1: Chapter 1 Let's Get a Country Chicken

"Boss, bring me a country chicken, make it extra spicy, and a crate of cold beer," Cao Xiao shouted to the owner as soon as he entered the restaurant.

Today, he was treating several colleagues from the mine to a meal. There weren't many restaurants in this small town; only this one had decent flavor and affordable prices. Actually, there were a few upscale hotels in this modest town where people usually hosted guests, but unfortunately, his pockets were empty. These days, the coal industry was in a slump, and the mine delayed wages for a long time—sometimes even paying only once a year. In other words, Cao Xiao was someone with an 'annual salary'.

It wasn't that Cao Xiao was stingy, but rather that he was heavily in debt. His annual salary plus extra benefits amounted to over eighty thousand yuan, which others considered a high income. He didn't gamble or visit prostitutes, avoiding the bad habits common at the mine, and he was very frugal with his spending. No matter how long the mine delayed wages, even if he had to borrow money for living expenses, he could usually save fifty or sixty thousand yuan a year. However, he currently owed more than two hundred thousand yuan to others—money he had borrowed himself—and his family owed over three hundred thousand. Some of it even carried interest. Relying on himself, it would take nearly ten years to pay it all back.

But the family's expenses were also high. His father had been diagnosed with cancer a few years ago. Luckily, it was caught early, and after timely treatment, he recovered. At the time, the family had no savings and had to raise the treatment costs from relatives and friends, spending nearly four hundred thousand yuan in total. However, his father's health was ruined, and he could no longer work. Back then, Cao Xiao had just graduated from university, and he still had two younger sisters and a younger brother in school; their annual tuition and living expenses added up to tens of thousands. The economic pressure was immense. The money his mother made selling vegetables was barely enough to pay the interest on the loans, so his father borrowed a bit more to open a small shop in a remote area, but that only covered the elderly couple's living expenses. Thus, the burden of his siblings' education fell on him. His salary was barely enough, as he had to support the family and sometimes borrow money just to pay back other debts. As his two sisters entered university and his brother started high school, expenses grew even larger, leading to the twenty-thousand-yuan debt he accumulated over his four years of work.

Today was the first time this year he had treated his colleagues to a meal. It was already June, and he had just received two thousand yuan from the mine, which prompted the idea. He couldn't help it; others were always treating him, and though he didn't want to go because such things required reciprocity, he couldn't resist their enthusiasm. Everyone knew his situation and wouldn't ask him to treat them, but he felt bad about it and wanted to find an opportunity to show his appreciation. Today, he gritted his teeth and took out six hundred yuan—more than half of his monthly living budget—to host this meal.

Including himself, there were six people, all men. No one brought family members, though usually, when others treated, everyone would bring their wives and children to enjoy the free meal. Of course, there were more colleagues at the mine than just these few, but those present were all good friends he had bonded with over the years.

"Xiao Cao, you know the situation at our coal mine. It'll probably be mined out before the end of the year, and this joint venture will likely be dissolved. What are your plans? If you don't have any, come with me to the new company in Qian Province. Manager Chen has a good impression of you; if I speak up, he won't refuse. Life there is tough, but the pay is good. Give it some serious thought. We're heading over next month to start preparations." Everyone sat at the table, opening cold beers and chatting as they drank. At that moment, a middle-aged man spoke to Cao Xiao.

The speaker was Cao Xiao's direct supervisor, Li Dongping, the Production Dispatch Director. Cao Xiao was a Field Dispatcher. He had studied Resource Exploration Engineering in university, but after applying to the coal mine, he was assigned to the dispatcher position. Regardless, the work wasn't difficult and was somewhat related to his major, so he had stayed on. They had a good relationship, and Li Dongping looked after Cao Xiao at work, partly because Cao Xiao was serious and responsible.

