The remaining people had no objections; after all, Xia Liang's abilities were undeniable. After get off work, Xia Liang and Zhou Xiaohui, as usual, met up for dinner at the cafeteria. While queuing, Zhou Xiaohui took out two movie tickets and asked Xia Liang, "Want to go see a movie later?" Xia Liang, who hadn't seen a movie since arriving, happily replied, "Sure! How much did you pay for these tickets? I'll pay you." Zhou Xiaohui feigned anger, saying, "If you keep being so formal, I won't talk to you anymore." She then shyly lowered her head and said coyly, "Actually, these were a gift from Guowei. We were planning to go together, but he told me at noon that he had to go on a business trip and wasn't sure when he'd be back, so I shouldn't waste them and should go with my girlfriends." She then stole glances at Xia Liang as if mocking her. Xia Liang laughed, "What, disappointed that you can't go with your sweetheart? There's plenty of time! When he gets back, he can take you to see movies every day!" Zhou Xiaohui huffed and turned to continue queuing, saying, "I'm ignoring you!"
It was already dark when Xia Liang and Zhou Xiaohui arrived at the movie theater. While Xia Liang was buying sunflower seeds at the entrance, Zhou Xiaohui tried to pay, but Xia Liang refused, saying, "You treated me to a movie, so I'll treat you to sunflower seeds." They bought two cups of sunflower seeds for a dime, and the two happily went into the theater hand in hand. Today's showing was "Tracks in the Snowy Forest," a very nostalgic film, and Xia Liang was completely engrossed.
For the next period of time, the workshop competition was in full swing. Every time after get off work, Xia Liang left everyone else far behind during inventory. One day after work, she heard the loudspeaker announce, "Comrade Xia Liang from the garment workshop, your aunt is waiting at the door." It was announced three times in a row. After hearing this, Xia Liang said to Zhou Xiaohui, "I'll go to the door to find my aunt. You go to the canteen to eat first." After receiving Zhou Xiaohui's reply, Xia Liang turned around and ran towards the door. From afar, she saw her aunt standing under the big tree at the door. Xia Liang called out, "Aunt, what brings you here?" When she got to her aunt, her aunt said, "Have you forgotten what day it is today?" Xia Liang asked in confusion, "What day?" She scratched her head curiously. Aunt Xia scolded, "What's the date today?" Xia Liang replied, "July 16th! What's wrong?" Aunt Xia was speechless. "You forgot it's your birthday today? You child, this is your eighteenth birthday! Have you been too busy lately that you forgot your own birthday? I heard from your uncle that your workshop has a lot of work lately. If it weren't your birthday, I wouldn't dare to bother you." Although Uncle Xia was also a garment factory worker, he didn't work in the same workshop as Xia Liang, so they rarely met. Occasionally, when they did meet, he would invite Xia Liang to his house for dinner, but Xia Liang would avoid him whenever she thought of Old Lady Ma Lianhua.
If Aunt Xia hadn't come to visit today, Xia Liang wouldn't have gone to her house. Even if she had something to discuss with Aunt Xia, she wouldn't have gone inside. She would have just stood outside, talked to Aunt Xia for a bit, and then left. Xia Liang went to the state-run restaurant and bought two meat dishes. As she walked home with Aunt Xia, Aunt Xia kept nagging, "Why are you being so formal? You bring your own food to your aunt's house!" Xia Liang quickly surrendered, saying, "I'm just tired of the cafeteria food. I haven't had any meat in a long time, and I'm craving it. I won't do it again next time." Only then did Aunt Xia stop nagging.
