Why does the express sorting center only dare to hire people on a day-to-day basis? Because he’s the king of day-based pay, the supreme ruler on the assembly line. Before you even start, the leader said the “small items” are just phone cases; once you get in, you’ll find that refrigerators and washing machines here really do count as “small items.” Dumbbells and cement slabs are just the basic models. What shocked me most was that I once personally watched a colleague hack away and haul a tractor out of a box truck right in this express sorting spot—and if you’re hoping to run into times when there’s no cargo, that’s simply impossible. The truck hasn’t even finished unloading yet, and the next one is already lining up at the entrance, waiting their turn.

Bending down 30,000 times a day, walking more than 20,000 steps, with the total weight you handle reaching up to 8 tons. Your phone’s battery level is the best proof: fully charged when you start work, and when you check after you get off, it’s only dropped by one bar. The intensity is so punishing that even when the claims officer comes, everyone has to turn on their red light.

So right now, express sorting must be paid on a day-to-day basis—not because they’re afraid you’ll run, but because after three days, you might not even have the strength to walk all the way to the finance department. Those who can keep going here include gamblers with no way out, college students here to experience life, and bankrupt bosses whose businesses failed—but there isn’t a single “soft guy” who just wants to get by. The survival rule here is both simple and brutal: women work like men, men work like forklift operators; but the forklifts get hidden and won’t let you use them. And yet, strangely enough, many people work here for just one day—then they suddenly open up about all kinds of things they never thought through before.

$ETH