After graduating from high school, due to a lack of money to attend university, I had to temporarily work. My father was worried about me going out alone, so he always made me go out with others, which limited my freedom a lot.

When my fourth uncle came to my house and said I could work in Zibo, my dad felt reassured, so he had me buy a ticket to Zibo. After arriving in Zibo, I was taken by my fourth uncle to a construction site. It wasn't exactly a construction site; later I learned it was at the home of my fourth uncle's wife's cousin, who was building a villa and happened to need some laborers.

Upon arriving at the site, I met my maternal grandfather, who was also working there. He took me to the first floor of a small building nearby, which had a simple temporary bed. I placed my luggage on it, and I could stay there from then on.

Then I immediately joined the work crew. I didn't negotiate my salary; it was all discussed between my fourth uncle and the couple, who said they would pay me three hundred yuan a month.

Every day we got up very early, usually just as it was getting light, then had a simple meal before starting work at the construction site. My main task was to help carry bricks. Once I got into work mode, I hardly stopped. I also assisted my maternal grandfather, eager to help with his tasks.

At first, everyone got along quite well, and they thought I worked hard, which was nice. Later, the older cousin of the construction site said his brother needed to take over the current house because he had a girlfriend. So we were kicked out of the first floor.

That night, I drank a lot of liquor. After dinner, my maternal grandfather and I took our luggage and walked into the wilderness. After walking for a while, we found a dilapidated mud house, which had a well for drawing water. It seemed to be a long-abandoned shack, likely built for irrigation purposes.

Along the way, my maternal grandfather kept complaining that I drank a whole cup of liquor in one go, something he, as a seasoned drinker, couldn't do. He felt I embarrassed him. He also mentioned that the sorghum liquor costs money, which was not good.

I was quite depressed and didn't say a word while he kept criticizing me. Even though he had a large cup of water, he told me not to drink it, blaming me for drinking too much liquor. I ignored him and went to my place to lie down and sleep.

The next morning, he called me, and seeing that I was fine, he said we had to hurry back to work. So we quickly tidied up and went to work. When we returned to the construction site, someone asked me if I drank a lot last night and if I drank a lot of water afterward, since my maternal grandfather brought a big pot of it.

I didn't respond to them; I knew it was best not to say too much about such things to avoid unnecessary conflicts and troubles. My maternal grandfather said he offered me a drink, but I didn't take it.

Later, a distant cousin of the man at the construction site arrived. It was said that this cousin was particularly introverted and a vocational school graduate. They hoped I could help him improve a little.

After getting to know him, I realized his personality traits; he even struggled to speak fluently. If someone suddenly raised their voice or spoke in a reproachful tone, he would be terrified. It seemed he had suffered some serious intimidation, leading to this stress response.

During dinner, his cousin, the owner of the villa, had his wife prepare a large table of dishes. His cousin and his father encouraged him to take food, but he was so scared that he trembled all over and didn't dare to pick up a single chopstick.

So they asked me to help him overcome this fear. I demonstrated by actively taking food, and then he learned to do the same, but usually, I would take food twice before he dared to take it once, and he would quickly pull back his chopsticks, looking very unnatural. However, this progress was noticed by his cousin, who was very pleased and said that as long as I helped him become a normal person, I would receive an extra reward.

At that time, I thought this might not be good for me because if he only learned to take food once after I took it twice, would it be seen as me being greedy? But then I thought, since they asked me to help him, I had no choice. Unexpectedly, that night, my maternal grandfather criticized me, saying I took food more times than him and told me to be careful.

He usually didn't communicate with anyone except for me. This construction site didn't hire outside workers; it was mostly relatives who came to work, and they provided lunch and dinner, which saved a lot of money. Outsiders like us would get a little money, but the requirements were strict, and we were often monitored by the boss.

Sometimes we also went with the truck to deliver goods, and I was quite attentive, keeping track of how much cargo we loaded. On the way, the boss would ask about this, and I would respond correctly. When it was his cousin's turn, he couldn't answer. So the boss asked me to continue educating his cousin well.

However, later on, the boss's actions were very disheartening. He once gave us gloves, but they wore out quickly due to the constant brick carrying. My palms were rubbed raw and bleeding, with grooves worn into them. Every time I asked for a new pair of gloves, he pretended not to hear and walked away.

Later, a relative of the boss saw my hands bleeding and told him that my gloves were worn out and I needed a new pair.

He just agreed but had no intention of giving me gloves afterward. In contrast, his relatives were promptly given new gloves. This differential treatment made me very unhappy, feeling that they didn't treat us outsiders as human beings.

Later, I told his cousin that I might not last long. I had been there for so long and had only received one pair of worn-out gloves, and I had asked many times, but they were reluctant to give me more. His cousin said he didn't want to work there anymore either.

I felt very sorry for his cousin. If I could help him while I was there, but this couple was truly despicable, unwilling to give even one extra pair of gloves, clearly very stingy.

Later, I told my maternal grandfather about this, and he said that when living under someone's roof, one must bow their head and advised me to endure it. Later, perhaps feeling they were too much, he told me, "You can leave; your wages will be collected by your fourth uncle."

To be honest, that period was indeed very frustrating. They treated me like a monkey, asking me to break some bricks to see if I had the strength to split them with my hands. At that time, I was foolish and obedient, so I did it and managed to split them. Before leaving, I split seven or eight bricks in a row, simply because I told them I could do it. The boss's attitude changed quickly; at first, he ignored me, but when he saw I was serious, he started using foul language, which made me even angrier and more determined to leave.

When I arrived at the station with my luggage, I paged my fourth uncle and explained the situation through a public phone, saying I was taking the bus home. My fourth uncle told me not to leave and that he would come to pick me up right away.

My fourth uncle is an uneducated rough man; he usually drives a taxi. When we met, he complained that he had just ordered food and was about to eat when he received my call, so he didn't get to eat.

My fourth uncle took me back to the construction site and spoke very rudely. The couple also had stern faces. Regarding my complaint about not getting new gloves, they shrugged it off, saying they didn't know about it. They also said I ate too much and broke bricks, saying many unpleasant things. My fourth uncle insisted they settle my wages, and they did.