Little You was truly young after all.

Shao Guangrong was too angry to say another word to her. He yanked her into the car and demanded she give him her address immediately.

Upon arrival, he threw a sack of pork out of the car. “Find someone else to carry it, and never mention knowing me! I know I’m handsome, and you silly girls think it’s worth bragging about dating me, but this is embarrassing, understand?”

The sack landed right by Little You’s feet.

Little You couldn’t lift her head after Shao Guangrong’s scolding.

“I’m sorry, Young Master Shao. You’re a good person.”

Shao Guangrong waved dismissively, “Stop with the nonsense. What makes someone ‘good’? Being easily deceived? Someone who gets fooled and doesn’t mind is a sucker. Do I look like a sucker to you?”

He certainly didn’t.

Even if he did, Little You wouldn’t dare say so.

Shao Guangrong sped away. Little You looked at the sack of pork at her feet in frustration and couldn’t help kicking it:

“It’s all your fault! If you hadn’t scared me, I wouldn’t have been exposed!”

People said Shao Guangrong changed girlfriends frequently but never went for younger girls. Now it was ruined – knowing her age, even if she dressed maturely, Shao Guangrong would never date her.

Little You felt like crying but couldn’t. Those wild boars ruined everything.

But this was a sack of meat – how could she refuse it? Who could afford to waste this? The sack contained 200 Jin, worth at least 300-400 yuan.

Getting 300-400 yuan from a provincial trip wasn’t bad. Young Master Shao was generous with his “girlfriends” as people said.

But probably none of his “girlfriends” had ever received 200 jin of pork.

Little You worried about what to do with the 200-plus jin of meat. How would she explain it at home? Say she visited a classmate’s hometown where they slaughtered a pig and gave her some.

Under the street lamp at the alley entrance, Little You struggled to drag the sack.

…

Life is difficult everywhere.

A sixteen-year-old girl wearing heavy makeup, trying to get close to privileged young men, might not be vain – she might have unspoken hardships.

In a Beijing alley, sixteen-year-old Little You struggled to drag a sack of wild boar meat.

At Hong Kong’s cargo dock, a thin, frail figure also battled with willpower against the weight on their shoulders.

Unlike white-collar workers in Central, dock workers didn’t have fixed working hours. When ships arrived, cargo needed moving.

This wasn’t work anyone could just do. The laborers were divided into factions – without belonging to a gang, you couldn’t get work at the docks.

The intense physical labor was usually done by strong men. Dock workers were among Hong Kong’s lowest social class. Mainland immigrants without reliable connections often had no choice but to become dock workers “carrying big loads.”

Of the porters, 99% were men, with less than 1% being women.

There were always women who had lost sons or husbands, left without support in the world. Without education or skills, unwilling to fall into prostitution, choosing to carry loads at the dock was often their last resort.

Life could make people numb. Some people didn’t choose to fall – they lacked the physical conditions for other options.

Hong Kong had many prostitutes, but even the flesh trade required looks.

Those who weren’t young or attractive could only work in the lowest brothels, with gang members taking cuts from their already meager earnings. Some women, even when desperate, refused to become prostitutes.

Few women worked at this cargo dock, perhaps ten or so altogether.

To compete with male workers, the female porters had to stick together.

Some female workers were truly strong-willed. Others, choosing between carrying more loads or taking an easier path, would sometimes loosen their belts to earn money from male dock workers. Such consensual arrangements were simply adultery – even the craftiest gangs wouldn’t take a cut when male workers paid a day’s wages.

Those who loosened their belts looked unfavorably upon those who maintained their dignity like chaste martyrs refusing violation.

Like the young female worker who arrived a month ago.

Even with soot smeared on her face, her features remained refined.

While others were stout and sturdy, she alone was thin and weak. The sea breeze at the dock could nearly blow her over, yet she came seeking work.

Everyone thought she wouldn’t last three days before collapsing or would cry and choose an “easier business,” but this young woman persisted for a month.

Unable to carry as much at once, she made multiple trips to match others’ total.

Though struggling at first, after a month, she hadn’t collapsed as others predicted.

Back at the lodgings, a male worker emerged from a room adjusting his pants, giving the young woman a lingering look before reluctantly leaving.

The woman inside came out, startled to see the sickly newcomer standing at the door:

“You’re sick! Stop acting high and mighty. Let’s see you carry loads your whole life!”

The young woman entered to pack her things. During her month here, she never argued with anyone. She’d smile at kindness and ignore mockery.

Those who don’t resist deserve bullying. The young woman, thinking of something, unusually responded to the taunting worker:

“No, I won’t carry loads forever. I didn’t come to Hong Kong to be a porter.”

Having never resisted before, her sudden retort caught the mocking worker off guard.

By the time she recovered, the young woman had left with her small bag. The worker spat viciously:

“Hmpf, what nerve! We’ll deal with you tonight!”

Tonight?

Unexpectedly, the young woman didn’t return that night.

The female workers then learned the newcomer had collected her month’s wages and left the dock.

“I said so – dock work is bitter and exhausting. She must have chosen an easier way to make money!”

The tone was gleeful.

Others heard this and defended the young woman: “If she wanted to be a prostitute, she wouldn’t have worked at the dock. You didn’t see her when she first came – her skin was fair and delicate. When her shoulders got rubbed raw, she’d treat the blisters herself at night… She could endure hardship like us, never lazy. She must have found another way. She’s different from us – speaks properly, looks educated.”

Why would an educated person come to carry loads?

It wasn’t strange – many educated people came illegally from the mainland.

Some gradually rose, some fell to the bottom, others drowned at sea – those had no chance of success at all.

While the female workers argued, their topic of discussion had changed out of her smelly clothes, washed herself clean, and lay on a bed. The room was like a small pigeon coop but offered more privacy than the workers’ communal dormitory.

“Dock work pays daily. I’ve saved some money, and now I want to work at a big company. I just need some luck.”

As the workers had said, cleaned up without disguise, the young woman revealed her beautiful features.

She could have taken shortcuts.

Her looks surpassed at least 80% of the prostitutes.

But she hadn’t come to Hong Kong to be a prostitute – she came to make something of herself!