The Taiwanese-owned factory was called Brightlight Plastics and Electronics. The buildings were relatively new, though they had clearly been in use for some time, and the factory occupied a fairly large area. The security office beside the entrance looked rather dim and gloomy.
Like many factories, it had an electric gate, with the security office on the left. Outside the window facing the main road, more than a dozen young women were already waiting in line for job interviews.
Most of them looked just as timid and awkward as we did. They were shy, reserved, and dressed in clothes that looked rather old-fashioned.
One girl standing ahead of us particularly caught my attention. She wore jeans and a T-shirt, with her long, beautiful hair hanging loose over her shoulders. A thin layer of makeup covered her face, and she was exceptionally pretty. At a glance, I could tell she had already spent some time working away from home.
Sure enough, while we waited for the interviews to begin, she chatted freely with the others.
She was from Jiangxi Province and had actually worked at this very factory before. After leaving, she had gone around looking for another suitable job, but hadn't found one. Since she still had many fellow villagers working here, she had decided to come back.
Just as we were about to ask her more about the factory, a female clerk from the personnel department arrived at the security office to conduct the interviews.
Chen Gang had once told me that many personnel departments secretly demanded recruitment fees from workers. Because of that, I had always imagined that people working in personnel departments were all fierce, intimidating characters.
Only now did I realize how wrong I had been.
The personnel clerk was a young woman, only a few years older than me. She was slightly plump, with a round face and a pair of narrow, squinting eyes. She looked so ordinary that if you saw her in a crowd, you probably wouldn't recognize her again.
The young woman chatted and laughed with the security guards, looking kind and approachable.
But the moment she began dealing with us, her attitude changed completely.
Standing inside the security office, she examined our identification cards and graduation certificates one by one through the window. She repeatedly compared the photographs on our documents with our actual faces.
Only those she considered acceptable were allowed through the electric gate, which was barely wide enough for one person at a time.
Watching most of the girls ahead of us pass through without difficulty, I let out a long sigh of relief.
It looked as though we might finally find jobs today.
Lijuan passed through without any problems, just like the girls before her.
When my turn came, the personnel clerk glanced at my documents. After barely looking at them, she waved me through without hesitation.
I was delighted.
As I entered through the electric gate, I tried to walk a little faster and more lightly. But every step sent pain through the sole of my left foot. I had no choice but to curl my left foot as much as possible, putting my weight on the toes and heel instead.
I struggled to keep my balance and walk as normally as I could.
But as I passed through the narrow gate, I failed to notice a raised metal threshold protruding from the ground. I stumbled.
The metal edge struck the sole of my left foot squarely.
A sharp, piercing pain shot through me.
When I put my left foot down again, I could only hobble along on my toes.
Just as I was about to reach the line where Lijuan and the other girls were standing, the personnel clerk suddenly came out of the security office and shouted:
"Get out! You! Get out!"
I turned around, stunned.
For a moment, I couldn't believe she was talking to me.
"Me? Are you talking to me?"
She stared at me impatiently through her narrowed eyes.
"Yes, you! You don't need to come in. Get out right now!"
I hadn't even had time to understand what was happening.
Still standing there stupidly, I asked, "Why? Why won't you take me?"
She glanced contemptuously at my left foot. Her face was expressionless.
"This isn't a charity home. We don't hire disabled people!"
I wanted to say something more, but she raised her voice sharply.
"Are you leaving or not? If you don't get out, I'll call security!"
I hurriedly pleaded with her.
"I'm not disabled. I just injured the sole of my left foot by accident."
The girl completely lost her temper.
She shouted toward the security office:
"Cui Qi! Cui Qi! Get this person out of here!"
By then, I knew there was no point arguing.
Before the security guard could come and drive me out, I hurriedly limped toward the factory gate, utterly humiliated.
The moment I stepped outside, the electric gate slammed shut behind me with a loud bang.
Thinking about the humiliation I had just suffered, I found it strange that I hadn't shed a single tear.
