February 9th
I woke up at six o’clock today. It was very cold, so cold that I didn’t want to go out, but in order not to be late on my first day of work, I still left after washing up and eating the instant noodles I cooked myself. I walked for about an hour before reaching the industrial park, then spent another half hour using my phone’s map to locate the toy factory where I was about to work.
At 7:30, I entered the factory, led by the foreman who was already waiting for me. We entered a different kind of charcoal shed made of wooden boards and materials, not the one I remembered being for packaging and handling, as previously agreed. After the foreman demonstrated how to place the wood and flip it for the worker who looked to be in his fifties or sixties (I’m not very sure of his age, his hair was a bit white but most of it was black), he used a spray gun-like device connected to what seemed to be a gas tank to carbonize the wood. The process produced a very foul and choking smell, which I really disliked. Then he walked away without telling me about the factory’s rules or discipline, but I thought I had to be cautious to ensure my wages would be paid normally.
That old worker was very kind to me. At first, I was clumsy, slow at handling and placing the wood (once the foreman came to inspect and saw me like that, he said there were many orders today, and that I and the old worker needed to handle the carbonized wood, or I would be fined 20 yuan for being lazy). But the old worker didn’t criticize me; instead, he patiently taught me how to flip the wood more efficiently. He also asked why I looked so young and why I was working so early, thinking I was still a student. I told him it was because my dad liked to gamble, and I didn’t want to stay in that family, so I wanted to earn enough money to move out and live independently, cutting ties with them.
Hearing this, he suddenly got a bit emotional and praised me, then said some words in a local dialect that I couldn’t fully understand, but I guessed he was scolding my rebellious father.
Then I kept working, handling and placing the wood. Because I hadn’t worked for a long time before, I soon started to feel pain in my soles, back, and waist. To prepare for future independence, I had to endure it silently, hoping for noon to arrive. During this time, I kept my thermos cup closed to avoid inhaling too much sawdust and dust, which I feared would harm my health. My lips became very dry and cracked, painful and bleeding slightly, but since the bleeding was minor, I didn’t pay much attention.
At 11:30, I finally got a break. Because I had spent a lot of energy handling and flipping the wood earlier, I was very hungry. I remembered that the factory provided food but not accommodation. When I entered, I didn’t see any large place like a cafeteria, so I asked the old worker. He smiled and said the boss wouldn’t spend so much money to feed us well, then took me to a large wooden table (quite dirty, blackened) where I received a metal box containing some raw rice and water, mixed with dried salty vegetables and two thin slices of white radish (which I estimated to be finer than what I cut at home). I felt a bit disappointed, wondering how this could fill me up. I asked if I could add more rice and meat, and he said yes, but it would cost 3 to 5 yuan, and the amount would be small—just a spoonful of rice, two or three slices of meat, and a bit more rice. (Yes, you read that right, only a spoonful of rice with a regular iron spoon). I was very angry upon hearing this, feeling that this greedy factory didn’t treat workers like humans, making us do so much physical labor but only giving us such little food, which also seemed unhygienic (later, I even found sand in my food, forcing me to spit out a large mouthful in frustration). I seriously considered running out of the factory or confronting the foreman, but I remembered I was under 18 and leaving without a plan would leave me nowhere to work. Without money, how could I leave this uncomfortable and distressing family environment? Moreover, if I questioned the foreman, I wouldn’t have any legal knowledge or evidence to argue properly, and I would be helpless. So I restrained myself, didn’t act impulsively or make irresponsible remarks, and only cursed under my breath, “Damn it,” and gave up.
Following the old worker’s instructions, I placed the metal box into a steamer, took it out after about ten minutes, rinsed it with cold water, and then used chopsticks to eat.
Because I had exerted a lot of energy in the morning, even though the food wasn’t good, I finished it all.
Originally, I was supposed to start work at 1:30, but the foreman said there were many orders today, and since we are the only source of carbonized wood for others’ processing and packaging, we had to start earlier than others. I checked my phone and saw it was only 12:14. The supposed 8-hour workday with 2 hours of rest was just a joke; it could be adjusted freely according to the factory’s needs. To ensure my salary of over 3,000 yuan next month wouldn’t be cut, I had no choice but to obey the factory’s arrangements, endure the pain, and continue handling, placing, and flipping the wood after the old worker finished his tasks.
