Chapter 4: Reform Literature: Female Workers in Peking Textile Factory, 42…
Li Yaomei, a 42-year-old female worker at a textile factory in Peking, asked her son to take over her job so that he could get married.
At the age of 42, still in the prime of life, Li Yaomei suddenly lost her job. At first, she felt relieved.
But soon, there was no one at home during the day, and no one familiar outside. Without a source of income, she was no longer able to rule at home. At first, she would hand over part of her son's salary, but soon she started hiding from him.
He forces himself to smile when meeting acquaintances, which is in contrast to his son who spends every day eating, drinking and having fun with friends outside.
Ouyang Yuan looked at it and recalled the past few months since he came here.
The soundproofing in the staff room at that time was very poor. Sometimes it was not that he wanted to eavesdrop, but the devilish sound permeated his ears.
There are also many people in the building who are arguing all day long because of the issue of replacement, especially those with many children at home. Who will replace the replacement, who will not replace the replacement, what should be done for those who do not replace the replacement, what should be done for those who replace the replacement...
There are also elderly people who don’t want to retire so early. Their children have no jobs and do nothing every day. When their parents say this, they retort that if they have a job they don’t have to do nothing.
This is also a major problem for young people returning to their hometowns, and it will become more and more serious in the future.
Five thousand words are not a lot and it was finished very quickly. After reading it, Ouyang Yuan felt that the content was different from what he had thought before and it was not an insult to anyone.
"How about it, can it attract you?"
“I can’t really put it into words, but from what you wrote, I think it’s very real.”
Ouyang Yuan's educational level was not very high. He had only graduated from junior high school when he went to the countryside. His brother and sister had already gone to high school when they went to the countryside. It was for this reason that he thought of letting them take the college entrance examination and leave the countryside.
It’s unlikely that he will pass the exam given his educational level, but his brother and sister still have a chance.
"It's true... Then just tell me, do you want to see what happens next?"
"Then I definitely want to read it. I haven't seen such an article before."
Li Daohua clapped his hands and said, "That's fine. It's a success."
Then she took her manuscript back and organized it. Although five thousand words was not a lot, she sat there motionless for five hours writing it.
In winter, it gets dark early. It is already dark when Ouyang Yuan gets off work. The electricity bill is quite expensive, so he goes to bed early. Li Daohua will try to write 10,000 words tomorrow.
The two of them lay side by side on the bed. While they were still asleep, Li Daohua said, "I forgot to tell you that I will use the money I received for the manuscript today to send a letter, so I can't give it to my family."
"Okay, I know. If it's not enough, I'll get you some more from home. You're doing a serious job. Maybe our family will produce a great writer."
As long as it's not swearing, Ouyang Yuan supports it. Of course, even if it's swearing, Ouyang Yuan can't stop it.
The next day, when Ouyang Yuan got up, Li Daohua also woke up. She got up and tidied up, striking while the iron was hot.
This time at noon she remembered to go get lunch early. When she was queuing, someone pointed at her. She turned her head and looked at that person, and he automatically turned his head and pretended that he didn't point at her.
Several people stared at her, and most of them, when they saw her looking at them, their first reaction was to avoid looking at her, even if they didn't want to tease her.
After she avoided his gaze, she regretted it, as if she was feeling guilty, but she didn't dare to look back.
"Get some food." Today's food looked good, with some oil and some meat, but she couldn't bear to get it. After Ouyang Yuan prepared the New Year gifts, the money left was not enough for the meat.
The auntie who served the food was very smart. Her hands didn't even shake in such a cold day. The food was solid and you could eat as much as you wanted.
She brought back the meal and arrived home at the same time as Ouyang Yuan. Ouyang Yuan also brought her a new manuscript paper.
"It just arrived at the library. I think you'll definitely need it, so buy it soon. It sells out very quickly."
At that time, many things were in short supply, and there was not much choice when buying things. It was good enough to have something to use.
The manuscript paper Li Daohua is using now was found from the pile of newspapers and magazines. Only a dozen sheets were left. She had been thinking about when to buy some more, and now is the perfect time.
"Don't sit there all the time. It's depressing. If you're not writing, get up and walk around. It's good for your health."
The two of them were eating, and this small table played a big role. It usually served as a desk, and now it had to serve as a dining table. It was really hard to write the manuscript while lying on this small table.
"It's okay. Today's suffering is for a better life in the future. Sooner or later, I will have my own study room."
If her boss made promises to her, saying that if she worked hard on her writing, she would live a good life in the future, she would just think that her boss was talking nonsense.
But now she really believes that she can live a good life. Writers are really popular nowadays.
Not only can you make money by writing articles, but once you become famous you can also be assigned a job, and all of them are good jobs with a regular salary.
She has written today that the conflict in Li Yaomei's family has completely broken out, and all the previous face-saving projects have collapsed. Li Yaomei's son's girlfriend is pregnant, and the two need to get married as soon as possible, which requires a large sum of money.
If discovered, her son would be charged with hooliganism.
Li Yaomei's husband violated the regulations in the saw factory, resulting in half of his palm being sawed off. Although he went to the hospital for timely treatment and the factory also gave him a pension, he can no longer work.
When going to the countryside, each family could only leave one child behind. The son stayed in Beijing, and the two daughters went to the countryside. One got married, and the other is now writing letters to insist on coming back.
