For the New Year, the factory had a seven-day holiday, from the afternoon of the thirtieth to the seventh day, with work resuming on the eighth.
The dormitory building became lively for once, with everyone taking time off work. Liu Xiue's general store saw booming business.
It's the New Year, and every kid has some pocket money. Clutching their money, they press against the small window of the store, hang their arms over it, and point at the snacks on the shelf: "Auntie, I want to buy this..."
Liu Xiue was too busy to manage, so she asked Zhao Dazhuang to grab items while she collected the money.
Zhao Meimei changed into a brand new outfit, a bright yellow cotton jacket, with oversized thick cotton pants under a pair of red fabric pants. She cozied up next to a small stove inside the store and happily munched on smart beans.
Her small white teeth crackled on the beans as she watched her dad and mom work up a sweat.
"Zhao Meimei! Come out and play!" Da Bao and a few friends stood outside the store, calling her from the small window.
Zhao Meimei stuffed her smart beans into her cotton jacket pocket, stood up from the small stool, and with a promise, turned and rushed outside.
Liu Xiue was quick and grabbed her: "Your coat buttons aren't fastened! Don't catch a cold from the wind, especially during the New Year."
Zhao Meimei struggled impatiently: "Oh, Mom, hurry, they're waiting for me!"
After some effort, Liu Xiue finally buttoned the coat, and Zhao Meimei quickly turned and dashed towards the door.
Liu Xiue followed, shouting, "Come back after a while! No snowball fights! New clothes! We still have to stay up late tonight!"
While running wildly with Da Bao and the others, Zhao Meimei waved at her mom.
In the freezing cold outside, apart from the white snow, there wasn't much to do. Zhao Meimei led Da Bao and the others to play at the embankment not far behind the dormitory building.
The embankment had a large concrete slope, covered with snow. People took shortcuts by sliding down from the top, eventually forming a snow slide over time.
Wearing her new clothes, Zhao Meimei followed Da Bao and the others, laughing and running up the steps to the embankment, then sliding down the snow slide.
The cold wind whipped across her face, bringing out a runny nose. Afraid to wipe it on her clothes, she sniffled repeatedly, running back and forth without getting bored.
Until her cheeks were flushed with excitement, Zhao Meimei grew tired, and called her friends to head back. They had spent half the day just enjoying the snow slide and felt it wasn't enough.
Da Bao sidled up to Zhao Meimei: "Can we play a bit longer? Find something interesting!"
The group entered the area around the dormitory. In this snowy weather, finding an interesting game was not easy.
Her mom had told her no snowball fights. Zhao Meimei looked around, spotting a two-story building on the perimeter of the neighborhood. She squinted her eyes and grinned, revealing her white teeth, with a mischievous tone unique to naughty kids: "Let's go, I'll take you to storm the castle!"
Zhao Meimei led the kids running towards the small building.
The building had a large courtyard, surrounded by an iron fence gate, which was locked from the inside, preventing entry.
Da Bao approached, peering through the large iron gate. The courtyard was quite clean, with several boxes stacked on a table near the building.
Sharp-eyed Zhao Meimei recognized the pattern on the middle box as the brand of popsicle she loved.
Zhao Meimei pointed to show the others: "See that? The popsicles are in that box. I know because my family sells them."
The other kids' eyes lit up at the mention of food.
Da Bao asked, "How do we get in?"
Zhao Meimei squinted her eyes, forgetting about her new clothes, and wiped her nose with her sleeve: "Climb over."
In her new cotton jacket and thick pants, Zhao Meimei led the way, climbing up the fence gate. She climbed skillfully, ignoring the freezing pain on her fingers from the iron bars.
The cotton pants were cumbersome, making each move a challenge, so Da Bao and the others quickly helped by lifting from behind.
The fence gate was taller than a person, but Zhao Meimei eventually climbed up. As she prepared to flip down, there was no one to help her, so she carefully maneuvered herself, her rear perched at the top of the gate.
Frustrated from being scared of calling out loud to avoid alerting anyone inside, Da Bao and the group loudly whispered advice.
"Meimei, turn around and face backwards, then you can climb in."
"Turn your foot and swing the leg over."
Zhao Meimei shifted, adjusting her foot and stood steady. She tried to swing her leg over into the courtyard, but her thick pants kept tangling. After two failed attempts.
Growing anxious, her fingers numbed by the freezing iron bars, Zhao Meimei's mind raced, worried about the high gate she was stuck on. Clenching her teeth, she made one final attempt, lifting her leg with effort towards the courtyard when her foot slipped from the horizontal bar between the bars, sending her spinning atop the iron gate as she plummeted towards the ground.
"Meimei!"
"Zhao Meimei!"
Frightened, Zhao Meimei shut her eyes tight, waiting until she felt a tug at the back of her neck. When she dared to open her eyes, she hadn't fallen, her eyes darting around understandingly — oh my! She was caught hanging from the iron gate.
The kids below were frightened, howling in panic.
"Meimei!!"
"Zhao Meimei!!"
"What do we do!"
One timid kid even burst into tears out of fear.
High atop the iron gate, Zhao Meimei's heart pounded. She glanced at the neatly swept cement ground below, worried at the thought of falling, possibly hurting.
Already a little scared, listening to the chaos below made her panic more, so she cried out, "Is anyone there? Help me!"
After two cries with no response, Zhao Meimei's eyes darted, and she called, "Xu Jing! Auntie Xu Jing! Shi Yang! Brother Yang! Aunt! Brother!"
The front door of the small building opened from the inside.
Shi Yang, wrapped in a thick cotton jacket, came out. He froze at the sight—a little girl was hanging off the family's front gate, with a group of kids below shouting for help.
Shi Yang hurried over, without hesitation, he climbed the iron gate, hurriedly rescuing the girl from above.
Holding Zhao Meimei tight, they leaped down from the gate, the wind whistling past in a thrilling rush.
On the ground, Shi Yang scolded, "Why are you climbing the gate? Aren't you afraid of getting hurt!"
Zhao Meimei looked up, goofy with laughter. The jump was quite fun.
Only then did Shi Yang see her face and realized, "Oh, it's you? You're Zhao Meimei, right?"
Shi Yang often shopped at the general store and had seen Zhao Meimei a few times.
Her bright yellow cotton jacket's collar was torn after her ordeal, white cotton fluff spilling out, complementing her messy face, grinning at Shi Yang.
Watching her silly grin, Shi Yang couldn't hold back either and burst into laughter.