During this period, I was fined 10 yuan for exceeding the 5-minute limit for bathroom breaks (the foreman never told me about factory rules). Near the end of the day, I asked the old worker about this. He said he was a formal worker and there were no such rules for him, only temporary workers like me had them. He also said that if I worked continuously for more than thirty days (the factory has no weekly or monthly rest, only statutory holidays, which I overheard during lunch conversations among workers and a transporter and the foreman, and found that even statutory holidays might be heavily cut), and if I violated discipline no more than ten times during that period, I could become a formal worker. Since it was almost time to leave, I was eager to escape this factory that treated workers like machines with no rest. I didn’t care much about discipline or the 10 yuan fine. I also hadn’t fully reformed my mindset or changed my parasitic attitude (thinking I was still dependent on my family for food and didn’t need to worry about money, so 10 yuan was nothing, I could just ask my parents for a 10-yuan bill). I still felt some dissatisfaction and anger.
Actually, whether to ask clearly about the factory’s discipline mainly depends on the specific situation of the factory you enter. If I were to discuss this matter based on my own experience, I think it’s better to understand some better practices. Sometimes, “not knowing” can be used as a reason to protest against penalties for violating factory discipline, such as “I simply didn’t know these rules, it’s unreasonable for you to fine me.” But this only works once, and sometimes black intermediaries, foremen, or line leaders won’t explain this logic to workers. They believe that if rules are broken, they are broken; historically, workers come to work to follow these rules.
Moreover, in some cases, workers not understanding the factory’s discipline is a very disadvantageous condition, especially when there are no clear rules within the factory and everything relies on verbal admonitions and fines from line leaders, foremen, etc. At such times, it’s better to ask the other party to give clear reasons and rules than to do nothing because you don’t know anything. Understanding the factory’s discipline has no real impact on whether you can get paid or not, in terms of labor law. The law stipulates that any labor should be paid. This can be used to fight against those unreasonable foremen or line leaders who deduct wages arbitrarily.
As for the situation where “I know the factory’s rules, but I violated them for some reason and was punished by the line leader or foreman,” what should be done? In the name of labor law, as long as this situation does not conform to the “legal procedures” stipulated by the law, it can still be protested. In fact, the disciplinary rules and norms existing in the factory in written form, such as the “Factory Regulations,” “Employee Code of Conduct,” etc., require legal procedures to have legal effect. These can generally be divided into the following types:
- Is the formulation of the “Employee Code of Conduct” reasonable? This can be judged by the legal department.
- Has the “Employee Code of Conduct” been approved through democratic decision-making and public disclosure? That is, with union approval, voting, and posted notices for employees to learn.
- Have employees confirmed and signed the “Employee Code of Conduct”? Do both parties have signatures or seals, and are employees promptly notified of updates after revisions?
For example, if you are fined for exceeding the time limit in the bathroom, this is actually completely unreasonable, and it’s a penalty for violating discipline by the factory owner. For such behavior, you can protest to the other party and use the articles and procedures in labor law that are favorable to workers’ defense to put yourself in a favorable position. The three points above are generally used in court to counter the other party’s arguments. In reality, for people like your foreman, you can adopt more flexible methods, such as questioning whether they have told you about this discipline at all, or pointing out that this discipline is completely unreasonable.
Next time, make better preparations before going to work, to avoid not having water to drink. Also, when the foreman tries to bully you, you should fight back, but do so reasonably, ensuring it is justified, advantageous, and measured. It’s best to exploit his conflicts with others to jointly deal with him. Of course, regarding fines, you can leave a backup plan, because he is violating the law. When you resign, you can report him to the labor inspection team or go for labor arbitration. I estimate that this factory may also violate other parts of labor law, such as whether a labor contract was signed, whether there was prior notice of dismissal, and whether the reasons for dismissal are reasonable. All these can become advantageous conditions for you to launch an attack when you leave.
That’s how it is, so when working and communicating with some foremen, you must be prepared in the end, such as recording and secretly taking photos of some basic documents. This makes it easier to sue the factory at the labor department after leaving the job.
February 10
Woke up before six in the morning, my whole body was sore, especially the area from my waist to my thighs, touching it was extremely painful (especially when I was sitting), which greatly affected my normal activities. I didn’t want to get up at first, thinking I’d lie in bed a bit longer and wait for the alarm to ring, then I would get up, so I just lay back down. But before I could feel sleepy, the alarm went off.
I had no choice; I had to go to work, so I endured the pain to wash up. I didn’t cook breakfast myself, just ate some bread casually to get by, then headed out on foot to the factory.
