Emmett's Epoch of Endeavor Chapter 24

I worked with Master Zhang for two years and then with Lao Chen. Lao Chen is also older than me, but he is educated, well-informed, upright, and treats me very well. He was originally a staff member of Chengxiang Middle School. In the early 1960s, he was misunderstood and labeled as a counter-revolutionary. He got a carpentry and furniture company to cut lumber. The carpenter White-faced Chicken was responsible for supervising him and was very harsh on him. Once, Lao Chen was humiliated and scolded by a white-faced chicken. He couldn't bear it anymore and angrily fought back in self-defense. He punched the white-faced chicken and staggered him. He was overthinking it and went to the prison on purpose. 

Little did he know that the white-faced chicken bullied the weak and was afraid of the strong. Instead, he went to the police station to report that Lao Chen had done a good job in his transformation. Soon after, Lao Chen took off his hat. The white-faced chicken also beat me. I have little strength, weak constitution, and lack of Shaolin skills, so I cannot apply Lao Chen's valuable experience. Lao Chen joins forces with me to take care of me. He also loves to joke, so we are very happy. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. In the spring of 1973, he went to work on the circular saw to cut the boards, and I worked on packaging wooden boxes, and we broke up.

The wooden boxes were made for the Sichuan Steel File Factory in this town. They were used to pack steel files. There are many specifications of wooden boxes, including large boxes, small boxes and flat boxes. A large wooden box needs more than 160 nails, and a small one needs more than 120 nails. I nail wooden boxes very seriously and never cut corners. The quality is better than others. My wooden boxes are always exempted from inspection when they are delivered to the factory. The person in charge of inspecting wooden boxes at the steel file factory is Zhang Guojing. He was originally a small owner in Shanghai. We called him "Englishman" behind his back because he has an upright body, a slightly hooked nose, and is very serious about his work. "Englishman" later designated me to take charge of making boxes. Compared with pulling a big saw, making wooden boxes for packaging is much easier. 

Old Chen, who is good at circular saws, is responsible for supplying me with the wooden boards I need every day and never lets me stop working to wait for materials. Unfortunately, the steel file factory does not need so many wooden boxes, and "Englishman" has come to stop production many times. This made me unemployed for half a month, and my life became increasingly difficult. In the fall of 1974, my family only spent more than four yuan in 20 days. We were so frugal. We owed rent for three years. We often lived on loans and only ate kimchi for every meal. The nutrition was very poor. He Jie and I fell seriously ill many times. Chan Chan was better. She had already returned to Chengdu to live with her grandmother. Kun Kun was at home. Although he entered elementary school, he could not concentrate on his studies because he had to help me make the wooden boxes. He was also sick every month, either with a cold or abdominal pain.

Life was so difficult, and the source of the trouble was this hat on my head. In 1974, He Jie found a temporary job in Wenjiang County. She also went on a business trip to Shanghai and visited Uncle Ba Jin by the way. At his request, she visited Uncle Sha Ting again when she returned to Chengdu. But later, she lost her temporary job, probably because her husband was a "big rightist". Later, she went to work in two Sichuan opera troupes in other counties, but she couldn't stay for long. Once the officials knew that her husband was me, they rejected her. "We can't drag our husbands to death together!" I said one day. So we discussed and did something that seemed very smart at the time, but later made us regret it - we decided to divorce.