Chapter 3232【VIP】

Zhao Xiaohe, who had just recovered from a serious illness, looked frail on the train. Across from her sat her second daughter and her husband. Shanshan had fallen asleep with her head resting on her son-in-law's shoulder, and then he placed his granddaughter in his arms.

"Mom, please help me hold Youyou." After saying that, Fang Zhiwen gently adjusted his sitting position and half-hugged Xu Shanshan to let her sleep more comfortably.

Across the chair, Zhao Xiaohe looked down at her granddaughter Youyou. Coincidentally, the child woke up when she lay on her. She didn't cry, but smiled at her.

The chubby little guy can melt people's hearts with just a simple smile.

"Youyou?" Zhao Xiaohe thought, this is such a good name.

But the child's face was like a June day; just a moment ago, she was grinning, now she was crying again. Zhao Xiaohe, who had raised five children, felt their butts and found they had indeed peed. Deftly, she changed the diaper with one hand while holding the child in the other. Then, she stood up and gently rocked the child, humming an unknown tune.

Xu Shanshan buried her face tightly in Fang Zhiwen's arms, trying hard to suppress all her sadness and grief.

Meanwhile on the other side

Xu Laoer returned to the village in a daze. As soon as he arrived, a relative asked, "Laoer, are you really divorced from Xiaohe? Where's the child?"

"Gone, all gone."

"You idiot! Xiao He left, so why did you let the two children go too? You raised such a grown-up girl, and now she's about to get married, and you let her go? Isn't that a shame?"

Yang Dani shared the same thought. Her second son's job depended on a favorable betrothal gift. He was a good-for-nothing, unreliable whenever needed.

Widow Zhang, however, was very satisfied with her current state. She said with her not-so-obvious pregnant belly, "Second brother, your son is craving fish."

"Fish? Where can I get fish in this cold winter?"

"I just saw my eldest brother bring back several fish. Go borrow one." Widow Zhang ordered Xu Laoer to go next door to ask for fish. Yang Dani naturally refused to lend it. She was always the one who took advantage of others. Want to take advantage of her? Bah, no way!

Boss Xu was also fed up with Widow Zhang, and in order to set some rules for her, he ordered Yang Dani to go over and make some trouble.

Yang Dani, just like she did with Zhao Xiaohe, belittled Widow Zhang with every word, each one hitting a sore spot. Widow Zhang, however, was a hardened woman. She spat in Yang Dani's face, put her hands on her hips, and cursed back, "Oh, how can you be a sister-in-law? Even a wife can't be so lenient? Shameless thing, you want to control Xu Laoer's wallet? What, he has two ounces of meat in his mouth, do you care about it?"

Widow Zhang's obscene remarks made Yang Dani so angry that she was about to hit her. But before the slap landed, Widow Zhang collapsed to the ground, screaming, "Help! Help! Yang Dani is trying to wipe out my brother-in-law's family and is deliberately trying to wipe him out."

“You, you…”

Widow Zhang glanced at Yang Dani sarcastically. "Bah, shameless thing! Do you expect her to be as easy to bully as Zhao Xiaohe?" This matter is not over yet.

The next day, Widow Zhang called her eldest and second sons, and then went back to her parents' home to call her mother, father, brother, sister-in-law, nephew and others. Dozens of people blocked the door of Old Xu's house, forcing Old Xu to pay back the money.

Boss Xu was furious. He said angrily, "Get out of the way. Let the second brother speak."

Widow Zhang dragged Xu Laoer by the ear to his eldest brother's house, and then stood aside and said, "Brother, please think about me. I have to raise my son."

Mr. Xu was furious and said angrily, "What kind of son are you raising? You only know that the one in Widow Zhang's belly is yours?"

This gave Widow Zhang a handle. She grabbed a straw rope and tried to commit suicide. Her family and her two sons started making trouble with carrying poles and clubs. They beat Xu Laoda's two sons half to death and cursed them, "Bah, who would not know about Yang Dani and Cao Dafa's little affair?"

Yang Dani was so angry that she almost hanged herself with a straw rope.

In the end, it was the elders of the Fang family who came to mediate and finally brought the situation under control. However, Boss Xu had to pay back the money he had borrowed earlier.

Xu Laoer wanted to say a few words on his brother's behalf, but was silenced by his brother-in-law's two loudmouths. The most important thing was that Widow Zhang's two sons were well-known hooligans in the village, and he didn't dare to offend them.

In this way, the Xu family's house was almost emptied.

Widow Zhang took the money and ordered Xu Laoer to buy fish and meat, and then cooked a table of delicious dishes to entertain her family. Two days later, Widow Zhang took her second son to live with Xu Laoer at her home, on the pretext that she was afraid of being harmed by Yang Dani and her friends. They lived in the same house as Xu Shanshan and her sisters.

Logically speaking, after such a scene, the two families should have cut off all contact. But Widow Zhang refused to do so. She forced Xu Laoer to go to her eldest brother's house every day to ask for favors. If Xu Laoer couldn't get what he wanted, he wouldn't get any favors at all.

Xu Laoer had no choice but to go to his eldest brother's vegetable garden to pick a vegetable today, and go to his eldest brother's chicken coop to steal an egg tomorrow. He was always busy day after day.

Boss Xu's family was in dire straits. Yang Dani was even more dejected as she said, "Xiao He is still the best. I wonder how she's doing in Lin City? How can her life be good living with her son-in-law?"

“No, I have to find someone to write a letter.”

"She too, how come Yi Zhang is a widow?"

