The 1960s: The Story of a Country Girl's Journey to the City

"Sir, could you please help me find Lin Xiaoquan from Workshop One? I'm his sister."

Bao Ya spoke somewhat shyly to the gatekeeper in the reception room. After speaking, she immediately lowered her head, as if she dared not meet the gatekeeper's gaze, putting on a timid and submissive appearance.

The gatekeeper lifted his eyelids and looked Bao Ya up and down. He felt that the girl was not bad-looking, but her clothes were tattered.

It seems to be a poor relative of Lin Xiaoquan who came from the countryside to freeload.

The old man at the gate said "wait a moment," got up, left the gatehouse, and walked into the factory.

After walking a few steps, he stopped someone and asked him to call Lin Xiaoquan out, then turned back.

When Bao Ya saw that someone had gone to call Lin Xiaoquan, she found a sheltered spot outside the gatehouse and waited.

After waiting for about ten minutes, Lin Xiaoquan hurriedly ran out of the factory.

When Lin Xiaoquan heard that it was his sister who came to see him, he thought something had happened at home.

He hadn't been back since the family split up. On one hand, he resented Lin Dahe for making him write IOUs to the second and third wives, leaving him with a debt of four hundred yuan.

On the other hand, Xiang Chunhua would argue with him whenever she mentioned the Lin family, saying that if he was incompetent, he shouldn't have married a wife, and that she had gained nothing and was burdened with a mountain of debt after marrying him.

"Uncle Sun, who was looking for me just now?"

Lin Xiaoquan looked around at the door, but didn't see anyone, so he went to ask the gatekeeper.

"She said she was your sister; she was just at the door a moment ago."

As he spoke, Grandpa Sun came out of the gatehouse to help find the person.

Bao Ya heard someone talking and came out from the sheltered corner of the wall. She saw Lin Xiaoquan and smiled sweetly.

"I was the one who contacted you..."

Lin Xiaoquan was startled when he saw Lin Baoya, and then he looked at her tattered clothes and was completely taken aback.

He sensed that Lin Baoya was up to something again. Before she could finish speaking, he immediately grabbed her arm and pulled her aside.

She even forced a smile at the old man guarding the gate:

"Sir, it's alright, it's my sister. Please go back inside and rest."

"Hey, why are you pulling me? I haven't finished talking yet."

As Bao Ya spoke, she waved to Grandpa Sun.

Lin Xiaoquan dared not let her speak there. Without a word, he pulled her to the side and walked more than ten steps before stopping. He flung Bao Ya away and angrily said to her:

What are you doing here?

"You've come to collect a debt? When are you going to pay me back? It's almost the end of the year."

Once she left the main gate, Bao Ya stopped pretending; there was no need to put on an act in front of Lin Xiaoquan.

"What money do you want? When did I ever owe you money?"

Bao Ya wasn't in a hurry. She already knew he would deny it. It didn't matter; she had plenty of time. As long as he could hold out, she could slowly wear him down.

"My father gave me the two hundred yuan from the family division as my dowry, which means you owe me two hundred yuan. You're not trying to renege on your debt, are you?"

After hearing Bao Ya's words, Lin Xiaoquan was a little stunned and gave her two hundred yuan as a dowry.

Lin Xiaoquan thought Lin Laosan had gone mad. He was penniless, yet he put on an IOU to save face and told people he would give Lin Baoya a dowry of two hundred yuan.

But then he realized that the two hundred yuan was an IOU, which meant that not a single penny of dowry had been given. His third uncle was quite shrewd, but all the trouble had fallen on him.

"The money for the division of the family property was for Uncle San. Why should you, a married woman, take that two hundred yuan?"

Knowing he was going to deny it, Bao Ya wasn't in a hurry and slowly told him:

"The money belongs to our third branch of the family. My father can do whatever he wants with it. It's none of your business who gets it. Just pay back the money. You don't need to worry about anything else."

