Struggle Life in the 1970s

"Why are you talking so loudly? It's not like I won't pay you back." Sun Jiao curled her lips. Seeing that everyone's eyes were still on the two of them, a trace of embarrassment quickly flashed across her cheeks.

Chu Ye stared at her without saying a word. Sun Jiao gritted her teeth and reluctantly handed over her soap. "Here, I'll let you use mine so that others won't think I'm stingy."

"No need. I just want to tell you not to use my things by mistake again." Chu Ye waved her hand, packed up her things and walked out. What she said was already very decent.

Sun Jiao's face turned pale and blue, and finally she gritted her teeth and stamped her feet, shouting at Chu Ye's back as he left, "Why are you so proud? Who knows if your stuff is real or fake? What's wrong with me trying it out?"

Not really? But it's annoying to find ways to use facial cleanser, laundry detergent, face cream, etc. every day.

Chu Ye went to bed as soon as he returned to the dormitory. Sun Jiao came back after a long time. When she entered the dormitory, she pushed the door open with a loud bang. The door frame hit the edge of the bed with a "clang", which happened to be Chu Ye's side.

"Sun Jiao, what are you doing? You can't even open the door carefully." Chu Ye, who was lying on the lower bunk, said dissatisfiedly. The door suddenly opened and almost hit her.

"It's not like we didn't meet, why are you as fussy as some other people?" Sun Jiao glanced at him sideways, nonchalant.

"Hey, how can you talk like that? You sound so rude." The person in the lower bunk retorted, but Sun Jiao rolled her eyes, and it was directed at Chu Ye. She didn't understand why, so she stood on tiptoe to look up. The person on the bed was not affected at all and was sleeping soundly.

"Hmph!" Sun Jiao stomped her feet again and threw the things in her hand heavily onto the bed. The others didn't understand what was going on and didn't dare to step forward for a while.

The next morning after washing up, Chu Ye called Li Xiaoya to go for dinner as usual. Before she could get a response, another arm took Xiaoya's arm and pulled her out.

"Xiaoya, let's go eat." Sun Jiao didn't even look at Chu Ye, she held her head high with a proud look.

"Tsk, look at her energy, I don't know what she's so proud of." The guy in the lower bunk watched Sun Jiao leave and said disdainfully.

"By the way, what happened to you two? When she came back last night, her eyes were not eyes, her nose was not a nose, and even I was choked." After Sun Jiao finished speaking, she asked curiously again.

Chu Ye shook his head without further explanation.

But from that day on, Sun Jiao held a grudge against Chu Ye, and Xiaoya was caught in the middle. Many times she wanted to talk to Chu Ye and ease the relationship between the two, but was pulled away by Sun Jiao in time.

Xiaoya was a gentle person, and Chu Ye didn't want to make things difficult for her, so he simply ate and worked by himself and no longer called for help.

This scene seemed a little sad to others, but Chu Ye didn't think it was a big deal. To be honest, she was the oldest among the female workers who came with her, and she treated the others like her sisters. Besides, she thought that such behavior of isolating others by pulling a friend aside over a disagreement was very childish.

However, in the eyes of some people, her concession made her look like an easy target for bullying.

That day she was working in front of the machine. Sister Zhao came over at some point. She checked everyone's work one by one and finally stopped behind Chu Ye.

"Well, you're getting the hang of it pretty quickly." Sister Zhao spoke suddenly, scaring Chu Ye. She stopped what she was doing, turned her head, and Sister Zhao patted her shoulder.

"Your workmanship is very good. After one day, you almost catch up with those who have worked in the factory for a year. Not bad." Sister Zhao praised him a few more times. Chu Ye nodded and smiled, responding modestly.

Originally, Sister Zhao thought Chu Ye was so pretty that she was a spoiled girl who had probably never experienced the hardships of life. She would probably know how hard it was after working for two days and would have to pack her bags and go home crying.

However, she didn't expect that this girl was completely different from what she thought. She asked for advance payment for meals, and she never complained about the hard work, and she worked very efficiently.

Sister Zhao praised Chu Ye again in front of the new girls. Everyone had different expressions. After Sister Zhao left, someone took the lead in making trouble.

