Zhao Huanhuan thought for a moment and said, "We welcome any children who want to go. However, we also need to say a few things to their parents. After all, we are all from the same village, and we don't want things to go wrong and ruin our relationship."

“Tell them that if they want their children to work for me, that's fine too. There are employee dormitories and a canteen at the company. But once they're in the factory, we won't be watching them every day, so we won't be able to see what they do in private, and we can't guarantee their safety after they leave the factory.”

"After all, she's a girl. As she grows up, she has her own thoughts and social life. If they're comfortable with her going out, then let her go. In a few days, they can personally take her to Yuancheng to find me or An'an to arrange a job."

“Boys are a bit easier to manage, but I’m worried about how difficult it is to discipline girls. Their safety is also the biggest concern,” Zhao Huanhuan said to Tao Wentao with a smile.

In fact, many young women working in Yuancheng are blinded by the city's allure and make friends with shady characters who want to date them. Naïve and believing they can marry local men, they are often tricked into getting pregnant, abandoned, and in the end, many attempt suicide.

Her factory mainly employs laid-off workers from the original city. This kind of thing has never happened before, but she has heard that similar things have happened in other factories, and some people have even committed suicide because of it.

Ding Yue went back and told them about several incidents involving female migrant workers.

This was also what came to Zhao Huanhuan's mind when the Party Secretary asked about it, and she felt it was best to be upfront about the unpleasant aspects beforehand.

Otherwise, if something really happens, the good reputation that my parents-in-law have earned in this village all their lives won't be enough to withstand the constant scolding from the whole village.

Tao Wentao nodded, "Yes, I told them that too. After all, when a young woman is out in the world, no one knows what might happen to her."

Zhao Huanhuan nodded. "Yes, we have a lot of things to do and we don't stay in Yuancheng often. We travel all over the country, so we naturally welcome well-behaved children from the village. We are also willing to help young people go out to learn skills and broaden their horizons."

"I'm afraid there will be those who are too ambitious, who go out and get blinded by the outside world, look down on our small factory, find other better opportunities, and then turn around and bite us."

“Several such incidents have occurred in my factory. There was a deputy factory manager whose relatives from his village asked him to arrange for their children to work in our factory. As a result, within a year, the child was bribed by someone to betray some of our internal secrets, causing our factory to lose more than 100,000 yuan.”

“Now, that deputy factory director gets so angry just talking about it that his liver hurts. He’s always so embarrassed whenever he sees me,” Zhao Huanhuan said, then sighed and glanced at Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan thought for a moment, "Is it that relative of Aunt Wang's?"

He had vaguely heard about this, but hadn't paid attention. At the time, he was busy and only heard An'an mention it briefly. Aunt Wang was almost driven to her death by that incident.

Zhao Huanhuan nodded, "Yes, we are definitely willing to help everyone. We can use any kind of workers, but if people who are related to us enter the factory, it is easy for our rivals to target us."

"If they are equally capable, we would definitely prefer to use our own people, but then they are easily bribed by various means to obtain our internal secrets. After all, they are treated differently by us and have frequent contact with us, so they can become the entry point for others to try to bring us down."

"The Party Secretary told them that if they really want their child to go to Yuancheng and broaden their horizons, they should personally accompany them to Yuancheng. We would welcome them with open arms. I also asked An'an to talk to them then. An'an is in charge of the factory now," Zhao Huanhuan said to Tao Wentao.

Tao Wentao agreed, saying he knew how to talk to those companies.

Afterwards, Zhao Huanhuan and Tao Wentao chatted for a while. When talking about the village's primary school, Tao Wentao said, "Nowadays, each family has fewer children, and some families' children go out to work after passing the exams. There are far fewer families in the village now, and the primary school closed down two years ago."

“Now it’s been turned into a senior activity center. Some villagers who don’t farm there play mahjong, sing songs, and paint. It’s quite lively. As long as they’re happy, I just let them be.” Tao Wentao is three years younger than Lin Yuan, fifty-seven this year, and has been the Party Secretary for more than ten years.

After Tao Shize went to work in Shanglin for a few years, his father took the elderly couple with him and then stopped serving as the brigade leader.

The person in charge of the village from then on was changed to the Party Secretary, Tao Wentao.

Zhao Huanhuan was surprised after hearing this; it seemed quite lively.

"Shall we go and take a look when we leave?" Zhao Huanhuan asked Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan nodded and hummed in agreement.

Lin Yuan asked Tao Wentao if the village had started any side businesses in recent years to help everyone live a better life.

Tao Wentao said that he wanted to open a brick factory a few years ago, but it was not approved. Last year, a man from another village came and said that he was buying scorpions and could teach everyone how to raise them. His brigade thought it was a good idea and agreed. However, the man who was buying scorpions never showed up again after he said that. Two years have passed and there has been no news of him.

Lin Yuan was surprised after hearing this, "Then you might have encountered a scammer, right? Did you give them any money?"

Tao Wentao shook his head. "No, we were wary. He said he could help us get scorpion seedlings, as long as we paid for them ourselves, and he would teach us how to raise them. I said he had to go to the township with me to get approval first, and we would raise them if the government agreed. He said we would go together the next day, but he left and never came back."

Lin Yuan nodded. "They were definitely scammers. They saw you weren't easy to fool and left. Be careful if you encounter this kind of thing in the future."

Tao Wentao nodded and hummed in agreement. Actually, they were also afraid, which was why he said he would take them to the township for approval.

What if he asks everyone to feed him, but they don't come to take him back? Wouldn't that harm everyone?

When the family of three left, they went to the village's senior activity center. Seeing everyone having a lively time, Aunt Chu smiled and greeted several people she knew.

When Zhao Huanhuan saw that the accordion she used to use was still there, she couldn't resist picking it up and playing "The East Is Red." Everyone joined in the chorus.

After "The East Is Red" finished playing, everyone wanted her to play the cassette player, but many people didn't know how, so they just left it playing. They wanted to hear these old songs again, so they turned on the tape recorder and listened to the music.

Zhao Huanhuan thought for a moment, then played another tune, "Nanniwan, My Motherland."

Those who knew the song sang along, creating a lively atmosphere.

A staff member from one of the teams promptly recorded the scene on his mobile phone.

Zhao Huanhuan joined in the fun and was very happy, her face full of smiles.

Lin Yuan sat in the middle of the group and sang along, her brows furrowed with tenderness as she watched Zhao Huanhuan interact with the villagers. A smile curved her lips, revealing the first one she had shown in days.

At fifty-five years old, Huanhuan is still the same radiant Huanhuan who stands out in any crowd!