Struggle Life in the 1970s

Chu Ye thought for a moment, then walked towards the tricycle with his luggage. As soon as he got close, a group of people surrounded him, scrambling to pull the luggage onto their tricycle.

Chu Ye protected him tightly, and finally chose an old man standing in the corner who was ignored by everyone.

His temples were gray and his eyes were cloudy. Seeing Chu Ye approaching, he hurried to meet her. After saying hello, he diligently put the luggage in the car.

Seeing that their work was in vain, the group of people did not get discouraged and continued to look for the next target.

On the tricycle, the old man stopped talking after asking about the destination and concentrated on riding in the front. Chu Ye sat in the back seat, taking in the street scenes on both sides.

Beyond the train station is a residential building. Different from the crowds of people hurrying with their luggage just now, people here are more leisurely. Neighbors gather at the intersection to chat, or groups of young people hang out to chat and laugh. Men and women who have just finished work do not look tired at all, and they greet each other and rush into the restaurant.

"This isn't an old residential area. You see, the buildings are all very new, and the people living here have only moved in in the past one or two years." The old man's voice was light, and he didn't care whether there was a response or not, as if he was talking to himself.

"But this side has stabilized. Further back is the factory area. There are more people living there, but they all live inside the factory. It's also lively outside the factory, with food, clothing, housing and transportation all available, but it's still not as good as here."

The road from the train station is very flat and the old man didn't have any difficulty riding. Chu Ye listened all the way without any response. After a while, the tricycle passed through the residential area and turned into a broad road.

"Don't be fooled by the fact that this road looks clean and tidy during the day. You never know what might jump out from the sides of the road at night. Many drunkards who go to town return from here. Young people should avoid coming here at night if you can." The last sentence was obviously a warning to her.

Chu Ye responded and accepted the kindness.

The two of them didn't talk anymore on the way. After crossing the main road, they reached the factory area. There were many square-like houses, and many houses had become shops. After the old man parked the car in front of the Hongfu Hotel, he got out of the car and helped Chu Ye move her luggage. After that, Chu Ye handed over the agreed fare. The old man put the money in his pocket and said one more thing before leaving, "Little girl, whether you come here to find a job or visit relatives, you have to take care of your own business. Don't be foolish and trust others."

After saying that, he left, leaving Chu Ye looking at the tricycle and nodding slightly.

Chu Ye booked a single room. The environment inside was much better than the one she lived in before, but the corresponding price also doubled.

The luggage was placed on the ground. Chu Ye rubbed her eyes. She hadn't had much rest in the car for the past two days. Now that she touched the soft bed, she quickly fell asleep.

When she woke up, the lights outside were on and she could hear the noise through the window.

Chu Ye touched her belly, got up and went downstairs. As expected, the night here is more gorgeous than the day.

For people working in the factory, the only time in the day that truly belongs to themselves is the time after get off work in the evening. There are restaurants of all sizes on both sides of the street, and the lights are on at this time. The bright yellow light shines on people's faces. They gather together, clinking bowls and chopsticks, and share the joy and hard work of the day with words.

Chu Ye found a shop with few people. As soon as she stepped in, the eyes of the people in the shop were fixed on her.

People from all over the world come here every day, but there are only a few who are as pretty as Chu Ye. Especially her fair skin and a pair of big black eyes make her look particularly harmless. She also has a bookish air that the factory girls here do not have.

The original sounds of talking and teasing in the room paused for a moment, and the next moment, everyone looked away and continued chatting as if nothing had happened, but their eyes involuntarily glanced towards where Chu Ye was.

Chu Ye pretended not to know, glanced at the menu on the wall and ordered a bowl of rice noodles.

Soon, the rice noodles were served on the table. In the wide-mouthed porcelain bowl were snow-white rice noodles mixed with some bean sprouts and green vegetables, and three thin slices of beef on top.

The tempting aroma hit his nose, making the glutton in his stomach roar. Chu Ye quickly picked up a piece of food with chopsticks, blew it cool and put it in his mouth. Suddenly, the fresh, fragrant and spicy taste rushed through his mouth and went straight into his stomach, soothing his tired mind from the past two or three days of running around.

After a while, the bowl was empty, but Chu Ye still felt it was not enough, so he ordered another basket of steamed dumplings, packed them up and ate them while walking.

When she walked out of the restaurant, the crowd, who had been lowering their voices because of her eating, became lively again.

"Where did this little girl come from? I've never seen her before."

"Who knows? There are many people coming here from other places to seek refuge with their relatives. This one might be it!"

"But she's really pretty, I wonder which factory she'll work for?"

"Where are they going? They're not going to our plastics factory. Haha, don't even think about it. They might just be passing through and will leave tomorrow!"

Tomorrow, I won’t be able to leave tomorrow.
Chu Ye slept until dawn and sat on the bed to eat the leftover steamed dumplings from last night.