Because the slight movement while walking caused severe pain in my waist and back, I walked very slowly. Just before 7:55, close to the start of work, I arrived at the charcoal kiln shed, where some experienced workers were already there moving wood in preparation for the next charcoal process.
He saw I just arrived and said I was lucky I wasn’t late; if I had been, I would have violated the discipline again. Without waiting for me to ask about the specific rules (which only apply to temporary workers), he told me himself: no more than five minutes for the bathroom during work hours, no tardiness or early leaving, and no phone use during work hours. Violating these rules results in a deduction of wages, the amount of which is decided by the foreman (the sand coin foreman, I earn 15 yuan per hour, and yesterday he deducted nearly an hour’s wages from me).
Today, I was using a pink water cup (my mom bought it earlier but never used it; it’s not a thermos, so I asked her for it), and the experienced worker joked that it must be my girlfriend’s cup. I denied it, saying how could that be, I’ve never been in a relationship since I was a kid. He didn’t say anything more, just smiled and went back to work. I also started helping to move and arrange the wood.
Today’s order was much smaller than yesterday’s, so the morning work was lighter. The foreman didn’t circle around us like yesterday. Although my feet, waist, and back still hurt, it wasn’t unbearable anymore. (I’ve even gotten somewhat used to the pain.)
At exactly 11:30, I finished work. I followed the experienced worker to get the iron box and found that today’s food was not pickled vegetables and radish, but a couple of strips of kelp and radish together. I don’t know why the meal was better today, but maybe I was overthinking it. However, it turned out I was right. During lunch, I chatted with a young worker named Jiang (we just call him Jiang), who was involved in packaging. From a casual chat with the experienced worker later, I learned that after the capitalist who owns this factory came for a tour today, he hypocritically told the food supervisor that workers are so tired from working hard, so they should improve the food. (This bastard, who never does any labor and is just a parasite living off us workers’ blood, stealing our labor成果 and pretending to be noble! Taking away our成果 and acting as if he’s doing us a favor—what a joke!)
I complained to Jiang that kelp is only about as long as my middle finger, how is that an “improvement” in food? Plus, it seemed they didn’t add any salt, so the food had no taste. Jiang agreed with me, saying this factory is really damn shady, and that the boss is just pretending, thinking we don’t know who owns this factory. Hypocritical!
After eating, I went to the second floor to use the bathroom. When I returned, I unexpectedly saw a blue sign: “Must wear dust masks while working.” I suddenly panicked, worried that if I didn’t wear a mask or protective clothing, I might get lung disease from working here long-term. When I got back to the shed, I told the experienced worker about my worries. He comforted me, saying it’s okay. The factory has machines to clean sawdust and dust, so working without protective gear or masks isn’t a problem. He also said he’s worked in many toy factories locally for over ten years, and some had no dust-cleaning machines at all. He worked there for a long time and still had no issues. Hearing this, I relaxed a bit and stopped overthinking.
Then we chatted casually (about the origins of other workers in the factory, what we like to cook at home, and other trivial topics), probably just for a few minutes.
After chatting, we each sat on chairs to rest. I was about to open the electronic version of the Brief World History to read until 1:30 (the usual start time for the afternoon shift), but the foreman came over and said there were more orders, so we had to start working immediately. (I checked the time—12:44, about half an hour later than yesterday, so that was okay.) I then went to move wood and started working.
The afternoon work went smoothly, with no mistakes or notable events.
February 11
Got up at six, washed up, ate dry粉 (fen)干吃, then walked to the factory. Arrived around 7:30. I had already搬运 (banyun) and arranged the wood in advance, sat on a chair, checked the time, it was 7:53. I felt bored, casually flipped through some e-books (Concise World History and Ancient Chinese History), not reading deeply.
Not long after, the老工人 (lao gongren) — I learned his surname was Fang during a chat at noon, so I’ll call him Lao Fang — arrived. Seeing I had already arranged the wood, he said, “You’re faster today.” I said, “After working two days straight, I’m getting familiar with it.” I also said I felt that after a few more days, I could form muscle memory. It was already 8 o’clock, so he didn’t say much and started carbonizing. I also began flipping the wood that he had already carbonized. Because my身体状况 (shen ti zhuang kuang) was much better today (in a couple of days, I should fully adapt to this high-intensity work without sitting down to rest), I was faster at arranging and flipping. Usually, right after Lao Fang finished carbonizing a piece, I would flip it.
