“Move faster.”
“Leland, catch.”
“Did you not eat breakfast this morning? Put some effort into it. If you don’t work hard, how will your family survive without money?”
“If you can’t do it, I’ll find someone else.”
Only after hearing the last sentence, Leland had a clear reaction: “Don’t fire me, I’ll work hard.”
Leland gritted his teeth, with the taste of blood mixed with dust in his mouth. His legs trembled, and his arms were almost losing strength. Finally, the job was finished.
By the end of the morning, Leland received 120 yuan, still far from the 300 yuan mark.
During lunchtime at the construction site, they distributed boxed lunches. Leland received the most basic one, two steamed buns plus a spoonful of vegetable dish. Occasionally, he could see a bit of minced meat in the vegetables. Leland was starving, at an age when he needed to grow, steamed buns couldn’t satisfy. He watched the other workers finish their meals, and if they couldn’t, he would eat their leftovers. Any bit was better than nothing.
Dignity was worthless to someone like him. As long as he could make money without starving, it didn’t matter if he ate food with saliva from others.
Today, Leland was lucky to find two leftover boxed lunches, and even plain rice made him feel content.
After cleaning his mouth, he was only about 90% full, and his strength had almost recovered.
“Rest up and then continue to carry cement. Don’t waste time. I think it’s going to rain soon,” the supervisor said.
Leland followed behind another person, carrying bags of more than 100 pounds of cement from the dock to the building under construction through a small road. There was no elevator, so they had to take the stairs. They placed several bags on each floor, and today’s delivery went to the tenth floor. After going up, Leland’s sweat soaked his back. His arms felt like they were about to break, and the other worker, who was clearly being lazy and not putting in effort, made Leland bite his teeth and carry most of the weight. If he dared to express any dissatisfaction, he might not be able to continue working there.
The supervisor was right; it was indeed going to rain. After going down, the rain began to pour, and the work of carrying cement had to pause.
The supervisor, seeing that the rain wouldn’t stop anytime soon, allowed the workers to go home and wait for further notice. They would rest for half a day and resume work if the weather cleared up tomorrow.
The day’s wages were still paid out, and Leland received 180 yuan, 30 yuan less than the day before.
Leland held the money tightly in his hand. The weather was getting colder, and autumn was passing quickly; winter was on its way. The temperature difference was too significant. Yesterday it was around 20 or 30 degrees Celsius, but today it was only in the teens. Leland was wearing a thin vest and walking in the rain. The rain washed away the cement dust from his face, and he rubbed his face. It was too cold. It would take at least 40 minutes to walk back, and he would surely catch a cold if he continued to stay in the rain like this.
His head was starting to feel a bit dizzy, and his nose was itchy. He sneezed on the spot, and his vest stuck to his back, making him shiver.
Looking around, there was nowhere to shelter from the rain. Leland saw a trash can by the roadside. He went over, took off the lid, and used it to cover his head. Then, he sat down next to a street lamp.
The sound of rain on the plastic cover was loud. With the lid, he finally didn’t have to be in the rain anymore.
He sat on the roadside for a while, not knowing how long. Suddenly, a car drove past him at high speed. He only saw the wheels passing through the water, splashing it all over himself, even dirtying his face.
The shock of the water made Leland’s head clear a bit.
The car drove past and then slowed down. It didn’t go far before turning back. The engine noise got closer.
The car door opened, and Leland heard the sound. He continued to hold the blue trash can lid above his head and looked at the black luxury car three or four meters away from him. The rear door opened, and a man stood outside, holding an umbrella, leaning forward. After a while, a pair of small feet appeared, wearing pink little shoes and white lace stockings, followed by a girl wearing a pink princess dress.
Leland’s half-closed eyes widened completely. He hadn’t read many books and couldn’t find good words to describe this person. The first word that came to his mind was “clean.”
She was clean, like a princess living in a palace. He, on the other hand, didn’t even compare to a beggar. He felt like a dirty mouse hiding by the trash can, and even more insulting was to look at her.
For the first time, Leland felt such strong inferiority.
The girl frowned, standing in front of Leland. She glanced from head to toe, with a look of disdain. But when she looked at his face, her expression froze, and then she smiled, “Little trash, do you want to come home with me?”
Leland would never forget that day. He thought he had seen the light, but he didn’t know that the person who could easily give him light could also press him into darkness over and over again.
Even if a mouse were cleaned, it would still be a dirty mouse. He couldn’t become a pet cat, unable to be cradled in a princess’s hand and loved.
…
Leland was thrown into the trunk, and the car didn’t shake much, but it was too stuffy inside. Coupled with his discomfort, he vomited directly in the car. The steamed buns and boxed lunch from noon couldn’t be digested and came back up. A stench filled the air, and the more he smelled it, the more he wanted to throw up. After a while, his throat hurt.
Some time passed before the car finally stopped. Leland, with a foggy mind, was taken out. The trunk opened, and he was pulled out, as if dragging a stray dog. He tried to struggle, but couldn’t match the strength of the man holding him down.
“So dirty.”
It was the clean and beautiful girl from before. She pinched her nose, looking at Leland and the trunk with disgust.
She didn’t expect the little trash to make her car so dirty.
It could be cleaned, but she felt repulsed; it always seemed like there was still that smell even after cleaning. There was no shortage of money at home, she could easily replace the car.
The girl frowned and pointed to the maid in front of her, “You, take him down for a shower.”
Leland tried to talk, but his throat hurt. Before he could say anything, he was taken to the bathroom and unceremoniously thrown into the bathtub.
“I’ll do it myself.”
The maid didn’t force him and told him where the body wash and shampoo were. She stood by, making sure he cleaned himself before letting him out.
As a small child, his body was covered in wounds, clearly indicating long-term abuse.
From the maid, Leland learned that this was the Dawson family, and the girl who brought him back was Miss Winifred Dawson, nine years old, one year younger than him.
Leland didn’t know what kind of family the Dawson family was, but from the bathroom, it was almost like being at home. The tiles on the floor looked expensive.
The clothes taken off him were immediately thrown into the trash can by the maid. After he had cleaned himself, the maid threw him a set of clean clothes.
The clothes fit well in length, but were too thin. Even though the house had heating, walking around barefoot in thin clothes wouldn’t make him feel cold.
After taking a hot bath, Leland felt much more relaxed and less tired than before.
He followed the maid out and looked around nervously. It was a huge house, truly like a palace. He felt so out of place in a place like this. Leland lowered his head slightly and instinctively clenched his hands into fists.
He heard Winifred upstairs, and the maid took him up. With good hearing, he could hear her talking to someone before seeing her.
“Miss, why do you bring any random person home to take care of? People are not like animals, you don’t develop feelings just by keeping them for a while. Mr. Dawson will definitely reprimand you when he returns.”
“I’ll handle my dad, Mr. Hamilton. I just want to keep him as a pet. You can have someone investigate him thoroughly. If there are no issues, I’ll keep him at home, and my dad will agree.”
Mr. Hamilton sighed, “Just treat him well. Don’t act on the excitement and treat him carelessly. Like the one that died two weeks ago, Curly.”
Winifred didn’t care. “He’s better than Curly. Whether it’s a person or a pet, I just want something to keep and pass the time.”
Leland asked the maid next to him, “Who is Curly?”
The maid looked at him with a hint of pity in her eyes. “Curly was the curly-haired dog Miss used to have.”
Leland understood. Winifred was treating him as a dog, thinking it was a fun thing to keep him like a pet. A way to pass the time.