It is not easy to work in a cotton mill, and there are many requirements in all aspects. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoFortunately, my conditions are barely met. I just turned 16, which is the minimum age required by the factory, and after providing the natural conditions such as my place of birth and family environment, the factory preliminarily approved my application. Just to be specific, I still need to go through two weeks of training before I can officially start the job. And for these two weeks, there is no salary to be paid. Thinking that there was still some food at home, and that the factory could provide a meal, I gritted my teeth and agreed. But the most important thing is that I have to find a foreman in the factory as my guarantor, and Sister Yun is not qualified to do this.

"I can introduce my foreman to you, but it's just ......" Sister Yun hesitated: "He wants to receive gifts." If you don't give him some favor, he will generally not help him. However, if you are literate and hyphenated, you can talk to him well and say something nice, and he may not be able to break this example. ”

The foreman surnamed Huang mentioned by Sister Yun has been working in this factory for more than ten years, and he is an old oilman and a local snake. Sister Yun brought me to Foreman Huang and said all the good things with a smile on her face. And the one surnamed Huang just pinched his teeth and said without smiling: "Ah Yun, you think I'm too easy to talk, right?" There are also risks associated with vouching for someone! What can a little girl at this age do? If something happens to me if I don't do a good job, I'll lose all my old face for half my life! Today, even if she takes out ten dollars and puts it in front of me, I may not agree to be her guarantor. Are you embarrassed to lie to me and agree? ”

He said this so hard and loud that I hid behind Sister Yun, only feeling that my face was hot, biting my lip, and I couldn't spit out a word.

Sister Yun hated the iron and twisted me, dragged me in front of her, and still said with a smile: "Huangtou, I know that you are benevolent and righteous, who else can you find if you don't ask for help with this favor?" She is the only one left in her house now, and she has already eaten the last meal without the next meal, and she really can't get anything. Don't worry, when you get paid, the first one will definitely be yours. Even if it is the New Year's holiday in the future, she will not forget you! ”

The foreman was reclining on the doorframe with his whole body weight propped up on one leg, and the other leg stretched out widely, drawing circles on the ground with his foot. At this time, my eyes lit up. He straightened up, took a step forward, squinted his eyes and looked me up and down, stretched out his tongue and licked his dry lips, and said, "Such a weak little girl, she is still so beautiful, why do you have to mix in with you rough girls?" It's bad to do something? With that, he stretched out his rough hand and touched my face.

I was caught off guard, screamed in fright, retreated again and again, and hid behind Sister Yun, my heart pounding. Sister Yun was busy protecting me, but she was also afraid that the foreman would be angry, so she said from Zhongyuan: "She is a child and has never seen the world. I'm here to be able to eat. ”

The foreman rolled his eyes and asked, "You just said she is literate?" ”

"yes." Sister Yun felt that things had taken a turn for the better, and hurriedly said: "There is still a year to graduate from middle school, and she is a famous female talent in our area." ”

"Hmm." The foreman nodded, pondering, "Sixteen...... Well, too! He smiled and said, "I'm going to be this good guy today!" Okay, I'll vouch for her! ”

When I heard this, I hesitated. Sister Yun pinched me and gave me a look. I hurriedly lowered my head and said, "Thank you Huangtou, thank you Huangtou!" ”

The foreman just laughed twice, coughed, spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm, and turned away.

When I couldn't see him anymore, Sister Yun snorted fiercely in the direction he left, and comforted me: "You don't have to be wronged, but he agreed today." Remember, don't be left alone, beware of this old rascal! As for what will happen in the future, let's take a step at a time. Don't worry, Sister Yun will never let you suffer. It's really not good, it's a big deal, let's not do it again. Those who have hands and feet will not starve to death anywhere! ”

"I know. Thank you, Sister Yun. Holding back my nausea, I took out my handkerchief and wiped it on the spot that the man had touched. When Sister Yun saw it, she couldn't help but sigh.

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When I entered the factory, I realized that the work was not as simple as I had imagined. The work of the whole factory is divided into seven parts: cotton cleaning, silk, sliver, roving, spinning, shaking yarn, and cotton picking, and there are more than 1,600 people in the factory, and more than half of them are female workers, mostly concentrated in the four departments of cotton sliver, roving, spinning and cotton picking.

As for the female workers who are recruited, those who are guaranteed by a foreman like me are relatively good in terms of freedom and treatment, while those who are recruited from the rural areas around Shanghai to provide accommodation and the training workers who are under centralized management are much stricter in terms of management system. Of course, sometimes when the factory has an urgent task, it will also recruit some temporary workers.

The start went surprisingly well. The training period passed quickly. The training supervisor saw that I learned things quickly, and saw that I was poor, so he deliberately shortened my training period to one week.

The working time of our factory implements the "38 system", that is, the eight-hour work system, and the daily work is divided into three shifts, each shift works for eight hours.

Sister Yun said that the situation in our factory is the best, and many factories implement a two-shift system, and each shift has to work 12 hours in a row.

I work from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Every morning, as the whistle blew, I and other workers waited in line outside the factory. A lot of people yawn and are half-asleep.

When working, it is necessary to stand all the time to operate the machine in the workshop. At the end of the day, the soles of my feet and ankles were swollen. The two hands need to be busy constantly, and the brain must not be slack, because if there is a little slippage, there will be a problem with the line pipe. I repeated the monotonous work every day, watching the spindle tube rotate in the constant roar of the machine, and watching the cotton yarn like a white snake, as if it had life, automatically tightly wrapped around the pipe wall. Sometimes, looking at it, a little hope is born out of despair.

Physical exertion is not the hardest for me. The most unbearable thing is that the pitiful sunlight that comes in through the few windows of the factory is blocked by the world's big machines. The workshop is airtight and air-circulating. Hundreds of workers were huddled together, and the steam, gas, and carbonic acid of the machine were mixed with the sour smell of sweat emitted from people's bodies, and the moisture and stench were overwhelming, making people almost sick.

At first, I held my breath and tried to breathe through my mouth. I think after a long time, I will eventually get used to it. Every day when I leave the factory, the first thing I do is to take a breath of fresh air. I've never thought it would be nice to be outside and breathe as I want.

But just as I gritted my teeth and slowly overcame all the difficulties, what I had been worrying about happened.