preface
In June 2010, I failed to enter the senior high school after graduating from junior high school. In August, after I had been working in the county vocational school for four months, my teacher took us to work in a factory in Changshu, Jiangsu province. I couldn’t go on, so I went to Shenzhen. More than two years later, I returned to Zhejiang and worked in a factory making flashlights, which is where I am now working. In this small factory, most of the workers are minors, early marriage and early childbearing is a very common phenomenon. In the evening, after work, I used to write in my diary about the girls in the factory — for fear of forgetting them. Now I organize their daily life into stories to let more people know the living conditions of these underage girls in the factory.
15 years old pregnant woman, forgotten by everyone in the hospital
One day three years ago, a girl dressed in black came to the factory. Luo Mengni, a workmate, asked me mysteriously: “Do you know how old she is?”
“I don’t know.”
“Fifteen.”
“Oh.” I’m not surprised.
Luo Meng Ni half smiles ground to continue to say: “She is pregnant.”
“What? Pregnant?” I said.
“Well, two months pregnant, you can’t tell. The man sitting at the front installing the switch is her husband.”
I turned my head to look at the girl. There was no worry or joy in her young face. It was normal. She sat in the empty seat, absorbed in her mobile phone.
She was not pretty, but she was hardly ugly. She was five feet tall and her eyes were blinking and her eyes were sunken as if they were filled with tears. The eyebrows are tattooed, but they’re not pretty, they look like two black bugs. His nose was hurt somehow, and he was clinging to a small piece of white gauze with a trace of blood on it, and his thick lips were covered with bright red lipstick, and his hair was tied high in braids, with two red bows tied on it.
After some time, I learned that her name was Wu Yexia and her husband was Li Dingyong, both of whom were from Guizhou.
Since Li Dingyong took Wu Yexia to the hospital to check out the pregnancy, wu Yexia was not allowed to work. It is obvious that for Wu Yexia, she is happy now. Although she does not go to work, every day after breakfast, she would slowly nibble an apple and follow Li Dingyong to the factory, probably staying alone in the rented house bored.
One night when Luo mengni was working overtime, Wu Yaxia, just like before, skipped to sit beside her, just like a child.
Probably because they’re about the same age and they get on well.
“Ye Xia, how do you know Li Dingyong?” Luo Meng Ni uses that kind of gossip tone to Say to Wu Yexia.
“I was in the fifth grade at that time. One day after school, Li Dingyong’s mother met me on the way and told me, ‘Don’t go to school, it’s not fun, go to work with me and I’ll buy you new clothes and shoes,'” Wu said with a straight face.
“And you went out with her?” Luo Mengni stopped the screwdriver in his hand and looked at her in surprise.
“Li Dingyong was here at that time. That day, his mother gave me 30 yuan and bought a lot of snacks for me. I’ve never had so much money. So many snacks, have never seen, let alone eat. I said I wanted to go out with her, and she said I could, but if my family asked, I would say I had forced myself out with her. Then my dad called me back, but I didn’t know how, so I didn’t go back. When I first came here, I had no place to live and no money. Li Dingyong’s mother told me to live with him. I had no one I knew except them, so I had to live with him.
“Ah. How many children do you have?” Ronnie asked with a sigh.
“Four. I have two sisters and a brother, and both sisters are married. Well, so am I! You have a younger brother at school. What about your family?” Wu yexia asked.
“And I have a brother.” Luo Meng ni said.
Wu’s belly is getting bigger. She’s a little clumsy, but she’s agile compared to other pregnant women. Sometimes she would accompany Li Dingyong to work, li Dingyong work, she sat beside guard, as if this man is all she is afraid of him flying general.
Once, because her belly was so big, she fell down as soon as she sat down and burst into tears. Li Dingyong has no reaction, just bow to continue to do the work in the hands.
Most of the people in this factory are li Dingyong’s fellow villagers and relatives. Elongate is Li Dingyong’s uncle, short. I heard that he and his wife had been at the factory for nearly 16 years. Seniority was power, and he was the head of the assembly line.