Now I have completely left my hometown and have no relatives or friends here. Although I feel lonely, if I think about it the other way around, isn’t this also a rebirth in another sense?
Originally, she still had to deal with her parents, but now, she was completely cut off from them. No one knew where she was going, and she had transferred her household registration the year she was admitted to the Teachers College. She now had a household registration book, an ID card, and a small pocket sewn on her clothes, which contained a full 600 yuan. Now that she had gone south, she had to put aside the past, regain her confidence, and start over.

So during these two days, every time it was time to eat, she would sit in the restaurant for a while longer, listening carefully to the workers chatting about various things. Sometimes when there was no one in the store, she would even talk to the store owner.

Although most of the restaurants here are run by locals, there are also some outsiders who have smelled business opportunities and brought all their belongings to open shops here. Therefore, towards Chu Ye, who also came from afar, they felt as if they had found a confidant and were very enthusiastic, and they talked about every aspect of the town in detail.

Chu Ye then had a basic understanding of the various factories here. The factories here are basically OEM factories. The bosses are either locals who took advantage of the reform and opening up, or Hong Kong or foreigners who came to Shenzhen to do business. The types of work done in each factory are different, and the wages that come with it are also different.

After having a general understanding of the situation, on the third day, Chu Ye carried her luggage to the gate of the Wucai Flower Factory. When she arrived, there were already a dozen girls with luggage gathered there. The security personnel at the gate shouted at everyone to wait patiently, as the supervisor would be here soon.

Chu Ye blended perfectly into the crowd. While he was waiting, a few more girls came over. After a while, the iron gate in front of him opened and a woman in gray work clothes walked out. She smiled and led everyone into the room on the left side of the yard. There was a wooden table in the room.

"Everyone, put your things aside, line up here, take out your ID cards, and let's register." The woman called herself Sister Zhao. She was sitting behind a wooden table with a smile on her face. There was a registration book on the table.

Everyone in the room quickly found an empty space and piled their luggage together. Then a girl with quick hands and feet turned around and took out her ID card to register it in the booklet.

The others followed suit and lined up in a straight line like ants, with Chu Ye standing in the middle of the team.

There are less than 30 people in their team. After each person registers, Sister Zhao will compare the person's identity with the ID card and ask one more question: Do you have any relatives here?

Seven or eight girls had already passed by. When asked, they all said that someone from their family or their neighbors' family was working there and called them to come over.

When it was Chu Ye's turn, Sister Zhao saw her face froze and subconsciously took the ID card she handed over. Then Chu Ye quickly filled in her name, ID number and registered address.

After filling it out, she looked up at Sister Zhao, who handed her ID back to her. "Are you from Tongyang? Why did you come so far?"

Although there are people from all over the country in the factory, there are generally more people from the South. It is rare to see people like Chu Ye who come from as far away.

Chu Ye took the ID card, nodded and said "hmm", which was considered an answer to her first question.

Sister Zhao then asked, "Are there any relatives here?"

"No, a friend of mine who works in a factory told me that the conditions here are good, so he introduced me here." Chu Ye didn't even blink, and she didn't lie. Pan'er did tell her that this place was nice.

"Okay, go wait over there." Sister Zhao waved her hand and asked her to go aside. Chu Ye stood with the other girls who had registered.

After everyone was registered, Sister Zhao stood up with satisfaction and asked everyone to carry their luggage to see the dormitory.

"This is our dormitory. There are sixteen people living in one room. Washing and going to the toilet are at the end of the corridor. Find a bed and put your things in first."

Sister Zhao opened the doors of the two dormitories, and inside was a narrow room that looked like a corridor. There were bunk beds made of iron rods placed against the walls, with eight beds in two rows.

One room was empty, with no one living there. In the other room, there were four beds with mattresses on them, so it seemed that someone was already living there.

As soon as Sister Zhao finished speaking, the girls swarmed over with their luggage to grab the beds they wanted. Chu Ye had a lot of luggage, so it was not convenient for her to compete. Besides, in this kind of environment, it didn't matter where she lived. In the end, she got an upper bunk next to the door.

"Okay, you can pack your things after you've made your choice. There's a wall clock in each dormitory," Sister Zhao glanced at it. It was eleven o'clock now. She continued, "Gather at the dormitory entrance at eleven forty. I'll take you to the cafeteria for dinner. Remember, I won't care if you don't come on time. You can leave directly in the afternoon. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Someone responded first, and the other girls quickly nodded in response.

Sister Zhao nodded with satisfaction. Before leaving, she glanced at Chu Ye out of the corner of her eye. After a pause, she left as if nothing had happened.

Then, the girls started to get busy. Some of them had less luggage, so they packed up quickly and started making friends. Chu Ye didn't know any of them, and she had a lot of things, so she only focused on her own things.

After working for a long time, seeing that the time Sister Zhao had said was almost up and some girls had already gone out to meet, Chu Ye packed up all her things and finally took out two books from the bottom of her bag. These were "The Female Generals of the Yang Family" and "A Collection of Stray Birds" that Mu Jiajun had given her before. She stared at the cover for a while and then stuffed the book under her pillow.

(End of this chapter)