Chapter 76: The Life of a Laborer (Protagonists Have Few Scenes)
Lin Xia was about to turn around when he heard his phone ring.
“Aowu!” Dad, answer the phone quickly! It’s Uncle Mingzong calling!
“Aowu!” Dad, Uncle Mingzong’s call! The white dumpling let out a howl and pushed the phone toward Lin Xia.
“Okay.” Lin Xia picked up the phone and answered.
“Lin Xia?” Chen Mingzong’s voice sounded muffled, and he didn’t seem very happy.
“What’s wrong?” Lin Xia didn’t want to step on any landmines with Chen Mingzong, so he asked cautiously.
“I just told the Little Hamster that he has a big brother, and he… couldn’t wait to see him…” Chen Mingzong sounded resentful. In fact, at that very moment, he was squatting in a corner “growing mushrooms,” his entire body radiating a terrifying aura of grievance.
“Is that so…” Lin Xia laughed awkwardly. What else could he say? He certainly couldn’t say anything to aggravate him.
“But I didn’t agree immediately. You should help check Chen Zhong’s attitude first. Don’t let the Little Hamster get hurt…” Although he was very displeased that the Little Hamster wanted to “run off” with someone else, he still wanted to clear the thorns from the Little Hamster’s path to prevent him from suffering even a scratch.
“Alright.” Lin Xia agreed to Chen Mingzong’s request without hesitation. After all, Chen Mingzong rarely asked for help.
After the call, Lin Xia left the phone with the white dumpling and went downstairs to work. Upon reaching the ground floor, he saw Chen Zhong entering with another man. Chen Zhong had the weekend off, so he came over to volunteer. He came whenever he was free, striving to bring Ah Huang home as soon as possible.
“Good morning!” Lin Xia greeted them with a smile.
“Good morning!” Chen Zhong responded with a smile. When he smiled, dimples appeared on his cheeks. The Little Hamster and Chen Yaoguang also had small dimples; the three Chen brothers looked very much alike in this regard.
“This is the person I live with. His name is Lu Mou. And this is the owner of the pet shop, Lin Xia.” Chen Zhong introduced them.
“Boss Lin, hello!” Lu Mou extended his hand, his laughter hearty and bright. He knew about Lin Xia because Chen Zhong had mentioned him at home.
Lu Mou was very tall, a full head taller than Chen Zhong. Standing next to him, Chen Zhong looked almost malnourished. Judging by his accent, he seemed to be a Northerner.
“Hello!” Lin Xia shook his hand.
After exchanging pleasantries, Lin Xia took the two of them to start their volunteer work. The tasks weren’t complicated; they were all related to pet care, such as how to clean the pets, how to feed them, and so on.
Chen Zhong and Lu Mou took it very seriously, even bringing paper and pens to take notes. The two didn’t deliberately hide their relationship; their inadvertent intimate gestures fed Lin Xia a hearty bowl of dog food.
“Where are you two from?” Lin Xia chatted with them, seemingly casually, but he was actually remembering Chen Mingzong’s request to probe Chen Zhong. One could only say that Master Chen Mingzong really knew how to calculate.
“I’m from Harbin, and he’s a local of Jiang City.” Lu Mou possessed the hearty characteristics of a Northern man and was very talkative. Since Chen Zhong didn’t like to talk much, Lu Mou took charge of the conversation.
“So you really are a Northerner. I guessed as much from your accent.” Lin Xia said with a smile. With just a few words and a smile that felt like a spring breeze, the distance between them shrank.
“Yeah, our Northern accents are easy to spot!” Lu Mou replied.
“Indeed.” Lin Xia nodded in agreement, then shifted the conversation. “Mr. Chen is actually a Jiang City local? I wonder which part? I might know it.”
Hearing this, a sour feeling rose in Chen Zhong’s heart. He spoke in a muffled voice, “I… I am from… Wensha County in Jiang City.”
“Wensha County? What a coincidence, I happen to know some people from Wensha County.” Lin Xia pretended not to notice his emotional shift and continued chatting.
“Is that so…” Chen Zhong seemed to think of something, his pupils dilating as if losing focus.
“He also has the surname Chen. His name is Chen Yaoguang, and he’s currently attending high school in the city.” Lin Xia mentioned it as if it were a casual remark, something anyone would treat as normal small talk.
But when Chen Zhong heard his third brother’s name, his expression changed drastically. He abruptly turned to face Lin Xia and asked hesitantly, “Chen… Chen Yaoguang is my third brother.”
“Really? That’s too much of a coincidence, isn’t it?” Lin Xia feigned surprise, secretly giving a thumbs-up to his own acting skills.
“Where is he studying? I… we haven’t been in contact for a long time. I want to go see him.” Chen Zhong lowered his head, staring at the cracks in the floor, his heart filled with gloom. Lu Mou gently patted his back, seemingly comforting him.
Since he had chosen to return to Jiang City, it was inevitable that he would encounter people he didn’t want to face. Although he had prepared himself for a meeting, he didn’t expect it to happen so soon.
“Yaoguang is studying at Jiang City No. 1 High School,” Lin Xia answered, then asked with a “slip of the tongue,” “Yaoguang said he has two older brothers. Are you his eldest brother or second brother?”
