After dinner, Xu Ying followed Xu’s mother to the workshop. Along the way, Xu’s mother, unable to contain her excitement, chattered incessantly. “My dear, if you just hold on for a few more days, the house will be built! When it’s done, our house will be a grand two-story building. You can live upstairs, with wonderful light, high up, and a beautiful view!”
“Okay, I’ll just listen to Mom,” Xu Ying replied with a gentle smile.
“Grandmother , I want to live upstairs too! I want to be right next to my aunty !” Shitou piped up from the side. His aunty had gotten better, but she had also become incredibly busy. It had been a long time since he’d truly seen her.
“I want to stay there too!” Huzi shouted, echoing his brother.
Xu’s mother rolled her eyes at her two overly enthusiastic grandsons.
“Daughter, are you going on another business trip after this?” Xu’s mother’s tone shifted, a worried frown creasing her brow. “You were gone for so many days. Your dad and I were so anxious. Please, don’t go on business trips in the future. Our family doesn’t need your meager earnings; you can just stay at home.”
Xu Ying smiled and nodded. “I won’t be constantly traveling on business trips in the future. This was just a temporary arrangement.” Xu’s mother’s worries finally eased.
Time, as it always does, flew by, and soon it was New Year’s Eve. The workshops, a hive of activity just days before, began to halt production, preparing for the most important holiday of the year. Xu Ying and her family were equally busy. The house, an astonishing feat, had been built in just one week. The Xu family began the joyous task of moving their belongings into their new home. Second Uncle Xu and Third Uncle Xu lent their strong backs, and by mid-morning, everything was meticulously packed. Xu Ying moved her belongings upstairs, and to their delight, Shitou and Huzi’s room was right next to hers. Father Xu had built the house quite grandly this time, with several extra rooms, ensuring that even visiting relatives would have a comfortable place to stay.
On the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, Secretary Yang and Secretary Zhang arrived together, bearing the wages provided by the factory director—enough money to literally fill their car. The two workshops had hired hundreds of people this month, a massive expansion. Xu Ying had already notified everyone yesterday that they were to come to the village to collect their wages. Long before Secretary Yang and Secretary Zhang even arrived, the villagers thronged Xujia Village, their spirits high, brimming with excitement. For many, especially the women who toiled in the fields, this was the first time they had ever received wages. While the country now championed equality between men and women, the deep-seated feudal ideas of the era, the ingrained belief that women were inferior to men, persisted. Now, with women earning their own money, a sense of honor swelled among them, and they stood taller, their backs straighter.
“I calculated my salary this month, and I can get at least fifty yuan!” one woman exclaimed joyfully.
“Oh, sister-in-law, you’re amazing!” another cried. “I came late and only worked for half a month, but I calculated I can get over thirty yuan! When I take this money back, I’m going to show it to my man! Who says women are inferior to men now?”
“Come on, come on!” Uncle Xu shouted, his voice echoing, igniting a fresh wave of excitement. “The factory director’s secretary is here! Everyone, hurry up and line up! Each group leader will lead their team to receive wages? They will be distributed then! Team leaders, step forward quickly and line up so you can be paid!”
Secretary Yang and Secretary Zhang drove their car into the village and immediately sought out Xu Ying, who had already instructed Uncle Xu to prepare everything. The people from the two different production areas received their wages separately. As each group leader’s name was called, all the money for that group was handed over. After the group leader verified the amount, it was distributed to the individual members.
“Yingying, everyone is riding on your good fortune!” one woman from the village exclaimed, tears of excitement streaming down her face. “I never expected that one day I would actually be able to earn money!” These country folk had spent their entire lives relying on work points to merely fill their stomachs. They never dreamed that they, uneducated women from the countryside, would one day earn their own money, or that their mothers-in-law would no longer look down on them when they returned home.
“Yingying, all the aunties thank you!” After the first woman spoke, a chorus of voices joined in, as more and more women covered their faces, weeping with emotion. Xu Ying understood the hardships these women faced. Suppressing the welling pity in her heart, she looked up and offered encouragement. “Aunts, don’t worry! As long as you do your best, I will ensure that you will always have this job. But if I find out that you are not working hard with the money, I will not tolerate it. At the very least, you will be fined, or at worst, you will be fired.”
Those honest women, touched by her words, felt a surge of renewed energy. “Yingying, don’t worry, we will definitely work hard!” Some women who typically favored idleness felt a pang of guilt, not daring to meet Xu Ying’s gaze.
Secretary Yang and Secretary Zhang’s task for the day was to distribute wages. With that completed, there was nothing else to detain them. Secretary Zhang drove away, but Secretary Yang remained.
Xu Qingqing, ever vigilant, spotted Secretary Yang with keen eyes and rushed over, beaming. She greeted him with an air of familiar intimacy. “Yang Jun!”
“This Qingqing actually knows the secretary of the textile factory!” people around whispered. “Look, she calls him by his first name! It seems they’ve known each other for a long time. I didn’t expect this girl to have such connections!” Xu Qingqing basked in the villagers’ remarks, her head held high. Even Liu Yuefen, her mother, was visibly surprised, a look of disbelief on her face. “How do you know Secretary Yang?”
Xu Qingqing, still swollen with pride, casually replied, “We just know each other.”
Liu Yuefen was immediately overjoyed. “You actually know Secretary Yang? Then just ask him to arrange a job for you in the workshop!”
Xu Qingqing glared at her mother. “What’s wrong with that? Business is business.” As Secretary Yang drew closer, Xu Qingqing’s heart pounded. She was right; Secretary Yang must be interested in her.
“Yang—” Xu Qingqing began, but her words died in her throat.
“Jingjing, I’ve brought some gifts to visit my uncle and aunt. Please take me to your home,” Secretary Yang said, a warm smile on his face as he walked directly past Xu Qingqing and up to Xu Jingjing.
Xu Qingqing stood frozen, utterly dumbfounded, staring at Xu Jingjing as if she had been riddled with bullets. Liu Yuefen’s joy lasted only two seconds before she felt a resounding slap across her face. She glared angrily at her daughter. “Look at Jingjing! She directly set her sights on the factory director’s secretary! And look at you, you found an educated youth, and he ended up in prison!” The betrothal gift had never materialized, and instead, dozens of yuan had been paid out. The more Liu Yuefen thought about it, the more she felt she had been thoroughly cheated. She should never have agreed to that marriage.
“Are you going to my house?” Xu Jingjing’s eyes widened, wondering if this was moving too quickly.
Secretary Yang’s face flushed crimson, but he looked earnestly at Xu Jingjing. “Comrade Xu Jingjing, any relationship that doesn’t lead to marriage is nothing but a rogue act. Is it possible that you want to act like a rogue to me?”
Xu Ying, witnessing this exchange, was also taken aback. She suddenly understood why Huo Chen had been angry last time. Did he also feel she was acting like a rogue? Seeing the two of them displaying their affection, Xu Ying suddenly missed Huo Chen and wondered when he would return. He was already thirty years old.
“Yingying, Secretary Yang and I are going home,” Xu Jingjing said, her face a shade of shyness Xu Ying had never witnessed before. As expected, love could truly make people dizzy. Xu Ying wished she could also be so carried away, but alas, there was no one to make her so.