g back the divorce papers and waiting for her husband.

Half a month later, the wife came with her son to the prison to see her busband and express her gratitude to Wang Hongwu.

The larcenef pledged to reform and Wang said he would try to get him as early a release as possible.

6. Second Chance : a Love Story

Chen Surong and Zeng Xiangjie are factory workers in Shuicheng City, Guizhou Province. They seem like any other young Chinese couple: they have a two-year-old daughter, live in a two-room apartment and lead a quiet and uneventful life.

It wasn't always this way.

Chen Surong was a worker at a plastics factory in Yunnan Province when she met Zeng Xiangjie, who worked at a Guizhou cement factory, on a train in 1975. They fell in love at first sight.

After two years of correspondence and occasional visits, the two decided

to get married.

All the arrangements were made and just before Spring Festival in 1977, Chen waited for her fiance to come to Yunnan for the wedding. He never showed up, nor was there a letter of explanation.

Ten days latcr, Chen decided she must go to Guizhou and find out what had happened.

It was snowing heavily when she arrived at the Guizhou train station and the roads were slushy as she trudged off to the cement #actory.

She found Zeng's dormitory and rapped on the door of his room. "Xiangjie, Xiangjie..." she called out, but there was no answer. Finally, she found a key and uniocked the door: the room was empty, messy and there was no quilt on his bed.

Confused, Chen stopped some passersby and asked them abont Zeng. They had never heard of him, they told her. At last, she found an old worker, who said: "You'd better go to the factory security department."

The young woman ran to the security department of the factory, and was told that Zeng had been detained because "he had been stealing factory property."

Chen couldn't believe her ears. But then she saw for herself. in the small detention room, Zeng Xiangjie squatted behind a locked door, and she knew it was true.

"Xiangjie, what's the matter with you?" she asked him.

He did not raise his eyes. He covered his face with his hands and wept.

"Come on, what did you do?" Chen insisted.

"I'm sorry... I deceived you. .. I am a guilty man, I'm ruined..." Zeng numbled as tears roiled down lais cheeks.

Before she realized it, Chen was aiready out on the street, running madly for the railway station.

For quite a while afterwards, she could not steep or eat. When she saw a letter from Zeng, she thcew it away, and then she burst into tears.

It seemed to be an endless ordeal. But as she calmed down, Chen found she could not forget Zeng, or at deast the man she knew. Hadn't he been so kind and helpful at Guiyang train station? When he came to visit her, didn' t he always bring whatever she needed? Hadn't he seemed so smart and so considerate?

Finally, Chen felt she must not lose Zeng but help him make a new beginning instead of severing the tie between them completely.

　

She retrieved the letter she had thrown away. It was a short letter: "Surong, I'm sorry,for I have deceived you. Can you forgive me? I will start anew and be an honest man. You take my word for it..."

The next day, Chen was back at the cement factory. She met Xiangjie and told him, "A young man should follow the right road, otherwise, he will never find true love."

Zeng was released, but he was obsessed and worried that Chen might leave him at any time, or that he might be sent back to the public security bureau again. He could not concentrate on his work and as a result, broke three of his ribs in an accident.

His factory leaders were very concerned about Zeng's injury, and often went to the hospital to see him. They also sent four young workers to attend to him in turn. During the time he was in the hospital, Chen was at his bedside holding his hand.

　

Zeng was moved to teais. "I thought I was ruined," he said, "but now with your help and concern, I am confident that I can be an honest and good man again. When I recover, I'll work very hard to repay your kindness."

Soon afterwards, Zeng recovered fully and as he had promised, came out of the hospital a different man. He was always the first to start work in his workshop and the last to leave. For two years, he never asked for leave and was awarded the title of an "advanced worker."

In 1981, Zeng and Chen were finally married. Zeng's factory gave the newlyweds a two-room apartment, and Chen managed to transfer to her husband's factory.

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