C5 —- It’s Hard To Make Money

Danny couldn’t hear anything, he didn’t know that someone had been looking for trouble with Lin Yuxun earlier, or that someone had smashed the door just a short time ago.

 

He sat obediently on the bed after eating enough and fiddled with a few pull tabs of cans, putting them on his fingers and taking them off again.

 

Cheng Hao gave him a look and reassured Lin Yuxun, “Don’t worry, it’s okay, I’ll fix the door, I’ll make sure it’s fixed tomorrow.” The construction of the door was very simple, he should be able to try to fix it.

 

Lin Yuxun’s expression was still ugly, but there was a little glow in his eyes: “Thank you.”

 

“It’s me who should say thank you, if you hadn’t saved me, I’d be dead.” Cheng Hao said.

 

“I didn’t do anything ……” Lin Yuxun said in response, “I just didn’t have money to take you to the hospital.”

 

“I’m fine, I don’t need to go to the hospital.” Cheng Hao had come to the United States before when he participated in boxing tournaments and knew how terrible the medical bills were in the United States without health insurance.

 

Although it was 1880, forty years before the era he lived in, it was certainly not cheap to see a doctor here either.

 

And …… according to Cheng Jinhao’s memory, there were no hospitals in poor communities at all.

 

Lin Yuxun was obviously a bit introverted, he glanced at Cheng Hao, and sat quietly for a while before saying, “I’ll go wash the clothes.”

He picked up Cheng Hao’s dirty clothes and his clothes and went outside, and soon, the sound of water came from outside.

 

Cheng Hao wanted to say thank you, but felt that just saying “thank you” wasn’t enough, plus he was tired …… he didn’t say anything more, he just closed his eyes once again.

 

He was a bit uncomfortable at this moment, his body was very weak, but he was also very, very hungry.

 

The fishy smell emanating from the tuna cans became tempting …… Cheng Hao restrained himself from thinking too much and mulled over other things.

 

For example, how he was going to live.

 

He was now in a situation where he could continue going to school, but if he went to school, he would have no income, there’d be no way to live – people had the need for food, clothing, housing and transportation, even if there were benefits here to get “food”, he couldn’t afford to rent a house and buy clothes.

 

Therefore, he had to find a way to make money.

 

But it wasn’t that easy to make money.

 

If he wanted to find a job, he needed a high school diploma at least , preferably, a driver’s license, but he …… or should say Cheng Jinhao, had nothing.

He was still young.

 

Even a restaurant wouldn’t want a minor like him who had nothing to offer as a waiter.

 

If there were really restaurants that had such low standards for hiring waiters, he wouldn’t be favoured over those who were born and raised here.

 

Why were the people in the poor communities so poor? Wasn’t it because many of them were jobless? While there were people here who would rather be bums than work, there were many who were willing to fight with people for a job opportunity.

 

So, he couldn’t find jobs that didn’t require technical skills.

 

As for jobs that required technical skills …… he had no skills at all, he had been boxing in his last life, he only knew how to box.

 

Of course, he had an advantage over others – he understood Chinese.

 

But these days, Americans were certainly not interested in learning Chinese.

 

Even if some of them wanted to learn, he couldn’t find those people. The upscale neighborhoods wouldn’t allow people like him get close.

 

Cheng Hao suddenly found …… himself to be worthless.

 

He couldn’t be like Cheng Jinhao that stole frequently, so the only thing he could do, was go to the relief center and line up.

 

Thinking of Cheng Jinhao, Cheng Hao thought of Cheng Jinhao’s family again.

 

He had another option, and that was to contact Cheng Jinhao’s family.

 

But he couldn’t do that …… he still wanted to live.

 

Cheng Jinhao was sent to the United States and was st@bbed, it was obvious that someone wanted to harm him, contacting Cheng Jinhao’s family, was simply throwing himself into a net, he didn’t want to die.

 

Cheng Hao thought about a lot of things, and in the end, he slowly fell asleep.

 

Cheng Hao didn’t know how long he had slept, he was woken up by the sound of tapping on the roll-up door.

 

He woke up and felt a throbbing pain in his stomach.

 

The mixed-race child beside him was still sleeping soundly, completely unaffected by the tapping on the door, while Lin Yuxun wasn’t in the bedroom.

 

Along with the “clang” sound of the roll-up door being knocked on, the voice of the middle-aged man who had spoken out yesterday to chase the young men away shouted out from outside: “D@mn it! Little b@stard, you broke my door, you’ll pay for it!”

 

“Sorry ……,” Lin Yuxun’s voice was weak.

 

“Open the door!” The man spoke again.

