"Uncle, A Tao, you are here." My sister-in-law's name is Zhou Meifang. After getting married, the couple lived in the house allocated in the factory and rarely returned to the countryside.
She knew Lin Tao's life experience very well, but because she seldom went back to the countryside and did not need to spend much time with Lin Tao, she did not have any opinion about her.
The conflict between the first and second wives is their business and has nothing to do with her.
As a niece-in-law, she still has to show due courtesy.
"Ahui has already told me about this. Come on, sister-in-law will take you in." Zhou Meifang waved to Lin Tao.
Not super close, but pretty good.
When Zhou Meifang spoke, her eyes fell on Lin Tao.
The waist-hugging long skirt showed off Lin Tao's slender waist. Even ordinary skirts looked a bit more elegant on her. Her skin was white and tender, and she didn't look like a country girl at all. Her eyebrows were curved, and when she smiled, there were two small pear-shaped curls at the corners of her mouth.
Girls like this look the most beautiful when they smile.
It seems like just a slight smile like that can capture people's souls.
Zhou Meifang thought that once Lin Tao entered the factory, the young people in the factory would stare at her with wide eyes.
Lin Tao also had a good impression of this cousin's wife. She smiled at her, then turned back and said to Lin Changhai, "Dad, why don't you go back first? I'll go home by myself after this is over."
Lin Changhai waved his hands: "It's okay, don't worry about Dad."
Zhou Meifang led Lin Tao to the door and said a few words to the man who checked her work ID, who then let Lin Tao in directly.
Zhou Meifang explained, "Today's social dance is mainly prepared for the single workers in the factory. Except for a few leaders, all the people who go there are unmarried. I am married so I won't go. You can just follow the others later. Don't be nervous. Just think of it as coming here for fun and making some more friends."
Lin Tao nodded: "Sister-in-law, I understand. Thank you, sister-in-law."
Zhou Meifang smiled, waved her hand and said, "We're all family, no need to thank me," then turned and left.
Lin Tao followed the specially dressed female workers and walked towards a large gate in the east, which should be where the dance party was held.
Although it was Lin Tao's first time to come to the machinery factory and attend such a social dance, she was not too nervous. She was half Miao and could dance Miao dance, so she thought that a dance should be nothing special.
But after entering the lobby, I was dumbfounded.
There was music playing in the lobby, and men and women were paired up, dancing a dance she had never seen before.
After Lin Tao entered the venue, she could only find a seat and sit down to watch how others danced.
There was curiosity about new things in her eyes, and her black and white eyes were sparkling as she looked at the couples of men and women hugging each other in the lobby, with the women's hands on the men's shoulders and the men's hands on the women's waists.
Lin Tao waved her hands in the air a few times and was somewhat surprised by the openness of this dance.
There were people here that she didn't know. Was she going to dance like this with people she didn't know at all? Would that be too intimate?
After all, Lin Tao was just a 19-year-old girl from the countryside. She had never seen the world, had never been in a relationship, let alone holding hands or hugging anyone. It was normal for her to feel confused when she saw ballroom dancing for the first time.
She was watching intently, but she didn't notice that her presence attracted the sidelong glances of many of her fellow workers.
There were both men and women who were looking at her. Some of them felt very strange and wondered which department she was from and why they had never seen her before.
"Hey, who knows the girl in the blue skirt? She looks so cute."
"Why didn't anyone invite her to dance? If you guys don't go, I will."
"Is it from our factory? Why do I seem to have never seen it before?"
"That's impossible. It's impossible that I've never heard of someone this good-looking. Is she one of those college students that our factory transferred from the city last time? She's from the publicity department."
"What? She's not from our factory at all. I just saw it. Zhou Meifang brought her in. She said she was her relative and wanted to find a worker through this dance party held in our factory."
"It's not from our factory..."
Several male workers who were eager to try stopped subconsciously. If they were not factory employees, they would have to think again.
But she was indeed good-looking. The little girl had fair skin and a pure and lovely look. It was obvious that she had not dressed up much, but she easily overshadowed the female workers in their factory who were dressed up carefully.
Just as those male workers were weighing their options, a gentle-looking young man wearing black-framed glasses walked towards Lin Tao.
But before the young man reached Lin Tao, another person put his hand on his shoulder.
Zhao Yuejin looked at the young man nonchalantly and said, "Brother, that's the dance partner I like, don't let anyone snatch her from me."
He was wearing a shirt that his mother had gotten him specially.
His mother forced him to wear this dress. Before he left, he was still swearing and refusing to attend the social dance. His original words were: "None of the women in our factory are good-looking. It would be useless for me to go."
He would never have come if the friend he had originally agreed to go drinking with wasn't available.
But when he saw Lin Tao sitting in the corner, he felt that it was well worth coming here today.
The young man frowned and took away the arm that Zhao Yuejin had placed on his shoulder. He was not the same kind of person as a second-rate factory scion like Zhao Yuejin, and it was even more impossible for him to call him a brother.
