"Ring-ring~"
"Ge Qian, stop fussing around and hurry up! If we get there late, the braised pork will be gone again."
"You go on ahead! I still need five minutes here!"
"Then I'll take your lunchbox for you! Hurry up."
"Huh? Then Zhang Jing, just get me a serving of egg drop soup. My throat's dry, I want something thin to drink."
"You drink thin stuff all day long. Look how skinny you've gotten! You make 140 yuan a month and still pinch pennies like this—honestly. Hurry up!"
The noon dismissal bell rang at the First Branch Factory. The young workers in the workshop hurriedly dropped what they were doing, grabbed their lunchboxes, and ran outside.
Although the First Branch Factory cafeteria had plenty of serving windows and lining up took only a few minutes, everyone had grown used to "fighting for food" over the years. No one wanted to fall behind anyone else.
Only Ge Qian silently finished the task at hand. She dawdled until she was the last one left, then slowly washed her hands and headed for the cafeteria.
She did not like squeezing into the crowd to line up for food, because there were always people, like her best friend Zhang Jing, who would kindly try to persuade her.
"Ge Qian, you earn so much all by yourself. What are you saving it for if you won't eat well or dress well? You've gotten skinny as firewood. That won't make it easy to find someone."
And many male workers would even show their "love," eagerly helping Ge Qian fill a lunchbox with meat dishes.
Ge Qian did not like owing people favors, much less getting tangled up with them, so she always delayed by ten minutes to avoid those pointless troubles and awkward moments.
But Ge