For three consecutive days, Xu Xiaoya was on tenterhooks.
This was the final deadline set by the fire departnt for correcting violations: if the business did not cease operations for rectification within three days, it would be penalized directly. On the third day, when she opened the shop door, she was terrified. She stayed in the lobby from the mont she entered, fearing that law enforcent officers would show up at any mont.
All the employees were extrely nervous. They were too anxious to focus on business, knowing that if the law enforcent officers showed up today, they would all lose their jobs.
The job they had was a good one, with wages considered high in the city. The benefits were also much better than those at similar establishnts. The newly announced training sche for this quarter, in particular, had filled everyone with hope and motivation.
But now, they were about to lose their jobs.
Xu Xiaoya paced back and forth.
Nine o’clock passed, then ten, then eleven... By three in the afternoon, she was almost collapsing from exhaustion.
This is a genuine act of defiance against the law! she thought.
Even Yan Xixi was restless. Although she had threatened Yang Wei, she was still worried. Even if Yang Wei doesn’t show up, what about the others? Moreover, the masterminds behind this weren’t truly under Yang Wei’s command; those people didn’t actually take orders from him.
By six o’clock in the afternoon, Xu Xiaoya finally couldn’t bear it anymore and rushed in. "Xixi, I’m going crazy! Do you think they’re coming or not?"
Yan Xixi glanced at the ti. "I don’t think they’re coming."
Xu Xiaoya’s eyes widened. "Really?"
Yan Xixi gave a tired nod. It’s already so late. They wouldn’t possibly be working overti to do this.
Xu Xiaoya slumped onto a chair, lacking the strength to even sit up straight. After a while, she said weakly, "Xixi, I’m so hungry... I’m starving to death..."
Yan Xixi paused, only then rembering they hadn’t eaten lunch.
How ridiculous! Frightened like field mice!
She pulled Xu Xiaoya up. "Let’s go. We’re going to eat right now."
It was one of the best restaurants in the city. After Yan Xixi finished ordering and handed the nu to the waiter, she clearly saw his strange expression. Can these two gluttons really finish all this?
Between the two of them, they wolfed down seven or eight dishes, leaving no morsel behind.
So full they could hardly walk, they supported each other as they left.
The city lights twinkled and a cool breeze blew. Yan Xixi, feeling utterly stuffed, leaned against a roadside tree and suddenly vomited.
"Xixi... I’m so full... I feel like throwing up too..." Xu Xiaoya gasped.
Because of the imnse stress, the two of them had eaten mindlessly, like a pair of fools. Throughout the entire al, they hadn’t said a word, just kept stuffing themselves, eating and eating...
After vomiting for a while, their stomachs felt empty, and so did their hearts.
"Xixi... they really might not co, right? I sent a text to Huang Xiaojue. Could it be him who stopped them?"
Hugging a large roadside tree, Yan Xixi suddenly burst out laughing.
Not understanding why Yan Xixi was laughing, Xu Xiaoya also joined in, laughing foolishly.
As she laughed, she suddenly started to cry, sobbing, "Xixi... I feel so awful... I really feel so awful... These past few days, I’ve been living in fear. I couldn’t eat or sleep well... If this continues, I’ll go crazy... But we didn’t die... We’re still alive..."
The lives of the insignificant are like cockroaches; no matter how much you swat at them, they’re impossible to extinguish.
Without such a hard-scrabble existence, how could one endure for decades?
Yan Xixi just leaned against the large tree, her head tilted far back, and said nothing.
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