Chapter Three Hundred and Fifty-Nine: The Political Security Trainee

However, factories did not recruit every day, so Lu Cheng had to wait for an opportunity. She was a bit old and couldn’t get into the various training classes at the military and political school, but she didn’t feel it was a pity at all. A neighbor’s daughter had worked hard to get a C-grade diploma and then excitedly signed up for the nurse training class—she heard that she could treat people, but she was so scared by the first sight of a human specimen that she ran back. After that, every time she came back from school, she would tell many scary stories, which made Lu Cheng feel that “joining a unit” was a very scary thing.

Today, her father brought her a piece of news: “Some kind of security bureau is recruiting. You should go and take a look tomorrow!”

“Security bureau?” Although Lu Cheng was no longer unfamiliar with the “Newspeak” that was everywhere in Lingao, she still couldn’t figure out the endless strange meanings.

“I don’t know either,” Lu Bai pulled down the towel embroidered with the red characters “Labor is Glorious” from his neck, washed it in the washbasin water Lu Cheng had brought, and wiped his face. “It’s probably a place like the village militia or the local defense bureau!”

“Can a place like that take women?” Lu Cheng was puzzled.

“The chiefs’ ideas are very deep. How can your father understand them? It’s just working for the chiefs,” Lu Bai said.

Lu Shouye also said, “It’s true. There’s a notice posted at the farm headquarters. Men and women are not limited, the age requirement is under 23, and you need a C-grade diploma—isn’t sister perfect for it? Working for the chiefs is always easier than working in a factory. Look at how hard mother works on three shifts every day!”

Lu Cheng was tempted. If she could get a job, it would be a great help to the family. The next day, she went to the commune’s farm headquarters to see the notice.

Sure enough, there was a large notice on the bulletin board, and many people were gathered around, looking at it and discussing it. A clerk from the commune was reading it aloud nearby. Lu Cheng had already learned a few characters at home, so it didn’t take her much effort to get a C-grade diploma after arriving in Lingao. Reading a notice was naturally not a problem.

The conditions on the notice were the same as what her brother had said: men and women were not limited, unmarried, between 16 and 23 years old, with a C-grade diploma. What about the treatment? She glanced at it and her eyes immediately became hot: a settling-in allowance of 200 yuan, a probationary salary of 30 yuan per month, and a salary of 55 yuan in circulation coupons per month after being officially employed. This was a lot! Her father, who was an accountant at the farm, only earned 60 yuan a month.

But when she read further, she saw that the condition was to work away from home. Lu Cheng immediately became worried—to work alone as a single woman, she had never dared to imagine it when she was a sheltered young lady. However, the months of wandering outside had made her much bolder. But did she really have to go to work alone?

In the end, the idea of reducing the family’s burden prevailed. After discussing it with her family at home, she went to the village office the next day to get a household registration certificate and applied at the farm headquarters. Several men in tight blue short jackets and leather belts looked at her household registration certificate and C-grade diploma, asked her many questions, and even had her read a passage in “Newspeak” and write a few characters on the spot. Then, in a small room, in front of two nurses, she stripped naked and underwent a physical examination.

Then came measuring her height and weighing her. The nurse then asked her to jog in place, jump, and then kick her legs. Lu Cheng felt very humiliated to have to do all this naked. While she was hesitating, the rattan cane in the older nurse’s hand came down.

“What are you shy about?! Jump!” Then her buttocks, thighs, and back were hit several more times with a burning sensation.

Lu Cheng, who wanted to cry but dared not, quickly completed all the movements. Finally, she was asked to look at a picture hanging on the wall. She could barely see the direction of the smallest row of figures.

“Vision ‘excellent’,” the nurse wrote something on the white paper clipped to the wooden board in her hand.

Finally, the nurse’s eyes fell on her feet—Lu Cheng had “liberated feet.” She had bound her feet in the past, but during the months of wandering, it was difficult to walk with small feet, and she had no time or energy to wash and bind them every day, so she naturally let them go. After arriving at the refugee camp, foot binding was not allowed. The Australian chiefs were very strict about this: not only were girls not allowed to bind their feet, but women who had already bound their feet had to unbind them all. Those who did not would be forced to unbind them. Lu Cheng had personally seen several women in the quarantine camp who “would rather die than unbind their feet.” The chiefs did not want them to die, but they sent their entire families to the labor reform team—everyone knew what would happen to those who went there.

“It’s a pity she has liberated feet.” With this sentence, a young man walked in from behind the curtain. The naked Lu Cheng was so ashamed that she immediately squatted down.

“Stand up!” the nurse shouted. “This is a chief!”

Fearing being beaten, Lu Cheng slowly stood up—the Australian chief was her master, and it was natural for a master to do whatever he wanted to a slave—but her shame made her continue to use her hands to barely cover her private parts and breasts.

