Chapter 20
◎ The sky is getting dark, a slight breeze is blowing, and the air is damp and humid. I'm afraid it's going to rain again.◎
The sky darkened slightly, a slight breeze picked up, and the air was damp and humid. I was afraid it was going to rain again. It was the rainy season in Shanghai, so the weather was changing constantly.
Bei Bitang looked at the sky, frowned, and jogged down the long alley.
At the corner, several tricycles were parked downstairs of a building, piled high with furniture, including cabinets, tables, chairs, benches, bed boards, and pots, pans, and utensils.
Standing next to the car was a man in his late twenties, wearing a sailor shirt and sweatpants. He had a round face, acne scars, and a short, stout figure. Although he wore youthful clothes, his back was hunched like an old man.
Bei Bitang glanced at him. She had never seen him before. It seemed that he was a new neighbor who had just moved in. The other person also looked at Bei Bitang several times.
The tricycle almost took up the entire aisle, and Bei Bitang walked sideways.
This afternoon, Lin Bilan came back from her shift to have lunch.
Several people gathered around the dining table and ate vegetable and rice cake soup. Bei Bitang's lunch was a little simple, but fortunately it was delicious and no one complained.
Miao Xiuxiu and Lin Bilan asked Bei Bitang about her visit to Chen Jinlong's house.
Bei Bitang said everything she could.
When Miao Xiuxiu heard that Bei Bitang didn't stay to eat the big sea bass made by Wei Bili, she said angrily, "You are so stupid! The feast was right in front of you, and you refused it."
Bei Bitang lowered her eyebrows and said, "If I don't come back, who will cook? Will you have anything to eat?"
Miao Xiuxiu said, "If you stay, Bili will definitely cook a huge table of delicious food for you. Can the two of you finish it? Bring it back, and we'll have something to eat. We can eat it ready-made, and you don't have to cook."
Bei Bitang didn't tell Miao Xiuxiu that Chen Jinlong had come back halfway.
Bei Bitang said calmly, "I brought back a bag of tea."
She didn't intend to keep it to herself, so she put it away and drank it herself.
Miao Xiuxiu's expression was no longer as gloomy. She said, "That's right. Tea is precious and hard to come by. I'm going to save it as a gift for my son-in-law. I'll ask him to talk to his boss and get me a permanent job as soon as possible."
Lin Bilan was a little absent-minded and suddenly asked, "Mom, do you know He Zhiguo?"
Miao Xiuxiu raised her eyelids and said nonchalantly, "Of course I don't know him. He's the director of the second workshop. Although I'm not from the second workshop, we're from the same factory and I've met him a few times."
Lin Bilan's eyes lit up as she smiled and said, "Mom, he's no longer just a workshop director. He's been promoted a long time ago and is now the deputy production director in charge of all the workshops. When the production director retires next year, the position will be his."
Miao Xiuxiu said "Oh" lightly. No matter whether it was the workshop director or the production director, their families were too far away from her home, and they would never have any contact in this life.
Miao Xiuxiu didn't agree, but Lin Bilan continued excitedly, "Mom, did you know? They moved here."
Miao Xiuxiu asked in confusion, "He's a production director who's about to take up his new position, and he's living here instead of in the cadre building?"
Lin Bilan smiled and said, "Director He is a very filial son. Before moving, his family lived on the top floor. His wife is in her eighties and loves to walk. Director He wanted to move to a lower floor to save his wife from climbing up and down every day. But who in the cadre building is easy to deal with? No one was willing to move with him, so he gave up living in the cadre building and moved here."
Miao Xiuxiu scoffed and said, "It's going to be hard to move back into this cadre building once we move out. This old lady only cares about herself and doesn't care about her children at all. She stays away from her leaders and people of the same level. After a while, will they even take her out to play? She's already become arrogant before she even became a director."