When the two arrived home, Grandma Ma was talking to her grandson, while her aunt's husband was chatting about work with a thin, frail old man of about fifty, presumably the grandfather of her future in-laws whom she had never met. Xia Liang greeted them all, placed the meat and vegetables she had brought on the table, and then went out to help her aunt. Seeing Xia Liang leave, Grandma Ma went to the table, opened the lunchbox, and found a box of braised pork with potatoes and a box of sweet and sour pork ribs. Seeing that Xia Liang wasn't looking, she reached in and took two pieces, stuffing them into her grandson's mouth. Old Zhang, who was nearby, saw this, glared at the old woman, and scolded, "Can't you act like an elder?" Grandma Ma looked embarrassed but didn't continue. She closed the lunchbox and returned to her grandson to talk to him.
During the meal, Old Zhang asked with concern, "Are you settling in well at the factory? If you encounter any difficulties, tell me or your uncle." Although they worked in the same factory, they were in different departments. Old Zhang was a pattern maker in the building office, earning a little over eighty yuan a month, making him a long-time employee. His uncle worked as a statistician in the warehouse. Hearing Old Zhang's caring greeting, Xia Liang replied, "Grandpa, I'm doing very well at the factory. If there's anything I can help with, I certainly won't hesitate." Old Zhang said, "That's right. You only have us as relatives in the city; it wouldn't be good to be distant. Come over and visit your cousins often when you have time." Xia Liang nodded and said, "I will, Grandpa." After that, everyone remained silent. After finishing the meal, they helped Xia's aunt clean up the dishes and returned to the factory dormitory.
As soon as Xia Liang arrived at the dormitory entrance, she heard a commotion inside. She pushed open the door and saw Li Xiuying arguing with Ma Xiuxiang. After listening for two minutes, Xia Liang understood what had happened. It turned out that Ma Xiuxiang's mother-in-law and sister-in-law had come from the countryside to visit their grandson. Since there wasn't enough room at home, they had to ask Ma Xiuxiang to stay in the dormitory for a few days. However, Ma Xiuxiang was being unreasonable and hung her freshly washed wet clothes above Li Xiuying's pillow. When Li Xiuying came back and saw that the pillow was mostly wet, the two started arguing. Xia Liang ignored the argument between the two and was about to take a basin to the washroom to wash up when Ma Xiuxiang grabbed her right hand: "Xia Liang, you be the judge. I just arrived at the dormitory today, and there's nowhere to hang clothes to dry." Li Xiuying said angrily, "What do you mean there isn't? You're just afraid of walking a few extra steps to the washroom, what excuse are you making?" Xia Liang didn't want to get involved, but Ma Xiuxiang wouldn't let go of her arm. She shook off Ma Xiuxiang's grasp and said, "You did something wrong but won't apologize and you're still so stubborn. You even have the nerve to argue with people." Now she'd stirred up a hornet's nest. Ma Xiuxiang turned her gun on Xia Liang and barked, "Didn't I say I didn't do it on purpose? She's just nagging me over such a small thing. Besides, what's it to you?" Xia Liang was speechless: "You asked me to be the judge, but you won't listen after I've judged." Ma Xiuxiang originally thought that since she was in the same workshop as Xia Liang, Xia Liang would definitely think of her. Who knew this brat wouldn't know what was going on. Xia Liang ignored her and went straight to the bathroom. After washing up, she went back to bed and lay down. Xia Liang was thinking about what had just happened, wondering if housing prices were expensive these days, and whether she had enough money to buy a small courtyard house. Although her workplace would allocate housing after she got married, she didn't have a partner. Even if she got married and was allocated housing, living in that tenement building would be fine if the neighbors were easy to get along with, but dealing with someone as difficult as Ma Xiuxiang would be a nightmare. Lost in thought, she suddenly heard a loud "bang." Li Xiuying immediately jumped out of bed and yelled, "Ma Xiuxiang, are you done yet? I just fell asleep and you made that noise. Are you deliberately targeting me?" Ma Xiuxiang retorted, "I didn't do it on purpose. I was just hungry and ate a biscuit. It accidentally fell. What can I do? Why are you making such a fuss?" The two started arguing again, further solidifying Xia Liang's determination to move out.
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