Frost Street.
Zhao Yi, his whole body soaked by the mist, pushed open the door to his home. He placed the large flag with the words "Return to Work" written on it against the wall and sat down exhaustedly.
"You're back?" Uncle Zhao, wearing an apron, stood by the table. Kneading dough while looking at him, he asked with some worry, "How is it, what did the factory side say?"
"Can't return to work... they just handed out a bit of money."
Zhao Yi fiercely gulped down a mouthful of water, casually slapped the coins from his pocket onto the table, and spoke cursedly,
"Can't return to work, what's the use of just taking this little bit of money? How many days can it last?"
"No way, I still have to go again tomorrow. Every day they don't let us return to work, I'll go cause a ruckus for a day!"
Uncle Zhao looked at him for a long time and let out a long sigh. "Little Yi ah... if the factory has really made up its mind to stop working, what use is it for you to keep causing a ruckus? If you anger them, be careful you won't have good fruit to eat."
"Anger him, does he dare to touch me?" Zhao Yi's eyes widened. "If he dares to touch me, I'll fight him to the death!"
Uncle Zhao snorted coldly and slapped a large piece of dough in his hand onto the wooden board with a bang. "Day in and day out, not doing any proper work, only knowing how to stiffen your neck and glare at others. What's the use? When you learn to lower your head on your own initiative one day, your old man won't have to worry so much! Do you think this world is so easy to survive in?"
Zhao Yi clearly felt that Uncle Zhao was angry. He originally wanted to argue something, but ultimately pursed his lips and didn't say a word.
The room suddenly quieted down.
The two of them were deadlocked for a long time. Uncle Zhao still shook his head and continued to Knead the dough.
"If you can't go to the Steel Mill, forget it. Our family at least still has this breakfast stall. Although your old man can't earn big money, feeding you kid is still no problem."
Hearing this sentence, Zhao Yi's expression changed. His fists tightly clenched under the table...
After a long time, he stood up without saying a word and walked into the inner room.
"Where are you going?" Uncle Zhao asked.
"To sleep!"
"What are you yelling at your old man for!"
Bang—!
Following the closing of the door, Uncle Zhao cursed 'little brat' in a bad mood and continued to Knead the dough with his head down, putting a bit more strength into it.
The mist surged, and the sky outside the door gradually grew dark. Uncle Zhao wiped the sweat from his temples, walked to the table, and lit the Kerosene Lamp. The orange flame dyed a corner of the breakfast shop, casting that slightly hunched shadow onto the mottled wall.
Outside the door, a figure wearing a black windbreaker stopped his steps in the mist.
"Uncle Zhao, still busy?" Seeing the breakfast shop's light still on, Chen Ling opened the door a crack and asked.
"Ah Ling ah, come, come in and sit." Seeing Chen Ling, a smile surfaced on Uncle Zhao's face. "The cook at the primary school at the end of the street ran away. With no one to make breakfast, they placed a large order with me... quite a bit to keep busy with."
"No thanks, I still have to patrol."
"Patrolling this late?" Uncle Zhao was stunned. "Did something happen?"
Chen Ling hesitated for a moment. "No... anyway, it's best not to go out recently. It might not be very safe outside."
"Alright, alright." Uncle Zhao nodded repeatedly.
"Rest early Uncle Zhao, don't stay up too late."
"Alrighty." The smile on Uncle Zhao's face grew even brighter. As if he had thought of something, he sighed helplessly, "If the one in our family could be half as sensible as you, I'd be content..."
Chen Ling smiled, closed the shop door for him, and carrying a Kerosene Lamp, gradually disappeared into the fog of the dark night.
A night without words.
...
Early the next morning, the door was slowly pushed open. Zhao Yi walked out of the room with red eyes, looking like he hadn't slept well.
He opened his mouth and was just about to say something, when out of the corner of his eye he saw that figure in the shop, and silently closed his mouth... Unknown when, Uncle Zhao had already fallen asleep leaning on the table. Faint snoring echoed in the room, and outside the Glass door it was misty.
On the table in front of him, there were neatly placed over a hundred packed steamed buns, filling six large bags. That was the fruit of his entire night's labor.
Zhao Yi frowned looking at these buns, then looked at the figure sleeping on the table. Black hair could no longer conceal those aged silver threads, looking as if stained with crushed snow. The space between his brows was full of exhaustion.
"At your age, insisting on showing off like this..." Zhao Yi muttered, his eyes full of complex emotions.
His gaze swept over this slightly cramped and old breakfast shop, finally landing on the flag fallen in the corner of the wall. The complex emotions in his eyes gradually turned firm...
He took a deep breath, lightened his steps, brought out a padded coat from the room, and covered Uncle Zhao with it. Then he walked to the door, carried that large flag on his shoulder, pushed open the shop door, and took large strides into the Dense Fog.
The "Return to Work" flag swayed in the mist, the young man's arrogant face indestructible.
He walked alone through the silent streets, heading north all the way. Until the district and human presence faded behind him, and after a long trek, that massive entity crawling in the fog gradually appeared before his eyes.
He stopped in front of the main gate of the Steel Mill.
Perhaps because of the heavy fog, perhaps because it was too early, or perhaps because that meager bit of wages yesterday had sent the others away, right now there was only him at the entrance of the Steel Mill...
He forcefully thrust the flagpole into the dirt beneath his feet, gathered all his strength, and yelled towards the factory buildings shrouded in the fog:
"Where is everyone?! Come out, all of you!"
"We want to return to work!!"
"I already said yesterday! Every day you don't let us return to work! I'll come cause a ruckus for a day!"
"If we don't get to return to work! Nobody will have good days! Come out, all of you!"
"I want to return to work!!"
Zhao Yi's shouts echoed in the fog. No one cared, no one answered... But he still shouted tirelessly, as if his throat was made of iron.
Zhao Yi naturally wasn't stupid. He knew the problem didn't lie with this factory at all, but within Aurora City. But so what? A kid from District Three's Frost Street like him couldn't possibly come into contact with Aurora City. To him, yelling and screaming here was his only way to rebel against fate.
Zhao Yi's shouts continued endlessly. Just then, the unmanned iron gate suddenly emitted a harsh sound, slowly opening outwards...
Creak—
Zhao Yi was stunned.
Perhaps because of the wind, perhaps this gate was never locked at all... Zhao Yi didn't think much of it. He gritted his teeth, pulled out the flag and shouldered it, and with a swift step passed through the main gate, heading straight for the workshop.
"Meng Shi!! Come out here!!"
Zhao Yi kicked open the workshop door, just about to unleash a volley of words right in Meng Shi's face. The next moment, he froze in place.
Inside the workshop that was several stories high, a massive shadow occupied the space above several small mountain-like machines, like a centipede with ten thousand legs... And right now, directly beneath this centipede, within its shadow, one could see things that looked like insect Eggs, trembling slightly...