Beijing.
Outside the Fifth Ring Road, a bustling vegetable market.
The biting cold wind was accompanied by a few pig squeals, and the crowded market entrance was particularly lively.
Chen Pingsheng was smoking a pack of labor baisha that cost four yuan and fifty cents, exhaling white smoke rings. Soon, several stylish older women approached his tricycle.
durian, which cost 15 yuan a pound wholesale, was being sold for 16 yuan and 80 cents, and they still complained it was too expensive, haggling for ninety cents off.
Well… a sale is a sale.
"The city management is here, run!"
"Damn, didn't they just come yesterday? Why are they here again today?"
He had just been about to scan the QR code for payment when he quickly started his tricycle and fled.
If he was caught for running late, half a month's work would be for nothing.
He didn't know when it started, but he, the local boss from his hometown, the popular figure at school, had turned his life into a chaotic mess.
Fortunately, he married early, and his wife was five years younger than him. Although they had no house or car, they had a warm little home.
This life as a 'Beijing drifter' wasn't so lonely then.
After parking the tricycle, he opened the door with a creak.
A small child was hiding behind the door, and as soon as he entered, she rushed over, clinging to him like a little charm.
Chen Pingsheng picked her up, gently pinching her small nose. The little child was so adorable; no matter how hard he worked outside, seeing her when he returned home made all the exhaustion worth it.
This was his five-year-old daughter, Chen Anan.
"Chen Pingsheng, you're back just in time."
Inside the house, a stylish woman with wavy hair sat on the small sofa.
She had her arms crossed, her face expressionless, and her legs crossed. It was clear from her demeanor that she had no good intentions.
"Sister-in-law, when did you arrive?"
"Hmph." Song Wu snorted, completely ignoring his pleasantries, and said bluntly, "I came to ask you to let my sister go."
"What do you mean by that? I don't understand."
Chen Pingsheng's expression changed, but Song Wu completely disregarded his feelings. "Don't play dumb with me. My sister has been with you for six years, from marriage until now. Do you see any of her former youthful vibrancy left? Since she followed you, has she had a single good day?"
"She had to wash dishes to earn money while pregnant, and less than a month after Anan was born, she started working two jobs."
"Six years."
Song Wu grew angrier as she spoke. "Six years, and my sister can still only live with you crammed in this dark, rented room. Chen Pingsheng, if my sister hadn't chosen you, would she have to live like this?"
Chen Pingsheng's breathing hitched, his eyes shifting. No matter how many emotions he felt, he couldn't refute her at this moment.
Perhaps everyone would think it was because he was too lazy.
The truth was quite the opposite; he was very diligent, leaving home before dawn every day and returning very late.
Thinking back to when he first arrived in Beijing, he had no education and no special skills.
He had carried cement and moved bricks on construction sites under the scorching sun for a year. Later, he heard that driving trucks earned good money, so he traveled north and south to make a living.
Now, driving a tricycle and selling durian like a guerrilla, though undignified, he could still net ten to twenty thousand yuan a month.
But what was the point?
As his sister-in-law said, with his income, even if he didn't eat or drink for ten years, it wouldn't be enough for a down payment on a house within Beijing's Third Ring Road.
When would such a life end?
Anan still needed to go to school, and there were elderly family members to take care of. Whenever it was late at night, he would always remember the vows he had made.
He wanted to provide his wife with a life of comfort before he turned thirty, but he lacked the ability.
He wanted to be his parents' pride, but he couldn't achieve it at all.
Life, ah, crushed not only his back but also his former ideals.
Song Wu hurled every harsh word she could, but she never called him lazy.
She just hated her sister for choosing such a man—one with no education and no background—at the most beautiful age of her life.
If only she had listened to her parents and married a city dweller, her income might not have been as high as Chen Pingsheng's, but her life would have been incredibly stable.
Nothing else mattered; in the face of these sky-high concrete buildings, one apartment was enough to crush an ordinary person's unremarkable life.
Chen Pingsheng fell silent, and Song Wu left in a huff.
When his wife returned, she even brought a bouquet of flowers.
Once upon a time, his wife was the 'white moonlight' for many—beautiful, lovely, gentle, and kind.
He always believed that finding such a woman meant he had saved the Milky Way in his previous life.
Song Yanxi was only twenty-five now. Although she had given birth, her figure remained excellent, with a slender waist, shapely hips, long legs, and delicate features.
It was just a pity that ever since she married him, she had never bought a decent set of cosmetics or worn a brand-name coat.
The once vibrant girl now simply cooked with bare hands, casually tying her hair into a low ponytail, with a few strands of messy hair loose at her temples.
"Bang…" The door closed, and Song Yanxi changed into her white cotton slippers, which she had worn for five years.
"Mama, Auntie was here."
Chen Anan scurried over and threw herself into her arms. Song Yanxi smiled faintly and picked her up.
Chen Pingsheng had prepared dinner, still one meat and one vegetable as usual. Their family lived exceptionally frugally.
Everything was for the sake of settling down in a small home in Beijing sooner.
Song Yanxi placed the bag she was carrying on the table. When she opened it, there was half a roasted duck and some spicy chicken feet.
"Wow… extra food today."
Little Anan clapped her small hands, very happy. Song Yanxi stroked her head and pulled over a small stool for her to sit on.
"Pingsheng, today is our sixth wedding anniversary, you know."
No wonder she spent money on these things; it was their wedding anniversary. Usually, he might have been very happy, but now it was hard for him to smile.
Six years had passed, and none of his dreams had come true. The happy life he wanted to give his wife was nowhere in sight.
"Why aren't you saying anything? Did my little sister say something unpleasant again?"
Song Yanxi frowned slightly, put down her chopsticks, and grasped his hand.
Chen Pingsheng didn't want to explain too much about the topic, so he simply found an excuse: "No, I just saw on the weather forecast that it's going to rain again tomorrow. You know, when it rains, my tricycle can't go out to earn money."
"If you can't go out, then you can't go out."
Song Yanxi said with concern, "You haven't rested much all year. It's a good chance to take Anan out to play when it rains. Don't go help people move when it rains."
She was still as gentle and kind as ever. The more she was like this, the more ashamed Chen Pingsheng felt.
But he only had this much ability.
Besides doing manual labor, he usually just sold durian. Unlike those young people who say they're starting a business, he only dared to think about it when he was sleeping at night.
Life didn't allow it.
As a middle-aged man, the thought that his future might just be like this made him increasingly anxious.
"We still don't have a house, how can I rest?" Chen Pingsheng shook his head.
Song Yanxi pursed her lips, wanting to say something but didn't open her mouth.
She had gone to see it today; the small house she liked had increased in price again.
The down payment, which was almost enough, was now quite short again.
There was nothing to complain about in this life; he was already tired enough.
When they rested at night, Song Yanxi carried little Anan to the small bed next to them, covered her with a thick quilt, and then cautiously and gently lay down beside him.
Chen Pingsheng felt her fullness, trying hard not to let tears slide from the corners of his eyes.
He had also thought about it, perhaps it would be better to return to their small hometown, build a big house in the countryside, and live a peaceful life.
Let life just be like this forever.
But a voice in his heart always told him that a man, at the very least, must let his wife and child live the life they desire.
How long could he escape by fleeing?
"Ding~"
A sound came from his hazy mind. He didn't know what it was, so he could only check tomorrow.