Zhao Xiaohe, missed by Yang Dani, was still trying to adapt to city life. The ten-square-meter rental apartment was immaculately tidy. Zhao Xiaohe sat cross-legged on the wooden bed by the window. A small mountain of rags lay scattered across the bed. A cookie box, filled with colorful ropes and wire clips, sat by her legs. Next to the bed was a wooden table, with a water cup on it and a large red thermos underneath.

In the room, people sit down when someone comes and put it away when no one comes.

Outside the wooden door stood a stove, on which Zhao Xiaohe's Chinese medicine was simmering. Xu Meili would occasionally check on it, and when she saw it boiling, she would take out some coal and continue simmering it over a low fire.

After finishing these, it’s time to get back to work.

The hairpins Xu Ruyi had made were actually accessories she had gotten from Meng Yao. Zhao Xiaohe finally felt a bit more at ease with this job.

Although she and Xu Laoer were divorced, their household registration was still in the village. She, Meili and Ruyi, couldn't afford the city's food rations. Even her checkup at the nearby city's major hospital was paid for by her son-in-law, Fang Zhiwen.

Zhao Xiaohe secretly asked, and found out that the medical treatment and medicine cost dozens of dollars, all of which were paid by her son-in-law.

Fortunately, my daughter Ruyi was able to find manual labor, and now with her and Meili joining me, I could barely support myself in a month. But I didn't know how long I could do this kind of work.

In the rented house, Zhao Xiaohe wished she could save enough money for the next few decades. Xu Meili held her hand and said, "Mom, take a break. We're running out of materials. I can do it by myself."

"Meili, take a break. Mom can't sit still. Once she's idle, her mind tends to wander. It's better to find something to do."

Xu Meili did not try to persuade her anymore, but played with the hairpin accessories she had made.

"Mom, little sister." Fang Zhiwen arrived on his bicycle, with a shank bone and grass carp hanging from the handlebars. He entered with a smile, and Zhao Xiaohe quickly got out of bed to pour him some water.

"Why are you sending so many dishes again? Your sister and I can't finish them all. Take them back quickly." The more Zhao Xiaohe owed her son-in-law, the more uneasy she felt.

Fang Zhiwen said nonchalantly, "If you can't finish it, eat it later. It's cold today, so the food won't go bad."

"That won't work either."

Zhao Xiaohe still held onto old ideas. She felt it was not a good idea to rely on her son-in-law for everything, and she was also afraid of causing trouble for her daughter. After all, life was not a one-day or two-day thing, and any dirty deeds in the future would become a weapon for quarrels.

"Mom, please don't refuse me yet. I'm bringing food to your house today because I want to ask you for something."

"You tell me, Mom will help you no matter what."

It turned out that Fang Zhiwen had already invented the air cooler, and he planned to mass-produce a batch while the weather was still a little cold. If he waited until the weather got warmer, he might be too late if he rushed.

In addition, restrictions on individual economy have been relaxed this year, and it is allowed to employ a single-digit number of helpers after application approval.

Now that Fang Zhiwen has applied, he is thinking of arranging for his mother-in-law to go over and cook.

First, it allows her to eat something good to nourish herself, and second, it allows her to earn some money so that she doesn't have any wild thoughts.

Zhao Xiaohe was somewhat tempted, but still felt that she was causing trouble for her son-in-law. She knew in her heart that her son-in-law was deliberately taking care of her life.

Fang Zhiwen begged, "Mom, you must help me. If you don't go, your son-in-law will go hungry."

Fang Zhiwen used the same tricks he used on his own mother, and Zhao Xiaohe couldn't resist. Xu Meili, standing by, couldn't help but shudder, and once again recognized her second brother-in-law.

After Fang Zhiwen had arranged everything, he hurried home to take care of the children. As soon as he left, the neighbors next door came to visit, and their words were full of envy for Zhao Xiaohe finding such a capable son-in-law.

Zhao Xiaohe said with emotion: "He is a good child. His family are all kind and righteous."

......

Fang Zhiwen hurried home, and sure enough, her daughter Shanshan hadn't finished work yet. Shanshan had recently changed departments and was no longer working in the plug-in workshop, but in the warehouse.

The warehouse salary was low, but Xu Shanshan still found someone to replace her.

Colleagues in the workshop understood and thought that Xu Shanshan had learned to be lazy because she had given birth to a child and had established a firm foothold in the Fang family.

Actually, that wasn't the case. Teacher Zhan Hong had said, "Don't assume warehouse management is easy." Being a warehouse manager in a large factory involves a lot of knowledge. Xu Shanshan couldn't pursue a technical career, so there was no need for her to be a manual worker in the workshop.

As global industries are about to enter the era of automation, jobs like assembly are more likely to be replaced.

Since Xu Shanshan wants to work in economics, she might as well learn it in the factory first.

The system of input and output, management of finished products and materials, use of various types of vehicles, storage and custody of goods, signing of all these documents, etc. is much more troublesome than the monotonous work in the workshop.

And more contact with people.

Zhan Hong suggested that Xu Shanshan should train well in a large factory.

You should know that there are many unexpected problems in warehouses just before shipment. For example, not long ago, a batch of cloth was about to be shipped at the city cotton mill, but it became moldy due to improper storage.

Because of the cotton mill incident, Xu Shanshan was very conscientious and responsible when working in the warehouse. In addition to daily document review, she would also patrol the warehouse from time to time.

So, Xu Shanshan was late getting off work again today. If it weren't for the pain in her breasts, she might have been even later.