This leads to a sort of competitive game among coworkers, with some snatching up easier assignments, leaving the rest with the harder ones. I soon realized that some areas were easier to deliver packages to than others. By the end of the day, I was absolutely exhausted. Every day, I was rushed off my feet delivering packages to three separate areas: half of Gaoloujin, a nearby residential complex called Xincheng Leju (New Town Joyful Dwellings), and a film and TV studio. The first time I went there, a coworker working the same route asked me to deliver packages to buildings 8 through 16, while he took care of numbers 1 through 7. With little neighborhood connection and lots of non-residents coming in and out at all hours, delivering packages here is a risky business. They all go out to work in the daytime, leaving no one to answer the door. Most of them are young migrant workers who live together as roommates. In contrast, the newer residents are a far more mixed bunch. The villagers form such a tight-knit community that no one - not even someone handing out pamphlets - would dare go anywhere near a package for fear of alerting hawk-eyed neighbors. Even on the rare occasions when they’re out buying groceries, I can usually leave their packages on their doorstep or in their power hub. It’s easy enough to deliver packages to the former, as the elder members of these local families are typically at home throughout the day. Numbers 1 through 7 are for villagers who’ve been relocated back to their original place of residence, while numbers 8 to 16 are for newcomers from other regions. Gaoloujin, a village on the eastern outskirts of Beijing, has a total of 16 buildings. The following is an excerpt from “Beijing Courier”: Ultimately, Hu’s book tells a lesson that happiness is less about the absence of hardship and more about seeking significance in the minutiae of everyday life. They tell the story of an individual choosing to find meaning in the constraints and, at times, arduous existence. His written recounts of these varied job experiences reflect his positive attitude toward life and the world around him. But he has come to realize that life is too short to live in bitterness. Hu candidly shares that he turned to reading and writing as a way to escape the bleak reality. This eclectic work history has led him from Guangdong province to the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to Yunnan province, to Shanghai, and finally to Beijing, where he worked as a courier. He first picked up the pen in 2009, and, in the more than a decade since then, has moved from one city to another doing all kinds of jobs, including working as a security guard, bakery apprentice, convenience store clerk, bike salesman, and online store employee. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, was far from Hu’s first foray into writing. The story and other jottings by Hu have been compiled into a book titled “ Beijing Courier,” which was published earlier this year by Insight Media. Among these tales, “My Year Working Night Shifts for Deppon Express,” was a hit with readers. Editor’s note: During Lunar New Year in 2020, Hu Anyan, who was unemployed at the time, passed his time at home by writing and regularly posting his stories online.
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