Chapter 135 Cement Plant

There is a well at the entrance of the cement factory’s staff quarters, which makes it convenient for people in the quarters to wash clothes and cook.

Temporary workers live in small bungalows without water pipes, while regular workers live in tube-shaped buildings. There are water pipes in the kitchen, but in winter, the pipes freeze and they have to go downstairs to fetch water from the well.

The area around the well naturally became a gathering place for Bagua.

A group of women were washing clothes around a well. As more people gathered, they naturally started gossiping about other people's affairs.

The most talked about family in the cement factory recently is none other than the Yang family. They have made a wealthy relative in Hong Kong and will never have to worry about food for the rest of their lives. The news has spread throughout the entire cement factory.

"Yang Guang's wife has been very pretty lately. I think Yang Guang will be completely unable to control her this time."

An auntie in blue Dacron said sarcastically towards the Yang family

"That's right. Ye Sihua wears a pair of small leather shoes in the morning and a pair of small leather boots in the afternoon. I think she wishes she had eight legs. Why didn't she reincarnate as a centipede?"

The auntie fetching water nearby took up the conversation

"Yesterday I saw Ye Sihua wearing earrings. Oh, the stone eggs were bright red and about the size of peas. They were so pretty."

"What do you know? That's called a ruby. It's very valuable. It must be from Hong Kong, something she got from her parents."

Beside the well, a fat lady sitting on a rock with her legs crossed said mysteriously

"Rubies are nothing. The pen used by Yang Shu, the son of the old Yang family, has two circles of diamonds on it! It's right on the pen cap!"

"Wow! Really?"

"Oh my god, how is this possible!"

"Is her family really that rich?"

"Mrs. Li, you're kidding, right? Can a fountain pen be inlaid with diamonds?"

"To set a gem on a pen cap, that's just stupid!"

Old lady Li's words caused a huge uproar.

A group of women dropped their work and listened to what Old Lady Li was saying.

Although they expressed amazement and were unwilling to believe that Ye Sihua was so rich now, they were half-believing it in their hearts.

Old Mrs. Li and Ye Sihua's mother-in-law, Old Mrs. Yang, are old friends. She often visits the Yang family and even knows which day the excrement in the Yang family's toilet is cleaned.

She must be aware of the fact that Ye Sihua's family had become wealthy.

Old Mrs. Li didn't want to say much, but she knew too much, and the content was so explosive that she would feel uncomfortable if she didn't say it out!

For several days, she had no one to share with and she couldn't sleep at night.

He stretched his neck and looked around to make sure that no one from the Yang family was present. He beckoned to everyone, signaling them to lean their heads over.

Eight or nine heads circled around the well, waiting for Old Lady Li to share firsthand information.

"Ahem."

Old Lady Li raised her voice and said to them in a low voice

"What's the big deal about diamonds on a pen? I heard from Mrs. Yang that every piece of clothing Ye Sihua brought back cost forty or fifty yuan! Ye Sihua's whole outfit from head to toe cost two hundred yuan!"

"She spent almost a year's salary on herself in one day!"

"Not to mention the money, she changes a set of clothes every day, and we would have to save up the cloth coupons for seven or eight years! How can a poor person become rich?"

As Old Lady Li spoke, she angrily slapped the edge of the well, her eyes full of heartache. Those were forty or fifty pieces of clothing, how could Ye Sihua bear to wear them!

The food we exchanged for it would not be enough to feed our family for half a year! What a waste!

When Ye Sihua returned to her parents' home, she asked Ye Lin how much these nice clothes cost. Ye Lin was about to say ten yuan when the quick-talking Ye Sanxing interrupted him.

Baba told his sister that this piece of clothing cost forty or fifty yuan. His nephew told him this when he came from the provincial capital.

Then he imitated Ye Lin's words to brainwash his sister, saying that one should be willing to wear clothes, change into another one when they are dirty, and bring them here from Hong Kong when they are no longer worn. Clothes are to serve us, and we cannot compromise on them.

Ye Sanxing successfully brainwashed Ye Sihua with his set of profound principles.

Now Ye Sihua changes her clothes every day, and each piece is different. She is no longer the Ye Sihua who wore the same pair of pants for ten years, and the pants would remain even if she was gone.

The aunties surrounding the wellhead seemed petrified, and no one spoke for several seconds.

Just now we talked about diamonds, gems and other foreign things. They only know that they are expensive, but they don’t know how expensive they are.

Since I didn't know the price, I wasn't too shocked.

The clothes are different, they understand this very well.

A summer Dacron jacket at the supply and marketing cooperative cost ten yuan, and you had to pay with three cloth coupons.

You can count how many there are in the entire cement factory with just one hand.

Absolutely no more than ten pieces.

Ye Sihua dresses well, but they just think that the styles in Hong Kong are good and the materials are different from those in the mainland, and are not much more expensive than Dacron materials.

But now Old Lady Li told them that one piece of Ye Sihua clothing is worth five pieces of Dacron!

