books44 Chapter 164 Qualifying Match (8)
Chapter 164 Qualifying Match (8)
Chen Wangdong and Chen Wangxi left the door one after the other, but they did not take the same route.
After leaving home, Chen Wangdong's first stop was Shanghai.
At that time, Shanghai was a bustling metropolis, a vibrant and colorful city where people indulged in luxurious dance halls and restaurants.
Nanjing Road is bustling with traffic, lined with department stores, and its shop windows display exquisite goods from all over the world.
The Bund's collection of international buildings shines brightly on the banks of the Huangpu River, attracting banks and commercial firms from all over the world and showcasing the extraordinary charm of this financial capital.
Chen Wangdong, a newcomer to Shanghai, was captivated by the bustling scene and soon spent almost all of his ten taels of silver.
He sent a telegram home asking for some money, and for this he did not hesitate to speak kindly to his feudal and old-fashioned mother.
In his view, business was very easy to do in Shanghai.
If the Chen family were to develop their careers in Shanghai, they would surely achieve great things.
Unfortunately, his mother not only didn't support his ideas, but she didn't even have a penny to his name.
Chen Wangnan immediately informed Gu Shijiu of the contents of the telegram.
Unfortunately, Gu Shijiu was eating at the time: if you don't understand, just pretend you didn't hear it.
Chen Wangdong soon found himself struggling to make ends meet.
Unable to afford a fancy hotel, I could only stay in a simple inn.
The hotel room was small and damp, and the bed was hard, making it difficult to fall asleep.
Chen Wangdong decided this time he would never bow down to his mother again, and in order to make a living, he started looking for work.
Having been pampered since childhood and never done any physical labor, Chen Wangdong was simply incapable of doing heavy work.
So he tried to apply for some clerical jobs, but because he had no work experience and lacked academic credentials, he was repeatedly rejected.
As his pockets dwindled, Chen Wangdong's requirements for his job also decreased.
Later, a shop hired him as a clerk.
Chen Wangdong felt that as the young master of a big business, he must be better at doing business than shop owners.
As a result, all his proposals were rejected, and soon after, the boss fired him, saying that he didn't work hard and was too ambitious.
Chen Wangdong couldn't find a job for a while and was on the verge of starving, so he had no choice but to work as a dockworker.
He earned only a few copper coins a day, and hunger became his constant companion.
What were once delicacies have turned into hard, dry steamed buns and cold water.
Sometimes, they couldn't even get a steamed bun and had to wander the streets hungry.
By chance, Chen Wangdong saw a job posting for the factory. The requirements were very lenient; basically, any man could get in.
He was overjoyed and immediately went to apply for the job, and was successfully selected.
Chen Wangdong thought this was a new beginning, but he never expected that an even more difficult life awaited him.
The factory environment was harsh; the roar of the machines was deafening, and the air was filled with dust and a pungent smell.
He works more than ten hours a day, learning various complex operating skills.
The masters are very strict, and any slight mistake will result in physical punishment.
Chen Wangdong's hands were calloused and his body was covered in scars.
Sometimes when he looks back on the past, he feels as if it were a lifetime ago.
However, the income from the factory was very meager, and because he was not skilled in operating the equipment, he even owed the factory money and didn't have enough money for the trip home.
Chen Wangdong was filled with intense regret.
I should have never come out no matter what. Wouldn't it have been better to just live a peaceful life?
Why are you angry with your mother?
There's no use saying anything now; he can only endure the days in the sweatshop, hoping to save enough money for the trip home.
Chen Wangxi was doing slightly better than him, mainly because he didn't go to high-cost places like Shanghai.
The problem was that he only had one or two taels of silver on him.
Compared to Chen Wangdong, who was destined to inherit the family business from a young age, he was more shrewd in planning.
After leaving home, he didn't eat or drink excessively. Instead, he went to a nearby city and found a job as an accountant at a restaurant.
They get up early and go to bed late every day. When the shop is busy, they also have to work part-time as waiters, serving tea and water to customers and cleaning.
The boss was very harsh, often lost his temper with him, and even deducted his wages.
At first, Chen Wangxi still had the temper of a spoiled young master, and he would refuse to do things if he was unhappy.
Until he offended many business owners in the city, no one was willing to hire him anymore.
After several weeks of unemployment, Chen Wangxi decided to leave the city and go somewhere further away.
But on his way out of the city, he was swindled out of his last remaining money.
Penniless, Chen Wangxi was in dire straits and could only wander the streets.
At this point, he no longer considered breaking ties with his mother and planned to beg his way home.
It can only be said that Chen Wangxi had too high expectations for reality.
It is very dangerous for a young man like him, who is eighteen or nineteen years old and looks delicate, to walk alone on the street.
Someone had been watching him for a long time.
Before he could even leave the city, someone put a sack over his head, knocked him unconscious, and threw him into a dark, dingy carriage.
When Chen Wangxi woke up, he found that he had been given medicine and was weak all over, lying in the car.
Outside, people were discussing his fate.
"It's a shame to send such a handsome young man to a black coal mine; he probably won't fetch a good price."
"Don't worry, brother. I've already found out. Zuiyan Pavilion is always looking for male prostitutes, so they'll definitely take you in."
...Only then did Chen Wangxi realize that he had been kidnapped by human traffickers.
He struggled desperately, but it was all in vain; it was completely useless.
Instead, he was hit on the head with a club and lost consciousness.
When he regained consciousness, he was already in a room at that Drunken Beauty Pavilion.
When Chen Wangxi arrived at this place, he realized that the suffering he had thought he had endured was nothing at all.
At first, he invoked the name of the Chen family and promised to give Zuiyan Pavilion a large sum of money, but unfortunately, they didn't take the bait at all.
You're kidding. If we let them go now, and their family comes looking for them, they'll be charged with buying and selling innocent people.
This is a serious crime.
Chen Wangxi didn't expect that after he revealed his family background, Zuiyan Pavilion would keep an even closer eye on him.
After several days of discipline, Chen Wangxi finally calmed down.
Seeing that he was handsome, Zuiyan Pavilion only assigned him to receive important figures.
After his first encounter with a customer, Chen Wangxi felt utterly hopeless.
After that, he lived like a walking corpse, filled with depression.
What's even more frightening is that, gradually, he discovered that he had some unspeakable secrets.
For example, occasional incontinence, a persistent urine odor, or rashes.
Chen Wangxi didn't tell anyone; he was filled with resentment and wished he could drag everyone down with him.
It wasn't until the pimp discovered him and reported him that the boss beat him severely and threw him out of the building, leaving him to fend for himself.
Chen Wangxi didn't want to die, and it was just his fate that he was discovered by a nun in a church.
The nun took pity on him, took him in, treated his illness, and even gave him precious antibiotics.
With foreigners behind the church, Zuiyan Pavilion dared not act recklessly.
After recovering at the church, Chen Wangxi embarked on his journey home.