 

“I’m …… sorry ……” Lin Yuxun’s voice was almost inaudible over the sound made by the shaking of the roll-up door.

 

Cheng Hao felt much better than yesterday, he got out of bed and walked out of the bedroom, then he saw Lin Yuxun trying to open the door.

 

Lin Yuxun was wearing a washed white shirt, and a sweater vest with small fluffy balls on the outside of the shirt that didn’t fit well. He was sweating all over, but he still couldn’t open the door.

 

That shutter door had been deformed.

 

The lock of the roll-up door was attached to a finger-thick iron rod to the left and right, it locked when the key was turned, the iron rod stuck out of some to the sides, it was stuck in the hole next to the iron door frame, even if it was locked, to unlock it, he needed to turn the key to take out the iron rod.

 

But now, because someone smashed the door, the iron rod bent, so the door naturally couldn’t be opened.

 

 

“I shouldn’t have given you the house to livein! Even if you can’t pay the rent, you still like to cause trouble!” The middle-aged man’s voice Trang out again, he cursing while telling Lin Yuxun to open the door.

 

 

“The door is stuck, it can’t be opened, but don’t worry, I will fix the door later.” Cheng Hao said in English. The broken door actually had nothing to do with him, but it had even less to do with the landlord, so he was willing to find a way to fix it.

 

Unfortunately, as soon as he spoke, the middle-aged man who should be the landlord got even angrier: “Who is that? Little brat, I told you not to bring anyone back! If you bring someone back, I have to increase the rent!”

 

Saying that, he started cursing continuously.

 

Cheng Hao hadn’t been scolded much before, he didn’t know how to deal with this situation, fortunately the voice of the woman that scolded those boys rang out: “Honey, don’t scold him, the door won’t get fixed like that …… let them fix the door first! ”

 

 

“Does that poor boy have money to fix my door?”

 

 

“If he doesn’t have money, throw him out.” The woman said, “Don’t be angry dear, I cooked onion soup for you, come and eat.”

 

 

The voices faded away, and the place was finally quiet.

 

Lin Yuxun looked at Cheng Hao: “If this door is to be repaired, you have to break the iron bar …… I can’t break it.” The construction of the roll-up door was very simple, looking at the door, it became even clearer at a glance.

 

 

“I’ll do it.” Cheng Hao said.

 

“You’re injured ……,” Lin Yuxun felt hesitant.

 

“I’m fine.” Cheng Hao wanted to help, or all of them wouldn’t be able to get out – Lin Yuxun was too thin.

 

Cheng Hao walked to the door, after observing ……

 

That iron bar wasn’t thick, but if he broke it now, his wound would definitely open.

Fortunately, after a night’s rest, he was much better. Even if the wound open, he wouldn’t faint.

 

Cheng Hao sat on the stool next to him and turned to Lin Yuxun: “Try opening the door.”

 

Lin Yuxun nodded and tried.

 

The lock could be opened, but the door was deformed, it could only be dragged up to a certain extent, and finally the door stopped at a meter above the ground.

 

If they wanted to go out, they’d have to crawl out.

 

However, at least they could get out.

 

Cheng Hao: “First, I’ll go out and figure out the rest.”

 

“Okay.” Lin Yuxun replied.

 

“Do you have something to do today?” Cheng Hao asked again.

 

Lin Yuxun responded, “I have to go to school.”

 

Cheng Hao thought about it, “I’ll escort you to school.” Those people might come back to look for Lin Yuxun’s trouble, so it was better for him to take Lin Yuxun to school.

 

Lin Yuxun froze: “You have injuries.”

 

“I told you, I’m fine.” Now, he needed to go out and have a look … After sending Lin Yuxun to school, he would look for the relief center here and queue up.

 

 

Lin Yuxun still wanted to refuse, but Cheng Hao insisted, “Okay, let’s go.”

 

 

“Wait, you have to eat something first.” Lin Yuxun hadn’t eaten anything since last night, and he shouldn’t have eaten anything this morning either.

 

 

Lin Yuxun’s face was a little red: “There is no more food at home …… but you don’t have to worry, the school has free breakfast, when the time comes, you can wait for me in front of the school for a while, I’ll give you some.”

 

 

Cheng Hao had long had the speculation that Lin Yuxun may not have more food, he felt even more embarrassed: “There’s no need …… I will go in and eat.”

 

The schools in poor communities weren’t strictly controlled, Cheng Jinhao left his original residence to wander around, when he was hungry, he would go to any school around, he could do the same thing.

 

He was too hungry to care, even if it was a bit humiliating.

 

 

 

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