The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

"Take a break, it's easy to get into trouble if you keep going like this."

Seeing that Qi Yu was showing signs of heatstroke, Xu Nian couldn't help but offer some words of advice.

Qi Yu shook his head, poured a bottle of water over his head, gritted his teeth, and continued working.

"It's okay, bro. I work slowly to begin with, and if I rest, I'll just be slowing you down."

Xu Nian couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for him.

The two began to move faster, and the mountain of goods was slowly emptied.

"Finally finished moving everything, I'm exhausted!"

Qi Yu plopped down on the ground, completely ignoring the dust covering his pants, and gasped for breath.

Xu Nian carried the last case of beer onto the conveyor belt and muttered something to herself.

"This is nothing..."

As soon as they finished speaking, several forklifts drove over and unloaded the goods in front of the two of them, one after another.

"Holy crap!"

Qi Yu swore and stared blankly as the goods in front of him piled up higher and higher than the stacks of work supplies.

"Bro, can we go drive a forklift?"

He looked at the workers sitting comfortably on the forklifts, completing their work with just a flick of their wrists, and couldn't help but feel a pang of envy.

"You're overthinking it. You need a forklift license to drive one."

Xu Nian glanced at them, then looked away and continued to stack the unloaded goods onto the assembly line one by one.

Qi Yu drank a bottle of mineral water, stood up, let out a desperate cry, and reluctantly began to work.

What was that sound?

Zhang Qiang placed the last item on the conveyor belt and asked Li Lei, who was standing next to him, "What do you mean?"

"It seems to have come from the Beijing-Tianjin line."

Li Lei turned his head and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

"I guess the kids over there were terrified."

"Tsk, this must be his first time doing sorting. If he had ever done it even once, he wouldn't have agreed to go to the Beijing line with the team leader."

"The team leader wanted me to go, but luckily I'm fast. It's much more comfortable working here in Haicheng."

"But there are so many goods in the capital today, much more than usual."

Li Lei patted Zhang Qiang on the shoulder and smiled wickedly.

"Want to make a bet that those two won't run away halfway through today?"

"I don't think so. The guy who came later seems like a strong guy; he should be able to keep going."

"Ugh, having such a terrible teammate is hopeless. I'd bet you a pack of cigarettes on that."

"Come on, let's bet."

"What's all the fuss about? Use that energy to help other lines with more stock."

The burly man walked over and reprimanded him with a displeased expression.

Li Lei and Zhang Qiang quickly lowered their heads, pretending to be very busy.

"Brother, why are you still getting more and more orders?"

Qi Yu was somewhat dazed. He had just used all his strength to move a few boxes of goods when a forklift came and unloaded dozens more boxes.

Xu Nian shook the cascading sweat from her head.

"When someone sends a package, goods will arrive; they won't stop unloading here just because you have a lot of goods piled up."

He also felt his steps becoming somewhat unsteady.

Normally, this level of physical exertion wouldn't be a problem for him.

But today, before starting work, he didn't have a proper meal as usual.

After several hours of intense work, Xu Nian felt dizzy.

"Brother, catch it."

Qi Yu, who had just returned from fetching water, tossed Xu Nian a bottle of drink.

"Thanks."

Xu Nian took it without hesitation, and without being polite to Qi Yu, she unscrewed the cap and gulped it down.

Qi Yu also took out the cold water he had just collected and poured it over his head to cheer himself up and continue working.

After replenishing their sugar levels, Xu Nian sped up her work, and the two of them worked diligently all afternoon, finally clearing out the two-story-high hill.

"Damn! Finally finished!"

Qi Yu swore and plopped down on the ground.

I checked the time; it was almost 7:30, and I only had half an hour left before I had to leave work.

He felt as if his legs were filled with lead, and his arms were trembling uncontrollably.

After moving the last item, Xu Nian plopped down next to Qi Yu, greedily enjoying the rare tranquility.

After a day of working together, he was quite satisfied with this seemingly unreliable partner.

Although I work very slowly and have little strength, the important thing is that I can persevere and never slack off.

When he was doing sorting work, his partner once made an excuse to go to the toilet halfway through and never came back.

All the goods on that line that day fell on his shoulders alone.

"Why did you come here to do this?"

Xu Nian looked at Qi Yu, who was panting heavily, and felt inexplicably curious.

In this place full of burly men, it's truly rare to see someone who looks like a delicate scholar.

Qi Yu wiped the sweat from his face, took out his glasses from his pocket, and put them on with trembling hands.

"My family is poor and can't afford to send me to university, so I have to work to save up for my tuition."

"Then why don't you find other jobs to earn money? You're not suited for this kind of physical labor."

Qi Yu shook his head bitterly.

"There are no easy jobs to find. So many college graduates can't find jobs, so it's even more difficult for someone like me with only a high school diploma to find one."

A hint of confusion also appeared in Xu Nian's eyes.

I was thinking that once I turned 18, I would finally be able to find a better, more stable job.

If someone with only a high school diploma can't find a job, what about someone who didn't even finish elementary school?

Not many goods arrived in the time before the end of the workday, only one truckload. Xu Nian and Qi Yu divided the work and finished it quickly.

Finally, it's time to get off work and receive my salary.

Xu Nian received a daily wage of 96 yuan, as well as a 10 yuan meal allowance promised by the burly man.

After receiving the money, Qi Yu carefully stroked each banknote, counting them over and over again before putting them in his pocket.

"This is the first money I've ever earned; it's truly hard-earned money."

He muttered to himself.

As he left, for some reason, Xu Nian felt that the man named Li Lei looked at him with a hint of dissatisfaction.

He remembered that he had never offended this person.

"Xu Nian, Qi Yu, you two come here for a moment."

After everyone left, the burly man called out to the two men.

He was covered in dust and looked sullen.

Originally, all I had to do was patrol around and then go out in the afternoon to shout out a few times to recruit workers for tomorrow.

But some people ran away halfway through.

The good news is that he can save the cost of one person's salary.

The bad news was that he had to fill in temporarily and worked for an entire afternoon.

"There are more goods in the capital today than usual. You've worked hard. I'll give you an extra portion. Don't tell anyone else."

As he spoke, he took out a few banknotes, gave Xu Nian 30 and Qi Yu 20.

Xu Nian was pleasantly surprised, as this meant she would have more money for a few more meals.

Qi Yu had no objection to Xu Nian taking more than him.

He also knew that he did far less work than Xu Nian.

Are you coming again tomorrow?

Xu Nian nodded without hesitation.

"Come."

Qi Yu gritted his teeth and hesitated for a moment.

"Me too."