Chapter 84 Chapter 84 Part 2

After the results of the embroidery worker recruitment assessment came out, a total of 32 people were retained in the factory.

Twenty-six of them had passed the preliminary selection before, and six had not participated in the preliminary selection before or had not passed the preliminary selection. In particular, the two who had not passed the preliminary selection before but passed this time burst into tears of joy when they heard the result.

They did not pass the preliminary selection, and had been studying for the past six months under pressure from their families and the outside world. They shamelessly asked people who taught them well, and embroidered and unembroidered a roll of thread. They had heard no end of sarcasm and ridicule. Now, when they heard Shen Moli announce the list of admitted students, all the efforts and grievances of the past six months turned into tears.

"See if my sarcastic sister-in-law dares to say that I just want to be lazy and not work. Woohoo, I am a worker now."

"Wow, wow, wow, my mother-in-law scolds me every day for wasting lamp oil and not going to work in the fields. Wow, I am a worker now, we are workers now!"

As for the four people who had passed the preliminary selection but failed the assessment this time, they all looked pale and were too embarrassed to even cry.

They all thought that since they had passed the preliminary selection, they were almost certain to enter the factory, so they didn't pay much attention to the subsequent studies. After all, they had to prepare for the Chinese New Year before the New Year, and it was spring ploughing after the New Year. The family was already very busy, so how could they waste time on embroidery?

It’s fine as long as I can get into the factory.

With this idea in mind, although their embroidery skills have improved, they are still far behind those who have spent half a year learning seriously. Even a few people who missed the preliminaries and have been studying on their own for the past six months are not as good as them.

The group of people picked by Shen Moer from Yangliu Brigade were all selected. After all, they have innate advantages and can get special training from time to time. It would be unreasonable if their skills could not be improved even so.

Moreover, this group of people also had a strong desire not to embarrass Shen Moli, and they competed with each other in technology. Under healthy competition, their skills were naturally much higher than those of other teams.

Even Liu Yinshuang, who had relatively poor talent, did not fall behind at all.

After recruiting embroiderers, Shen Moli directly divided the thirty-two people into four groups and selected four group leaders. Li Xinmei and Xing Fangjie were elected as group leaders, and the other two group leaders were from other teams, named Duan Xiaoshuang and Tao Nianqin.

With manpower in place, the following things became much easier. Shen Moer directly grabbed Fu Mingze and gave him a test paper. Then the commune notified each team to conduct an open recruitment examination. During the period, Shen Moer handed over the organizational liaison and other work to two borrowed secretaries and four team leaders.

Chen Moer was running between the factory and school, so busy that she almost forgot about Zhou Pingan.

One day, when Shen Moer was hurriedly returning to the commune’s staff quarters, she almost collided with a bicycle turning out from the gate of the quarters. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and dodged it.

The cyclist was quite arrogant and started to curse: "Don't you have eyes?"

Shen Moer looked puzzled and raised her head to look at the man: "No, you turned too fast..."

He stopped talking halfway, smiled, and said, "Deputy Director Sun, you did turn a corner a little too fast, but I did walk a little too fast too. We both made mistakes. How about we shake hands and make peace?"

This person was none other than Sun Yaozu, the deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee who had visited Yangliu Brigade together with another deputy director, Wu Qiong, when Yang Qingqing and Shi Wei had teamed up to frame Fu Mingze.

The Revolutionary Committee had its own office building and dormitory area, so Shen Moer rarely ran into him.

Sun Yaozu was also a little embarrassed. He looked down upon a few people in the commune. Even Secretary Geng Liming had to give him some face when he met him, but he really didn't want to offend Shen Moli.

After all, the ninth workshop of the Southern Province Embroidery Factory was recently established, and this man is now a famous figure in both the county and the city. His background is clean, his pedigree is good, and his future is bright. Their Revolutionary Committee has no way to deal with him.

Sun Yaozu raised his glasses and smiled, "It turned out to be Deputy Director Shen. You're right. I'm also in a hurry because of something important. It's just a misunderstanding. What's the point of shaking hands and making peace? We don't have any conflicts and we don't need to make peace. Don't you think so, Deputy Director Shen?"

Shen Moer smiled sincerely: “That’s right, then Deputy Director Sun, since you have something important to do, then you should get busy.”

Sun Yaozu nodded, then quickly got on his bike and left.

Shen Moer turned and walked towards the family compound. Liu Guizhi appeared from nowhere, holding a bamboo basket, and called out to Shen Moer, "Moer."

Shen Moer turned her head and saw that it was her, and smiled: "Sister Liu."

Liu Guizhi looked gossipy: "You know Sun Yaozu? I tell you, it's you. If it was someone else, he would probably scold you. It was obviously him who rode too fast, but you blame others."

After a pause, Liu Guizhi continued, "You don't know, my Ping An just accidentally stepped on his shoes before, and he scolded him so much that he almost cried. It was only after my Lao Zhou smiled and said a lot of nice things, and even compensated him with a few dollars, that he let it go."

Shen Moer didn't know about this. It was probably something that happened before she moved to the staff quarters. Zhou Xingwang was a deputy director of a commune, but Sun Yaozu didn't give him any face at all. It seemed that it was a huge honor for him to just smile at her.

