Northern Girls: Life Goes On

by Sheng Keyi

  The manager looked to be in his early thirties. He wore a white shirt and dark blue tie, looking very presentable. He gestured to Xiaohong, motioning her to sit in front of the desk so they could talk. He looked her over with a quick glance, then stopped for a second look, like someone who suddenly remembers something he left behind just as he’s about to step out of a room.

  ‘You’re very busy. I’m sorry to bother you.’ She sat across from the manager, a strained smile on her face. Mr Pan looked like a cultured man, a cut above fellows like Mr Zhuang, Mr Zhan and even the mayor. It seemed there was something in the air that affected Xiaohong, making her unconsciously slip out of her casual, Bohemian manner of speech.

  ‘Where are you working now?’ Pan smiled gently, cheeks bulging as if each had a cube of sugar tucked into it.

  ‘At the Rising Star Toy Factory. I’m from Hunan, eighteen-years-old.’ She gave the falsified age reflected on her temporary identity card, smiling the whole time she spoke.

  Looking satisfied, Mr Pan handed her a form, saying, ‘Fill this in first.’

  The application form was thorough, including a section for educational qualifications. Xiaohong wrote ‘secondary school’ in the little box then filled in the rest with more accurate information. When she’d finished, she passed it to Mr Pan with both hands, respectfully. He smiled as he glanced at it, saying, ‘Very impressive.’

  Hearing the manager’s praise was a sudden pleasant surprise. She replied, ‘Just point the way, and I’ll do my best!’

  ‘When can you start?’

  ‘Tomorrow.’

  Mr Pan called the front desk and said, ‘Huang Xing? Come to my office for a moment.’

  Almost immediately the almond-eyed girl came in, obviously quite at ease in the manager’s presence. ‘Mr Pan, is there anything you need?’

  ‘Ah Xing, your new partner, Qian Xiaohong. She’ll be working with you. Make arrangements for her to bunk in with you and Zhang Weimei.’

  ‘No problem, Sir,’ Ah Xing replied in Cantonese. Xiaohong had not expected things to go so smoothly. Tomorrow she would be in a pretty little uniform like Ah Xing’s. She had to contain herself to keep from jumping up and down with excitement.

  II

  Leaving the Qianshan Hotel, Xiaohong rushed back to the toy factory. The first thing she did was share her good news with Ah Jun. Had it not been for Ah Jun, she would never have seen the job ad and would have had to continue to put up with Runway’s showing off.

  As soon as she sat down beside Ah Jun, the girl whispered, ‘Ah Hong, Runway is furious. I think she’s reported you to the big boss.’ She continued anxiously, ‘How did it go?’

  Xiaohong winked. ‘Ah Jun, I just want to do well. Look around – do you really want to stick around in this lousy place?’

  Hearing this, Ah Jun became a little melancholy. ‘What makes you think it’s so easy to just get up and go whenever you want?’

  ‘Don’t be silly. If you don’t try, how will you know? I bet you’ve never even set out to look for something better, have you?’

  Ah Jun just shook her head.

  Just then, Runway came in and stood behind Xiaohong. Coldly, she said, ‘The director wants to see you in his office.’

  ‘Huh? What’s the big deal? Didn’t I get Ah Jun to request time off for me? Why did you report me to the director? Who do you think you are? What are you trying to prove? You think you’re any better than the rest of us? You think you’re so high-class now you can turn on us?’

  The manager had assumed Xiaohong would mumble some sort of explanation, humbly begging to be excused. She never imagined the girl could be so spiteful. All the workers on the assembly line stopped what they were doing to watch Runway’s reaction.

  ‘What are you staring at? Back to work, all of you! Don’t think I won’t dock your pay.’ Choked with anger, she swallowed and let out a fierce cry to punctuate the statement. The workers turned obediently back to their tasks. Xiaohong cast a contemptuous glance at Runway’s flat chest then turned and swaggered into the office.

  ‘Are you familiar with our factory regulations?’ The director’s face was barely visible over the top of his imposing desk.

  ‘Yes. I’ve read the manual several times.’

  ‘Then, can you tell me where you were in violation today?’

  ‘I’m not sure. I had a stomach ache and went to the hospital. I asked someone to help me apply for time off from Runway.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Um. I mean, I asked someone to help me apply for leave from the line manager.’