The freshly carbonized wood was very hot. I often got burned because I was too fast. Lao Fang kept advising me, “Why rush so much? Even if we finish carbonizing the wood early, the factory won’t let us leave early.” I listened to him, and after he finished three or four pieces, I started working.
This morning’s work was much easier because there weren’t many orders today and I was initially adapting to the process. I felt pretty good all morning. However, if it weren’t for the狂吠 (kuang fei) of that black dog, I would have been even better:
I was搬运 (banyun) wood outside the shed when suddenly a black dog about the size of a Teddy (breed unknown) ran to my side. I looked at it, and it looked at me. The dog was still quite well-behaved, just showing警惕 (jing ti) and not barking wildly. I relaxed, carrying the wood to go into the shed, but unexpectedly, the dog suddenly started barking at me. I glanced in its direction and saw the工头 (gong tou) appear beside it. The dog then神经 (shen jing) — like it was going crazy — blocking my way back. Thinking the工头 was there, I didn’t want to put down the wood and do unrelated things, and I also didn’t want to delay work over a dog, so I绕 (rao) around it. The dog then追 (zhui) me again, coming in front of me. I忍 (ren) the anger,绕 (rao) again, but it kept追 (chase). After three or four rounds, I couldn’t忍 (ren) anymore. I抱 (bao) the wood with my left hand, took a stick with my right hand, and挥 (hui) at the dog to驱赶 (qu gan) it away. The工头 saw me挥 (hui) the wood and thought I was打 (da) the dog. (Later, after chatting with Lao Fang, I learned that this dog was brought to the factory by the工头.) He hurriedly呵斥 (he chi) me, saying, “How can you虐待 (nuè dài) animals?” I replied, “Good dog, don’t挡道 (dang dao).” The dog kept挡 (dang) my way, and if we delayed the carbonization, what about the factory orders? The工头 didn’t say anything to反驳 (fan bo), just瞪 (deng) me fiercely. I也 (ye) stared back at him, then stopped paying attention to the dog and went back to work in the棚房 (peng fang). (Like a human dog and a dog-like human, really bad luck!)
At 11:30, we took a break. Lunch was the same as the first day: radish with salted vegetables. Still, I didn’t wait for the 1:30 scheduled time, nor did I manage to look at Concise World History for more than twenty minutes. At 12:37, because orders increased again, we started working早 (zao) again.
In the afternoon, there was nothing worth mentioning — just rushing orders. By 6 o’clock, we didn’t leave on time. The工头 (gong tou) said we still needed to carbonize a batch of底板 (di ban) wood. I then volunteered to work for another half hour without pay (by then, most other workers had already finished and left. I explained to the工头 that could we come early tomorrow morning? Why rush now? After we finish carbonizing, there’s no one making toys, and no overtime pay. Isn’t this wasting our time?).
I was very不满 (bu man), working while低声 (di sheng)骂 (ma) the factory, calling the工头 (gong tou) a 狗奴才 (gou nu cai), and saying that capitalists who force people to“自愿 (zi yuan)” work overtime should be吊到 (diao dao) the streetlights. Lao Fang’s ears aren’t very good, and I deliberately低声 (di sheng)骂 (ma) when I was farthest from him. He didn’t hear clearly and later asked if I heard anything while working. He always felt someone was talking but didn’t know what. He even asked if the place was haunted. I said don’t overthink, just talking to myself about what I should do when I go home. He nodded without suspicion.
Finished at 6:32, nearly six hours of continuous movement without sitting down. My feet were worn raw, and the soles hurt badly. My right无名指 (wu ming zhi) was cut open from hurried搬运 (banyun). Since it couldn’t be treated promptly at the factory, I kept碰到 (peng dao) the wound while搬运 (banyun), which made me grimace.
You’d better prepare a mask and gloves yourself, after all, capitalists won’t take care of workers, you have to find your own way.