Lin Xiaoquan's heart began to pound. He had no intention of repaying the money; he planned to just keep dragging it out until they lost all patience.

Lin Xiaoquan's eyes darted around. He didn't dare refuse, afraid she would really run to the gate and spread rumors. Then he softened his tone and said to Bao Ya:

"Baoya, it's not that I don't want to give it to you, but you see, we just separated the family, and your sister-in-law is pregnant. I'm really short on money. Why don't you wait a little longer?"

"Once we have the money, we'll definitely give it to you first."

"Your family has two workers and you're already struggling so much. Look at me, we only have one worker, and life is even harder for us."

If you really can't pay back the money, then give me your sister-in-law's job. She's pregnant anyway, so it's not good for her to do anything too strenuous.

Bao Ya knew he wouldn't give her the money so readily, so she had already prepared her words and said them without thinking.

Xiang Chunhua was a temporary worker doing odd jobs in the canteen of the machinery factory. Although the work was tiring, it saved her own food rations, and she could even take some of the leftovers home from the canteen.

Hearing Lin Baoya mention Xiang Chunhua's job again, Lin Xiaoquan's heart pounded with alarm. Baoya's household registration was still in the brigade; could it be that she really wanted his wife's job?

"Hey, Baoya, don't worry about finding a job. Your boyfriend's family is well-connected; they'll definitely be able to find you one."

Finally, steeling himself, he reached into his pocket, rummaged around for a while, pulled out a handful of change, counted out one yuan, and handed it to Bao Ya.

"Baoya, take this first. I'll go back and ask your sister-in-law to help me raise the money, and then I'll send it to your house. Is that alright?"

Lin Xiaoquan planned to get rid of Bao Ya first, and then avoid her altogether, since she couldn't get into the machinery factory anyway. He would also take some time to go back to the village and bring his grandparents to the city to deal with her; he figured she wouldn't be able to pull any tricks.

If she dares to cause trouble at the gate, she can be accused of being a poor relative who came to freeload and is throwing a tantrum because she can't get any benefits.

Without hesitation, Bao Ya reached out, took the one yuan, and stuffed it into her pocket.

"You should have said so earlier. Go back and talk to your sister-in-law. I'll come find you again in a couple of days."

Bao Ya readily agreed. It was unrealistic to expect Lin Xiaoquan to hand over two hundred yuan all at once. She would first make an appearance at his factory gate, and then proceed step by step, laying the groundwork so that he would have no room to renege on his debt.

"Hehe, no need to come over, I'll deliver it to you later, so you don't have to make a round trip."

Lin Xiaoquan didn't want to see her again. That brat was too uncontrollable; he didn't know what she was capable of.

After hearing what he said, Bao Ya didn't say anything, but turned around and left with a dollar in her pocket.

Lin Xiaoquan stood still, looking at the clothes she was wearing, and chuckled to himself.

I thought the Jiang family valued her highly, but after only a few days of marriage, their true colors have been revealed. It seems she didn't marry well at all.

Bao Ya didn't know what Lin Xiaoquan was thinking, so she strolled home with a dollar in her pocket. Just as she reached the corner of the alley, she saw someone loitering in front of her house.

It was a woman. Bao Ya thought she looked familiar and assumed she was someone who had come to have clothes made. But when she got closer, she realized it was actually Lin Chuxue.

Why is she looking for me? When Bao Ya saw her, her instinct was to run away, but running away might attract her attention.

Lin Chuxue glanced in her direction, then turned and looked at the other side of the road.

Bao Ya looked down at her clothes; it seemed the girl hadn't recognized her.

He then quickly pulled his scarf up to cover half of his face. Afterwards, he passed behind Lin Chuxue and walked towards Chen's house.

As I walked past my own house, I saw a basket full of things sitting by the door. I guessed what it probably contained.

The female protagonist has already started engaging in speculative activities, intending to store the items in her own home.