Chapter 229 Extra Chapter 07: The Red Flag
Since they've hit it off, Uncle Jin and Aunt Jin want their nephew to get their marriage certificate as soon as possible, lest things drag on and he miss out on finding someone with such good qualities.
Jin Junwei was just having fun; he didn't think Hongqi was the kind of person who would go back on his word.
"I'm protecting your parents," Uncle Jin said, patting him on the back in an annoyed tone.
If they knew their youngest son was going to become a live-in son-in-law, and if he had other ideas, then it would be troublesome.
"Yes, yes, yes." Aunt Jin was also anxious when she thought of her eldest brother and sister-in-law's family in the city. She picked out half a bag of pastries from the good things he brought back and told the uncle and nephew to go to the brigade leader's house to get a letter of introduction right away.
"Once the letter of introduction is issued, you can go to the city to find Xiao Zhou tomorrow."
The brigade leader received half a package of pastries and handled the matter efficiently, asking questions while quickly issuing a letter of introduction and finally stamping it with the brigade's official seal.
The captain's wife also kept saying nice things.
"Junwei has found such a good partner. He'll be living a good life as a city dweller from now on. Congratulations!"
After the Jin family uncle and nephew left, the brigade leader's wife whispered, "Look at you, you still say that Junwei's pretty face is useless? He's going to the city to live a good life because of that face."
The brigade leader glared at her and said irritably, "An eight-year-old child earns more work points than him. He can't do any physical work and just attracts female comrades to watch. What else can he be but useless?"
Earning few work points and feeling embarrassed to mooch food from his uncles and aunts, he could only scheme to sneak back to his parents' house in the city to freeload.
In their rural area, people like Jin Junwei are also classified as "good-for-nothings".
Fortunately, this kid still has a decent face, so he can finally live a good life.
The brigade leader's wife pouted and muttered, "How can his face be the only thing worth looking at? He does all the housework at his uncle and aunt's house, washing clothes, cooking, and taking care of the children. Look how tidy he keeps the house. None of the women in the brigade are as clean as him."
He just can't do farm work, but he's very good at housework. Otherwise, with the few work points he earns and the few dollars his parents give him each year, anyone else would have kicked him out long ago.
But...
Junwei is indeed a very attractive young man.
He always has a smile on his face and speaks in a soft, gentle voice, looking like a cultured intellectual.
"It's good that he goes to the city to become a live-in son-in-law, so that Xiaoping won't have to worry about him."
Upon hearing this, the brigade leader became furious. "What? Xiaoping has taken a liking to him? No way! I'll send someone to tell Xiaoping to stay at her aunt's for a few more days."
—
The next day.
Jin Junwei entered the city early in the morning with a letter of introduction. The white shirt he was wearing was borrowed from the brigade by his second aunt.
It will take him several days to make clothes from the cloth he brought back.
"Second brother, I also want to see what my sister-in-law looks like." His eldest nephew and youngest niece clung to his legs and wouldn't let go.
He raised them both. Last night, when they heard that their second brother was getting married and would be staying in the city, they wanted to cry at the top of their lungs, but their mother scolded them.
Their mother said that their second brother was going to live a good life, which was a good thing, and they were not allowed to cry.
Don't cry, don't cry, but let's go see the assembly.
"I'll take you another day." Jin Junwei took out two candies from his pocket and gave them to them. After coaxing them, he turned around and strode out the door.
Inside the Five Star Automobile Factory.
Zhou Hongqi went to the workshop director to get a marriage introduction letter.
The workshop foreman was shocked. "When did you get a boyfriend?"
He even wanted to introduce his nephew to Xiao Zhou.
Su is the only Grade 8 welder in the factory, and Xiao Zhou is her only apprentice. At only 26 years old, he is already a Grade 4 welder, and he might become a Grade 8 welder in the future.
How did all that good stuff slip away so quietly?
"Does Hongqi really have a boyfriend? Is he a guy from our car factory? Which department?"
Other workers crowded around to ask.
Yesterday afternoon, the news spread throughout the new residential compound: Zhou Hongqi from the welding workshop has found a girlfriend surnamed Jin, who is incredibly handsome!
This morning, the news spread even further, and everyone was asking: Is there any handsome man in our factory with the surname Jin?
Zhou Hongqi was in a good mood when everyone asked, and she answered truthfully, "He's not from our factory."
"Which organization does that belong to?"
"He doesn't have a job right now, and his household registration is in his hometown in the countryside."
Everyone fell silent instantly, exchanging glances. Just as they were about to speak, they noticed Zhou Hongqi's cheerful expression, clearly indicating her satisfaction with her partner. So, everyone quietly shut their mouths again.
This Xiao Zhou, although she is a woman, is not only feisty, but also has a surprisingly strong fist.
If anyone offends her, she'll immediately retaliate with insults. If she can't win an argument, she'll drag someone outside the factory to fight.
In their opinion, she should be assigned to the security department.
At this moment, when everyone heard that her boyfriend had a rural household registration, they couldn't help but curl their lips in disgust.
But deep down, she was thinking: No wonder she found a handsome boyfriend; he must be a gigolo.
Zhou Hongqi doesn't care what others think.
After receiving the letter of introduction, I put it in my pocket. I then took some time to visit the housing management office to inquire about housing allocation.
The staff at the housing management department frowned as she listened to her say she wanted to be allocated an apartment. In the end, they only said, "Where you are allocated is not up to us. There must be an apartment available first. Xiao Zhou, don't rush. Come to the housing management department to register after you get your marriage certificate."