Sudden overtime without notice, at first I would get so angry when encountering this kind of thing that I wouldn’t even want to eat dinner. Let me share my experience. Just telling a story, my approach should be criticized. Because I simply left, and my coworkers had to help me finish the work. They worked overtime until very late. The team leader suddenly called me to do something right before leaving, which would take more than half an hour. But he told me through a worker. I saw that the sanitation was already cleaned and it was time to leave, so I encouraged him to go home with me directly. After all, it’s time to clock out, which is justified. He is still a recent graduate from a college, very timid, and refused. I just left. On the way home, the team leader called me aggressively, threatening that if I didn’t go back immediately, something would happen. He said I was not in line with the team spirit. I confidently replied that I was already on the way, and moreover, the task he assigned to me was already completed. I couldn’t control the sudden change. I hung up directly and didn’t answer again. The next day at work, I called him to ask how to handle the work. I originally went to the morning meeting with the mindset of being scolded or fined, but when I saw the team leader, he instead smiled and said: “Oh, I see you understand your mistake now. I was angry yesterday, but it was all for your good. How can you succeed if you only care about yourself? And I don’t want to be angry either. Who doesn’t want to go home on time? But my duty is to assign production tasks, and I can’t help it. You are the smartest and most careful in our team, I really think highly of you.” Only then did I realize that he noticed I was too sharp and hard to manipulate, so he tried to win me over with a different approach, hoping to buy my loyalty to help him manage the other workers. If he wanted to punish me, he would have to report to his superior, but if the leaders found out he couldn’t even control me, he would lose face and get scolded. Why bother with two-way dissatisfaction?
The exploiting class is always like this—externally tough but inwardly cowardly. You need to persist and challenge them more. In fact, these exploiting classes and their lackeys are very bourgeois and soft. When you fight them, they become afraid. Because they have a serious private ownership mentality, they fear that struggle will cause them to lose some personal利益, so they tend to compromise, unless the compromise would cause them to lose even more.
Wu Yaojiu can go and check whether your factory’s fire-fighting equipment is aging or missing, and whether the fire escape routes are blocked by anything. You can take photos to collect evidence. If the factory isn’t paying wages or similar issues, you can use this to threaten them. Zhongxiu now wishes someone would report such small and medium-sized bourgeois factories, as it would have a good reason to impose fines.
February 12
Got up at six in the morning, my physical condition was quite good today, except for the back pain, everything else was almost recovered. Washed up, finished breakfast, then walked to the factory.
The morning work became very easy because I was already quite skilled. The only troublesome thing was that the black dog, after I finished the toilet and was outside the shed, came very close to me, barking nonstop, almost pouncing on me. I looked around and found the foreman was not there, and I didn’t know what was wrong with this dog to be so arrogant. The more I listened to the dog’s barking, the more annoyed I felt. Plus, the dog kept approaching me, almost touching my feet. I couldn’t bear it anymore, kicked it forcefully, knocking it to the ground. The dog didn’t give up and barked even more fiercely afterward. I wanted to kick it again, but Lao Fang (he came out to check on me since I hadn’t returned for a long time) held me back. He said, “It’s better not to kick it, just ignore it. The more you do, the more it barks.” I listened to his advice and continued working.
At 11:30, I took a break on time. Lunch was the same as usual, except that the radish slices turned into shredded radish (it looked more, but in fact, there was no difference, even less). After eating, I first chatted with Lao Fang. He said that in today’s society, money is king. I said that’s how it is now, but it might not be in the future; society will eventually undergo changes. He also said I am educated and reading is good. I said I don’t want to be a parasite. He didn’t reply after that; he kept his head down, I couldn’t see his expression clearly, maybe he supported or opposed in his heart.
After that, I talked with a formal worker, but it ended in disagreement:
Initially, he kept talking first, saying he liked watching funny videos and such. Then, suddenly without any preamble, he said, “Why doesn’t the country print more money? Then everyone would have a lot of money, right?” I said that even if everyone had a lot of money, if the government kept printing money, it might get to the point where buying a bottle of water costs ten thousand or even a hundred thousand yuan, and that would cause chaos. I also told him that paper money itself has no value, digital currency is the same (I don’t know if I understand this correctly). Only precious metal currencies, like gold coins, are valuable because they take a long time of labor for workers to produce. So, they are valuable. But paper money can be printed easily with a printing press, without much effort, so it has no value. He said he didn’t understand (it seems I need to improve my ability to explain things in simple language, otherwise effective propaganda is impossible). I was about to leave, feeling I still lack the ability to make the reasoning easy to understand. Continuing would just be a waste of my words and energy, but he suddenly said something that still makes me angry when I think about it: “There’s basically no exploitation, right? The boss pays us wages to work, isn’t that reasonable?”
