"The factory is really going to close down. Do you all have somewhere to go?"
As soon as Chen Zhi, who was covered in dust, walked out of the factory, he heard the co-workers talking. He looked up dullly and saw a bankruptcy notice posted on the bulletin board.
This was something he expected. The efficiency of this small mechanical processing factory has long been poor, and it has been downsizing several times. Chen Zhi has only been able to delay it until now because of his hard work and hard work. But now, he can finally delay it no longer.
"Chen Zhi, what are you going to do? Have you found a place?" When checking out, Uncle Lin, who works in the same workshop as Chen Zhi, asked with concern. He knew the situation at Chen Zhi's family. Unemployment was a huge blow to him now.
Chen Zhi is 22 years old and is a temporary worker in this small affiliated processing factory. He was born in Z City in the Northeast. Z City is a small city famous for its steel production. There is a very famous large steel factory here called Z Steel. , nearly one-third of the city's citizens work in Z Steel, and others also make a living in small factories derived from the steel industry.
Chen Zhi does not have a happy family. His father was a regular employee of Z Steel Plant, which was an enviable iron rice bowl. However, in Chen Zhi's memory, there were only two things in his father's life:
One is to keep drinking, and the other is to keep beating and scolding people.
As a result, Chen Zhi has never had normal communication with his father since he was a child.
The year Chen Zhi graduated from technical school, his father had a serious work accident while drunk and was fired from the factory.
After losing his job, Chen Zhi's father became even more degenerate and addicted to alcohol all day long. Finally, after a drunken stroke, he was honorably sent to a nursing home.
Chen Zhi's mother divorced his father that year and moved out.
It is not that Chen Zhi has never resented his father, but even if he resented him again, he was still his biological father and he could not ignore him.
The nursing home where Chen Zhi's father lives requires a living management fee of 1,200 yuan every month, otherwise the residents will be kicked out immediately.
Money is currently what Chen Zhi needs most.
After paying his last salary, Chen Zhi frowned and returned home. This so-called home was his father's only property in his life, an old house of about 40 square meters. Every time it rained heavily outside, the corners of the house would Water seepage and moldy walls have fallen off countless times.
There was no warmth in the room. The heating in the old house had always been poor. The heating pipes were old and no one was there to maintain them.
Chen Zhi lay on his back on the bed, looking at the messy roof full of spider webs. His mind was like a mess. It was not easy to find a suitable job quickly. Unemployment meant that he might lose his job in the future. It was easy for him to live without food and clothing for a month, but his father in the nursing home couldn't afford to wait.
"If there is really no other way, why should we go and rob?",
Chen Zhi was thinking wildly in his mind, feeling very confused and helpless. He didn't know when his life started to feel like a card game destined to lose, with no hope in sight.
Chen Zhi did not have a high education, nor did he go to college. After graduating from junior high school, he went directly to a technical school to learn riveting. Chen Zhi also did not have a girlfriend, because with his current economic conditions, no girl was willing to take another look at him. Chen Zhi is really unable to bear the burden of other people's lives.
"That's it for my whole life..." Chen Zhi closed his eyes and thought desperately.
"Tick tock! Tick tock!"
The sound of dripping water interrupted Chen Zhi's thoughts.
"Damn it, there's a water leak somewhere again!" Chen Zhi muttered, stood up reluctantly, and followed the sound of water to find it.
Water leaks from the heater, which is a common thing, but the heater is hidden behind the wooden cabinet. If you want to repair the heater, you can only pry open the wooden board.
There was no other way, so Chen Zhi had to find tools to pry the wooden boards. He didn't want his house to be flooded after he lost his job.
This job was not troublesome, and Chen Zhi finished it in less than two minutes. But after prying open the wooden cabinet, a wooden grid was exposed inside, and an old cardboard box was quietly placed there.
This is one of those old-fashioned cardboard boxes used to carry fruits. It has been in there for who knows how long and is covered with dust.
Chen Zhi suddenly felt curious. He didn't remember that there was a cardboard box placed here.
Chen Zhi quickly took care of the heating, re-nailed the wooden cabinets, and then moved the cartons out.
He blew the dust off the cardboard box. The box was so moldy that the bottom was almost exposed.
Chen Zhi opened the lid and flipped through it. Inside were some textbooks he used when he was a child. Chen Zhi picked up a book and flipped through it. He found that the pages had been glued together and there were notes he had written on it.
Chen Zhi looked at these crooked words and found them very interesting, recalling things in elementary school in his mind.
