Tang Yi rose early the following morning. The walk from the village to town took half an hour in the local reckoning, so they had to set out promptly. It was barely light when he got up. Fortunately, he had gone to bed early the night before and was not particularly sleepy.
This was nothing like his former life of sleeping by day and staying out all night amid neon lights and wine. To his surprise, Tang Yi found this routine rather pleasant. His body felt comfortable, without the aching and heavy-headed exhaustion that used to greet him after nights of excess.
At his first movement, Wen Yan woke too. Rubbing his eyes, he asked, “You're up so early. Didn't you sleep well?”
Tang Yi stretched luxuriously and yawned. “I found a job at the docks. I start today, so I need to leave early.”
Wen Yan immediately scrambled up, his big eyes blinking. “Then I'll hurry and make you breakfast.”
“Just boil two eggs,” Tang Yi said with a smile. Then he remembered the System's mission. “Actually, boil all the eggs. You need to eat too. Make some flatbreads with the remaining bean flour, and stir-fry some greens for your lunch. Make sure you eat until you're full. If I come home and find eggs or flour left over because you didn't eat enough, I'll be angry.”
Wen Yan was utterly confused. Why was this fellow so determined to make him eat his fill? Of course Wen Yan wanted enough food, but their stores were small. Spring planting had not even begun, and the next harvest was a long way off. Nobody in the village could bear to eat until they were stuffed.
Tang Yi seemed to read his mind. “Big Brother says the wages are paid daily. I'll buy more when I come back. I've got hands and feet. I won't let you go hungry while you're with me.”
Warmth spread through Wen Yan's heart. Although the morning air was cold, he no longer felt the chill. He answered quietly and went to make breakfast.
By the time Tang Yi had washed his face, combed his hair, shaved, and made himself presentable, breakfast was ready. Wen Yan was nimble and efficient. He had not only boiled the eggs but also made several bean-flour flatbreads.
Tang Yi never had much appetite in the morning. After two eggs and a little water, he was finished. Tang Shi was already calling him from outside. Tang Yi answered and prepared to leave, but Wen Yan hurriedly pushed a flatbread into his arms.
“Work at the docks is hard. Take a flatbread in case you get hungry.”
Tang Yi meant to refuse, but Wen Yan insisted. Seeing that there were still three flatbreads in the pot, enough for the young man to eat, he said nothing more and tucked the warm bread against his body. In weather like this, it would serve as a little hand warmer.
By the time the brothers arrived at the docks, a ship had just come into harbor. Few workers had arrived so early, so they could start sooner, move more goods, and earn more money. Here, wages were based on how much a man carried.
The manager came from Little Prosperity Village, the same village as Tang Yi and Tang Shi, and he generally looked after people from home. But he seemed astonished to see Tang Shi bringing Tang Yi. Could the village layabout really work?
Only after Tang Shi repeatedly guaranteed that his brother would not slack off did the manager agree, as a favor, to take him on. Tang Yi understood how difficult it had been to secure even this laboring job. He was determined to do it properly and not embarrass his brother.
There were two sizes of cargo sacks at the docks. The large ones weighed around a hundred catties, and carrying three earned one copper coin. The small ones weighed about fifty catties, and it took six to earn a coin. Tang Yi felt sick looking at the enormous burlap sacks. How many coins could he possibly earn from a full day of this backbreaking work?
Money was not easy to come by!
Accustomed to heavy labor, Tang Shi hoisted a large sack onto his shoulder and set off. Tang Yi considered his own thin, weak frame and chose a fifty-catty sack. The manager said nothing. Both sizes needed carrying, and they would be paid by the piece in the end.
Tang Yi worked himself half to death all morning. Yet lunch was nothing but thin porridge. Though they could eat as much as they liked, it was hardly filling. He found himself grateful for Wen Yan's foresight. Following Tang Shi, he scraped a thick helping of coarse-rice porridge from the bottom of the pot, carried it aside, pulled the bean-flour flatbread from his clothes, broke it in half, and offered some to his brother.
“Wen Yan packed me a bean-flour flatbread…”
“Your sister-in-law boiled two potatoes…”
Both brothers pulled out the food they had brought and said almost the same thing at once. They froze, stared at each other's offerings for a moment, and then burst out laughing.
