Chapter 1369: Zhang Lijuan

Holding a very formal dismissal letter and a brand new envelope containing 1,400 yuan, I returned home in a daze.

The 1,000 yuan was the price for selling my grievances, and the 400 yuan was for selling my labor.

In the end, I never saw the day of a wage increase.

Pushing open the courtyard gate, just like in the past, Dad was sitting in the yard smoking a rolled cigarette, and Mom was in the corner fiddling with a few ears of corn.

Seeing me return, their expressions froze in surprise.

Mom's hair was disheveled, her eyes bloodshot, and even the wrinkles on Dad's face had deepened.

Our three pairs of eyes met, and we understood without a word.

My situation had already become the talk of the entire village. After all, the young men and women in the workshop were all from nearby villages, and my parents had endured endless harassment.

Now, everyone knew I was Fang Zhuren's mistress, except I was the only one oblivious to it.

By now, they didn't need to guess anymore—my guilt was practically confirmed.

Fang Zhuren had been transferred away, and just three days later, I was fired.

If you only look at the outcome and not the process... what could be more convincing than that?

Something that seems utterly absurd wouldn't be believed even if explained, let alone something that appears perfectly reasonable.

So, I had no need to explain anything. Those invisible walls had always been there, now nearly separating me from my family as well.

I gave my parents a bitter smile and handed them the envelope.

"Dad, Mom, a straight body fears no crooked shadow... right?"

They didn't say another word and just lowered their heads.

A straight body might be fearless, but what about when the crooked shadow spreads everywhere?

They could no longer see my upright self—all they saw was that overwhelming shadow.

I still had a full year until I turned eighteen. For others, they might just tough it out at home for that year, but not me. By the time I came of age, Liang Wa would be one year closer to his own end.

I was waiting for my coming-of-age ceremony, but he was waiting for his funeral.

In the days that followed, I went alone to the town to look for work, but the regulations for underage employees seemed strict. All I could find were short-term jobs lasting three to five days, earning just over ten yuan in that time.

The rest of the time, I helped out at home. Dad rode his tricycle around the village collecting dirty clothes, and Mom and I washed them—one piece for a fen, so we could earn a few yuan in a day.

Finally, two months later, at the town's job market, I overheard people talking about a newly opened electronics factory in a farther town that was hiring. It offered room and board, a monthly wage of 350 yuan, and various subsidies.

Although the news wasn't entirely clear to me, I decided to check it out. I used the public phone at a roadside store to notify my family, then boarded a long-distance bus to the other town.

Things went smoother than I imagined. There really was a new electronics factory in the neighboring town hiring workers. I'd never heard of an electronics factory before and had no idea what they produced, but I still went to the recruitment office, picked up a form, and carefully filled it out on the roadside. To increase my chances of passing the interview, I changed my age to eighteen.

To avoid any bad luck, I solemnly wrote "Zhang Tiantian" in the name section.

I really hoped that the eighteen-year-old Zhang Tiantian could bring me some good fortune.

The factory seemed desperate for people, and they said they'd give interview results that very afternoon, so I sat by the roadside waiting all day.

When the recruitment manager called out "Zhang Tiantian," I nearly jumped out of my skin, but I'd been sitting there so long that my legs were numb, and I stumbled a few steps before steadying myself.

"Here!" I shouted to the recruitment manager.

"You're Zhang Tiantian?" The person, looking exhausted, glanced at me among the crowd. "Come with me. The rest of you don't need to wait—recruitment ends for today. Be early tomorrow."

A bit flustered, I followed her inside, along with some others who had also passed.

I had to admit, even though we entered through the back door, this electronics factory was much larger than the clock factory I'd worked at before. The floors were coated with shiny green paint, and there was a very distinctive smell.

The manager led us through the massive workshop and up to a corridor on the second floor.

"Time is limited—you go through this door." She then pointed to me and another door. "Zhang Tiantian, you go through this one."

I didn't dare ask questions and just pushed the door open into the office.

It was a makeshift interview room, with a sign on the desk that read "Interviewer."

I was a little confused. Hadn't I already passed the initial screening? What was this for?

"Zhang Tiantian?" The interviewer looked up at me—it was a woman in her forties or fifties. She seemed to have interviewed many people that day and looked particularly tired.

"Yes."

"You passed the initial interview, right?" she said. "I see you've worked on assembly lines before, so you have experience. This is just the final interview—it's basically a formality, so don't be nervous. Our factory is newly established and has a bunch of orders, so we're hiring a lot. If you passed the first round, you're pretty much in."

"Oh... okay..."

"Do you have your ID card?"

"I do." I started to answer, but then suddenly thought better of it. "No... I don't."

"Hmm?" She paused and looked up at me. "No ID card? How can you start work without it? We need a copy on file."

"I..."

"Forget it, just bring it tomorrow and I'll have it copied," she said. "It's all just following procedure anyway."

I knew that even if I brought my ID card tomorrow, I wasn't eighteen yet.

But what could I do now?

If I hadn't faked my age, I wouldn't have even gotten to see the interviewer.

"Sis... can I ask about the wages at the factory?" I asked.

"The pay is nothing to worry about," the interviewer said while tidying her desk. "Base salary of 380 yuan, plus room and board, three types of insurance, extra pay based on actual orders each month, seasonal subsidies for winter and summer, and if you're assigned to departments involving chemicals, we'll provide masks and hazardous work subsidies. Our boss has many factories, so we have all the standard benefits."

Even though I didn't understand a lot of that, I knew the take-home pay would be more than 380 yuan each month.

This was probably my only chance.

But how could I cover up the issue with my age?

I was only a few months away from turning eighteen, but by then, a job this good might not still be available.

I'd been working in society for two years and seen all sorts of people and things—was there any experience that could help me get through this?

There was.

The one thing that had stuck with me over these two years was that any situation that seemed unreasonable could be turned into a transaction.

The interviewer seemed to notice something off about me. She looked up suspiciously and asked, "What's wrong? Not satisfied with the pay?"

"No..." I hesitated, then pulled my ID card from my pocket and slowly handed it to her. "Sis, here's my ID card."

She took it, puzzled, and looked it over, quickly furrowing her brow.

"Ah? This won't do..."

As she looked up, her gaze met the gray 100-yuan bill in my hand.

"Sis... could you do me a favor?"