Seeing how friendly Master Zhang, this old employee, was to Jiang Ruyu, Wu Mei was furious. She had tried to please him before, but he had always been distant and polite to her. It was infuriating that he changed his attitude so quickly when it came to someone else.
"Sycophant, shameless."
Zhang Guisheng and Jiang Ruyu both noticed Wu Mei's muttering, but they ignored her. Zhang Guisheng really disliked Wu Mei, this temporary worker. He thought, "You've been a temporary worker for several years. If you had just put in a little more effort, even if the official manager came, the leader might have given you a permanent position because of your hard work."
But Wu Mei was quite diligent for the first two months after she arrived. After getting used to the job, she picked up some bad habits of seasoned employees, such as not having a good temper or attitude towards customers, acting superior, being cunning and lazy, and not learning any good things. After working for several years, she hasn't even learned the most basic manual weighing technique.
Zhang Guisheng patiently taught Jiang Ruyu, and Jiang Ruyu tried her best to learn. She was clever, perceptive, and had a sweet tongue. People who came to buy things would smile and ask Master Zhang questions.
"Mr. Zhang, is this the new sales clerk at your candy counter?"
"Yes, he's new, a full-time employee."
"This comrade is so nice. Look how good his service is. It makes us happy to buy things."
Wu Mei has been here for several years but hasn't gained any popularity. Seeing Jiang Ruyu being praised after only one morning, she was so angry that she wiped away tears.
Jiang Ruyu ignored her. She had missed a great opportunity and didn't know how to cherish it. What was the use of crying now?
At that time, there were few product varieties and no brands to compare or choose from. The prices were all similar and fixed, the only difference being whether or not a voucher was required. Jiang Ruyu did nothing else all morning but follow Master Zhang to remember the prices of candies and pastries, which ones required vouchers and which ones did not, and where the items were placed. Her serious demeanor annoyed Wu Mei, but Master Zhang secretly nodded, thinking that with a good helper, he could be a little more relaxed in the future.
By lunchtime, Jiang Ruyu had become familiar with the basic work procedures; other operations required accumulated experience.
At lunchtime, Jiang Ruyu said goodbye to Master Zhang. They also took turns eating, which took an hour. Her home was about a ten-minute walk from the department store, so the round trip took half an hour. Thinking about this, she remembered the bicycle in the system. She had to find a way to buy that bicycle so that she could save time and rest more.
When I got home, I saw smoke rising from every house in the courtyard; it was dinnertime, and everyone had come home from get off work to eat.
"Ruyu is back. How was work today?" Grandma Li asked with a smile from the back room.
"Grandma Li, are you eating? It's good to be at work. I'm at the candy counter. If you need to buy candy, you can look for me."
"That's great! Girl, keep up the good work!"
"Yes, it definitely will."
Jiang Ruyu greeted the people in the courtyard and walked towards her house. In addition to the two main rooms, her house also had a small side room. The side room was divided into two rooms, one of which was converted into a toilet and the other into a shower room. A clay stove was also built under the eaves of the room, which served as a simple kitchen.
Housing conditions are very tight now, and every household has converted any available space into what they need. Jiang Ruyu's family built their own toilet because going to the public toilet was too troublesome, and it was dangerous for her elderly grandmother to go outside. In the dead of winter, they had to keep a spittoon inside the house, which smelled bad.
Jiang Hui and Jiang Lin built a wall outside their room to create a kitchen, and also partitioned off a small room inside their own room to store rice, flour, cooking oil, and other necessities.
When Jiang Ruyu returned home, her grandmother and two younger brothers had already set the table with food. Looking at the rather sumptuous meal, Jiang Ruyu smiled and hugged her grandmother's arm, acting coquettishly: "Grandma, you're in such a good mood today, you even made braised pork!"
"That's right, today is my granddaughter's first day at work. From now on, she'll be the breadwinner of our family. Of course, Grandma is happy. Come on, eat your food. You're all in a rush, so don't be late. It's her first day at work, so we can't let people gossip." Grandma Jiang knew about the bad habit of those people at her workplace; they always liked to gather together and gossip.
"Hey, let's eat. Jiang Hui and Jiang Lin, you two should eat too."
"Alright, sis, I've been waiting for you to say that. This braised pork smells delicious." Jiang Lin is the youngest of the twins, and he's a bit more impulsive. Jiang Hui was born a dozen minutes earlier than Jiang Lin, so he's more composed.
They had only been eating for a short while when Jiang Kai, the eldest cousin from next door, brought over a plate of scrambled eggs. Jiang Ruyu and her two siblings stood up and said, "Big brother, what's this? Are you adding more food for us?"
Jiang Kai put down the plate and said with a smile, "Isn't this your first day at work? Let's celebrate, you're now an adult in the Jiang family."
"Then thank you. Please eat here, brother. Grandma made braised pork today." Jiang Ruyu knew that her brother didn't want their two families to become estranged.
"No, your sister-in-law has cooked, I'll just eat when I get back."
Jiang Ruyu didn't insist. He poured the eggs into his own plate and put a few pieces of braised pork in his own plate: "There's not much meat, brother, please don't mind. Let your little nephew have a taste."
"Haha, I even took advantage of you. Alright, I'm leaving. You should learn a lot from your mentor at work."
"Don't worry, brother, don't you know me?"
"Yes, you are the most clever and cunning one, I don't mind."
Jiang Kai carried the plate with a few pieces of meat back. Fang Meili smiled when she saw the braised pork: "Grandma is so kind to return the braised pork. Our Yangyang is so lucky."
Wang Shuhua's face fell: "You only got a few pieces of meat from a plate of scrambled eggs, and you're still happy about it?"
Jiang Jianguo frowned at her and said, "If you don't want to eat, go back to your room. It's been days, and you always have such a long face. Who are you trying to impress?"
"What did I do wrong? I only said one sentence. Did I say something wrong? You all have no conscience. Ruyi went to that far away place, and you all acted like nothing happened, while I was worried and scared all the time."
Jiang Jianguo slammed down his chopsticks: "Wang Shuhua, you know perfectly well whose fault it was with Ruyi. I haven't even settled accounts with you yet, and you still dare to bring it up. If you don't want to live like this, let's get a divorce. Stop wearing that long face all the time. Do you think I owe you anything?"
Wang Shuhua stared at her husband in disbelief, unable to believe that he could say something like divorce. Jiang Kai quickly pulled his father aside and advised, "Dad, calm down. How can you say something like divorce so casually? We siblings are all grown up. It would be so embarrassing if word got out."
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