Chapter 256 It's so heartbreaking, I'm practically smoking from under my butt!

Qin Xiangxiang and her husband, along with their several children, arrived at the Shanghai port around 8 a.m. Li Jianzhi said, "I arranged a car in advance to pick you up. Shall we go to the school first? Or to your house?"

Qin Xiangxiang said, "Then let's go to the school where you're studying first, drop off your luggage, and then come back to my house. That way, I can stay home and not have to go out."

Li Jianzhi: "Look at what you're saying. What do you mean by 'my luggage'? Are you going back to Gao Laozhuang and breaking up with me? We're husband and wife, one family."

"I'll do as you say. After we put our things down, I'll go with you to your mother's house. We'll stay in bed and not go out. I'll cook for you."

“This time I’ll continue cooking fish. I’m never afraid of failure. I’ll get up from where I fall. Little Fatty, Dad will also cook crucian carp and tofu soup for you.”

Li Xiaopang: "..."

"Dad, let me make you crucian carp and tofu soup. Let me show my respect to you!"

After a brief exchange of courtesies, the two walked out. Not far away, two cars were parked: a military green canvas jeep, the military vehicle that Li Jianzhi had called to pick them up; and a black Shanghai-plated sedan bearing the logo of the Shanghai Light Industry Bureau.

The people in the car, especially those in the sedan, rushed forward anxiously upon seeing Qin Xiangxiang and his wife, exclaiming, "Comrade Qin, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Hello, hello, who are you, comrade?"

"Director Qin from the Light Industry Bureau, please settle in first. The bureau will send a car to pick you up tomorrow to go to Shangpu for a meeting at Feiyan No. 2 Factory!"

The young clerk from the Light Industry Bureau got out of the car with a smile on his face, but spoke anxiously.

Last year, it was decided that Director Qin would take over the mess at Shangpu Textile Factory and start reforming it. If this task were given to an ordinary comrade, he would probably have started reforming it in a hurry. But what about this extraordinary Qin Xiangxiang?

She agreed, but remained silent for a long time. She didn't offer any reform suggestions, nor did she inquire about the details. The Light Industry Bureau didn't urge her or set a deadline—this had never happened before!

Qin Xiangxiang is too intimidating. The Light Industry Bureau already knew that a bunch of workers at Shangpu Textile Factory were preparing to give the new factory director a hard time, and everyone's eyes were on Qin Xiangxiang, eager to know how this young female factory director would handle the group of difficult employees at Shangpu Textile Factory.

Many people were waiting for this scene, waiting and waiting... While they weren't being urged, Director Qin completely ignored it.

By the time your butt starts smoking!

When Factory Director Qin brought Feiyan Textile Factory into the newspapers, "Zhuangyuan Textile Factory," "Zhuangyuan Overcoat"... orders poured in like snowflakes, and the whole country was vying for a Zhuangyuan short overcoat.

Even the people at Shangpu Textile Factory couldn't sit still anymore! We agreed that everyone would be called Feiyan Textile Factory, and we were even going to change our factory name, so why is Feiyan Factory No. 1 making money? Are we, Factory No. 2, being treated like stepchildren?

"A meeting tomorrow? How did the people from the Light Industry Bureau know I was arriving today? I just got here today!" Qin Xiangxiang was speechless. She had just arrived in Shanghai after a long journey, and the people from the Light Industry Bureau had arrested her and told her she was going to a meeting.

Li, the clerk, chuckled awkwardly: "I called the deputy factory director and he said your ship will arrive today."

Qin thought for a moment: "How about we postpone the meeting for two days? I just arrived and need to get things settled at home first. I have four children to support, and the family burden is heavy. I need to make sure my family is taken care of first."

“My husband is a soldier; we can’t rely on him for anything!”

Li Jianzhi: "..."

Ah—he became an unreliable and incompetent husband.

Li, the clerk, felt a bit of a headache. Why was this young female factory manager acting so unpredictably? Wasn't she a model worker? Aren't model workers supposed to work incredibly hard and diligently?

You have to make excuses to skip meetings.

However, what Director Qin said was not wrong. She had just arrived in Shanghai and hadn't even settled her luggage yet, so it was rather inhumane to send her to a meeting. She did indeed have four children and a... "unreliable" military officer husband.

"Well... alright then, Director Qin, let's postpone the meeting for a few days. Director Qin, you must make a plan first. Shangpu Textile Factory has been shut down for a while now, and it's like a headless fly, waiting for your instructions."

Qin Xiangxiang: "Oh."

We'll talk about it when the time comes; the main strategy is to stall.

Qin Xiangxiang herself didn't have any good ideas. Anyway, she was the kind of person who would take it one step at a time. Besides, she just needed to hold on until 1979.

With the opening up of the economy, policies for the reform of state-owned factories will also be introduced. She seemed to remember in a dream that after the opening up of the economy, state-owned factories would no longer be a secure job.