I didn’t react immediately. I couldn’t understand how he could say such a thing out of nowhere. After a while, I suppressed my anger (which is actually wrong. Under the influence of many toxic weeds of bourgeois ideology, many workers unconsciously defend capitalism. No one is born a red; only through transformation can they become red. I shouldn’t treat most workers harshly. Even if they are influenced by bourgeois ideas, they are only temporarily “enemies.” With propaganda and reform, they could become comrades in the future). I asked him for an example: if a piece of wood costs one yuan and we workers spend an hour turning it into a toy that can sell for over twenty yuan, but the boss sets the piecework wage at only fifty cents, then who takes the rest of the money that makes the toy sell for over twenty yuan? The boss! The boss appropriates most of our labor成果 without compensation, and they have not worked at all—that is exploitation!
I thought he would agree, but he said that the wood was bought by the boss and that if they didn’t do it this way, the boss wouldn’t make money. I told him, “You’re not the boss, why do you care so much about what the boss does?” He hesitated for a long time and couldn’t reply (later I told Lao Fang that this guy is a relative of the boss; his bias is normal). I stopped paying attention to him and went back to rest in the shed.
Sitting in the shed, leaning against the wall, I looked at the concise world history for a while, saw the Watt Tyler uprising, then was so tired that I fell asleep, sleeping until 1:30 when Lao Fang woke me up to work (the factory was unusually conscientious this time, not starting early).
In the afternoon, there was nothing worth mentioning.
February 13
Woke up at five in the morning, washed up, casually fried some egg fried rice to eat, walked to the factory, and started working (so dark, last night suddenly said to finish today’s order on time, not to let employees work overtime too late today, so everyone was asked to arrive an hour early at the factory).
My body is basically fine now, and I work more smoothly. Before 11:30, Fang and I almost finished preparing the charcoalized wood. Seeing that the foreman was not there, we started chatting.
Fang talked about the scam park in northern Myanmar, saying it was too scary, with all organs on a person being priced clearly. I said that in today’s society, everything is regarded by the wealthy as commodities that can be bought and sold, even humans are no exception. I also mentioned the incident where a celebrity was scammed in northern Myanmar and the authorities took action. I said that for us common folks, if we are scammed there, the upper classes of those countries won’t care about you, and even the organ trade in such places is their own sordid business. I once saw media interviews where officials subtly revealed that they had exchanged their organs once. They always say they serve the people, but we are not the ‘people’ they talk about; the bosses, celebrities, and so on are.
Fang also mentioned his friend’s son (a college student) who has a girlfriend in a big city, treats him well, unconditional food and drink (ridiculous, what a surreal parasitic life). Then suddenly one day, he asked if he wanted to go abroad with her. His friend felt something was wrong and strongly stopped his son, keeping him at home and not letting him go abroad. Fang told me that if I live alone in the future, I must be careful not to be deceived by suspicious people. He also said that society is becoming more chaotic now. In the past, scams and organ trade were rare. He thought that now, with more wealthy people, they want to live longer by transplanting young people’s organs into themselves, so these organ theft scams are increasing. I felt that what he said made some sense, so I just agreed.
At 11:30 am, we took a break on time. Today was cabbage and shredded radish, which was good. Also, Fang brought some local folk snacks he made at home to share with me. I initially said I didn’t need it, but influenced by Fang’s enthusiasm, I finally took a piece to try. It tasted good, sweet, much better than the factory food.
Later, I only glanced at the brief world history, saw Justinian’s reactionary policies failed, then sat on a chair leaning against the wall and fell asleep again, until 1:09 when Fang woke me up to start working.
In the afternoon, there was nothing much to say.
Finished work on time at six.
Talking with older coworkers about their children is a topic I’m good at approaching. After all, I understand peers better, have things to say, and can see young students from another perspective. Everyone’s common understanding is that they are both lazy and greedy. But among more progressive workers, their children are relatively frugal; two coworkers’ children only need about a thousand yuan in monthly living expenses and can even save money. However, another worker from a small production background and the child of the squad leader often need fifteen hundred to two thousand yuan in living expenses and still complain that it’s not enough, frequently asking for more money. …Although the sample size is small, it still has some analytical value. There’s a woman in her early forties who told her coworker: “Now, the more educated and the more they read, the more they become bastards. They go to school and become stupid, don’t know how to think. They also have high standards and look down on everything.” She also thinks that going to university is harmful to one’s thinking. I originally thought that manual workers have a kind of superstition about university and mental labor, but hearing her words was quite a surprise.
February 14
Woke up at six in the morning, washed up, cooked instant noodles to eat, and walked out to the factory, then started working.
