Chapter 120 It's still early, let's do something else...
Zhang Guihua quickly understood what was going on.
It wasn't that she had a bad day; it was just that Mingli wasn't there, and everyone had lost their appetite.
What are we going to do? Mingli won't be back for so many more days.
Just as I was worrying about what to cook for the next ten days or so to get everyone to eat more, the phone rang at home.
Everyone immediately had the same thought – this call must have been made by Tang Mingli and Fu Ci.
Madam Fu strode swiftly to the telephone and answered the call.
"Hello."
After that sound, the smile on his face faded considerably.
"Caiping, is there something you need?"
Originally, Fu's mother was also keeping her eyes on this side, but when she heard that it was Aunt Caiping on the phone, her attention returned to the meal.
But after a few seconds, she looked at her mother-in-law who was on the phone again.
Just because Madam Fu was a little unhappy, she said, "Oh dear, crying, crying, what problem can crying solve?"
Worried that something might have happened to Aunt Caiping, Fu's mother put down her chopsticks and walked towards her mother-in-law.
Seeing this, Madam Fu waved her hand, signaling her to continue eating.
Fu's mother didn't listen and still walked to her side.
Upon getting closer, I could indeed hear Aunt Caiping crying on the other end of the phone.
Fu's mother asked silently, "What's wrong?"
Madam Fu covered the microphone and whispered, "It's all because of Gu Lin."
After explaining, he comforted Fu Caiping on the other end of the phone: "Tell Gu Lin to be more assertive. What can they do if she doesn't have a second child? Do they think she'll dare to find someone else to have a baby with?"
Fu Caiping cried, "Of course I wouldn't dare, but if they do this, Gu Lin won't have a good life."
Old Madam Fu scolded her: "If you're relying on them, of course life will be tough. Since that's their attitude, you should rely more on yourself."
"This isn't about relying on anyone, it's about... it's about..."
Fu Caiping said "yes" several times, but couldn't get to the bottom of it. Finally, she choked up and said, "They say that Gu Lin has such a powerful great-uncle, but she can't even get a second child quota."
Hearing this, even Madam Fu couldn't hold back any longer and interjected, "Aunt, it's not that I like gossiping, but Gu Lin's in-laws..."
She spoke at length, revealing the snobbishness of Gu Lin's in-laws.
"...We did try to advise you before you got married, but you ignored us."
Fu Caiping was speechless and could only say, "Now that we've had the child, what's the point of saying all this? Can we go back to before we got married?"
"Why is it useless? Can't you get a divorce if you're married?"
These words almost slipped out of Fu's mother's mouth without much thought. Only after she finished speaking did she realize that advising someone to get a divorce had indeed crossed the line, so she had to stop quickly.
But because of this, the anger she hadn't released was trapped inside, making her so angry that she had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down.
Fu Caiping on the other end of the phone seemed stunned by the word 'divorce,' remaining silent for a long time, with only her panting heard.
From the rapid breathing, Old Madam Fu knew what her daughter-in-law was thinking. Seeing that her daughter-in-law seemed hesitant to apologize after saying those words, she couldn't help but stand up for her.
"Don't blame Yujuan for saying this, you guys are just too infuriating. There's really nothing more to say about this. You either resist or you suffer. If you talk to us again, we'll tell you to leave."
With her mother-in-law's support, Fu's mother felt less anxious.
To be honest, their generation is still very traditional. They get married with the intention of growing old together, and even if the word "divorce" pops into their minds a hundred times, they wouldn't dare to say it even once.
Fu Caiping felt a lump in her throat from Madam Fu's words. She had called to vent her frustrations and ask for help, but now she was being told to leave indiscriminately. She really didn't know what to do next.
"How will you live after a divorce?"
"Why can't they live together?" Old Madam Fu immediately thought of Tang Mingmei and told her younger sister-in-law, "Mingli's cousin got divorced and went back to her parents' home with her daughter. Now the whole family is living a very good life..."
Although the neighbors had been gossiping about it behind their backs for a while, Li Hong was no pushover. Whenever she heard someone say something, she would confront them and argue. Gradually, those people stopped talking about it to their faces.
As for what people say behind her back, she's come to terms with it.
People can say whatever they want; they should just live their own lives.
Now, she gets to hold her granddaughter every day, and her husband can play with the child every day when he comes home from get off work. Their family is much happier than before.
When Madam Fu gave this example, Fu Caiping panicked and hurriedly ended the call.
She was afraid that if she listened any longer, she would be tempted.
After hanging up the phone, Madam Fu sighed and was about to continue eating when the phone rang again.
She no longer felt the excitement she had when she first answered the phone. She picked it up calmly and said, "Hello, who is this?"
"Grandma, guess where I am right now as I call you."
Tang Mingli's excited voice came from the other end of the phone. Madam Fu's lips immediately curled up, and she instantly changed her tone, affectionately calling out to Mingli.
"How could I possibly guess?" But even so, she still asked, "Have you already arrived in Hong Kong?"
Tang Mingli wasn't really trying to keep you in suspense, and smiled, "No, I'm in Shenzhen now, at Fu Ci's home in Shenzhen."
