Deep down, Lan yearned for education, understanding that knowledge was the fastest way to change her life. However, she realized her impoverished family couldn’t afford it and decided to stop studying, believing hard work could lead to success. To compensate, her mother bought her two pairs of pants—her first new clothes, as she had always worn hand-me-downs. Amusingly, her classmates thought she was well-off, only learning the truth much later.
[Text: Chapter Two – First Entry into Shenzhen]
In 1992, 16-year-old Lan Lan followed a village girl named Lan Ying to work in Shenzhen. That first night, the neon-lit city felt overwhelming and different from her hometown. With only a middle school education, she questioned her ability to survive here.
Lan Ying’s factory dormitory strictly prohibited outsiders, with guards checking entries. But in an industrial zone with nearly ten thousand people, there were always ways to slip through. Lan Lan nervously wore Lan Ying’s factory uniform and followed her inside.
The dormitory housed eight people, with four bunk beds.
She shared a bed with Lan Ying, and after traveling and showering, they quickly fell asleep.
The next morning, Lan Lan woke early, careful not to disturb Lan Ying. Around seven, dormitory residents began preparing for work. Watching the girls come and go, she felt a strong desire for a job to ease her mother’s burden.
Later, she bought a fake diploma and temporary ID, and, through her cousin’s introduction, entered a state-owned electronics factory as a worker.
In 1992, 16-year-olds could obtain temporary IDs, and labor laws hadn’t strictly prohibited hiring minors. After settling into the factory and writing a letter to her mother (since no one in the village had a phone), she contemplated her future.
With only fifty yuan in her pocket during her first month, she survived on five-cent instant noodles, eventually growing tired of them. Fortunately, a fellow villager in the dormitory, noticing her frugality, secretly gave her a hundred yuan for food.
During her three years at the factory, Lan Lan improved herself by self-studying the high school curriculum, obtaining a junior computer certificate from a training course, and making friends like the outgoing Li Ruo, the shy boy Wang Qiang, and the handsome Zhang Jie, who taught her ballroom dancing. These years were fulfilling and happy for her.