One night he suddenly said, “You have tonight off. You don’t need to work overtime.”
I asked the worker in front why she didn’t work overtime. She said, “They want to accompany Xiaoxia to have a baby.”
“It has something to do with Wu Yexia. She’ll be proud enough to go and have the baby, as if the whole factory were going to have a baby…” The workers mumbled their way out of the shift.
Luo Mengni took me to the hospital to accompany Wu Yexia to give birth.
We all lined up in front of the delivery room, a tall child doctor said: “The baby, to the ID card ah, give me the ID card can enter the delivery room.
Li Dingyong anxiously rummaged in the backpack, rummaged for a long time, finally turned to Wu Yexia’s ID card, handed it to Wu Yexia. Wu is covering her stomach with her left hand and handing her ID card to the doctor with her right. This is the only time she has shown any discomfort since she was pregnant.
The doctor open big eyes to see id card, “you first stand out, is this your ID card?”
Wu said, “Yes, what’s wrong?”
The doctor say: “you again look for, whether take wrong ID card?”
Li Dingyong stood nearby and said, “Doctor, this is really her ID card.”
The doctor is surprised, “What, she got pregnant at 15! Where’s her mother?”
Li Dingyong bowed his head. “Her mother is not here.”
The doctor said again, “How did you get pregnant at such a young age? Has the baby’s father come yet?”
Wu Pointed to Li Dingyong and said to the doctor, “That’s him.”
The doctor said, “Do you have a marriage license? “Technically, a hospital cannot accept a pregnant woman giving birth without a marriage certificate, not just in our hospital, but in many hospitals.”
Li Dingyong still lowered his head and whispered: “We haven’t got a marriage certificate yet.”
The doctor looked at Wu Yexia and said, “Little girl, what do you want me to say about you? Only 15 years old, look at heartache, you go first.” We all waited in silence outside the delivery room.
Li dingyong’s mother rushed from her hometown to Zhejiang province to see her grandson. Although she was dizzy with carsickness, she was obviously very excited.
The workmates who came with her commented, “Such a young lady, who did not have a banquet or a bride price, gave her a few bowls of rice to eat, then went with her son, and now she is pregnant with her grandson, that’s all it takes to make her dizzy.”
“That is, my son looks not so good and has no skills. If it were not for Wu Yexia, I would never know if any woman would marry him in my life, let alone my grandson.”
More than three hours later, the doctor came out of the delivery room with the baby in his arms. Aunt May reached out to pick him up and the doctor said, “It’s a girl.” She immediately withdrew her hand as if the child were a time bomb.
“What’s the matter? Don’t put your hand out until you hold it.” ‘snapped the doctor.
His mother did not speak, but Li Dingyong from the hands of the doctor carefully took the child, comfort way: “nothing, the girl is the same.” She turned to look at his mother, she had turned her head away, did not look at the child. With a lot of flesh missing from his plump face and those ferocious eyes, the atmosphere was downright embarrassing.
We didn’t stay long at the hospital, thinking we had to work tomorrow. Just walked out of the hospital door, Li Dingyong’s aunt suddenly shouted: “Xiao Xia?” They were all very surprised that they had forgotten Wu Yexia when they were just looking at the child. Only his mother did not respond, coldly said in the side, “she is not unfamiliar with this place, she will come back.”
“How can you be a mother-in-law like that?” Li Dingyong contradicted him.
Now, his mother was really angry, pointing at Li Dingyong, roared: “At the beginning, she came to sleep with you by herself. It’s also my fault that I gave her food and clothes. What else do you expect? Besides, she’s your wife, haven’t you forgotten?”
Li Dingyong turned around and handed the child to aunt holding, he walked into the hospital. After a while he called and said, let everyone go back first, that Xiaoxia is not well, tomorrow morning to return. His mother was even more angry, loudly said: “someone’s daughter-in-law gave birth to a child is not after leave, my daughter-in-law is so delicate, raise her fat, also said her health is not good.”
