But none of this had anything to do with her. On her way to the cafeteria, she bought a steamed bun, a plate of stir-fried dried tofu with garlic sprouts, and a bowl of salted egg soup. It all cost just 55 cents, which seemed cheap, but many people still opted to bring food from home.

As a young woman, her monthly food expenses came to around 18 yuan. For men, even with frugal eating, it could be at least 25 yuan. Everyone had families to support, so naturally, they were reluctant to eat at the cafeteria every day.

After eating, she returned to her station. It wasn’t until 2:30 when her shift ended that Master Wei praised her, saying, “Not bad, you’re picking things up fast. At this rate, you’ll be able to handle the machines on your own in half a month.”

“It’s all thanks to your excellent teaching, Master,” she replied.

In her previous life, she had been shy and reserved, but after ten years of hardships, she had seen through social intricacies.

“You’ve got a sweet tongue, girl. Alright, pack up and head home to rest,” Wei Hong waved her off, urging her to leave.

As she left the factory along with the flow of workers, she overheard gossip about the scuffle that had taken place at the back gate.

The factory’s back gate connected to a major textile market—a wholesale hub for fabrics. At this point, private businesses were on the rise.

With the rise of these businesses came the emergence of new issues, like local thugs. These were jobless hoodlums who banded together to extort protection fees from shop owners, essentially preying on those trying to make a living.

Private business owners dreaded these thugs. If they were unhappy, they would either find an excuse to cause trouble and destroy the stalls, making it impossible to do business, or they’d gather in front of the shop, smoking and chatting. They wouldn’t do anything outright, but their presence would scare away customers. If you tried to stand up to them, it wasn’t long before your shop had to close.

Today, as fate would have it, the factory’s warehouse shipment coincided with these troublemakers. The thugs, used to having their way, figured no one would risk their necks defending state-owned goods.

But they had miscalculated. The person on duty was tough and refused to back down, even going so far as to beat up one of their brothers. How could they let that slide? If word got out that they’d been beaten up by a state-owned factory, their reputation would be in ruins.

So they rallied more men to their side, thinking they could use numbers to intimidate the factory. But what they didn’t expect was for two more fierce fighters from the factory to join in, completely overwhelming their gang of over twenty.

Of course, the factory workers weren’t invincible either—some of them sustained injuries.

In the end, both sides ended up in the hospital. But with just three security guards managing to defeat over twenty men, the factory’s security team earned quite a reputation in the area.

After catching up on all the gossip, Dai Qing walked home and arrived around 3:30.

She took a quick bath and lay down to rest. A full day of hard work had left her exhausted.

She napped until 5:30, then got up to buy groceries, cook dinner, and review her face-reading techniques. After dinner, she meditated to practice her mental discipline.

In the days that followed, she continued learning machine operations from her master. Just as Master Wei had predicted, after two weeks, she had mastered the skills.

But before she could operate the machines independently, a technician would have to assess her.

From cleaning the cotton carding machine to feeding the rolls, starting the process, and properly finishing it—all of these tasks had to be done perfectly.

Naturally, she wasn’t going to mess up.

“Xiao Dai is doing great—quick and efficient. Other apprentices take anywhere from a month to three months, but you’ve got it down in just half a month,” the technician said, smiling as he scribbled notes in his notebook.

“It’s all thanks to my master’s excellent teaching,” Dai Qing replied with a modest smile.

“Haha, this girl has a sweet tongue and a sharp mind,” Master Wei chuckled, clearly proud of her, eyes filled with approval.