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

Before leaving the house, she smeared some soot on the bottom of the stove, lightened the color on her hands, and gently applied it to her lower eyelids in front of the mirror, making it look like dark circles.

After thinking for a moment, she took out her only tube of lipstick, mixed the red and black together, and applied it in different shapes on the back of her hand, arm, and cheek.

Looking at the dark red marks on her face and hands, which suggested she had been beaten, Bao Ya was quite satisfied. She left a note for Jiang Yuan, telling him she had gone to the machinery factory.

Afterwards, Bao Ya changed back into her patched clothes, put a piece of ginger in her pocket, and strolled to the machinery factory.

When they arrived at the machine factory's gatehouse, Bao Ya still looked timid and hesitant, but her tone of voice was a little anxious.

"Sir, could you please call Lin Xiaoquan for me? I need to speak with him urgently."

The old man guarding the gate glanced at her, felt she looked familiar, and then remembered that she had come here a couple of days ago.

"You're looking for him..."

The old man wanted to ask her what she wanted to see Lin Xiaoquan for, but since the girl had said last time that she was Lin Xiaoquan's sister, he figured it was a family matter, so he didn't ask any more questions. He got up and went to the factory to stop someone and asked him to go to the workshop and call out to Lin Xiaoquan.

Bao Ya felt that Lin Xiaoquan wouldn't come out so readily this time, so she secretly slipped her hand into her pocket, pried open the piece of old ginger with her fingers, and smeared the ginger juice on the side of her index finger.

When the old man returned, he told her to wait there and then turned and went back to the gatehouse.

The sun was shining brightly today, and there was no wind. Bao Ya paced back and forth in the sun, glancing into the factory every now and then before looking down and waiting. No one could see her expression.

At first, the old man in the gatehouse didn't pay much attention. But after waiting for more than 20 minutes and Lin Xiaoquan still hadn't come out, the old man got a little anxious. He wondered if the person hadn't delivered the message, and decided to go out and find someone else to pass it on.

The old man in the gatehouse put on his cotton-padded coat and hat, and was about to go out to find someone else to deliver the message when he saw a young man rushing out from inside.

"Uncle Sun, Lin Xiaoquan has been sent out to work by the team leader and is not in the factory right now. Tell the person looking for him to go back first and come back next time."

"What? Lin Xiaoquan isn't at the factory. He's the one who sent me to find him today. What should we do?"

Before the gatekeeper could speak, Bao Ya pulled off the scarf covering her face and anxiously spoke to the young man who had brought the message, her voice trembling with tears.

She then touched her eyes again, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. She thought to herself, "This old ginger is really potent; it's so spicy I can barely open my eyes."

The gatekeeper, seeing Bao Ya start wiping away tears, felt a pang of pity. He asked, "..."

"Miss, why don't you come again tomorrow? He might be busy today."

The young man who came to deliver the message had better eyesight than the gatekeeper and quickly noticed the red marks on Bao Ya's face, which looked like handprints.

"Young lady, what brings you to Lin Xiaoquan? Or, I could pass on a message for you."

The young man had been intercepted by Lin Xiaoquan on the way, who claimed to be a poor relative who had come to freeload. Looking at the injury on Bao Ya's face, he sensed there was more to the story.

"I... I'm here to ask him for money. He owes my family a debt, and he told me to come and collect it today."

As she spoke, she continued to wipe away her tears, revealing dark red marks on the back of her hands and wrists.

"Aren't you his sister?"

The old man asked in surprise, "How come this family is still in debt?"

"I am his cousin. He borrowed two hundred yuan from my husband's family and kept saying he would pay it back, but he still hasn't, so I came to find him."

If he doesn't pay me back, I won't even be able to go home anymore, sob sob sob...

Before they could even ask, Bao Ya told them everything. Since he wasn't planning on repaying the money properly, she'd just make him infamous.

Lin Xiaoquan is just a factory worker. What kind of business trip could he possibly have? Just look at how guilty that person looked. You can tell he was lying for him.

The young man and the old gatekeeper exchanged a glance, then the young man asked:

What does your man do for a living?

"The pig butcher..."

"Well……"

The two of them sighed in unison, thinking how terrible it was that such a pretty young girl had married a butcher. Their family was utterly despicable.

A butcher who can lend two hundred yuan to someone must be quite old. Tsk tsk tsk, poor thing.

Bao Ya didn't need to look to know that they had automatically imagined a big drama.

See, this stereotype isn't just mine; whenever a butcher is mentioned, people automatically think of Zhen Guanxi from "Water Margin".

"How about I go to the factory and talk to his manager, and ask him to give me my salary? My husband says he gets paid every month, so he'll definitely pay it back."

He then tried to barge into the factory.

The gatekeeper and the young man quickly stopped her. She sounded pitiful, but they couldn't just let her in. Otherwise, they would lose their jobs.

Bao Ya will give it a try. If she can get in, the problem can be solved today. If she can't get in, she'll have to think of other ways.

"Girl, why don't you go to his house and see? His wife might be home."

The young man quickly spoke up, warning her that if she barged in and the leader found out he had lied for Lin Xiaoquan, he might get criticized too.

"Yes, yes, you're all relatives. Talk to him nicely, and he'll definitely pay you back."

The old gatekeeper also chimed in, saying that he was an old man who could retire in two more years and there was no need for him to take on this responsibility.

"Where does he live? I've never been there."

"Aren't you relatives?"

My cousin's wife won't let us go to her house.

Not to mention relatives, even Lin Xiaoquan's own father, Lin Dahe, didn't know which way his house faced. This selfish couple only wanted to benefit themselves at home and never wanted their poor relatives to get anything from them.

After hearing Bao Ya's words, the two people had an extremely poor impression of Lin Xiaoquan and his wife. He seemed so kind to everyone, how could he be like this in private?

"The family compound is over there. His family lives in the second building. You can ask around there and you'll find out."

The young man pointed Bao Ya in the direction she should go to Lin Xiaoquan's house, saying that Xiang Chunhua was on the early shift today and should be home by now.

Bao Ya listened to the advice and followed the young man's directions to the machinery factory's residential compound. After asking around, she found Lin Xiaoquan's house.

I haven't seen Xiang Chunhua in a long time, so I might as well go and give her a piece of my mind.

There are only two dormitory buildings here, and they are inhabited by employees of the machinery factory. You can find them by asking around.

Bao Ya followed an older woman into the tenement building and went up to the second floor. The hallway was dimly lit, and the two sides were filled with cooking utensils from various families, leaving only a narrow passage.

The older woman pointed to a door and said to Bao Ya:

"This is Lin Xiaoquan's family. Chunhua is on the early shift today and just got back."

"Thank you, Sister Qi."

I chatted with this lady the whole way and learned that her surname is Qi and that she lives right across from Lin Xiaoquan's house.

Bao Ya thanked the older woman and then turned around to knock on Lin Xiaoquan's door.

"Who is it?"

Bao Ya heard Xiang Chunhua's voice coming from inside the house. Knowing she hadn't gone to the wrong place, she continued knocking on the door, calling out:

"Sister-in-law, it's me."

After pointing out the door to Bao Ya, Sister Qi from across the hall went into her own home. She then took out cooking utensils and started busying herself in the hallway, glancing at Bao Ya from time to time.

Xiang Chunhua opened the door and was stunned, not recognizing the person dressed in tattered clothes at first glance.

"Sister-in-law, it's me, Baoya."