Folding Beijing (Excerpt) - Hao Jingfang
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root-parent
If you only eat one bagel today, this is the bagel.
Summary
A short story excerpt about Lao Dao, a 48-year-old single man who works at a waste processing station. After his shift ends at 5 AM, he goes home to shower and change into his only decent clothes—a white shirt with frayed cuffs and brown pants—before heading out to find someone named Peng Li. The story is set in a futuristic Beijing and explores themes of class, labor, and social division.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledAt ten of five in the morning, Lao Dao crossed the busy pedestrian lane on his way to find Peng Li.
He was wearing a white shirt and a pair of brown pants—the only decent clothes he owned.
Lao Dao was forty–eight, single, and long past the age when he still took care of his appearance.
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