Left-behind women in Fuzhou

Chapter 14 The Story of Jingrong (1)
Among the many left-behind women I know, Jing Rong is not as glamorous as Mei Niang and A Lian, but her sincerity, her innocence, and a kind of clean student temperament overflowing from her are still impressive. Unforgettable.She always speaks and laughs loudly like a child, and her eyes are always bright and pure like a child, clear to the bottom.

However, no one understands the deep sadness hidden behind those bright eyes.

Jingrong is from Xiapu.Xiapu is a small county in eastern Fujian adjacent to the sea, where the soil is also poor and life is bitter and cold.People there rely on fishing for all their income. However, due to decades of unrestrained overfishing and unrestricted pollution in the offshore area, there have long been no fish and shrimps to hunt. They had no choice but to row their small sampans to Southeast Asia and eat all the way. Tossed by wind and waves.They came to Southeast Asia at the risk of death, but they were expelled and hunted down by the local military. They put away their fishing nets just after they casted them down, and paddled their small sampan toward their home amidst the sound of rumbling guns. Fleeing in the opposite direction, being able to recover a life is already the greatest happiness.

Once, in order to write a manuscript reflecting the lives of contemporary fishermen, I got on a fishing boat and drifted in the sea with the fishermen for six days.It was the best fishing boat in the area, but there were only eight boatmen.The fishing boat rowed all the way to the high seas bordering Indonesia, and was discovered by the Indonesian military before it cast its net. As a result, we were forcibly detained for three days.Within three days, we didn't have a grain of rice in. Three days later, all our belongings were confiscated before we were released.

Xiapu has no tradition of going abroad.People whose life is unsustainable have to come to work in bigger cities in the interior.Many fishermen have turned to heavy physical labor such as construction and porters; and women have also left their homes to seek a living in other cities.It is said that in the early morning in Fuzhou, most of the migrant workers standing at the crossroads with shovels on their shoulders and trowel knives in their hands are from Xiapu hundreds of miles away; There is no shortage of Xiapu women who manage their lives.

Xiapu is very poor, but such a poor place is rich in beauties.

Jingrong once told me that her father is from Beijing and her mother is from Fuzhou—Fuzhou is also called Rongcheng, which is a very beautiful nickname, so she has such a distinctive name.However, Jingrong never mentioned to me why she was born in the remote and backward Xiapu.Jingrong said she never met her father and her mother died when she was a teenager.The mother in my memory is always sad and withdrawn, making people fearful and difficult to approach.

I will never forget the first time I met Jingrong.It was in Fu'an, a small city in the same eastern Fujian region as Xiapu.

In my memory, it was the winter of 2003, and there was a form of private fundraising called "Biaohui", which was spreading like a plague in the small city of Fu'an.A few or even dozens of people gather together, and each of them spends a certain amount of money every month, and gives it to one of them to do business, and the rest of them sit on the ground and share the "loot", and wait until the next month, the same gathering will come. The funds are handed over to the next person, let him do business.In those days, people in the streets and alleys of Fu'an were in groups, whispering about all topics related to "Biaohui".Fuan's economy presents a deformed bubble-like prosperity. People with various foreign accents are walking on the streets, and all kinds of luxury and high-end cars are running.However, just a few months later, this short-lived economy collapsed, and the virtual prosperity built by the "Biaohui" disappeared in an instant.Therefore, there are those who flee with money, those who commit suicide by jumping off a building, and those who are insane.Fu'an is like a volcano about to erupt.Some people recklessly robbed and killed people, and some people lost their nerves and slipped into the brink and abyss of collapse.

And I came to Fu'an, a small town in eastern Fujian, for the first time to interview "Biaohui".Before, I had heard about this kind of fraudulent "Biao Hui", but the newspaper office turned a deaf ear to it. It was not until the "China Youth Daily" first reported it that they sent me to interview it as if they had suddenly realized it.

At that time, the local government tried its best to cover up the evil measures they had vigorously advocated, which harmed the country and the people, and the evil forces were also fishing in troubled waters to prevent all channels of information leakage.For the sake of safety, I pretended to be a fisherman that night and lived in a dilapidated and small hotel.

Every room and every bed in the hotel was full that night, because the fees were low, those who sold fish, sold vegetables, pretended to be lame beggars, and pretended to be blind fortune-tellers all lived here.When I registered the room, I saw a very young girl sitting against the wall in the registration room. She had a fair face, delicate skin, short hair and shoulders, and she was smart and capable. These sweaty and dark-faced residents.A teenage half-old boy checked in for me, and she didn't say a word, and kept knitting the cotton slippers in her hands. I don't know her identity, but my instinct tells me that she is different from them , she has a mind, she has a story.

At midnight, Fu'an, which had been noisy for a day, gradually quieted down, and the small hotel was closed, but I couldn't sleep, and I was worried that I would be followed.I quietly got up and stood at the window, and saw that the light in the registration room was still on, and the girl was sitting in the room by herself, still busy with her tasks.Suddenly, a hunchback appeared at the door of the registration room, and he knocked on the door lightly. The girl opened the door, the hunchback walked in with difficulty, and the lights in the room went out.

