Chapter 28 Be a Witness
At the request of the Yao family, Zhong Er called Yao Fanghua back. Yao Weimin didn't dare go alone, fearing that Zhang Xiuxiu would raise the knife again and no one in the family could stop her.
After going around the fan factory, Zhong Er learned that Yao Fanghua didn't live there at all. After making inquiries, he found out that Yao Fanghua had bought a house nearby.
People who work near the factory live in the vicinity of this house, so Yao Fanghua couldn't hide the fact that she bought the house no matter what.
It was already getting dark, but the dozen or so people working in the yard hadn't stopped. They had no choice; although food and drink weren't provided, the landlord paid them well. The more they worked, the more they were paid.
Looking at the half-built house in front of him, Zhong Er felt a surge of bitterness.
Yao Fanghua and Wu Peng were discussing how to build the greenhouse using the blueprints when they looked up and saw Zhong Er with an ugly smile calling out to them.
Wu Peng squinted; this kid's face was practically dripping with sarcasm. He wondered if he was holding back something. He went up to Zhong Er and offered him a cigarette. "What brings you here, kid?"
"A fight broke out at Uncle Yao's house, so he sent me to call Sister Hua Hua back."
Wu Peng: "Thank you for your help. When do you have time to come over to my place for a card game? I heard you're good at cards."
"No, no, I'm just playing for small stakes. Besides, I'm not good at cards, I rely entirely on luck, hehe." He wouldn't dare go to Wu Peng's place; no matter how much he played, it wouldn't be enough for him to lose. He couldn't beat Wu Peng.
Yao Fanghua wasn't in a hurry, so the three of them strolled leisurely home.
Along the way, Yao Fanghua had already found out the whole story. To be honest, Yao Fanghua didn't want to get involved. Let her mother give the job to whomever she wanted; she certainly wouldn't give it to her. She didn't know why her mother insisted on making her go back. Did she expect her to use force to suppress her sister-in-law? It didn't bother her, and she didn't have the time to go around adjudicating their cases every day.
When Yao Fanghua returned, the house was in complete disarray.
Apart from Yao Fangyuan, who was still sobbing, everyone else seemed to have calmed down.
Wu Peng picked up a fallen stool, straightened it, and sat down, remaining unmoved despite Yao Fanghua's glare and his pounding heart.
Helpless, Yao Fanghua straightened her stool and sat down next to Wu Peng.
Wu Peng immediately perked up, his tail practically wagging. He brushed the dust off his trousers and declared confidently, "I'll be a witness here."
Seeing this, Zhong Er secretly gave Wu Peng a thumbs up, then ran to his own house, moved a stool and sat down at his door to look across the street.
Li Chunying wondered if her precious daughter was really going to be ruined by this good-for-nothing boy from the Wu family. She closed her eyes, pretending that Wu Peng didn't exist, and said, "Now that everyone's here, I'll get straight to the point. Your father and I are planning to separate the family."
Originally, we planned to separate the family property after Weimin got married, but since we can't get along, we might as well separate sooner.
Li Chunying paused, then continued, "It's also my fault, your father and I, for not doing our best to get your older brother a job so he could stay in the city." Li Chunying choked up as she spoke, realizing that raising a son had only resulted in raising an enemy.
Yao Fangyuan pouted. It was no use saying anything now. No matter how much she said, Yao Weiguo would no longer consider them family or treat her like a younger sister.
Yao Weimin scratched his head, unable to bear seeing his mother so aggrieved. His parents had only done this for him. "Mom, leave this house to my older brother. I have a job, and I'll wait for the factory to allocate housing for me."
Li Chunying stopped crying and glared at Yao Weimin, "You, when will you get your house? Are you even going to get married?"
Li Chunying wiped away her tears. "There are only three rooms in the house. The one on the north side will be given to the eldest son, and the one on the south side will be given to the second son. The big one in the middle is for your father and me. When we die, you two brothers can build a wall between them and divide it in half."
Don't even think about the money in the house. Part of it will be used for Hua Hua, Wei Min, and Yuan Yuan's weddings, and the rest will be our retirement money.
