After Rebirth I Chose to Opt Out of the Lottery Novel

Chapter 5 Roger and I truly witnessed each other at our lowest points . Roger's entrepreneurial journey was tough . Especially for orphans like us - no capital , no connections , no background . Just our brains and muscle . That's how my back problems started . Roger had business smarts and guts , but no seed money . So he found a brutally simple cash job- hauling cement bags . I went with him to the interview . The contractor eyed Roger's slight build . " My site pays less than others - eight bucks per hundred - pound bag . Cement's unlimited though .

Straight talk : I've seen your type before . None lasted a week . Quit ? Give me two days ' notice for replacement . " Roger nodded eagerly . " Don't worry , boss ! I'm tough and strong ! " The contractor put me to work labeling water bottles with his wife - eighty bucks daily . Crammed in that tiny workshop , I hunched for ten - hour shifts . Year after year , my spine gave out . Roger started with a hundred bags daily . Later , he stopped me from working and hauled two hundred himself . Sometimes ran delivery gigs too . Coworkers called him money - crazed .

Only I knew - he was killing himself to give me a better life sooner . When things improved , my back pain vanished . Until I got Mom's ashes . I canceled my direct Switzerland - China flight . Flew Switzerland → Kazakhstan → took a forty - hour train to New York . My back injury flared afterward . Still , I wanted to show her around . Mom lived fifty - plus years . Forty spent on orphanage kids . Never attended college , yet raised dozens of graduates . We soared on her shoulders while she never left that orphanage . I took her tiny self to Lake Geneva - saw snow peaks and glaciers .

On the train , I'd point , " Mom , your favorite Statue of Liberty's here . " 0.00 % 11:18 Chapter 5 Placed her on the table , lifted my trembling camera . " Smile . Mom . " Tears smeared the screen into blurry shapes . 288 Vouchers