country bumpkin

Chapter 343 Yunya is sick

There is no heavy work in the workshop, but you won't be idle either. Assembly line work relies on the speed of your hands to complete tasks.

If you can't keep up with the pace, you'll only get scolded. No one will stop what they're doing to wait for someone else.

That day, Yunya caught a cold and had a fever. She was delirious and her head was spinning, so she couldn't do any work at all.

She asked her best friend Zhu Yanan to tell their class monitor that she had a fever and couldn't get up to go to work.

The class monitor found someone to fill in for Yunya in a flexible position (temporarily transporting boxes).

All her roommates had gone to work, and only Yunya was resting in bed to recover. At lunchtime, Zhu Yanan brought her some food back.

Yunya ate a few calcium-fortified milk biscuits in the morning, then took fever-reducing medicine and went to sleep. By noon, she was much better, and her temperature wasn't as high.

After Zhu Yanan brought her lunch, she went back to the workshop. Lunchtime was too short; if she didn't wait in the workshop, she was afraid she'd be late and get her pay docked.

After lunch, Yunya went back to sleep. Just then, her dorm leader, Qi Qiaodi, returned. She was on the night shift, and only their workshop had night shifts.

When she returned, she was surprised that the dormitory door was unlocked. When she opened the door, she saw Yun Ya lying asleep on the bed by the door.

She didn't wake Yunya, guessing that Yunya must be sick and had taken leave. Otherwise, everyone comes out to earn money, and who would be willing to take leave to rest?

She tiptoed back to her dormitory and placed the porcelain jar on the long table on the small balcony behind the north wall.

This long table is specifically for holding everyone's porcelain mugs, toothbrushes, and toothpaste cups.

The small balcony is separated from the north wall of the dormitory by a wall. Against the wall, facing south, there is a rectangular desk with a workspace, directly opposite the door leading into the room.

They usually slouch over this desk to drink instant noodles. The dorm leader quietly put her things away, took off her shoes, and lay down on her bed to rest.

She worked all night and half a day, and she was exhausted. Because the person who was supposed to relieve her had to take leave, she worked an extra morning, and she was paid overtime.

Those who take leave will have their wages deducted, and the team leader records attendance, so employees don't need to find a substitute themselves.

Yun Ya woke up again after sleeping for about an hour. She saw that there was another person in the room, and not daring to disturb Qi Qiaodi, Yun Ya carefully leaned against the headboard and started reading a novel.

After reading for a while, I felt dizzy and my eyes were sore and swollen. So I put down the book and decided to close my eyes and rest.

She couldn't sleep anymore; her fever had subsided, and she felt no drowsiness at all. Suddenly, she felt an urge to urinate, so she put on her shoes, got up, and went to the toilet.

The bathroom on the third floor is only for washing clothes and getting water; the toilet door is locked, and people are not allowed to use it because they are afraid that it will smell bad upstairs if left unused for too long.

She had to go downstairs to use the restroom, and she stumbled down the stairs, holding onto the handrail. Although her fever had subsided, her legs were still weak and sore, and she trembled as she walked.

When we arrived at the first-floor restroom, there was a girl inside who was having diarrhea. The girl went into the individual stall and closed the small door behind her.

A series of crackling sounds followed, and a pungent, foul odor of feces wafted out. Yunya quickly pulled up her pants, suppressing her nausea, and ran out of the toilet.

She almost threw up from this person's voice; just hearing it made her feel nauseous, let alone the smell.

Yunya ran out into the courtyard. The dormitory building had two gates; the west gate was for going to work and the cafeteria. The east gate led to the main courtyard and was also the road to the laundry room and bathhouse.

The courtyard was filled with dormitory buildings, and the spaces between the buildings were where clothes and quilts were dried.

Yunya strolled around the yard. Some of the people who had come back from the night shift were asleep, while others were using basins or small buckets to hog the taps.

Yunya now realized that it was the people working the night shift who were hogging the water taps; no wonder they always had water available immediately.

Although it's the beginning of spring, the Little New Year hasn't passed yet, and the temperature is still quite low. But it's still a bit warmer than the temperature back home.

It's windier here, and there's more rain and snow than back home. The air always feels misty and humid.

Except for the rainy season, my hometown is generally sunny with bright sunshine every day. Winters are dry and cold, with no moisture at all, and people often have dry, itchy, sore, and swollen throats.

However, it seems that all the snow in my hometown fell at the end of the year this year, and the saying "a timely snow promises a bumper harvest" cannot fully describe people's good mood.

Perhaps God also wants people to have a comfortable New Year.

Although Yunya's legs were sore, she still wanted to take a walk. It was much colder outside than inside the dormitory, but luckily she had worn a cotton-padded coat.

Yun Ya looked around and noticed that there were quite a few people working the night shift. However, these women working the night shift were mostly older, looking to be between 24 and 26 years old.

In these day-shift workshops, only a very small number of local wives are around 35 to 40 years old.

The other new employees are all around 18 years old. This shows that those who can endure the hardship of night shifts are mature adults.

Someone like her, still a minor, is considered a child laborer and definitely can't do night shift work. Not to mention, she herself always gets sick when she works the night shift.

After wandering around for a few more minutes, I suddenly felt a bit cold, so I decided to go back to my dorm and rest properly. I didn't want to catch a bad cold again just when I was starting to recover.

Yunya pulled her cotton-padded coat down to cover her waist, then hugged her arms tightly and slowly climbed the stairs back to her dormitory.

Back in the dormitory, Qi Qiaodi was fast asleep, while Yun Ya had nothing to do. She had just recovered from a bit of a fever and didn't want to be idle, so she sat on the bed, took out her yarn and crochet hook, and started crocheting.

I stopped what I was doing and lay down to rest with my eyes closed because I felt unwell again.

When Zhu Yanan and the others returned from get off work, Qi Qiaodi still showed no signs of waking up.

Zhu Yanan brought Yun Ya back some food, and Yun Ya looked at her gratefully, thanking her repeatedly.

Zhu Yanan smiled and said, "We're all from the same place and friends, so don't be so polite. Helping each other is only right."

Tong Jiahui nodded in agreement, "Yes, Yunya, we have no relatives or friends outside, so we should help and take care of each other."

Yun Ya smiled and said, "Yes, thank you. Please let me know if you need my help in the future." After exchanging pleasantries, the three girls went about their own business.

Yang Tiantian, Yunya's roommate across from her, was writing furiously. Shi Shuyue, who was in the bunk above her, asked her if she was writing a letter home.

She waved her hand, "No, he's my pen pal."

Shi Shuyue became interested. "Pen pal? What does that mean?"

Yang Tiantian: "A pen pal is a friend you communicate with through letters."

Shi Shuyue asked with a mischievous grin, "How did you meet him? And he must be a guy, right?"

Yang Tiantian blushed with embarrassment and said, "Yes, it's a man. He lives far away in the capital city. But we're just correspondents, nothing more, so don't overthink it."

Shi Shuyue: "Oh? Is that so? How did you two meet? I'd also like to find a pen pal from another city. Could you teach me?"