I wrote novels in the Republic of China

The old county town of Shanghai is not very big, and most of the houses here are not spacious.

The front door of the Zhang family's house faces the street. There is a patio of about 40 square meters at the entrance for lighting, and a circle of houses surrounds the patio.

Because there are so many Zhang family members, this place is very crowded.

The gatekeeper moved two stools, asked Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying to sit on the porch at the door, and then went to look for the owner of the house.

Sang Jingying took out a gourd filled with water and gave it to Sang Jingyun: "Sister, drink some water. Are you tired?"

Sang Jingyun took off the straw hat on his head and took the gourd: "I'm fine."

She was sweating all over, and the bamboo cloth gown that originally belonged to Sang Jingying was soaked, but she was in good condition.

While holding the gourd and drinking water, Sang Jingyun saw a woman in her forties, wearing a coat with half her arms exposed, hurried out.

Sang Jingyun knew this woman; she was Uncle Zhang's wife, Aunt Zhang.

In the original owner's memory, Fourth Aunt Zhang was extremely kind and amiable, and Sang Jingyun subconsciously put on a smile.

But her smile soon froze on her face, and Aunt Zhang looked at them with disgust, as if she didn't want to be associated with them.

Aunt Zhang's attitude changed drastically, but fortunately she was still a decent person and did not say anything bad to her.

When she learned that they wanted to pay the rent later, she said with a straight face, "Can I still kick you out? In the future, you don't have to come to my house for this kind of thing."

After saying that, she asked the doorman to send the two of them out, obviously not wanting them to stay in her house any longer.

When Sang Jingyun walked out of the door, he saw Sang Jingying's face flushed with embarrassment and awkwardness.

She had lived for more than 30 years in her previous life and had never been despised like this, so she was also not used to it.

She made this trip specifically to see the attitudes of Sang Yuanshan's friends, and also to ask Uncle Zhang if he could introduce her to a job.

Now it seems that I have to find a job on my own.

When Sang Yuanshan was alive, he never thought of letting his grandchildren work to support the family. He gritted his teeth and continued to support Sang Jingying's middle school education.

Sang Jingying has graduated from elementary school and now has to take the middle school entrance exam. He still has to apply to his respective school. Before this, Sang Yuanshan had been urging him to go.

Just to go to middle school, even the cheapest one, the tuition for one semester is more than ten yuan, plus other expenses such as buying books, pens, paper, etc., it will cost at least fifty yuan a year. Sang Jingying knew that her family was in financial difficulty, so she was unwilling to take the exam.

As for Sang Jingxiong, he originally studied in a primary school in the county town. After the Sang family went bankrupt, Sang Yuanshan found a primary school specially for the poor near the house where he rents now for him to study, with a tuition of three yuan per semester.

Sang Yuanshan had already paid the tuition for this semester by pawning some of his old things, so Sang Jingxiong did not drop out of school.

He went to paste mooncake boxes yesterday because it was the weekend and he had a day off.

Sang Jingxiong was only ten years old, and Sang Jingyun also thought that it would be better for him to continue studying, at least to get a primary school diploma.

"Jingying, we still owe Uncle Zhang some money. It's not surprising that Aunt Zhang has such an attitude." Sang Jingyun comforted his brother.

Sang Jingying took a deep breath and said with determination: "Sister, I must make a name for myself and pay off all my debts so that everyone will look up to us."

Sang Jingying is very ambitious. Sang Jingyun feels that if he does not encounter any accidents, his future will be limitless.

"Jingying, let's go find a job." Sang Jingyun took Sang Jingying and continued to move forward.

Sang Jingying was determined to find a job, but he was shy and had never been in contact with society, so he was too embarrassed to ask.

Sang Jingyun had lived for twenty more years after all, and he knew that face was not as important as being alive. So when he saw a shop run by an acquaintance, he went up to introduce himself and asked for recruitment information, and he did get some information.

At this time in Shanghai, people attached great importance to education, and many families sent their children to primary school.

Sang Jingying only had an elementary school diploma and was too young, so it was difficult for her to find a good job. Some factories wanted to recruit educated workers, but after Sang Jingyun learned about the situation, he felt that they were not suitable.

The factory atmosphere at that time was extremely bad. It was common for workers to gather together to gamble, fight, and go to brothels. If Sang Jingying were in modern times, she would be just a junior high school student. If she went to work in a factory, she would easily be bullied or led astray.

In the blink of an eye it was noon.

Sang Jingyun spent two copper coins to buy two rice balls stuffed with pickled vegetables and peanuts. He and Sang Jingying each took one and ate them while standing on the street.

Sang Jingying said: "Sister, I won't learn bad things, I can go to the factory."

Sang Jingyun sighed, "Now there is no connection at home. You can't be a manager in a factory, you can only be an ordinary worker. The work in the factory is very heavy, how can you bear it? We can look for another job. If it doesn't work, you can be an apprentice."

Nowadays, there is no labor protection law, and there are many factories that make workers work more than ten hours a day. Workers dying in factories are common.

A young master like Sang Jingying is destined to be out of tune with ordinary workers and is easily excluded and targeted by other workers.

It would be better for Sang Jingying to be an apprentice than to be a worker.

But apprentices don’t get paid. They are only given 20 cents in pocket money each month plus food and lodging. If Sang Jingying were an apprentice, she would only be able to take care of herself and not her family.

Sang Jingyun felt that they should not rely on a child to support the family, but she was a woman and it was more difficult for her to find a job than Sang Jingying.

In the past, girls were not allowed to go out to school. But now that the Republic of China has begun, the situation has improved a little. There are private schools run by girls in Shanghai that specifically enroll female students.

