When Zhang Yumei saw Xu Weiguo return, she was somewhat surprised: "Why are you back so early today?"
It should be noted that Xu Weiguo is never late or leaves early. Given his position, he doesn't actually need to be back on time every day.
However, he still insisted on going to and from work on time every day, just like everyone else. In all these years, apart from a few times when he needed to go home to get things, this was the first time Zhang Yumei had seen him leave work early.
Xu Weiguo sighed and said sullenly, "There's nothing much going on at the bureau, so I came back early. Where are Afang and Chen Ming?"
Judging from his expression, Zhang Yumei knew he wasn't telling the truth, but there was nothing she could do if he wouldn't.
“Afang was making clothes in the room. They had run out of clothes, and they couldn’t keep wearing ours, so I gave her some fabric and asked her to make a few new outfits.”
"Chen Ming took Hongxia and the two children to go shopping. Afang and the others took the money from home with them, so the loss wasn't too great. It's just that I feel a bit down."
"Do you need to see them? Should I call Afang out?"
Xu Weiguo felt there was no need to rush, since he would see her after dinner anyway. He shook his head and said, "It's okay, no need to call her. Let's talk about it after dinner."
"I don't think we'll have to wait until we finish eating. I reckon Afang will be out soon. You wouldn't believe how hard Afang works; she cooks almost all the meals now."
Xu Weiguo frowned upon hearing this, clearly unhappy. Xu Fang was a guest; how could he ask her to help with housework?
Zhang Yumei could tell what he was thinking just by looking at his deadpan expression. She had been in a good mood, but now she was not.
He explained in a harsh tone, "It wasn't that I made her do it on purpose. I didn't want her to do anything in the first place. But when Afang and the others didn't help with the work, she got really nervous."
"I guess she felt it wasn't right to eat and stay for free, so I went along with her. Didn't you notice that Afang and her family were much more relaxed yesterday?!"
Xu Weiguo awkwardly touched his nose: "Look at you, why are you so agitated? I didn't say you did anything wrong."
He admitted that he did feel something was amiss, but he didn't say anything. However, he assumed that Xu Fang's family was just not used to it and hadn't considered that they might think he was eating and staying for free.
According to Xu Weiguo, he was Xu Fang's older brother, and Xu Fang was just going back to her parents' home to stay at the moment; he really hadn't thought that much about it.
Zhang Yumei didn't want to say anything to him; he didn't say it aloud, but his expression already showed his dissatisfaction.
Just then, Chen Ming and Xu Hongxia returned and rescued Xu Weiguo.
As soon as Zhang Yumei saw the large and small bags of food in Xu Hongxia's hands, she felt her hands start to itch.
Xu Hongxia keenly sensed a murderous aura. She glanced at Zhang Yumei and immediately said with a strong survival instinct, "Mom, listen to me! I didn't ask my uncle to buy this. He planned to buy it as a gift for their village chief!"
Zhang Yumei asked with some doubt, "You really didn't ask your uncle to buy it?"
Xu Hongxia raised her hand and swore: "I swear, it really wasn't!"
Chen Ming finally understood what they were talking about and quickly explained, "Sister-in-law, Hongxia didn't ask me to buy anything. I originally wanted to buy her some things, but she didn't want any of them."
"We plan to buy this and give it to the village chief. Our letter of introduction is only valid for five days. When we return to the village, it will take some time to build the house. We will definitely have to trouble the village chief then."
Zhang Yumei nodded: "Then we should indeed thank your village chief. Your village chief smokes, right? There are still some cigarettes at home that no one is smoking. You can take them back to the village chief later."
Chen Ming hesitated and said, "This...isn't that inappropriate?"
Zhang Yumei said nonchalantly, "What's wrong with that? It's just sitting at home anyway, and nobody smokes it."
Chen Ming looked at Xu Weiguo, who kept gesturing at him, and fell silent.
As far as he knew, Xu Weiguo did smoke, right? And judging from his current appearance, the cigarettes in his house didn't seem to be lying around unused.
Xu Weiguo wasn't particularly alarmed when he saw that Zhang Yumei completely ignored his hints, because Chen Ming and the others didn't necessarily have to go back to the village.
Xu Weiguo composed himself and said, "Chen Ming, there's a temporary worker opening at the Public Security Bureau. Would you like to go?"
"However, temporary workers only earn fifteen yuan a month, but they can still transfer their household registration to the city. As for Afang and the others' household registration, they can be transferred to me, so that you can all receive the rations."
"Would you like to consider it?"
Chen Ming was stunned by this incredible windfall; he couldn't believe that he would one day become a city dweller!
Seeing that Chen Ming had a blank face and didn't say anything, Xu Weiguo thought that Chen Ming was unwilling. After all, if Xu Fang transferred her household registration to him, their family's household registration would be separated.
Some people even feel that having their wife and children registered under their wife's family's household registration gives them the feeling of marrying into the wife's family.
Before Xu Weiguo could lose his patience, Chen Ming finally came to his senses and shouted, "I do! Big brother, I do!"
Xu Fang happened to come out of the room at that moment and was startled by Chen Ming.
After patting his chest to calm himself down, he asked, "What are you willing to do? You were shouting so loudly, it scared me to death."
Chen Ming excitedly grabbed Xu Fang's hand and explained the situation. Xu Fang was also very excited after listening, but she still had many things to consider.
"Honey, would you mind if I transferred Chen Mai and Chen Liang's household registration to my eldest brother's side?"
Chen Ming said nonchalantly, "What's there to mind? You're just transferring your household registration, it's not like you're divorcing me."
"As for what other people in the village think, there's no point in worrying about it. If you don't change your household registration, then you'll have to stay in the village."
"It's better to transfer our household registration out of the city. At least we won't have to work so hard to earn work points anymore. Plus, I'll be able to receive a salary from now on, and our family's situation will definitely get better and better!"
That's true. Earning work points in the fields in the village doesn't guarantee you'll have enough to eat, especially in a poor village like Chenjia Village. At best, it guarantees you won't starve.
It's not easy to come from the countryside to the city, so now that we have the opportunity, we definitely have to seize it.
However, Chen Ming was a little worried about the accommodation: "Brother, will temporary workers be provided with housing?"
Forgive Chen Ming and Xu Fang; they genuinely didn't know how housing was allocated in the city.
Many people in the village even believed that as long as you had a job, you would be allocated a house immediately. So, if someone became a worker or married a worker, in their eyes, they would really be living a life of luxury.
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