Starting as a dockworker

Chapter 4: Indulging in food and drink – being able to eat is a blessing!

About half an hour later.

The convoy made its final turn on the bluestone road in the south of the city, and the surrounding noise receded like the tide.

Before us lies a quiet oasis amidst the bustling city, the main branch of Huang's Rice Shop.

The gate of Huang's Rice Shop was tightly closed, and the bowl-shaped copper nails were neatly arranged on the shiny elm wood door panel.

A white-painted wooden sign beside it bears a warning in vermilion ink: "This is a place of great importance; unauthorized personnel are not permitted to approach."

Three people stood on each side of the gate, all dressed in blue cloth outfits, with leg wraps and cloth shoes with multiple layers of soles. They stood with their posture neither too upright nor too staggered, and their hands hung naturally at their sides. They must have been trained martial artists.

After the convoy arrived, the gate opened and the convoy drove in.

The rice shop's courtyard was enormous, like a plaza enclosed by high walls.

The ground was compacted loess, and the tire tracks left by rain had dried into hard crusts.

To the left are rows of granaries, their tiled roofs stretching like a gray-blue mountain ridge.

A long awning was set up nearby, under which were about a dozen greasy square tables, which were now crowded with people, including rice shop assistants dressed in hemp clothing and men dressed similarly to the guards at the gate.

"That table over there is for you. Eat first, then get back to work. There's plenty of food."

Manager Huang gave instructions and then turned to leave.

Li Xiao and his group from the docks, under the watchful eyes of the others, approached the empty table.

There weren't enough seats, so people like Li Xiao and Liu Kai, who weren't very experienced, stood on the sidelines waiting to freeload.

Soon, the food was served.

The rice was served in a large bucket; it was medium-sized white rice.

This is so much better than the inferior, yellowish rice that Li Xiao himself eats.

The meal consisted of twelve dishes and a soup, including both meat and vegetables, and even braised pork, making it a very sumptuous meal.

"It's like a mouse entering a rice jar—it sees everything and then feels suffocated!"

Li Xiao was overjoyed and quickly scooped out a large bowl of rice, then swiftly and accurately aimed his chopsticks at the braised pork.

Unfortunately, just as Li Xiao had a big appetite, so did the laborers who did heavy work at the docks.

Everyone ate like starving ghosts reincarnated, wolfing down their food.

If you're slow with your chopsticks, you won't even get a second bite before the food is gone.

After finishing a bowl of rice, Li Xiao picked up the large bowl that held the braised pork and filled it to the brim with rice. He stirred the rice to coat it with the oil before getting ready to pick up some vegetables.

To my surprise, there were no dishes on the table, only CDs.

The other laborers followed Li Xiao's example, picking up empty plates, filling them with rice, and mixing it with vegetable oil before eating.

One of the laborers, a seasoned veteran, chewed his food while shouting at the top of his lungs:

"We've come here to work for the Huang family, and there's not enough food. If we don't eat our fill, how can we have the energy to work? The Huang family is so wealthy, they won't be short of food, will they?"

I thought it was just a rant, but to my surprise, someone in charge actually rushed over.

He glanced at the table and laughed, "There's plenty of rice, but we're really out of dishes... However, my manager just said that if you're all willing to keep watch in the warehouse tonight, we can bring out another table of dishes."

The laborers exchanged glances, and the one who spoke first said, "Hurry up and bring a table. It's just keeping watch, we don't have much to do at home anyway, and we can sleep anywhere."

"Alright, I'll go arrange it right away!"

The manager grinned and hurriedly ran off, probably to arrange the dishes.

A short while later, a waiter brought out twelve dishes and a soup, exactly the same table as before.

This surprised Li Xiao.

Is the Huang family rice shop really that extravagant?

Why are you so nice to your employees?

wrong....

Li Xiao looked at the tables next door and found that it wasn't like that at all.

The people at the next table were probably rice shop assistants and guards, but they were eating something completely different.

There were five dishes on their table, four meat dishes and one vegetable dish, but no braised pork or other substantial dishes.