  ‘Do you have some evidence of your hospital visit?’

  ‘No, I forgot to ask for a doctor’s note.’

  ‘I see. According to regulation, you’ll be docked fifty yuan for being absent without approval.’

  ‘What? You’re docking me fifty yuan?’ she was furious, ‘Doesn’t matter anyway. I resign right now!’

  ‘Well, that’s up to you.’ The response was cold.

  ‘I’ve made up my mind. I quit!’

  ‘OK. Ask the line manager to come in, please.’

  ‘I won’t. You can go and get her yourself.’ She sat down, her chest knocking against the front of the desk. Taken aback, the director stood up, went to the door and waved. A moment later, Runway came in.

  ‘She’s resigned. Take her to Finance and settle her account there,’ the director said.

  ‘The first month’s wages are a deposit, which she only receives after completing six months of work. She’s got no account to settle,’ the line manager replied.

  ‘So for these twenty days I’ve worked here, I get nothing? That’s just evil! You’re a bunch of blood-suckers!’ Xiaohong stood up, boiling.

  ‘It’s factory regulation. It’s all clearly written in the manual. You said yourself that you’ve read it,’ the director said.

  ‘If everyone is like you, resigning after just twenty days of work, what happens to production?’ Runway said, not unreasonably.

  ‘You’re just a bunch of blood-suckers!’ Seeing that she was just wasting her breath, she added a feisty ‘Fuck you!’ and turned to go. As she rushed out of the office, she bumped into Ah Jun. Turning up her nose, she walked straight past her.

  Xiaohong called Dachang from a nearby pay phone. When she told him she had resigned from the toy factory, he was not at all surprised. ‘You should do whatever suits you,’ he said. ‘I knew you wouldn’t stay with a factory for very long. It’s a soulless place to work, and there’s no freedom.’

  ‘Are you two still doing OK?’ she asked cautiously.

  ‘We’re fine. You got a lot of stuff to move? I’ll come and help you.’

  ‘Yeah, that would be good. I’ll wait for you at the dorm.’

  He was there before long. Reaching into the cargo box attached to the back of his motorcycle, he drew out an object heavy as a brick. ‘This is for you.’

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘It’s the Ci Hai. You know, an encyclopaedia.’

  ‘God, it’s heavy. I can hardly lift it.’ Xiaohong took it in both hands. She’d never seen such a huge book before. When she looked at the back cover, she was startled by what she saw on the price tag. ‘Ninety-eight yuan? Oh my God! That’s expensive!’

  Dachang replied, ‘As long as you use it, it’s not too much. If you want to improve your working opportunities and if you want to live a little more comfortably in Shenzhen, you’ve got to study hard. And not just the Ci Hai.’

  ‘Yeah, OK.’ Her head was spinning.

  ‘My sister’s the same age as you. She’s studying Chinese at Zhongshan University. What I’m trying to tell you is that education can change your destiny.’

  Opening the Ci Hai, she saw words so densely packed it looked like a swarm of mosquitoes had landed on the page. ‘My God! How many years will it take me to read this?’

  Dachang laughed. ‘You’ll never finish it, not in a million years. It’s a reference book. It’ll teach you everything you ever w
ant to know. It is very useful.’

  ‘OK, I see. Let’s go now.’ She carefully tucked the book into her bag.

  ‘Xiaohong, you’re on your own here. I want you to take care of yourself. Working at a hotel, it’s easy to pick up bad habits as well.’ He put on his helmet, making his head seem abnormally large.

  ‘Zhu Ge, I’ll always remember what you’ve said.’ Her eyes were reddening.

  ‘You’re very clever and you’re young. I really believe you can make a difference.’

  What difference can I make? she wondered, climbing onto the back of the motorcycle as she mulled over his words. Can I be the big boss of a company? Will I make loads of money? Become famous?

  Confused, she felt she’d fallen into a fog. She wanted desperately to see through it, to catch sight of the landscape lying in the distance. All she knew, though, was what was right before her eyes – the Qianshan Hotel. Nothing was more real to her than its beautiful setting and the pretty uniform she would wear there.

  III

  The Qianshan Hotel was a fifteen minute walk from Li Sijiang’s house. Taking a leisurely tour of the neighbourhood, Xiaohong went to see her friend.

