Original link: https://www.latepost.com/news/dj_detail?id=1214
It is not easy for a gigantic city with a population of more than 20 million to maintain its splendor, civilization, liveliness and order. More than 7 million service providers living in the city maintain Shanghai’s operations.
One month after the full restoration of production and living order, these people are helping Shanghai, trying bit by bit to restore the original order, or to reshape and get used to another way of life.
Although the logistics has recovered its capacity, except for the three suburban districts of Chongming, Fengxian, and Jinshan, other districts in Shanghai still do not allow express delivery and takeaways to enter residential buildings; although barber shops can open, some shops are verbally told by the street to “be in the shop at the same time.” The number of people should not exceed 20”, and only haircuts, not irons; residents finally hoped to resume dine-in on June 28, but the restaurant must sit across the table; people still need hourly workers, but many customers will ask The platform “is not allowed to send aunts who have passed away”.
LatePost interviewed service providers living in Shanghai over the past month. Some of them work on key platforms that maintain people’s livelihood, some run chain stores, and some are small businesses that don’t fit into statistics. They all spent an extraordinary time with the city. Some people left, but most of them chose to stay and try to fill in the more than two months that disappeared.
An industry can stagnate, a business can go bankrupt, and it is very difficult for people to stop. As long as people can still see some hope, they can still move forward.
Warehouse employee who buys vegetables at Dingdong
After the resumption of work, I finally don’t have to be so busy.
The pallets used to put the baskets in the warehouse are 2 meters long and 1.5 meters wide, which is exactly the size of a single bed. The warehouse manager Xu Huacheng and his colleagues put together more than a dozen pallets to become a large shop. ; Fighting together, there are not enough pallets, and colleagues disassemble the unused cargo boxes, lay them flat on the ground, and lay a layer of cushions to become a bed.
For more than two months, 450 warehouse employees have slept in an unrenovated office building with a gray floor, maintaining the normal operation of Dingdong Maicai’s largest fresh vegetable and fruit warehouse in Shanghai.
When the news of the resumption of work was announced on June 1, colleagues were so excited, Xu Huacheng was in a “comparatively dull” mood. His first reaction was doubt: is it true? Did happiness come so suddenly?
He was “afraid that the situation would change again”. Because I didn’t expect the situation to change at first, my colleagues were stuck in the company for 60 days. After arranging the plan for the employees to take turns going home, Xu Huacheng suggested to stay at Chase.
More than 60 days ago, my colleagues were not used to living in a warehouse under lockdown; now, they are a little unacceptable to the life that they can suddenly go home.
“Can I go home tomorrow? Is it true?” Someone asked twice in a row.
“Yes, I’m sure I can go home and commute to get off work normally.” Xu Huacheng could see from the faces of his colleagues that they were all very happy, something he had never seen before.
Before the lockdown, the warehouse had more than 500 employees and more than 100 drivers, working 8-9 hours a day and shipping 400,000 items. During the lockdown period, there were only 450 employees left, handling a maximum of 1 million items a day, including more than 1,000 tons of vegetables, more than 700 tons of meat, eggs and milk, and more than 300 tons of rice, flour, grain and oil. Returning to work means they no longer have to face more than double the workload.
The news that the residents could not grab the food has inspired the sense of responsibility of the warehouse employees. “Everyone also wants to send more food out.” During the busiest time, the high-load physical work lasted for 12 hours. The company added some subsidies to them, and a big meat dish was added to the meal.
A warehouse full of food, lacking everything but food. Sorters need to walk back and forth in the 23,000-square-meter warehouse, taking 10,000 steps every day. After four days of closure, some employees broke their socks; women did not have enough hygiene products. Xu Huacheng and the headquarters applied to send socks and sanitary napkins from the outside, and also applied for a movable shower after getting hot.
After the resumption of work, the category of goods in this warehouse has increased by 50% month-on-month compared with that before the unsealing, and the daily volume of goods out of the warehouse has also dropped from a peak of 1 million pieces to a normal level of 700,000 pieces. The work rhythm of the employees is also normal.
The epidemic made Xu Huacheng develop the habit of disinfection. “Everywhere you look, it looks like a risk point, and it feels very dangerous.” Xu Hua has a family in Jiaxing. Although it is not a problem to drive 40 kilometers, he has to be quarantined for 7 days. It wasn’t until June 16, when it was determined that quarantine was not necessary, that he finally returned home.
