The day of departure for reporting duty arrived quickly. Lin Yuhui chose a hard sleeper berth on the ordinary express train from Jilin to Shanghai, as these trains typically operate overnight, allowing passengers to arrive at their destination during the day. This gave him more daylight hours to handle affairs and continue his journey.
Life often throws in amusing little twists. While waiting in line at the ticket gate, a female railway attendant repeatedly announced over the loudspeaker that passengers should insert their tickets inward—perhaps the machine was malfunctioning. But she used an abbreviation, saying only “insert inward” without explicitly mentioning “tickets.” This left some men in the queue with room for imagination.
Two men standing side by side, luggage in tow, looking like migrant workers, caught the conversation. One said to the other in a thick Northeastern accent,
“Hey, did you hear what she said?”
The other replied without hesitation,
“If she tells you to insert it, just insert it.”
When Lin Yuhui finally reached the front, he saw the female railway worker wasn't particularly attractive—a testament to how desperate those two men must have been. Lin Yuhui understood the feeling. His wife had divorced him years ago. What woman would choose a man without a job and in poor health?
As he approached the turnstile, the railway worker kept shouting, “Push it in!” Lin Yuhui couldn't help but chuckle. Who didn't know to push it in? But the ticket was made of paper—if it got bent, that would be a problem.
At first, Lin Yuhui tried unsuccessfully. The railway attendant immediately urged him again: “Insert it! Insert it!”
Lin Yuhui thought, “Keep urging me, but I won't be responsible if you break it.” With that thought, he pushed hard—and to his surprise, the ticket whizzed right in. Beyond the gate, he saw the two men still debating how to insert it properly—pure male joy.
When the train arrived in Shanghai once more, Lin Yuhui felt a flood of emotions. He had worked here twenty years prior, but it was for a construction company—low-tier and with no future. Staying there would have ruined his family and career for life. Back then, his grandmother was still alive. Lin Yuhui bought her DVDs of the TV adaptations of Journey to the West and Dream of the Red Chamber from Xinhua Bookstore, hoping they would fill the void of his absence. Time had flown by. He’d returned many times since—for business trips, errands—and now, revisiting these familiar places, memories flooded back.
Lin Yuhui's workplace, Shanghai Wen's Environmental Technology Co., Ltd., was located at 176 Fengdong Road, Fengyue Town, Fengxian District, Shanghai—a considerable distance from the train station. He needed to take the subway and then transfer to a bus to reach it. Clutching the printed map he'd prepared in advance, he found Subway Line 5. The tedious, drawn-out journey saw the subway emerge from underground, a clear sign of the workplace's remote location. By the time he switched to the bus, it was already afternoon.
It was Lin Yuhui's first time in the outskirts of Shanghai's Fengxian District. Rice paddies stretched across the landscape, their stalks now golden. Local farmers lived in three-story detached houses. As dusk approached, the sight of these yellow-green patches of rice fields was breathtakingly beautiful.
The wait for the bus and the ride itself took nearly two hours. By the time he got off, it was already 5 PM. The sun had dipped below the horizon, leaving only the lingering glow of twilight to illuminate the world.
Having navigated countless unfamiliar routes over the years, Lin Yuhui knew he needed to reach his destination quickly before darkness made it impossible. But today, he made a mistake. Following the road marked on his map, he soon realized the surroundings didn't match the directions. Fearing he might get completely lost, he turned back to the intersection. He then ventured down another road ahead, only to find it even more desolate.
He dialed the contact's number, but even after describing nearby landmarks to pinpoint his location, the other person couldn't figure it out. So he had to play dorm manager. Lin Yuhui asked the contact to describe the buildings around them, but they couldn't articulate it clearly either. Only then did Lin Yuhui start describing the neon signs of factories and buildings he could see, and finally, the two managed to match their descriptions. It turned out Lin Yuhui had entered at the correct intersection, but he needed to proceed further inward. The person waiting for him was at a side entrance, not the main gate. Life is full of problems, big and small, that need solving. How many one can resolve ultimately determines the measure of one's life's accomplishments.
The accommodation area was on the fifth floor of the dormitory building, divided into worker rooms and technician rooms. Technician rooms were double occupancy, but since Lin Yuhui had mentioned his poor sleep, the company arranged for him to stay in a room whose roommate was away on business.
After collecting his room key and the fifth-floor access card, he surveyed his surroundings. At the end of the corridor were shared restrooms, shower facilities with water heaters, and communal washing machines. It seemed the washing machines required a card swipe, but Lin Yuhui had no intention of using the shared ones anyway—he was a clean freak. The problem was the bedding was also communal, so he'd have to sleep fully clothed.
With lodging settled, dinner was next. His route seemed correct after all—both sides of the road at the earlier wrong turn now lined with night markets offering diverse foods. Evidently, night-shift factory workers needed such services, so Lin Yuhui joined them for supper.
Located on the city outskirts, the area was deep in darkness beyond factory lights and streetlamps. After eight o'clock, more young factory workers emerged in groups of three or five, men and women flirting and bantering. Lin Yuhui wondered, If I worked in a factory like this, could I find a life partner? The thought flashed briefly, but he knew he wasn't one of them—those girls wouldn't be interested in him anyway.
After circling the food night market, he found it filled with junk food—things like haphazardly stewed fish balls or tripe, grilled items of unknown origin that certainly weren't regular meat, perhaps tofu or flour products. After browsing, he found two relatively normal options: one vendor selling dumplings, and another offering pancakes rolled with shredded potatoes, bean paste, and lettuce—finally, proper food.
Lin Yuhui bought a box of vegetarian dumplings to go. He disliked eating outdoors and dared not buy meat-filled dumplings, fearing the meat might be tainted and upset his stomach. He also bought a pancake roll with shredded potatoes. This should be fine—the egg was cooked with the pancake, and the shredded potatoes and lettuce posed no major risk. He could save it for breakfast the next day.
Back on the fifth floor of the dormitory, Lin Yuhui placed the potato pancake roll on the windowsill. Even in Shanghai, the November night air was chilly. The windowsill indoors should have a cool airflow, which would help preserve the food to some extent.
Sitting by the window, Lin Yuhui ate the dumplings while gazing at the buildings ahead. Some windows still had lights on—likely office buildings. He wondered what tomorrow would bring.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd0JeKLL4mk
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