Chapter 15 The Tall, Dead Husband?
“Ge Jiajia, it’s no use expecting others to help you; you have to help yourself.”
"Next time he reaches out to you again, just yell at him." Qin Xiangxiang disapproved of the mechanic surnamed Lin taking advantage of the female workers, but she wouldn't be foolish enough to rush forward to stop him again.
Meddling in these kinds of things can easily lead to trouble and a thankless task. If you step in to stop or insult her, the female worker who was taken advantage of might be timid and, for the sake of her reputation, might deny that she was taken advantage of. In the end, if you insist on standing up for her, you'll end up pleasing neither side.
Qin Xiangxiang was unwilling to be a fool again.
"If you dare to scold him once, he won't dare to go too far again—unless you want to keep being taken advantage of like this."
"There's nothing anyone else can do to help you with this kind of thing."
After she finished speaking, Qin Xiangxiang breathed a sigh of relief. In any case, she had done everything she could. As for whether Ge Jiajia chose to silently endure or resist, that was her own business.
If she doesn't resist herself, she shouldn't blame others for not helping her.
If Ge Jiajia bravely resists, then she should take the initiative to stand up for Ge Jiajia and speak up for her. Only then will she have a legitimate reason to stand up for her.
Qin Xiangxiang gave herself a light clap and cheered, feeling that she had become much smarter!
After hearing Qin Xiangxiang's words, Ge Jiajia bit her lip. She had said "no" a thousand times, ten thousand times in her heart, but she just couldn't bring herself to speak. She was afraid, her voice was soft, and she was afraid that others would call her a slut.
Ge Jiajia was feeling down. She went to work the day shift again the next day. The mechanic on the same shift was the same man surnamed Lin. He wasn't very tall, had shifty eyes, and was about the size of a monkey. The other female workers said he was honest and didn't try anything funny.
He also had a very good relationship with the workshop director...
The machines around her were making a rumbling noise, and unless someone spoke loudly, no one could hear them. Ge Jiajia's voice was soft, and even when she spoke normally, people said they couldn't hear her, let alone—she simply couldn't bring herself to yell at them.
Someone was banging on the machine, calling for a mechanic. The man surnamed Lin went over, and Ge Jiajia quietly slipped away, going to a corner and busying herself with her work.
When she looked up again, she saw that the man surnamed Lin had walked over. It was as if he had just brushed past her. His hands brushed across her chest without leaving a trace, and he even pinched her nipples hard.
Ge Jiajia felt both ashamed and wronged. Was she destined to live like this for the rest of her life? The factory worker's job was hard-won, and she was going to work in the textile factory for the rest of her life, just like the machine repairman.
Will it be like this for the next year, two years, or three years?
She felt both desperate and desolate. Did she really have to wait until she got married to stop caring about these things? Married women seemed to suddenly become more open-minded, breastfeeding their children in front of other men without a care in the world. Many of the married female workers around her flirted with the mechanics. If she were to point it out righteously, they would surely gossip behind her back and say she was being pretentious.
But she couldn't take it anymore. Today it was touching her breasts, tomorrow it was pinching her waist and touching her buttocks. She felt disgusted. Thinking of the man's shifty face and the actions of his hands, she felt like vomiting... She really didn't want to live anymore.
"You—you're being a pervert!"
With tears in her eyes and a soft voice, Ge Jiajia finally spoke her mind, but her voice was so soft that it went unnoticed. The roar of the surrounding machines seemed to mock her futile efforts.
I don't know where the courage came from, perhaps it was a desperate struggle after despair, but Ge Jiajia used all her strength to smash the spindle that had been taken apart for maintenance at the mechanic surnamed Lin.
Lin Huanggang cried out in pain.
The ingot, like a hand grenade, crashed to the ground with a clatter, finally attracting the attention of others.
"Why did you smash the ingot?"
"You mustn't smash the ingot!"
The commotion among the female workers was louder than the roar of the machines. Qin Xiangxiang heard the noise and, ignoring the machine in her hands, rushed over.
"Ge Jiajia, what's wrong?"
"He...he was being a pervert, he touched me."
Qin Xiangxiang shouted, "You surnamed Lin, you're harassing the female workers in the workshop!"