The warehouse is located in Songjiang District. On June 9, the park notified all employees of nucleic acid. Xu Huacheng told the employees to prepare to live in again. A few hours later, the male colleagues who used to save trouble also came with large suitcases. Xu Huacheng recalled with a smile: “Everyone’s sense of urgency has obviously sublimated.”
After resumption of work
Parcels at express outlets pile up
Debon courier Wang Guowei (pseudonym) returned to work earlier than most Shanghainese. On May 7, Wang Guowei wrote a letter of guarantee to the street, promising that he would not return to the Debon site where he worked before the local unblocking was lifted. Then, he rode a battery car to the nearby Jingdong site and began to dispatch Jingdong’s guaranteed supplies. . On June 1, he returned to Debon and became a Debon courier.
Back at the site, Wang Guowei just wanted to say: There are too many packages. Early June is the time when some e-commerce platforms will deliver the first wave of goods during the 618 year-end promotion. The goods at the site are piled up from the deepest part of the warehouse to the door, and the parcels are stacked to form a mountain of goods, four or five meters high.
People who work hard to make money have memory in their muscles. For the first two days, most couriers are not used to it. After staying at home for two months, my body forgot the state I used to run outside every day. After working for a while, my feet and legs began to tremble and sore. They tolerated it. After three days, the pain slowly dissipated.
Wang Guowei originally delivered express to commercial office buildings. After the resumption of work, the office building has fewer parcels, and there are still a lot of stranded express delivery in the residential area. During the 12-hour working time, Wang Guowei set aside 2/3 to help colleagues run to the residential area.
Although it has been a month since production and life have been fully restored, most communities in Shanghai still do not allow express delivery to go upstairs. Some customers call the municipal system to complain and ask for door-to-door delivery; the streets will also know that residents in the jurisdiction have complained, but for absolute epidemic prevention, they still cannot let outsiders enter the residential building. The two sides in the stalemate finally “each took a step back” and asked Wang Guowei to deliver the package to the downstairs of the unit.
Every time a package is delivered to the gate of the community, the hands must be sanitized. The hand will turn black after spraying the disinfectant, because there is ink on the express face sheet, and it will turn into a black ball when it is stained with liquid alcohol. Wang Guowei picked the goods with a pair of black hands, and then sterilized the goods after sorting.
Although the city announced that life has been fully restored, Wang Guowei did not dare to relax, “Once I become ‘yang’, the entire site will be closed. The job is basically lost.”
He is particularly concerned about the distance from others. When delivering goods, he only takes off his mask when he is drinking water. He will be careful to avoid people, make sure they are at least two meters apart, and then drink. He also hides in places where others do not appear, such as roadsides, bridges or corners. Now that the weather is hot, he said, everyone only wants to stay on the lawn.
He was banned for a month in April, and Wang Guowei only received a basic salary of three or four thousand yuan. The income of most couriers in Shanghai was affected this month, with only 28.747 million pieces delivered, down 90.1% from the same period last year. In May, Shanghai Express recovered to 315.1292 million pieces, an increase of 4% over the same month last year.
A few days ago, when contacted again, Wang Guowei said that the mountain of goods had fallen short. With the end of 618, the revenge consumption of Shanghai people has also faded. Guowei said that since last Friday, Debon, JD.com, and Sitong Yida’s orders have all declined.
Before last Friday, JD.com couriers could get 400-500 orders per day. The goods were brought in one truck after another, and the site manager personally unloaded the goods. Now there are only more than 100 orders per day, and the couriers unload the goods by themselves.
As the order fell, Wang Guowei’s income also fell. “But there’s no way. You’re on this job all day, and there’s no way to find another job,” he said.
After unblocking
Every puppy sent to the pet shop for a bath is shaved
By the time the store can open in June, Mr. Yang has completely missed this year’s peak business season. As a pet groomer, the rhythm of the seasons has special meaning to him. After the rainy season in each season, when the maximum temperature in Shanghai goes above 30 degrees Celsius, his off-season comes.
Hot weather is not a good time for dogs to go outside, as they may burn the pads. The speed of cats and dogs getting dirty hair slowed down, and the business hours of the store also shortened.
