CH 1

Even before the start of July, the weather was already sweltering hot. As soon as it went past 9 o’clock, the temperature soared to 30 degrees Celsius.

Lin Sitao only wore a safety helmet and a work uniform – with no undershirt to be seen – sweating all over because of the heat. He had been working on the construction site for over 10 days and had already become accustomed to the rhythm here.

He was focused on the concrete and didn’t notice that two Cherokees had parked by the construction site, and over a dozen people were getting out of the cars one after another.

“Hey! People are coming from above!” Lao Chen shouted. He was an experienced worker on the construction site, and Lin Sitao had come to work here following him.

“Master,” Lin Sitao called him, “should we add water now?”

Lao Chen grunted and kept staring at the approaching crowd. Suddenly, he pushed Lin Sitao and said, “It seems like they’re calling for you! Hurry over!”

Lin Sitao raised his head in confusion and saw their foreman, Wu Jianghai, waving desperately at him not far away. Amid the roar of machinery, he could vaguely hear Wu Jianghai shouting at the top of his lungs, “Lin! Tao! Lin Sitao! Come over here!”

He hesitated for a moment, then jogged over to the group of people.

This group of people all wore high-quality shirts and expensive watches. They probably hadn’t been sweating much as they had just gotten off the cars.

However, the one who stood out the most in this group was the person in the center. Lin Sitao couldn’t really pinpoint what made him stand out; he just glanced at him and quickly looked away. The man was more than 10 centimeters taller than Lin Sitao and looked like an actor who specializes in playing roles such as Emperors and Generals in TV dramas.

“Lin Sitao, lift your head up and tell me, how old are you this year?” the person questioned.

Lin Sitao hadn’t snapped out of his daze and had already followed the instructions. He lifted his head, looked into the person’s eyes, and murmured, “I’m 17 years old.”

With a skeptical gaze, He Xian examined the child in front of him.

He was really just a kid!

Before he got off the car, he noticed the small, skinny figure. The person was less than 1.7 meters tall, wearing a loose work uniform that hung empty on his body. He was sweating profusely as he mixed concrete; the back of his clothes was already drenched. When the car turned around, he was surprised when he saw the person’s face – it was a child who looked no more than 14 years old. He had an innocent face on him, and his skin was tanned dark red.

As soon as he got off the car, he called out to Ding Shengguang.

“How dare you use a child laborer on the construction site?”

Ding Shengguang asked Wu Jianghai directly, “Why do we have a child laborer on the construction site?”

Wu Jianghai was taken aback and swore to the sky, “Mr. Ding, you know me well. I always follow the rules. We are most cautious when it comes to safety issues at the construction site. I would be risking my life if I used a child laborer.”