Leng brings her daughter Zhang to work in the garment factory during her school vacation. She hopes Zhang will decide to stay in school after experiencing factory work. Leng encourages Zhang to complete her education and dreams she will get to live out some of her missed dreams. Leng and Zhang talk with one another just like any other mother and teenage daughter–some things just don't change across borders.
M: Mother D: Daughter
Q: 你在制衣厂工作多少年了?
How many years have you been working in the garment factory?
A:初中毕业了就开始，刚开始是学徒，我算是做衣服做了的年数有20年了。
I started work as an apprentice when I graduated from junior high school and I have been making clothes ever since. It has been 20 years.
Q: 这么年轻就在制衣厂工作是怎样的?
What was that like for you to be so young to come to work in a factory?
M:当时我初中毕业了以后，学徒学了两年，然后就出来做衣服，做衣服当时很辛苦的，没有现在这么舒服，以前基本上晚上都要加班到一点多，现在九点半都算是很晚了，当时很苦的，现在好多了。
I have been apprentice for two year when I started out then I started to work in garment factory. It wasn’t as easy as it is now. I used to work overtime until 1am in the evening. It is better now and we only need to work overtime until 9pm.
Q: How do you feel about your mom’s story?
听了妈妈的故事，你是怎么想的?
D:就觉得应该要好好学习，长大了以后好好报答他们了。
I think I should study hard so as to provide [my parents with] a better life when I grow up.
Q: 现在上几年级?
What level of school are you in now?
D:初中毕业刚考到高中。
I just graduated from junior high school and passed the test to go to high school next semester.
Q: 对哪一门最感兴趣? 最喜欢的科目是什么
What are you interested in studying? What are your favorite things in studying?
D:最好的，没有最好的。
I don’t think I excel in any of the subjects.
M:她全部都是差不多的，80，90分，英语比较喜欢，她很平的。
She is doing fine in all subject. She got the scores of 80 or 90 for everything subject. Maybe she likes English best.
D:我不觉得英语是我最喜欢的科目。
I don’t think English is my favorite subject.
M:但是你考试的时候，那一门分最多的。
But your English score is the highest of all your subjects.
D:我喜欢化学。
I like chemistry.
Q: 你将来想做什么?
What kind of job do you see yourself doing in the future?
M:假如是我，我想叫她学服装设计，因为她很小画得那个画很好的，但是她说她不喜欢。她不喜欢。
If it were up to me, I would let her study fashion design, because she was so good at drawing when she was little. But she said she doesn’t like it.
D: 我什么时候说我不喜欢，我没想好。
When did I say I don’t like it? I just haven’t figured out what [I want] to do.
M: 她说她不喜欢。
You said you don’t like it.
Q: 你什么时候会来妈妈这边和她一起工作?
How often do you come and work with your mom?
D:放假。
When I am on vacation.
M:放暑假，放年假，来这里的时候一定会让她来做事。
Summer vacation or other long vacations. I require her to work here with me when she comes [to Shenzhen].
Q: 小的时候的梦想是什么?
When you were small, what did you dream of doing?
M:小的时候想过，我以前在乡下，我很早就，我估计比别的小孩子要稍微野一点吧，反正当时就这样想的，我是农村的，我长大了绝对不想在农村。想办法也要出去到城里啊，但是做什么，你也知道，那时候做父母的从来不会叫孩子好好读书啊，然后就很野啊，成天都是去玩的，不读书啊，然后长大了以后，我妈就弄我去学做衣服，我很认真的，做衣服这一行我算是做出来了。
I thought about my dream when I was little. I lived in a village and I was a wild kid back then. I thought to myself that although I was born in a village I wouldn’t stay there when I grew up. I would do whatever I could to get out of the village. I didn’t know what I would do in the future but I knew I would leave. My parents didn’t encourage me to learn more in school. All I thought about back then was playing around, not studying. When I grew up a little bit, my mom asked me to learn how to make clothes. I took that seriously. I was hard working and [when my skills were good enough] I finally came to the city.
Q: 除了缝纫之外，还有没有在这里学到什么技能?
What kind of skills do you think you are learning, working in a factory here besides how to sew?
M:我好像就学了做衣服，平常那些做家务啊，以前在家里都要干的。没有学其他的。
I only learn how to make clothes. I have learned trivia things like doing choirs when I was in hometown. I only learn sewing.