Only in June this year, the backlog of pet grooming needs for two months of closure and control spewed out with the opening of the community gate. Every pet cat and dog has been groomed for longer than before. The dog used to take a bath once a week or two, but now the body odor has long permeated the home. Basically, every dog brought here for a bath is messy, and its fur is knotted like hair, and it can only be shaved from the root down and taken off like clothes.
Judging that the epidemic is still unstable, Mr. Yang carefully controls the daily business hours: no orders will be taken after 6 o’clock in the evening, which is two hours less than normal. “If there is any problem, the merchant will be in more trouble.” Every day, he leads his employees to do disinfection in strict accordance with the regulations, wears masks throughout the process, and has to go to the back to drink water.
Mr. Yang firmly believes that his business will not collapse completely. “We are a community type. To put it bluntly, it is a kind of life service. The guests who should come are still these guests, and the dogs that should be washed are still these dogs.” Suppose they are during the epidemic. The store is allowed to open, and many people will still send cats and dogs to wash.
How much loss the missed peak season brought, Mr. Yang did not accurately calculate the account. But he estimates that if it goes well, it would be very good to be able to make up for it in the second half of the year.
66-year-old dumpling shop aunt
20 years of Shanghai Dream
At eleven o’clock at noon, Aunt Liu, the owner of “Ms. Hua Yuanzhi’s Handmade Dumplings”, was cooking a set of sixteen dumplings for the guests. She stared at the pot, waiting for the water to boil, and the dumplings floated to the surface.
Ding dong. “Meituan’s takeaway has a new order!” It’s another seller of white chicken next door. The same take-out system, other people’s “squeaks every day”, she doesn’t make a sound all day.
Opening and closing the door is 1,000 yuan a day. Aunt Liu calculated the bill accurately: the rent is 28,000 yuan a month, the garbage disposal fee is 400 yuan a month, and the property fee is 560 yuan. “How can you bear it? I haven’t even left the door for two months, and it’s sealed with two crossed seals,” she said.
When she moved to Xincun Road, Putuo District in September last year, Aunt Liu was thinking about “turning it over” in March this year. The store is located in a business plaza, and 15 small dumplings sell for 16 yuan, and 20 large dumplings sell for 22 yuan, which is very affordable for the surrounding office workers and community residents.
Aunt Liu came to Shanghai from Liaoning for 20 years, and the dumpling shop has been open for 20 years. With 20 years of experience, when she opened the store, she borrowed 120,000 yuan from a friend, “I’m pretty sure.” She used to make a prosperous store in several places such as Chenghuang Temple and Sichuan North Road. She only operates lunch and dinner for two times a day, which is enough to make a lot of money.
When she moved to Xincun Road, she made plans to “raise” a store in half a year. She took 70,000 yuan from her original savings as a reserve to offset the cost of rent. “This month’s business is not good, so I will add 10,000 yuan if it is short of 10,000 yuan; if I earn 20,000 yuan, I will add 8,000 yuan.”
Unexpectedly, just one week after March, the epidemic became serious. The store opened for two days, closed for two days, opened for two days, and closed for three days. After a month of tossing, it was completely closed at noon on March 31. By the time the business could reopen, Aunt Liu’s reserve fund was already empty.
Before dine-in was allowed on June 28, the daily business could only rely on take-out and self-pickup, and the daily income dropped from more than 3,000 yuan a day to less than 1,000 yuan. During the conversation, she turned on the collection tool “collect money” on her mobile phone. It was 670 yuan on the day of the interview, and 804 yuan the day before.
Aunt Liu wrote an IOU to a friend, using the character guarantee to pay back the money. But nothing worked. The other party sent a long voice note every day to collect debts, and also forwarded a video titled: “Those who owe money and do not pay, the good days are over”. Aunt Liu pulled the chat interface with her hand, and the grievances came up, “It’s not that I don’t want to pay back the money I borrowed, but I just don’t have the strength to pay it back now.” After coming to Shanghai for 20 years – she always likes to start with this sentence – this time it was a failure the heaviest.