"Tsk, you've only been here for a few days and you're already trying to show off, as if your hand speed is not fast enough." The person who spoke was Sun Jiao. She probably knew Chu Ye's good temper, and she had been making such targeted remarks for a long time.

Chu Ye was too lazy to waste words on such matters, but he didn't expect Sun Jiao to become more and more outrageous in her words. Some people who didn't know the truth were really led astray by her and bullied Chu Ye openly or secretly.

"Jiaojiao, don't say that. I think Chu Ye is a good person." Xiaoya tried to ease the relationship between the two.

Coincidentally, the three of them lived in the same dormitory and worked in the same factory, but their workstations were not together.

The girls nearby slowed down their actions and pricked up their ears to listen to the noise.

Chu Ye didn't indulge her at this moment. She comforted Xiaoya first, then raised her head and looked over coldly, "Don't say that grapes are sour because you can't eat them. I don't know what you are doing all day long. If you have the ability, just speak openly and stop being sarcastic here."

"Come on, who's afraid of you!" Sun Jiao's voice was a little loud, attracting the attention of people around her.

Sun Jiao seemed to have found her confidence, becoming more and more unscrupulous, wishing that everyone could see Chu Ye's true face. "You pretend to be rich every day. If I use your things in private, I will be scolded. Stop pretending here. I know exactly what kind of person you are."

Chu Ye laughed in anger, "How did you see me pretending to be rich? I'm just a worker in the factory. If I had money, why would I come here? Besides, do you need it?"

Chu Ye rolled his eyes and raised his voice, "You almost use all my stuff on yourself. Take my facial cleanser for example, you use it at least three times a day. You don't wash so diligently when you use your own soap. And you still say I'm stingy? Ask everyone, whose stuff is free?"

After she finished speaking, people finally understood something. Those who had been misled by her changed their expressions and looked at Sun Jiao with disdain.

Originally, they only heard Sun Jiao's yelling and really thought Chu Ye was a stingy person who pretended to be rich. They didn't expect that she was slandering others because she didn't get any advantage herself.

"What's wrong with me using your facial cleanser? Who knows where you got that stuff? You won't be able to afford the compensation if my face gets damaged! Besides, I also let you use my soap!" Sun Jiao was furious and retorted immediately. Her voice was so loud that it attracted the person in charge who came to inspect the factory.

"What's going on? You're making so much noise but not working. If you don't want to work, leave now. There are plenty of people who want to work." The person in charge had a bad look on his face, so everyone quickly withdrew their gossiping eyes and buried their heads in their work.

"What happened just now?" The person in charge asked again. No one dared to speak, so he gave another verbal warning and went to patrol other places. "Humph." Sun Jiao's voice was neither loud nor soft, but this time no one paid attention to her. Everyone was busy with their own things.

After this incident, the two of them had completely fallen out. No one else wanted to get involved, so no one spoke to Chu Ye. As for Sun Jiao, apart from Li Xiaoya, she relied on her flattery to get on with others and formed a small group to isolate Chu Ye.

At first, she was just deliberately pushed when she went out, or her faucet was snatched away when she went to wash up. Later, as the situation developed, Sun Jiao became more and more trusted by the small group by currying favor with them. Relying on her large number of people, she became more unscrupulous in her words.

Until this day, when Chu Ye returned to the dormitory after work, she found that her bed seemed to have been turned over, and the toiletries that had been neatly arranged were thrown into a ball. She was shocked and reached under the pillow, but it was empty.

She suddenly thought of Sun Jiao. She had arrived at the factory early in the afternoon, but Sun Jiao's group was slow, laughing and joking, and making faces after sitting at their workstations. She thought they were stupid at the time, but now she guessed the reason.

She looked at Sun Jiao's bed with a gloomy look. It was clean and tidy, as if it showed that the owner of the bed was innocent. She lowered her head, put everything away, and moved her wrists and shoulders.

In the past, she thought she was the big sister among this group of people and didn't want to care about so many things. But now their actions are getting more and more excessive, which really pissed her off. She wants to let these people know the consequences of being a weak target.

After a while, some people in the dormitory finished washing up, and a group of people including Sun Jiao came back laughing. When they entered, Sun Jiao deliberately glanced at the door. Seeing that Chu Ye's expression did not change, her eyes were filled with pride.