Q: 你刚才说到你希望女儿学服装设计，我想是不是因为这是你未完成的梦想呢?
You said earlier that you want to daughter to learn fashion design so I am wondering if this is a desire of your own. Do you wish that you had done that?
M:应该是这样的，我想是这样的。
Yes, I think so.
Q: 你觉得自己还有机会完成梦想吗? 是什么让你没法完成梦想?
Do you feel that you could achieve your dream now? What is stopping you from achieving that dream now?
M:我假如有机会肯定去学；生活吧，应该属于生活的压力吧，因为你再去学一样东西的话，不管是从经济上还是时间上，反正都不够用了，要不然就真的不做衣服。
If I had the chance, I would learn [fashion design]. I guess the pressures of life stop me from doing that though. I don’t think I have enough time or money to learn a new thing. If I [go back to school] I will have to give up my work at the garment factory.
Q: 如果知道自己没法实现梦想，那有什么能让你感到生活还是快乐的?
How will you be happy in life knowing that you can’t achieve your dream?
M:我觉得即使是不能完成自己的梦想的话，自己的后一代可以完成啊，自己的后一代不行，就再后一代，是吧。想得有点远。
Even though I can’t make my dream come true, my daughter would achieve that dream for me. If she can’t, maybe her kid can.
Q: 你会感到很大压力吗你？
Do you feel a lot of pressure?
D:会有
Yes.
M:有压力，我给她得压力挺大的。
I am putting a lot of pressure on her.
Q: 那这些压力会怎么影响你?
How does that pressure affect you?
D:应该不会。
I don’t think the pressure affects me.
Q:我会问你们一个问题，我希望你们两个分别回答。你们在对方身上看到了什么与自己相似的特点?
Do you see…each of you, I ask you a question and I want both of you to answer. What traits do you see in yourself [that come from the other] or of yourself in the other?
M: 好像只有一点，像她爸爸家的人多一点，做每一件事很认真，就这一点好像我。
She is more like her father. There is only one trait she gets from me. It is that she is meticulous in everything.
Q: 你是怎么想的?
What do you think?
D:我跟你比较相像，长得像爸爸。
I am more like you but I have my dad’s appearance.
M:性格也不像我，只有做事的那种劲像我，她性格很内向，我很外向。
Her personality is not like me. I am extroverted but she is introverted. Only her way of doing things is like me.
Q: 你爸爸是做什么的?
What kind of work dose your father do?
D:做衣服的。
Making clothes.
M:我老公以前教书的，我来做这个，他也不教了来做，两公婆一起做。
My husband used to be a teacher. When I started to make clothes, he also followed me to do the same thing. We are doing the same work now.
Q: 你最喜欢自己工作的哪方面?
What do you enjoy most about your work?
M当时实际做也不很喜欢，就觉得那时自己只会做这个，所以还没有那个难受，因为没有别的可干啊，这是至少是生存的重要条件之一。
I didn’t really love it back then [when I was younger] but it was the only thing I knew how to do. I have nothing else I can do so why not just keeping doing it. At least I can survive with the skill.
Q: 是不是因为遇到过什么困难让你有这种感觉?
Is there a particular challenge in your life that makes you feel that way?
M:不是，因为怎么说呢，小时候学了这个，你要是再去学别的，也不一定比这一行好，所以觉得这个还是可以的，其实做衣服比别的行业还是要辛苦点，但是我觉得，好像我的潜能好像做这个特别得手一样的。
No. How can I rephrase my answer. I learn [sewing] when I was young and have kept doing it for a long time. If I try to learn something else it may not be better than my current career. Making clothes is even harder than other jobs but I think that I have a knack for it.
Q:我想再回到之前说的话题，你说女儿只在放假的时候来这，那其他时候在哪里?
So I want go back to something earlier. You said your daughter visits you when she is on summer vacation and she has time off school. I want ask her where she lives for the rest of the time.
D:我在学校住，在老家上学，在江西丰城。
I go to a boarding school back in our hometown, Feng City in Jiang Xi Province. (a province in southern China and a neighboring province of Guandong Province ).
Q:住在寄宿学校有什么感受?
How do you like that, living in a boarding school?