I was very surprised, and I thought, the girl will definitely scream. If the screams sounded, I would rush over and kick open the door, and throw that dirty hunchback out.But the room was very quiet, not even a sound of struggling.I didn't think of the cry for help that I expected, but there was the creaking sound of the bed board.Then the figure of another man appeared and waited at the door of the registration room. He lit a cigarette, and the light from the fire illuminated his wrinkled, old-fashioned face.

I suddenly understood that that very innocent girl turned out to be a lady who relied on the hostel for prostitution.

That was the first time I saw a girl in prostitution, and it was such a pure-looking girl, I felt heartbroken.A great sense of loss and pain overwhelmed me, and it still haunts me days later.Why is such a simple and beautiful girl willing to endure the wanton ravages of those men who exude a stench all over her body.Why is she doing this, why?
That night, I stayed up all night.

After dawn, I walked into the registration room. The girl had just woken up. Her hair was disheveled and her clothes were disheveled. I looked at her with a scrawled face, like looking at a field washed by a flood; she looked suspiciously at her solemn face. I am like looking at the trees still standing on the edge of the field after the flood.

I said, I am a reporter and I want to have a good talk with you.

She didn't speak, and sat timidly on the edge of the bed, picking up the cotton slippers that she hadn't finished knitting last night.

I said, why do you do this kind of thing, don't you feel sorry for yourself?

She still didn't speak, she was weaving the cotton thread stitch by stitch, her finger was pricked, and bright red blood flowed out.

I could see that she had something to hide.

I left my phone number, turned around and led the door out, feeling melancholy in my heart.

Many days later, when I saw her again in Fuzhou, she told me that her name was Jingrong.My husband went abroad to work, but he couldn't find a job.In order for her husband to go abroad, she borrowed 20 yuan, which was the cheapest price for smuggling abroad.The creditor came to ask for money every day, but she had no choice. She sold her family property and came to Fu'an to join the "Biaohui", dreaming of doing business with more funds. Unexpectedly, the leader of the "Biaohui" swept away all of them. For the money, she was desperate, so she chose to be a young lady.

I believe that every girl is born unwilling to be a lady, every girl longs to find a man who loves herself and makes her love her, every girl has dreamed of being married by Prince Charming, however, life is not easy There are too many traps and sorrows in life, and every girl who is a young lady has encountered such traps and sorrows, and has an unspeakable sad past.

Misses are not evil in nature, even those who end up committing crimes are forced by life and environment.I can understand the ladies who have gone through the wind and dust and slipped into the abyss of crime, and those girls who have gone through the wind and dust and are still infatuated and sincere make me deeply respect.

That day, after returning to Fuzhou from Fuan, I kept thinking about that young and innocent lady.I have been waiting for her call, however, no.I don't know what has become of her fate, whether she's still doing a dirty job in that dirty hotel.I want to contact her, but unfortunately she doesn't have a phone.

Unlike the ladies I often interview and meet, she is thin and has a kind of pitiful frailty; her hair is black and short, not long and dyed like many young ladies. her clothes are worn out, and she is not as sexy and ostentatious as a lady in the traditional sense; walking on the street, no one will regard her as a lady. A timid first-year student who just walked into the school gate.She is not the kind of lady we imagined.When I met her, she didn't say a word, she was always busy weaving slippers, and women who can do this kind of craft are rare today, and people can buy them for a few yuan. A pair of cotton slippers and no one wants to go to the trouble of weaving again.

What is she doing so busy weaving so many slippers?
She is different, not the same as our traditional sense, and the lady we imagined.

Later, in many contacts with her, I realized that she was very kind and pure, and she changed my view of the lady who always loathes and despises her.In front of her, I sometimes feel dirty and nasty.

After my manuscript reflecting Fu'an "Biaohui" appeared in the newspaper, it caused a great shock in the local area.After dawn, the newsboy held the newspaper containing my manuscript and hawked it loudly among the bustling crowd rushing to the morning shift. Many people stopped to buy and read, and the traffic was blocked.In the afternoon, news from Fu'an reached the newspaper office that that issue of the newspaper was sold out at [-]:[-] noon, and some people even bought several copies as gifts to relatives and friends.

Then, I received a call from someone I didn't know in Fu'an, threatening me that if I came to Fu'an again, they would make me look good.I don't know how they got my phone number, but I just laughed off the intimidation. The China Youth Daily and China Central Television have exposed it. I just follow up and report. Their crimes have long been known to the world. We all know that gods and men are angry together, so what can they do to me.

Later, I heard that the Fujian Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Public Security Bureau were stationed in Fu'an to rectify the chaotic order in Fu'an, abolished a group of corrupt officials who had no intention of doing anything in their positions, and arrested a group of gangsters who smashed and looted. Only then did the people in Fu'an return to a normal life track.

The Fuan police also came to the newspaper office to thank me face to face. They said that my manuscript had provided them with great help in understanding the inside story of "Biaohui". They won the third class collective merit in this arrest operation. And I deserve it.They also said that if I come to Fuan for an interview in the future, I must contact them.

