Struggle Life in the 1970s

She didn't open the envelope until she arrived at the hotel and put down all her things.

Then, five, ten and twenty yuan worth of paper money fell to the ground, and finally, a folded white paper fell to the ground.

The two men picked up the money on the ground one by one. Chu Ye counted it and found that it was exactly five hundred yuan.

She frowned and opened the white paper, on which was Chu Guangyao's handwriting.

Sister, I have received the money you sent. I will take it all back home for safekeeping during the holidays.
Sister, I know you want to leave home. What I said to persuade Mom and Dad was not sincere. Don't blame me.
Sister, I have grown up and have a job. I can earn my own money. You don't have to work hard to support me anymore. This money is my return to you. My parents won't know about it.
Sister, as long as you don’t mind, I will always be your brother.

The letter was very short and could actually be read in its entirety at a glance. Chu Ye read it twice carefully, and every stroke left a mark in his mind.

Then she took out two hundred and fifty yuan and handed it to Mingzhu.

"What for? I don't need this little money. You don't have to pay it back." Mingzhu waved her hand.

"This is more than two hundred yuan. Do you think you can just refuse it if it's two yuan?" Chu Ye disagreed and wanted to stuff the money into her hand.

"Anyway, I'm not short of money now. But you'd better have more money on you." Mingzhu struggled to hide backwards, her back against the door handle. Seeing Chu Ye was about to come up again, she quickly opened the door, took a step out and closed the door again.

She held the door handle tightly and shouted through the crack in the door, "Remember to eat well and don't starve yourself. Pay me back the money you owe me when you become rich, and remember to pay the interest. I'm going back to school now, and I'll come to see you when I have time."

After saying that, she let go and ran. Chu Ye only heard the "clacking" sound of leather shoes running on the ground. When she opened the door, Mingzhu was no longer in the corridor.

She sighed softly and looked blankly at the empty corridor. At the end of the corridor was a small iron window hanging on the wall. The bluish-white sunlight shone down from above, leaving traces of time on the long and dark ground.

However, the light only hit a position one step away from Chu Ye’s door and refused to move forward any further.

Chu Ye stood at the door for a long time, then closed the door and went into the house. She lived in a single room with a slightly higher price, but the surrounding environment was not much better. The white walls were a little yellow due to age, and there were gray and black stains in the corners.

There is a simple bed, a table and a simple sofa in the room.

Now the table and the sofa are piled with her luggage, which are actually all her belongings.

Chu Ye was lying on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. A yellow light bulb above his head was doing its job dutifully. Wind blew in from the window, causing the bright yellow light bulb to shake.

Smelling the faint musty smell on the bed sheets, she thought of Mu Jiajun for no reason. He was also living in a hotel like this at the time, but he still made her laugh happily every day. He never said how bad his living conditions were. Even when she asked to come and see his residence, he would smile and joke that a man’s room should not be entered casually, and she could only check it after they got married.

Obviously, he was the one who had been pampered since childhood, but he seemed to be unable to see how bad the environment around him was. He only devoted himself to her and gave her everything he thought was the best.

She remembered again how Mu Jiajun hugged her and cried and begged her not to do it when they broke up, and how he wanted to stuff money into her cloth bag for her to find when they parted at the airport.

On the day he left, he was still wearing the woolen sweater that he bought for himself.

Tears started to fall from the corners of her eyes without her knowing. Chu Ye turned sideways and curled her legs up to her chest. She spread open the quilt on the bed and curled herself up in it. Then, a wailing sound came from the quilt, like the most desperate cry of a little animal.

For the next two or three days, she lived like a walking corpse. She would lie in bed motionless when she had nothing to do. When she was hungry, she would go to a restaurant to eat, and then come back to lie down like a corpse again after eating.

Every evening, Mingzhu would come to see her and bring her some food.

At this time, any words were extremely inadequate, and all she could do was accompany him silently.

A day later, Mingzhu came over and gave Chu Ye some money.

"This is what the director asked me to give you. He said it's three months' salary as compensation. The total is 138 yuan. I gave you 140 yuan. Count it."

Chu Ye's eyes did not move. "Take it. I owe you money anyway."

"What are you talking about? I told you that what you owe me is not important." Mingzhu stood up and forcefully stuffed the money into Chu Ye's hand.

"You can't always be like this. I feel so bad seeing you behave like this lately. How about I go talk to Huaiyuan and see if he can find you a job at the grain station and you can just work there first."

"It's just that he works in our town, and you might want to go back to be closer to home."

Chu Ye's expression remained unchanged, and he shook his head gently. "Well, what are you going to do?" Mingzhu seemed to be talking to herself. She asked this question without expecting an answer.

Chu Ye did not say anything. She was also thinking, what should she do?

