"Really, I'm fine here now, and the manager even said that in a couple of days I can be a waitress. I really don't need to trouble you. It's just that I haven't met an acquaintance in a long time, and when I see one, I want to talk.'
Wen Hong, there really is no problem with work. There is a factory in the special economic zone that I know well. It may not be easy to arrange a good position for you, but at least you can work in the canteen there. The working hours will not be so long, and you won't be doing the same thing for the lowest salary.
Classmate relationships are a kind of relationship that we have in this era of increasing pace. It is a very solid relationship with a certain emotional foundation, one that is hard to sever and that is relatively pure and worth cherishing.
Even if we go back a few decades, it was in the military school in this city that classmates who took different paths because of different ideals, and who eventually 'crossed bows on the battlefield', would talk about their school friendship when they met, not to mention now.
Moreover, not to mention that Feng Yiping has achieved something now, even if he is just an ordinary student at this time, he would not ignore a classmate who is obviously in trouble when they meet in a foreign land. Even if he cannot help, he can still be a listener and help resolve the situation a little.
Feng Yiping took her by the hand and said, 'Don't worry, it's really no problem. As you know, my family owns a convenience store and has business dealings with the factory here. If you work there, I can ask them to take care of you. It'll be fine.
If there's anything else you don't want to say, just leave it. Now go say hello to your manager and we'll quit today.'
'I don't want to cause you any trouble,'
'No trouble. Go in and talk to him. I'll wait here for you.' Feng Yiping pushed Wen Hong in.
Ten minutes later, the manager sent Wen Hong out, no longer wearing her chef's hat and apron, and nodded to Feng Yiping with a smile. Xiaofan followed behind, carrying two large bags of takeaways.
'Feng Zong, then I'll go find Jin Zong. Drive safely,' Xiaofan said, standing there without coming over.
Feng Yiping nodded, "Okay,'
'The manager agreed," Wen Hong came over, 'She said I can stay in the dormitory for one more day,'
'Can you show me your dormitory? I might be busy tomorrow, so I'd better start packing tonight.'
'Sure, it's not far from here.'
'Sister Jin, where are they going?' Zheng Jiayi, sitting by the window in the restaurant over there, asked Jin Ling.
'Don't worry, Yiping knows what he's doing. He ordered a lot, so it should be delicious!'
Feng Yiping followed Wen Hong's instructions and drove towards an urban village. The car was quiet, and Wen Hong looked relaxed, unlike when they first met, when she was always on edge.
'I've worked for 20 days, and my manager gave me 500 yuan in wages. Here's 300 for you. It's not good to see an old classmate at work, and I can't even buy you something to eat,' Wen Hong took 300 yuan out of her pocket and handed it over.
Feng Yiping blocked it back, "No need, this is your girls" prerogative. If it were a guy, I really wouldn't let him off.'
'Haha, you're just the same as before.'
'Wen Hong, can you tell me what happened to you? And why did you change your name? And why don't you even have an ID card?' Feng Yiping asked softly.
After counting, it has been more than five years since Wen Hong graduated from junior high school. Even if she started working right after graduation, she shouldn't be in this situation. At least, she is still working twelve hours a day, and it shouldn't be a problem to find a job with a higher salary in one of the many factories here. Besides, with her qualifications, she shouldn't have a problem finding an average boyfriend.
'It's nothing, I just accidentally lost a lot of things a while ago,' Wen Hong said.
'That's good, everyone has hard times. We were classmates for three years, it's only right that we help each other out. Don't be formal,' Feng Yiping said.
There was no reply for a while, then there was the sound of sobbing, which grew louder and louder.
Feng Yiping turned his head and saw Wen Hong covering her face with her hands, tears streaming unstoppably down her fingers.
He quickly turned to the sidewalk next to him and frantically looked for a tissue. 'What's wrong with you?'
Wen Hong didn't say a word, just kept crying.
'Go ahead and cry. Sometimes, when you're wronged, crying makes you feel better.'
After she calmed down, in the quiet of the middle of the night, in the car with the engine turned off, Wen Hong told Feng Yiping what had happened to her, choking back her sobs.
The story is simple. For the past two years, Wen Hong, along with several fellow villagers, has been working in the city where the famous 'Red Building' is located, in the big case that caused a stir earlier this year.
She worked in a clothing factory, which was hard but fulfilling, and the pay was not bad. Apart from sending some money back to her parents, she also saved some for herself.
The turning point came one night last summer. After their night shift, Wen Hong and her three sisters went to a food stall to have a late-night snack. A few young men at the next table, who were obviously up to no good, started picking a fight with them and even tried to touch them. No one at the other tables came to their aid, but then a man surnamed Chen came out and helped them to drive away the young thugs.
From the next night onwards, this man surnamed Chen, who was nearly ten years older than Wen Hong, waited at the factory gate to make sure she would not be bothered after her night shift.