That doesn't make much sense...

The hired laborers were fed better than our own staff, and they were even served two tables of food.

The key point is that these guys didn't seem to have any complaints.

They remained silent, not saying a word to each other.

For a moment, Li Xiao felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

However, eating is the most important thing right now; the more I eat, the faster my strength will increase.

Those laborers who were shouting so loudly just now were all bark and no bite.

After the second table of dishes was served, they ate for a while but couldn't eat anymore, which benefited Li Xiao.

The remaining half of the dishes on the table were basically finished off by Li Xiao alone.

Braised pork belly, braised pork ribs, chicken stew with potatoes, corn stew with ribs... I stuffed them into my mouth as much as I could.

"Li Asi, you can eat so much!"

"Look how big your belly is, you'd better not burst it."

"You little brat, you've bankrupted your father! You ate most of the food on the table by yourself."

"This is the food we get in exchange for keeping watch. You'll have to put in extra effort during tonight's watch..."

"Okay, I, Li Asi, will eat more and work harder..."

The laborers around him looked at Li Xiao, whose mouth was dripping with oil, with surprise and displeasure on their faces.

Even though they were full, it would be a waste to leave any food on the table.

But the shrewdness and meticulousness of people at the bottom of society can make them feel like they're being taken advantage of.

Therefore, it was suggested that Li Xiao take the night watch and put in more effort.

Li Xiao readily agreed, not wanting to get into any conflict with these seasoned veterans.

These people are shrewd. Don't be fooled by their appearance as hardworking laborers. When they're unloading goods at the dock, they'll trip you up, and it's common for them to ruin your family or even kill you.

Li Xiao witnessed firsthand how a laborer, while loading goods for others, deliberately picked out items with torn bags or those that were wet for one person...

Some goods double in weight when wet. Two packages can barely keep them going, but after a day of work, they can't get out of bed the next day. Muscle damage is a minor issue; some even suffer bone injuries that render them useless.

Such incidents are commonplace and occur at the docks every day.

Therefore, there is always a reason why someone is pitiful.

They are all unfortunate people, but they won't hesitate to bully those of the same social class.

Therefore, Li Xiao always kept a low profile at the dock, never offending anyone, and sometimes he would rather suffer a loss.

These laborers saw others suffer losses, and they felt that others' losses were equivalent to their own gains.

When Li Xiao said he was willing to put in more effort during the night watch, the group immediately went from having stern faces to smiling faces.

Glug glug!

Li Xiao finished his meal, picked up the last bowl of pork rib soup, and drank the broth down his throat in big gulps.

Suddenly, for some reason, the surroundings became quiet, and only the sound of breathing could be heard.

A chill ran from the soles of Li Xiao's feet to the top of his head, a coldness that made his hair stand on end, as if he had fallen into an ice cave and was being watched by something strange.

Li Xiao put down the porcelain bowl, turned around abruptly, and looked over.

What came into view was a pair of lifeless white eyes, the pupils embedded in sunken eye sockets, without a trace of light, like two frosted old porcelain beads.

Li Xiao was startled and took a few steps back before being stopped by the table.

A hunched, blind old woman, dressed in a grayish, coarse cloth garment in the style of a previous dynasty, was hunched over like an old tree bent by the wind. She carried a shiny, blackened bamboo cane in her hand. Her face was deeply wrinkled, like cracked parched earth, but the corners of her mouth were turned down in a stiff, ambiguous smile.

The previously noisy laborers all fell silent, their breathing becoming soft.

Their gazes toward the old woman were a mixture of awe and apprehension, and some of them quietly took a half-step back.

However, now that the sun is high in the sky and the intense sunlight is shining down, from a distance, the old woman no longer appears as eerie and terrifying as before; instead, she has a kind and gentle face.

The old woman stretched out her withered hand and touched Li Xiao's body, her voice as dry as a tree trunk: "It's been a long time since I've met such a voracious young man. It's good that he can eat so much; being able to eat is a blessing..."