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

"Wang Gang, Liu Long, head to the Beijing line."

"Xu Nian, Qi Yu, you're going to the mountain city route today."

After the burly man finished assigning tasks, the group dispersed to their respective posts.

"You can actually walk today?"

Xu Nian looked at Qi Yu with great interest.

The other person had changed into a military green outfit, and was wearing a pair of slightly faded shorts.

He shaved his head and didn't wear glasses.

Yesterday's scholarly air was gone; he now resembled a manual laborer rather than a scholar.

Qi Yu awkwardly scratched his head, then followed Xu Nian with an extremely peculiar gait.

"My God, when I went to sleep last night, I felt that my legs were fine, but when I woke up this morning, my legs felt like they were about to break."

Xu Nian couldn't help but chuckle as she watched his crab-like gait.

Although sorting involves handling goods by hand, it requires constantly squatting and standing up, so the legs are the part of the body that exert the most force.

For someone like Qi Yu, who is experiencing high-intensity labor for the first time, the damaged muscles will begin to repair themselves while he rests that night, and he will experience unbearable soreness in his legs when he wakes up the next day.

Xu Nian recalled that after finishing the sorting work for the first time, she was so exhausted that she had to lie in bed for two days before she could recover.

Qi Yu was surprised to find that he was able to come to work today.

"Today is alright, we weren't assigned to the Beijing line, so there won't be as much cargo as yesterday."

When I arrived at my post, there wasn't a single item left over from the previous shift, and the two workers on the night shift were chatting casually.

When they saw Xu Nian and Qi Yu arrive, they greeted them and then left their posts to go home.

"Brother, you should rest more today. I didn't do much yesterday, so I'll do more today."

Xu Nian put on the gloves and nodded slightly.

He glanced at the wound on his hand; although the bleeding had stopped, it was still not healed.

It's best to avoid moving heavy items for a while.

......

"Sister, how much are potatoes per pound?"

"One yuan and fifty cents per pound."

"Can you give me a discount, pretty lady? I'll take a few more."

The middle-aged woman selling vegetables felt a surge of joy when she heard Xu Xi calling her "sister" repeatedly.

"What a thoughtful girl! She's so young and already out buying groceries, and she's so sweet-talking. I won't charge you today, I'll sell it to you for one yuan a pound."

"Thank you, sister!"

Xu Xi squatted down and picked out a few potatoes that looked better and put them into a bag.

"Three catties and one ounce, give me three yuan."

After paying, Xu Xi happily hung the potatoes on the hand carrying the fewer vegetables and continued walking towards other stalls.

Although the money her brother gave her was enough for two meals, Xu Xi still decided to buy groceries and cook for herself.

Every dollar saved is a dollar saved.

Carrying large and small bags full of groceries, Xu Xi walked happily home.

It's the weekend, and the shantytown is unusually lively.

Some factories were on holiday, and a group of idle hooligans gathered together, drinking and playing cards, occasionally uttering insulting words.

Xu Xi carefully avoided them, afraid of provoking these guys.

"Hey, where did this chick come from?"

A drunken figure blocked Xu Xi's view.

Xu Xi took two steps back and saw who it was.

She vaguely remembered that this was the drunkard whom Xu Nian had knocked to the ground before.

"You're so handsome! Would you like to come home with me? There are lots of fun things to do at my house."

As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed at Xu Xi's chest.

"rogue!"

Xu Xi screamed and quickly dodged to the side.

The drunkard didn't react in time and fell to the ground with a thud.

"Hahahaha, are you even any good, Li Laogui? You can't even catch a girl."

A burst of malicious laughter erupted from the side.

Xu Xi felt scared and quickly ran away.

She felt several pairs of eyes watching her from behind.

"Bang!"

After closing the door, Xu Xi quickly locked it, panting heavily.

I pressed my face against the peephole and looked out.

Fortunately, no one followed.

Xu Xi breathed a sigh of relief and began to prepare the ingredients.

She washed the potatoes clean and carefully peeled off the skin.

First slice it, then shred it; each cut is very slow.

After a while, Xu Xi looked at the unevenly sized and lengthened potato shreds on the cutting board and was both amused and exasperated.

Some were thicker than her index finger, while others were as thin as a strand of her hair.

However, it's still barely recognizable as shredded potatoes.

Xu Xi poured oil into the pot, holding the cutting board, hesitant to put the shredded potatoes into the pot.

She waited until the oil was hot and emitting puffs of white smoke before gritting her teeth and pouring the shredded potatoes and remaining water from the cutting board into it.

The moment the water droplets came into contact with the hot oil, they crackled and splashed, causing the hot oil to splatter everywhere.

"what!"

A few drops of hot oil splashed onto Xu Xi's arm, instantly burning several red patches. She quickly took a few steps back.

The shredded potatoes sizzled in the oil, and the remaining water droplets were burned away, turning into a white mist.

What should I do? What should I do next?

Xu Xi's mind went blank for a moment. She wanted to get closer to the oil pan to stir-fry, but she was afraid that the hot oil would splatter again, and she was at a loss.

After waiting for several minutes until the pot calmed down a bit, Xu Xi dared to step forward and timidly stir-fry the shredded potatoes with a spatula.

"I won!"

A joyful shout came from next door.

"Hahaha, I'm having such good luck today, money, money, money..."

Looking at the black, sticky shredded potatoes on the plate, Xu Xi shook her head helplessly.

"It's burnt..."

......

"That's it for the night shift, those on the morning shift, come collect your pay!"

The burly man's shouts echoed throughout the entire workshop.

"Phew, finally off work."

Qi Yu took off his gloves and stretched his muscles.

"Brother, the Chongqing line is still easier to work on. Although the cargo has never stopped, it's much less than the Beijing line."

Xu Nian nodded and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Today was indeed relatively easier, and Qi Yu worked quickly, so he ended up being the one who did less work.

"Are you coming again tomorrow?"

Qi Yu gritted his teeth and nodded emphatically.

"Come!"

On her way home, Xu Nian didn't bring two boxed lunches home like she did yesterday.

He planned to bring Xu Xi out to eat with him so they could have a hot meal.

As soon as I opened the door, a cloud of thick smoke billowed out of the house.

"Cough! Cough! Cough! Xu Xi? Xu Xi!"

Xu Nian was choked and couldn't breathe. He was terrified and rushed into the house to look for Xu Xi.

"Ahem...Brother, I'm here!"

Xu Nian felt her clothes being gently tugged.

As the smoke gradually dissipated, Xu Nian was able to see Xu Xi's face clearly.

She was holding a spatula, her face flushed red as if from smoke.

Xu Nian breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Xu Xi was alright.

"What are you doing?"

Xu Xi lowered her head, not daring to meet Xu Nian's gaze.

"I...I want to learn how to cook for my brother."

Looking at the dishes laid out on the table, Xu Nian's eyes reddened.

He rubbed Xu Xi's oil-stained hair.

When I go out, I have something to worry about; when I get off work, I have food to eat.

Nearly ten years later, Xu Nian felt at home for the first time.