Chapter 1: The Down-and-Out Middle-Aged Man

Capital City.

Outside the fifth ring, the vegetable market.

The cold wind howled accompanied by several pig cries, making the crowded market entrance particularly lively.

Chen Pingsheng smoked a pack of Laobaisha cigarettes costing four yuan and fifty cents, exhaling rings of white smoke, and soon a few fashionable aunties gathered in front of his tricycle.

The wholesale price was 15 yuan per kilogram for durians, selling for 16.80, yet they still complained about the cost, haggling down by ninety cents.

Well... Selling one was better than none.

"City management is coming, run!"

"Damn, didn't they just come yesterday? Why are they here again today?"

Just as he was preparing to collect money through a scan, he took off on the tricycle.

If he were caught for running late, half a month's labor would be in vain.

He didn't know when this village bruiser, once a notable figure in school, had turned his life into such a mess.

Luckily, he married early, and his wife was five years younger than him; although they had no house or car, at least they had a small warm home.

Thus, life as a drifter in the north wasn't so lonely.

After parking his tricycle, he used the key to open the door with a creaking sound.

Behind the door hid a little baby girl who rushed towards him as soon as he entered, clinging to him like a small pendant.

Chen Pingsheng picked her up in one swoop and pinched her little nose. The baby girl was too adorable. No matter how hard life was outside, it was worth coming home to see her.

This was his five-year-old daughter, Chen An'an.

"Chen Pingsheng, you've come back just in time."

In the small living room, on the couch sat an elegant city beauty with wavy curls.

She crossed her arms and legs indifferently, clearly not bearing good news.

"Sister-in-law, when did you come over?"

"Hmph." Song Wu snorted coldly, paying no heed to his pleasantries, straightforwardly said, "I came to ask you to let my sister go."

"What do you mean by that? I don't understand what you're saying."

Chen Pingsheng's face changed, but Song Wu didn't care about sparing his feelings. "Don't play dumb with me. My sister has been with you for six years, from marriage to now. Does she have any of her youthful radiance left? Ever since she's been with you, has she even had one good day?"

"Being pregnant, she still had to wash dishes for money, and less than a month after giving birth to An'an, she was working two jobs."

"Six years."

Song Wu became more agitated, "In all this time, my sister could only live with you in this dark, tiny rental. Chen Pingsheng, if she hadn't chosen you, would she have needed to live like this?"

Chen Pingsheng's breath faltered, his gaze shifting constantly, his emotions running high.

At that moment, he simply couldn't refute.

Perhaps everyone would think it was his laziness that caused this.

On the contrary, he was industrious, leaving home before dawn and returning very late at night.

Recalling his early days in Capital City, he had no education or particular skills.

Under the scorching sun, he had carried cement and bricks at construction sites for a year; later, hearing that truck driving was lucrative, he toiled away in various places.

Now, driving a tricycle and selling durians irregularly, even though it wasn't respectable, he still managed to clear ten to twenty thousand a month.

But, what use was that?

Just like his sister-in-law said, even with his income, ten years without eating or drinking wouldn't be enough to make a down payment on a place inside the third ring of Capital City.

When would such days end?

An'an still needed schooling, and they had elderly to care for at home; whenever the night grew deep and quiet, he would recall the promises he once made.

Wanting to provide a carefree life for his wife by thirty, yet lacking the capability.

Wanting to make his parents proud, yet utterly failing to do so.

Life, it crushed not just his back, but also those once cherished ideals.

Song Wu had insulted him in many horrible ways, but she never criticized him for laziness.

She just hated her sister for choosing a man without education or decent background during her most beautiful years.

If only I had listened to my parents and married someone from the city, my income might not have been as high as that of Chen Pingsheng, but my life would have been remarkably stable.

There's no avoiding it in the face of these sky-high cement houses, a single house can crush the unremarkable lives of ordinary people.

Chen Pingsheng fell silent, and Song Wu stomped off 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, pretty, gentle, and kind.

Having found such a woman, he always thought that he must have saved the Milky Way in his past life.

Song Yanxi was only twenty-five now, and although she had already had a child, she still maintained a great figure with a slim waist, perky buttocks, long legs, and delicate facial features.

Unfortunately, since marrying him, she had never bought a decent cosmetic product or worn a branded coat again.

The once stunning girl, now simply handles the spoon with bare hands, casually ties a low ponytail with a few strands of hair out of place at her temples.

"Bang..." The door shut, and Song Yanxi changed into her five-year-old white cotton shoes.

"Mom, auntie came by."

Chen An'an ran and threw herself into her arms, and Song Yanxi, smiling faintly, lifted her up.

Chen Pingsheng had made dinner, as usual, one meat dish and one vegetable; his family lived exceptionally frugally.

All for the sake of setting up a small home in the Capital City sooner.

Song Yanxi put her bag on the table, and upon opening it, there was half of a roast duck and some spicy chicken feet.

"Wow... today we have extra dishes."

Little An'an clapped her small hands in joy, and Song Yanxi, patting her head, brought over a small stool for her to sit down.

"Pingsheng, today is our sixth wedding anniversary," she mentioned.

No wonder she spent money on these things; it turned out to be their wedding anniversary. Normally, he would have been very happy, but now it was hard for him to muster a smile.

Six years had passed, and not a single goal had been achieved; the happy life he wanted to provide for 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 grabbed his hand.

Chen Pingsheng didn't want to explain too much on this topic and simply made an excuse, "No, it's because I saw on the weather forecast that it's going to rain tomorrow. You know, once it rains, I can't go out to make money with my tricycle."

"If you can't go out, then you can't go out," she said softly.

"You haven't had many days off this year; it's a good opportunity to take An'an out to play in the rain and stop moving other people's houses for a while."

She was as gentle and kind as ever, and the more she was like this, the more Chen Pingsheng felt ashamed.

But that was all he was capable of.

Besides doing physical labor and selling durians, he could only dream about starting a business like the young people at night before he went to sleep.

Life doesn't allow it.

Approaching middle age, thinking that this might be his future made him even more anxious.

"I can't rest when we still haven't got a house," Chen Pingsheng shook his head.

Song Yanxi pursed her lips, intending to say something but ultimately remained silent.

She had seen it today; the price of the small apartment she liked had gone up again.

They were almost able to afford the down payment, but now they were short again.

There was no use complaining about their lives; he was already tired enough.

At night, when it was time to rest, Song Yanxi carried Little An'an to the small bed next to hers, tucked her in with a thick blanket, then carefully and quietly lay down next to him.

Chen Pingsheng felt her warmth and tried hard not to let the tears at the corner of his eyes roll down.

He had thought about it; maybe they should just go back to his small hometown in the countryside, build a big house, and live a simple life.

Just live like that for a lifetime.

But deep inside, a voice always told him, a man, at the very least, must let his wife and children have the life they desire.

Running away, how long can it be evaded?

"Ding~"

In his drowsy mind, a sound echoed, unclear what it was; he could only check it out tomorrow.