A season

Aji was squatting in armor and sorting out the trash.

This is the work of adults, and the armor is also the size of adults.Because of Yaji's strength, after begging for a while, the person who issued the armor gave her a set.Yaji rolled up her sleeves, carefully put on her gloves, rolled up her trouser legs, and put on her boots. The boots were too big, and she stuffed a lot of things into them to make sure that no part of her body was exposed before she dared to come.

The garbage here is divided into two types, dangerous and non-dangerous.

Dangerous garbage is generally placed on the periphery, including dry batteries, fluorescent tubes, thermometers, various flammable and explosive items, and radioactive waste. You must wear protective gear to pick them up.There are special places to recycle this kind of garbage. Usually adults will participate in such work, and they can exchange a little water and food for a day.

Non-hazardous waste is household waste and kitchen waste, which are the most in-demand, made by women and children.

Yaji was also looked after by an adult, but he died a few days ago.He was pricked by a needle inside while sorting out the garbage, and the skin began to fester after a while.He ran out of the house, saying he didn't want to infect her.When Yaji went out that day, he was lying on the garbage dump, dead.

Although Yaji was strong, but there was nothing to eat in their garbage mountain, so she had to come to this kind of place to exchange some food.

It was going to be dark soon, so Yaji sorted the garbage into the cart, fixed it, carried it on his back with a rope, and dragged the cart outside.Surrounded by people starting to walk back.Yaji watched them carefully, preventing them from rushing to grab her trash.Every time the managers will check whether they have enough garbage, if it is too little, they may be disqualified from picking up garbage.

As one of the few children here, Yaji has not been robbed yet.But it's always good to be careful.

As usual, after checking today's garbage and getting today's food, Yaji hid aside and ate half, hid the other half, and ran to the house quickly.Yaji ran very fast. She had been running very fast since she was robbed of food by several children.

Her house is actually a small broken shipping container standing in the garbage. Inside it is a bed, a stove built with a few bricks, a pot and a spoon, plus a little oil left over from what she picked up. The other side is full of sorted garbage.It turned out to be two beds, and when the adult started festering, Yaji threw out the bed he had just been in.It was said to be a bed, but it was actually made of sofa cushions that were so torn that the sponge was exposed, bed sheets with burnt holes, and an old coat. Yaji usually used the coat as a quilt cover.

Yaji hid the food inside the sofa cushions.There was also an expired compressed biscuit she had hidden in it.

Yaji confirmed that the door was locked, and climbed onto the bed to rest.She had little food and had fewer calories, so she lay down when not necessary to conserve her strength.

After a few days of drying, there should be new garbage thrown in.Aji thought so, and slowly fell asleep.

After picking up garbage for about ten days, there was finally new garbage.Everyone started sorting out their own mountains of garbage.Yaji dug out a pair of gloves from under the bed, put on a pair of long-sleeved trousers—this was the experience she had learned—and began to rummage through her own garbage mountain.This rubbish mountain originally belonged to that adult. After he died, no one took care of Yaji, so Yaji stayed here.

Find and hide the edible ones, whether they are expired or not, and then start looking for usable ones.Rags, plastic, paper, and scrap wood can all be reused.

Ya Ji has been busy until very late to finish.But this time she gained a lot.

After a month of this, Yaji had just finished receiving the food that day when a boy approached her.

Yaji hid the food in his arms vigilantly. They hadn't left this place yet, so they wouldn't allow such a thing to happen.

The boy who had just taken off the protective gear said, "Are you alone too? Let's be together."

Yaji looked at the boy carefully. He was just like himself, with dirty hair, short stature, tattered clothes, and several patches on his clothes.Ya Ji asked him: "Where are your adults?"

"Dead." The boy said calmly.

"Why do you want to be with me?"

"You run fast, and you can bring food home every time. The weather is going to get cold soon, and I can't save food." The boy was straightforward, and he showed Yaji the food and water he had just received .

Yaji agrees.

The boy said he was going to bring his own things and asked Aji to go with him.

Yaji said, "I'll wait for you here, and you bring them here."

It was impossible for her to go with him.

The boy settled half of his food and water, and gave the remaining half to Aji: "Then you wait here."

Yaji sat at the door and waited for about half an hour. The garbage collectors were almost gone, and the boy finally came back.He was carrying two big woven bags in his hands and a big bag on his back.

In this way, the probability of them returning safely is greatly reduced.

Yaji immediately handed him the food and water: "We'll go back after eating now." She also started to wolf down her share.

The boy didn't say anything and did as he did.

Fortunately, it was already dark, and Yaji safely took the boy back to the house without being hindered.

The problem is, there is no second bed to sleep in right now.

Yaji took down a working flashlight hanging above his head, dug through the garbage mountain for a while, found a cushion, and then dug out a sheet and a blanket and handed them to the boy.The boys are all in the corner at the other end.

