Everyone we passed seemed to be in a hurry, their faces worn with exhaustion. Compared with their bright factory uniforms, the clothes Lijuan and I wore looked as though they had come straight out of the 1970s or ’80s. They were hopelessly old-fashioned.
I watched the women with envy.
I wanted more than anything to become one of them.
We found Jinqiu Factory easily.
The factory grounds were enormous and beautiful. There were broad lawns and carefully tended gardens inside the compound. It was on an entirely different level from the factories we had passed on the way.
Thinking that we would soon be working there, Lijuan and I exchanged a glance and smiled happily.
When we reached the factory gate, the end-of-shift bell had just rung, and workers began streaming out.
We waited.
And waited.
Our eyes were practically strained from staring at the gate, but Chen Gang was nowhere to be seen.
Finally, Lijuan couldn't stand it anymore.
She gathered her courage and approached one of the security guards at the gate.
“Excuse me,” she asked timidly. “Is there someone here named Chen Gang?”
The guard looked at the piles of luggage we were carrying.
“Jinqiu has nearly ten thousand workers. Do you really expect me to know every one of them? Wait a little longer. He might be eating.”
Lijuan had no choice but to return to my side.
Together, we stared fixedly at the factory gate, afraid that we might miss Chen Gang if we looked away even for a moment.
Sure enough, not long afterward, Chen Gang finally hurried out.
We almost didn't recognize him.
In my memory, Chen Gang was a handsome, clean-cut boy who was always smiling.
The man standing in front of us now was dark and thin, almost gaunt. And despite the three years that had passed, he seemed barely any taller than before.
When he saw us, he walked straight over.
There was none of the excitement I had imagined.
“You're here,” he said hurriedly.
Lijuan stared at him.
“Chen Gang?”
He nodded.
“Lijuan. Haiyan. I've rented a place for you. I'll take you there now. I have to come back for overtime later.”
Lijuan was irritated.
“Why didn't you call us back this morning when we tried to reach you? We got sold like livestock because of you!”
Chen Gang sounded exhausted.
“You can't make personal calls back during working hours. And what's so strange about people being sold like livestock around here? Come on. If we waste any more time, I'll be late for overtime.”
His indifference only made Lijuan feel more hurt.
I saw tears gathering in her eyes, so I quickly said, “Let's go. I'm exhausted.”
That finally made her swallow her anger.
She let Chen Gang take her luggage, and the three of us headed toward the rented room.
As we walked, Chen Gang explained that it would take more than ten minutes to reach the apartment from Jinqiu. Afraid of being late, he walked quickly.
Lijuan didn't argue anymore, but she still looked unhappy.
“You've been gone for three years, and I've only seen you once,” she complained. “I came all this way from home to find you, and you can't even take one day off?”
Chen Gang refused immediately.
“No. We're rushing to finish an order. They won't approve leave. If I skip work, they'll deduct a hundred yuan from my pay, and I'll lose this month's bonus too. You and Haiyan just got here. You'll have plenty of things to spend money on.”
Lijuan fell silent and lowered her head as she followed him.
I was secretly envious of her.
Chen Gang had already taken her luggage onto his shoulder, and all her attention was focused on him. She had no time to notice me.
Meanwhile, I had a quilt strapped to my back and bags hanging from both hands. Every muscle in my body ached. My legs were so tired that I could barely lift my feet.
The road to the apartment was even worse than the one we'd just traveled. It twisted and turned through narrow, uneven streets.
Chen Gang explained that very few local people lived in this neighborhood. Most of the locals lived somewhere else, where the houses were newer and much nicer.
These old buildings were almost entirely rented to outsiders.
The owners came around once a month to collect the rent.
It was dinner time, and because of the heat, many doors were standing open. From the street, we could see that most of the rooms were packed with people. Many workers were sitting in their doorways, holding bowls of rice as they ate.
At that moment, my expectations were very simple.