"Could you register me first? If there are any vacant apartments, I should be able to get one, right?"
"Get your marriage certificate first, then come back."
Even if there's an entire building full of empty houses, you can't register her for housing with just a marriage introduction letter!
"Xiao Zhou, are you really getting married? I've never heard of you having a boyfriend. Where is he from... tsk! Why did he run away?"
Zhou Hongqi thought that Junwei could get a letter of introduction from his hometown and come to the city by tomorrow at the latest.
She'll take another day off, spending half a day getting the marriage certificate and the other half going to the housing management department to claim the house.
But unexpectedly, she encountered a "roadblock" when she wanted to get married!
When Jin Junwei secretly went to talk to Engineer Su, he was seen by a neighbor who lived in the same building as the Jin family. This morning, while queuing to use the restroom, they ran into Grandpa and Grandma Jin and jokingly asked, "Your Junwei isn't planning on a blind date with Engineer Su's apprentice, is he?"
When Grandpa Jin and Grandma Jin heard this, they felt that it wasn't impossible.
I recalled that before Jin Junwei left home yesterday, he went to his eldest son's room to rummage through his clothes. He even made a scene at home for a while over a half-new piece of clothing.
Upon further reflection, it's clear that the second son usually doesn't leave until they send him back to his hometown. Why didn't he come back after finishing his work? He must have gone back to his hometown.
This is so unusual!
Maybe it's true, as the neighbor said, that he secretly went on a blind date with that Su Gong's apprentice!
So, Aunt Jin didn't care about anything else and went out early in the morning to the car factory to inquire about the situation of Su Gong's apprentice.
Security guard: "Su's apprentice? Zhou Hongqi? You also want to introduce her to someone? Well, you're too late. Little Zhou already has a boyfriend, and they've even got a marriage introduction letter. Her boyfriend is quite handsome."
Aunt Jin: "Is this the only single apprentice of Engineer Su?"
Gatekeeper: "Hey! Master Su only has this one apprentice, no one else."
Aunt Jin: "So, what's the name of the guy she's dating?"
"I don't know his name, but I heard from our neighbors in the residential compound that his surname is Jin, and he looks younger than Xiao Zhou."
Grandma Jin is now certain; it must be her second son, Jin Junwei!
Since she was already there, she wanted to learn more about the situation of women.
The security guard was also a chatterbox. After accepting a handful of candy from Aunt Jin, he spilled all the secrets about Zhou Hongqi.
The more Grandma Jin listened, the brighter her eyes became.
So, Junwei has found himself a partner with good prospects.
With such a capable mentor, Xiao Zhou might even be able to help his youngest son find a job.
There's also a younger son in the family who's in high school. If he can't get a factory job after graduation, he'll most likely have to go to the countryside.
There are only two workers in the family, my wife and eldest son, so it's impossible for them to free up work for my younger son.
Jin Junwei smiled all the way to the Five Star Automobile Factory. Just as he was about to ask the gatekeeper for help in finding someone, he looked up and saw his own mother. The smile on his face immediately disappeared.
"Are you here to see your partner?"
What are you doing here?
The mother and son spoke at the same time, one with a beaming smile, the other with a rare grumpy expression.
"I'm your mother, where am I? You little brat, you're not planning to secretly date and get married behind our backs, are you?"
As soon as Aunt Jin saw his expression, she knew she had guessed correctly and immediately became angry.
—
Zhou Hongqi thought Jin Junwei wouldn't be able to enter the city until tomorrow, and was planning to stay and work overtime today.
Not long after Su Gong was called to answer the phone, she ran back and asked her to go to the boiler factory.
"Huh? Their factory's boiler is having problems again?"
“It’s not the boiler factory, it’s Xiao Jin. He said he was going to report his father and older brother for having an arranged marriage like in the old society, and they were stopping him from getting married. The people in the factory’s technical department called me and asked me to call you over to take a look.”
The people in the boiler factory's technical department didn't care about other people's conflicts, but when they heard that the Jin family was preventing their second son from marrying Su Gong's apprentice, that became a big deal.
The engineer surnamed Su only has one apprentice, and when he came to help at their boiler factory, he even asked someone to introduce him to a potential partner. It would be terrible if he ruined the apprentice's chances of finding someone.
Besides, all the factory workers live in the staff quarters. Who doesn't know that the Jin family's second son has a bad relationship with the family? The Jin family members tell outsiders that he is a relative from their hometown, but everyone knows in their hearts that he is clearly their biological son.
When Grandma Jin heard that her second son was going to become a live-in son-in-law and sever ties with them, she got furious and tore up his letter of introduction.
Jin Junwei was furious and went straight to the boiler factory to find the leaders, saying he wanted to report the Jin family.
On one side is a young man from the countryside, and on the other is a worker from their own factory. The factory leaders are definitely biased towards their own people. They're trying to smooth things over and get Jin Junwei to stop causing trouble.
So, after discussing it, the people in their technical department decided to call the car factory and ask Engineer Su to bring his apprentice over as soon as possible.
Since we're going to find a son-in-law to live with us, this is a perfect opportunity to break up the existing relationship.
Su Gong knew what was going on. After informing his apprentice, he turned around and went to find the director of the labor union and the director of the women's affairs at his factory. The group headed straight for the boiler factory.
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I received a notification that I have to go on a business trip early tomorrow morning. I'm not sure if I'll be able to update tomorrow. If I can't, I'll make up for it when I get back. (Going to pack my bags [chin resting on hand])
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