“That’s right, that’s right.” The director nodded. “But we also feel sorry for you. Because you’re too young and not a formal employee, you can’t be evaluated for Quality Advanced Model. We discussed it and decided to just give you a bonus this year—two hundred yuan. Consider it encouragement, and we hope you’ll continue to perform well next year. Then we’ll sign a formal contract with you.”

“Huh…?” I could hardly believe my ears.

Just by working conscientiously every day… I could actually get two hundred yuan?

That was half a month’s wages for me!

The director took an envelope from his drawer, placed it on the desk, and pushed it forward.

I swallowed and reached out to receive it. Opening it up, sure enough, there were two delightful gray bills.

“Thank… thank you, Director Fang.” I said.

“You’re welcome.” After the director finished speaking, a smile appeared on his face again, and he said, “Oh right, there’s another matter… I see you’ve been quite close with Zhang Mantuan…”

“Ah?” After hearing this, the money in my hand almost fell to the ground. I hastily said, “No… no, I… I need to explain this…”

“Aiya!” The director was amused by me. “What are you afraid of? This isn’t school. No one’s going to control whether you date or not.”

“But… but I…”

“I just want to remind you.” The director said. “Whether you two can make it work or not… in the factory you still need to prioritize work.”

I didn’t quite understand what the director meant.

“If you can make it work, that’s best. I’ll give gift money when you get married. But…” After the director finished speaking, he shook his head. “I’ve also seen many people date in the factory, then after breaking up they act like enemies, quarreling whenever they meet, and there are even those who both resign… I just feel that your work ability is very excellent. Don’t go down this path that would disappoint me.”

…

I had always put my focus on work, and I really didn’t want to disappoint him.

What else could I do? For so long I hadn’t done anything, but Mantuan just liked coming to talk to me.

I knew Mantuan and I weren’t enemies, so every time I would just answer him with “mm” and “okay.”

Should I not even answer now?

Wouldn’t that be even stranger… Clearly nothing had happened between Mantuan and me, yet we’d have to not speak like enemies.

Mantuan was making me restless and confused, but I really didn’t know what to do.

The only thing that comforted me was that non-existent “Quality Advanced Model.”

This represented that all the things I did could be seen by leadership. When I turned eighteen, I could become permanent and get a raise.

This kind of life continued for another month. I discovered the atmosphere in the factory didn’t seem as happy as before.

Because I gradually discovered that other girls seemed to have developed hostility toward me.

During their chats they would casually mock me. If I showed unhappiness, they would say they were joking.

If I pretended not to hear, their words would become even more unpleasant.

After a long time I finally discovered that all of this wasn’t because I had done something, but because of Mantuan.

His enthusiasm and goodwill were step by step turning me into the enemy of many girls.

But the carefree Mantuan never cared about these things. He would just come to my line every day to tell me about his recent work experiences.

“Tiantian, why do you always not talk to me?” Mantuan asked.

“I… don’t talk much.”

“No wonder I love chatting with you.” Mantuan said with a smile. “I talk a lot, very much.”

“Mm.”

He chatted intermittently about the difficulties he had assembling gears, and from time to time mentioned his family. He said his mother wanted to arrange blind dates for him, but he didn’t like any of those girls.

Speaking of this, he paused and asked me: “Tiantian, do you have a boy you like?”

The movements in my hands paused. I raised my head to look at him: “…No.”

“Oh…” He nodded, seemingly wanting to say something, but the words reached his mouth and he swallowed them back down.

He and I fell into a very awkward atmosphere. In the end he could only find an excuse to hastily leave, but the next day he came over to talk to me as if nothing had happened.

That faint hostility coming from all directions was still there. The uneasy feeling in my heart also never went away.

But I could never have imagined that the disaster star that would ultimately shatter my life would be neither Mantuan nor those girls.

But rather a stranger who had nothing to do with me.

That day I was on the line with my head down assembling copper bells. Just as I was preparing to fix the clapper to the bell wall, I suddenly felt someone pull my shoulder hard.

Although my relationship with the sisters on the line had gradually grown distant, they rarely pulled at me while working. This kind of action could cause errors in the other person’s work, so few people did it.

I was pulled by this enormous force, and the copper bell fell onto the conveyor belt. Before I had time to see who was pulling me, I first reached out to take the copper bell down.

Otherwise if a defective product was passed to the next stage, my pass rate would drop.

After retrieving the copper bell, I turned my head back with slight anger to look at the person who pulled me.

It was a woman in her forties with dyed blonde hair. She was very fat, wearing thick powder, dressed in a black tight-fitting outfit that squeezed her fat into layers upon layers.

Behind her stood several fierce-looking men.

Before I could open my mouth to ask anything, she suddenly clenched her teeth and swung her arm wide to give me a huge slap.

“Smack!”

I was slapped by this strike until I didn’t know what was happening, nearly falling onto the assembly line.

The girls around had long noticed this menacing group of people. Seeing me get hit, they instantly became chaotic.

In the commotion, someone shouted: “Tiantian’s been hit!”

Many girls who usually mocked me quickly stood up. Several even blocked in front of me. Their faces showed fear as they stammered: “Who are you?! Why are you randomly hitting people?!”

“Get lost!!” The fat woman roared.

Her roar seemed to be some kind of command. The several men behind her rushed forward and pushed aside the few people in front, then came forward and grabbed me.

The girls felt that things seemed really bad. In the chaos I heard someone say “quickly go to Mantuan’s area and call the boys over.”

Next I was completely stunned. I only remember countless slaps beginning to rain down on my face, hitting me until my mouth was full of the taste of blood.

Two men grabbed my two arms respectively. I couldn’t move at all, only closing my eyes to dodge, but no matter where I dodged, those slaps would always hit me.

In my panic I don’t know where the strength came from. I directly extended my leg and kicked the woman’s stomach, nearly kicking her to the ground.

I thought this could stop her attack, but unexpectedly it completely enraged her.

“You dare fight back?!”

What followed was even more crazy beating. Not only was she hitting me, but several men beside her were also hitting me. I really didn’t know why this was happening… What unforgivable thing had I actually done?

Soon, a large group of people from the factory’s security department came. Mantuan also led a group of boys running over from the assembly line. They seemed to think there was a fight to be had, all holding iron pipes in their hands.

“What! What!” Mantuan roared, waving the iron pipe to force back the several people in front, blocking in front of me. “What’s going on?! What are you doing?!”

The security department people also hastily roared and held down two of the men. The scene became incomparably chaotic for a moment, as if everyone in the entire factory had come.

Everyone stood together as if facing a great enemy, but in front of them was merely one fat woman and four men.