The young man looked her up and down with interest. The nurse shouted again, “Put your hands down!”

Lu Cheng dared not disobey, but she covered her face in shame, her body trembling.

“Nice figure!” the chief commented, and then sighed with some regret, “The feet are a flaw.”

“Yes, but she unbound them early, and her foot shape seems to have recovered well.”

“Hmm.” It seemed that the chief was a little dissatisfied. “Can she walk and run?”

“According to Chief Nurse Zhang, it doesn’t have much of an impact,” the nurse said respectfully.

“Forget it, let her pass,” the chief said after considering for a while. “There are too few girls applying.”

So when she came out dressed, her medical examination form had a blue stamp on it. Five days later, one evening, she received a notice of acceptance.

“Congratulations, you’ve got a government job now,” the person who came to inform her was the village’s resident policeman. The resident policeman wore a black tight-fitting jacket that Lu Cheng found ridiculous, a cloth hat that looked like a plate on his head, leggings, and a stick hanging from his waist.

The resident policeman was like the yamen runners in the county in the past, but he lived in the village with his family, was very kind, and did not extort money from time to time like the yamen runners.

As the only person in the village who received a “salary” and ate “government food,” the resident policeman was a figure who commanded the respect of all the villagers—after all, even the most powerful village chief and militia captain in the village only received allowances from the commune. Only the managers of the commune—or “cadres” as they were called in “Newspeak”—could receive a salary.

The whole family was happy to hear that Lu Cheng had been accepted, but they were also sad—after all, she was leaving home to make a living. Lu Bai and his wife couldn’t help but shed tears.

“Alright, don’t be sad. Your daughter is going to the General Security Bureau,” the resident policeman shook his head. “This is the chiefs’ personal guard department. I couldn’t even get a job there if I wanted to!” Then he turned to Lu Cheng and said, “Work hard, and you’ll have a bright future!”

The resident policeman told her that he would pick her up early the next morning and take her to the farm headquarters. Lu Cheng knew that two other boys from the village had also applied and been selected.

“You don’t need to bring anything. The government will provide everything,” the resident policeman told her. “If you bring things, you’ll have to return them at the farm headquarters. Just go in the clothes you’re wearing.”

Early the next morning, the resident policeman sent the three people from the village to the commune headquarters. Then he said a few words of comfort to them and left. The young chief who had seen her naked was also at the farm headquarters. Lu Cheng couldn’t help but blush when she saw him.

A total of seven trainees from the entire Jialai Commune were selected for the General Security Bureau, and Lu Cheng was the only female. The young chief said a few words of encouragement to them, and then the seven of them were taken to the commune’s station to wait for the ox-cart that was specially sent to pick them up. Lu Cheng looked at the six strange and bewildered people around her. She realized that this was the first time she had been completely separated from familiar people. Only the clothes she was wearing were from the village. She looked out the window blankly, a road stretching into the distance.

Several ox-carts brought the trainees from the Jialai Commune to the Fangcaodi Education Park. Then they were taken into a courtyard with a sentry on duty. In the courtyard, besides them, there were more than thirty young men and women of similar age.

“Line up! First Bairen Commune, Second Bopu Commune, Third Nanbao Commune, Fourth Jialai Commune.” A clerk blew a sharp whistle and shouted in the courtyard to maintain order.

The trainees squeezed into a line. Another clerk at the door held a clipboard and called out names loudly:

“Bairen Commune, Ye Lüsu!”

An eighteen or nineteen-year-old youth hurried up.

“Idiot,” he was scolded before he could even stand still. The clerk berated him, “Can’t you say ‘here’? Do it again!”

Ye Lüsu quickly shouted “Here!” and was then allowed in.

The Jialai Commune was fourth in line. Lu Cheng waited for almost an hour before she heard her name called. She quickly shouted “Here!”

In the main room, several people who looked like chiefs were sitting behind a table. In the middle was a fair and fat chief.

“Lu Cheng!” As soon as she walked in and stood still, the clerk standing on the side began to read her registration information aloud, “Female, 20 years old, unmarried, household registration: Jialai Commune, social status: small business owner, education: C-grade diploma.”

The chiefs flipped through the pages in front of them, looked at her, and the young chief said, “She’s a girl, send her to the confidential training class?”

“No, assign her to the security cadre training class,” the fat chief in the middle said.

So Lu Cheng went to the security cadre training class. All the trainees were assigned to three short-term training classes after a cursory glance: the “investigation cadre training class,” the “security cadre training class,” and the “confidential personnel training class.” Several people were eliminated—no reason was given, and they were sent home directly.

After coming out, a clerk gave her a small bamboo tag, “Put it around your neck!”

Then each trainee received a large backpack. The trainees carried the large bags and followed the clerk to the backyard.

“Girls, this way!” A female clerk came and greeted Lu Cheng and several other female trainees—they were taken to a side courtyard.