Speaking of Zhou Ping'an, Shen Moer remembered what happened before and asked, "How is your Ping'an recently? Has his clothes ever gotten wet?"

Liu Guizhi is now quite familiar with Shen Moer. She sighed and said, "Not really. She just always locks herself in the room, acting mysteriously. No one knows what she is doing."

"I guess you can see that this child has a bit of a strange personality. When he was little, Lao Zhou and I were busy and didn't have time to take care of him, so we left him in our hometown, thinking that if we sent him money every month, what problems could possibly arise with his grandparents taking care of him?"

At this point, Liu Guizhi paused, and was silent for a few seconds before saying, "He was left in the countryside for about six or seven years. The child became thinner and thinner, and less talkative. His grandparents said that this was his personality. He was thin because he was growing taller and slimmer. I wondered if the money they gave him was not enough, and his grandparents were reluctant to give him good food, so I lived frugally and sent him more money every month."

She seemed to have a lump in her throat, and then she continued, "It was God's will. One time, a salesperson from my company took a driver to pick up goods near my hometown, and I asked for leave to follow him."

"When we got to the village, we found out that Ping An didn't go to school. He was washing clothes and quilts for the whole family in the yard in the middle of winter. His hands were red from the cold. His grandmother was beside him, scolding him for being useless. She also said that it was because he was such a loser that his parents didn't want him and sent him to the countryside."

"I was so angry that I rushed into the kitchen, grabbed a kitchen knife and tried to hack that old woman to death."

Liu Guizhi took a breath, sniffed and said, "I brought the child to my side later, but his personality was set and he was silent all day. I didn't dare to speak to him loudly, and he wouldn't tell us if there was anything wrong. I had no choice but to cook for him in different ways every day."

Shen Moer recalled Zhou Ping'an's appearance and sighed secretly. No wonder the child was so withdrawn. After being hurt like this by his closest relatives, it would be difficult for him to trust others again.

She patted Liu Guizhi and comforted her, "It's all in the past. He's doing fine now."

Liu Guizhi grabbed Shen Moer's hand and said, "Sister, I have actually been thinking about something for a while, but I have always been embarrassed to tell you."

Shen Moer nodded and waited for her to continue.

Liu Guizhi sighed, "My kid is not going to be able to study. I don't think he will be able to get into high school. I see he is not interested in anything else but painting, so I was thinking if I could let him learn painting from you. I know you are very busy now, so I have never had the nerve to ask you. But since they are about to graduate, I have no choice but to ask you shamelessly."

"You don't have to teach him every day. Just teach him occasionally and I'll let him figure it out at home." Liu Guizhi hesitated, then said, "Don't feel burdened. I didn't tell you that just now to get your sympathy or anything. I just had no one to talk to, so I couldn't help but pour out my troubles to you. It doesn't matter if you don't teach him. We can't ruin our relationship as neighbors because of this."

Shen Moer smiled and said, "I know, Sister Liu. Actually, even if you don't tell me today, I will tell you in two days. Your Zhou Ping'an is quite talented in painting. Isn't our ninth workshop about to start work? We are still short of a group of painters. Ask Zhou Ping'an if he is interested in being an apprentice."

Liu Guizhi was surprised and said, "What? This, this, this, can I really go directly to the embroidery factory to be an apprentice?!"

Shen Moer nodded: "Yes, in my opinion, his level is sufficient."

Liu Guizhi was immediately overjoyed.

Even though her husband, Mr. Zhou, is the deputy director of the commune, it is still difficult for him to arrange a job for his son.

After all, there were only two commune-run factories in Liuqiao Commune, and the workers were basically full. As for the embroidery factory, Liu Guizhi had also secretly inquired about it. In addition to recruiting embroiderers, the others were basically management personnel and laborers. They recruited management personnel from the entire county and required a high school education. For laborers, veterans and brigade members were given priority.

They can't even get through to Zhou Ping'an from their family.

Liu Guizhi has been really worried these days. She was thinking that if the Youth League Office asked them to go to the countryside, she would transfer her job at the food station to her son. But the problem was that Zhou Ping'an had already said that he would rather go to the countryside to join the production team than work at the food station.

The brat's original words were: Facing customers every day is almost killing him.

Now, he can go to an embroidery factory as an apprentice. I guess the child is willing to do that, and the job problem has been solved. This is really a ray of hope!

Liu Guizhi was so happy: "Mo'er, tell me, how lucky I am to be your neighbor!"

Shen Moer laughed: "It's your Zhou Ping'an who works hard. His art homework has always been the best in the class."

She added, "Of course, our factory will organize an exam later, but given Ping An's level, as long as he takes the exam seriously, it shouldn't be a problem."

Liu Guizhi: "I know, I understand. There is no such thing as 100% certainty in this world. Don't worry, I will talk to him and make him take the exam seriously."

He put aside his worries and went home with a happy smile on his face.

Shen Moer smiled, took out her key, opened the door and went home. However, the moment she opened the door, an idea suddenly flashed in her mind.

Oh, she remembered that the person who was by the stream with Teacher Fei that day should be Sun Yaozu!