In the evening, Catherine, who had worked all day and was a bit tired, changed her clothes and set out on her journey ho. She refused several admirers’ offers to give her a lift on their bicycles, insisting on walking ho.
The sumr night’s breeze didn’t bring much coolness to the face; instead, it carried the last trace of dayti heat and restlessness, causing imnse agitation in the heart.
Catherine was a strong girl; she didn’t easily show certain superficial emotions, even if there might be sothing else within her heart.
Before the sky turned completely dark, she returned ho. Ever since she moved back to live in her own ho, she never stayed out on the street after dark.
This place wasn’t safe; every ti the night fully covered the sky, evil would descend.
The sounds of argunts, fights, even gunfire were commonplace here, along with cries for help and the constant wailing of sirens.
As soon as she closed the door, Catherine felt an unfamiliar atmosphere; today’s house seed sowhat heavy.
She changed her shoes, hung her bag worth no more than five bucks on the coat rack, and walked toward the living room.
Her father sat absentmindedly on the worn-out sofa rescued from the junk heap, while her mother wore a face full of worry.
The man seed not to hear the door opening and closing; his eyes remained fixed on the TV. It was Catherine’s mother who lifted her head to glance at Catherine, then lowered it again.
"What’s wrong?" Catherine asked, feeling that the couple was different from usual today.
The man still watched the TV, as if he hadn’t heard anything. Catherine’s mom showed a sad and bitter expression on her face, her voice trembling slightly, "Your father... lost his job."
It was quite expected; actually, people had been preparing for it psychologically since the latter half of last year. Many factories had started to shut down, and even though the Union organized workers to march and protest, demanding factory reopenings, they didn’t dare to make too much fuss.
They even scheduled "strikes" for the weekends, which beca an international joke, but it also indirectly reflected how contradictory and sharp the social issues were at the ti.
Catherine’s father’s factory declared bankruptcy today; this too had warning signs. They had stopped importing raw materials since last month. In fact, they had long had this premonition but just weren’t willing to face it nor believe that misfortune would befall them.
Catherine fell silent. Her salary wasn’t much, only two hundred and twenty-five bucks a month, just above the legal minimum wage.
Before today, her father could earn between three hundred to three hundred fifty a month, and their combined salaries were more than enough to support the family.
But if only Catherine’s inco were left, it would be very difficult to support a family of three.
Currently, almost all factories were not hiring externally, even if City Hall demanded factories to add so job positions, they all refused to comply.
In tis of low profit, every employee seed like Mafa on the other side of the scale in front of the Death God; hiring just one more would bring them closer to death.
A factory with a thousand employees had to pay hundreds of thousands just in salaries every month, and without adequate profit, just one month’s payroll could bankrupt them, so no company would choose to expand their recruitnt at this ti, even if City Hall urged them to.
This also ant that it would be hard for Catherine’s father to find a suitable, long-term job at the employnt center; maybe there would be short-term jobs, or even none at all.
As for Catherine’s mother, there’s even less to say. She lacked work experience, and even if she wanted to learn now, there was no opportunity. In other words, the burden of supporting the family would fall solely on Catherine’s shoulders.
Her monthly salary of two hundred and twenty-five bucks would beco the only source of inco to support the family.
All three of them plunged into silence; Catherine’s father kept watching TV, as if he had been stimulated, locking himself in a small world.
Catherine’s mother, on the other hand, wore a face full of worry, sighing from ti to ti, filled with anxiety about the future.
Catherine felt exhausted, the only feeling these past few years.
Previously, she had felt this way too, but not so profoundly. It wasn’t until this mont that she felt a deep exhaustion.
She wasn’t a girl without life and societal experience; she understood well that the reason for her family’s current situation ca from their family background, social class, and education level issues.
The latter issue was more apparent: if she could have gone to university or studied accounting or so other specialty after high school, she might have a completely different job now.
The older young man pursuing her studied accounting, and now not only has a decent job but also earns a good salary.
