When a Street Sweeper Falls for a Scrapper

He was a sanitation worker in this city. Every morning at five, he put on his vest and headscarf and started work. Every night at ten, he finally returned home beneath the stars.

She was a scavenger who kept to her own little corner, helping recycle the city’s trash. She worked hard every day, all year round, her small frame bearing the weight of far too many plastic bottles.

That day, they both spotted the same water bottle.

The moment he grabbed it, his fingers brushed hers.

Cool, and it seeped into his heart.

He remembered how blue the sky was that day, how still the wind, and how pure the half-bottle of water left in the bottle looked in the sunlight, just like her clear eyes beyond it.

One glance, and a thousand years passed.

1. This is a just-for-fun story, written mainly for the author’s own amusement. So the author will throw in 108 melodramatic tropes they enjoy, including both leads having secret identities, childhood sweethearts reuniting after a long separation, and a groveling chase to win back a wife.

2. Every profession deserves respect. People who work hard with their own hands are all worthy of respect. The title is absolutely not meant to demean these two professions. It’s just for the fun of it. Using the proper academic terms felt too serious. The original title was "When a Sanitation Worker Falls in Love with a Scavenger".

Theme: Every hardworking worker deserves respect