On Cold Dew Street,
Zhao Yi, his whole body soaked with mist, pushed open the door of his home and hung the flag with the words "Resume Work" on the wall before sitting down wearily. "You're back?" Uncle Zhao, wearing an apron, stood by the table, looking at him while kneading dough, asking with some concern, "How was it? What did the factory say?"
"They can't resume work... They just gave us some money randomly."
Zhao Yi took a gulp of water and slapped the coins in his pocket on the table, muttering angrily,
"It's useless to just get this money without resuming work. How long can it last?"
"No way, I have to go again tomorrow. If they don't resume work for one day, I'll protest for one day!"
Uncle Zhao looked at him for a long time, then sighed deeply, "Xiao Yi... If the factory is really determined to stop work, what use is it for you to protest again? If you irritate them, be careful of the consequences."
"What if I irritate them? Dare they touch me?" Zhao Yi widened his eyes, "If they dare to touch me, I'll fight them!"
"Fight, fight, what do you have to fight with them?"
Uncle Zhao snorted and slapped a large piece of dough onto the wooden board with a bang. "Every day, you don't do any serious work. You just know how to stare at others with your neck stuck out. What's the use? When you learn to bow your head initiatively one day, your old man won't have to worry so much! Do you think this world is so easy to get along with?"
Zhao Yi clearly felt that Uncle Zhao was angry. He wanted to argue something but ultimately pursed his lips and remained silent.
The room suddenly became quiet.
After a long stalemate, Uncle Zhao shook his head and continued kneading the dough.
"If we can't go to the steel mill, it's fine. At least we still have this breakfast stall. Although I can't earn much money, it's no problem to support you, my boy."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yi's face changed, and his fists clenched tightly under the table...
After a long time, he stood up without saying a word and walked into the room.
"Where are you going?" Uncle Zhao asked.
"Sleeping!"
"Why are you shouting at your old man?"
Bang——!
As the door closed, Uncle Zhao cursed angrily and continued kneading the dough with even more force.
The mist swirled, and the sky outside the door gradually darkened. Uncle Zhao wiped the sweat from his forehead, walked to the table, lit the kerosene lamp, and the orange light stained a corner of the breakfast stall, casting the slightly stooped shadow onto the mottled wall.
Outside the door, a figure clad in a black windbreaker stopped in the mist.
"Uncle Zhao, still busy?" Chen Yifei saw that the light of the breakfast stall was still on and asked as he opened the door slightly.
"Yifei, come in and sit down," Uncle Zhao smiled when he saw Chen Yifei. "The cook from the primary school at the end of the street ran away, so no one made breakfast for them, and they placed a big order here... I have a lot of work to do."
"No, I still have to patrol," Chen Yifei replied.
"Patrol so late?" Uncle Zhao was surprised. "Is something wrong?"
Chen Yifei hesitated for a moment, "No... Anyway, it's best not to go out recently. It might not be safe outside."
"Okay, okay," Uncle Zhao nodded repeatedly.
"Rest early, Uncle Zhao. Don't stay up too late."
"Alright." The smile on Uncle Zhao's face grew brighter. He seemed to have thought of something and sighed helplessly, "If our family member were half as sensible as you, I would be satisfied..."
Chen Yifei smiled, closed the shop door for him, picked up a kerosene lamp, and gradually disappeared into the mist of the night.
There was no more conversation overnight.
...
Early the next morning, the door was slowly pushed open, and Zhao Yi walked out of the room with red eyes, as if he hadn't slept well.
He opened his mouth to say something but saw the figure in the shop and silently closed his mouth... Somehow, Uncle Zhao had already fallen asleep on the table, with a slight snore echoing in the room, and the glass door was misty.
On the table before him, hundreds of neatly packed steamed buns were arranged, filling six large bags, which were the result of his overnight labor.
Zhao Yi frowned at these steamed buns and then looked at the sleeping figure on the table. The black hair could no longer conceal those aging silver hairs, which were like fragments of snow, and his brows were filled with exhaustion.
"At his age, he insists on doing this..." Zhao Yi muttered, with complex emotions in his eyes.
He scanned this slightly cramped and outdated breakfast stall and finally focused on the flag lying in the corner. The complexity in his eyes gradually turned into determination...
He took a deep breath, lightly walked to take a cotton-padded jacket and covered it on Uncle Zhao, then walked to the door, hoisted the flag onto his shoulder, pushed open the shop door with one hand, and strode into the thick mist.
The flag of "Resume Work" swayed in the mist, and the defiant face of the teenager was unbreakable.
He walked alone through the silent streets, heading north until the streets and crowds disappeared behind him. After a long journey, that massive structure crouching in the mist gradually emerged in front of him.
He stopped at the gate of the steel mill.
Maybe because of the heavy mist, or maybe because it was too early, or maybe because the scant salary from yesterday had sent everyone else away, now there was only him at the gate of the steel mill...
He forcefully inserted the flagpole into the soil under his feet, exerted all his strength, and shouted towards the factory buildings shrouded in the mist:
"Where is everyone?! Come out!"
"We want to resume work!!"
"I said it yesterday! If you don't resume work for one day, I'll protest for one day!"
"If you don't resume work, no one will have a good life! Come out!"
"I want to resume work!!"
Zhao Yi's shouts echoed in the mist, ignored and unanswered... But he still persistently shouted as if his throat was made of iron.
Zhao Yi was not foolish. He knew that the problem was not with the factory but within Aurora City. However, what could he do? As a kid from Cold Dew Street in District Three, he had no way to reach Aurora City. For him, shouting here was the only way to resist his fate.
Zhao Yi's shouts continued unabated. At this moment, the unmanned iron gate suddenly emitted a harsh sound and slowly opened outward...
Creak——
Zhao Yi was stunned.
Maybe it was because of the wind, or maybe this gate was not locked at all... Zhao Yi didn't think much. He gritted his teeth, pulled up the flag, hoisted it onto his shoulder, took one step, crossed the gate, and walked straight to the workshop.
"Meng Shi!! Come out!!"
Zhao Yi kicked open the workshop door and was about to confront Meng Shi face-to-face. The next moment, he froze.
Inside the multi-story workshop, a massive shadow loomed above several machine hills like a thousand-legged centipede... And at this moment, beneath this centipede, in its shadow, one could see things resembling insect eggs trembling slightly...