After a while, the two of them invited each other out for a late-night snack a few times, and then Wen Hong agreed to go to the movies with him. Then she fell in love.
Her fellow villagers, seeing the tattoos on this local man that Wen Hong liked, warned her to be careful, but Wen Hong, who had never looked at the other suitors favourably, was now determined.
Up until now, she knew that the person she liked was working for someone else, although she didn't know exactly what he did. It was a bit shady, and he earned a good income. The people he took her out with were also very generous, and she had seen them argue in karaoke bars and other places.
However, the more she liked this person, the more generous, loyal and individualistic he was. He was nothing like the workers at the factory, who were slow-witted and childish and had no meaning.
So she soon moved in with the man surnamed Chen, stopped working, and cut off contact with her sisters who had tried to dissuade her. She spent her days with her boyfriend, going from one place to another, singing karaoke, or watching him play cards with a group of people.
However, the good times did not last long. Under the personal supervision of Feng Yiping, the dean of his current college, and with the entry of several central ministries and commissions, his boyfriend also lost his source of income. But his old habits could not be changed. He drank and played cards as usual. After the two of them used up their meagre savings, not only did they not find a job, they also often got drunk and lost their temper. The gentle and considerate person they once were was gone, and it was common for him to hit Wen Hong.
Wen Hong had no choice but to go out and find work again. The original clothing factory was definitely not a good place to go, so she only found a job waiting tables in a restaurant. However, with this income, how could she cover his expenses, let alone playing cards, not even enough for drinking. Therefore, there was constant violence. He said that Wen Hong was a jinx, and after being with her, he had suffered greatly. He also spent so much money on her before, and now he only gets back such a small amount every month.
Wen Hong did argue with him, but she always ended up losing and getting beaten up. Chen had also prepared for this, hiding her ID card and telling the restaurant where she worked not to let her go home for the Chinese New Year.
He even warned her that if she dared to go back to her old hometown, he would take care of everyone there, and if she dared to go back, he would go to her house and cause trouble, using the address on her ID card.
She hadn't thought about running away, but when she thought about his threats and the trouble she might cause her parents, she held back. And every time she called home, she volunteered that she was doing fine.
Until that day, when he and a few of his former brothers were drinking at home, she heard their plan in her room: take her east, find a nightclub, and let her earn money by sitting at the bar.
She couldn't imagine living like that. Wearing her pyjamas, she took the few tens of yuan they gave her to buy alcohol downstairs, took a taxi to the train station, bought a ticket to the platform, and boarded a train heading south. Along the way, she hid in the bathroom whenever the ticket inspectors came. Finally, she arrived in Guangzhou after a lot of trouble.
She looked for several restaurants, and was finally accepted by the manager of this restaurant. Then, she met Feng Yiping tonight.
'Tell me, was I stupid? Did I ask for this?' Wen Hong wipes her eyes with a tissue and is embarrassed to look at Feng Yiping.
Feng Yiping doesn't know what to say. It says in books that a woman has to be stupid once in her life, and Wen Hong has really been stupid once. In her best days, she happened to meet a bastard, and in order not to cause trouble for her family, she didn't dare tell anyone and was prepared to suffer.
'It's not your fault. Your fault is that you didn't think about your parents. If you go on like this, if something really does happen, can they bear it? If you tell your parents, at first they'll blame you and scold you, but in the end they'll definitely support you. As for that Chen, even if he had ten guts, he wouldn't dare come to our place and make trouble.'
'But I'm in such a mess, it's not good, and I'm afraid to tell my family,'
'Well, now that everything's fine, and he's so far away, he doesn't have the ability to find you. If he dares to come, it's best, there are ways to deal with him. You just forget about it and don't tell anyone else. Just live your life,' Feng Yiping started the car and headed towards her dormitory.
'But I feel like...,'
'Don't think too much, just look ahead. Remember that song that was popular at school when we graduated? Just think of it as a knock on the waist from youth. We're all in our twenties, our waist is fine, so a little knock won't hurt,' Feng Yiping reassured her.
Wen Hong's dormitory is an old house of more than 60 square metres. Apart from the bathroom and small living room, there are also four rooms converted. She and four girls live in a room estimated to be about 7 or 8 square metres, divided by wooden boards, with only a small window for ventilation.
There is nothing to pack, and she doesn't even have a suitcase. A few clothes and toiletries can be carried in one hand.
'Are you on good terms with them? If you are, then stay and say hello, if you are just okay, then come with me now.'
Wen Hong shook her head, 'They are all from the same place,'
'That's fine, let's go now.'
Downstairs, she ran into an old classmate, told him her worries, and found a new job. Feeling relaxed, Wen Hong finally looked at the place where she had lived for more than 20 days, and followed Feng Yiping into the car.