Today’s orders were many, I kept working in the morning, so busy that I didn’t even drink water, didn’t use the toilet once, had no time to chat with others, I felt like a machine that can’t speak or feel tired, repeatedly doing the搬运 (carrying),摆放 (placing),翻面 (flipping), then搬 (moving),摆 (placing),翻 (flipping). Finally, at 11:30, I could rest, and I was able to drink water, and because I was too thirsty, I drank a whole bottle of water in one gulp (if I remember correctly, the cup capacity is 550ml), then hurried to the toilet.
At noon, I ate with four or five workers who were doing packaging. During the meal, I chatted with them, and somehow, a female worker who looked about thirty or forty years old mentioned that I don’t plan to go to university. She said this could save my family several ten thousand yuan for me to marry. I asked why marriage must have bride price? It’s like women are commodities that can be priced openly, and marriage is like women’s parents selling her to men to do chores and have children. The current social trend of marriage with bride price is actually incorrect.
They suddenly fell silent after hearing me, looking at me with a surprised (or maybe strange?) gaze. I couldn’t bear it (actually, partly because I was afraid they would ask some detailed questions, and if their understanding deviated from the correct direction due to my low theoretical level and inability to analyze and explain social phenomena with Marxist-Leninist-Maoist views, then I would be misleading people and ruining collective propaganda, which is shameful. On the other hand, because I had brief contact with morally corrupt elements among the workers these days, my decadent thoughts rekindled. Although I haven’t actively re-downloaded or engaged with decadent content, it still torments me internally, especially pornography and 二次元 (second dimension) games. So, when talking about topics related to women, I am less confident.)
In this strange atmosphere, I hurriedly finished my meal and escaped back to the shed.
Because I was very tired from the morning’s work, I had no energy to read, so I sat on a chair leaning against the wall and fell asleep. I slept until about 12:12, then Lao Fang woke me up to speed up the progress.
The afternoon workload was still heavy, I kept working without stopping, my feet never stopped, and for the first time since starting work, my feet hurt badly.
Originally, I was supposed to work an extra hour, but when Lao Fang and I worked until nearly six, we couldn’t go on, so we told the foreman that this was not acceptable, it was too late, and we should start work an hour earlier tomorrow morning. We decided to finish work now.
The foreman replied perfunctorily, “Okay, okay,” then left on his own.
You don’t need to be afraid to do propaganda among them. It’s normal for the masses to be temporarily influenced by old ideas and not accept them immediately. You need to gradually do their ideological work, on one hand, to have the courage and confidence to talk with them, and on the other hand, to坚持正确的立场 (坚持正确的立场 -坚持正确的立场), and not make principled concessions.
February 15
Got up at five in the morning, washed up, boiled some water and noodles to eat, walked into the factory, just as I had agreed with the foreman yesterday (although the foreman himself didn’t come early). Old Fang and I started working around seven because of the three rows of uncarbonized wood left from yesterday. To ensure a proper rest at noon, we worked quite quickly. My fingers were burned countless times (the gloves and masks I borrowed from my mom haven’t arrived yet, and she also said that since we’re family, there’s no need to borrow money, and I don’t have to pay her back). The skin on my middle and index fingers was worn down to half a finger’s area. Although I wasn’t as anxious as yesterday, didn’t drink a single drop of water, and didn’t have time to go to the toilet, I was still exhausted.
Thanks to my and Old Fang’s efforts, we didn’t delay our break due to insufficient carbonized wood, and we finished work exactly at 11:30.
After eating, I went to find Jiang (from what I know of him, he is undoubtedly one of the most morally corrupt individuals among the workers, not only watching porn openly but also addicted to various otaku games like Arknights and Honkai Impact, as well as bourgeois reactionary cultures like Honor of Kings and Peace Elite), planning to talk to him (I planned to start with his favorite game, Honor of Kings, to tell him how the game links killing with rewards and the so-called ranking system that divides levels, criticizing these reactionary aspects, hoping to pull him away from his submissiveness to the exploitative class’s individualistic worldview). However, I couldn’t find him anywhere. I asked a formal worker who had worked on the same floor with him, and only then did I learn that Jiang didn’t come to work. Most likely, he won’t come back either (later I mentioned Jiang to Old Fang, and he said Jiang seems to be going to a technical school outside the city in March). This formal worker said Jiang didn’t even claim his wages for these five days of work and just didn’t come back. He also said Jiang often complains about being too tired, so it’s normal for him not to come now. With his student-like attitude, he probably plans to run away after a few days of work.