In 2000, Aunt Liu sent her college son to Beijing, and went all the way south with simple luggage and savings of 24,000 yuan. She wants to do business in Shanghai, but also to be big, and she saves a sigh of relief for nothing else. She has a similar relationship with her husband, and her mother-in-law who was born in Shanghai always mocked her: “Come to Shanghai for big business, but don’t come to Shanghai for small business.” Aunt Liu disagreed, “Which business didn’t start from a young age?”
Near Chenghuang Temple Yuyuan, she (self-proclaimed) broke through four pairs of shoes to find a shop. From No. 111 to No. 177 of Anren Street, Aunt Liu’s dumpling shop opened for 17 years, selling dumplings from 5 yuan to 1 yuan.
Aunt Liu supports her family alone in Shanghai. The income is divided into three parts, one is called to the husband who is left behind in the Northeast, and the other is transferred to the children. I still have some left to manage my life and business. After her son graduated, Aunt Liu gave her children “finding a wife, getting married, buying a house, and buying a car”, adding up to more than 2 million yuan, which she sold one by one dumplings to save.
Dedicating her whole life to dumplings, Aunt Liu thinks about her years and thinks it is really hard. Shanghai is a city with far more consumption vitality than the Northeast. She always listens to people talking about New York and Paris. Knowing that Paris has good perfume, she began to yearn for Paris and wants to visit there before she turns 70. She has also bought herself a lot of good clothes and brand-name products, thinking, a middle-aged and elderly woman can’t lose herself by tinkering with flour. Every day before opening for business, she will take some time to set up her image and draw all-inclusive eyeliner for herself.
Aunt Liu originally thought of handing over the operation of the store to employees after she was 65 years old. She semi-retired and directed in the background. 5 branches, each store draws 4,000 yuan, and there is also 20,000 yuan a month, which is enough for her to go out to play. She also started to register a trademark for herself called “Hua Yuanzhi”, and like the old godmother Tao Huabi, she embedded her photo in it.
During the Chinese New Year this year, Aunt Liu planned a “dumpling reform” in her mind. She wants to develop a kind of “children’s dumplings”, design a new formula of the ratio of salt to oil, reduce the size, and sell three yuan more for a plate than it is now. She wrote several reform ideas, but she stopped without implementing any of them.
Now everything is in jeopardy.
After the epidemic in 2020, there were few customers in the store, and the rent could not be paid. When the Zhoupu store was closed, the facilities in the store were sold, and they got 1,500 yuan. Aunt Liu added 500 yuan by herself, and invited the employees to have a meal. The employee cried, and so did she, and several people hugged.
Later, several branches closed one after another, leaving only the one on Xincun Road. From the end of March when the lockdown began, until now, Aunt Liu has lived in the store with the clerk. There was nothing to do during the lockdown, so she just wanted to do business in the store, and wanted to find a cooking method to make the noodles taste delicious.
On May 31, Aunt Liu was notified that she could resume work the next day, and she was overjoyed. The security guard of the mall passed by the door and asked, won’t you come out to play tonight? It turned out that the surrounding businesses were preparing for the celebration, and the family that quarantined the kebabs had already started cutting meat. Everyone was happy that the lockdown was lifted. At 12 o’clock in the evening, everyone in the shop group couldn’t sleep. Someone suggested coming out to celebrate, and Aunt Liu was the first to sign up.
She asked, “Are there firecrackers?”
Someone replied, “There are electronic ones.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s electronic or not, as long as it can make a sound.” She stopped soaking her feet, took out her feet and wiped them, quickly dressed up, and went to the square. Someone had already played a song in the square, and the parking lot security guard shouted with a loudspeaker: “Unblocked!” Aunt Liu and the others shouted together: “Unblocked!”
Everyone set off electronic firecrackers in the square, danced, and finished a case of beer. The next morning, Aunt Liu woke up at 6 o’clock. She first dressed herself up, wearing the inner jacket that she wore inside the jacket before the lockdown, and cut the cotton shoes into single shoes. In those days, Aunt Liu was in a good mood. On June 5th, she went home to get a change of clothes, and also went to a barber shop to get her hair cut. On the way back to the shop, she bought crispy duck and fried fish, and opened it with the clerk. A bottle of Niulanshan to celebrate.
But soon, she was in a bad mood again. The food delivery system made her dizzy, and Meituan and Ele.me were not easy to use. The price of her dumplings is low, and the platform deduction points are high. For a dumpling of 22 yuan, she can only get 16 yuan through take-out, and she loses one by selling one.
