This is fate

Author: Jin Shengxian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: The Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery Factory is located in Dongfang Town, a picturesque ancient town in the Jiangnan region. It was founded in the early days of the liberation. At first, it was just a small room along the street with three or five people, repairing small agricultural tools for the farmers around. Later, it built a few simple sheds and took on some processing jobs, with the number of employees increasing to thirty or forty. Eventually, it constructed high walls around the premises and built several rows of workshops, purchased machines like lathes, drilling machines, planers, and milling machines. It recruited workers in batches, and the number of employees exceeded two hundred, making it a well-established people's commune-owned factory. This was because it was the era of the people's communes.
Whenever you stepped into the Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery Factory, a smell of oil and iron filled the air, accompanied by the sound of hammering and clanging, and the sight of worn-out machines. The workers there were usually covered in oil stains, with black hands and faces smudged with grease. However, in the assembly workshop, there was one exception—Li Meizhen.
Li Meizhen was exceptionally beautiful. She had a narrow face with a pair of large, dark, and bright eyes, a well-proportioned nose, and a distinctively shaped mouth. Though not small and delicate like a cherry blossom mouth, her lips held great charm, and a small, not-too-prominent mole on her upper lip drew attention. Li Meizhen was always impeccably dressed and well-maintained. At over forty, her skin remained smooth and rosy. She wore short hair just above her ears, neatly combed and perfectly tidy. She always dressed in clothes that fit her perfectly, highlighting her tall, full, and graceful figure. She came to the dirty and grease-stained factory every day in clean attire, full of energy, and after changing into her work uniform, she wore a work cap. Her work uniform was also spotlessly clean, and she wore her soft cap with precision, giving it an artistic touch.
Although Li Meizhen was just an assembly worker with a screwdriver, among the carefree and untidy laborers, she stood out like a swan among chickens! In fact, there were many beautiful and well-featured women in the Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery Factory, but none of them possessed Li Meizhen's aura. She was beautiful in whatever she wore, beautiful in whatever she did, and beautiful wherever she went. Everyone who passed by couldn’t help but take a second look and strike up a conversation with her. This was the difference between Li Meizhen and others. Many people in the factory were infatuated with Li Meizhen, and many female workers tried to study how she dressed and maintained herself. However, the factory and workshop leaders repeatedly warned them to stay away from her! This was because Li Meizhen’s husband, Ling Yongsheng, was originally a teacher at Dongfang Middle School but was labeled a "rightist" during the Anti-Rightist Campaign in 1957 and was arrested and sentenced. Although he has served his sentence, he remains in a labor camp for reform. Due to this, in that time and era, who would dare to associate too closely with someone with a troubled past? As a result, people could only admire Li Meizhen from afar, afraid of getting burned by her.
Because of her family situation, Li Meizhen was cautious in her dealings and polite to everyone. She paid great attention to her interactions with others, occasionally making light-hearted jokes with her colleagues, always bringing joy to those around her and never speaking ill of others. However, wherever Li Meizhen was, the atmosphere was always lively, as if the air itself offered a sense of beauty. Li Meizhen was also generous and kind-hearted. Sometimes, she would bring clothes that her children had outgrown but were still in good condition to give to her colleagues' children. At that time, everyone lived modestly, and she would often share her delicious homemade dishes with her colleagues in lunch boxes. During breaks, she was always busy. If her colleagues’ hair grew long, they would come to her for a trim. Back then, people favored simplicity, so a haircut that was just the right length was enough. On many days, when she left work, her synthetic leather bag would be filled with fabrics given to her by colleagues. At home, she would either help one colleague cut clothes or make a pair of shoe uppers for another. Her hands were incredibly skilled, and the clothes and shoe uppers she made were always perfect.
Li Meizhen’s cautious nature and her kindness to others made everyone who interacted with her unable to find fault with her, even though they knew she was the wife of a person with a troubled past. No one had anything bad to say about her, and no one wanted to cause trouble with her. However, in the Dongfeng Factory’s medical clinic, there was a doctor named Xu Xiuying who was particularly nosy. Xu Xiuying was also considered quite beautiful. She had a fair and delicate face, a medium height, well-proportioned features, and her hair was often oiled to make it shiny, with a faint, feminine fragrance lingering around her. Many people speculated that Xu Xiuying had the favor of the already elderly factory director. The director would often visit the medical clinic, whether for something or nothing, almost daily. Once, the two of them closed the door and stayed inside for over two hours, doing who knew what—naturally, no one knew.
Xu Xiuying was also the subject of much gossip for another reason: she loved to talk about others, especially excelling at pointing out their flaws in subtle ways. She had a habit of discovering "new truths" when others weren’t looking. Perhaps an ugly or average person wouldn’t dare to compare themselves to Li Meizhen, but Xu Xiuying was full of herself and always fixated on Li Meizhen. Li Meizhen, though self-aware and careful in her words and actions, sometimes found herself helpless in certain situations, becoming a lamb being led to the slaughter.
P1-3