Jiang “Rainbow” Caihong dropped out in the second half of eighth grade.

2008年3月，春天，她坐最后一排，背后就是红红绿绿的迎奥运黑板报，不小心衣服上便抹了几道粉笔彩。

It was Spring, March 2008. Rainbow sat in the last row, in front of a blackboard covered with colorful “Welcome to Beijing Olympics” slogans. Her clothes were soon smeared with chalk.

小心也没用，人太多，座位太 窄，她又有点儿胖，十五岁，一百五十三斤，行动总有点儿笨。

It was no use being careful; there were too many students crammed into all the narrow seats. She was chubby, just 15 years old and already weighing over 76 kilograms; she moved with some clumsiness.

那学校叫龙凤中学，民办的，意思就是望子女成龙成凤。去那儿上 学的都是“外二代”，希望借读书改变命运的“外二代”。

She went to Dragon and Phoenix High, a private school named for the high hopes the parents had for their children. Every student wanted to go abroad, and they hoped that education would get them there. 

因为目标清晰 迫切，学校的课程也直奔中考主题，音乐不学美术不学任何文艺演出体育 比赛春游秋游都不办。

Their goals were clear, so the school classes were all designed around the exams: no music, art, or creative classes of any sort, no athletic competitions nor field trips. 

体育课只狂练跳绳踢毽子两百米，中考会考嘛。

Gym classes only focused on kicking the shuttlecock, as it was the one sport required at regional athletic competitions.


姜彩虹成绩还算可以，除了学数学有点儿困难。新来的数学老师姓 庄，大龄未婚男青年，

Rainbow was an okay student; her only difficulty was with math class. The new math teacher, a Mr. Zhuang, was still unmarried. 

鼻子上常年粉刺块垒，火气比较大。春天上课易 犯困，又是数学课，姜彩虹就趴在桌子上睡着了。

He had a hot temper and a nose full of acne. Classes in the Spring tended to make one drowsy, and the subject didn’t help, so Rainbow often passed out on her desk. 

庄老师最忌别人看不起 他，上他的课睡觉就是严重看不起他，

Mr. Zhuang hated people disrespecting him, and napping in his class would qualify. 

于是他把姜彩虹叫起来噼里啪啦骂 了一顿，其中有一句也不知是怎么想出来的，“你照照镜子看看你，奶子 晃来晃去的能当妈了，还不好好听课！”同学们都配合地哄堂大笑。

He woke up Rainbow and berated her, with one line that really stung, “Take a look in the mirror, your boobs are bigger than a mom’s! Why don’t you pay some attention in class!” The other students all laughed.

As soon as Rainbow came home, she refused to go to school again. 

她爸老姜在一家五金厂里做模具师 傅，她妈郭姨在五金厂做保洁工作，

Her dad, Lao Jiang, worked as a die cut-maker at a hardware factory, where her mom was also a janitor. 

她哥姜国政高一读了半个学期成绩 实在跟不上，去年春天刚进厂做学徒，

Her older brother, Guozheng, spent half a semester in 10th grade before dropping out; he was now an apprentice in the same factory. 

流水线一天做足十二小时，天天 叫着要辞工。老姜劝女儿读下去，

He worked 12-hour days on the production line, and threatened to quit daily. Lao Jiang tried to persuade his daughter to stay in school. 

从自己年轻时进城打工种种吃过的苦，到厂 里谁谁的孩子考上大学从此过得多好多好，

He talked about all the suffering he went through when he first got to the city, about how other people’s kids did so well after going to college, 

从自己年纪越来越大身体越 来越差，到全家的光荣和以后的指望。老姜苦劝，劝着劝着就成了求，

about how he was getting older and weaker, and about how the whole family’s honor and hope relied on her. 

他是个感性的人，自己把自己说哭了。姜彩虹也哭了，可是哭完还是那 句，不想上学了，就是不想上了。

Lao Jiang tried to convince Rainbow, eventually he begged. He was a man of sentiment and made himself cry in the process. Rainbow cried too, but she didn’t change her mind; she refused to go to school again. 

郭姨比较容易认命，说龙生龙凤生凤 老鼠崽子会打洞，不是读书的根种，就是进厂打工的命。

Her mom, Lao Guo, accepted the decision more readily. She said dragons had baby dragons while mice had baby mice, we are who we are; if one wasn’t meant to be a scholar, factory work it shall be.

老姜没让女儿进厂，他花了两万块盘下一家小杂货店，姜彩虹从此 就坐在玻璃柜台后面，

Lao Jiang didn’t have his daughter work at his job, instead, he spent twenty thousand yuan on buying a small convenience store where Rainbow manned the counter. 


有人来的时候卖东西，没人来的时候看电视，天 天就这么过，也没同学来找她，她也不去找同学。

If there were customers, she worked, if not, she just watched TV. She spent all her time in the store, never once looking up her old school friends; they didn’t try to find her either.

小店开在工业园，周围都是工厂，下班时间，各家厂子的打工仔穿 着各色的厂服来买烟买电池买饮料买康师傅泡面，

The store was inside an industrial zone, a commercial area full of factories. Around closing time, dozens of uniform-wearing workers would come to the store, seeking sustenance after a long day: cigarettes, batteries, sodas, instant noodles… 

他们吵吵闹闹地敲着 柜台喊小老板，快拿开水来！小老板来点儿辣椒酱！

They would swarm around the counter, pound the glass with their fists, and chanted, “Boss lady, I want some hot water!” “Boss lady, I want some hot sauce!” 

姜彩虹忙得有点儿 乱，弯腰碰倒了汽水瓶子，举手撞翻了零钱盒子，抬头撞了后脑勺，老 姜有时来帮忙，就在一边笑话她“活该，谁让你胖”。

Rainbow rushed to accommodate everyone; she often spilled soda here, dropped change there, or bumped her head somewhere else. Lao Jiang sometimes came over to help, and he would tease her, “See, this is why you should lose some weight!”

第一章

Chapter 1

她想用整 个命去爱这里，爱这里的每一个人，她什么都愿意干她什么都愿意给。

A high school girl drops out to work at a factory, one of many that produces the latest phones and gadgets for the rest of the world. She is enthralled by the company's team spirit and its corporate culture of "one for all and all for one," until she learns, perhaps too late, of the true price of belonging.

感恩的心 Chinese

A Grateful Heart English

Q. Chen

Chinese

English