D:就什么事都得自己做。
I have to do everything on my own.
M:她在私立学校啊，因为我们不在家，然后她得爷爷奶奶带好像学习上跟不上，还不如老在学校住。
She is in a private boarding school. We can’t take care of her at home and she didn’t do so well in school when staying with her grandparents so I thought it would be better for her to go to a boarding school.
Q: 你觉得学校是怎么为你将来的人生做准备?
How do you think the school prepares you for life afterwards?
D: 我的知识，生活上会基本的照顾自己，自立一点。
I learn a lot at school. In life, I can take care of myself and I am more independent.
Q: 你的未来会是怎样的?
What does the future look like to you?
D: 基本没想过。
I didn’t think about it.
Q:如果现在让你想，你是怎样规划的?
If you had to think about it now, what do you .. how do you envision it?
D:就舒服一点的生活…
I just want a comfortable life….
Q: 还有什么是对你很重要的? 你觉得是教育，自己兴趣等这些广泛层面的东西或是自己的家人，那一样对你来说是首要的?
Is there anything that is really important to you? Do you feel like you prioritize your education or are you interested in the social part of the life or having a family?
D:最看重的是家人.
Family is most important to me.
Q: 怎样才是舒服的生活
How do you define “comfortable life”?
D:就是规定的时间上班下班，一般人的生活。
Ordinary people’s life. Going to work and getting off work at a fixed time. I like regular life.
Q: 你对这样的人生是什么感觉?
What about that life appeals to you?
D:就是不用想太多。
I don’t need to think or worry a lot.
M:她很单纯的，她不像我儿子，我儿子的话，他的理由多，想法多，女孩子单纯好。
Unlike my son, she is so simple. My son thinks a lot but she doesn’t. I think simple girls are better.
Q: 你喜欢深圳的哪些方面?
When you come to Shenzhen, what do you like about the city?
D: 繁华吧。
I like the hustle and bustle of the city.
Q: 深圳哪些地方吸引你呢? 是和你女儿的想法相似吗?
What appealed to you when you moved to the city? Is it similar to your daughter?
M:刚来的时候我觉得深圳的钱好赚啊，天气又好啊，这里一年四季都不冷，这两个理由，足够我留下来。
When I first came here, I think that it is easier to make money here and the weather here is nice. It is not cold here at all. Those two reasons are enough for me to stay [in Shenzhen].
Q: 你认为你女儿对深圳的看法和你的看法相似吗?
How do you think her experience of Shenzhen differs from yours?
M:我女儿跟我的看法是完全不同的。因为我们作为一个大人的话，我们看得稍微远一点，这个深圳呢有没有什么好处，对以后小孩子的未来有没有好处，但我觉得有，我们在深圳这都按揭了房子，所以我就觉得…
It is totally different. As an adult, I need to make plans for the future. [I] thought about many practical issues, like whether it is good for me to stay here and whether it will help my daughter’s future to be in Shenzhen. Then I decided to stay here. [My husband and I] bought a house and we are paying a mortgage for it.
Q: 你也有儿子，你对孩子最大的期望是什么?
You have a son too. What are your greatest hopes for your children?
M:我儿子就在办公室，因为我儿子的性格怎么说，跟我女儿完全不一样的，我女儿是很单纯很单纯那种，我儿子是天马行空的那种，所以我对我儿子的要求多一点严一点。
My son is in the office [here] now. My son’s personality is the opposite of my daughters. My daughter is a really simple girl but my son is imaginative, so I think I have higher expectations of my son.
Q:你听妈妈这样说有什么感受?
How do you feel hearing that from your mom?
D:我觉得没有什么。
I don’t feel anything.
Q: 看来你妈妈的想法是对的，这就是我全部的问题了。还有没有其他想说的?可以是关于你们的个性或是关于你们生活中的重大事件?
I guess your mom is right, these are all the questions that I have. Is there anything that either of you want to add? Something about your personality that is very important or some events in your life that have a huge impact.
