Li Weisheng lives in Tonglu County, Jiangxi Province. It has been a famous coal city since ancient times, and 40% of the country's coal is produced here.
As the amount of things increased, the people mining them became a mixed bag. Some people were blinded by profit and, in order to save on wages, they kidnapped and trafficked young and disabled people.
Lin Shuyue leaned against the window and listened to Li Weisheng talk about what happened in the coal mine where he went undercover. Li Mingfang sat on the hospital bed and peeled an apple for him.
"After I arrived in Linshan Town, Tonglu County, I waited for work at the station gate with the other men who came to work. I followed the gang for ten days before I was noticed by them and tricked into joining them."
Li Weisheng felt bitter when he thought about it. He had been spoiled his whole life, never even having to carry a bucket of water. He was naturally weak! To avoid being outdone by Lin Shuyue, he had no choice but to enroll in martial arts classes.
He didn't dare to miss a day, and originally thought that he would become a hero who fought against evil and protected the good. There was a time when he would go to those remote places after get off work.
Who would have thought that the first time he would put this martial art into practice was when he became a walking stickman?
The reason why Linshan Town is called Linshan Town is because there are many forests and mountains. The whole town is built on the mountain. In some places, cars cannot go at all, so the walking stickman industry came into being.
This job only requires a lot of strength. You need a shoulder pole with two bamboo baskets in front of it. You are paid according to the amount of goods carried. Three yuan is the maximum, but one or two yuan is not considered too little.
Li Weisheng waited for four days before he got a job, which was to deliver a batch of rice and flour to the mountain. Each bag weighed fifty kilograms.
On that trip up the mountain, Li Weisheng wanted to give up countless times, but he persevered. When he returned to the overpass where the stickmen gathered that night, his shoulders were swollen.
In the following days, he carried refrigerators and washing machines, as well as vegetables and tofu. The most he earned on a day was 50 yuan, and the least on a day, he only earned two yuan, enough to buy a few steamed buns to fill his stomach.
He wanted to cry when he was recruited by the mine recruiters. But when he arrived at the mine, he realized how comfortable life was as a stickman.
"We were at the mine, getting up at three every morning and going down to work. Breakfast consisted of two hard, steamed buns. Every time I ate them, I felt sorry for my teeth. When had I ever been treated so badly in my life before?"
Li Weisheng wiped away a few nonexistent tears. "The mine was dark and cold. When we were mining, there were several thugs nearby with whips. If anyone worked too slowly, they would whip them. They were just like those old-time overseers."
During the time Li Weisheng was working at the mine, the shop next to his was run by a man from Northeast China who was abducted by his brothers. Li Weisheng was able to send text messages to Lin Shuyue and Li Mingfang every day to report his safety, all thanks to his cover.
It is said that as long as there is one person from Northeast China in a crowd, there will soon be a bunch of fake people from Northeast China. Li Weisheng's change perfectly proves this point.
Li Weisheng was very excited when talking about his good brother: "Xing Daqiang has several brothers. His family was very poor. He left home to beg for food. Unexpectedly, due to his lack of experience, he was sold by his brothers from the same village before he even left the county town."
"After the police busted the illegal coal mine, he returned home. He told me that after he'd given his brother a beating, he'd come find me in Guangdong Province. I'd then find him a job."
Li Weisheng was very satisfied to meet such a good friend in the black coal mine.
Seeing that his face had become darker and thinner, Li Mingfang cut the peeled apple into small pieces and stuffed them directly into his mouth: "You arrange a good job for him when the time comes. If you can't find him a job, he can work on the construction site with my brother. My brother's construction site always says there are not enough people."
Lin Shuyue and Li Mingfang both knew that Li Weisheng's words were understated, but his life in the coal mine must have been very difficult, otherwise how did he get those injuries? How did he break his leg?
The nurse just came to change Li Weisheng's dressing. His skin under his clothes was covered with wounds, crisscrossed and torn. Li Mingfang just burst into tears.
Li Weisheng ate the sweet apple and smelled the disinfectant on his nose. He felt that this was what life was like! The time he spent in the illegal coal mine was really not a life for human beings.
"Turn on the TV, turn on the TV. I heard we will be on the news today." Li Weisheng glanced at the time and immediately urged Li Mingfang.
He was not short of money. He had been enslaved for such a long time. After being sent to the hospital by the police, he directly asked for a single room with a one-meter hospital bed, a one-meter and two-meter accompanying bed, and a TV to watch.
This is the highest-standard ward in the entire Linshan Town Hospital.
Lin Shuyue went over and turned on the TV. According to Li Weisheng, she tuned to Ganzhou Satellite TV, where the noon news had just begun.
At 12:15, the news reported that Li Weisheng had exposed the illegal coal mine and rescued more than 20 strong laborers there. The news included Li Weisheng's speech, with his back to the camera, and a green plant in the foreground completely obscuring his appearance.
The whole scene lasted for two minutes. Li Weisheng looked very proud, and Li Mingfang also smiled.
The midday news lasts for thirty minutes, and being able to spare two minutes for Li Weisheng is already very, very good.
"Congratulations." Lin Shuyue knew that one of Li Weisheng's current wishes was to appear on the news broadcast, and now his wish has come true.
Even at this moment, Li Weisheng still threatened Lin Shuyue: "Ah Yue, just wait, one day, I will be interviewed by TV stations more times than you!"
Lin Shuyue liked healthy competitors like Li Weisheng very much. She smiled and said, "Then I'll wait."
It was time for lunch. Li Weisheng's lunch was delivered by a caregiver, so he didn't need to go to the hospital cafeteria to get it.
Li Mingfang and Lin Shuyue arrived this morning at the same time. Li Weisheng gave the caregiver some extra money, so their meals were also delivered to them together.