When Fu Ci heard his wife say this, he complained softly, "It's as if I have two homes. A place without you is just a temporary residence, how can it be called a home?"
A casual remark made Tang Mingli's heart soften again, and she really wanted to hug him.
However, on the other end of the phone, her grandmother and mother-in-law were excitedly asking her about her residence in Shenzhen, so she could only focus on answering their questions first.
"The conditions are certainly not comparable to those at home, but they're still alright."
Mrs. Fu and her mother on the other end of the phone took it as a polite remark, but felt sorry for them and asked why they didn't just go to a hotel.
Tang Mingli smiled and said, "I wanted to come and see for myself."
This was half true and half false. Fu Ci wanted to come back to get some things, so she suggested that he simply stay here.
He hesitated at first, worried that his place of residence was too simple and that it would be unfair to her.
Tang Mingli deliberately asked if there was something here that she couldn't see.
In order to prove his innocence, Fu Ci had no choice but to bring her back.
Tang Mingli told her grandmother and mother-in-law, "We will stay in Shenzhen for a day to rest, and then we will go to Hong Kong the day after tomorrow."
The reason they stayed for a day was that their trip was a last-minute decision, and Fu Ci needed some time to contact his friends there.
Even though he had been to Hong Kong once, it was still a place he was completely unfamiliar with, and he still needed help from friends in some areas.
But Tang Mingli didn't want to explain too clearly and worry her family.
...
After ending the call, Tang Mingli was finally able to take a good look at Fu Ci's residence in Shenzhen.
To make his work more convenient, he moved directly into the factory's staff dormitory.
Of course, their living conditions are much better than those of other employees.
It has two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a separate bathroom, and is fully furnished with all necessary appliances.
Compared to the employees, the conditions are much better.
But Fu Ci grew up in a villa in the family compound.
Compared to my family's circumstances, the difference is significant.
It's easy to go from simplicity to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to simplicity—Tang Mingli understood this principle all too well.
Having grown accustomed to living in the Fu family's detached villa, she would definitely find it difficult to adjust to living in a tenement building or something similar.
Tang Mingli said with emotion, "I'm so sorry to have troubled you."
Fu Ci could hear the heartache in her voice, and happily hugged her from behind, "It's not difficult at all, really, not difficult at all."
As he spoke, he led her to the balcony.
Looking out from the balcony, you can see the production workshop of Fuci Factory.
It's past 7 p.m. now, and the workshop lights are on, so people are obviously working overtime.
Tang Mingli knew that the working hours on the assembly line were long, but the thought of her husband's factory 'exploiting' workers in this way made her feel complicated.
Fu Ci, unaware of his wife's thoughts, pointed to the brightly lit production workshop ahead and told her, "Eighty percent of our factory's employees are women."
Tang Mingli hummed in agreement, not surprised.
Garment factories do indeed have a large number of female employees.
"When I opened this factory, I naturally wanted to make money and build a career. But you know what? It has more to do than that."
"Um?"
Tang Mingli's "hmm" was filled with a strong sense of doubt.
“There are some people who are desperate and can survive here by packing a couple of clothes.”
Fu Ci then gave an example of a woman who became a widow just two years after getting married, and whose in-laws forced her to remarry for money.
She didn't want to remarry, so someone told her she could get a factory job with room and board included. She could work in any factory for two years, earn some money, and then she could have a new job.
So she came to Shenzhen and joined this factory.
"...There are many more examples like this. Many of them faced a desperate choice between two options, and going to work in a factory gave them a chance to catch their breath."
Fu Ci's words greatly shocked Tang Mingli, and she gained a different understanding of what she previously thought of as a 'sweatshop'.
Yes, survival is difficult enough. For many people, having a place to earn money and live is not just suffering, but a lifeline.
"Actually, after returning from my trip to Hong Kong, I had rather mixed feelings."
"How complicated is it?" Tang Mingli wanted to hear.
“A friend over there told me that industries like garment factories, which don’t require much technology, are just stepping stones in the early stages of industrial development, and they’ve already started phasing them out in more industrially developed regions.”
Tang Mingli nodded.
She arrived decades later and witnessed the decline of traditional manufacturing firsthand.
"But there will always be people at the bottom of society. If the industries they rely on for survival are gradually eliminated, how will they survive?"
How can we survive?
Tang Mingli hadn't thought about this question, but after Fu Ci said that, she couldn't help but wonder how the millions of workers would make a living decades later when so many factories closed down.
This was a problem she couldn't understand.
But she knew that humans are incredibly resilient creatures; they can find ways to survive natural disasters and wars.
His wife's silence made Fu Ci realize that they had discussed a very broad and heavy issue, so he immediately changed the subject.
"We're just getting started, it's too early to think about the industry being eliminated."
“That’s true,” Tang Mingli agreed.
"Let's not talk about that. It's still early, let's do something else."
"Others?"
Tang Mingli met Fu Ci's eyes, and her heart skipped a beat.
For some reason, she always felt that the "other" he mentioned was not innocent.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
