarring the surrounding scenery becomes.

High-rise buildings line both sides of the road, with skyscrapers reaching into the clouds and glass curtain walls reflecting the dazzling morning light.

The streets were bustling with traffic, luxury cars flowed by, and passersby were dressed smartly, made up, and walked with ease, exuding a sense of dignity and composure.

Coffee shops, upscale stores, and high-end office buildings stand side by side, everywhere exuding an air of prosperity and wealth.

But all this glamour has nothing to do with these lowly migrant workers.

Standing at a busy intersection in the city center, Li Qiang and his group looked out of place.

Passersby instinctively stepped aside to avoid them, covering their mouths and noses as they hurried away, their eyes filled with undisguised disgust and contempt.

Those gazes, like needles, pierced through the crowd, making a group of grown men, whose skin had long been worn down by years of hard labor, feel a strong sense of shame and inferiority once again.

Li Qiang and his companions lowered their heads nervously, instinctively tightening their grip on their hands and feet, afraid to move arbitrarily, lest they soil the clean and tidy street beneath their feet.

People living in this city have vastly different lives. Some manage to eat three meals a day despite their busy schedules, while others struggle to survive in the mire, barely managing to get two meals a day.

The enormous contrast was so overwhelming that it made one feel a pang of sadness and suffocation.

"Old Li, that restaurant is hiring!"

Li San spoke in a low voice, his tone full of excitement.

Li Qiang looked up and saw a bright red recruitment poster on the glass door of a chain restaurant on the street, advertising for kitchen helpers and day-paid temporary workers.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his unease and inferiority complex, and walked towards the store.

When Li Qiang and his two companions arrived at the store entrance, the cool air from the air conditioner inside, mixed with the aroma of food, wafted towards them. They glanced at their own clothes but still didn't dare to step into the store, so they just stood there at the entrance.

The shop owner looked up and saw Li Qiang and his group, and frowned.

Before Li Qiang could ask anything, she impatiently waved him off, saying, "Don't go into the shop. Just tell me what you want to eat, and I'll bring it out for you."

"Boss lady, I saw a job posting at the door. I can do odd jobs, washing dishes, mopping floors, cleaning, anything. I'm not afraid of being tired, and I don't mind if the pay is low!" Li Qiang quickly said, his tone humble.

But the proprietress didn't give them any chance at all. Seeing that the three weren't there to eat, she directly refused:

"We don't hire people like you! Get out of the way and stop blocking our shop and affecting our business!"

Li Qiang stood frozen in place, his lips moved, but he ultimately didn't say, "If it were me, I could wash off the smell."

He looked down at his faded, stained work clothes, feeling a pang of bitterness and helplessness.

In the end, they could only turn around and leave silently with Li San Tiezhu.

Behind her, the proprietress immediately took out an air freshener and sprayed it vigorously at the doorway, as if there was some foul filth that needed to be thoroughly cleaned and refreshed.

For the rest of the morning, the group searched for work along the street.

I asked everyone I could—convenience stores, snack shops, courier stations.

Without exception, all of them were rejected.

Everyone who saw their disheveled and dirty appearance and smelled their odor looked disgusted and had no patience to even listen to them.

They weren't even given a chance to do manual labor jobs like loading and unloading, because of their poor image.

At noon, the sun was high in the sky, scorching the earth.

The temperature suddenly soared, the scorching sun baked the road surface, making the ground scalding hot and the air so dry it was suffocating.

The three of them had been hiking all morning without a drop of water or a grain of food. They were all drenched in sweat, their mouths were dry, and they felt dizzy and lightheaded.

My skin was red and burning from the scorching sun, and my clothes were soaked with sweat, making me feel sticky and uncomfortable.

Unable to withstand the scorching sun any longer, Li Qiang led the group to the underpass of the city bridge for shade.

This is a gathering place for the city's poorest people, and the only refuge for the homeless.

Inside the bridge arch, a few odd jobs were scattered around, some people were lying down to rest on cardboard, and others were leaning against the wall in a daze.

Exhausted, Li Qiang and his two companions entered the underpass and were just about to find a corner to sit down and rest.