M: 实际上买房子什么的这些事都是大人的事，但是我就希望小孩子不要再走我们这条路了，太辛苦了，是不是啊，就希望他们多读点书，最少也要混个白领嘛，现在我们就算有那个心都没有那个力了，又要照顾老人啊小孩啊，所以你就没有那么多得时间去追求那些你想要的，所以希望小孩子就按照自己的想法，要比自己这一代强一些。
Making plans is an adult thing. For kids, I hope they don’t follow in our footsteps. Our job is tough. I want them to study well at school and at least become white-collar workers when they grow up. Even if [my husband and I] want a better life, it is impossible for us to achieve that at our age. We need to work and take care of our kids and parents. We don’t have time to pursuit our dreams. I hope [my children] can do the things they want and have better lives than we did.
Q:那你是怎么看待创造性的工作? 你会希望孩子做这方面的工作吗?
How do you value creative work? How do you put creative work into your expectation of your children?
M:我觉得应该会这样想，只要他们喜欢的，我们都会支持。
I will let them do whatever they want. Even creative work. We will be supportive of them.
how do LENG + ZHANG think about clothing?
M:我的衣服在人人乐买的，商场里面，因为我比较胖，我就穿看不到什么肚子的衣服，显瘦，因为有点胖吧，然后我女儿是以运动休闲为主，她身材好一点。
I bought my clothes in a supermarket near here. I am very fat so I like clothes that can disguise my body and make me look thin. My daughter often wears sportswear and causal wear because she is fit.
Q: 你经常穿运动服吗?
Do you wear a lot of sportswear?
D:恩，喜欢。什么衣服都有穿，运动服也穿。
Yes, I like sportswear but I also wear other kinds of clothes.
M:实际上，穿衣服是根据年龄段的，像稍微或者是读书的那个年代，都喜欢运动衫，假如出了社会以后，就喜欢穿时装一点。
In fact, what to wear has something to do with your age. Students like sportswear but when you work after graduating from school, you will wear more fashionable clothes.
Q: 那衣服的颜色呢? 为什么你喜欢这颜色?
What about the colors for your dress? What attracted you to that color?
M:选颜色的时候应该根据个人的喜好，也根据个人的皮肤，是不是啊。假如你要是皮肤黑的话，他应该不会选很老气的颜色，颜色应该是跟性格还有肤色决定颜色的。
Picking colors depends on personal taste and skin tone, right? If you have dark skin tone, you won’t pick dark colors that will make you look even darker. Your personality will also play a part when you pick up colors of clothes.
Q: 那你选的这个颜色说明了你什么个性特点?
What do you think the color says your personality?
M:估计跟性格有关，因为外向一点的，稍微爱美一点的，外向一点的，他喜欢选鲜艳点的颜色，就显得有…反正就觉得别人会注意，反正就是这样，我个人认为是这样。选这个颜色表现我的性格比较外向，我女儿是内向，你知道我女儿为什么吗?很鲜艳的颜色，很发的，她不穿的。但是我不一样，我喜欢穿得显得很张扬的颜色。性格有关系。
I am more extroverted so I like bright colors. I think people will notice me when I am dressed in bright colors. I picked this color [teal] for my clothes because I have an outgoing personality. My daughter is different. You know why? It’s because she is introverted and she doesn’t wear bright color clothes. But I like wearing bright colors to attract attention. I think colors say something about your personality.
Q: 那你喜欢买什么颜色的衣服呢?
So what colors do you like to buy when you go shopping?
D:都是问我妈妈的。
My mother bought these clothes for me.
M:这套就是她买的。
She bought this outfit herself.
Q: 你会和妈妈一起去逛街吗?
Do you go shopping together?
D: 会
Yes
Q: 两人一起出去逛街买衣服时怎样的?
What is that dynamic like for you?
M:假如我觉得这套衣服好看，我就会问，这套衣服怎么样? 然后她就点头了，就让她去试一下，假如她没有点头，就不会试。
If I think an outfit looks good, I will ask my daughter if she likes it. If she likes it too she will try it on. If she doesn’t then we will pass on it.
Q: 你觉得你在制衣厂的工作经验会不会影响到你买衣服的选择?
How do you think that your experience in the garment factory affects how you buy clothes?
M:会，具体不同是怎么呢，假如我自己说做衣服的，我就会觉得这衣服成本多少，材料是怎么样子的，我就知道这衣服只适合这么多钱，然后我就会去选，应该是这样的。
I think it does have influence on my clothing choices. I make clothes so I know the fabrics and how much they are worth. I will choose clothes worthy of their prices.
translation by zhu lei