  ‘Sijiang.’ As soon as she reached the door, she began calling out.

  ‘Who’s there?’ Sijiang opened the door with a crash. ‘Honghong! You found your way here?’ Her apple-shaped face looked a little withered and her tiny eyes were lifeless.

  ‘Ha! Of course I did.’ Xiaohong went through the door, a big grin on her face. Sijiang’s underclothes were hung up all over the place drying. Just as Xiaohong prepared to give her friend a good ribbing about it, she saw Bud lying on the bed amidst a heap of laundry. ‘Hey Bud!’ she greeted him with a hearty laugh.

  Bud, barely managing a smile, said, ‘Have a seat. Try some peanuts.’ He pointed to a chair as he offered her a bag of nuts.

  ‘Alright. Sijiang, you don’t like those plums anymore?’ she teased. Sijiang looked anxious, and Bud’s face was inexplicably downcast. Xiaohong noticed that his nose was flat, and Sijiang seemed a little pale. Obviously something was bothering the pair of them.

  ‘Hey, I’m not disturbing you am I? I just wanted to drop in and let you know, I’m not working at the factory anymore.’

  ‘How come? Where will you go?’

  ‘The Qianshan Hotel. It’s not far from here.’

  ‘That’s great. When I’m off, I’ll drop in to see you there.’ Her voice was listless, like that of a dying hen.

  ‘You alright, Sijiang? Why do you look so down?’

  The corners of Sijiang’s mouth sagged. She tried not to cry, but the tears began to run down her face.

  ‘Bud, what’s going on? What’s wrong with her?’ Xiaohong turned to Bud, knowing this must have something to do with him.

  He stammered for a long while, as if unsure where to begin. Finally, he exhaled and said, ‘She’s gonna have a baby!’

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘Sijiang’s pregnant.’

  ‘Honghong, what am I going to do? I, oh…’ her words were lost in a flood of tears.

  ‘Aiyah! What’re you going to do? You’re going to get married and have the kid!’ Xiaohong yelled.

  ‘But… he… he’s… he’s got a wife and kid already! Oh…!’

  ‘Don’t cry, Sijiang. Bud, you really got a wife?’ Xiaohong asked suspiciously.

  He nodded.

  ‘How could you do this to her? Don’t you have a conscience?’

  ‘I, I didn’t mean to get her pregnant. She’s the one who suggested I go bareback! She said it was during her safe time and now here we are.’ Bud obviously felt himself a victim in all this.

  Xiaohong partially blamed herself. When it came to the rhythm method, she’d been Sijiang’s mentor. This was on her head.

  ‘Sijiang, what were you thinking? I told you, the safe time isn’t ever a hundred per cent safe.’

  Sijiang recited the theory like a lesson beginning to end, coming to the tearful conclusion,

  ‘What do you think you need to do, Bud?’ Xiaohong turned to the so-called man of the house.

  His flat nose twitched and his eyes were downcast. ‘There’s no other option. We’ve gotta abort it.’

  IV

  At the workers’ quarters of the Qianshan Hotel, each of the room’s three occupants had her own bed. Near the window was a writing desk that they shared. The three beds surrounded the window, forming an empty square in the centre. Draped over the mosquito nets on the outside of the beds were curtains, offering a little privacy in the sleeping areas. Hanging from Ah Xing’s bed were some stuffed toys.

  As she helped Xiaohong get settled in, Ah Xing said, ‘Tomorrow you can get a curtain to hang around your bunk.’ She was quite tall and slender. When she gestured with her hand, it almost seemed her whole body twisted with the movement. Her face was pale, with hardly a hint of colour, making Xiaohong wonder if the skin might break under even the lightest touch.

  After staring for a while, Xiaohong could not contain herself anymore. She asked, ‘Ah Xing, how come your skin is so beautiful? Aren’t you Cantonese?’

  Ah Xing smiled. ‘What do you mean? You think only you Hunan girls can be good-looking?’

  Hearing this, Xiaohong lightened up a little. ‘I didn’t mean that. But the good-looking girls from Guangdong never look Cantonese.’

  Perhaps she was used to hearing people praise her looks. For whatever reason, Ah Xing was obviously not affected.