Snap!
Lin Xia had stepped right onto Chen Zhong’s landmine. The second brother, Chen Yi, was Chen Zhong’s sore spot. He stood up abruptly, his fists clenched tight, his emotions spiraling a bit out of control. When he looked up again, his eyes were red, and he was biting his lip hard.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Lu Mou was heartbroken seeing him like this. He pulled Chen Zhong into his arms to comfort him. He had finally figured it out—Lin Xia seemed casual, but he was intentionally guiding the conversation. Otherwise, how could it be this coincidental?
Lu Mou had been in society for a long time; his ability to read people was well-honed. He hadn’t expected that Lin Xia, who looked so kind, would have ulterior motives! Though, he didn’t understand why Lin Xia was doing this.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t expect this…” Lin Xia apologized quickly. He hadn’t realized that the Little Hamster’s status in Chen Zhong’s heart was even higher than he imagined. If the Little Hamster didn’t mean much to him, Chen Zhong wouldn’t have had such a reaction.
His face was full of heartache and self-blame. If he looked like this on the surface, the pain inside must be even worse.
But at the very least, Lin Xia could confirm Chen Zhong’s attitude toward the Little Hamster and could feel at ease letting the brothers reunite.
“It’s okay…” Chen Zhong had a gentle and generous nature; he didn’t hold grudges. He was used to laughing things off, whether it was people or things that hurt him, because those things usually didn’t make him sad. Only when something truly hurt his heart, making him sad to the point of despair, would he feel true grief.
“Actually, I know about your Chen family’s situation. Little… I also know about Chen Yi,” Lin Xia pursed his lips and said. He decided to lay everything out on the table. Since the Little Hamster wanted to see his big brother, and Chen Zhong cared so much for him, there was no need to hide it anymore.
“Mn…” Chen Zhong didn’t find it strange. Since Lin Xia knew Chen Yaoguang, it wasn’t surprising that he knew about their family affairs.
“I assume you care about Chen Yi very much, right?” Lin Xia looked at the thin young man held in the tall man’s arms and felt a bit of heartache for him. “Let me tell you some good news. Chen Yi has been found…”
“Ah Yi has been found?!” Chen Zhong turned around abruptly, accidentally bumping into Lu Mou’s chin. But he didn’t care at all; his mind was entirely focused on Lin Xia’s words.
“Correct.” Lin Xia nodded, watching Chen Zhong, who was filled with extreme hope but terrified it might be false.
“Where is Ah Yi?…” Chen Zhong suddenly collapsed onto the floor, tears streaming down his face. He propped his forehead up with his right hand, the corners of his mouth grinning wide, crying and laughing at the same time.
Lu Mou squatted down, letting Chen Zhong lean on him while gently patting his back with one hand. Chen Zhong buried his head in Lu Mou’s chest, like a wanderer who hadn’t been home for a long time finally finding a warm harbor.
“Chen Yi lives with me right now, but he is currently undergoing treatment. He will come back in the evening,” Lin Xia said, though he felt Chen Zhong probably couldn’t wait that long.
“Then can I go find him tonight…” Unexpectedly, Chen Zhong held back because he didn’t want to disturb Chen Yi’s treatment. Although he desperately wanted to see Chen Yi immediately, compared to his own waiting and suffering, Chen Yi’s health was more important.
“Of course,” Lin Xia nodded.
“Can you tell me about Ah Yi’s situation?” Chen Zhong stabilized his emotions and rationally asked about Chen Yi’s condition.
Lin Xia told him everything he knew about the Little Hamster, excluding Chen Mingzong’s ulterior motives. Upon learning that his younger brother had lived a wandering life for several years, Chen Zhong’s heart ached so much that his fingers dug into his own flesh, leaving red marks.
“Yesterday, he brought a stack of 5-Year Gaokao 3-Year Simulation books to show us. He treasured them…” Seeing the atmosphere was heavy, Lin Xia found a lighter topic to liven things up.
Sure enough, hearing this, a smile gradually appeared on Chen Zhong’s face. Thinking of his second brother’s love for studying, his eyes softened. “In the past, I bought him those 5-Year Gaokao 3-Year Simulation books. I still remember how he looked when he received them…”
After Chen Yi started high school, their parents didn’t give him much money. It was Chen Zhong, working away from home, who sent him money. Chen Zhong gave half his monthly salary to his parents, and after covering his living expenses, he gave the remaining half to Chen Yi. Although his wages weren’t high, he always kept his family in mind.
Once, when he returned home for Chinese New Year, Chen Zhong bought the 5-Year Gaokao 3-Year Simulation set for Chen Yi. Chen Yi was overjoyed to receive the books. Many of his classmates were already using them, but he didn’t have the money to buy them and had to borrow from others to read.
…
As they chatted, the conversation turned to Chen Zhong himself. Lin Xia was quite curious about his life as a migrant worker. Many young people from rural areas chose to go out to work; it was a huge demographic. Lin Xia had never had contact with factories, so he couldn’t help but be curious.