Lin Huanggang's face stiffened. "Don't talk nonsense!"
The machines stopped, and the workshop foreman rushed over, yelling at the commotion, "What's going on? Stop crowding around here, get the machines back on track, we can't delay!"
Upon seeing the workshop director, Lin Huanggang immediately gained confidence. He arrogantly said, "This female worker is deliberately causing trouble. It's inevitable that there will be bumps and bruises in the workshop, but she actually accused me of being a hooligan."
"If they become skilled, they can fix the machines themselves!"
In the workshop, the mechanic really knows how to get the female workers under his thumb. If he spends a lot of time messing around with the machine but still can't fix it, he's just wasting the woman's time.
"Are you just bumping into me? You're deliberately being a scoundrel and bullying me! This isn't the first time I've seen you lay hands on Ge Jiajia. Let me tell you, there's no such thing as groping in this women's factory!"
The workshop foreman glanced at Qin Xiangxiang and said, "Qin Xiangxiang, you've only been quiet for a few days, why are you causing trouble in the workshop again?"
Qin Xiangxiang shouted, "You're the workshop director, so you should think more about the female workers. Indecent behavior is not allowed in the workshop!"
"Ge Jiajia, tell me, isn't he being a pervert towards you?!"
Ge Jiajia, her eyes red and swollen, said, "He pinched me on purpose!"
"This is pure fabrication!"
"If you female workers are causing trouble like this, then we mechanics are being wronged. We're always accused of being perverts. If we accidentally bump into a machine while repairing it, then we're accused of being perverts. From now on, let all the mechanics be women!"
"I dare not repair your machines again."
"Alright, alright—it's nothing, women shouldn't be so petty. Let it go, let it go, and get back to work." The workshop director tried to appease everyone, attempting to smooth things over and make a big deal out of it. "Our socialist workers aren't so delicate. Bumps and bruises are common. We're all contributing to the country, regardless of gender."
“He’s just being a pervert…he’s just being a pervert…” Ge Jiajia said, tears streaming down her face with red and swollen eyes.
Qin Xiangxiang held onto her arm, her voice louder than anyone else's: "Director, you wouldn't happen to be in cahoots with him, would you? This is a spinning workshop, not a place where women were harassed in the old days."
"Which mechanic said they wanted to strike? Stand up! And stand up, you two bastards surnamed Lin!"
The other male mechanics in the workshop looked at each other in bewilderment.
At this moment, Ms. Zheng suddenly stood up and said, "Qin Xiangxiang, are you ever going to stop? You never work properly and are always trying to cause trouble."
“The mechanics are all very nice. We should all cooperate with each other. But you just have to take this opportunity to cause trouble. There are so many people in the workshop, and this is in broad daylight. Who would dare to act like a hooligan?”
"Everyone knows that bumps and knocks are normal. No one has ever said that a mechanic is being a hooligan. This is a very serious matter."
The other female workers also wanted to keep the peace: "Yes, let's think about it, let's not make a fuss for now, work is the priority."
"It's not a big deal. With so many people in the workshop, how much can they possibly gain?"
...
Hearing what the people around her said, Ge Jiajia's expression turned to despair. She knew that saying it was pointless; she might as well die. She was destined to live like this forever. "I... I don't want to live anymore!"
She rushed over to pick up the ingots from the ground, but Qin Xiangxiang quickly grabbed her and shouted, "Why don't you want to live? If anyone's going to die, it should be him! He's being a pervert, you have to make him die!"
"I've sent someone to call my mom and the factory manager! We must rid the people of this scourge today!"
“Think about it, we are all children of textile workers, and we will all have daughters in the future. You are all people with eyes to see. If your daughters encounter something like this in the workshop in the future, how many of you can tolerate it?”
"I'm telling you, Ge Jiajia, if you don't want to live anymore, even if you're going to die, you should pick up the ingot in your hand and go find him to die together!"
When Li Jianzhi, Political Commissar Wang, Zhou Aodong, Factory Director Zhao, and others entered the workshop, they all heard the phrase "Let's perish together!"
Li Jianzhi turned his gaze to the woman in the crowd. She was dressed in a worker's uniform, with a white apron and a hat on her head, revealing only her pretty face.
