Fuzhou, also known as Banyan City, was acclaimed by the entire country as the city with the highest standard of living in China.
Here, the most commonly seen things are Mahjong parlors and... even more Mahjong parlors! Young or old, anyone in the city can easily name a few well-known Mahjong parlours off the top of their heads.
However, all that glamour was only the surface level appearance of life in the city. In truth, most of the people here had to struggle daily for a meager pay, often leaving home very early and returning in the dead of the night.
"You may go and collect your money from the finance department later."
A middle-aged man's voice resounded lightly.
"Manager, this matter was clearly their fault! Why am I the one being fired?!" Bei Feng protested.
"Why? Just the simple fact that they increase our company's revenue by hundreds of thousands of dollars every month should be a sufficient reason! Enough, there is no need to say anything anymore. Please leave," the manager snapped at him with impatience.
'A grown man, and yet so naïve! One side can bring in huge profits for the company, while the other is a new staff in the middle of a probationary learning period. Even a retard would know whom to choose between the two,' the manager thought irritably.
Realizing that he had just been abandoned, Bei Feng fell silent. Clenching both hands tightly, he turned around, returned to his position, and began to pack his things wordlessly.
"Tsk tsk, this is the ending for anyone who offends Elder Brother Zhao!" A person said gloatingly, whilst gazing at Bei Feng's departing figure. That's the way life was. Some people simply delighted in the misfortunes of others, and would never miss a chance to laugh whenever they see others fail.
"That's right, there are always some people who think themselves very formidable. The reality? Not even a single successful sale in two months," a vain looking woman added.
Bei Feng did not bother to reply or argue with them at all. Ignoring the mocking eyes of those poisonous people, he proceeded directly to the finance department to claim his pay.
Perhaps because the manager had already informed the finance department in advance, the pay was processed very smoothly this time.
The monthly pay for a probationary staff was 2,500 dollars. This kind of pay was not really much in a place like Fuzhou where the standard of living was so high.
Renting a room would cost around 1,200 dollars. After paying the electricity and water bills and taking care of other daily needs, he barely had any money left.
Clutching his paycheck, Bei Feng walked out of the store. At that moment, he didn't know where to go.
He was already 26 years old, and yet, he had achieved nothing in his life.
Having no savings, no car and no house, Bei Feng had nothing left to his name. A girlfriend? You've got to be kidding.
Bei Feng had never seen his parents as a child. He was an orphan, abandoned and left on his own. Luckily, he was picked up and raised by a kind-hearted old man.
If not for that, he would have been dead long ago, dying at God knows where. After graduating from junior middle school, he started working right away.
It wasn't because he didn't like studying. In fact, Bei Feng's results were rather outstanding. However, the kind-hearted old man was simply too old, failing to make it through that winter. Without his only support, Bei Feng had little choice but to quit school and follow the older men from the village as he ventured out in search of work.
Although the work he found was tiring and the workplace filthy, Bei Feng persevered as the payout was rather decent.
Logically, after staying in such a job for a number of years, Bei Feng should have accumulated some savings. However, when he was 23 years old, Bei Feng fell from a height of 3 stories at the work site, suffering heavy injuries.
The contractor foreman took a look at the situation, realized it was dire and ran away immediately. Only the person in charge of the work site did not run off but stayed behind.
However, it turned out that it was because such matters weren't his problem in the first place! The person responsible for taking care of workplace incidents like this was the foreman, and he had already ran away long ago!
Eventually, after being constantly pressured by the uncles in Bei Feng's village, the head of the work site finally took out 100,000 dollars to settle the matter.
Despite that, Bei Feng's savings were completely depleted because of the accident. There were even multiple lingering injuries, left hidden within his body.
From then on, there was no way for him to attempt any heavy labor. The moment he did, he would experience a heart-ripping pain which coursed throughout his body.
The doctor had even solemnly told Bei Feng that there was an 80 percent chance of him becoming paralyzed by the time he reached the age of 40!
To this day, some parts of Bei Feng's body were still affixed with metal nails!
Originally, an uncle from the village had introduced a prospective partner to Bei Feng. The two had got along very well and he had even gone as far as discussing the details of marriage with the girl's family. However, the moment the other side heard about Bei Feng's accident, they completely withdrew all talks about marriage right away!
Such is the human nature. Who would wish to spend the latter half of their life caring for a cripple?
After spending an entire half of a year lying in bed, Bei Feng finally recuperated.
'Should I return home?'
Such a thought flashed through Bei Feng's mind. The moment this thought appeared, it took ahold of his mind and refused to go away.
