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

Jiang Yuan couldn't dissuade Bao Ya, so he had no choice but to take her out with him.

The two people, dressed neatly, went out the door, where a large crowd had already gathered, craning their necks to look around.

It was pitch black outside; apart from the lights on in each house, it seemed like there was nothing else to see.

"Aunt Zhou, who was calling just now?"

Bao Ya saw Granny Zhou as soon as she went out and walked straight towards her. As the local gossip, she figured asking her wouldn't be a bad idea.

"I don't know, the voice doesn't sound familiar. Could it be Yan San's new wife?"

She looked at Granny Zhou with a strange expression, thinking to herself, "She can tell I don't know her just from that one shout; she's really something."

"How could you...?"

"Dabao, go back inside quickly, it's cold outside, you'll catch a cold."

Before Bao Ya could ask Granny Zhou any more questions, Zhou Da Bao suddenly rushed out of the house, followed by Zhou's eldest daughter-in-law.

"Oh dear, my little darling, what are you doing out here? Go back inside."

Granny Zhou couldn't continue gossiping with Bao Ya and hurried to coax Zhou Da Bao.

"No, I want to see it too..."

Bao Ya was already halfway through gossiping when she felt really uncomfortable. The brat was really good at causing trouble. She turned and glared at Zhou Dabao.

"Zhou Dabao, I'll count to three, and if you don't go back, I'll beat you up! One..."

Before Bao Ya could even count to two, Zhou Da Bao turned around and ran home.

Last time Bao Ya hit him with a fire poker, the boy learned his lesson and listened to everything she said.

Zhou's eldest daughter-in-law glanced at Bao Ya with a complicated look in her eyes, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated, and finally followed Zhou Da Bao inside.

Seeing them go inside, Bao Ya pulled Granny Zhou aside and urged her to continue:

"Aunt Zhou, who did you just say you were referring to?"

"Yan Sanxin's new wife."

Yan San was also a worker in the slaughterhouse, and Bao Ya knew him, but it seemed he wasn't married. Thinking about it, she asked him.

"When did Yan San get married? How come I didn't know?"

When she came back in the morning, the area was quiet. She hadn't heard of any family celebrating a wedding. Could she have remembered wrong?

You weren't home this morning.

"Let me tell you, that young woman's family is really shameless. They sent her over this morning with nothing but a tattered bundle."

Granny Zhou whispered to Bao Ya, and before they knew it, several people had gathered behind them.

Jiang Yuan and a few men went to see what had happened. Bao Ya, Granny Zhou, and Xie Laidi chatted about gossip.

It turns out that Yan San spent two hundred yuan to marry a new wife. However, Yan San looks like a very honest and simple person, not the kind of person who would beat his wife, so why was there such a commotion?

Before long, the group of men returned and told their families to go home and sleep.

"Third Brother, was that really Yan San's wife calling just now?"

As soon as Bao Ya entered the room, she took off her clothes, threw them on the bed, and crawled into bed. It was so cold that her teeth were chattering.

Jiang Yuan found it amusing that she couldn't resist gossiping even when she was freezing, so he picked up the clothes she had thrown on the bed.

"Yes, I heard from the neighbors that it's their house."

After saying that, he turned around and went to the kitchen to fill a hot water bottle for her, and put it in her bed.

"Was his wife bought? Could she have been kidnapped?"

Bao Ya's thoughts were wandering at this moment, wondering whether she should report the girl to the police.

"No, that woman's father works at a soy sauce factory. She has many children, and she's the eldest. Actually, Yan Sanren is a good person."

As he spoke, Jiang Yuan took off his clothes and crawled into bed. He reached out to pull his wife over, but she wouldn't budge.

Yan San has a good character, but he's short and stocky; Bao Ya feels he's not much taller than her. Between character and looks, most people would choose looks.

Taking advantage of his wife's distracted thoughts, Jiang Yuan squeezed into her bed.

The next morning, Bao Ya met Yan San's new wife.

