Chapter 7

“You follow Mr. Liu and head to the factory.”

“The rest of you can stay for the second round interview.”

How could this happen?

I stepped forward, asking excitedly, “Manager, why? Please look at my resume, my grades are excellent, I’ve won many awards, and my spoken English is pretty good…”

She glanced at my resume and said indifferently, “But you graduated from Secondary Vocational School. The minimum requirement for our office is a bachelor’s degree. If you were exceptionally outstanding, I could fight for you even if you had an associate degree.”

“Secondary Vocational School,” she paused, “is simply too low…”

I fell from the high tower of hope, crashing and bruised all over.

My ears buzzed, and in the blur I heard her say, “You follow Mr. Liu. If you perform well, you might be promoted to team leader.”

The Senior Schoolmate made it to the second round.

When she left with the HR Manager, she gave me a meaningful look.

That day, when I returned, a torrential rain was pouring down.

I was drenched like a drowned rat, crying my heart out in the rain.

Why is it that no matter how hard I try, I still can’t get that stepping stone?

Unwilling to give up, I tried many other companies.

Without exception, I was rejected by all of them.

One company was very direct.

“If we have to choose between a chicken head and a phoenix tail, we’ll always pick the phoenix tail.”

When my parents found out, they tried to comfort me: “Isn’t everyone like this? Take it slow, as long as you have a job and can earn money, that’s enough.”

Aunt even mocked me: “I’ve said it before, Secondary Vocational School graduates are useless these days. All that studying was for nothing.”

If my fate is destined to be on the assembly line, then were the past two years of hard work really all for nothing?

My roommate noticed my mood and dragged me to a movie.

The movie ticket was a bargain, only five yuan.

At the cinema entrance, I ran into the Senior Schoolmate.

Her appearance was completely different from before, exuding the aura of a professional woman.

She smiled at me, “I’ve broken up with Zhao Liang. In the end, he and I are just from different worlds.”

“If you want to catch up to me,” she shook the coffee in her hand, “then go to university first, Secondary Vocational School girl!”

Go to university.

Can I still go to university?

I was lost, and since it was the busy farming season at home, I went back to my hometown.

I met Xiangxiang.

She was pregnant, and her wedding was in three days.

But she wouldn’t even turn 18 for another two months.

I attended her wedding.

She stood there with her big belly, her messy black hair piled atop her head.

The red gauze dress bulged high, cheap lipstick smudged by tea, spreading red at the corners of her mouth.

I asked her, “Is your husband good to you?”

She supported her heavy belly and smiled, “He works at the same factory as me. We just ended up sleeping together, and now there’s a child. What’s there to say about good or bad?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to dye your hair back then?”

“He won’t let me. Says messy hair makes me look like a bar hostess.”

After the banquet, it started raining.

The summer downpour lashed my face mercilessly.

I braved the wind and rain, walking faster and faster.

I was so scared.

Would Xiangxiang’s present be my future?

If I surrender to fate and become just another screw on the assembly line, will I soon come back with a belly, get married, and muddle through the rest of my life?

I trudged home through the mud, pushed open the creaking gate, and shouted, “Dad, Mom, I want to go to university!”

The main room was full of people.

My parents must have just come back from the fields, their legs still covered in mud.

Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, Aunt, and a pair of unfamiliar mother and son were also there.

That mother and son were distant relatives from Aunt’s side of the family.

The son was twenty-four, looking a bit simple-minded.

In the countryside, that’s considered an older bachelor.

Aunt wanted to arrange a marriage between us.

Grandma heard me say I wanted to go to university and scolded me, saying I must be out of my mind.

Aunt tried to smooth things over: “Xiaxia, did you drink just now? What nonsense are you talking about?”

“My nephew’s family is doing very well, just built a new house. You’re my own niece, of course I think of you for good things.”

“Yes, yes, we can offer a dowry of thirty thousand!” Aunt, dressed in crimson, laughed. “You don’t even need to prepare a trousseau.”

Grandma beamed, “You look like a good person. You’ll definitely treat my granddaughter well. My granddaughter is quite capable…”

Aunt looked me up and down, “Just a bit too skinny. When it comes time to have kids, you might suffer.”

“Da Qiang isn’t young anymore. I think we should get engaged on the eighteenth of this month, let the two kids go to Guangdong to work together and build their relationship, and then get married by the end of the year.”