Chen Zhi was not happy when he was in elementary school. In his memory, his father would beat and scold Chen Zhi and his mother like crazy every time after drinking. His mother never argued with his father, but her attitude was very cold.
Zhi often saw an indescribable coldness in her mother's eyes.
It's strange that Chen Zhi's family doesn't have any relatives in Z City, but it makes Chen Zhi understand one thing since he was a child. He can only face any problem by himself, no one will help him.
Chen Zhi rummaged through the box again and picked up a book wrapped in a book cover. This book cover was given to him by his female classmate in elementary school. It had a few crooked lines written on it, "Primary School Mathematics."
.
After seeing these words, a memory suddenly came into Chen Zhi's mind, but he couldn't clear it up, as if he had forgotten something important.
Chen Zhi flipped through the book. The cover fell off due to too much time, and inside the cover, a yellowed note floated out.
"What is this? Why is it hidden in the book cover..." Chen Zhi thought in his mind, opened the note and looked at it carefully.
And when Chen Zhi saw the handwriting on the note, a long-lost memory became clear again in his mind.
Two lines of words were neatly written on the note: "Meet you at the warehouse of Youth Forge at two o'clock in the afternoon. Take the Z Steel commuter bus at 12 noon and get off at the terminal. You must come, tens of thousands!".
It was signed "Teacher Guo", and there was a map drawn on the back of the note, which marked the specific locations of the gate, factory and warehouse in great detail, so even a child could understand it at a glance.
Chen Zhi looked at the note, his eyes motionless, and the memory of fifteen years ago was slowly waking up.
He remembered that he had put this note into the book cover himself, and that he had also been to the youth forge written on the note.
School used to be the place Chen Zhi hated the most. In his memory, because his parents were powerless and Chen Zhi himself was playful, the teachers never bothered to talk to him. They only spoke when they were looking for typical underachievers.
Will think of him.
But not all teachers treated him badly. When he was in Chen Zhi Elementary School, there was a teacher Guo who taught mathematics and expressed special concern for him.
Teacher Guo was a new transfer, and Chen Zhi couldn't remember what he looked like, but Teacher Guo often called him out to chat, asked him about his family, what he usually ate at home, and asked him some questions about what he did at that age.
Questions that you don’t understand.
What impressed Chen Zhi very deeply was that Teacher Guo had a watch on his wrist. The edge of the dial was golden and very beautiful.
Teacher Guo had told him that this watch was a foreign product, called Omega, and that it would be given to him sooner or later. Chen Zhi was very happy at that time.
When Chen Zhi grew up, he realized that in that era, gold-rimmed Omega watches were too expensive for a primary school teacher.
The note in Chen Zhi's hand was written to him by Teacher Guo. During a break, Chen Zhi was playing football on the playground like a monkey, and Teacher Guo called him over.
At that time, Teacher Guo was sweating profusely. He hurriedly handed the note in his hand to Chen Zhi and left. Before leaving, he said solemnly, "Remember, you must come!"
At that time, Chen Zhi was confused and didn't know what Teacher Guo wanted to do.
Later, Chen Zhi couldn't remember exactly how he decided to go. He only remembered that it was the first time he went to such a far place alone, and the car drove for a long time.
Youth Forge is located in the suburbs of Z City, very remote.
In Chen Zhi's memory, there was not even a human figure at the door of the factory. He entered the factory smoothly and found the warehouse according to the map marks, and Teacher Guo was standing there at that time.
Chen Zhi remembered that there was an indescribable anxiety on Teacher Guo's face at that time. He was very nervous, as if he was afraid that someone would chase him.
At that time, Chen Zhigang walked to the back door and was about to open the door to call Teacher Guo. Suddenly, a large Jiefang truck rushed out from the sky at a very fast speed and slammed Teacher Guo into the warehouse door.
Chen Zhi clearly remembered that he was standing behind the small passage door opposite the warehouse. Through a piece of glass, the rear of the big truck was facing him. He could not see how Teacher Guo was hit.
Afterwards, many people got off the truck and they all rushed towards the warehouse door. No one noticed a child standing behind the door.
Chen Zhi was frightened at the time and had only one thought in his mind, "Run".
At that time, Chen Zhi made the most instinctive reaction of a child when encountering danger. He turned around and ran away like crazy. He was so frightened that he couldn't even remember how he ran back.
But the next day, something incredible happened. Teacher Guo, who was hit by a truck, went to work at school again.