I would like to recommend a book to you - "Camel Xiangzi" Book Review - Selected Essays - Yan Yangchu

Xiangzi's big feet ran tirelessly through the streets and alleys. In the blazing sun, in the wind and rain, his struggling figure was everywhere. The whips of the soldiers and bandits, Mr. Yang's exploitation, Old Liu's scolding, Detective Sun's open robbery, and the foreign doctor's coldness - it was truly a real hell! In the end, Hu Niu met a miserable death, Xiao Fuzi hanged herself, Old Ma dropped dead in the street, and Xiangzi finally ended up destitute, gradually disappearing into a city gate... This was the life of the vast number of working-class people in Beijing during the 1910s and 20s.