Chapter 62: The wave of layoffs My aunt Dai Ying lost her job.
Xu Hui secretly glanced at Dong Taohua and glared at his daughter, "You still say that."
No matter how bad Old Dong is, he is still Dong Taohua's father. How can Dong Taohua, as a daughter, feel proud when her daughter and husband speak ill of her father in front of her?
How could Xu Hui not know that the boss looked down on him?
But knowing that, he would still carefully prepare a gift for Lao Dong. What he valued was not Lao Dong, but Dong Taohua. Her husband valued her family, and also valued her performance.
"I didn't say anything wrong." Xu Heye was just indignant.
In the months since she returned to Hucheng, every time Dong Taohua sent her some local specialties, she would prepare a portion for Old Dong and ask her to deliver it to the family compound. Old Dong accepted the gifts but never once asked Dong Taohua how she was feeling, not even a simple question about her recent health.
Thinking about how much effort her mother had put into preparing the local specialties and how much trouble she had taken to carry them over, Xu Heye felt it wasn't worth it.
"Still talking!" Xu Hui reached out and knocked on Xu Heye's forehead.
Xu Heye was unhappy: "...Dad, it hurts!"
Dong Taohua also glared at him: "Old Xu, what are you doing?"
Xu Hui: "..." He almost laughed out loud. "Well, now you and your daughter are from the same country. I was wrongly called the bad guy."
The mother and daughter looked at each other and smiled.
Xu Heye brought up the old topic again: "Mom and Dad, why are you here?"
Dong Taohua said, "Did you forget? Your birthday is in two days."
"Birthday?" Xu Heye then remembered that she was born on the second day of the seventh lunar month in 1974. Two days later, August 3rd, which would be the second day of the seventh lunar month, would be her fifteenth birthday.
Dong Taohua continued, "If you can't go back, then Mom and Dad will come to Hucheng to celebrate your birthday. It just so happens that your dad's summer tutoring is over, so Mom took a few days off and came to see you.
But I've only taken five days off. After celebrating your birthday, I'll be back. Your father can stay in Hucheng for a few more days and spend more time with you."
Xu Heye didn't expect this to be the reason.
She jumped up, hugged Dong Taohua, and buried her head in her soft arms, "Woo woo~~Mom, why are you so good!"
"You are my daughter. If I don't treat you well, who else should I treat well?" This is the only child of the couple.
Ever since Xu Heye was born, she and Xu Hui had agreed that they would only have this one child, dedicating all their love and resources to her. They didn't want their child to be dispensable like them, the one abandoned among so many siblings.
The mother and daughter were so affectionate, Xu Hui felt a little jealous watching from the side, "Only mom is good, not dad?"
"Of course Dad is fine too." Xu Heye coaxed.
While the family of three is loving each other, the atmosphere in Old Dong's family is not so good.
The reason was that my aunt Dai Ying lost her job.
The 1990s was a period of rapid economic growth, a golden era, but it was also a dark decade for state-owned enterprise employees. This was because during this decade, state-owned enterprises were restructured and a wave of layoffs began.
The year 1998, in particular, is regarded as a landmark year for the wave of layoffs, as this was the year when state-owned enterprise reforms were the most intensive, covered the widest scope, and saw the largest number of layoffs.
But in fact, this wave of layoffs began as early as the 1980s.
The Northeast region, as a heavy industrial base, was the first to implement reforms, and Hucheng, as one of China's most economically prosperous metropolises, naturally could not escape this trend.
There are now a total of ten people living in Old Dong's house, including Old Dong and his step-wife Wang Sumei, the eldest son Dong Hongfu and his family of three, the stepson Liu Qiang and his family of four, and the single Dong Fuyun.
Among the ten people in the family, only four and a half actually have jobs: Dong Hongfu and his wife, Liu Qiang and his wife, and Dong Fuyun, who does odd jobs from time to time.
Since the family has not split up and lives and eats together, it is natural that they have to pay for living expenses.
Based on a monthly living standard of 30 yuan per person, a family of ten would need 300 yuan for living expenses. However, Dong Fuyun did not have a stable job, and he often ate out, so he was only willing to hand over 20 yuan for food.
The remaining two hundred and eighty were shared equally by the two families, with each family paying one hundred and fourteen.
Logically speaking, Dong Hongfu's family has only three people, one less person than Liu Qiang's family, but they pay the same amount of money as him, so they are at a disadvantage.
But Wang Sumei also has her own opinion.
The eldest wife paid 140 yuan, of which 90 yuan was for the living expenses of their family of three. The remaining 50 yuan, of which 30 yuan was for her living expenses. That's right, it was Wang Sumei's living expenses, or rather, her labor fee for doing housework.
Wang Sumei and Dong Hongfu had no blood relationship. Old Dong was her husband, and she was willing to do his laundry and cooking. Liu Qiang's family were her children and grandchildren, and she was also happy to help them with their work.
Only Dong Hongfu's family is different. If they want her to help with laundry, cooking, and cleaning, they have to give her some hard work pay!
The 30 yuan living expenses were the labor fees she received for working for Dong Hongfu's family.
Nowadays, hiring a live-in nanny will cost at least two hundred yuan a month.
She only wants thirty, which is quite cheap.
Of the 140 yuan her son Liu Qiang paid, 120 yuan was for their family's living expenses, and the remaining 20 yuan was for Old Dong. Her son was not the kind of person who would be ungrateful. After inheriting Old Dong's job, he would provide for his retirement.
He paid twenty yuan, and the eldest wife only had to pay ten yuan. A stepson got ten yuan more in living expenses than a biological son. This was how he showed his filial piety...
As for the extra ten yuan from the eldest wife's side, it was naturally paid by Dong Hongfu to his younger brother.
It’s not considered as the second old man’s head.
Wang Sumei's plan really touched Old Dong.
Dong Hongfu and Dai Ying were disgusted enough, but they both had to go to work and usually relied on Wang Sumei to take care of the housework, so they could only swallow this loss.
The most important thing is that both husband and wife have jobs. Dong Hongfu inherited his biological mother Lin Chunya's job at the steel factory and earns 320 yuan a month. His wife Dai Ying works in a garment factory and has a basic monthly salary of 220 yuan. Sometimes, if she is busy at work and works overtime a lot, she can get 310 to 320 yuan.
The couple can earn five or six hundred yuan in total. If they spend a quarter of their salary, they can be exempted from all housework. When they come home, they can have hot meals, someone will wash their dirty clothes, and someone will take care of their children. Apart from work, they don't have to worry about anything else. This is a very cost-effective deal for them.
But now it's different.
Dai Ying is unemployed!
Without Dai Ying's salary, the extra fifty yuan in living expenses seemed particularly eye-catching.
What's more, Wang Sumei received 300 yuan for living expenses every month, but did she really spend all the money on them, without secretly keeping some as her own money?
In the past, they had jobs and salaries, so they didn't care even if they knew that Wang Sumei would secretly withhold some of their living expenses.
But now it's different.
Dai Ying's unemployment not only means a loss of income for their family, but also means that their iron rice bowl is no longer iron-clad.
Who knows what the future will be like?
The good days when you could spend whatever you earned and even go to the finance department to get an advance on your salary if you accidentally spent more are gone forever.
They have to think about the future.
Increase revenue and reduce expenditure. If you can't find a job and can't increase revenue, then you should reduce expenditure.
The first thing that needs to be changed is the unfair living expenses that have been accepted as a default due to numerous considerations.
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