Chapter 34

Mr. Li distributed meal vouchers to everyone. The canteen here offers three meals a day, and you just need to take a voucher to get food.

The basic meal consists of rice and steamed buns with two vegetable dishes. For tonight’s meal, the dishes are vinegar-spiced cabbage and stir-fried potato strips. The rice and steamed buns are filling, and if you’re still hungry, you can take more.

Since Wu Xiaoxiao has been taking care of Wang Qifang on the journey, Wang Qifang has stuck with her the entire time: “Xiaoxiao, come sit here.”

She patted the seat beside her and pulled Wu Xiaoxiao over: “The factory is really nice, we can eat as much white rice as we want.”

Wang Qifang sighed, and Wu Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but agree. They were in the countryside now, and their usual meals consisted of a mix of cornmeal and wheat flour, with steamed buns that lacked elasticity and collapsed into a lump.

—-

In the factory, however, there were stacks of white steamed buns, and if one wasn’t enough, you could take another.

This is why so many people wanted to go to the city, to get a city household registration and eat state-supplied grains. Working in a factory was considered even better, as the grains were distributed separately, and no rationing tickets were needed. Once you were in the factory, your family could be guaranteed three meals a day.

In addition to the basic dishes, if someone wanted to splurge, they could spend a few cents at the meat dish window in the canteen.

A large pork chop was only 50 cents, and tasty meatballs were two for 30 cents. These kids from the countryside didn’t have much money, and since they thought white steamed buns and rice were already a luxury, they were thrilled by the stir-fried potatoes and cabbage. The vegetables were fried in oil, which made them much more flavorful than the boiled vegetables they were used to. Not many of them could bring themselves to buy extra dishes.

Factory workers, however, all rushed to the meat dish window.

The young men each bought two meatballs and ate them with steamed buns dipped in the meat broth. Those with children at home bought extra to bring back for them.

Wang Qifang was envious. No wonder her uncle’s family lived so well. The three kids at home were all chubby, eating big meatballs every day. If she could live like that, she’d wake up smiling from her dreams.

Not only was the food good, but the factory-provided dormitory was also decent. There hadn’t been many new hires in recent years, so most of the workers in the agricultural machinery factory were married with children and lived in the family housing built by the factory. The single dorms still had a lot of empty rooms, which were now being used to accommodate the newly assigned workers.

The dorms were shared between two people. Wu Xiaoxiao and Wang Qifang were the only two girls from their village, so naturally, they shared a room.

“This room is really spacious, and the windows are clean. Xiaoxiao, look, we’re on the third floor. Look down, the building is really tall! It’s my first time staying in an apartment building.”

As soon as they entered the room, Wang Qifang immediately began exploring. The single dorms were small, with two beds against opposite walls and basic bedding already provided. Each person had a small desk and cabinet, and in the corner of the room was a washstand with a porcelain washbasin. There were also two electric kettles.

The dorm was just a single room, with no bathroom or kitchen. Meals were taken at the canteen, and each floor had a large men’s and women’s restroom.

The room hadn’t been lived in for a long time. Although there wasn’t much trash, there was still a dusty smell, and the room was a little damp. It still had a faint mildew odor from the summer.

The two beds, one facing east and the other west, weren’t much different. Wu Xiaoxiao and Wang Qifang each placed their things on one bed and began tidying up.

Both of them were industrious, so they fetched water from the bathroom and used the coarse cloth they brought to wipe everything down. They borrowed a broom to sweep the room, sprinkled some water, and swept again. After spending more than half an hour, the room looked much brighter. They opened the windows to let in a warm breeze, which also helped disperse the mildew smell.

Through the window, they could hear the voices of workers chatting as they finished their shifts, accompanied by the sound of bicycle bells.

“All the workers in this factory seem to ride bicycles,” Wang Qifang remarked for what seemed like the hundredth time, admiring the workers’ quality of life.

“Sigh, Xiaoxiao, imagine how great it would be if we could work in this factory!” she sighed.

Wu Xiaoxiao nodded: “Yeah, but the factory hardly recruits these days. Even if they do, they probably prioritize the educated youth, and we can’t compete with them.”

Wang Qifang sighed again: “Yeah, they always say we’re from the countryside, used to the rural life. But who wouldn’t want to live a good life in the city?”

Wu Xiaoxiao didn’t respond. To her, every lifestyle had its pros and cons. Working in a factory, having enough food, and a guaranteed life was great. But being in the countryside, managing the vast fields, could also be good if done right. The problem was that farm work was a collective effort, not a personal one. People only worked as much as they were told and didn’t put in extra effort. That’s why life, while manageable, wasn’t ideal.

For her, whether in the city or the countryside, she believed that she could improve her life through hard work. If she could use her special abilities, rural development might even progress faster.

Wu Xiaoxiao sniffed, feeling like there was still a slight smell in the room. She opened her bag, took out a small bottle, and dropped two drops of green liquid into the water basin by the door. Instantly, a faint, lotus-like fragrance filled the air.

Wang Qifang, surprised, asked: “Hey, Xiaoxiao, what’s this? It smells so good!”

“This is a mosquito repellent made from the leaves of plantain and oleander. One smells nice, and the other prevents us from being bitten by mosquitoes. Though there aren’t as many mosquitoes in the building, it’s still hot, and I already saw some flying around.”

As she spoke, Wu Xiaoxiao swiftly swatted a mosquito that had appeared.

“Oh no, I knew I forgot something! I forgot to bring the mosquito net,” Wang Qifang said, slapping her forehead.

There were a lot of mosquitoes in the countryside this year, and her family always hung up mosquito nets early in the summer. Every night, they’d burn wormwood to keep the mosquitoes away. But when she was packing, she only thought about clothes and food and forgot to pack the net. However, it wouldn’t have worked anyway because the net she used at home was shared with her two younger brothers. If she took it, what would they do if they got bitten?

Wu Xiaoxiao smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I didn’t bring one either. This repellent works really well. We tried it a few times before, and it’s enough. We don’t even need the mosquito net.”

“That’s great! Xiaoxiao, following you, I’m really lucky!”