  ‘How old are you, Ah Xing?’

  ‘Nineteen.’

  ‘I’m eighteen. What about Wu Ying? Doesn’t she live here?’

  ‘She’s twenty-five. She’s got a three-year-old kid and her husband is a supervisor in a factory. They all rent a flat somewhere.’ Pointing to the other bunk, she said, ‘She’s from Chaozhou. Her name’s Zhang Weimei. You’ll work the early shift with her tomorrow.’

  Xiaohong looked at the posters on the wall next to the third bed, a huge picture of a Hong Kong pop singer’s face staring back at her.

  ‘OK, what time do I start?’

  ‘Eight. The canteen is on the first floor. If you get up a little after seven and grab some breakfast, you should be right on time. Oh yeah, try on your uniform. I thought you’d wear a small.’

  Xiaohong took out the uniform and tried it on. It was a dark blue skirt and matching waistcoat over a white blouse with a bow at the collar. When she put on her high-heeled shoes, Ah Xing said, ‘Hey, not bad! See for yourself.’

  Xiaohong stood in front of the mirror. ‘Hm. The shoes aren’t quite right. I’ll have to buy another pair.’

  Ah Xing laughed. ‘Let me tell you a bedtime story… once upon a time, there was a man who bought some elegant new pyjamas. When he got home, he found that his slippers didn’t go with the pyjamas, so he bought a new pair. After a couple of days, he decided that the carpet in his house was rather old, so he changed that too. And then, he finally realised that the whole house was even more worn, so he decided to upgrade to a new place as well. You see all the hassle a new pair of pyjamas can cause?’

  Xiaohong chuckled and said, ‘What? You mean he didn’t trade his wife in too? Anyway, I just want to buy a new pair of shoes. These are old. They may give the whole outfit a bad name.’ She turned back and forth in front of the mirror, as if seeing herself for the first time.

  ‘Ah Xing, you think I look alright?’

  Ah Xing smiled at her and said, ‘Xiaohong, didn’t you hear me praise you just now? You look great and you know it.’

  ‘I’m too short. If I was as tall as you, it’d be just right.’

  ‘Napoleon wasn’t tall and he did alright for himself.’

  Xiaohong looked blank at the reference.

  ‘Na-po-le-on. I’ll tell you about him later. I want to listen to my programme now.’ She turned on the radio. A woman’s voice spoke seductively, asking to dedicate a song to her ex-boyfriend.

  ‘That’s cool. How do you request a song?’ Xiaohong asked as s
he took off her uniform.

  ‘Just call the station. There’s a hotline. We called once. It took about a month before we finally got through. It was a lot of fun.’

  Listening to Ah Xing, she felt her new colleague sounded pretty cultured, like someone who had some education.

  V

  Zhang Weimei had a rather depressing countenance. When she laughed, her already prominent cheekbones rose even higher. Her eyes were not very large, but were cunning like a rat’s. New pimples constantly appeared on her skin, creating a rather mind-boggling pattern. Not too short, her figure did provide a small amount of compensation. Unfortunately, she had wide hip bones, covered with plenty of flesh, making her look like a much older woman when seen from behind. At the same time, she wore her hair in a short, girlish style. She was a bundle of contradictions and the conflict between them was intense.

  All of this, however, did no damage to Zhang Weimei’s healthy sense of self-esteem. When Xiaohong greeted her in the morning, she glanced up without any show of feeling, nor did she have anything to say. At the reception desk, there was a small mirror hanging on the wall. When she was free, she would look at it and dab at her lipstick or poke at the corner of her eye. On the lobby’s left side, there was a Western café. The Chinese restaurant was on the second floor, and the rooms occupied the third through ninth storeys. Weimei had been working here for some time and was familiar with everyone who came in and out. Xiaohong just followed her lead, smiling all day until she felt her face would freeze in that expression.

  ‘Any vacancies?’ A fat man with dark skin came into the lobby, a girl following in his wake.

  ‘Sorry, can you speak Mandarin?’ He had used Cantonese and Xiaohong hadn’t understood.

  ‘Bugger off! Where do you come from, anyway? I’ve been talking like this for decades! Where do you get off asking me to change now?’ His voice was thick and he stared at her with cloudy eyes. Xiaohong had no clue how to engage in this battle.