During that time, Li Dingyong his mother every person said, he found a fortune-teller in his hometown calculate very accurate person, fortune-teller said, absolutely is a grandson, but was born is a girl, a few days she directly bought a ticket to go back.
After Wu gave birth to her child, Li took her to another factory.
When I saw her again last year, she was the mother of two children, the second a girl. Hearing of this, her mother-in-law was so angry that she had to stay in hospital.
No one wants to get married at seventeen. I just want to be free
Meimei and I don’t work in the same workshop, but When we get off work, I always meet her at the head of the stairs. She often asks me whether my workshop is busy and what kind of products it is making now.
A few months later, when I met her at the top of the stairs, her face looked gaunt. As the stairs were a little high, she had to hold on to the handrail to get down slowly. A few months later, she had a baby.
One day, As I was sitting on my bed reading, Meimei opened my door with her baby in her arms and said awkwardly, “Oh! Wrong way.” And then turned to leave.
I hastened to say: “It’s all right, sit on the stool.” She walked into the room, put the baby down and asked me, “Why are you reading when you’re not in school?”
I said it was boring. I just wanted to pass the time.
She asked me why I wasn’t with my boyfriend. I said I didn’t have a boyfriend. She tried to introduce me, and I laughed and said, “Forget it. I don’t want to get married.”
The United States did not read the second day of work out. At that time, the neighbor’s daughter out of work, every month to send money back, neighbors aunt chat, always show off his daughter and sent her how much money back, also said, the girl is white to raise, for study is to help others for, maybe later also do not recognize you, as early as possible to let them go out to earn money, is real.
Meimei knew that her parents expected her to work like the neighbor’s children, although they did not say so.
At that time, Meimei did not need to live in school, also do not need living expenses, study does not need how much money, drop out of school just to make money for her parents. She said that she had a younger brother, and that her parents wanted him to read, not her.
One year, when my aunt came home from Zhejiang province for a holiday, her father asked her to go out with her aunt to earn money. Meimei went out and lived with her aunt. Her father also asked her aunt to take care of her bank card. Every month, in addition to living expenses and rent, all the remaining money was sent back to her parents, not even for clothes and snacks.
I asked Meimei why she didn’t rent a house by herself, live with her aunt or work in the same factory, and get her own salary. She said she had her ID card with her aunt and she wouldn’t give it back.
Then, with a mysterious look on her face, she asked, “How old do you think I am?”
I said, “Eighteen?”
“Seventeen,” she said. No one wants to get married at seventeen.”
I said, “Well, why do you want it?”
“I want to be free. I don’t want to live like that. You know, when I’m with my sister-in-law, We never go home for Chinese New Year. Every time before Chinese New Year, my father called me and said I could go back only when my aunt returned. But my aunt’s family are here, and of course she’s not coming back.”
“You can go back by yourself?”
“How can I get back if she doesn’t give me the fare and my id card? I had planned to quietly deposit one or two hundred yuan every month, and then go to other places, not with them, but I pay every month how much salary, my father knows, will not give me the extra money, let alone save, give not enough. I thought if I married a man, my father wouldn’t ask me for money, but still.”
“I was with Shi Yun (Meimei’s husband). They both gave my parents 80,000 yuan and they called to ask for it. We were going to have a wedding this year, but my parents threw a monkey wrench into our plans. As you know, this factory has not been busy at all this year. The income of my father-in-law and his three family members is less than three hundred yuan a day, and they have to pay the water, electricity and sanitation fees every month. Moreover, they have a baby this year, so they cannot save any money at all.”
“Once, I heard Shi Yun make a loud phone call. He said, ‘You don’t work, you don’t have money at all. It’s not that you don’t have money to give them, but you should call your father or mother. I remember hearing her husband on the phone once.
“Yes, at first they called me. I was so angry that I scolded them and then hung up the phone.”
