My Story with 88 Agents

The labor market in Shenzhen, Dongguan, and Huizhou is an urban jungle where all sorts of people rub shoulders. My name is Chen Mo. With a crumpled ID in my pocket, I plunged into a web of survival spun by 88 employment agencies. Going toe-to-toe with the rough-and-ready agents is a bare-knuckle battle over profits: negotiating referral bonuses, haggling over the difference, and steering clear of shady factories. Every word is laced with calculation. In this jungle, everyone looks out for their own interests.

Then I met Lin He, an agent who handed me a bowl of hot porridge. She brought a little warmth to this cold struggle to make a living. She would message me late at night to warn me about traps, and help me confront unscrupulous factories to demand unpaid wages. The mutual care between two drifters became a glimmer of light in the concrete jungle.

There really are 88 stories, but as for the main characters, we can just have two people play them all. Doesn't that sound a lot like one person doing several jobs?

This is a true account of working people's struggle to survive, and of the real clash between self-interest and kindness in the urban jungle.