He pulled out a fan from his backpack and began to use it.
He had gotten this plastic fan from a young lady who was selling a house; it had information about a property printed on it. Since he was often on the streets, he had collected quite a few of these fans at home, at least a dozen.
They were really durable.
He hadn't broken a single one till now.
With over a dozen at home, he felt they would last him a lifetime, and maybe even serve as 'heirlooms' passed down to future generations.
Of course.
That assumes he will have descendants.
Looking at the hustle and bustle of the so-called bustling city and the pedestrians rushing past, a profound sense of alienation overcame him.
This sensation is shared by most migrants in this rapidly developing city. More than a year after arriving in this city, his initial dreams and aspirations had long been crushed by reality.
Tang Qing graduated from a top-ranking university in his hometown province.
--- Majoring in Business Management.
The employment prospects after graduation for such a versatile major are not hard to imagine.
The heavens were merciful, however.
Two months after graduation,
Tang Qing, who was yet to find a suitable job, decided to take his aunt's advice and started preparing for graduate school. He was admitted rather smoothly and continued to study in the same school and major ensconced in academic anonymity.
After finishing his postgraduate studies,
Tang Qing started working at a foreign trade company in his province, mainly dealing with agricultural products.
The company was located in a more remote prefecture-level city within the province.
The company was a thoroughly family-run business, rife with nepotism and internal chaos. Despite working there for three years and becoming the manager of a business department, he was only earning just over four thousand a month.
His income was barely enough to scrape by.
No hope for promotion.
Always harried by the obnoxious 'royal relatives'.
Distraught and discouraged, he finally decided to quit his job.
Although Zhongzhou City was not a first-tier city, it was among the top few in the second-tier cities.
Since his good friend from university, Wang Qiang, lived there, Tang Qing decided to visit. At first, he stayed at Wang Qiang's place, but he eventually became his roommate.
After graduating from university, Wang Qiang ended up in the city because his parents were working on a construction site there.
He tried his hand at various jobs.
From running a street stall, selling houses, working in a factory, to working in an office, he didn't stay in one place for long and hence, didn't earn much money either. Three years ago, through a friend's introduction, he landed a job at a pawn company.
Fast forward to the present.
Wang Qiang has been married for over two years.
However, his house was not in the city, but in the provincial capital where he came from. His wife worked as an accountant in a private enterprise there. Both sets of parents were not too strapped for cash, so they put their funds together and paid the full price for the house.
The location wasn't too far either.
He went home every week. The high-speed rail only took an hour and a half, which was very convenient. Wang Qiang also had a car which his wife used for her commute.
When Tang Qing first came to Zhongzhou City, he had no idea what to do.
He just wanted to try his luck.
He thought a big city would bring more opportunities.
But in this era, where university students are a dime a dozen and postgraduates are as common as muck.
Having been a manager in a small family-run business did not give him any advantage. He did not want to work in an office either and desired to develop his skills in sales. As a result, Wang Qiang suggested Tang Qing become a microfinance business clerk.
After all, it was related to his industry.
It could provide him with a lot of experience and help.
Tang Qing considered the suggestion and agreed.
And so, he found his current job.
In a nutshell, this job was stressful.
Every month there was a target which, if not exorbitant, was still not insignificant - around two hundred thousand.
Sometimes, one deal could meet the target. The commission varied depending on different tiers, two percent for fifty thousand to two hundred thousand, two and a half percent for two to three hundred thousand, and three percent for anything above three hundred thousand.
However, this company did not release commissions for the same month, but deferred it by one more month.
So for the first few months, he was basically living on his basic salary. If not for the first deal introduced by Wang Qiang, a decoration loan of more than two hundred thousand, he might have been fired in his third month.
Although he had been doing this for more than a year.
His performance was not remarkable.
He basically just met the standard target. After all, he was a newcomer to the industry, and with the government's increasing liberal policies, microfinance companies kept sprouting like mushrooms after the rain.
The competition was fierce.
Where there is demand, there is a market.
People who came to them for loans definitely had various problems and needs.
At the beginning, he did not fully understand the ins and outs.
Without a mentor.
He served the clients eagerly, thinking that he could make the deal.
Yet, after submitting the painstakingly prepared materials, they were immediately rejected.
Or some clients provided false information, falsified documents etc. Faced with a host of different problems, he gradually gained experience and became smarter, reducing some pointless workload.
Half a year later.
He was more or less able to gauge which cases could pass company audits and which ones might be approved at other companies even if they failed at his.
Tang Qing was born in '87.
Sitting by the roadside, Tang Qing, who was already thirty, felt that he had accomplished nothing in life. To describe his feelings about his seemingly godforsaken life, he just did not know what to say.
After sulking on the street under the sun for half an hour, Tang Qing decided to call it a day. For people like him who are constantly marketing products outside, they just need to inform the clerk and they don't need to go back to clock out in the afternoon.
A metro ride, two bus transfers.
One hour later.
Tang Qing arrived home.
He also bought some groceries on the way.
He lived in a large new neighborhood, located at the urban-rural intersection in the east of the city. He lived with Wang Qiang in a two-bedroom apartment with a living room, kitchen, and bathroom. The monthly rent was two thousand.