Her voice was even better than it sounded on the phone...and more energetic.
"Mom! Factory manager? You're all here... so fast?" Qin Xiangxiang was stunned. She had secretly asked a female worker to call for help, but she didn't expect them to arrive so quickly and even bring over the "security department".
Li Jianzhi and Political Commissar Wang were wearing military uniforms at the moment. They had just come out of the office after getting their documents stamped. The office offered to give them a ride, and Political Commissar Wang told him to go find his wife and explain his work to her, whom he had been separated from for many years.
And Political Commissar Wang said with a serious expression, "I'm best at doing ideological work with family members."
Actually, Political Commissar Wang wanted to come along to watch the show. He was very curious about what Li Jianzhi's wife from Shanghai looked like, and about the relationship between the two of them. Why hadn't they seen each other for four or five years, and why didn't they visit each other's relatives?
"The security team is here. The young man looks really handsome. Arrest this hooligan!" Qin Xiangxiang didn't recognize her husband. She hadn't seen Li Jianzhi for four or five years and had long forgotten what her husband looked like. Even in her dreams, she couldn't see Li Jianzhi's actual face clearly, only remembering his general outline.
The man in the white uniform in front of her was tall and strong. Qin Xiangxiang was petite and delicate, and she didn't even think to look up and take a closer look at his face. She was too busy looking at the factory manager and her mother.
Political Commissar Wang asked, "What happened at the factory?"
"He harassed the female workers, touching their breasts, pinching their waists, touching their buttocks... and the workshop director even said it was normal bumping into each other." Qin Xiangxiang spoke quickly and bluntly. Ge Jiajia was timid, stupid but loud, and besides, she didn't really want to work, so she would slack off for as long as possible.
Li Jianzhi had a cold face. He found it unbelievable. In the 1970s, according to their generation's understanding, it should have been an era with a very strict atmosphere. How could such a thing still happen?
Despite his inner shock, Li Jianzhi's expression became even more serious. His voice was deep and cold, filled with a strong sense of skepticism: "Touching her chest, waist, buttocks? Can this be considered normal bumps and bruises? No matter how you repair a machine, you can't repair a woman's body."
The workshop director quickly said, "That's an exaggeration. It's just normal bumps and knocks. It's been like this for many years."
"Are the women here threatening to die together, or is that an exaggeration?" Political Commissar Wang was also stunned. "This is a textile factory with thousands of female workers?"
"After this, who would dare to let their woman work in a textile factory?"
"Director Zhao, I think this problem is very serious. How long has this problem existed in your factory?"
Factory Director Zhao was now extremely embarrassed. It was a rare occasion for the woman's husband and political commissar to visit her at the factory, but such an absurd thing had happened. The husband was away defending the country, while the wife was in the textile factory, and a female worker in the workshop was being groped on the chest, waist, and buttocks. What a shocking news story! If this were reported, the whole country would be in uproar, and he, the factory director, would have to step down.
"Comrade Wang, and Comrade Li, rest assured, this matter will be investigated and dealt with seriously! Our factory absolutely guarantees the rights of all women comrades, and no one dares to molest female workers in the workshop!"
"Anyone who dares to reach out will be shot on target!"
The workshop foreman quickly said, "It's not that serious, it's just normal bumps and knocks."
With red eyes, Ge Jiajia shouted, "That's not true! That's what he did to me just now!"
Suddenly, she mustered up a bit of courage, ran up to Ms. Zheng who was not far away, and pinched her chest. Ms. Zheng screamed.
A commotion erupted among the crowd!
Factory Director Zhao's face turned pale.
Li Jianzhi found it absurd. Even decades later, this would be considered sexual harassment and indecent assault. "This workshop director calls this normal bumps and scrapes?"
Factory Director Zhao was furious: "If this isn't being a hooligan, then what is? This matter must be dealt with seriously. Zeng Hua, you should step down as director. If you can't do the job, someone else should take over."
"Call the security department to arrest them! Call the security department to arrest them!"
...
At this point, Qin Xiangxiang felt a great sense of satisfaction and breathed a sigh of relief. But the security department? Wait a minute, these two are wearing military uniforms! Looking up more closely, why does this tall guy look so much like her frigid, dead husband?
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