Then he handed me a cigarette. I said I don’t smoke, and I’m under 18, so I didn’t take it. He was a bit surprised and said he couldn’t tell. I have wrinkles (mainly forehead lines, quite obvious) and a beard (not shaved for a month, a bit long), which make me look not like a seventeen or eighteen-year-old. So I asked him how Old Fang said I looked young, and he said it was because I look fair and clean, my hands are not rough, very tender, without calluses—what kind of person could I be if I was a student before). I felt a bit complicated at that moment, but I wasn’t upset or angry about it. I told him I was leaving first because I was too tired in the morning, and if I didn’t sleep now, I wouldn’t be able to handle the afternoon. He said something in his local dialect I didn’t quite understand, but he was smiling, so I felt at ease and returned to the shed.
I looked at the Simplified World History book, saw that the Czech Peasants’ War was suppressed, and then, as usual, leaned against the wall to sleep until 1:30 (luckily I didn’t go to work early). Old Fang woke me up to work.
In the afternoon, it was better, not like yesterday when we did two days’ worth of work in one day. It was relatively easy. The foreman didn’t show up the whole day for some reason. Near the end of work, Old Fang and I talked about this. He said he was chatting with someone at noon, and it seemed the foreman’s family was having a funeral, so he mentioned it to the boss, and today he didn’t come.
Finished work exactly at six.
February 16
Woke up at six in the morning, washed up, ate some cookies casually, then walked to the factory.
Today’s orders were okay, not too many, not too few, so I didn’t need to rush. I finished the work right at 11:30 and then took a break on time.
At noon, a formal worker (the relative of the factory capitalist I mentioned a few days ago, the one who justified exploitation) asked me to help buy a portion of boiled dry noodles. He said he would give me the money for two portions and told me to buy one for myself, so I wouldn’t be making a trip for nothing.
Thinking about how unappetizing the factory food is (even though it’s free), and now I have the chance to eat something better without spending my own money, and it only takes about twenty minutes round trip, I agreed. I went to a noodle stall, ordered two portions of boiled dry noodles, and paid 18 yuan out of the 25 yuan he sent me via WeChat. Then I returned to the factory, gave him one portion of noodles, and told him I still had seven yuan left. I said I’d give it back to him now, but he said no need, since it was only seven yuan (in a casual chat with Lao Fang, I asked about the formal worker, the worker aristocrat’s monthly salary, and Lao Fang said it was about 7 or 8 thousand yuan, and the work was easy—just some machine cutting wood for six or seven hours, and he could finish by 5 pm at the latest). I thought my hourly wage was only 15 yuan, so seven yuan wasn’t a lot—almost half an hour’s worth of wages. Seeing how indifferent he was, I felt at ease accepting the seven yuan and then ate the remaining portion of noodles outside the workshop (inside, the wood dust and powder are too much, not good for health).
After eating, I returned to the shed, sat on a chair, and immediately fell asleep. I didn’t read any books. At 1:24 pm, Lao Fang woke me up to work.
In the afternoon, I had a conflict with the foreman. It started when the foreman came around the shed and jokingly (or perhaps in a teasing tone) said he would only pay me 50 yuan a day, about 1,500 yuan a month. I was busy arranging wood when I heard this and got angry instantly (damn dog, wanting to cut my original salary of over 3,000 in half!). I yelled immediately that it was impossible. The small log I was holding, about the thickness of my arm, was still being arranged, and I pointed it at the foreman’s head. Seeing my anger, he quickly said he was joking and just talking. (During this, he kept stepping back, increasing the distance between us, as if he was ready to run away at any sign of trouble.) He told me to calm down and said that even if I was underage, hitting someone would land me in jail. Lao Fang, from the start, tried to calm me down and also cursed the foreman (he spoke in the local dialect, which I didn’t understand well, but judging by his angry expression and tone, he was probably insulting him). Then the foreman said he didn’t have the ability to set others’ wages privately, acting as if it was just a harmless joke, and that I was the only one with a problem. He then left (thinking that since he couldn’t change my wages outside of discipline, there was no need to bother about him anymore). He didn’t come around again until I finished work.
Finished work promptly at six.
Greatly satisfying! Young people are meant to grow horns on their heads and thorns on their bodies.
This kind of guy just deserves a beating.
This stick swings well, and young people are also very brave when it comes to some unfair matters.