Chapter 1563
The twenty-first century, City Z.
When Xia Ruqing woke up in the dimly lit rental room, the sky had already turned completely dark.
Xia Ruqing groggily climbed out of bed and habitually glanced around.
The room was unlit, very dark.
With the faint light from the thousands of lights outside the window, she could barely make out the scene inside the room.
This room was very small.
Besides the small bed she just got up from, there was a crude wardrobe and a table, nothing else.
The wardrobe was small and shabby, the doors couldn’t close properly, and the cartoon stickers on it were peeling at the edges.
The table was also very worn, with a pair of chopsticks placed on it, though it was tidied up fairly clean, traces of peeling wood varnish were visible.
She instinctively frowned but didn’t feel entirely repulsed.
Her gaze moved upward bit by bit.
The mottled walls had large moldy patches that couldn’t be concealed even in such darkness.
The curtains were very old, who knows when they were last changed, and the bars on the window were already rusty, paint chipped and peeling, even the exposed wires on the wall were dangling precariously.
The air was inevitably filled with a musty smell.
All of this indicated one thing: the owner of this room was very poor.
The owner of this room?
A question mark suddenly flashed in her mind, is it me?
Her head suddenly felt a bit painful, she quickly ran to the window to breathe some fresh air, and instinctively pressed her temples with her thumb, feeling much relieved.
Still, she felt very confused, as if the sight before her was both familiar and unfamiliar.
So familiar as if she’s indeed been living here all along, never having left.
Yet so unfamiliar as if she had been away for a long, long time.
Could it be that she had a long dream?
But what happened in the dream, she couldn’t remember a single thing.
How strange!
She walked to the table and looked at the bowl of unfinished noodles, it seemed freshly made.
This indicates she hadn’t left! Then what...??
She was lost in thought.
Suddenly, footsteps and the laughter of two women were heard from outside.
"Ah, finally off work, today was exhausting! Too many customers at the store!" complained one woman.
"Being tired means earning money, aren’t you happy to earn money?" teased the other woman.
"That’s true!" said the first woman.
"I want to work hard and move out of this wretched place as soon as possible!"
"Me too!" the other woman decided resolutely.
"I can’t stand this crappy place for another day, it’s freezing in winter and suffocatingly hot in summer with so many mosquitoes!"
"Ah, if only I were a rich second generation, I could date handsome guys, live in a big villa, fly around the world for vacations, and..." she was lost in her daydreams.
"Stop, stop, stop! Wake up, don’t dream!" the first woman interrupted her.
"From the moment you were born, whether you’re a rich second generation was predetermined!"
"But dreaming of becoming first-generation rich yourself is possible!"
"What’s wrong with dreaming? It’s not illegal!" the other woman retorted with a glare.
"What if one day I hook up with a rich man, or have a wealthy second-gen friend, then won’t I skyrocket to success!"
The first woman couldn’t help but laugh.
"Alright, life’s tough enough, I won’t say anything more! Just don’t forget about me then!"
"For sure!"
The other woman was happy again, thumping her chest with a guarantee.
The two continued to chat and giggle as they walked on.
...
Listening to the familiar sounds outside.
Xia Ruqing felt herself finally waking up from that state of confusion.
The previously sealed memories surfaced instantly, clear and distinct.
These two women speaking, aren’t they her best friends!
She slapped her forehead, as if suddenly enlightened or realizing something.
The first one is called Wenwen, a menial worker in a beauty salon, a small migrant worker girl from the mountain area.
The second one is called Xiaoxiao, a clerk in a small company, she had a good education but ended up in the same place as them due to some family misfortune.
As for herself, Xia Ruqing, her grandma passed away before she could graduate high school.
Because she couldn’t afford college, she had to go out to earn a living.
Speaking of work, she went through countless hardships.
When she first went out, being underage, she could only be a child laborer, earning five to six hundred yuan a month was already considered good for food money.
The next year, after turning eighteen, she finally found a job as a statistician in a market.
She thought it would be easy but ended up having to perform multiple roles, not only as a statistician but also as a porter and cashier.
Getting up at 4 AM every day, getting off work at 10 PM, with no rest except for meals in between, constantly sleep-deprived, extremely physically drained, often falling asleep while standing.
When she couldn’t hold on any longer, she switched to her third job.
Still a statistician, but this time the work was much easier, although the income also decreased significantly, necessitating a second part-time job after work.
Over three to four years, living frugally and working tirelessly day and night, she finally saved a little bit of money.
Earlier this year, she used her few savings to buy a small transport truck.
Her biggest dream in life is to have her own farm, filled with various fruits and vegetables.
But now she is still far from that dream. So, she’ll start by being a farm hauler.
That’s right.
Her current job is to transport the fresh produce from the farm to the big city, delivering to different markets, and then to thousands of households.
Many people don’t understand why a girl would choose this job.
But she just didn’t want to stay in the concrete jungle of the city.
She’s very satisfied with her current job.
Every other day, she has the opportunity to go to the large farm in the countryside to breathe fresh air.
Every time she smells the fresh scent of fruits and vegetables, she feels as though her grandma is right by her side.
...
The sound of keys turning outside the door, and the two women entered one after the other.
Before she could come out, they barged in without reservation.
"Xiao Qingqing, why didn’t you even turn on the light, were you just waking up, you can really sleep!" Wenwen joked as she turned on the light.
The incandescent light instantly lit up, emitting an old, yellowish glow.
Xia Ruqing squinted, unable to open her eyes from the light, it took a while to adjust.
Under the dim light, the furnishings in the room were almost the same as she saw before, except... it felt slightly cozy?
Wait, why did she feel the yellow light was cozy?!!
She used to always complain about the old bulb yet reluctant to spend money to replace it!
Disregarding her surprised expression, Xiaoxiao stepped forward and smiled.
"We thought you weren’t here!"