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

Jiang Yuan would walk into the city around 5 p.m. every day, sleep in the workshop's break room until his workday started, and then go back to the Su family home after get off work in the morning.

The Lin family went to Bao Ya's house every day to wait for her, but they didn't see her for several days. They went to the factory to look for Jiang Yuan during the day, but he wasn't there either.

The four of them had no choice but to stay at Lin Xiaoquan's house. Six people lived in the small 20-square-meter room.

The first to lose it was Xiang Chunhua. Li Jinxiang was never a hardworking person to begin with, and once she arrived at her son's house, she started acting like a mother-in-law.

Not only was there one mother-in-law, but there was also a mother-in-law's mother-in-law who kept Xiang Chunhua running around in circles every day.

After three days, all the food they had at home was gone. Xiang Chunhua was unwilling to buy them any more expensive grain, but they could only buy the supplied grain next month.

Xiang Chunhua went straight back to her parents' home, saying she would come back after those old folks left.

With no food at home, Lin Xiaoquan had to borrow meal tickets from his colleagues to get food for them at the canteen. After five days, they couldn't take it anymore, so Lin Xiaoquan had to send them back to the village.

Bao Ya asked Gou Dan to keep an eye on the Lin family. On the afternoon of the same day that Old Man Lin and the others returned, Bao Ya went back to the city with Jiang Yuan.

Before leaving, Bao Ya told Su Daqiang about Lin Chuxue, asking him to keep a close eye on them and prevent them from constantly going to the city. "Their family" included Lin's family members.

Old Man Lin and Old Woman Lin went to the Su family to look for Bao Ya again, but they were disappointed. They planned to go to the city to look for Bao Ya again in a few days.

But Bao Ya didn't give them that chance. The next day, she appeared at the gate of the machinery factory.

Bao Ya casually combed her hair a few times in the morning, then used soot from the bottom of a pot to do her makeup. She put on some ginger in her pocket and wore her tattered clothes. To anyone who looked at her, she looked like a pitiful and miserable woman.

He took two steps, then turned back, grabbed a hemp rope, and put it in his pocket.

She arrived in the morning and walked into the factory with the other workers. Unexpectedly, the old man at the gate recognized her immediately.

"Hey, you there, don't go in, stop her!"

Bao Ya heard him call, didn't even look up, and ran inside as she shouted:

"Hey you, stop right there..."

The crowd, unaware of what was happening, assumed Bao Ya was helping the gatekeeper catch people, and they all ran towards the factory.

Chaos erupted instantly. The gatekeeper, seeing that he hadn't stopped the person and that the person had even run inside, was frantic, slapping his thigh in frustration. He hurriedly sent someone to the security office to find the person.

The group followed Bao Ya for a while, until they ran out of people. Someone then realized what was happening and asked Bao Ya:

"Comrade, who are you chasing?"

Bao Ya didn't answer his question. While panting heavily, she said:

"Where is the factory manager's office? I need to go talk to him."

The man thought something terrible had happened, so he pointed Bao Ya in the right direction and kindly led the way for her.

Bao Ya said thank you and followed the man inside.

The people behind, not understanding what was going on, followed along. When they arrived at the office building, the man told Baoya that the factory manager's office was inside.

Bao Ya looked around and noticed a crooked tree by the entrance. She silently noted it down, thinking that if she couldn't find a suitable place inside, she would choose this one.

Thinking of walking inside, the people outside hesitated whether to follow her in.

Bao Ya found the factory manager's office and knocked twice on the door, but there was no response. She gently pushed the door open, and no one was inside.

"Comrade, who are you looking for?"

A young man wearing glasses stood behind him holding a thermos.

"I'm looking for your factory manager."

"The factory manager hasn't arrived yet. Aren't you a factory employee?"

When she said she was looking for your factory manager, the person suddenly realized that this person shouldn't be a factory employee.

"no!"

After Bao Ya finished speaking, she didn't even look at him. She went straight into the house, moved a chair to the door, looked up at the door frame, and saw a window that could be opened.

The young man didn't understand what she wanted to do, followed her into the office, and put down the thermos. He was thinking of getting her out of there quickly.

Bao Ya stepped onto the chair, took out a rope from her pocket, pushed open the small glass window above the door, threaded the rope through it, tied a knot, and even tested it with her hand, finding it quite sturdy.

"Hey comrade, what are you doing? Let's talk this out! Someone come quick!!!"

When the young man saw what she was doing, he was terrified. She was going to hang herself in the factory manager's office. His voice even changed from fear to trembling.

Bao Ya didn't care what he was shouting; the more people he attracted, the better.

He was cursing under his breath, thinking, "How come this lousy rope is so sturdy? What if I really hang myself?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw many people running towards her in the hallway. Once she saw that there were enough people, Bao Ya stuck her head directly into the rope noose.

"Hey, comrade, come down quickly, let's talk this out, don't do anything rash."

"Yes, yes, just tell me what's wrong. There are leaders here to make decisions."

Bao Ya's facial muscles twitched as she listened to these people's words, as if to say, "Shouldn't you wait until I finish my lines before you speak?"

She first took the noose off her neck and shouted at the people coming over:

"Don't come any closer! If you take another step, I'll hang myself right here! The workers at your machine factory are unreasonable! They owe me money and won't pay it back, and they're trying to drive me to my death! I don't want to live anymore..."

After saying that, he put his head into the noose again.

Before she could make a further move, a strong and capable older woman rushed over and grabbed her leg.

Bao Ya swayed and quickly grabbed the rope, almost hanging herself. Her heart pounded in her chest.

Bao Ya's face turned pale; she was truly terrified. But she still retained some composure, wiping her eyes a couple of times before tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

"Don't stop me, let me die, I can't live anymore anyway."

"Little sister, don't do anything rash. Tell me what's wrong, and I'll get justice for you."

"Yes, yes, young comrade, Sister Wang is from our factory's Women's Federation, she will definitely stand up for you."

Upon hearing that it was the Women's Federation, Bao Ya frowned. Why did they have to come? This matter wasn't their responsibility.

The people around her were talking all at once, and it was noisy all around. Bao Ya wiped away her tears and waved to the older woman.

"Sister Wang, this matter is not under the jurisdiction of the Women's Federation. I want to find the factory director. If the factory director doesn't take care of it, I'll hang myself here."

When she heard that she was looking for the factory manager, Sister Wang was a little unhappy. This woman didn't believe in her own abilities. No way, she had to get this done for her.

"Girl, don't worry, the factory manager will be here soon. Tell me first, who bullied you?"

Sister Wang was eager to prove her professional skills, regardless of the crowd that had packed the corridor.

Before Bao Ya could even speak, someone shouted from the other side:

"Make way, let the factory manager pass first."

When everyone heard that the factory manager had arrived, they automatically made way for him.

Factory Director Wu looked at the woman wiping away tears in front of him, and the hemp rope hanging on the door frame. His head was buzzing, and he had already started to imagine all sorts of reasons without even hearing the reason.

"Everyone, disperse. Stop crowding around here."

Factory Director Wu first gave a signal to disperse the people gathered at the door, then turned to look at Bao Ya.

"Young comrade, please come inside. We can talk this out. Don't worry, we will definitely stand up for you."

As he spoke, he winked at Director Wang.

Upon receiving instructions from her superior, Sister Wang helped Bao Ya down and, half-carried and half-supported her, led her into the office.