'Since I'm on my own right now, as long as I'm full, it's the equivalent of having fed the entire family,' Bei Feng thought absent-mindedly.
The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. He could raise some chickens and ducks, plant some wheat and become completely self-sufficient.
Having finally resolved all of the perplexities within his mind, Bei Feng came to a decision. He grabbed his bag, took a step forward resolutely and disappeared within the crowd.
3 hours later, Bei Feng alighted at a long-distance bus station.
Initially, he had planned to take the high-speed rail train. However, because it was inconvenient with his numerous baggage, he ended up travelling by bus.
Here was Bei Feng's hometown, Qingcheng!
A town surrounded by tall mountains, it was a place with enchanting scenery. On cloudy days, one could only see a horizon full of clouds and vague shapes of mountains stretching out endlessly.
"How much to go to Mt. Qing Ling?" Bei Feng asked as he walked up to a cab parked outside of the station.
"Going to Mt. Qing Ling? That's a fair distance away. One hundred dollars."
Bei Feng narrowed his eyes and suddenly turned around and started to walk away without a word.
This guy really took him for a lamb to be slaughtered! Asking for a hundred dollars? Such a journey should not cost more than forty!
"Eh? Wait! Little brother, don't go! Just name your price!"
The cab driver started to grow anxious. It was not easy to finally get a customer. How could he allow business to just slip away like that!
"Forty!" Bei Feng turned his head and said dryly.
"That's too low. Little brother, you should increase it a little! How about this, we'll go with seventy!" The driver said, his expression pained as though his flesh was being sliced off piece by piece.
"I still offer forty. If that's fine, we shall go right away. If not, I can look for another driver".
Bei Feng knew the market rate and did not wish to quibble too much with the driver. Thus, he resolutely stated his bottom line.
"Sigh, alright then, forty it is."
The driver could only wrinkle his nose disgruntledly as he accepted. After helping Bei Feng load his luggage into the trunk, they drove off leaving behind only a plume of dust.
"Is little brother here for a vacation?" The driver asked in a friendly tone after driving for a while.
"No, I live here," Bei Feng turned away from the window and replied with a slight smile.
'No wonder this brat was so bright! So, it seems he's actually a local!' The cab driver scolded inwardly. He'd assumed the kid was coming to Mt. Qing Ling to sightsee. Unexpectedly, the boy actually lived there!
The atmosphere became a little awkward as the interior of the car fell into silence once more. However, after a short while, the chatty driver found that could not endure the boredom any longer. It was a long drive after all! Coughing lightly, he picked another topic and successfully engaged Bei Feng in a new conversation.
The scenery at Mt. Qing Ling was as beautiful as a painting. Various odd stones lay about in the open areas, solitary in their loneliness. As a result of its beauty, the area was vigorously developed, and was now a triple A grade scenic area.
The number of tourists coming to this area every year was quite high, resulting in the acceleration of the development of the area. Roads were built and widened while the town at the foot of the mountain became increasingly wealthy.
Hotels in all kinds of styles were emerging in an endless stream. Two years ago, someone had even offered Bei Feng 1,500,000 dollars for the property left behind for Bei Feng after the old grandpa died. However, Bei Feng refused to sell it.
Although that period of time had been extremely hard for him, Bei Feng never entertained the thought of selling the mansion. This old, traditional mansion was the only keepsake left after his grandpa's death.
Despite the smooth road, it still took them 40 minutes to reach the foot of Mt. Qing Ling.
A row of houses with old, faded colors appeared in the distance, bringing with it the smell of ancient times. The setting sun was casting its last rays of light upon the village, causing the beautiful ancient buildings to appear as though they were draped in a layer of gold.
Bei Feng handed over the fare and, dragging two bulky trunks, stepped onto the green stone-paved path.
Numerous hawkers lined both sides of the street, selling the local delicacies. On the street, groups of tourists gathered to look at the various souvenirs.
Bei Feng noticed that some things had changed in the village compared to how it used to be two years ago. Currently, the village was more prosperous and appeared more bustling with people. There were also more Western-style bungalows now.
Bei Feng also conveniently bought some daily necessities, vegetables and cooking ingredients along the way.
As he walked, the buildings on the side of the street grew increasingly sparse and, gradually, gave way to muddy paths and tall trees. Bei Feng stepped off the wide, green stone pavement onto a small path which was overgrown with weeds.
After walking along the small path for over 10 minutes, a Qing-style four-block mansion finally came into view. That was his home.
Bei Feng's true home.
ED/N: Bei Feng = 北风 = Northern Wind