Making a living in Dongguan, her fiery red lips offer me tenderness.

"But I'm afraid of people playing dirty tricks. Every place has its local bullies, and I'm sure I'll run into some trouble in the future. It won't hurt to make more friends with locals. That's how human relationships are; sometimes strangers are closer than brothers."

"Been taught a lesson!"

Let's go!

"Ding Yang, it's still early, where do you want to go? How about playing a couple of rounds of billiards?"

"Jianguo, my legs feel like they're filled with lead. I've never carried such heavy loads before. The skin on my shoulders is probably chafed raw, and they hurt terribly. I really don't want to go anywhere right now. I just want to take a shower and go to sleep."

"Alright, bro, I'm going back to the factory now. You can go back to sleep."

"Jianguo, I'm sorry, but I'll treat you to a nice time in a couple of days. Let's go for a foot massage."

"Don't mention it. I saw you sweating profusely while carrying sand today, and I felt a little sorry for you. To be honest, I couldn't do this kind of work myself."

"Alright, brother, let's not say anything more. We've got a long road ahead of us. Don't worry, once I make it big, I'll never let you down."

"No need for that, I'm leaving now. The factory is strict; we're not allowed to bring our phones to work. If you need anything, just text me and I'll call you back."

"good!"

Ding Yang staggered back to the store and took a "Fenbid" pill first.

I took off my clothes, used Pantene as body wash to take a shower, and washed the clothes I had changed out of.

I turned on the fan, lit a mosquito coil, lay down on the sofa, and started to sleep.

……

In a rented room in Shatou, Lao Li had just pulled up his pants. He had just had a "300-round battle" with Huang Xiaoxiao, which actually only lasted three minutes.

"Old Li, you seem a bit weak. You couldn't last long. Have you been playing too much?"

"Damn it, I'm 50 this year, and I'm starting to feel the strain."

"Why don't you ask your wife to make you some ginseng soup?"

"Sigh! Just make do with it!"

"I'm leaving!"

As he spoke, Old Li took out a wad of banknotes from his pocket, about three or four thousand yuan, and placed it on the bedside table.

"Xiaoxiao, my wife has been keeping a close eye on me lately, and I don't have much cash on hand. Why don't you go buy some clothes?"

"Old Li, I might have to go back next month. I'm planning to get a divorce."

"Why would you get a divorce? I can't marry you anyway."

"He and that girl are both pregnant, why don't they get a divorce?"

"You handle it yourself, I'm not getting involved."

"Hmph, I didn't intend for you to get involved anyway."

Old Li fastened his belt, went downstairs, drove his Honda Accord back to his home, looking slightly tired.

As soon as I entered the house, I saw my wife, who had a sallow complexion, eating red grapes.

Old Li picked up a red grape and popped it into his mouth.

"Why didn't you go play mahjong tonight?"

"We have no choice but to fight?"

"Oh, Lao Li, these fruits were delivered by Xiao Yang today. He bought some furniture at the secondhand market."

"Just like you said, this kid is sure to amount to something. I've never seen a tenant buy fruit for a landlord before, which shows he has high emotional intelligence. It's just that this kid is a bit too pitiful."

"What's wrong? Why do you look so pitiful?"

"You don't know, do you? He's an orphan, raised by his grandparents."

"I really didn't know that!"

"Hey, Lao Li, what do you think of this kid?"

"He's a real man, at least he's willing to endure hardship, unlike other young people. Today he carried three cubic meters of sand up to the fifth floor. I bet his shoulders are all chafed raw. This kind of work is not something ordinary people can handle, especially young men like him."

"He's about the same age as our son. Look at what our son is like. He spends all his time eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring. He didn't even finish junior high school. Back then, I wanted to smear him on the wall. Compared to Xiao Yang, he's not even worthy of shining Xiao Yang's shoes."

"Old Li, how about we take him as our son-in-law?"

"Damn! That won't do!"

"Why not?"

"Old Li, our daughter's already 26, and she doesn't have a boyfriend. Aren't you worried?"

"Damn it, I hadn't thought about that, but dating a Northerner would make me a laughingstock."

"What's so funny? What era are we living in? Old Chen from Chenwu, didn't both of his daughters marry men who moved in with them? They were both from other provinces."

"Old Chen only took in a son-in-law because he didn't have a son. Why would we take in a son-in-law when we have sons? That's nonsense!"

"We didn't say we were looking for a son-in-law to live with us. It's okay if he's from out of town, our daughter is getting old anyway."

"Wife, marrying someone from out of town will make us a laughingstock, it'll be embarrassing!"

"Old Li, dating an ordinary guy might make you a laughingstock, but would Xiao Yang be? With his looks, he's like a celebrity! Do you think that's shameful? Standing next to the local guys, he's absolutely stunning. Can you find a guy like him in Wusha?"

"Moreover, Xiao Yang speaks very politely. I guess he must have read quite a few books. He won't embarrass you."

"Besides, Xiaoyang's father has passed away, and I guess his mother has remarried. Xiaoyang is practically an orphan, with only his grandparents. His grandparents must be quite old; how much longer can they live? If he doesn't have his grandparents, he won't go back to his hometown. Then our daughter won't have to go back to his hometown with him anymore. Isn't that great?"

"Let's give them some money so they can buy a house in Chang'an, and that'll solve everything, right?"

"Damn, what you said makes some sense, but would Xiao Yang even be interested in our daughter? Our daughter is probably a few years older than him."

"He's so poor he has to do manual labor, would he still look down on our daughter? Everyone working here wants to find a local girl, right? Besides, our daughter isn't ugly, why would he disagree?"

"Honey, you might not know this, but Xiao Yang might have a girlfriend. What if he actually does?"

"You can break up even if you have a girlfriend. What era are we living in? We don't care about these things. Our daughter isn't a virgin anymore. I think it's a good match."

Old Li nodded.

"What you said makes some sense, but how do I bring it up?"

"You don't need to say anything. Wasn't she her cousin who came to rent a place with him today? Why don't you just talk to her cousin?"

Old Li cursed inwardly, "Xiao Yang is Xiao Xiao's cousin's boyfriend, why would he act as a matchmaker? Isn't this ridiculous?"

"Honey, don't rush. He's renting here now, but he'll definitely move in in a couple of days. They'll get to know each other then. We'll see if our daughter agrees. What's the use of worrying if she doesn't?"

"Okay, it's settled then. If my daughter agrees, I'll go find her cousin."

"Alright, alright, we'll talk about it later. Let's find out the situation first. This isn't a business transaction, there's no need to rush."

"Alright, I'm going to take a shower and go to bed. We'll talk about it later."

"Hmph, then I'll call my daughter and tell her to come over tomorrow."

"You're such a busybody! Why are you so anxious about something that's never even happened?"