The landlord’s rent reminder information also came along with the resumption of work, and it was also asked like a barrage every day. When it comes to this topic, Aunt Liu will be particularly skilled in carrying the national policy. She interprets it as: if a natural or man-made disaster occurs, the landlord should waive the rent for 3 months for the tenant.
Aunt Liu has spent the past month grinding the rent with the big landlord and the second landlord. She also knows that the landlord is also a personal tenant, and it will be hard for anyone to suffer losses for 3 months. It was proposed that each of the three parties should bear one month’s cost, but the second landlord did not agree. In the wear and tear, Aunt Liu feels guilty every day. She thinks that she is a person who is willing to do things. The business is ruined, and the 20 years of struggle is in vain.
On the day of the interview, the second landlord made another video call. Aunt Liu was so upset that she didn’t answer the phone or reply.
Restoring dine-in can only partially heal the damage suffered by the restaurant industry
Businessmen are good at calculating accounts, but some accounts are not very good, and they will be sad if they are too fine. Boss Zhu and Boss Zhou, the principals of two chain restaurants in Shanghai, share this attitude.
In June of the resumption of work, the losses did not stop. The categories they operate are not suitable for take-out. One contains a lot of pasta, and there are only 30 take-out orders per day; one is for hot pot, and the number of take-out orders is in the single digits. Most of their restaurants are in shopping malls, and although the air-conditioning is full, not many people go to shopping malls without dine-in after the lockdown is lifted.
This time, the mall only waived part of the rent for the merchants. “Basically 50% each.” Zhu said.
Before the epidemic, there were more than 400 employees in Boss Zhu’s 9 stores. After the resumption of work, there were more than 1/3 less. When the community access control was lifted, many employees went home. After the resumption of work, because they cannot return to normal operating conditions, employees only receive wages according to the minimum standard in Shanghai, which is less than 2,500 yuan.
Back in the store, the back chef was horrified. Potatoes sprout, green onions bloom, and cabbage turns into a puddle of water. Meat airlifted from the Northwest has also passed its deadline, and almost all of it is thrown away. When employees go in to clean, they can still smell the complex odor intertwined with the three-layer N95 mask.
The daily rent alone is nearly 30,000 yuan, plus labor costs, store energy consumption, and the first month of closure and resumption of work, the loss is about “a Ferrari a month, or a suite in a third-tier city”, Boss Zhu Say.
According to Boss Zhou, some well-known chain restaurants two or three years ago failed to survive the losses caused by this round of closures, and some four or five branches that were originally hovering at the profit and loss point closed one after another.
Someone on the Internet once suggested that catering companies can take this opportunity to transform into pre-made dishes, but Boss Zhou did not recognize this as a real opportunity. He is in his 50s and has been catering all his life. He has always insisted on some concepts: in the food business, the best thing is to dine in, and taste the best state of the food at the first time; then take out; Options.
After the resumption of dine-in on June 28, hot pot is the most popular, and some restaurants can return to the level before the epidemic; followed by Chinese food, which is about 50% of the previous level; fast food is even worse, some only have 40% of the previous level or even lower.
Boss Zhou knew very well that the sight in front of him was temporary. If you want to completely return to the usual level, don’t look at the current flow of people in the store, just refer to this indicator: Are there still as many people visiting the store as before?
“People can’t come, flowers come to see you”
For the Verona Flower Workshop on Julu Road in Shanghai, the resumption of work lasted only 6 and a half days in early June.
On June 1st, the owner Haiyan and three florists opened the door of the flower shop. The dexterous hydrangea, elegant lily of the valley, and sunflower full of vitality all put away their buds and turned into fallen leaves and stuck to the vase. of mildew, dead branches with cobwebs.
Haiyan has no intention of calculating losses. “The past is gone, the most important thing to come out and hang out is to come out.” Her heart was filled with only one thought: she was finally back. Just come back.
The flower shop, which usually gets off work at 9:30, will be open until 10:30 on June 1st. The rotten and withered plants brought great pressure on cleaning. Haiyan and her colleagues spent ten hours cleaning, and everyone was so tired that “the legs are not theirs anymore”.