But he knew Zhao Yuejin's identity: the son of the deputy factory director.
If he didn't have this status, Zhao Yuejin wouldn't dare to act so arrogantly in the factory.
He was attracted by the fair and pretty girl and wanted to invite her to dance, but he couldn't afford to offend Zhao Yuejin.
He was just a poor boy. His family had several sisters who gave birth to him. They sold their pots and pans to support his education. He finally got a job in the largest machinery factory in the county. He could get a salary to support his family, but he couldn't afford to lose this job.
The young man clenched his fist, took one last look at the quiet and beautiful girl sitting in the corner, turned around and invited another female worker to dance.
Zhao Yuejin raised his chin and walked towards Lin Tao with a heroic and confident look.
He heard the conversation between the group of workers just now, and knew the purpose of Lin Tao's visit today.
Isn't it just to find a partner with good conditions? Is there anyone in this factory with better conditions than him?
Zhao Yue was determined to win: "Can I invite you to dance?"
Lin Tao was concentrating on watching everyone dance, but was startled when someone suddenly appeared.
When I looked at this man again and saw how sloppy he was, my first impression of him was a bit bad.
She pursed her lips and shook her head, "I'm sorry, I'm not very good at dancing."
This was the first time that Zhao Yuejin had been rejected in his life. He thought that she was pretending to be noble because she didn't know her identity, so he introduced himself: "It doesn't matter whether she is famous or not. You came here not just to dance, right? Aren't you looking for someone with good conditions? My name is Zhao Yuejin. You can find out who I am by asking around in the factory. Among the factory workers in the machinery factory, I have the best conditions."
Is he Zhao Yuejin?
Lin Tao's face became even uglier.
I never thought that the legendary Zhao Yuejin, whom Lin Hui talked about every day, turned out to be a second-rate guy.
Lin Tao really wanted to see if she could find a partner through this opportunity, but what she considered to be good conditions did not mean that the family had to be an official or rich.
She thinks that a good condition is that the other party is well-educated and can get along well with her.
The reason why she chose to come here was that she thought the machinery factory was the largest factory in the county and most of the talents in the county were transferred here, so she thought of giving it a try.
Maybe, maybe she is lucky and really meets the person she likes?
But if all the workers in the machinery factory were like Zhao Yuejin, then she had come to the wrong place.
"I'm sorry, I think you misunderstood. I'm not interested in you." Lin Tao's face was as pale as water. She stood up from the chair and prepared to leave.
But he had not taken two steps when he was blocked by Zhao Yuejin, who was angry and humiliated.
Zhao Yuejin thought that Lin Tao was pretending to be noble and was playing tricks on him. He didn't understand anything. But if Lin Tao refused to drink the wine again and again, it would be meaningless.
Lin Tao didn't expect Zhao Yuejin to be so bold that he dared not let her go in public.
At the same time, two men were talking by the window on the second floor.
"Cheng Xi, you are really something. Your Aunt Zhang wanted to introduce her niece to you. Even if you don't like her, you should at least go and meet her. Your Aunt Zhang has even filed a complaint with me, and the girl has been sitting alone for several hours waiting for you." said a middle-aged man.
Li Chengxi sneered: "She knows how to complain. Not only did she tell my dad about it, she also came to you. I never agreed to this from the beginning. She made her own decision."
The 'Aunt Zhang' mentioned by the middle-aged man is Li Chengxi's stepmother, but Li Chengxi has never called her mother.
When Li Chengxi happened to be back in Shanghai for work a while ago, she proposed to introduce her niece to Li Chengxi, but was rejected by Li Chengxi. But she thought she had the power to manage the family after marrying his father and gave birth to a son, so she directly arranged a meeting place.
She was ruthless, but Li Chengxi was even more ruthless. He bought a ticket to Xiangcheng that day.
The main reason for coming to Xiangcheng was to visit some of his father’s old comrades-in-arms, and Uncle Jiang was one of them.
Uncle Jiang retired from the army early, and later joined a machinery factory. He is now the head of the factory.
Uncle Jiang knew the Li family very well, and he understood Li Chengxi's temper even more. He smiled and changed the subject: "But you are already 27 or 28 years old this year, right? It's time for you to get married. When Uncle Jiang was your age, his son could already make soy sauce."
It’s not that Li Chengxi hasn’t considered getting married, it’s just that he hasn’t met the right person.
Not wanting Uncle Jiang to continue questioning him about marriage, Li Chengxi wanted to change the subject, but when he turned around he noticed a scene downstairs.
It looked like the little girl wanted to leave, but the man in the shirt was making a fuss and wouldn't let her go.
The little girl's face turned red, but she did not show any weakness and bit her lip as she looked at the man, as if asking him to let her go.
Some people around saw it, but no one stood up for the little girl.
Li Chengxi said, "Uncle Jiang, it seems that you need to work harder on the quality of your factory workers."