But as a child born into an ordinary family, the prospect of continuing education after high school was such a difficult matter; she could only think about it.
The dinner that night was less than usual; Catherine’s father burst out at the dinner table all of a sudden, smashing the plates in anger before storming off.
In the man’s eyes, because he lost his job, the won at ho no longer respected him, and he felt slighted.
The mother and daughter quietly and silently accepted everything, then cleaned up the aftermath.
Early the next morning, Catherine’s father left ho to find so work on the streets; after a night’s ti, he had co to terms with this reality.
Life had to go on; if he really did nothing and lay around the house, in one or two months at most, they would have to sell the house and wander the streets.
It had taken him over ten years to achieve this current life, and he wasn’t willing to lose it all so easily; he needed to persist.
Catherine also calmly faced life and chose to work.
However, at noon, that young man found her again.
"I heard from Auntie that Uncle lost his job..."
Catherine glanced at him without giving any response, which made the young man a bit embarrassed, and he started stuttering.
"If... I an if, if I arranged for Uncle... to work in our mall... how would you feel?" His face showed a trace of excited blush, and he spoke hesitantly.
He had a good relationship with the mall manager, helping the manager with personal tax returns, which saved the manager money each ti; this was the value of an accountant.
Besides the manager, the managent within the supermarket also relied on his profession to so extent, as personal tax returns required an accountant’s assistance, which needed to be compensated accordingly.
The young man also collected fees, but very little, which gave him a good rapport with the managent.
In the morning, Catherine’s mother had co to him, explained a few situations, and asked if it was possible for Catherine’s father to work at the mall, even if the pay was lower.
Actually, for supermarkets at this stage, their business situation was better than many imagined, even maintaining a healthy profit standard against the tide.
But they wouldn’t say so openly; they needed to show a hardship in operations to garner sympathy, to lower salary standards, thereby releasing more profit space.
The young man discussed this with the manager, who said he could allow Catherine’s father to work in the warehouse, which needed so manual labor and could offer a base salary.
So he ca to Catherine to claim credit, hoping through this matter to also achieve a leap in contact between them.
Catherine neither nodded nor refused, she ended their conversation with a tone that she would discuss it with her family at ho.
However, this made the young man feel there was a chance to achieve his goal; it was the first ti in a while Catherine hadn’t directly rejected his idea, which was a good sign.
A day of monotonous work passed through long tornt or brief waiting; Catherine still refused others’ offers to drive her ho, choosing to return alone.
Her father had already returned; the previously confident man now appeared despondent.
All day, the city presented only a few dozen job opportunities, but there were thousands waiting at the employnt center!
Catherine’s father had no impressive resu; too many were far more capable than him, and he hadn’t even gotten an interview, which made him realize that in the short term, he shouldn’t expect to find work.
This made him very dejected, even questioning his own worth.
Similarly, Catherine’s mother was at a loss for words; she hadn’t yet inford her husband about her eting with the young man, nor had she told Catherine.
She planned to bring it up when the young man gave her an answer.
Both were sowhat listless, but Catherine was about to lose her temper.
She hung her bag on the coat rack, looking as usual as she returned ho, but her steps were sowhat heavier now.
She first drank a glass of water, then moved a chair to sit opposite the sofa and even turned off the television.
This action focused both her parents’ attention on her; her face showed no obvious anger, only calmness.
She looked at her mother, using the sa calm tone, and asked a sharp question, "How much do you plan to sell for?"
This sentence made the man suddenly lift his head, and Catherine’s mother’s expression also changed slightly, but Catherine did not give them much ti to react.
"Rom found at noon, he hinted that as long as I’m willing to be with him, he would give Dad a job. How much do you plan to sell for?"
Though she appeared extrely calm, she exerted a heavy pressure on her parents, especially during this special ti when the family’s life depended on Catherine’s salary; even if her voice wasn’t loud, it was filled with power!
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