After finally tidying up, Yaji climbed onto the bed, saw that the boy was also lying down, and turned off the flashlight.

"My name is Yaji, how about you?"

"Fitan."

After having more Feitan, life has not changed much, at most, it has increased from one person picking up garbage to two people picking up garbage.

Feitan doesn't talk much, but people here don't talk too much, and neither do the children.Their daily conversation is——

"Fetan, pass me the oil."

"Give."

"Fei Tan, it's your turn to fetch water today."

"know."

But much better than the previous month.When Yaji was alone, she could bear it at first. Later, she found a pen refill and drew lines on a piece of paper to count the days. She hardly spoke except to get the protective gear, which made her feel very lonely.This is one of the reasons why she accepted Fei Tan.

The weather was about to turn cold, so Yaji and Feitan spent more time picking things they needed for the winter in the garbage mountain.

The container was leaking, so Yaji nailed the planks and rags with a hammer, and found tape to stick it on.When you close the door, you can't feel the wind, and it's over.

Fei Tan came in with bundled pieces of paper and waste wood, and put them next to the stove, waiting for the fire to be used later.

Not long after Yaji got into bed, he heard Feitan say: "Yaji, can you read?"

"Know a little. What about you?"

"do not know."

Yaji sat up, Feitan was holding a piece of paper with writing in his hand: "Do you want to learn?"

Feitan nodded.

Yaji leaned over and found that Fei Tanna's slips of paper were full of incomprehensible things.She searched and searched under the bed, and found a few pieces of paper with pictures in the innermost part, which was given to her by the adult when he taught her.She searched for a while, and found half of the dictionary. The dictionary was very old and had been soaked in water, with yellow marks on the edges of the pages.

Yaji handed it over, Feitan looked at the picture: "What is this?"

On it is an old-fashioned dial-up telephone: "Telephone, which can be used to contact people at a long distance."

"Is it the one used by that person last time? It looks different." What Fei Tan said was that last time when receiving the food, someone made trouble and the person who distributed the food called to report the situation.The man was beaten and thrown out.

"Maybe that's new."

Like the man who taught her, Yaji taught Fei Tan to recognize each word, and then taught Fei Tan to look it up in the dictionary.That dictionary is for elementary school students, not a daily dictionary, but a book about synonyms, which is not very practical.Yaji stopped watching after a few days of learning.

When it was time to sleep, Yaji heard Fei Tan say, "What's it like outside?"

"do not know."

"Would you like to go out?"

"think."

Fei Tan stopped talking.Yaji turned over, but it was useless to think, they couldn't get out of Meteor Street at all.

It was too cold, Yaji and Feitan couldn't pick up trash anymore.Fortunately, they prepared enough food before, the only problem is water.

Some houses have water pipes, and that kind of house is not suitable for them to live in.So they can only fetch water against the wind.Yaji and Feitan strictly distribute their work according to the average system of you and me every day.Feitan went out for a long time today, but still didn't come back.Yaji was a little worried, but she could only stay in the house and watch the door.

After a long time, it was dark, and the door was knocked three times.This is the code they agreed upon.Yaji rushed to open the door, Feitan was holding the bottle, looking very embarrassed.Yaji didn't bother to ask, and pulled him in, and then locked the door behind him.

"what happened?"

"Someone is grabbing water." Fei Tan put down the water, and then took off his coat.

Yaji picked up the jacket and found that there was a piece of damage, which looked like it had been cut by a knife.She went to look at the water again and found a bottle full.Fei Tan also took off his shirt, and Ya Ji saw a stab wound.

Yaji found a box under the bed, which contained the medicines she kept, most of which were expired, but some of them should still be usable.She called Fei Tan over, poured out a little water to wash the wound, then found half a bottle of medicine, rubbed it on, and then wrapped it with a clean cloth.After finishing all this, Yaji put the box back.

"Let's go out with a knife in the future." Yaji motioned to Feitan for the knife that was usually used for cutting things on the wall. Feitan took the knife down, and Yaji found a brick, sprinkled it with water, and Knife stone to use.

"Only one."

"I'll find another later."

Fei Tan didn't seem to want to talk, he seemed frustrated and a little angry.He lay down after eating, still holding the knife.

Yaji turned on the bed for a while, but she couldn't fall asleep when she thought of Feitan holding a knife, so she sat up: "Feitan?"

Feitan snorted as an answer.

"Let's go together tomorrow." Yaji added, "Go to the person who robbed you."

"No, I'll go by myself." Fei Tan was uncompromising, and he didn't seem like someone who would compromise.

"Then put the knife down first, it will cut you at night."

Feitan stopped talking, he seemed to be watching Aji in the dark for a while, Aji heard the sound of getting out of bed, and the sound of the knife handle colliding with the wall, and then Feitan lay down again.

Aji fell asleep in peace.