A middle-aged woman covered her mouth to prevent herself from shouting and tried to lower her voice to say

"Li, Aunt Li, Ye Sihua's second brother doesn't run a bank in Hong Kong, does he? Even a strong wind can't blow away so much money!"

Old Lady Li glanced at her.

Idiot, banks are government-owned, you are dreaming!

"Can ordinary people open a bank? If I were to ask you, Ye Lao Er might be a local landlord in Hong Kong."

"Oh, that's not right. I heard Ye Lao Er is a capitalist. Capitalists are much richer than landlords. During the war, capitalists can wear cheongsams and ride rickshaws."

Just when everyone was arguing about Ye Lao Er's identity in Hong Kong.

A middle-aged woman in blue work clothes, with her hair neatly tied up behind her head, picked up the washbasin from the ground and quietly left the crowd.

Looking closely, you can see that her feet are a little unstable, and she walks with one foot higher than the other, as if there is a problem with her ankle. Her brows are furrowed and her face is serious. I don't know if it's because of the pain or for some other reason.

Zhou's mother carried the washbasin and walked home anxiously.

"No, I have to go back to school. This little girl has hurt me so badly. I'd be doing my ankle a disservice if I don't take her down!"

A few days ago, she went to the commune high school to wait for the little girl Ye Xiulan, but instead of waiting for her, she was bitten by a dog.

In order to show her sincerity, Zhou's mother specially cut half a pound of pork belly and made a pot of braised pork to send to Ye Xiulan.

Unexpectedly, before she even saw anyone, she was chased for three blocks by a group of wild dogs coming from all directions, following the scent.

Not only did she not see the person, but she also got bitten by the dog.

The medicine and injection cost her another two dollars!

It's all Ye Xiulan's fault! This jinx, she's unlucky before they even met, and she'll definitely be killed if she's married!

After marrying this jinx and giving birth to a child, she will let her son divorce Ye Xiulan to avoid her being killed by evil.

With a child in hand, the Ye family has to pay to support the Zhou family!

Forcing herself to endure the pain, Zhou's mother climbed the stairs with the help of the handrail. With every step she climbed, she felt more resentful towards Ye Xiulan.

Zhou's mother was in pain and hatred at this moment, and she gritted her teeth and said

"Fifty yuan for a piece of clothing, and that's half a year's wages for a worker. At this rate, Ye Xiulan's dowry must be at least seventy or eighty thousand yuan. I must get this little girl back!"

Back home

"Clang!"

Zhou's mother threw the washbasin on the balcony. She was so anxious that she hopped back to the house on one foot, intending to find money to go to the supply and marketing cooperative and spend two yuan to buy a box of vanishing cream to coax Ye Xiulan.

I thought, Vanishing Cream can’t attract stray dogs again, right?

Two dollars' worth of vanishing cream in exchange for the whole family's wealth and prosperity for the rest of their lives.

value!

The heated discussion at the wellhead is entering a white-hot stage.

The women in the cement factory were divided into two factions over whether Ye Laoer was a landlord or a capitalist in Hong Kong. Each side held its own opinion and neither was willing to give in.

"Landlords are definitely richer than capitalists. The three hills in my hometown are all owned by landlords. They eat pigs and slaughter sheep. Do capitalists have their own hills?"

"You've never seen the world, you woman. You must be a rich capitalist. All the capitalists live in Western-style buildings in Shanghai and eat Western food. Who would want to break into the mountain?"

Just as the two were about to start arguing, a car horn interrupted their argument.

Ah Hui followed the direction Zhao Zhaodi pointed and walked around several turns to the entrance of the alley where the second row of staff houses were located.

The bungalows here are built quite densely, and the alley is about two meters wide. Cars can drive in and others don't have to walk.

"Master, the car can't go in. How about we walk in?"

Ah Hui turned around and asked Ye Lin for instructions.

"Uncle Hui, wait a minute, my uncle hasn't finished telling me the story yet!"

"Okay Miss Ling, Master Wen, please continue."

Ah Hui secretly shrugged at the depressed young master, indicating that there was nothing he could do.

It was the first time for Zhao Zhaodi to listen to this kind of storybook. She did not feel dizzy in the car and listened to it with great interest all the way. She did not get off the car when she arrived at the destination and urged Ye Lin to continue.

"Don't worry, Lin Zan, go on. What happened to the little fish? How could a fish fall in love with a human?"

Ye Lin had no choice but to accept his fate and finish the last story.

Ever since Ye Lin told Ye Ling the story of Kuafu chasing the sun, Ye Ling has been pestering Ye Lin to tell her stories whenever he has time.

Just now, Ye Lin had talked about everything from Chinese mythology to Western European fairy tales, but the two children still hadn't heard enough.

Ye Lin is now telling the story of the mermaid, but it is a villain version.

"The little mermaid discovered that falling in love with the prince would cost her her tail, so she decided to leave him and go out to dominate the ocean. A hundred years later, she became the mermaid queen, and the prince had already been buried. The play ended."

"Okay, end of story, let's get off."

After finally fooling this group of people, Ye Lin couldn't wait to open the car door and run away for the first time.

If he continues, he will talk about the Analects of Confucius.