Because of this manuscript, I became famous in Fu'an.It is said that the local people often talk about my name, and in their kind words, I am shrouded in a mysterious and beautiful halo.When they encounter injustice, they always say, let's go to the "Biaohui" reporter.In their minds, I have become the embodiment of justice and strength.

It has been two months since I went to Fu'an for the second time.

That day, I received a call from Fu'an, reporting that in a village on the outskirts of Fu'an, there was a village head who had been in office for 30 years. Tombs of living people", and the per capita land here is less than two cents.

On the second day after receiving the clue, I contacted the local police to prevent accidents, and then drove to Fu'an.

After dusk, I came to Fu'an.As soon as I got off the bus, I was warmly received by some local peasants. They called me into the restaurant and ordered a table full of meals.Looking at those sumptuous meals, I can hardly eat chopsticks.I know that their lives are not rich, and some of them may have gone bankrupt after experiencing the impact of "Biao Hui".But they kept persuading me to eat more, drinking with me one cup after another, seeing their sincere and dark faces, I couldn't resist their kindness, and without knowing it, I drank too much, my body became hot, and my feet began to tremble.

When the night came, they arranged me in a hotel that seemed to be pretty good. I was so drunk that I only remembered that there were long strings of colorful lights installed at the entrance and corridors of the hotel, which made the whole hotel look beautiful. Like getting married.They helped me to lie on the bed comfortably, and said a little cunningly and secretly, let you taste our Fuan girl tonight to see if it suits your taste, we have already paid the bill.Before I could react, they had already quietly closed the door and walked out.

I lay on the bed with my eyes closed, thinking about what they said before they left, and my lower body suddenly became hardened, as if all the alcohol in my body had gathered at that point.I feel both happy and ashamed.

Then, I heard the sound of the door being opened, the voice was soft and hesitant, as if very shy.I sat up quickly, my heart was pounding, a little nervous and a little excited.My intuition told me that the lady entered the room. I don't know what the lady will do, but she will definitely be as coquettish and sexy as I often see.I don't know if something will happen with her next, I am hesitant.

The young lady walked in and walked to my bed. I looked up and was suddenly stunned. She turned out to be the girl I saw in the small hotel last time.She also recognized me, and just bent over to sit on the edge of the bed, she quickly stood up, her young face flushed red.She has a scar on her forehead.

My desire suddenly dissipated, like a freshly lit fire being poured by rain, leaving only a miserable mess.I looked at her, and she kept her head down, her fingers crossed and separated, separated and crossed.Compared with the last time, her clothes have changed, and they are no longer as simple and shabby as before.She was wearing jeans. The white jeans tightly wrapped her healthy and shapely thighs and round buttocks. Her upper body was a red jacket. The short jacket outlined her waist, making her slender waist look slender.She wears no make-up, and around her neck is a red silk thread tied with a bar-shaped amulet.

I said, how could it be you?
She said in a low voice, sorry, I didn't call you, I don't know what to say to you.

I said, sit down.

She sat timidly on the edge of the bed, bowing her head deeply.The fresh scar on his forehead gleamed in the light.

We were all silent, not knowing what to say.I lit a cigarette and asked, do you smoke?

She held out her hand hesitantly.

I ignited it for her, and she choked and coughed after taking a sip.I said, you don't smoke a lot, do you?
She said that I would only smoke a few puffs when I was very depressed and very lonely.

I didn't know what to say, I searched my brains to find a topic that would not make us embarrassed, and finally I said this sentence, why do you want to be a lady?
She said in a low voice, I have to pay off the debts, and I owe a lot of debts, all of which were borrowed by my husband when he went abroad.

After a long pause, she said again, I know you look down on me, but in fact, even I look down on myself.But I have no choice, I have to pay back more than 2000 yuan every month.There are two elderly people in the family.

I saw tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

I said, isn’t it possible to earn a lot of money by working abroad?Husband didn't mail you money?
She said that her husband has been away for several months and has not found a job.However, it's all right now, she called today, and she has a job.He said that the money will be mailed home every month in the future.I will never be a miss again, and today is my last time.

I saw a rare smile on her face. When she talked about her husband, her tone was very gentle and sweet.She said that her husband is very nice and loves her very much.She has been very content to find someone who loves herself in this life.She will never be a lady anymore, she will wait for her husband to come back.

She added that they never quarreled and always competed for chores.Her husband takes great care of her.Once, when she came home at night, she tripped over a big rock at the entrance of the village. After her husband knew about it, he took a lot of effort to move the rock that he didn't know when it was placed far away.She was very touched.

The blush on her face still hasn't faded, but she is smiling happily and happily.That smiling face looked as beautiful as a peach blossom.

Footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door, stayed at the door for a moment and then went away.Her expression changed greatly, and she was terrified.She whispered to me that the people who drank with me were the little bosses of the local "Biaohui". They, they're going to frame me.

A layer of cold sweat broke out on my forehead.If the evidence is in their hands, I will be ruined, fired from the newspaper, and detained by the police.At that time, even if I am full of mouth, it will be difficult to argue.

(End of this chapter)