Chapter 5

“Yu, is the city really lively?” Qiaomei asked curiously as she pedaled her bike. “I heard people don’t even need to sleep at night because lights are on everywhere.”

Yu Shiying looked at the farmland that flew by on both sides and replied softly, “The city is quite lively. I’ll take you to see the night view of Hangzhou when I have the chance.”

“That’s so embarrassing. Besides, I’m afraid I won’t have a chance.”

Yu Shiying felt that Qiaomei’s words were full of hidden meaning, but since it was only the first time they met, she didn’t dare to ask her further.

Qiaomei pedaled the bike with great effort, beads of sweat oozing from her forehead and her cheeks flushed from the exertion.

Yu Shiying felt a little guilty and said, “Qiaomei, why don’t I get off and walk? It must be tiring for you to ride alone.”

“It’s okay, I’m not tired. We’re almost there.” Qiaomei shook her head and continued pedaling hard.

However, at this moment, the bicycle suddenly made a sharp sound and the chain broke.

Qiaomei stopped the car, squatted down, and checked the chain. Her brows were furrowed, and she sighed helplessly: “This… the chain broke at the critical moment.”

“It seems that it can’t be repaired. I can only walk back to the city to find a place to repair the car.” Qiaomei looked up at Yu Shiying with an apologetic tone.

Yu Shiying felt embarrassed. If it weren’t for her carrying a 50-kilogram person, Qiaomei’s bicycle chain might not have broken.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Let’s walk to school together. There’s a bicycle repair shop near the school. You can come back after you’ve fixed it.”

The two of them pushed their bicycles and walked slowly along the muddy path, chatting casually.

“Qiaomei, how old are you this year?” Yu Shiying asked.

“I’m seventeen.” Qiaomei replied.

“Why, you’re a year younger than me. Have you stopped going to school?”

“I stopped going to school after graduating from junior high school because my family couldn’t afford it.”

Qiaomei’s voice became low, and she couldn’t help crying when she mentioned her family.

Qiaomei’s surname is Yang, and her name is Yang Qiaomei. Her family has been from Sanping Village for generations.

Qiaomei’s father broke his leg while cutting firewood in the mountains a few years ago. Now he can’t do heavy work and the pain is severe when it gets cold.

My mother worked as a seamstress in a nearby garment factory. Her eyesight was almost failing and she didn’t earn much.

I have a younger brother at home. When he was a child, he got sick and took the wrong medicine, and he became deaf and also needs someone to take care of him.

As Qiaomei spoke, her voice began to crackle with tears, but her little face was filled with a strong smile.

“But I believe things will get better soon. Aunt Li from the next village recommended me to work in a factory in the south. I heard I can earn several hundred yuan a month.”

Is a few hundred yuan a month a lot of money?

It’s certainly not much in modern times, but in 1990, the average monthly salary of Chinese workers was only 178 yuan. The several hundred yuan that Qiaomei mentioned is probably the salary level of a high-level engineer.

Ever since the old man drew a circle on the edge of the South China Sea, Shenzhen in the south has entered the fast lane of rapid development.

There are already many bosses in the south who have become rich first. They have opened factories and are engaged in OEM production of electrical appliances and clothing. They really need a lot of female workers to sell their labor on the assembly line day after day.

But how can a young girl like Qiaomei, who graduated from junior high school, has no skills, no special abilities, no experience, and can’t speak English, get a salary of several hundred yuan a month?

Yu Shiying listened silently and asked doubtfully, “Has the Aunt Li you’re talking about ever taken someone out to work before?”

Yu Shiying wanted to ask Qiaomei if she was reliable, but then she thought Qiaomei was honest and might not be able to see through the surface.

It’s no wonder that Yu Shiying thinks too much of people. People’s hearts are hidden, and some people are used to putting on a show.

Even in modern society with a sound legal system, there are still people who lure people to other places with high salaries, which is actually a pyramid scheme. Or even worse, they directly trick people into going to Ganyaozi in northern Myanmar.

Nowadays in the 90s, human traffickers are rampant.

Young laborers were forced to work illegally. If they were young girls, they were often sold to poor mountain villages as wives or to dance halls as hostesses.

Qiaomei is a down-to-earth girl who has never traveled far. She might be cheated and still be counting money for others.

“Aunt Li has taken two sisters from the next village to work outside before. I heard that they send a lot of money home every month.” Qiaomei’s answer was filled with longing.

“Are all the girls who go out to work with Aunt Li young and pretty?”

“Well, I’ve met one of the sisters before. She’s a very beautiful woman in the whole area. She went with Aunt Li because her family was poor. I never thought that working outside would really give her a good life.”

“Then do you know what kind of business these hackers do?”

“I have no idea.”

Qiaomei really couldn’t answer the question. Her family and Aunt Li had no relationship. When Aunt Li came back to her hometown during the Chinese New Year, she said she would take her to work. She was so happy that she didn’t even have time to ask so many questions.

It’s so simple that it’s completely defenseless.

Yu Shiying felt that Aunt Li was probably not a decent person and advised, “If you go to the south to work, what will happen to your family? Didn’t you say your brother needs someone to take care of him?”

“Actually, my parents didn’t agree with me going. They felt that life at home was OK, and there was no need for a girl to leave home to work somewhere else.”

“So… you want to go yourself?”

Qiaomei hesitated to speak, for she was afraid that if she told Yu Shiying, she would misunderstand her as a money-loving person.

If Yu Shiying knew what Qiaomei was thinking, she would definitely roll her eyes.

What’s wrong with loving money? Who doesn’t? It’s just that a gentleman should earn money in a proper way. If you love money, you should earn it through legitimate means. Don’t risk your entire life for a little bit of money.

“Actually, the South isn’t as good as you think. You’re out there alone. If, I mean if, you get bullied, there’s no one to help you.”

Yu Shiying wanted to persuade Qiaomei to stay, so she said what she thought was the mildest words. After all, she didn’t know what kind of job Aunt Li introduced was, and she didn’t want to put a psychological burden on Qiaomei to prevent her from having wild thoughts.

Unexpectedly, Qiaomei burst into tears. While wiping her tears, she said, “Sister Yu, you are so kind. You are worried that I will be bullied. But…but my family really needs money.”

It turned out that one day Qiaomei accidentally heard her parents sighing in the room, saying that a special education school had opened in Hangzhou and they wanted to send her younger brother to learn some skills so that he could be self-reliant in the future and no longer have to drag her down.

But our family is extremely poor and even daily expenses are stretched thin. How can we have the spare money to send my younger brother to school?

And her mother’s eyes always hurt, and her vision is a little blurry. I’m afraid she won’t be able to work in the factory for long.

When Yu Shiying saw Qiaomei’s red eyes, she really wanted to help this kind-hearted girl.