It is not easy for families who don't have children to take over the job. The children are always unemployed and get into trouble with other unemployed young people every day. Sooner or later, something big will happen.
Li Yaomei couldn't sleep for nights. Less than a year after her retirement, she looked much older.
Ouyang Yuan felt upset when he read these words at night. He thought to himself that there seemed to be no solution to these problems. It was a mess with no room for recovery.
But this is indeed real life.
Ouyang Yuan frowned as he watched, but Li Daohua, on the contrary, was humming a song while packing her clothes.
All her clothes were brought from a rural area in Henan Province by the original owner. When they came, they were both carrying a lot of bags, and now there are still many things in the bags that have not been taken out.
The place they live in is small, and if they take out everything, the space will be even more cramped. They can only take out a portion of the clothes they often wear, and the rest are still in the bag.
She wanted to take out these clothes, which she often wore, because they were different from the ones her original body usually wore.
"Have you finished writing this manuscript? I'll go to the post office with you on Sunday when I have a day off."
"Not yet. If it ends here, it will be too hard. Life is already hard enough. I can't have no hope in the novel."
Ouyang Yuan sat up: "What else can their family do?"
The family only has the son as the source of income, and he is unreliable and has a lot of spending money.
"The answer is in the newspaper..." Li Daohua kept it a secret.
Ouyang Yuan was busy and could not read the newspaper every day like Li Daohua, but her words made Ouyang Yuan curious, and he planned to find time to read what was written in the newspaper.
The small building has been much quieter these days. After Huang Laidi was criticized, he has been coming and going in a hurry and no longer chats with his old friends.
Li Daohua was busy writing articles at home and was rarely seen every day.
The lack of the noisy atmosphere in this building really made them feel uncomfortable.
So when Ouyang Yuan went out to the post office with Li Daohua on holiday, they were relieved and discussed where they were going.
The two of them carried a lot of bags and small bags. In addition to sending manuscripts, they also had to send things home. The mail speed was very slow at that time, and if they started sending things at this time, they would not arrive before the New Year.
"All these big and small bags, I guess they're for sending her back to her parents' home. Well, if I had a woman like this in my family, it would be embarrassing enough. It's better to send her back to the countryside."
Such remarks have been supported by many people. It is not scary if there is one troublemaker in the building, and everyone just needs to follow this troublemaker. But if there are two, it becomes much more complicated.
It is impossible for Huang Laidie to leave. If he wanted to leave, he would have left long ago, and then only Li Daohua would be left.
There are a lot of people in the post office, and some of them are illiterate and need help writing envelopes, which wastes a lot of time.
Such short stories are not suitable for the Peking Daily, and Li Daohua contributed to Peking Literature and Art.
On the way back, Ouyang Yuan was very happy. No matter what, in his opinion, the novel written by Li Daohua was of very high quality.
"You will be a great writer in the future, and I will be the husband of a great writer. It's a pity that I didn't tell my parents. If they knew, they would definitely be very happy."
During the time he went to the countryside, Li Daohua's family helped him a lot. He had just arrived in the countryside and didn't know how to do farm work, so Li Daohua and her family helped him with it.
This was also the reason why Li Sanzhu later agreed to help him with his medical retirement. After all, there were many people going to the countryside, so why should he help him? It was because Li Daohua liked him and the two had been in contact for a long time.
"If it can really be published, wouldn't it be better to just send them a sample copy? Telling them now that it can't be published would make them happy in vain."
We cannot underestimate the heroes of the world. All she has is more experience than people of this generation, but otherwise, she is not really outstanding.
The first chief editor of "Peking Literature and Art" was Mr. Lao She. It was also the first literary magazine to be resumed in the 1970s and has published many excellent works.
As an influential magazine, "Peking Literature and Art" receives a lot of letters every day, some from readers and some from submissions.
After these letters are classified, they will be checked by a dedicated person.
"Hey, isn't 'Li Yaomei's Laid-Off Story' an imitation of 'Director Qiao's Taking Office'? I'd really like to take a closer look."
The first half was fine, but in the second half, Li Yaomei, for the sake of her family, as one of the first people to support the reform, applied for a business license for an individual business owner and started her own small workshop in a hurry.
I get up early and work late every day to make tiger-head boots. I also watch the styles on TV and make hats for various cartoon characters. During National Day, I make five-star hats.
These shoes and hats, which are exactly the same as those sold on the market, are loved by many people when they are put on display. In addition, she has a business license, so she can set up the stall openly.
The family's financial situation was greatly improved.
Her disabled husband also has things to do at home, helping her pull the cart and set up the stall. Because the small stall is too busy, her two daughters who have gone to the countryside also come back to help.
When my son and daughter-in-law got married, it was such a grand wedding that others were envious.
This novel not only imitates the name of "The Record of Director Qiao's Taking Office", but its core is also the same as "The Record of Director Qiao's Taking Office", which is also about changing life through reform.
The difference is that not everyone is Director Qiao, but everyone can be Li Yaomei.
This novel does not have the sensitive politics in The Story of Taking Office, but is about the struggles of an ordinary family.
This month, the country began to officially issue business licenses for self-employed individuals. Many people are unwilling and afraid to apply for them, for fear of making more mistakes.
“This author is also very bold.”
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