Lin Bilan said, "Mom, why do you care about all this? Think about me, your daughter. They stay away from the leaders, but I am close to them, right? Mom, I want to change to a lighter job. Look, there is an old lady at home who is very fashionable. How can her fashion be compared to when you were a girl? Mom, you must have something to talk about with the old lady. Go get close to her. After you make friends with her, she can help me speak for you."
Lin Bilan complained constantly about the tiring work and how she didn't want to do it. But she couldn't speak up in front of her boss. It had been almost ten years, and she still complained and cried while going to work.
Lin Bilan took the initiative to bring up Miao Xiuxiu's past, and she didn't seem to reject it. Miao Xiuxiu was happy in her heart, but she still said with a serious face: "Let me see if that old lady is easy to get along with. If she is the kind of arrogant old lady, I won't flatter her! I'm retired and a grandmother now. It's time for me to enjoy my old age."
Lin Bilan nodded repeatedly and said happily, "Mom, don't worry, that old lady is a well-known kind person."
After lunch, Lin Bilan lay down on the bed in the inner room, taking a nap with the little one. Bei Bitang quietly cleared the table, piled the dishes in a basin, and took them to the bathroom to wash.
The old lady on the phone suddenly called out, "Bei Bitang!..."
Before the old lady could finish her shout, Bei Bitang took a quick look inside, put down the basin, walked quickly to the window, stretched her head and shouted downstairs: "I'm coming!"
Putting the dishes aside, Bei Bitang quickly went downstairs and went to the phone booth to answer a call.
Bei Bitang raised her hand to take the phone and said, "Hello, who is this? This is Bei Bitang."
Xu Zeli said softly, "Bitang, it's me."
Upon hearing Xu Zeli's voice, Bei Bitang's brows furrowed. Her voice deepened as she said, "Is there something going on? Didn't we agree to meet tomorrow to repay the debt? Can't we talk about it together tomorrow? Besides, Xu Zeli, there's nothing much to discuss with you."
Xu Zeli murmured, "Bitang, about paying back the money..."
Bei Bitang's brows furrowed even more. She interrupted Xu Zeli and said, "Can't you pay it back?!"
Xu Zeli said somewhat embarrassedly, "Bitang, I have raised the money. But my father suddenly fainted this morning, and I just came back from the hospital. You know, my father's illness needs to be treated slowly, so I have to use this money to buy medicine for my father."
Xu Zeli hadn't lied to Bei Bitang; he had borrowed the money. It was also true that Xu Zhengqing's illness had relapsed, and it was also true that the money had been almost completely spent on medicine. The only 1,000 yuan the family had was for the wedding, and it couldn't be touched.
Bei Bitang was silent. She knew that Xu Zeli was cruel to her and had no conscience, but he cared about his parents very much and would not lie about his father's illness.
After thinking about it, no matter how much they pressured Xu Zeli, he couldn't come up with the money now. Bei Bitang said, "Your parents' wages should save at least 60 yuan a month. I'll be lenient. You have to pay me back within a year and a half. Otherwise, I'll come to collect the debt."
Xu Zeli said repeatedly, "Okay, one and a half years, I will definitely not break my promise again."
He knew that Bei Bitang was so kind and she would definitely soften her heart.
Bei Bitang said, "What you want to talk about is the repayment of the money, right? Now that you've finished, I'm hanging up."
Thinking of Bei Bitang's tenderness in the past, Xu Zeli, who had been running around the hospital alone for most of the day, said fragilely and tiredly: "Bitang, can you talk to me again, I..."
Bei Bitang said bluntly, "No."
Bei Bitang walked back, biting her lip and thinking, "I won't get the 1,000 yuan for now. How long will the money last?" If she was frugal, the family's food standard would decline. Mom would definitely complain, and Big Sister and Huang Dashan would also be dissatisfied.
"Bebitang! Beibitang!"
Bei Bitang vaguely heard someone calling her. She looked around in confusion and saw a middle-aged man hiding in the corner, waving at her stealthily. It was the street office staff member who had accepted a Great Unity card from her that day and was responsible for arranging the wages for unemployed young people.