The strong, sour smell emanating from them instantly spread.

The few people who had been resting quietly nearby immediately frowned, their faces full of impatience. They raised their hands to fan themselves and scolded them with annoyance:

"Could you guys stand a little further away? The smell is too strong!"

"It's already stuffy in here, and you guys smell awful, so get out of here and don't disturb our rest!"

As fellow sufferers from the bottom of society, they should have sympathized with each other's plight, but in their extreme hardship, even this small, shady spot couldn't accommodate them.

Li Qiang and his group looked embarrassed and remained silent, moving silently to the most secluded and cornered spot under the bridge.

Everyone was exhausted, filled with despair, and kept their heads down, saying nothing.

On the other side of the bridge, a young man who looked to be in his early twenties, dressed relatively neatly and simply, suddenly spoke excitedly while holding up his phone:

"We have work! This afternoon's construction site pay is 100 yuan a day, and we need two more people!"

One of his companions lay on the wooden plank next to him, not even lifting his head. "No meals provided? This job won't do. I'm not going. You call someone else."

"Mouse, what about you?" The excited young man looked at his friend on the other side.

"If meals aren't included, a half-day job should start at least at 150, otherwise it's a huge loss, not to mention the round-trip transportation costs."

The mouse's meaning was clear: he didn't want to go.

A glint instantly lit up in Li Qiang's eyes. He quickly got up and strode forward, vying for a spot before anyone else could speak, his tone earnest.

"Young man! Where can I find work? Could you take a few of us with you?"

"We're hardworking, not afraid of hardship or fatigue, strong, and fast. We can ask for a lower wage, eighty is fine! As long as we get paid, we'll do anything!"

In order to survive, he has humbled himself to the point of voluntarily lowering prices to make money.

But when the young man turned and looked at Li Qiang and the other two, his joy vanished instantly upon seeing their disheveled appearance, replaced by deep embarrassment and disdain.

He shook his head directly, refusing frankly and realistically, "Big brother, it's not that I don't want to take you."

"Look at you guys now, smelling awful and filthy, I really don't dare take you there. If the boss sees you like this, not only will he kick you out, but I'll probably get run over too."

Li Qiang's lips trembled slightly as he pleaded in a low voice, "We can do the work well, we're not afraid of being tired..."

"It's not a matter of being tired or not, brother," the young man sighed helplessly and said frankly.

"Find a place to shower and change into clean clothes before you come back. Otherwise, you won't even be allowed into the construction site, let alone work. What boss would dare hire you?"

After showering? Changed into clean clothes?

A simple sentence instantly shattered the three people's last psychological defenses.

Li Qiang stood frozen in place, completely silent. The last glimmer of light in his eyes was extinguished, leaving only endless gloom and powerlessness.

Why don't they want to work and earn money honestly and respectably?

In this big city where land is incredibly valuable, even taking a shower costs money.

Where can I find a free shower?

Public bathhouses cost at least 80 or 90 yuan per person. They don't even have money for food, so how can they afford to take a bath?

Not to mention that even a regular budget hotel room costs over a hundred yuan per hour, which is an astronomical sum for them who have no money.

Having been cheated by Lao Zhou for three months, they were at their wits' end and couldn't even come up with a hundred yuan in their pockets.

No money for washing up, no money for changing clothes, so I can't find work; if I can't find work, I'll never have money, and I'll never be able to take care of myself.

They were trapped in a vicious cycle.

Others looked at their dejected and desperate appearance with no sympathy, only cold indifference, and some even whispered mockery.

To put it bluntly, it's because I'm not ambitious enough.

"If you can't even keep yourself tidy in the city, who's going to give you a chance to make a living?"

"Who doesn't know the importance of their appearance when doing odd jobs?"

A few light words pierced the hearts of several people like knives.

If their wages hadn't been embezzled, why would they be so careless about their appearance? If they could find a construction site, why would they be in this situation?

……

Meanwhile, in the CEO's office on the 66th floor of the Genting Tower in downtown Jiangbei.

