Siheyuan: Being a fisherman in 1962

Although Sha Zhu has tried his best to adapt to the new job, his inner struggle and pain become increasingly intense as he faces the dirty and smelly pigsty every day.

Whenever night fell, he lay on his simple bed, and the days when he was highly respected in the factory would always emerge before his eyes. The gap was like a sharp needle, deeply hurting his self-esteem.

One day, Sha Zhu was sweating profusely in the pigsty when he suddenly heard a familiar laughter.

Looking up, I saw a group of well-dressed workers walking towards this side, with pride and satisfaction on their faces. It was obvious that they were quite satisfied with their circumstances.

Sha Zhu lowered his head subconsciously, fearing that he would be recognized by them.

However, things went against their wishes. Some of the workers recognized Sha Zhu and surrounded him, asking in a joking tone, "Hey, isn't this Sha Zhu? How did you fall to this state?"

Sha Zhu didn't look up, but just held the shovel tightly in his hand and said nothing.

Just then, a voice rang out: "What's going on? Why are you doing this kind of work here?"

It turned out to be Master Zhu who came over.

He glanced at the group of workers and a hint of displeasure flashed across his eyes, but then he regained his calm.

Sha Zhu raised his head, opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end he just smiled bitterly.

"No matter what situation you are in, you must maintain your dignity and confidence. Although this job is hard, it can also train your will and character." Master Zhu patted him on the shoulder and said.

When the workers saw this, they all curled their lips and left in disapproval.

As a temporary worker, Sha Zhu was not allowed to eat in the factory cafeteria and felt unfair and discriminated against.

As an old employee, Master Zhu has the experience to avoid the embarrassment in the cafeteria at noon.

Sha Zhu spent day after day in the pigsty, and his body was covered with the difficult-to-wash off smell of pig manure, which made him always seem out of place when interacting with other workers.

Whenever he walked into the factory, his former colleagues would always look at him strangely, and their whispers were filled with ridicule and rejection of him.

His heart felt as if it was blown by a cold wind, cold and painful.

Why is it that just changing jobs feels like falling from heaven to hell?

I kept thinking about it, but I still couldn't figure it out.

I tried to confirm with Master Zhang whether the rule that temporary workers cannot eat in the cafeteria really exists.

Master Zhang was silent for a moment, and finally nodded, confirming Sha Zhu's guess.

At that moment, Sha Zhu felt his heart sink to the bottom.

He envied Master Zhu, the old employee who always managed to avoid the embarrassment in the lunch cafeteria.

Master Zhu's clothes are always clean and tidy, and there is never a trace of dirt on his body.

I have asked Master Zhu many times how to avoid this embarrassment like him.

However, Master Zhu just smiled faintly and said that he had his own way.

Sha Zhu didn't have Master Zhu's experience, nor did he have any extra clothes to change into.

I could only wear the clothes stained with pig manure every day and endure the contempt and ridicule of other workers.

Standing next to the pigsty, looking at the pigs eating leisurely, he swung the shovel in his hand vigorously, scooping up shovelfuls of pig manure, but then dropped them heavily, as if trying to vent his inner anger.

"Why can these pigs live so comfortably while I have to suffer here?" Sha Zhu muttered to himself.

At this time, Master Zhu came over, holding a hard steamed bun in his hand and handed it to Sha Zhu: "Eat something, don't starve yourself."

Sha Zhu took the steamed bun, took a bite, but found it tasteless.

"Master, I really don't understand why we temporary workers have to be treated like this?"

"This is the way the world is. People are divided into different classes, and some are destined to be stepped on. But you must remember that no matter what situation you are in, you must not give up your dignity and dreams."

"I know. I won't give up."

Taking the hard steamed bun from Master Zhu's hand, Sha Zhu took a big bite. The dry taste seemed to reflect his mood at the moment.

He looked around and saw the fat pigs enjoying the food leisurely, while he had to endure the stench and fatigue here.

"Oh my! How come this pig eats so much?" Chen Fei couldn't help complaining as he waved a shovel and shoveled piles of pig manure into the cart.

These days, the pigs seemed to have entered a crazy growth mode, producing several times more pig manure every day than usual, making Chen Fei extremely busy.

After finally waiting for a break from work, Fade Chen sat down on the ground, gasping for breath from exhaustion.

"You old man have so much free time. I'm so tired here, but you still have the time to smoke." Chen Fei grumbled dissatisfiedly.

Master Zhu smiled, blew out a puff of smoke, and said slowly: "You are just not satisfied. When I first came here, I was even more tired than you. But I understand one thing, that is - complaining is useless, everything depends on yourself."

Sha Zhu rolled his eyes, thinking that this old man could only talk about some big principles which were of no practical help at all.

Stand up and continue to shovel pig manure.

However, the moment he turned around, he suddenly discovered a strange phenomenon - those pigs, which were usually lazy, were now frantically scrambling for food, as if they had been hungry for hundreds of years.

Sha Zhu was stunned and rubbed his eyes to make sure he was not seeing things.

These pigs are usually so lazy, why are they suddenly so crazy?

When I got closer, I saw that there was very little food left in the pig trough, but the pigs were still digging at the trough, making grunting sounds.

"This...what's going on?" Chen Fei opened his mouth in surprise.

Just then, Master Zhu came over and showed a surprised expression when he saw this scene.

He squatted down and carefully examined the food residue in the pig trough, then frowned.

"There's something wrong here." Master Zhu said in a deep voice, "These pigs are usually lazy, why are they suddenly so crazy? And look at this food residue... there seems to be something wrong."

Unexpectedly, while Sha Zhu was working silently beside the pigpen, he heard the workers' whispers.

"I heard that he had been to a trading station before. Is that true?"

"Who knows? Anyway, he's a temporary worker now, which is different from us."

These words pierced Sha Zhu's heart like needles. He gripped the shovel tightly, and veins on his hands bulged.

Mistakes have been made, but that is now in the past.

I thought I could start over here, but I didn't expect that I still couldn't get rid of the shadow of the past.

If you want to win the respect of others, you must prove it with your actions.

Just then, a familiar laughter came from a distance. Sha Zhu looked up and saw Xu Damao, Jia Zhang and the second uncle walking towards them, talking and laughing.

The three of them were old neighbors in the courtyard, but they had not seen each other since Sha Zhu went into prison.

I don’t know how the three of them suddenly appeared here.

"Hey, isn't this Sha Zhu?" Xu Damao saw Sha Zhu at a glance and greeted him loudly.

Sha Zhu frowned and ignored him.

"What? You don't recognize us? We are your old neighbors!" Jia Zhang said with a smile.

Sha Zhu snorted coldly and said nothing.

"Don't be so cold." The second uncle said mysteriously.