Although it has not officially opened, there are still several old customers placing orders. The first order came in from a landline, just a red rose. When Haiyan wrapped the flowers and delivered them to the customer, the other party said, “I can finally see the flowers.”
Some old customers drove their cars to have a look, they just wanted to make sure the flower shop was still there. Haiyan was one or two meters away, indicating that the other party had already taken the lead, and there was no need to enter the door. Just coming out of the two-month lockdown, the idea of ”keeping a distance” still lingers.
After opening, the best seller is peony. April and May are the best times for peony, and people who were locked at home missed the blooming period. Most of the writing cards in the bouquets are related to the epidemic. The flower sender hopes that the flower recipient will be well.
Returning to work is more stressful than expected. Employees can go back overnight (as long as the community is released), but the flowers have a transportation cycle, and the price of imported varieties has risen by 15%. The 100-square-meter Verona flower shop, Haiyan wanted the flower shop to “hopefully welcome guests.”
As a “big family”, she is used to spending lavishly. In the past, she used to buy 10,000 or 20,000 pieces of land each time she purchased goods. She thought that after the epidemic eased in May 2020, the store on Julu Road ushered in the highest sales month in the seven years since its opening, with a monthly turnover of more than 200,000. On the 3rd, Haiyan made up her mind and bought more than 10,000 yuan of goods. On the 4th, she regretted it. “There are a little more goods and a little less people.” The number of customers in the store is 2/3 less than before the closure, but the employees have to pay their salaries as normal.
Flowers have a short shelf life. Haiyan will package the extra flowers well and deliver them to the door of the old customers for free. A card is inserted in the bouquet, which reads: No one can see, the flowers will come to see you.
On the morning of June 7, the street suddenly notified that the store had to be closed again because someone had returned to Yang. Haiyan’s mood turned complicated again. She heard that many small shop owners on Julu Road chose to close their business and reopen after the epidemic is over, but the cost will be lower. “I definitely won’t turn it off.” Haiyan said. “How can a hard-working business and a partner who works hard together let it go?”
Some small animals can’t wait to recover
The resumption of work at Lanling Flower and Bird Market begins with cleaning. On June 1, after the merchants returned to the market, the first thing they greeted when they entered the door was the “smell shock”. Ms. Ma, who runs a flower shop, described the smell as “you can’t imagine it, it really stinks”.
Then there’s “visual impact”. The fish stinks, the cat is dead, the plants are “as if they were roasted by fire in the mountains”, and mouse droppings are all over the place. Ms. Ma described the scene as giving her “goosebumps.”
In the first week of resumption of work, Ms. Ma was only busy with two things: cleaning and answering the phone. The market is only open from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, and sterilization is also required in the middle, which is equivalent to only working half a day.
The calls that kept coming in during the period were from corporate clients. Ms. Ma’s shop mainly deals in ornamental green plants with pots. She signs a lease agreement with the company on an annual basis, pays monthly rent, and sends workers to the door to water and fertilize the plants every week.
After two months of lockdown, the company’s doors were closed, workers couldn’t get out of their homes, and all the plants in the building dried up. The customer ignored it, and the call came in: “I haven’t used your flowers for two months, can you give me a fee reduction?”
It is impossible to reduce. Ms. Ma can only say wait a minute. The logistics has just been restored, and it will take three or four days for new plants to arrive in Shanghai, and they have to be disinfected. After hanging up the phone, she said, “It’s really unfortunate who’s on the head.” The cost of green plants for a company is about 5,000 yuan, and there are a total of 20 company customers; after resuming work, employees will be paid according to their salaries; they have been closed for two months and have no income… This account can’t be counted.
A businessman who has never gone through ups and downs has long been accustomed to looking forward rather than looking back.
There are a lot of good cats in Master Ji’s store, many of which are imported from abroad. The cost of one is 25,000, and it has also been certified by the World Cat Association. Master Ji retired early and opened a pet shop, taking good care of it and raising it. “Generally, there are no less than 6,000 kittens. There are also 30,000 and 20,000 kittens.”
At the end of February and the beginning of March, four imported breeding cats were brought into the store, and they were closed before they could adapt to the environment. Back on the market on June 1, three of the four breeding cats died and lost 75,000 yuan. There are also 8 female cats who gave birth to kittens during the lockdown. According to Master Ji’s usual ability, 8 cats gave birth to cubs, and a total of 40 cats could survive. 12 are now alive.
