Chapter 1: Security and Transportation

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  Earth.

  Huaxia Country Xihua City.

  The lanterns had just been lit, and in the black sky, countless shooting stars were flashing across.

  "Accompany you to watch the meteor shower, falling on this earth..."

  While many astronomy enthusiasts and romantic couples were excitedly watching the annual Lyrid meteor shower, Ma Tong was riding a worn-out two-wheeled electric vehicle loaded with small mountains of goods, humming an out-of-tune tune, slowly swaying into his own neighborhood.

  "Huh? Just now there was a shooting star that seemed particularly bright! It just looked a bit strange, like a bucket!"

  Ma Tong stopped the electric tricycle, looked up at the sky, but found that the meteor had disappeared: "Could it be an illusion? How could a meteor look like a bucket?" Suddenly, his mind was filled with a sense of dizziness, and a strange palpitation rose in his heart...

  How strange! Ma Tong shook his head and thought to himself that he must have seen too much and was having hallucinations.

  Never mind, let's move on!

  The old man at the gate greeted him warmly: "Tongzi is back with goods?"

  "Hey! Hello, old master Wang!" Ma Tong hastily braked the car, using his feet and left hand to stabilize the vehicle with great effort, while his right hand rummaged through the bag of goods behind him. After a while, he finally pulled out a "Soft Yan'an" cigarette and casually tossed it into the arms of the old gatekeeper.

  "This is the soft Yan'an you wanted! This cigarette isn't easy to get in now, luckily I still have some face, so the tobacco company only allocated this one to me, and it hasn't even entered our family's shop yet, but it's already entering your pocket!"

  What he said was that Ma Tong had no face in the tobacco company, just a pack of cigarettes, and it was only after his repeated requests that he finally got it, all because he didn't want to lose face in front of the doorman, after all, he had promised someone else!

  Grandpa Wang was overjoyed, his wrinkles all smoothed out. Although he knew Ma Tong's proud personality, he didn't say anything and instead repeatedly said: "Thank you, thank you! At our age, it's just a nostalgic habit, I love smoking this four-yuan-a-pack soft Yan'an cigarette. I know it's hard to buy now, if not for you kids remembering me every time, I would have quit smoking long ago! Here, take the money for the cigarettes, don't look for any change, consider it your uncle's errand fee!"

  As he spoke, Old Man Wang stuffed a 50-yuan green note into Ma Tong's hand.

  "Hey, hey, hey!" Ma Tong was anxious and pushed the money back. "You're not making sense! You've helped our family a lot over the years. Just the other day, the glass at my house was broken by some naughty kid, I wasn't home, but you took care of replacing it. If you take this money again, Ma Tong will become a white-eyed wolf! Take your money back, and consider this cigarette as my gift to show respect!"

  "Alright alright, I'll give you money next time! But don't think about pushing me again next time!"

  "Alright!" Ma Tong responded with a sigh of relief, restarting the worn-out electric tricycle and continuing towards his small shop at home. As he turned the corner, however, Ma Tong suddenly got off the vehicle, patted his empty pockets, and slapped his own head in frustration: "You're so obsessed with saving face, now look what's happened - you don't even have money for your own cigarettes!"

  Mr. Wang lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, only then did he gaze at Ma Tong's gaunt back and sigh: "He's a good kid, what a pity! No education, no skills, almost thirty years old, still working as a security guard for others. Two years ago, I even thought of introducing him to Erniang from Xiao Sanjia, but I'm afraid neither Xiao San nor his wife would agree!"

  When he said that, he only thought that Ma Tong was incompetent, and whether Ma Tong could see his own granddaughter who looked like a flower was completely out of his consideration.

  Ma Tong had just parked his electric tricycle outside the small grocery store when a woman who looked like she was only in her forties but already had a full head of gray hair hurriedly came up to him: "Tongzi is back, nothing happened on the road, right? Hurry up and rest inside, I'll unload these goods!"

  Ma Tong looked at his prematurely aged mother, feeling a pang of sadness: If he wasn't so incompetent, his mother wouldn't have to work so hard running this small shop at such an old age. He was truly unfilial!

  Thinking of this, Ma Tong forced a smile and patted his not-so-strong chest, laughing: "Mom, you go inside and rest, I can handle these things. Don't look at your son being thin, but he's all muscle!"

  Zheng Lirong was teased by Ma Tong and couldn't help but burst out laughing: "You, all you know is how to make your old lady happy, aren't you still on night shift later? Hurry up and go, or this month's bonus will be gone!"

  Ma Tong laboriously unloaded a large bag of goods from the electric tricycle, shouldering it and walking towards the house. As he walked, he chuckled to himself: "Don't worry, Mom! My leader is my sworn brother Da Hai, if he dares to deduct my bonus, I'll go eat at their place every day!"

  Zheng Lirong glared at her son with a mixture of laughter and tears, picked up a bag of snacks from the electric tricycle, followed behind him, muttering to herself: "Do you think your unit is just a big ocean where one person's word goes? There are still leaders above them! You're almost thirty years old, but still so unrefined, I don't know when you'll bring back a daughter-in-law for me!"

  Ma Tong went into the house, carefully arranging the goods one by one, and smiled at his mother: "Don't worry, mom, your son is a treasure, and a treasure will always shine. One day, there will be a girl who recognizes the value of things and cries out to be your daughter-in-law!"

  "Then you'd better be proud of yourself!" The son's deadpan expression made Zheng Lirong burst out laughing, but in her heart, she was softly sighing: You always make mom feel at ease, but what you don't know is that the only person mom can't put her mind at rest about is you!