Then there was another time, I saw meimei left hand holding the phone, right hand hit the table, loudly shouted: “I take baby, no work, really no money, is not the money not to you!” Then conveniently hit the phone on the ground, the child in one side scared straight cry, she did not go to comfort the child, oneself sat on the ground also cried.
No one wants to get married at seventeen
Luo Meng ni’s mother, Si Cui, also works in the factory with us and lives in the factory dormitory. Sicui and Meimei are fellow villagers, and we often come and go in daily life.
Si Cui is a very economical person, every time she goes to work to remind her daughter Luo Mengni, “don’t turn on the light during the day, the electricity bill is very expensive.” We lived in a factory dormitory, but the workers had to pay for the utilities themselves. The Windows of the dormitory are so small that it is dark even in the daytime.
Meimei was also a thrifty person, but her child always cried in the room without light. In winter, it was cold outside, so she turned off the lights of her house. She took the child to Luo Mengni’s house and found that the lights of her house were also turned off.
She said to Luo Meng Ni: “My child is afraid of the dark.” Then he turned on the light. The first time and the second time Luo Meng ni also did not say anything, later more times, Luo Meng Ni told her mother, said Meimei took the child to their house, turn on their lights.
Because of this matter, one day, Four emerald green stand outside the door the United States scolded the whole morning, the father-in-law of the United States still do not know why four emerald green scold the United States.
Before this matter, as long as the United States beautiful go to four emerald green house, four emerald green often entertain her to eat snack fruit, after this matter, four emerald green also no longer give. Meimei knew they did not welcome her and did not go.
One day after work, it was getting dark. I saw Shi Yun’s brother, Shi Wu, running in front of me, while his mother was chasing him and wiping away tears. When I asked Her about it, She said: “It’s not that shameless.”
“Which shameless one?”
“The one with the baby.”
Knowing she was talking about Meimei, I asked, “Is something wrong with Meimei?”
The emerald green say: “what can she happen, her own man have no money, she go to take his brother’s money, this woman really fine, I know she is not a good thing, even somebody else’s password she know.”
Originally, The husband Of the United States, Shi Yun, went to work for three days to fish and two days to dry the net. If it were not for his parents, his salary would not be enough for his own use. Meimei to take the children have to need money, they are not even a penny of pocket money. Every year, the girls around have changed into new styles of clothes, beautiful can only look at the eyes, a face of envy.
She knew That Shiwu was good to his girlfriend, occasionally learned that his girlfriend’s birthday, on the chance to lose the bank card password, who knows it is really touched the right. As for how she got the bank card, no one knows.
The day after Meimei “stole” the money, Shiwu moved out.
When her father-in-law, Shi Neng, asked mei Mei where the money had gone, she pointed to two new clothes on the bed and said, “I bought these two clothes and sent the rest to my mother.”
Sheeran said, “You know what? Shi Wu saved the money to get married this year. We have agreed to live separately, you and Shi Yun you spend yours. From now on, I’ll pay you back with the money I earn.”
The first day after they separated, Shi Yun did not go to work, Meimei also did not take care of the children, her mother-in-law can not go on, cooked a meal, or as usual called them to eat together.
A 14-year-old girl eating instant noodles
Most workers on an assembly line would do it with their eyes closed. Do the same thing over and over again, like a nightmare without end. All of us are the same. A broken finger is painful at first, but at last it grows numb and no longer hurts.
However, only Luo Meng Ni’s finger has not been numb, has been in pain.
Sitting in the last seat of the assembly line, Luo Mengni sniffed quietly as she worked. Then she said to her workmate, “I really want to jump into the sea. I don’t want to die.
“Go on, I’ll never pull you.” The workmate jokingly replied to her.
After work, I asked Luo Meng Ni: “are you today not to go back to eat? You’ve lost weight recently, and you were a little fatter when you first arrived, but now you don’t look very energetic.”
Luo Meng ni said: “my mother changed the night shift again.”