After the mother cat gave birth, no one helped her to give her oxytocin by injecting, disinfecting, and feeding her. Not only did she have no milk, but her health was not good. How could she take care of the kitten? “There is no way during the epidemic,” Master Ji said. “Don’t say some things one-sidedly. At any time, kittens will die. Do you understand what I mean?”
The flow of people in the market has gradually recovered to 30% or 40% of the original level. Although no one has bought a cat yet, I am very happy to be open for business. Master Ji said, “Normally, there are some that don’t open for a month. That’s how business works.”
People are moving their homes to cheaper places
The mover Li Wei (pseudonym) took one or two orders every day for the first week after returning to work. It is the company that places the most orders. Some people said, “The desks, chairs and cabinets are all for you.” Others left two employees to direct the work, but the boss didn’t come, saying it was due to physical inconvenience.
Moving is people’s belongings, and each time the goods loaded into the truck are different people’s items, and it is also different people’s lives. Those with less than five boxes and simple items were mostly migrant workers or small traders. As soon as the blockade of the community was lifted, they hurriedly “returned to the house”; there were also a lot of items. On the morning of the interview, Li Wei helped a young girl Moving, the 5x2x2.5m Iveco truck compartment was almost stuffed with the girl’s clothes. She worked in KTV and moved from Sichuan North Road to Changde Road after unblocking. The monthly rent can save more than 1,000 yuan.
On June 2, Li Wei received the first order, which should have been completed before the closure. The two sides made an appointment, and the next day, Li Wei’s community was closed. As soon as the lockdown was lifted, the other party quickly contacted him to move out. The reason for such a hurry is: if you stay for one more day, both parties will pay an extra day’s rent.
Recently, Li Wei saw a company going bankrupt on Douyin, and he left a message below: If you need to move, you can provide cars and people for free. “It’s not easy for everyone, help if you can,” he said.
The taxi driver Mr. Huang sent many people on their last journey out of Shanghai
I heard that the city was “unblocked” in the early morning of June 1, and the taxi driver Mr. Huang wanted to go out at that time. The excitement in his heart couldn’t be suppressed, and he didn’t fall asleep all night.
Master Huang came to Shanghai from a prefecture-level city under the jurisdiction of Chongqing to work hard. He was locked down for two months. He was living in a suburban rental house with a monthly rent of over a thousand yuan. He was short of materials and had no income.
At seven in the morning, Master Huang finally drove out. The road is still the same, but it feels different. The bustling area is not like the usual morning rush hour, and there are no signs of surging people and vehicles.
Master Huang replaced the original oil truck with a tram. Although the monthly contract fee for trams is higher, oil prices have risen faster, and profit margins have become thinner. Many taxi drivers want to change trams. The squad leader understands Master Huang’s difficult living conditions. His old mother is still in the hospital, and he helped him to pass the application for changing trains first.
Business was good on June 1st. Master Huang ran from 8:00 am to 3:00 am, with almost no rest in between, earning 2,100 yuan. The restaurant has not yet opened, so he found a Kuaike convenience store on the side of the road, bought two boxes of Oreos, water and a bag of small bread, and ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in three meals.
From the 2nd, business began to go down. The daily income is around 8-900 yuan, and at most 1,100 yuan a day. Master Huang said: “This is all piled up in time.”
In the first few days, he was able to get several long-distance orders every day, three or four to the airport, and eight or nine to the high-speed rail station. Some complained as soon as they got in the car: “I have to go back anyway after being closed for so long.” Master Huang thought the same. He wanted so badly to go home, that was almost the only one.
During the lockdown, he could not go home to visit his sick mother. In order to pay for the expensive treatment, he borrowed 20,000 yuan from the team captain. In the past two months, the landlord refused to waive his rent. Master Huang had no choice but to borrow more than 2,000 yuan from a friend who was much younger than him to pay the rent and phone bills.
He originally planned to spend another two or three months, endure hardships, exchange all the debts he owed, and return to his family. But just yesterday, July 5, Master Huang sent a message that he had returned to his hometown because his mother had passed away.
Reporters Ma Hui and Li Yaning also contributed.
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