If I could just have a small, low-ceilinged room where I could put my things and sleep, that would be enough.
Lijuan and I would close the door and leave behind everything that had happened to us that day—the humiliation, the fear, the anger.
For some reason, I was terrified of seeing strangers now.
I felt as though anyone we met might hurt us.
But when Chen Gang finally led us into the room he had rented, Lijuan and I were stunned.
The room looked no different from the other rented rooms we'd seen along the way.
Except that three people were already living there.
Two bunk beds stood against the walls.
The beds were already occupied.
On the top bunk, a man lay facing the wall, reading a newspaper. From his back, he looked fairly young. Yet when he heard us talking, he didn't even turn his head.
On the lower bunk sat a young couple, clearly husband and wife.
Each held a bowl of rice and was enjoying a simple meal at a small table in front of them—a plate of green vegetables and another of pickled long beans.
Chen Gang introduced them.
The woman, A-Ling, had once worked with him at the same factory. She now worked somewhere else.
Her husband had recently been fired and was looking for a new job.
The couple were actually quite friendly. They invited us to eat with them.
But there was hardly anything left to eat.
Only a few strands of vegetables remained on the plates, and the aluminum rice pot was already empty.
Lijuan looked incredulously at the man's back on the top bunk.
Then she stared at Chen Gang.
“Don't tell me you expect us to sleep here tonight?”
Chen Gang looked puzzled.
“Of course. What's wrong with it? I rented these bunks for you. There's an upper bunk and a lower bunk. It's hot in summer, but in winter you only need to rent one bed. You two can squeeze together.”
Lijuan was about to explode when A-Ling, who was still eating, said coldly:
“You think this is your home? At least you have somewhere to sleep. When I first came here, my husband and I slept under a bridge.”
Lijuan opened her mouth, ready to argue.
But Chen Gang suddenly became serious.
“By the way, do you still have your train tickets?”
I was unpacking my things and answered absentmindedly.
“I don't remember. I think so.”
Chen Gang immediately became anxious.
“Find them. Hurry. You absolutely cannot lose those tickets. If the neighborhood security officers check your temporary-residence permit, show them your train tickets. For the first three days, your train ticket can serve as proof of temporary residence.”
Lijuan looked astonished.
“What temporary-residence permit? We both have our identity cards.”
“You wouldn't understand if I explained it now,” Chen Gang said impatiently. “Did you lose the tickets or not?”
Seeing how serious he was, Lijuan and I finally realized that this was important.
We frantically searched through our belongings.
At last, we found the tickets inside the pocket where Lijuan had stored our dry food.
Only then did a faint smile appear on Chen Gang's face.
“Remember. Keep them with you at all times.”
Lijuan pouted unhappily.
“Are these two train tickets more important than our lives?”
Chen Gang was about to answer.
Then he glanced at his watch.
He suddenly jumped to his feet.
“I’m going to be late!”
He turned to A-Ling, who was gathering up the dishes.
“A-Ling, these are two classmates of mine. They just got here and don't know the area. Please help them out. Show them where the shower room is and how to get water. I've got to go back. I'm working the overnight shift tonight. I'll come over tomorrow after work.”
Without paying any attention to Lijuan's annoyed glare, he hurried out the door.
He had barely reached the doorway when he turned around and came back.
From his pocket, he pulled out two eggs and handed them to Lijuan.
“One for you and one for Haiyan. I've got to go.”
Then, as though he still wasn't satisfied that he had said it enough times, he added:
“Don't lose those train tickets.”
The moment he disappeared, Lijuan dropped onto the bed.
“Haiyan, I never imagined he'd be this cold to me. He's nothing like the Chen Gang I used to know.”
A-Ling looked at her with evident displeasure.
“Cold? How is he treating you badly? He only has one egg for dinner, and he saved it for you. What more do you want?”
Lijuan snapped back:
“Who wants his lousy eggs?”
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