Hua Hua bought the TV and sewing machine, and they're in my room. The remaining pots, pans, rice, flour, and oil were all divided into five portions.
No objections, right?
Zhang Xiuxiu: "The job?"
Li Chunying couldn't help but sneer, "Here you go, go and complete the handover tomorrow."
Zhang Xiuxiu was delighted; this was fair enough. That's how it should be; otherwise, with such biased in-laws, she wouldn't get any benefits.
Li Chunying continued, finishing her prepared statement in one breath, "Your father and I have pensions, you don't need to support us. Just live your own lives and don't bother me." Li Chunying focused her attention on Zhang Xiuxiu. She didn't want her job; fine, she'd give it to her. She wanted to see what the family could say afterward. She wanted to see what would happen to the three children after Zhang Xiuxiu started working; don't expect her to help. During the day, she would take Yuanyuan and hide away. After all, Yao Weiguo was still at home; he wouldn't just watch his three children starve.
Looking at the pots and pans he was given, Yao Weimin looked a little miserable. "Mom, do I have to cook for myself from now on?"
“If you want to mooch a meal here, that’s fine too. It’s ten yuan a month for food. Just dinner. Ten yuan for every mouth you feed, everyone gets the same treatment.” Li Chunying looked back at Zhang Xiuxiu and Yao Weiguo, making them turn their heads away.
Yao Weimin readily paid ten yuan, and Yao Fangyuan hesitantly paid ten yuan as well.
At this point, Zhang Xiuxiu was completely speechless. Good heavens, ten yuan per mouth, and her family has five mouths to feed, that's fifty yuan, and that's only for dinner, what a heartless old woman.
Yao Weiguo carried his assigned belongings back into the house, and also went to Yao Weimin's room to move his own bedding. From now on, that north-facing room belonged entirely to his family. He finally felt a little more at ease, and even some of the resentment and pent-up anger he had harbored for years dissipated.
Looking at the pots, pans, rice, and noodles she had been given, Yao Fanghua thought, "It's alright, it wasn't a wasted trip."
"Sister," Yao Fangyuan hugged Yao Fanghua's leg, not letting her leave, "Sister, please help me find a job, please."
Yao Fangyuan was crying her eyes out. Her mother had said that her sister was only responsive to gentle persuasion and not force. If you wanted to win her over, you had to cry miserably. Besides, she didn't have to pretend anymore; she was genuinely miserable.
Hearing Yao Fangyuan's cries, and especially the word "work," everyone in the courtyard strained to listen.
Yao Fanghua tried to pull her legs out, but Yao Fangyuan was holding on too tightly and even wiped her snot and tears on her trouser legs.
Yao Fanghua resisted the urge to cut the pant legs and pushed Yao Fangyuan, saying, "Let go first."
"No, sister, please, I'm begging you, I can do any dirty or hard work, as long as I have a job."
Yao Fanghua sighed. Sure enough, the fan factory was indeed hiring to prepare for the new production line. Since it hadn't officially started production yet, they had only hired a few people bit by bit, and their daily tasks were mainly cleaning and tidying up construction waste.
These people were all put in through connections. Yao Fanghua wondered if she should go to the personnel department to get an application form. Yao Fangyuan was a high school graduate after all, so she should be qualified. If she performed well in the next few months, maybe she could get an easy job when production officially started. With some effort, it wouldn't be impossible for her to get a junior office job.
Seeing that things were looking promising, Li Chunying quickly said, "From now on, have this girl give you ten yuan every month for three years."
“Okay, okay, okay,” Yao Fangyuan quickly assured her.
"You asked for this yourself. If you end up working in the factory and something goes wrong, don't blame me." She didn't expect them to be very grateful, but at least she hoped they wouldn't complain about anything that didn't go their way.
Yao Fangyuan burst into laughter through her tears, "Sister, I knew you were the best."
Yao Fanghua felt a chill. "It's not even close to happening yet. I'll go ask about it tomorrow."
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