country bumpkin

Chapter 329 Bathhouse Incident

With the May Day holiday over, everyone has returned to their daily work routines.

Tong Jiahui and Zhu Yanan brought handmade pancakes, a local specialty, from their hometown. Yun Ya gritted her teeth and bought a bottle of chili sauce to eat with them.

As Yunya ate the pancakes and smelled the aroma of flour, she pictured her grandmother setting up the griddle to make pancakes.

After harvesting the wheat, the farmers wash it twice, drain it, and then take it to the village's wheat mill to thresh it.

Flour without any added ingredients tastes delicious whether you're making steamed buns or dumplings.

At the far east end of my grandmother's yard, at the very edge of the big pit, there are several poplar trees.

Under the poplar tree was a griddle. Mu Shuyun sat on a wooden stool, leaning over to scoop dough from all sides.

She chatted with Yunya, who was tending the fire, while making pancakes.

In no time, the pancake was cooked through. Grandma gently lifted it with a spatula, and a thin, fragrant pancake was scooped off intact.

Grandma smiled and handed it to Yunya, "Yunya~ have a taste, it's still warm."

Yunya took the pancake, took a big bite, and the aroma of wheat from the pancake spread in her mouth. The familiar taste made her eyes squint.

Grandma smiled even more deeply at Yunya's satisfied expression and continued, "When the wheat is riper, Grandma will make you even more delicious pancakes."

During a break from tending the fire, Yunya looked up at her grandmother's kind face, her heart filled with warmth.

Now, being able to eat these pancakes brought from my hometown in such a faraway place brings back memories of the past, playing like a movie in my mind.

Yun Ya sniffed, her eyes slightly red, hiding her longing in her heart, and continued eating pancakes with Tong Jiahui and Zhu Yanan, chatting and laughing, as if she had returned to the carefree time by her grandmother's side.

In her world, perhaps this is what "homesickness" is. When others talk about missing home, they either miss their father or mother, their siblings, or some miss the delicious food from their hometown.

Yunya could only think about Kongjia Village, her maternal grandmother's home. In her childhood memories, it seemed that only in that "home" in Kongjia Village was she truly happy.

…………

Soon it was another weekend, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter. Yunya went to the public bathhouse with Tong Jiahui and Zhu Yanan.

The factory's bathhouse was divided into men's and women's sections. The women's section was a large room with more than 50 shower heads, but it wasn't enough.

Basically, people in the same dormitory share one or two shower heads and take turns showering.

There were also several good friends. One person would go first to reserve a spot, and then wait for the other friends to come over so they could take turns showering.

Yunya couldn't even get a number at the public bathhouse; she had to fill a basin with hot water and squat on the ground to bathe.

If you go with your roommates, you can get a number in line. That's how we got through the winter. Now that the weather is getting warmer, the public showers will probably close down soon.

In the summer, the older employees would fetch hot water and go back to the washroom in the dormitory to wash themselves.

Later, the new workers also learned from them, so in the summer, the dormitory washrooms were still very lively at 11 or 12 o'clock at night, with people everywhere.

People were taking showers, brushing their teeth, and even washing clothes; they all looked quite busy. These people washing clothes at night were either too busy during the day or couldn't get a turn during the day, so they could only wash their clothes at night.

The factory was big and had a lot of people, so you had to queue for everything. Especially washing clothes, it was just like a public bathhouse, where if one person got a tap, the whole dormitory would come to join in.

By the time everyone in the dormitory had finished washing their clothes and the taps stopped running, it was already very late at night.

Actually, Yunya encountered a fight the first time she went to the bathhouse. After that, she felt a bit hesitant to go to the bathhouse alone.

I remember when I entered the bathhouse, it was filled with white mist, and I couldn't see the faces of the people inside. I also didn't know how they found the people they knew.

Yunya looked around to see if she recognized anyone. In a corner at the southernmost end of the bathhouse, she heard people arguing loudly. However, because of the rushing water, the argument didn't carry very far.

Yunya walked further in and saw the scene. It startled her.

Six naked girls were seen wrestling together, pushing and pulling each other while cursing.

Hot water kept pouring down from the showerhead, and the rising steam made the scene look even more chaotic.

Yun Ya's eyes widened, and she stood there stunned for a moment.

One of the chubby girls was stronger and shoved the other girl hard. The girl staggered and almost fell to the ground. Enraged, she reached out and grabbed the other girl's hair.

The other girls also joined in, twisting and turning, completely disregarding the stares of those around them.

Just then, a tall, naked woman stormed over, carrying a plastic basin. She raised the basin and forcefully slammed it over the head of the black woman across from her who was jumping up and down and cursing.

With a crash, the basin shattered, turning into a ring. The hollow center fit snugly around the neck of the dark-skinned woman.

The people who were fighting stopped, all looking bewildered, unable to believe that anyone would dare to fight with "weapons".

It took a while for everyone to recover. The dark-skinned woman was badly injured and immediately retaliated against the tall woman.

The two women were quite different in height. The dark-skinned woman seized the opportunity, jumped up, and forcefully bumped her head against the taller woman's chin.

The tall woman immediately bit her tongue, and blood flowed down the corner of her mouth. She screamed in pain, whimpering, "Ah... ooh, my tongue!"

Everyone was terrified to see hot water mixed with blood flowing all over her face and body. The two groups stopped fighting, and the group that had been attacking her quickly pretended to be weak.

The people on the taller side quickly washed the blood off her body, helped her get dressed, and took her to the infirmary for treatment.

When the other side realized the situation had escalated, they stopped fighting over the showerheads and scattered like birds, hiding in the crowd in an attempt to evade responsibility.

But many people witnessed the whole thing, and no one wanted to provoke such a vicious person. They all avoided them.

As they slipped into the crowd, people on that side moved aside, instantly creating a large empty space around them.

Nobody wants to cause trouble and is afraid of being punished or fined, so being fired is probably out of the question.

They might be fined or publicly criticized, which would be embarrassing and shameful.

Yun Ya came to her senses and wanted to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible, but her feet seemed to be nailed to the ground and she couldn't move.

She was still reeling from the fear she had just experienced.

Just then, the bathhouse manager rushed over and loudly ordered both groups to come and gather.

The women who had secretly dispersed were both scared and worried, and they didn't dare to breathe loudly.

The two remaining people on the opposing side were panting heavily, their faces filled with anger and resentment.

Two of them stayed behind to watch over the people who were fighting with them. When the tall guy and the person who accompanied her to the infirmary returned, those who started the fight would be held responsible! If they ran away, where would they find them? So they had to keep a close eye on them.

The manager scolded the two groups of people while herding them out of the bathhouse.

The dark-skinned woman and her roommate went to the outer room to get dressed, waiting for the building manager to handle the matter.

Yun Ya watched this scene, her heart still pounding. After the girls left, she cautiously found a spot where someone was almost finished washing up and waited to take their place.

After waiting for about 10 minutes until everyone else finished showering and left, she quickly finished showering and left the bathhouse.

She only learned how the matter was handled from others later; she dared not wait there to hear the outcome.

In the end, it seems that the dark-skinned woman paid the medical bills for the injured tall man.

Both groups wrote self-criticisms and were publicly criticized in the publicity department of all dormitories.

Such things are common in the factory; people fight over a spot to shower or for the water tap when washing clothes.

Even in the cafeteria, people cut in line and fights break out; where there are many people, there is bound to be trouble.

Gradually, Yunya got used to all of this. She was not good at saying nice things, nor did she know how to flatter officials.

She still adheres to the principle of not looking for trouble or causing trouble, and works hard and lives life to the fullest in this environment with care.