“What’s wrong with the night shift? Has it anything to do with your meals?”
“My mother said that if she worked the night shift, she would tell me not to go back to eat. She would sleep during the day. I would disturb her sleep and she would doze off at night.”
There was a snack bar next to the factory. When Sicui turned the night shift, Luo Mengni went to the snack bar to buy a bucket of instant noodles and put them on the table in the factory. Si Cui shifts to a night shift every other month, and Luo Mengni eats instant noodles every other month.
Once, my induction cooker was broken, I went to buy instant noodles, and Luo Mengni eat together. “It’s not bad. It’s quite fragrant.” I said.
Luo Mengni frowned and answered, “You don’t often eat, I eat every day, are tired of eating. Sometimes it makes me want to throw up. Instant noodles are probably the thing I hate the most in my life.”
“There’s a fast food restaurant out there. Why don’t you go get some food? If you don’t know how to buy it, I’ll take you there tomorrow.”
“I talked to my mom about it, and she said fast food was too expensive, so I had to sit through it and come home for dinner in the afternoon.”
Two days later, payday came. Luo Meng Ni said happily, this is the second salary after she entered the factory, 1,700 yuan, “than the first time more than 200 yuan more!”
After seven o ‘clock in the evening, Sicui walked quickly to our workshop and stood beside Luo Mengni and said, “Mengni, where is the money?” Luo Mengni put down the goods in the hand, left hand from the mouth of the pants bag carefully took out the money, handed to The Emerald Green. Emerald green reached for the money, folded it up, put it in her pocket, and walked off happily.
Luo Mengni was brought up by her grandparents. Her parents had been working outside and had not returned home. By the time they got home, Luo Had already graduated from primary school.
They returned home just as high school was about to start, Ms. Luo said. Her parents took her to her grandmother’s house, and when the time for school registration was over, she went back to her grandparents’ house, as if to miss it on purpose. She did not mention going to school after she got home.
Later, her classmates went to her and persuaded Her to let Luo Mengni go to school. Sicui said that Luo Mengni was not obedient and that if she ran away with the boys in the school, what would happen? Dream ni also wants to continue to go to school, advised for a long time, Four emerald green just reluctantly promise.
But when it came time to leave for school, She refused to pay any tuition.
Later, She said that she wanted Luo Mengni to work together with her to help her earn some money and build a second floor of their house and then decorate it again. After saying this, Luo concluded, “You know what, it’s all a conspiracy.”
I asked: “You are still a minor, how to enter the factory?”
“You don’t know that my mother took me to look for the factory for five whole days, but they didn’t want me. They said that every year the top people would check the factory strictly. I could stay here because my mother had worked here for many years. My mother told the boss that she would not come to work if I was not allowed to enter the factory, and the boss agreed. The boss said that if someone from above came to inspect the factory, he would inform me in advance and I would rest during the inspection before returning to work.”
Ningbo is the base area that four emerald green works, still be familiar with than his hometown, the daughter that only adolescence lets her hurt head.
Luo Meng ni’s personality is cheerful, in the factory and everyone to chat. When she first came, Luo Mengni fell in love with a boy on the assembly line, but the boy didn’t like her. She still went to find someone else every day. Then something happened at the boy’s house and he went back to Guizhou.
Before long, Luo Mengni liked a packaging department called Li Hu workers, whenever the assembly line ran out of goods, she went to help Li Hu packaging. Later, Li Hu said to us, “I never thought that this little girl would still like me.” But during the New Year, Li Hu quit work again.
A few days later, Luo Meng ni and the wang SAN on the assembly line fell in love. Elongate is the uncle of Wang SAN, since luo Meng Ni and Wang SAN fall in love, elongate luo Meng Ni take care of especially on the job. Wang SAN often bought some candy to the factory to luo Meng Ni to eat, in the summer, but also always go to the canteen to buy drinks and popsicles for her.