Bei Bitang was delighted, and the sadness on her face disappeared. She quickly walked over and said with a smile, "Comrade, is there any news about my work?"
The middle-aged man straightened up, put his hands behind his back, and said seriously: "As for news, there is, but this..."
Hearing the middle-aged man say this, Bei Bitang suppressed the anxiety on her face and said calmly, "Comrade, please tell me first, what kind of work is it?"
The middle-aged man stared at Bei Bitang's face. Bei Bitang's expression remained indifferent, so he had no choice but to say directly, "You know the vegetable market three stops away, right? This workplace is right in the vegetable market."
Bei Bitang frowned and asked, "What is this job?"
There were so many stalls in the market, and there were not only salespeople but also managers working in offices. She didn't dare dream of an office position, but the jobs of salespeople weren't the same either, depending on which stall you worked at.
The middle-aged man said, "Fish stall."
Bei Bitang was silent for a while. She had no problem killing fish normally, but she felt a little reluctant when asked to kill fish every day and every month.
The middle-aged man continued, "Don't worry, you're a woman, so it's not your turn to kill the fish. You'll be responsible for catching the fish, weighing it, and making the change."
Bei Bitang was a little tempted and asked for more details. She asked, "How much is the monthly salary? Is it a formal employee?"
The middle-aged man frowned and said, "The monthly salary is 17.5 yuan, and it's not a formal job."
Bei Bitang hesitated. She only earned a dozen yuan a month as a temporary worker, and she also had to pay a bribe to the middle-aged man. She didn't know if she could earn back the bribe in a short time.
The middle-aged man said, "Although it's not a formal job, the one before her has been working there for over six years. If her newborn grandson hadn't been in poor health and she had to go back to take care of him, she wouldn't have given up her job."
"It's only three stops away, no need to change buses, it's a direct route. You can buy a used monthly bus ticket and save money. Selling fish doesn't require you to be busy all day, just the morning rush. There's hardly anyone buying fish at noon or in the afternoon, so it's very relaxing."
This job wasn't one assigned by the government to unemployed young people; it was secured by a well-informed middle-aged man. The aunt who had returned home to care for her grandson had no one to take her job, and she didn't want to give it up for nothing. The middle-aged man had some connections with her, and the two of them planned to sell the job to Bei Bitang, allowing her to pretend to be her relative and complete the paperwork to start work.
Bei Bitang looked up and asked, "Comrade, then..."
The middle-aged man held up two fingers and said, "Two years' salary, but I'm kind enough to cut a small amount and charge you 400 yuan."
Bei Bitang's face showed even more hesitation. The middle-aged man said earnestly, "Little girl, aren't you your parents' only child? I saw your registration form and you went to the countryside at the age of fifteen. If your parents loved you, they wouldn't have let you go to the northwest to suffer hardship at such a young age. Can your family support you for a long time? I'm afraid they can't."
"Let me tell you the truth. No matter how educated you unemployed young people are, you all take turns on a first-come, first-served basis. Guess whose turn it is now? Where are you?"
At this point, the middle-aged man snorted coldly and said, "If you don't want this job, there are plenty of people who do. If I didn't pity you, would I risk coming to you?"
After saying that, the middle-aged man pretended to leave.
Bei Bitang quickly called out to him, "Wait!"
The middle-aged man looked smug. He slowly turned around and said proudly, "Four hundred yuan, not a word less! If anyone finds out, I'll be punished. This is already the lowest price."
There wouldn't be any disciplinary action. If the matter were to be exposed, the boss would come and explain it clearly. The middle-aged man simply didn't want to cause a stir and be pelted with mud. These days, every household has an unemployed young person, and everyone is worried about finding a job. And then the person behind their children gets a job and can go to work. It's a real shock.
Bei Bitang went to work quietly, and by the time everyone found out, the matter was already done. Those who couldn't stand others doing well wanted to ruin the situation, but there was nothing they could do.
Bei Bitang asked, "When do we start work?"
The middle-aged man spoke slowly, adjusting his tone: "Three. Days. Later."
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