Chapter 1: Rustling of the Northern Wind (1/2)

Chapter 1: Rustling of the Northern Wind

Translator: AstralGhostEditor: Kurisu

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 establishments are Mahjong parlors and... well, even more Mahjong parlors! No matter how old they were, anyone in the city can easily name a few of the more well-known Mahjong parlors off the top of their heads.

But all that glamour was merely a representation of 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 contribute to our company’s revenue by hundreds of thousands of yuan every month should be a sufficient reason! Alright, enough. There no point in saying anything anymore. Just leave,” the manager snapped 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 training 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 into a fist, he turned around, returned to his position, and began to pack his things wordlessly.

”Tsk tsk, see that? This is the ending for anyone who offends Elder Brother Zhao!” A person said gloatingly, whilst gazing at Bei Feng’s departing figure. This is 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!

”Hmph! There are always some people who think themselves to be very formidable. The reality? Not even a single successful sale in two months,” a vain looking woman sneered as he passed.

Bei Feng did not bother to reply. 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 only 2,500 yuan. Of course, 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 already cost around 1,200 yuan. After paying for the electricity and water bills and taking care of his other daily needs, he barely had any money left!

Clutching his paycheck, Bei Feng walked out of the store with a light sigh. 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.

He had no savings, no car and no house. Bei Feng had nothing left to his name. As for a girlfriend? You’ve got to be kidding.

He had never even seen his parents once as a child! He was born an orphan, abandoned and left on his own. Luckily, a kind-hearted old man took pity on him and brought him home, raising him as his own.

If not for that, he would probably have been dead long ago, buried 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. The reason was that 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.

One would think that after staying in such a job for a number of years, Bei Feng should have accumulated some savings. But when he was 23 years old, he'd fallen from a height of 3 stories at the work site, suffering heavy injuries.

The contractor foreman took one 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.

From the looks of it, this person had nobly stayed to assume responsibility for the incident. But, it turned out that he'd only stayed because legally, 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 fled long ago!

Eventually, after being heavily pressured by the uncles in Bei Feng’s village, the head of the work site finally relented and begrudgingly took out 100,000 yuan to settle the matter.

Despite that, Bei Feng’s savings were still 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 through 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 gotten 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 a year lying in bed, Bei Feng finally recuperated.

‘Should I return home?’

Such a thought flashed through his mind. The thought began as a whim, but this whim quickly 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.