In my previous life, I was a complete village woman. My daily life was just adding firewood to the fire, washing clothes and cooking. Unfortunately, I had a husband who was a bad guy and suffered from the silent troubles of my in-laws.

Her life was so short. She was born in the mountains, grew up in the mountains, and married in the mountains. The longest distance she had ever walked was to the town, hoping to get her son back.

She has no job and no income. She guards her one-third acre of land every day, waiting for spring planting, looking forward to autumn harvest, enduring the hot summer and the cold winter. The only news she can get from the outside world, apart from the gossip of her neighbors, is the major domestic and international events transmitted by the loudspeaker at the door.

The college entrance examination was resumed in 1977.
Seven or eight years of reform and opening up.
China and the United States established diplomatic relations in 1979.
The special economic zone was established in 1980.
……
……

The world outside is changing rapidly. Even my aunt who works on the land with me says that life will get better and better in the future. Maybe one day, they will be able to live well even without farming.

At that time, she thought that rural people had relied on farming for their livelihood for generations, relying on God for food. If they really stopped farming, what else could these farmers do?
Where else can I live?
The vague memories of her past life flooded over her like a tide, and those things that she had deliberately forgotten emerged clearly in her mind again.

She recalled that when she was working in the fields, others would chat and mention that someone's son or daughter was promising and had been assigned a job by the government after graduating from high school.

And there was that bad boy from someone's family, who originally did nothing but idle all day long, but later he hitched a train to the south, and by chance he got a job in a factory. After a few years, he came back in great shape and became a millionaire in the village.

The gossip they talk about is always bizarre and reliable. Whenever you ask them whether it is true or not, they always say that they saw it with their own eyes. It is really incredible.

At that time, Chu Ye just smiled after hearing it and didn't take it to heart.

She is neither a high school student nor a worker who can abandon her family and run away.

Her life has been trapped in Zhaojia Village forever since the moment she married Zhao Xuesong. If nothing unexpected happens, she will be buried in Zhaojia Village after she has endured this tormented life.

However, she was reborn, and everything in her previous life seemed as real as a dream, so the first thing she did after waking up was to get rid of Zhao Xuesong's pursuit. She was really afraid of continuing to be trapped in the mountains for the rest of her life.

She was a country girl and had no special talents. The only thing that made her better than others was her study.

So she picked up her textbooks again, gritted her teeth and continued her studies despite the difficulties. She was admitted to a teachers' college with excellent grades, and got a job assigned by the state. She also became a capable scholar in the eyes of others.

But no one told her what to do if a scholar was fired?
Should she continue to farm in the village? Then get married and have children? Not to mention that she had already severed ties with her family, whether she could go back was still a question. Even if she really did this, what difference would it make from her previous life?
In fact, it's worse than the previous life.

In this life, she has had pure and flawless love and has seen the world. She can no longer continue to bury her head in the fields like an ignorant village woman.

Besides, she still has Mu Jiajun. Although she proposed to break up, it was also for the purpose of allowing him to have a better development. Isn't she also looking forward to the day when he comes back?
But she can't just sit there and wait for death, like a waiting stone waiting for the man's true love.

When they left, their relationship was strong, but no one could guarantee that he would not meet a better woman outside, break up his relationship with Chu Ye, or even stay abroad.

It's hard to say.

Mu Jiajun is heading towards a better and better life, and she cannot stay where she is and stagnate. Even if she loses her job as a teacher, she must have her own career and make herself shine. When Mu Jiajun comes back, she can hold her head high and smile confidently. Even if Mu Jiajun changes his mind, she will have the confidence to turn around and embrace a better future like a queen.

After making up her mind, she stopped lying in bed every day. After dinner, she went to crowded places in town, pretending to listen to their gossip and chatting, and then filtered out useful information. She also got up early every day to listen to the loudspeakers outside to get the latest major events at home and abroad.

Three days later, it was Sunday, and when Mingzhu got up early and came to the hotel to look for Chu Ye, she was stopped by the boss.

"Hey, you don't have to go up. The room has been emptied. This is what the girl asked me to give you."

The old lady with gray hair on her temples stopped Mingzhu who was about to go upstairs and handed her a letter and a piece of paper.

Mingzhu looked suspicious and opened the white paper. Every stroke of the handwriting was written by Chu Ye.

Mingzhu, I'm sorry for not saying goodbye to you in person. I was afraid that I would miss everything here and would not be able to leave with the heart.
Don't worry, I have found a new direction in life and I'm on my way there. You are right, people must always look forward and cannot stay in the same place and do nothing.
I can't pay you back the money I owe you for now, but like you said, I will pay you back even the interest when I become rich, and maybe you can even make a small fortune by then.
Mingzhu, please forgive me for leaving without saying goodbye.
Goodbye.

(End of this chapter)