But even so, it was extremely difficult for women to study.

Finding a job is even more difficult.

"Let's take some manual work home first, which can help supplement the family income." Sang Jingyun said to Sang Jingying after finishing his rice ball.

Sang Jingying agreed.

The two of them went to the pastry shop where Sang Jingying had made the mooncake boxes yesterday.

This dessert shop sells a wide variety of items. In addition to common desserts, it also sells various items according to the season, such as sugar-roasted taro, roasted sweet potatoes, fried ginkgo nuts, etc., and now that Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, it also sells homemade mooncakes. The dessert shop owner had played with Sang Xuewen in his early years and knew the identities of the two. When he learned that they wanted to take some odd jobs home, he said, "It's not easy for you to take the mooncake boxes here home. I remember that your mother is very skillful. You can go to the Lanxin Clothing Shop in Xiaodongmen and do some needlework."

After the mooncake box or snack box is pasted, it will be quite large.
You can only earn two copper coins by pasting a hundred boxes, but it is not easy to carry so many boxes back and forth.

There are some needlework that requires skills and are suitable to be taken home and done.

Sang Jingyun agreed and asked the boss about work matters.

The owner of the snack shop felt very sympathetic towards Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying. He thought for a moment and said, "I heard that the China Vocational Education Society has an enamel class that is looking for students. If you go there to study, it's a part-time job and study. Not only is there no tuition fee, but you'll also get a two-yuan allowance every month."

This so-called enamel is actually porcelain enamel.

The production method of enamel is relatively complicated. At that time, people would also use enamel to make signs, door numbers, etc. The workers who made enamel must be literate, so the entry threshold of the enamel class is relatively high and requires taking an exam. If Sang Jingying can pass the exam, he can go.

Sang Jingyun asked about the situation, wrote down the exam time, and took Sang Jingying to Lanxin Clothing Store.

The Sang family originally ran a silk business and had business dealings with the Lanxin Clothing Shop, and would supply goods to the Lanxin Clothing Shop.

The two parties were old acquaintances, so they soon got some work, which was to sew melon-shaped hats for children using brightly colored fabrics.

The needle and thread were provided by the hat shop, and you could get two copper coins for sewing a hat.

Lanxin Hat Shop gave enough cloth and needles to make ten hats. Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying thanked them and took the money home.

Sang Jingyun was exhausted when he returned home after walking outside all day.

She just wanted to lie down and rest, but when she got home, she encountered a lively scene.

Lu Ying opened the door for them. As soon as they entered, they saw Sang Xuewen holding Sang Qianshi's legs and begging: "Mother, please buy me some opium, mother, please, mother, just this once, the last time..."

Sang Qianshi used to be unable to bear to see her son in such a miserable state, but now she has hardened her heart.

She grabbed Sang Xuewen's arm, forcibly dragged him back to the room and locked him inside.

Sang Xuewen lay on the door, knocking and begging, and began to call for his father.

Sang Qian's eyes were red, but when she saw Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying, she forced herself to cheer up: "Ayun and Aying, how was your trip to the city today?"

Sang Jingyun did not hide anything and told them what had happened.

"The enamel class is a good career path." Sang Qian said to Sang Jingying.

In her mind, Sang Jingying is still a child, who has to start worrying about his livelihood.

When Sang Xuewen was twelve or thirteen years old, he still stuck to her and Sang Yuanshan, trying to please them and making a fuss, refusing to go to the private school.

When Sang Xuewen got married, he was still like a child, jumping around in his wedding clothes.

"Grandma, I will go and inquire about it tomorrow and prepare to apply for the enamel class." Sang Jingying said.

"Okay, okay." Sang Qian looked relieved.

That night, they had pumpkin porridge.

Peel the old pumpkin and cook it with rice to make a big pot of orange porridge.

The porridge had a little sweetness. Sang Jingxiong, who was tired of eating porridge, did not complain this time and ate a lot.

Sang Jingyun, on the other hand, had no appetite. He ate one bowl of rice and then went to lie down.

She had been lying there for a while when Sang Qian came in and handed her a boiled egg: "Ayun, eat an egg to replenish your body."

During the few days that Sang Jingyun had been here, Sang Qian would steam or boil eggs for her every day to nourish her body. No one else had this treatment.

At present, an egg costs one copper coin, and their family's total assets are only a few hundred copper coins. Sang Qianshi cares about her very much.

Sang Jingyun knew that her body was really lacking in nutrition, so she took the eggs and ate them, and at the same time made up her mind that she must find a way to make money.

Tomorrow, she wants to go to the county town to have a look.

Sang Jingyun ate the eggs and fell asleep.

Seeing that she was asleep, Sang Qian went out to the yard to enjoy the cool air.

Lu Ying followed over: "Mom, Xuewen is still shouting..."

"Let him be. Wait until he calms down and then go feed him something to eat," said Sang Qian.

Lu Ying agreed.

Sang Qian sighed again: "We can't let him get involved with the child anymore."

Ayun and Aying are still children, but they have to find ways to earn money to support their family. It's really pitiful.

Speaking of which, before the Sang family fell into decline, the woman from Zhang Laosi's family was determined to let Jingyun of their family marry her youngest son.

At that time, Sang Yuanshan looked down on the boy and did not agree. After a long time, she forgot about the matter.

She only remembered this incident today when she heard her grandchildren talking about their experience of going to the Zhang family.

The one from Zhang Laosi's family hurriedly drove her grandchildren out of the house, probably because she was afraid that they would pester her.

She must keep a close eye on Sang Xuewen and not let him cause any more trouble.

(End of this chapter)