Both Chen Zhong and Lu Mou were laborers who had gone out to make a living early on, and they had a deep understanding of that life…
After graduating from middle school, Chen Zhong went to Guangdong with the young people from his village. Most of them either had poor grades or didn’t like studying. They envied those who went out to work because they could earn money to support themselves.
Because they were under eighteen, Chen Zhong and his peers couldn’t get into good, large factories. They could only work as waiters or, introduced by fellow villagers, enter black market factories. They were earning money, yes, but they were working themselves to death every day.
It was only then that they realized society wasn’t at all like they had imagined. They sold their labor for money, had no “freedom,” and were bound by rules. It was a misconception that earning money meant they could play recklessly; after work, they were too exhausted to move, let alone go out and play.
Not many of the young people from the village who came out with him could stick it out. They quit before long. After quitting, they went to another factory, only to quit again shortly after. Chen Zhong didn’t have high demands, so he didn’t quit along with them. He stayed at the first factory until he was of legal age, then switched to a legitimate factory, where he had been working ever since.
With their level of education, they could only work as the lowest-level laborers, commonly known as production workers. Their status in the factory was the lowest. Above them were team leaders, section chiefs, line managers… They worked 12-hour shifts, rotating between day and night shifts. Aside from break times, they were working non-stop. The pace of work and life was intense; working hours felt incredibly long, while rest time seemed to pass in the blink of an eye before it was time to work again.
Actually, it wasn’t pleasant, but this was life. The unmarried young people had it easier; they didn’t have to support a family yet and could do as they pleased. If they didn’t want to work, they quit; at worst, they’d just find another factory. But those supporting families were different. With elders above and children below counting on their wages to survive, they didn’t have the capital to be willful.
Chen Zhong thought he would be like most people: work in a factory to earn money, find a girl from the same factory who was pleasing to the eye, get married… Barring any accidents, this should have been the trajectory of his life.
But an accident did happen, and Lu Mou was that accident. When Chen Zhong entered his second factory, Lu Mou was the foreman of their production group. A foreman was essentially a technician; if a machine broke, you called them.
Lu Mou had graduated from a vocational school with a secondary technical degree, so he became a technician right after entering the factory. Although he was also a worker, he was at least a small “leader,” much better off than the production staff.
Lu Mou had been kicked out of his home for coming out of the closet. He went to the south alone to work, planning to hook a boy to be his wife.
Chen Zhong caught Lu Mou’s eye. Being young, small, and thin, Chen Zhong was often teased by the old-timers. Lu Mou would appear at just the right moment to play the “hero saving the beauty.” He also used his position to chat with Chen Zhong, pretending to teach him production methods while actually flirting with him.
After some effort from Lu Mou, he and Chen Zhong became good friends who talked about everything.
Thinking the time was right, Lu Mou confessed to Chen Zhong. Chen Zhong rejected him because he was straight and had never been exposed to anything related to homosexuality; he simply didn’t have that kind of awareness.
Since they couldn’t be lovers, being friends became awkward. Chen Zhong originally planned to quit after returning from the Chinese New Year break so that neither of them would feel awkward. But when he went back for the New Year, Chen Yi went missing. Chen Zhong completely despaired of his family and left Jiang City for Guangdong before the New Year was even over.
He planned never to return to that home again. From then on, he would be all alone…
Chen Zhong arrived at the factory location, but since the factory was on holiday, he couldn’t get in. As he squatted on the street corner crying over Chen Yi, Lu Mou appeared in front of him.
Heartbroken, Lu Mou held him in his arms, his broad chest bringing warmth. Chen Zhong felt that since things had come to this, he might as well be with Lu Mou. His heart was so tired and in so much pain; he needed comfort…
Like a drowning man clutching at a straw, Chen Zhong got together with Lu Mou just to seek comfort. At that time, he was somewhat giving up on himself. But slowly, he fell in love with Lu Mou and genuinely wanted to live life with him.
Lu Mou wasn’t content with being a small foreman. In his spare time, he constantly studied and attended training. Chen Zhong was inspired and studied along with Lu Mou.
They slowly transformed from laborers into management. Although they still worked in a factory, it was much more relaxed than before, and their wages increased. This year, their factory was setting up a new plant in Jiang City. After discussing it, Chen Zhong and Lu Mou decided to come over.
Prices and housing were high in Guangdong; they couldn’t afford to buy a house there. Returning to Jiang City, it might be possible. They didn’t have children, so they had to rely on themselves for old age. They needed to plan for their future.
After the two stabilized in Jiang City, Chen Zhong wanted to raise a dog. To have a dog welcome them as soon as they got home—that was the life Chen Zhong yearned for. Lu Mou asked a neighbor where dogs were sold, and the neighbor recommended they go to the Story Pet Shop to adopt one.
Story Pet Shop had a great reputation; the adopted pets were healthy, and they taught you how to raise them… Chen Zhong was very interested after hearing this, so he discussed it with Lu Mou, and they went to Story Pet Shop to adopt a dog.
Unexpectedly, this was the most correct decision he had ever made…
Recommended Reads
![Does A Broken Mirror Reunion Exist in Esports? [Esports]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/esports-225x300.png)