"I'll think about it first. Qian Province is too far away, after all. You know my family situation; if anything happens, I'm the only one they can rely on," Cao Xiao replied with a sigh. Only his elderly parents were at home now, and he was the only son nearby. His brother lived at school, and his two sisters were at universities in other provinces. If his parents got sick, Cao Xiao could be there to care for them at a moment's notice. If he went to Qian Province, the distance would be too great to help in time. As the saying goes, while one's parents are alive, one should not travel far!

Before long, the food arrived. There was a large pot of dry-pot chicken and several side dishes. The flavor was quite good. The ingredients had been specifically sourced locally—authentic free-range farm chicken—and the vegetables were organic, grown with natural fertilizer. The taste was much better than greenhouse vegetables.

The six of them drank four crates of beer in total. Including the food, the bill came to nearly 800 yuan. He had severely overspent. It looked like he would have to borrow money to get by again, but it was hard to ask for loans now. This coal mine had been operating for over ten years and was about to run dry. Within half a year, everyone would be going their separate ways. Before then, he had to find a way to pay back the money he owed his colleagues.

After seeing off his colleagues, Cao Xiao returned to his rented room in the small town, feeling a bit light-headed from the alcohol. His family lived in the county seat, but they had sold their original house to pay for his father's treatment. His parents were also renting; a three-bedroom apartment cost over a thousand yuan a month. Since Cao Xiao worked at the coal mine not far from the town, he had rented a small single room of less than thirty square meters with a bathroom for convenience. A portion was partitioned off as a kitchen, making it feel cramped, cluttered, and poorly ventilated.

Dazed, he closed the door and fell asleep on his small bed. After a while, he heard someone knocking and calling him, but he had drunk too much and didn't have a high tolerance. His head was throbbing painfully, and he couldn't get up. He slept until noon the next day. His phone had rung several times. When he checked the time, he knew another day's wages were gone. A colleague had called in sick for him, but he still had to go in the afternoon. Today, they had to go down the shaft to inspect the mining progress; everyone had an assignment.

He washed up haphazardly and made egg fried rice with yesterday's leftovers. After eating, he packed his things and headed out. When he opened the door, he saw a bag of milk hanging on the handle. He looked at the room next door; the door was tightly locked.

He hadn't gotten up when someone knocked last night; this bag of milk was likely placed there then. The person knocking last night should have been his neighbor—a beautiful, single neighbor at that. However, she was much better off than him; she worked at the local branch of a large corporation and was a graduate student from a prestigious university.

This beautiful neighbor's name was He Yueyou, a very poetic name. According to her, the name was taken from the Song Dynasty literary giant Su Shi's poem 'Busuanzi': 'The sparse tung trees hang with a waning moon, the water clock has run out and people are still. Who sees the recluse walking alone, a misty, solitary wild goose's shadow? Startled, it turns its head, with a resentment no one understands. Having searched all the cold branches, it refuses to perch, lonely on the cold sandy isle.'

She was a very nice person—not only beautiful but also even-tempered. She had come to work in this town last year and had been Cao Xiao's neighbor for a year. They got along quite well. Cao Xiao had been smitten the first time he saw her, but given his situation, he didn't dare have any delusions about He Yueyou. Even if he felt love for her, he could only follow her silently from afar, never showing a hint of his affection in front of her.

At twenty-six years old, he should have long been considering marriage, but he hadn't even had a girlfriend in the four years since graduation. He did have a two-year relationship in university and had even agreed to marry his girlfriend then, but after the tragedy at home, they went their separate ways. Cao Xiao didn't resent her; in this day and age, what girl would give up a beautiful life that hadn't even begun to live a life of being hounded by debt collectors every day?

Looking at the milk in his hand, ripples of emotion rose in Cao Xiao's heart, which he immediately suppressed. This wasn't something he should overthink. He didn't know if He Yueyou had any feelings for him, but whether she did or not, it likely had nothing to do with him. He tore open the milk and drank it slowly, not caring if it was cold, as if it contained endless sweetness.

The sweet taste made his heart more determined. Life had to go on. He boarded a rural bus, which bumped along toward the forest-covered Hengyu Coal Mine.