When Gu Xiaosong returned to the factory, the entire compound was shrouded in darkness.
His office was located at the far end of the building, so he had to pass through the dimly lit workshop to get there.
Just as he was halfway through, he suddenly noticed someone lying across a machine tool, quietly sobbing. In the pitch-black surroundings, it startled him badly.
“Who’s there?”
The person lying on the machine was equally frightened. She sat up shakily, her voice trembling.
“I’m Jin Haitang. Who are you?”
Gu Xiaosong was taken aback. He had never expected the person to be none other than the famous Jin Haitang from the machinery factory.
Jin Haitang wasn’t well-known because she was exceptionally capable. In fact, she was only a temporary worker.
She was famous because she was a widow in her twenties who looked even younger than some eighteen-year-old girls.
Her features were exceptionally gentle. The corners of her eyes naturally drooped ever so slightly, not in a pitiful way, but like silk soaked in water. Whenever she looked at someone, her eyes shimmered softly, carrying an indescribable charm and grace.
There was always a trace of melancholy in her eyes, making it easy for men to feel a strong urge to protect her.
Rumors about her spread throughout the factory.
The female workers called her a fox spirit in human form, while the male workers were utterly captivated by her, longing to make her theirs. Even some of the unmarried young men would blush whenever they saw her.
“I’m Gu Xiaosong,” he said. “Why are you here? It’s after work. Why haven’t you gone home?”
Realizing he was the factory’s Logistics Director, Jin Haitang gradually relaxed her guard.
“My mother-in-law threw me out,” she replied softly. “I have nowhere to go, and I don’t want to spend money on a guesthouse, so I thought I’d just make do and spend the night here.”
Hearing that, Gu Xiaosong laughed.
“What a coincidence. So am I.”
He had drunk a few glasses during dinner with the factory’s senior staff earlier that evening. Then he’d gotten into a heated argument with He Siyue, and in all the commotion he’d completely forgotten that staying at a guesthouse was even an option.
Jin Haitang hadn’t expected the usually dignified Director Gu to be so approachable, and she couldn’t help smiling as well.
“Director Gu really knows how to joke. You don’t have an unreasonable mother-in-law. How could you possibly have nowhere to stay?”
“I have an unreasonable wife.”
Gu Xiaosong let out a bitter laugh.
His heart was filled with frustration. Listening to her gentle, soothing voice, he suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to confide in someone.
“Since we’re both in the same situation… would you like to talk?”
Jin Haitang’s heart skipped a beat.
She stared at his silhouette in the darkness for a moment before smiling.
“All right.”
Together, they walked to Gu Xiaosong’s office.
The instant the lights came on, both of them were momentarily stunned.
It was the first time Gu Xiaosong had ever seen Jin Haitang dressed in everyday clothes.
Beneath her cool, reserved appearance lay the unique grace and gentle charm of a mature woman. When she smiled, two faint dimples appeared, warm enough to melt anyone’s heart.
She wore a faded light-blue blouse with an oversized olive-green military jacket draped over it, paired with gray trousers.
Although her clothes were old and worn, they couldn’t hide her graceful figure.
Every smile and every glance seemed naturally captivating.
It was impossible to look away.
As for Gu Xiaosong, the fact that someone as proud and demanding as He Siyue had chosen to marry him was proof enough that he possessed exceptional looks and personal charm.
“Sit wherever you’d like,” he said. “Have you had dinner yet?”
For some reason, Gu Xiaosong suddenly felt short of breath. He almost opened the window for some fresh air before remembering it was only March and deciding against it.
“I haven’t.”
Jin Haitang sat nervously on the sofa.
“I made braised radish and stir-fried potatoes tonight. My nephew complained there wasn’t any meat, got angry, and flipped the table over.
My mother-in-law felt sorry for her grandson and took it out on me. I talked back a little, so she threw me out.”
Just hearing the story made Gu Xiaosong angry.
“Your husband is gone. Why don’t you move out? Why keep putting up with that kind of treatment?”
Jin Haitang lowered her head.
“If only it were that simple.
One word about filial duty from my mother-in-law is enough to crush me.
Besides, I’m a woman with no one to rely on and no family to support me. Even if I moved out, where could I go?
I’m only a temporary worker. I earn fourteen yuan a month. Just paying for food and lodging would be difficult.”
Her husband had died of tuberculosis five years earlier.
Every last bit of the family’s savings had gone toward his medical treatment.
When he passed away, he even left behind debts of more than one hundred yuan.
For the past several years, those debts had weighed on her so heavily she could barely breathe.
Fortunately, the neighbors had sympathized with her.
Especially Aunt Wang.
Aunt Wang’s son worked in the personnel department of the machinery factory. A year earlier, when the factory hired temporary workers, he quietly helped her secure a position.
That was how she’d found work.
For over a year now, nearly all of her wages had gone toward repaying debt.
Even when she ate in the factory cafeteria, she never dared eat her fill.
How could she possibly have enough money to rent a place of her own?
Looking at the sorrow filling her eyes, Gu Xiaosong felt an unfamiliar emotion stir inside him.
Flustered, he hurriedly opened a drawer and took out a bag of pastries.
“Someone gave these to me,” he said, offering them to her. “I don’t really like sweets. They’ll just go to waste sitting here. If you don’t mind, would you help me finish them?”
Jin Haitang knew he was only saying that to spare her pride.
Gratefully, she accepted them.
Afraid she’d feel embarrassed eating alone, Gu Xiaosong took out half a bottle of baijiu and a small packet of peanuts from the cabinet and sat with her while she ate.
“Every family has its own troubles.
You’re still young. You can’t spend the rest of your life as a widow.
You should think about your own future.”
Jin Haitang picked up a piece of sponge cake and took a bite.
The sweet taste nearly brought tears to her eyes.
“I’m only twenty-five.
I’ve thought about getting married again finding someone I could rely on.
But every time I mention it, my mother-in-law curses me with the most horrible words.
Eventually… I stopped trying.
I’ll just get by like this.
Sometimes people simply have to accept their fate.”
She had never been fortunate.
There were five sisters in her family, and she was the fourth.
Below her were a younger sister and a younger brother.
To their parents, the five daughters were nothing more than sources of money for their son.
Her eldest sister had been married off to a widower nearly fifty years old.
Her second sister had been married to a man with an intellectual disability.
Her third sister had been clever.
Refusing to end up like their older sisters, she secretly signed up to be sent to the countryside.
In a letter, her third sister wrote that she’d rather work the fields every day earning work points than allow their biased parents to decide her fate.
Jin Haitang had wanted to run away too.
But after what her third sister had done, their parents watched her like hawks.
Not long afterward, for a bride price of just fifty yuan, they married her off to a man suffering from tuberculosis.
After he died, her parents wanted to bring her back home so they could marry her off again.
They had already found another husband for her a farmer whose two previous wives had both died.
She secretly asked her thirteen-year-old younger sister about him.
Her sister told her that both of the man’s previous wives had actually been beaten to death.
The matchmaker had explicitly told their parents about it.
But because the man was a skilled hunter and generous with money, he was willing to pay a bride price of one hundred yuan despite her being a widow.
Blinded by money, her parents hadn’t cared in the slightest whether she lived or died.
They had agreed without hesitation.
Fortunately, her in-laws were unwilling to lose such an inexpensive “servant.”
They insisted she remain to mourn their dead son and absolutely refused to let her return to her parents’ home.
One place was a wolf’s den.
The other was a tiger’s lair.
She dreamed every day of escaping both.