Bao Ya originally thought Xie Liting was her control group, but unexpectedly, Yan Sanxin's new wife became her control group in the following period of time.

The next morning, Bao Ya went to defecate and encountered Granny Zhou and Shi Zhenxiang on the way back carrying a chamber pot.

After saying hello to the two of them, Bao Ya rushed into the restroom, took care of her business as quickly as possible, and came out.

Unexpectedly, when she came out, Shi Zhenxiang and Granny Zhou were still waiting for her at the intersection.

As the saying goes, no fight, no friendship. After several rounds, neither of them gained the upper hand over her. Instead, they became more and more accepting of her.

"Bao Ya, look, that's Yan San's wife."

Granny Zhou whispered to Bao Ya, winking at her and moving closer to her. Bao Ya quickly moved away; she was still carrying a chamber pot.

"Which one?"

"That guy, the one squatting over there washing clothes."

Shi Zhenxiang freed one hand and secretly pointed south.

In the front row of the residential compound, several families share one water tap, and right now several people are gathered around washing things.

Bao Ya saw a young woman she didn't recognize, with only a long braid hanging down in front of her chest, washing clothes with her head down.

The young woman's clothes were patched, and it seemed her cotton-padded coat and trousers were too short. As if sensing their gaze, she turned around, her back to them.

The three of them glanced at it quickly and continued walking back.

"I heard that there are five children in her family. She is the eldest. Her mother doesn't work and stays at home to take care of the children. They live on her father's salary alone."

Shi Zhenxiang talked as she walked, and it was unclear where she had heard the information.

"Her parents are really heartless. They accepted the bride price for their daughter's marriage, but didn't even make her a new dress. It would have been better if..."

As Granny Zhou spoke, she glanced up at Bao Ya, and seeing the look Bao Ya gave her, she shrank back and didn't dare to continue.

Bao Ya didn't think there was anything special about it; it was just a story about a family that favored sons over daughters and had to marry off their daughter.

I chatted with them for a few minutes and then went home.

They thought the matter was over, but for the next two nights, their house was filled with agonizing screams.

She was so upset by what she heard that she wanted to report it to the police, but Jiang Yuan told her that the woman wouldn't let Yan San touch her, but she still took a lot of things to her parents' home.

On the morning of the third day, Zhou Lina came early to see her new clothes.

Bao Ya showed her the finished clothes, and this time she was quite satisfied. The wide neckline attracted most of the attention, and it didn't make her chest look big.

Bao Ya also added a belt design to the back of her clothes to cinch in her waist, so that her waistline could still be seen even when she was wearing heavy clothes.

Chrissie Chau looked at herself in the mirror and was finally satisfied. Then, somewhat awkwardly, she said to Bao Ya:

"Bao Ya, do you know how to make underwear? The kind you wear underneath."

"You mean underwear? What kind do you want?"

Bao Ya glanced at her chest and felt that she should wear a bra, otherwise it would easily sag in the future.

"Exactly, have you ever seen foreign magazines...?"

As she spoke, her voice grew softer and softer, and a blush crept onto her cheeks. Even as a girl, she felt a little embarrassed to say these things to someone she had only met twice.

Bao Ya probably realized what she was talking about, so she picked up the notebook from that day and started drawing.

"Is this the kind of underwear you're talking about? My cousin-in-law bought it in Shanghai."

Er Mao from my maternal uncle's family is studying at a university in Shanghai. It seems he's dating someone now, but she's never met him. However, that doesn't stop her from taking a look at his profile.

"Yes, yes, this is the style. Can you make it?"

"Yes, but I don't have that kind of fabric."

"I have it, I brought it with me."

Bao Ya took the cloth she was given and examined it; it looked like fine cotton but also like polyester. She then accepted the job.

To Bao Ya's surprise, in the days that followed, there were more people making bras than making clothes.

That day she said she would go to see Lin Xiaoquan in a couple of days. Calculating the date, she planned to go to the machinery factory in the afternoon.