The hospital meals were all bland, consisting of two meat dishes and one vegetable. The meat dishes were stir-fried pork with cabbage and leeks, and stir-fried pork with shredded pork, while the vegetable dish was stir-fried cabbage. Li Weisheng was served with a patient meal and was even given an extra serving of bone soup.
The caregiver, a woman in her thirties, put the food on the table, then went over to help Li Weisheng up. His left leg was broken and in a cast, but after the woman's continuous care, Li Weisheng didn't feel uncomfortable at all.
Lin Shuyue specifically opened the good and evil discrimination system and took a look. Whether it was the good and evil value or the gray area, this elder sister was within the range of ordinary people.
Lin Shuyue and Li Mingfang were eating together when she started chatting with her: "Sister, how long have you been working in this hospital?"
The eldest sister introduced herself as Miao Ayu. Her Mandarin wasn't very good, but after listening to Lin Shuyue, she tried to chat with her in her local dialect: "I started working as a caregiver in the hospital two years ago. At first, it was because my mother-in-law was hospitalized, and I had to come and take care of her. After my mother-in-law got better, I started thinking about becoming a caregiver."
As Miao Ayu spoke, she swiftly set the table for Li Weisheng. She had a cheerful personality and spoke without stopping: "When I was taking care of my mother-in-law, I noticed that there were a lot of patients in the hospital, old, young, and injured. Most of their families didn't have time to take care of them, and it was very troublesome to care for some guests with limited mobility to go to the bathroom. The nurses also had work to do and were very busy, so they couldn't be there 24 hours a day."
"There are also caregiver in the hospital, both male and female. Some of them are not very responsible in serving patients, but even so, they have a constant flow of business. There was an old lady in my mother-in-law's ward. She had surgery and needed to go to the toilet. The caregiver didn't come until half past one o'clock."
"When she arrived, the old lady said something to her, and she got upset and just turned around and left. When the old lady's children found out, they had to call her and coax her into working there, raising her salary to 60 a day before she agreed to come back and continue working there."
"I was thinking at the time, if I were to become a caregiver, I would definitely do a better job than her. So after my mother-in-law was discharged from the hospital, I went straight to the hospital to ask for a job. I've been doing this job ever since. I'm efficient and kind to patients, so everyone loves me. I even earn more than the men in my family."
Sister Miao finished her words and was about to leave. She was taking care of several patients at the same time. Li Weisheng was the most seriously injured, and she also had to deliver meals to others. Before leaving, she specifically instructed Lin Shuyue and the others: "When you're done eating, just put your bowls and chopsticks there. I'll come and clean up for it later."
With a bang, Sister Miao closed the door. Li Mingfang stared at her from behind, stunned: "Isn't this sister a bit too quick? You just asked her one question, and she said so much."
It was also the first time that Lin Shuyue met someone like Sister Miao. To be honest, she was a little overwhelmed.
Li Weisheng drank his soup and said slowly, "You don't know this, right? Sister Miao said the same thing when I first met her. Later, I asked Sister Miao about it, and she said that she has been working here for so long, and almost everyone asks her if she can make money as a caregiver and why she decided to become one."
"In order to save people the trouble of asking questions, she would answer all the questions as soon as they opened their mouths, thus saving everyone's time."
Li Mingfang asked, "Isn't she afraid of being annoying by talking too much?"
Lin Shuyue knew how to answer this question: "Maybe she thinks that as a caregiver, she only needs to take good care of the patients. It's not like she has to have a relationship with the patients' families. She just needs to do her job well."
Li Weisheng gave Lin Shuyue a thumbs up and said, "You really understand. Their nursing fees will be paid to the hospital, which then will be given to them after. Although the hospital will deduct some handling fees, it's better than them doing business privately."
Li Mingfang had an expression of having gained new insights.
After dinner, the two put the lunch boxes on the table, and Sister Miao came over. She first lowered the bed where Li Weisheng was lying to a normal height, and after making sure that Li Weisheng was not going to the toilet, she took the lunch box and left, taking the garbage away before leaving.
Li Weisheng took a nap at noon, while Lin Shuyue and Li Mingfang walked around and bought some snacks, fruits and so on.
After dinner in the evening, the curtains in the room were drawn, and the ward became two small compartments. Lin Shuyue and Li Mingfang slept on a small bed of 1.2 meters.
Lin Shuyue took a train for a day and a night to reach Gan Province, and then took a bus for six hours to get here. She was already exhausted.
She fell asleep as soon as she touched the pillow.
Lin Shuyue slept until midnight and was woken up by the system.
[ Ding ~~~ A criminal with a goodness/evil value of 50% has been detected trying to pry open the door. Please wake up as soon as possible. ]
[ Ding ~~~ A criminal with a goodness/evil value of 50% has been detected trying to pry open the door. Please wake up as soon as possible. ]
[ Ding ~~~ A criminal with a goodness/evil value of 50% has been detected trying to pry open the door. Please wake up as soon as possible. ]
Lin Shuyue opened her eyes and pinched her thigh to drive the sleepiness out of her mind. Then she looked towards the door and indeed heard a very quiet rustling sound.
Li Mingfang in the room started to snore softly, and Li Weisheng snore loudly, their sounds intertwined like they were singing.
Lin Shuyue got out of bed and tiptoed to the back of the door.
With a click, the door opened. A dark shadow pushed the door open, tiptoed in, and closed the door gently.
The moment the door was closed, Lin Shuyue raised the brick high.
With a bang, the black shadow fell to the ground. Lin Shuyue pressed the switch beside the door, and the small room instantly became as bright as day.
Li Weisheng sat up from the bed and said, "Sixth brother, don't hit me, Sixth brother, don't hit me, we are getting up, we are getting up."