Qin Mao sat upright in the chairman's chair, with neatly arranged project documents and investment reports on the table in front of him. A group of senior executives and project leaders stood on both sides, their posture upright and their expressions respectful.

They are currently discussing the construction project on that plot of land in the Nangang District port area.

Project Director Wang Renxing stepped forward, holding documents and giving a serious report.

"Chairman, there are currently three teams participating in this construction bidding. They are all top-tier, experienced, and long-established construction engineering teams in the province."

"The first company, Tiansheng Construction, has a fast construction speed, specializes in municipal infrastructure projects, has almost zero accidents in past projects, and has an excellent reputation."

"The second company, Hengyuan Construction, has complete qualifications and rich experience in high-end real estate and commercial infrastructure construction. Its projects have never had any problems, and it has strict quality control."

"The third company, Hongtai Engineering, has all the advantages of the first two, but it has a larger team of workers, making it more suitable for clients who need to expedite projects."

After finishing his report, Director Wang bowed slightly.

"The three teams each have their own strengths; their solutions, qualifications, and quotes are all compliant and up to standard. The chairman will decide which one to choose."

Qin Mao tapped his fingertips lightly on the table, and after a moment's thought, he spoke:

"We have signed contracts with all three companies, started work simultaneously, divided the work into zones, allocated all manpower and equipment, and are making every effort to speed up the project and complete it ahead of schedule."

As soon as he finished speaking, the executives present were slightly taken aback.

In a normal project bidding process, only one best team is selected to save costs and facilitate management. Signing three teams at the same time would undoubtedly increase investment costs significantly, which is a decision rarely seen in the industry.

But no one dared to question Qin Mao's decision; everyone bowed and accepted the order: "Yes, Chairman!"

Only Qin Mao himself knew why he did this.

Not long ago, he was one of the millions of laborers at the bottom of society. He had worked hard on construction sites, enduring scorching sun and freezing winds, and being exploited and owed wages by unscrupulous contractors. He had experienced the coldness of human relationships and the hardships of life.

No one understands the suffering of migrant workers better than Qin Mao.

He knew all too well how many low-level workers a large-scale engineering project could support and provide livelihoods and income for countless ordinary families.

Signing up another construction team means creating hundreds or even thousands more jobs.

Every additional job means one more family can make a living and catch their breath.

Now that he holds a high position, controls resources, and has the ability and strength, he is willing to give more help and hope to ordinary people at the bottom.

As his thoughts drifted to this point, a faint trace of nostalgia and longing flashed across Qin Mao's eyes.

He suddenly remembered Tie Zhu and Li San, his fellow workers who had lived and worked with him.

When he was going through a difficult time, it was Tiezhu who pulled him into the team, which helped him find this job on the construction site.

During the most difficult times, they also helped pull me along.

Now he has emerged from the mire and is in the top circle, but his honest and simple fellow workers may still be struggling at the bottom.

I wonder how they are doing now, whether there has been any progress in getting their wages, whether they have found work, or whether they have been able to eat a full meal.

With a thought, Qin Mao raised his hand to signal the meeting to be adjourned.

After everyone left, he took out his phone, scrolled through his contacts, found Tie Zhu's number, and dialed it directly.

The call connected and beeped for a few seconds before a cold, dismissive tone followed.

"Hello, the number you dialed is out of service."

Shutdown?

Qin Mao frowned almost imperceptibly.

Without thinking twice, he immediately dialed Li San's number again.

The next second, the same cold system notification sounded again.

"Hello, the number you dialed is out of service."

Two people in a row had their phone numbers disconnected due to unpaid bills.

Qin Mao paused slightly, his heart filled with complex emotions.

He held his phone, pondering for a moment.

When he left, Tiezhu said that they didn't have much money left, and now that their phones were disconnected, it was clear that they hadn't been able to get their wages back.

Without money, they would definitely have a hard time staying in Jiangbei City unless they found a new construction site. But less than a month has passed, and they haven't been paid yet, so naturally they don't have money to top up their phone credit.

Therefore, it's reasonable that the phone call couldn't get through.

Or perhaps...

They have left Jiangbei City and gone to other cities to make a living.