I simply stood there, staring helplessly through the gate at Lijuan and the other girls as they walked toward one of the factory buildings.
I felt completely useless.
Now that Lijuan had found a job, there was no way I could continue living alone in that rented room.
The thought filled me with fear.
Finding a factory job had become the most urgent thing in my life. I needed a place that would provide me with food and accommodation. As long as nobody checked my temporary residence permit, I wouldn't mind how hard or exhausting the work was.
In this enormous, unfamiliar place, I felt like a stray dog wandering the streets, desperately hoping someone would take me in.
It didn't matter whether its owner was rich or poor.
After all, what right did a dog have to be picky about whether its owner was wealthy?
But because of my injured foot, the factory I had just visited had treated me as a disabled person. Other factories would probably reject me for the same reason.
Just as that personnel clerk had said, what factory would be willing to take in a "disabled person" like me?
It was already working hours. Apart from the distant rumbling of machinery, I couldn't hear a sound.
I felt terribly alone and helpless.
Then, as my desperate eyes wandered around, I noticed a shabby little factory diagonally across the road.
A bright red recruitment notice was pasted conspicuously outside its entrance.
I rushed toward it as eagerly as a starving stray dog spotting a bone by the roadside.
For a moment, I even forgot the pain in my foot.
The recruitment notice was handwritten, and the characters were crooked and uneven.
But the requirements were surprisingly undemanding:
URGENTLY HIRING LARGE NUMBERS OF WORKERS
MEN AND WOMEN WELCOME
There were no educational requirements and no physical fitness requirements.
I could hardly contain my excitement.
The security guard on duty was a thin, short, middle-aged man. He merely glanced at my identification card before letting me in.
I was still worried that my limp might give me away, but he seemed not to notice it at all.
The factory was tiny. It had only two buildings, neither of them particularly large. One was a single-story building, and the other had two floors. Both looked old, worn-out, and faded.
There was only one concrete road running through the compound. On either side, wild grass grew to about the height of my calves.
Looking at that green grass, I thought of the fields back in my hometown.
To my surprise, I felt an unexpected sense of familiarity and warmth.
The security guard led me to the single-story building.
Inside, I saw several tables covered with what looked like a golden-yellow layer of tiny metal parts.
The room was enormous. Around seventy or eighty workers were sitting at tables of different sizes, busily working.
They seemed to be connecting the small metal pieces together to form long, narrow strips resembling watchbands.
Three or four machines stood in the middle of the room, occasionally letting out bursts of noise.
There was only one office desk in the entire room.
A pretty young woman sat beside it.
She wore a lovely T-shirt and appeared to be sitting there out of sheer boredom.
I was certain she had noticed my abnormal way of walking the moment I entered. I was terrified that she would refuse to let me work because of my injured foot.
The security guard led me to her desk and spoke respectfully.
"Miss Zhao, this person has come for a job interview."
The girl known as Miss Zhao gave me a lazy glance, pulled a form from the desk, and handed it to me.
"Can you write?"
Although the question sounded rather awkward, I was so grateful that she hadn't immediately turned me away that I answered almost eagerly.
"Yes. I can write."
She nodded.
"Then fill this out."
Could a job interview really be this simple?
Whatever the case, she hadn't looked down on me because of my "disability."
A wave of relief washed over me.
The form asked for nothing more than my name, address, and a few other basic details. I filled it out quickly and handed it back to her.
She barely glanced at it before asking bluntly:
"Can you start work now?"
Hearing those words, I felt a surge of excitement.
Could it be that I had actually found a job?
I answered cautiously.
"Now? Does this place provide food and accommodation?"
She rolled her eyes at me.
"Yes, we provide food and accommodation. You have to bring your own luggage. There's a thirty-yuan deposit, and we'll keep your ID card for half a month."
Although I was afraid that saying the wrong thing might annoy her and cost me the job, I still had to gather my courage and explain:
"All right. But I need to go back and get my luggage."
She was beginning to look impatient.
"Then go back and get your luggage. Come to work tomorrow."
She handed my identification card back to me with obvious reluctance.
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