Many factory workers lack production enthusiasm and deliberately compromise on quality in order to offer internal discounts on defective industrial products—meaning that workers intentionally produce defective products.

It would be difficult for such factories not to lose money after entering a market economy.

—With all the state-owned factories losing money, a textile factory that couldn't be saved didn't stand out as much.

Qin Xiangxiang considers herself an ordinary person. Eating and sleeping are the most important things to her. She can't worry about much else. Under the limited circumstances, living her own life well is the most important thing.

Trying to salvage everything and wanting everything often results in grasping nothing.

Two cars took Qin Xiangxiang and her husband on their trip. They first went to the school where Li Jianzhi was studying, dropped off some of their luggage, and then Li Jianzhi hired someone to clean it up. He then introduced his wife and son to the neighbors. Afterward, they took the cars to the old apartment building where Qin Xiangxiang had lived since she was a child.

It was a spring afternoon when Xu's mother was chatting with someone washing vegetables by the kitchen on the first floor. She frowned and said sarcastically that so-and-so's family was unhygienic, "They're from the next building, and they come to our building to use the toilet. How shameless!"

"If they dare to come again, we'll beat them out."

"That's right. We're actually doing alright here. If you go a few buildings further ahead, their building has a lot of educated youth who returned to the city. Their excrement is piled up like a mountain. It's disgusting and makes me want to vomit. There are also cigarette butts. I don't know who those people are. There's even a guy with permed hair."

...

Over the years, the living conditions in the old apartments have deteriorated, and the return of a large number of educated youth to the city has only made things worse.

The kitchen and toilet are shared, and the more people there are, the dirtier and messier it becomes, especially the toilet. Some people are particularly disgusting; they don't use the toilet in their own building, but instead go to the shared toilet in someone else's building to poop!

Putting aside everything else, Xu's mother is the bathroom warrior who guards the toilets of her building.

If any outsider enters, they must be driven out of the latrine first!

Mrs. Xu was very proud of this, saying, "Our building has the best sanitation in the neighborhood."

"There are few people. It's fortunate that the Qin family only had one daughter, Xiangxiang. If there were three boys, I wouldn't even dare to dream of it."

Xu's mother snorted. She had indeed taken advantage of the Qin family. There were only two people in the Qin family, and they didn't poop much every day. Their upstairs bathroom was clean and odorless. Xu's mother used to keep an eye on Qin Xiangxiang's use of water and gas in the kitchen.

She now focuses on watching other people go upstairs to defecate.

"Under my watchful eye, no one except those on the second floor can come up here to defecate."

"If there's anyone in the restroom, I have to knock on the door and ask who they are."

The people on the first floor were speechless. Xu's mother's hobby was really something—well, they were also getting a benefit.

Not only does Xu's mother manage the toilets on the second floor, but she also manages the toilets on the first floor. She will discipline anyone who dares to use the toilets.

As the group was talking, two cars stopped at the entrance of the building, and the unusual sound of their engines startled them.

What kind of car is it?

Following the sound, Xu's mother and the others looked and saw a jeep and a car. Everyone was puzzled. Then the car door opened, and the first person to get out was Li Jianzhi, who was wearing a naval officer's uniform and had a straight posture.

When Xu's mother saw this guy, her eyes widened immediately.

Next up was Qin Xiangxiang, with her son Xiaopang, three daughters, and her mother-in-law Wu Xueyan. The group of people stood in a dense crowd at the entrance of the building.

"It's Xiangxiang! Xiangxiang is back!"

Qin Xiangxiang wore the nationally popular top scholar's coat. The coarse linen clothes could not hide her stunning beauty. Although she was without makeup, her pretty face still attracted everyone's attention.

What's even more astonishing is that she actually got out of a small car, and someone next to her greeted her with utmost politeness and respect.

"Isn't Qin Xiangxiang the factory manager of a small factory on a remote island? How come she's got a car?"

"Think about it, you're not going to be the factory manager anymore? Oh, a third-tier factory manager is still a factory manager!"

As soon as Xu's mother finished speaking, Li, the clerk next to her, said respectfully, "Director Qin, then please settle in first. Once the meeting time is set in two days, the bureau will send a car to pick you up to go to the Shangpu factory for the meeting."

Qin Xiangxiang: "..."

While she marveled at how great it was to live in a big city, with a car to pick her up and drop her off, she was also wondering what kind of mess the Shangpu Textile Factory was, and how the people from the Light Industry Bureau were clearly afraid she would run away.

"Director Qin?!?!"

An incredulous sound erupted from the crowd. The title "General Manager Qin" was like a bomb, exploding in the ears of Xu's mother and the others.

"That's a car belonging to the Municipal Light Industry Bureau."

"Director Qin? In a meeting?"

"Li Xiaopang! Your mom's become the factory director?!"

"Qin Xiangxiang's mother, Zhou Aodong, never became a factory director, but her daughter became the general factory director first!"

Zhou Aodong came downstairs just now and felt heartbroken when he heard these words.