At that time, Sicui’s neighbor Zhi Hua was dating a 50-year-old man, and She often talked about others behind their backs. On one occasion, I went to the press room to get a bag, heard The emerald green and workmates said zhi Hua. That night, the two had a fight in the computer room. The reason is zhi spends in order to revenge four emerald green gossiping everywhere, say with workmates, every time four emerald green on the night shift, Luo Mengni is outside, sleep with the man. Four emerald green spirit however, then with zhi hua dozen rise.
The next day I go to work, see emerald green wash clothes under the tap, black and blue, did not have long to quit work.
Four cui quit work that day, the manager comes to ask Luo Mengni: “how old are you this year?” Luo Meng Ni say: “14.” The manager immediately said, “Someone from above has come to check that you can’t work here. Tidy up and go to the finance department to get paid.” Luo meng ni sat motionless, the manager left, elongated to luo meng ni said: “must act young? Can’t you tell her you’re seventeen?”
Since then, Luo Meng Ni also did not come back to work.
Situi and Luo Mengni still live next door to me. One day I went to play with Luo Mengni. When I saw Her alone at home, I asked her about Luo Mengni and she said, “I went to a clothing store to sell clothes.
Si Cui says she wants the cross embroider that she is doing on her hand to finish embroider, just go out to look for a job, I saw her cross embroider and sample chart, what embroider is a huge 100 birds pay for the phoenix, if embroider every day, still want two months at least.
She also said proudly that luo Mengni earned all the money she spent now.
After a few days of holiday in the factory, Luo Mengni asked me to go shopping with her, she was just ready to change clothes, trousers pocket of money on the show, was seen by the Emerald green. Emerald green hand wants to take, Luo Mengni stands up to flash immediately, Emerald green didn’t get money, fluster ground say: “pay salary also don’t say with Lao Tze, take come over.”
“That’s what I paid for in advance.”
“Even those you support.”
Luo Mengni this just don’t the feeling don’t want ground to take money out, hand four emerald green, four emerald green return chattering: “you see luo Zhuzhu home that two sisters, their home so big house, all be the money that they two work to build, do you think you give me of much very?”
Ronnie didn’t want to listen to her long speech. She tugged at me and said, “Let’s go out and play.” After going out she said she did not go shopping, no money. I said I lent it to her, and she said her mother knew she was going to be scolded.
Later on one occasion, I went to the vegetable market to buy food with Sicui. On the way back, I saw Luo Mengni and Wang SAN walking around hand in hand, but I didn’t see us. The next morning, after most of the workmates had gone to work, Emerald green beat Luo Mengni to tears.
The house that we live is sound-proof very bad, I hear distinctly 4 Cui scold luo Mengni: “are you still with Wang 3 together? Didn’t I tell you not to stay with him, to look for something offensive, but to look for a miao (offensive). Did you really not come back to bed when I worked the night shift?”
Luo Meng Ni cried and said: “I promised to marry him.”
“You’re a rotten bitch,” she said. “You’re worse than cows and horses and beasts. I always thought it was a fake. There you go. He doesn’t have a house.”
Luo Meng Ni say: “at the beginning which call you don’t let me read?”
“It is because you are not obedient that You are not allowed to read, you want to read you go back to read, anyway I said first, I have no money for you.”
Luo Meng Ni cried all the time.
After some time, Sicui cooked a pot of chicken and asked me to eat it. I said I had eaten, but I wanted to talk to Luo Mengni.
As soon as I entered the room, I saw a group of guests came to The house, carrying many gifts, including a strange boy dressed neatly in a suit, who looked seventeen or eighteen years old. It turns out they’re all here to propose. After dinner they left, While washing dishes, Emerald green said to me that just now the boy is Luo Meng Ni’s fiance, Luo Meng Ni has moved to live with him.
Later, Luo Mengni gave birth to a child, Four emerald green request boy took Luo Mengni to return home to do a banquet — even if “true meaning” on the marriage, that year, she also only 15 years old.
I never saw her again.
(The characters are not real names.)
Recent Comments