The story is fictional; any resemblance to real persons or events is purely coincidental.
After making ten yuan last time, I felt that this so-called physical labor could also be exchanged for money. What the astronaut expressed upon returning to Earth was: feeling good.
By next week, still on Sunday, I plan to do it again.
Everything started smoothly; my heartbeat seemed to calm down a bit, and there was no feeling of anxiety. Everything was going too well, and it felt off, but there were no signs.
Just like last time, we were transporting rebar in the tunnel. A bright light shot towards us from behind. What’s going on? Don’t move! My heart raced, adrenaline surged, and I told my brother to drop the rebar and run with me. We grabbed our flashlight and started to speed up our escape. We kids were quite fast when nervous, and we were almost at the second exit. I noticed another light shining towards us, and I thought to myself, we’re done for. Caught in a trap.
I recalled there was a recessed area in the tunnel where we could hide, so we decided to go back. I turned around and circled behind my brother, telling him not to be afraid and to follow me. We found that recessed area where the pipes intersected, creating a wider space. Using the flashlight, we quickly hid behind a large pipe, but the pipe couldn’t cover us completely, and there were no other objects to shield us. So we lay head to head, close to the pipe, trying not to be discovered.
Voices came from a distance; they won’t escape. Keep an eye on all the exits. I felt nervous, but it was expected. If I were them, I would do the same; it was simple and effective. The sounds of movement got closer and closer, and the tension increased. This game of hide and seek was likely to fail, and there was no way out. The walls were made of red bricks, but I didn’t have claws like Wolverine to claw my way out. No, no, no, Wolverine is used for killing. Such a waste of talent.
Thinking and fearing, a beam of light had already found us, and it flickered a few times before stopping. Found you, here, two of you. After a while, another person came, and one of them said to come out, but we didn’t want to be caught; being caught would be troublesome. He crawled in, his rough hands like a tiger's claws, firmly gripping my wrist, causing a moment of pain. He dragged me out from under the pipe, and I felt uncomfortable. I said I would go with him, not to run away. I urged my brother to come out too. The man was still worried and didn’t let go. In the tunnel, it wasn’t as wide, making it hard to walk, so he had to release his grip, crawling in front while his coworker followed behind, sandwiching us in the middle.
We didn’t make a sound, four of us, exiting the tunnel from the middle exit. Next to this exit was a basketball court, and at the exit, another coworker was waiting. As soon as we came up, someone grabbed my wrist, afraid I would run away. We were led one after the other to their temporary living quarters.
In the quarters, there was a person who seemed to be the foreman. He didn’t mention the rebar incident, probably already aware of the situation. He asked me which school I attended, and I made up a nearby elementary school. He asked what company my family worked for, and I said an oil company. What’s your dad’s name? Li Huohuo. I looked at my brother when I said it; it was also a name I made up, trying to create something my brother could understand. My brother hesitated to speak. What’s your mom’s name? Wang Shui Shui.
The foreman laughed. Water and fire don’t mix? I said it’s possible.
What’s the company’s phone number? I changed two digits of my home phone number and told him. 3266379. He said okay and would contact my family to come pick us up.
In about five minutes, that person came back and said it wasn’t the oil company’s number and couldn’t reach my family.
He told us to tell the truth, or we wouldn’t go home. Upon hearing this, we both cried. We kept admitting our mistakes, saying we wouldn’t dare again. We would study hard and not do bad things, sobbing. The man wasn’t used to it and didn’t want to hear us cry, but he didn’t stop us either. He lit a cigarette and went outside to smoke. We cried for a while in the room, feeling like no one was watching or listening; it was just a waste of tears, and we didn’t continue crying.
The shed wasn’t big; it had a sleeping area, a cooking area, and a place piled with some tools. There were no windows. The only escape route was that door, and thinking about it, escaping wouldn’t be easy; it was better to behave.
After about the time it takes to smoke two cigarettes, the man came back in, looked at us, and said, you’re the older brother, right? Your brother stays here; you go home and call your parents to come. I’ll wait here.
I felt like crying again, but crying wouldn’t help. I nodded and went out the door.
I felt a bit happy but more sad. I wanted to go home but didn’t want to. When I got home and saw my mom, I told her everything, the whole story. My mom scolded me again, saying she had to tear her face to save people.
My mom is small-minded and worries a lot about things.
Listening to my mom’s nagging all the way to the middle school gate, that old man seemed not to recognize us. I saw my brother and the others already in the security room. As soon as my brother saw us, he cried loudly. My mom said, how can you still cry? Doing such sneaky things and still having the face to cry? I tell you every day not to stir up trouble, but you don’t listen. Now you’ve been caught red-handed.
The foreman said, just educate the little kids. A fine will suffice. My mom asked, how much? The foreman said 500. I was stunned. A ten yuan item fined 500. My mom said she had no money. That’s about a month’s salary. Where would she get the money for a fine? You might as well call the police and send them to a juvenile detention center. Then she started arguing with the foreman. The foreman cared about his reputation and didn’t want to argue, especially since there were many onlookers outside. The foreman said if you don’t pay, you won’t be released. No more discussion. My mom said fine. She just left. My brother and I cried loudly.
We stayed in the security room, sometimes seeing familiar faces nearby, some of whom were teachers at this school. We hid so they wouldn’t see us; otherwise, it would be embarrassing if they asked.
When it was time for dinner, the foreman asked me to go home and call my mom, saying we could discuss it further. I didn’t ask what the conditions were. I just went home to call my mom. When my mom saw me, she scolded me again. It might have been a lecture mixed with scolding.
At the school gate, the foreman said if there really was no money, a guarantee letter would do. It needs to be stamped with your workplace’s official seal. My mom said a guarantee letter could be written. The official seal couldn’t be stamped; the kids’ education was their own responsibility and had nothing to do with the company. These two kids hadn’t eaten for a day. If something goes wrong, you’ll be responsible.
Seeing no other way and not wanting us to spend the night there, the foreman also knew he was illegally detaining us. He wrote a guarantee letter for us to sign and let us go home.
When we got home, my mom cooked, and we were punished by kneeling.
But I was thinking about how to avoid failure next time instead of washing my hands of it completely.