Then she beamed with joy and made eye contact with others, who understood her immediately and smirked at the same time.

Chu Ye remained silent. When everyone in the dormitory arrived, she calmly got out of bed, took the broom, and placed the wooden handle across the door handle.

Then, standing at the door, facing the confused looks of others, Chu Ye said, "Sun Jiao, did you move the things on my bed?"

The whole room was silent, and everyone's eyes turned to Sun Jiao. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, applying cream on her face. She sneered when she heard the words, "Hey! Stop slandering me here. Which eye of yours saw me touch your things?" After saying that, she still felt it was not enough, and she added in a sarcastic tone, "How dare I use your things?"

"Stop pretending to be ignorant. My bed was turned over, my things were thrown around, and I even lost two books."

"Oh, who knows? You can't just slander me because you don't like me, right?" Sun Jiao said, looked at her accomplice, and then laughed out loud.

Suddenly, the whole house was filled with their unbridled laughter.

Chu Ye's expression remained unchanged. She turned her arms, her eyes like sharp swords, "It doesn't matter if you don't admit it. I want to see who is harder, your mouth or my fist."

She really couldn't produce any evidence. She came to work early at noon and came back home in the evening, and the scene was a mess. There was no surveillance here, and no one would testify for her.

But it didn't matter. At worst she could just move to another place. But before leaving, she had to vent her anger.

After saying that, she approached Sun Jiao step by step. It was still the same face, but her eyes were full of frost, which made people feel nervous. Sun Jiao was a little scared and shouted in a bluffing manner, "What are you doing! Don't come over!"

"Pa!" A solid slap hit her face. Sun Jiao's face was full of disbelief. After she came to her senses, she screamed and immediately stood up to pounce on Chu Ye.

Chu Ye was not in a hurry. He grabbed her ponytail and pushed her onto the bed. Before she could react, he lifted her arms behind her back and grabbed her on the bed. Then he held her wrists with one hand and pulled her ponytail with the other.

Sun Jiao felt a stinging pain in her scalp and wanted to get up, but found that her entire upper body was pressed against the bed. She struggled with her legs, but it was in vain.

"You fucking bitch! Let me go!" Sun Jiao cursed.

The other people in the dormitory didn't dare to speak after Chu Ye pinned the man down. They had always seen the conflict between Chu Ye and Sun Jiao, but never interfered. However, the small group that Sun Jiao played with reacted and rushed over to pull Chu Ye away.

Many arms were around Chu Ye, trying to separate them. Chu Ye tried her best at this time. She didn't care about the people who were in the way and just increased the strength in her hands, holding Sun Jiao tightly.

"Bang!" Chu Ye grabbed the person's ponytail and slammed him against the bed. Although it was a collision, the bed was covered with a thick mattress and no one would die. However, the feeling of humiliation was very uncomfortable.

"Fuck you, you stinky bitch! Let me go if you have the guts!" Sun Jiao felt dizzy and tried to break free from the restraints, but to no avail.

"Bang!" Another sound.

As long as Sun Jiao keeps swearing, Chu Ye's hands will not stop. Countless hands are pulling them together, but Chu Ye doesn't care and just increases the strength in his hands.

"Chu Ye, I'm going to m!"
"Oh!"
"I didn't touch your stuff!"
"Oh!"
"Let me go!"
"Oh!"

……

The insults and the sounds of collision were intertwined. Sun Jiao's voice became smaller and smaller, and the insults were gradually replaced by pleas for mercy. The force pulling on the two people also loosened a lot, and many red scratches appeared on Chu Ye's face, arms, and stomach.

"Wuwuwu, stop hitting me, I was wrong." The begging for mercy turned into sobbing at some point. Chu Ye raised her hand. Sun Jiao's face was covered with tear marks and snot.

She was really scared.

While they were playing, someone quietly removed the wooden bar that locked the door and ran outside to call for help.

There are responsible persons patrolling the factory area every night. Tonight, it happened that Sister Zhao was patrolling near the female dormitory when she was hurriedly found.

"What are you doing! Let go of me!" Sister Zhao held a flashlight in one hand and pointed at everyone with the other. She frowned and was very angry.

(End of this chapter)