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Fate brings misfortune, I refuse to surrender, human nature is unpredictable, I can only admit defeat.


About ten years ago, due to various reasons, I had no choice but to go to another province to work. The place I went to was called 'Ye Cheng', and perhaps many people might know about it.

Just arrived in a new place, I felt particularly lonely, especially after work when I was bored in my dormitory. Then, I went out alone on the street, and I felt even lonelier among the bustling crowds. Perhaps I was just a drop of water in the sea – it didn't matter. Seeing the beggar by the roadside, I was almost envious of him, feeling that he was much happier than I was.

At this time, I met a man named Jia Mingyi in the factory, who was from the same province as me. Perhaps it was a meeting between old acquaintances. At least we could understand each other, and I felt like I had someone to communicate with. That night, I drank to intoxication with a stranger I didn't know.


I studied automation in school, and I worked in the same industry after graduation. But here, in this remote place, I ended up doing the simplest jobs. It wasn't automation; it was barely manual labor.

Our foreman was a short and chubby young man. He told me that the best way to relieve worries wasn't wine but women. But my family already had my wife, so I just relied on wine and hard work to relieve my worries. Our foreman said, 'You are the silliest person I've ever met, and no one knows what you're doing thousands of miles away.'

I suddenly realized that we weren't kindred spirits. You were talking about wine and women, and it was strong liquor and temptation.

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One day, I went to repair the sliding gears of the bridge crane. I checked the connections to see if they were good. Perhaps I wouldn't have known how to do such things before. But now I had such jobs to do, and that was good. Just as I was replacing a high-carbon sliding gear, someone – I didn't know who – shut off the power switch to the distribution box. I suddenly felt my arms trembling, but I couldn't stop my hands.


Because I had calculated that three hundred and eighty volts of alternating current could cause suffocation or even death in two or three seconds. Perhaps it was excessive fear, or perhaps people really had souls. Just as I couldn't stop my hands, I suddenly felt everything was quiet, without any sound. I couldn't stop my hands, and I suddenly felt everything was quiet, without any sound. I knew I was about to leave this world, and I was incredibly nostalgic. Memories of things I'd done as a child seemed to replay like a movie – one by one, they slowly slid through my mind. Perhaps this was the handover when going to another world. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. It felt so beautiful… Suddenly, I could hear sounds again, clearly hearing the shouts of the people under the crane. The entire factory experienced a power outage, and I suddenly felt excited. I was still alive!

Perhaps my unfortunate fate didn't allow me to die. Now, looking back, so many hallucinations must have happened in just a few seconds. But others didn't know what I had experienced in the depths of my soul.

Such a sudden misfortune didn't kill me, but I didn't feel fear. I continued to do the boring and clumsy work, because I needed to support my family and I couldn't be defeated by fate.

I still liked to drink with Jia Mingyi, because we were gentlemen, just drinking and not talking about women. It felt much better than our foreman.


When I solved the problem that hadn't been solved in this factory for several years, the boss was very happy and said I had turned a pile of scrap iron into a treasure, making it a valuable device that could continue production.

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Our boss suggested that I directly enter the equipment department and be an equipment administrator. This was the happiest moment for me when I came to this city. Whether I did the job or not didn't matter; I just wanted to be recognized. At least I proved that I could do something.

I continued to drink with Jia Mingyi, celebrating when I told him the good news. He didn't seem as excited as I thought he would. He just said, 'Congratulations.' I felt fortunate to have met a true gentleman, because he had the ability to remain calm in the face of adversity.

Just as I was starting to feel happy, the boss notified me, 'You shouldn't enter the equipment department for now because two major employees jointly wrote a letter saying you were unsuitable.' I needed to balance things.

I started to examine everyone in my mind, but I couldn't remember what I had offended anyone. Finally, I said to the boss, 'Mr. Wang, whether I can enter the equipment department doesn't matter to me. I don't know who is against me. Even if I leave this place, I won't regret it.'


The boss took out several sheets of paper, and I opened them to see that the signatures were prominent: Jia Mingyi, Shi Haiying. I didn't believe it. Shi Haiying was our foreman, a man of licentiousness. It was normal. But Jia Mingyi, a true gentleman, was a hypocrite…

People are unpredictable. I could only accept the reality. It's the hardest thing to understand people's hearts. But we could never predict people's hearts. I felt even more lonely and decided to leave 'Ye Cheng' permanently.

The geese went away, and I didn't know whether the geese leaving this place were because they didn't want to be separated, or because this place didn't attract them when the geese left elsewhere. When I left, I really saw the geese flying in a line – they formed a 'person' shape in the sky. But I didn't know whether they were departing or returning.

“”


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