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

There's never a time to finish the chores in the canteen. This is a factory canteen, not a restaurant kitchen. The steamer baskets for making buns are taller than a person.

When they were getting their food earlier, all the food was gone, and many of them hadn't eaten yet, so their stomachs were growling with hunger.

When Chef Yu left, he didn't say whether they wanted another serving. The ingredients delivered each day were limited, and they didn't dare to touch them casually, so they could only work on an empty stomach.

Everyone disliked Ji Xiaotao even more for her huddled in the corner. Temporary workers already had no status, and now she was completely isolated.

When Jiang Yuan got off work, he rode his bicycle home with Bao Ya on the back. When they got to the factory gate, they saw Yan San and Ji Xiaotao.

I don't know who gave him that terrible idea, to follow Jiang Yuan's example and go to and from get off work with Ji Xiaotao every day. And he actually listened to it.

The two were locked in a stalemate at the door. Ji Xiaotao didn't want to walk with Yan San at all; she wanted to either walk in front of him or behind him.

Yan San tried to take her hand, but she forcefully shook him off.

Jiang Yuan, riding his bicycle, nodded to Yan San and quickly sped past them.

It's best not to get involved in such an awkward situation; just pretend you didn't see it.

"Why didn't I see Yan San at noon today?"

Bao Ya patted Jiang Yuan on the back and tilted her head to ask him.

"Maybe you worked the night shift yesterday, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I forgot about the night shift. Let's go home and change, then we'll go see a movie. We can grab some cold noodles at the state-run restaurant while we're at it."

It gets too boring staying at home all day when it gets dark.

"Okay, let's go straight there."

"No, I need to change my clothes. I feel all sticky. I need to go back and take a shower."

Throughout the day, she always sweats. Bao Ya is very afraid of the heat now, and even more afraid of the feeling of being covered in sweat.

The two went home to shower and change before going out. They had dinner at a state-run restaurant and then went to the movie theater.

Once inside the movie theater, Bao Ya regretted it. She had forgotten that the theater didn't have air conditioning, and with so many people and so much noise, it felt even hotter.

Jiang Yuan went out and bought two popsicles before he could calm Bao Ya's heart, which was itching to rush out.

I finally finished watching the movie, accompanied by the crunching sound of sunflower seeds.

Perhaps because of the hot weather, everyone was outside cooling off, and there were more people on the streets than usual.

They strolled around the street for a while, drank a bottle of iced soda, and then headed back.

On the street corners and open spaces, some people set up small stools to tell stories, while young people gathered together to play the erhu, harmonica, and sing revolutionary songs, with a group of people listening quietly or humming along.

They traveled at a leisurely pace, stopping frequently along the way, and arrived home close to eleven o'clock.

After taking a shower, the two went to bed.

However, around 1 a.m., Bao Ya woke up again, probably because she had eaten too much cold food and her stomach started hurting again.

She felt that her body was incompatible with cold; eating anything cold would trigger a reaction. She had never felt anything even though she drank ice water every day in her past life.

Helpless, she woke Jiang Yuan up again and suggested they go to the toilet together.

Jiang Yuan had no choice but to put on his clothes and follow her outside, turning on his flashlight as soon as they stepped out.

The two of them glanced unconsciously at the west courtyard, still feeling lingering fear about what happened that day.

Although Li Yan, who was kneeling outside that day, was a human being, there were indeed two wronged ghosts buried under the west room. How could that not leave people with psychological trauma?

Bao Ya secretly made up her mind that once things got better, the first thing she would do was buy herself a big house in a good location.

Living in a haunted house gives me the creeps.

"Third Brother, do you think we'll run into something we shouldn't have seen again today?"

From the moment she stepped out the door, Bao Ya's heart began to pound.

"Don't scare yourself. There are so many people living here, what could be there that you shouldn't see?"

Jiang Yuan felt uneasy after what Bao Ya said, but he still had to comfort her verbally. He secretly glanced around and saw that it was pitch black and rather scary.

"Take the flashlight and go inside. I need to use the restroom too."

Jiang Yuan handed the flashlight to Bao Ya, who took it, held her breath, and went inside to finish the job quickly.

Now that she uses this dry toilet, she can relieve herself incredibly quickly, a far cry from how she used to sit on the toilet playing on her phone in her past life.

Bao Ya came out of the toilet right away, without turning off the flashlight.

But as soon as she stepped out of the restroom, Jiang Yuan immediately grabbed her and turned off the flashlight in her hand. Bao Ya was so frightened she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Shh, don't be afraid, it's me. There's someone acting suspiciously over there. Let's follow them and see."

Jiang Yuan quickly said that there were people over there, not ghosts, but even so, it still startled Bao Ya.

Jiang Yuan held a flashlight in one hand and led Bao Ya with the other, walking in the direction the figure had gone.

When they reached the corner, Bao Ya saw the figure; it was a man, somewhat thin.

The man slipped into the row of houses in front of the meat processing plant dormitory.

The buildings here were built later and are for employees who joined the factory in recent years. They were originally single dormitories, but now they are all married.

Each family only has one room, which is even more cramped than the place where Granny Zhou and her family live.

Many families lived in the row of houses, so the gate to the courtyard was unlocked, and one of the gates was always open.

The dark figure tiptoed into the courtyard, walked to a door, knocked three times lightly, and the door opened. The person quickly slipped inside.

Bao Ya and Jiang Yuan also quietly walked to the door and pressed their ears against it to listen to what was happening inside.

Inside, they heard a woman sobbing softly while talking to the man, as if she had suffered a great injustice.

The woman didn't say much before some vulgar and offensive remarks began to circulate.

Bao Ya rolled her eyes. She thought she had encountered a spy, but it turned out they were just having an affair. They dared to come to the woman's house. They were really bold.

Jiang Yuan frowned, silently pulling Bao Ya outside. Only after they reached the door did he speak:

"That's Yan Sanjia. He should be working the night shift today."

That person definitely wasn't Yan San; Yan San was short and stocky.

"What?"

I never would have guessed that Ji Xiaotao was so bold as to bring a man home. You really can't judge a book by its cover.

If she's already this bold, why is she crying? Who bullied her?

No, I think I bullied her today, but she provoked me first.

"If you hide here, I'll scare that bastard away!"

Jiang Yuan seemed quite angry. It was just his brother being cuckolded, but he acted as if he was the one being cuckolded.

Before Bao Ya could say anything, he had already gone inside.

Bao Ya followed him inside. Jiang Yuan turned around and wanted her to go first, but Bao Ya pointed to the bed sheets hanging in the yard of the house to the east.

"Hide behind there."

After saying that, Bao Ya walked over.

To be honest, hiding in the shadows behind the sheets, you couldn't tell there was anyone there at all.

After Bao Ya hid, Jiang Yuan walked to Yan San's door, pinched his nose, and said:

"Hey, Yan San, what brings you back now? Moving things? Okay, I'll help you..."

After saying that, he ran past Yan San's house, then turned a corner just before reaching the door and tiptoed to where Bao Ya was hiding.