Danger lurking everywhere
After finishing discussing official business, Wang Shuitao moved on to personal matters.
I earnestly asked those families to help her if they could, since they saw her sister-in-law being bullied.
You don't need to do anything else, just say a few words or stand at the door and watch.
She knew Qian Lijuan's personality; she would immediately back down if things escalated to the point of involving outsiders.
Everyone present knew about her family's messy affairs, so they all readily agreed to do this small favor.
After arranging everything, I went home for a final look.
The food in the cupboard was only slightly less than usual, and it looked like it was for my own consumption, plus it wasn't even locked.
With food shortages, this is really dangerous; I don't know who they're spiteful towards.
Wang Shuitao picked up the key that was thrown on top of the cabinet, locked it, and then placed the key on Sun Miao's bedside table, where it could be seen at a glance.
Around 4 p.m., Mr. Zhang's tractor arrived.
Wang Shuitao returned to the sugar factory by car. It was already after get off work hours, and because her whole body felt like it had been jostled apart, she packed two steamed buns with vegetables in her lunchbox and prepared to go back to her dormitory to eat.
From a distance, I could see a lot of security personnel wandering around; they were probably on patrol.
After her husband, Lao Zhang, returned home, Zhao Juan would frequently go to the door to look out and wait for Wang Shuitao to come back.
He immediately approached her and said, "Peach, I spoke to the security department about this this morning, and they arranged for people to start patrolling this afternoon. Don't worry, that little thief should be scared when he sees it."
Wang Shuitao nodded, relieved, and said, "Thank you, sister. I had to prop the door shut with tables and chairs last night before I dared to sleep, but even then I couldn't sleep soundly."
Actually, after receiving danger education at school, she developed this habit as soon as she arrived, but needless to say, it shows a lack of trust in the sugar factory's security department.
Employees these days have a strong sense of collective honor, which makes them uncomfortable.
As she spoke, she leaned closer to show Zhao Juan her dark circles: "Look, there are dark circles under my eyes."
Zhao Juan hesitated for a moment, then coughed lightly and said, "Just call me Sister Zhao, I'm used to it."
He added, "Your dark circles are easy to cure. Just boil an egg and roll it in the water, and you can even eat the boiled egg. Come to my house and get one."
Where can Wang Shuitao take it? The hen is now a "chicken butt bank," and the eggs are money, but money can't be eaten or used to nourish the body.
Watching her push and wave her hands in refusal, Zhao Juan couldn't help but smile. She didn't know why, even though she was already a grown woman, she always wanted to treat her like a child.
This sounds more like a child imitating adults being polite.
He said in a serious tone, "You can use them first. The eggs are a loan from me. You can pay me back next month when you get your salary."
Zhao Juan's own daughter is fifteen years old and still in high school. She likes to act mature, and she knows how to deal with such young girls.
As expected, Wang Shuitao agreed and started following Zhao Juan.
She was still muttering to herself about when she would receive her salary invoice next month, and she promised that she would go and buy eggs as soon as the supply and marketing cooperative had them.
In the evening, Wang Shuitao finally had time to look at the document written by Meng Songying, which could be described as a modern-day "admissions guide".
Skip the first part of the list of universities, although Tsinghua and Peking University are also listed above, there is still a chance to enter without taking the exam, based on recommendation.
Wang Shuitao also gave up this temptation.
She either got into university as a member of the Wangjiazhuang brigade or as a sugar factory worker.
However, the worker-peasant-soldier recruitment plan has been in place for almost three years since it started on June 27, 1970, and these two places have not yet been selected.
There are too many factories in the whole county, not to mention the villages, and even many larger communes.
I should focus on figuring out how to get into night school first.
You can basically get a job as long as you sign up, at least that's the case at the sugar factory.
Night school will provide cultural and academic education, such as Chinese, mathematics, and history.
Those with weaker cultural backgrounds may even start by teaching them to read and write.
And because the workers squeeze out their evenings and weekends to attend classes, special attention is paid to vocational skills training.
Senior technicians and master craftsmen from various factories come to the night school to provide specialized training for their factory employees.
Most of it involves practical operation.
To be more effective and for convenience, practical training is sometimes learned directly in each factory.
Another part involves additional cultural knowledge, such as requiring county hospital staff to take an extra biology course.
The "guide" is very detailed, and it also contains a lot of information that Wang Shuitao doesn't need, which is also neatly recorded in it.
I don't know how Meng Songying managed to find out so much in just one day.
A breakfast and a couple of thank yous seem too insignificant.
However, Wang Shuitao was unable to please him.
What does Engineer Meng like?
She fell asleep tonight with this question in her mind.
There were patrols outside, so I slept especially soundly.
After several days of trying to subtly probe the taciturn Meng Gong, Wang Shuitao still hadn't gotten the answer she wanted.
She suspected that Meng Songying either didn't understand or was pretending not to understand.
I did manage to enroll in night school.
It was also divided into two semesters a year, the spring semester, which started after the Lantern Festival, around the beginning of March, which I had already missed.
There is also an autumn semester, which starts in September.
It was almost exactly the same as before, and Wang Shuitao got used to it. In a few months, she would be able to sit in the classroom again.
When I returned to the dormitory area that day, I didn't see any security personnel patrolling.
Zhao Juan came over and said that someone had raised concerns, believing that the person had been scared away since they hadn't been caught.
The security guards are constantly walking around like this, which is disrupting the workers' normal lives.
It's especially inconvenient when relatives come to visit.
The security department would always go up and ask carefully which village they came from, when they arrived, when they would leave, and which relative's house they were staying at.
It made them, the sugar factory workers, seem particularly cold-hearted, like snobbish people who looked down on their poor partners.
Quite a few people chimed in, so the head of the security department suspended the patrol.
But Zhao Juan whispered, "We'll secretly keep watch for three days at night, and once we're sure no one's around, the security department will also prepare to take a break."
She was the one who came to us, and the security department explained the follow-up arrangements to her.
Zhao Juan was worried that Wang Shuitao would be scared, so she came over to tell her and added, "Don't tell anyone."
Wang Shuitao nodded obediently.
Three days later, nothing happened.
The security team relaxed their tense atmosphere, probably because everyone had predicted it.
Even if some petty thieves were to scout the area, seeing the guns they carried on their waists while patrolling, they would weigh the risks and leave on their own.
After hearing Zhao Juan's good news, Wang Shuitao returned to her dormitory and pondered for a long time.
The tables and chairs were arranged as before, and the lunchboxes were also placed halfway up the table.
The lunchbox is made of aluminum, so even if it falls and hits the compacted mud, the sound won't be too loud.
It's better than nothing, I suppose.
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