  Dad, if you're watching from above, please bless our son! Zheng Lirong's eyes glazed over as she watched her busy son.

  By the time Ma Tong had finished arranging all the goods, it was already 9:40 at night. Ma Tong had to go on night shift at 10 o'clock, so he didn't even have time to chat with his mother again. He went to the bathroom to wash his face and then turned around and left the house: "Mom, I'm really going to be late, bye!"

  "Wait!" Zheng Lirong chased out, stuffed a pack of 20 yuan worth of Red Su cigarettes into Ma Tong's pocket and said softly: "Ride slowly on the road, when you see the leader at the unit, remember to offer him cigarettes! Also, if there's nothing else, let Dahai and his wife come over for dinner!"

  Ma Tong felt a pang in his heart, this was his own mother, who would haggle with vendors over the price of vegetables for half a day, but because she knew her son's vanity, had always been so generous to him...

  At 9:57 pm, taking advantage of the electric vehicle's ability to avoid traffic congestion, Ma Tong finally arrived on time at his workplace located on the other side of the city, Xihua General Agent of a world-renowned sanitary ware brand, and Xihua Lejia Sanitary Ware Co., Ltd. under Ling Shi Enterprise Group, a listed company.

  The security guard at the door saw Ma Tong and teased him, saying: "Ma Tong! You really are punctual with your work hours, not losing a single minute!"

  Ma Tong, who was most concerned about his reputation, glared at him and said: "How many times have I told you to call me Brother Ma? I'm telling you, Little Li, are you itching for a scratch from your brother?"

  Yes, you didn't mishear, it's indeed "Toilet Brother" instead of "Ma Tong Ge". Who made the nickname "Toilet" stick to Ma Tong's head since primary school? Ma Tong, who would rather die than lose face, had fought with many people because of this. Later on, as more and more people called him that, he gradually stopped fighting back, after all, who allowed himself to be powerless and unable to shut others' mouths?

  However, you still have to be beaten. You call me Horse Bucket, and I'll call you Little Li Zi, Li Lianying, Dead Eunuch, Rotten Asshole!

  "Little Li" was actually named Li Lianxin, which happened to be a homophone of "Li Lianying". Upon hearing this, he secretly seethed with anger, but on the surface, he seemed completely nonchalant and smiled as he said: "Yes, Toilet - Brother!"

  Ma Tong ignored him and drove the electric car into the shed next to it, rushing towards the fingerprint scanner at the company building entrance in three strides.

  "Cut!"

  Li Lianxin's face turned gloomy, and he fiercely made an internationally recognized hand gesture towards Ma Tong's back, shouting: "You're a guy who'd rather die with dignity than live in shame! You're almost thirty and still working as a security guard. If I were you, I wouldn't have the courage to go on living. No wonder your name is Ma Tong, you're destined to be a toilet cleaner for life!"

  Humans are like this, a crow falls on a pig's body - can only see others' blackness.

  You don't call others a toilet, how can you expect them to call you Little Lee? What you don't want done to yourself, don't do to others, that's the principle of human relationships.

  Ma Tong could never have known these things.

  When Ma Tong pressed his fingerprint on the time clock, the time had already jumped to 22:00. He was now in the locker room, taking off his T-shirt and jeans at a speed that was no less than that of a professional soldier, and putting on a set of dull gray security uniforms that he and his colleagues evaluated as one of the ugliest in the world.

  After adjusting the big brimmed hat on his head, Ma Tong walked with a swagger towards his workplace, the warehouse located in the backyard of the company.

  "I'm so sorry, I came late, something happened at home!"

  Ma Tong said a little embarrassedly to the security guard on duty in the sentry room at the warehouse door.

  That security guard Xiao Sheng was a tall and sturdy young man, about 23 or 24 years old, from a rural family, with the full name Yu Bu Sheng. As for how he got this strange name, Ma Tong had no idea.

  Yu Bu Sheng is a kind and honest guy, he not only didn't tease Ma Tong like Xiao Li Zi did about being late, but also didn't call him by that unpleasant nickname. Instead, he sincerely said to Ma Tong: "No worries, Ma Ge! I'm back in the dorm so early and can't sleep anyway, if you have something to do, go ahead and take care of it first, I'll cover for you, no big deal!"

  Ma Tong was moved in his heart, but his face didn't show it. He just patted the broad shoulder of Yu Bu: "It's alright, brother. I've finished my business. You should head back and rest early. You're still on duty tomorrow afternoon!"

  The security industry is basically the same, with three shifts rotating. Ma Tong's shift during this period was the night shift, from 10 pm to 7 am, while Yu Sheng's shift was the middle shift, from 2 pm to 10 pm.

  "Brother Tong, here are the warehouse inventory and handover records. Take a look at the goods and sign for me, then I can go off duty."

  Ma Tong has been in the security industry for seven or eight years, and these procedures are naturally well-known. Upon hearing this, he took over the small booklet and said: "It's going to take all night to check so many goods? Are you still sleeping? No problem, I trust you, hurry back!" As he spoke, Ma Tong signed his name on the handover record.

  This was also a convention among the security guards who had a relatively good relationship, so Yu didn't pretend to be polite and smiled foolishly: "Okay, then I'll go back first."

  "Alright, alright!" Ma Tong waved his hand and sat down in a chair, picking up the intercom on the table to test it. Hmm, everything was normal. Ma Tong nodded in satisfaction.