Chapter 230 Extra Chapter 08: The Red Flag
Jin Junwei is good-looking, but he's really bad at talking. He always has a stiff neck and only says a few words over and over again.
Unlike the rest of the Jin family, who spoke eloquently and whose arguments were supported by half of the onlookers from the factory, the other half mostly remained silent. After all, Jin Junwei didn't live in their residential compound, and his rural household registration meant he wouldn't become a factory worker. There was no need for them to cause trouble for a worker in their factory over someone they didn't know, Jin Junwei.
Only the technical department staff would speak up for them and even arrange for someone to find the deputy factory director in charge of technology.
"Xiao Song, go to the deputy factory director's office and tell him that Engineer Su from the car factory has brought people here looking for someone. If the deputy factory director asks, just tell him everything."
"Okay, I'll go right away."
To be honest, the Jin family members did a really bad job. They didn't want to raise their own son, so they sent him back to their hometown. That's one thing, but some of the workers from their boiler factory who came to the city from the countryside back then also left their children to be raised in their hometowns.
She doesn't want to raise the child herself, yet she's blocking her son from getting married. What kind of situation is this?
The state has stipulated that arranged marriages are prohibited. Any family that engages in arranged marriages is practicing feudalism, and in serious cases, they may be dismissed from their factory or sent for reform through labor.
Grandpa Jin and Grandma Jin retorted loudly, "How did we commit an arranged marriage? We didn't force him to get married. Everyone, be the judge, what family would let their son become a live-in son-in-law?"
"That's not what you said!" Jin Junwei's eyes reddened with anger. "You wanted Engineer Su to arrange a job for your youngest son, and when I ignored you, you tore up my letter of introduction."
Grandma Jin, without changing her expression, continued slapping her thigh and wailing, "You're truly heartless! When did I ever say such a thing? What kind of son would want to be a live-in son-in-law...?"
Before the long wail could stop, the workers outside the office door were forcefully pushed aside.
"Hey...who are you guys?"
"We work for a car factory."
The technical staff were the first to recognize him and immediately greeted him loudly, "Hey, Engineer Su, what brings you here today? Did you find a solution to the technical problem we discussed last time?"
Su Gong smiled at the person who greeted him; this comrade was really quick-witted.
When the technical staff shouted this, everyone else knew that the person who had come was Engineer Su from the Five Star Automobile Factory.
The boiler factory encountered a technical problem with welding some time ago. The factory leaders made several trips to the Wuxing Automobile Factory before they were able to borrow Engineer Su to help.
The person who had just spoken up for the Jin family fell silent.
Su Gong must have come because of his apprentice and the second son of the Jin family.
When Su Gong went to help out at other factories, he always thought about finding a partner for his apprentice. Now that he has finally found one, the Jin family is trying to sabotage it. No wonder they came knocking on his door.
Grandpa Jin and Grandma Jin's expressions also changed.
They never expected that Engineer Su and her apprentice would come!
He planned to take his second son, who had come to the factory to cause trouble, back home first, and then negotiate with him.
But now that they've come to the factory, it seems we can't negotiate the terms anymore.
As soon as Zhou Hongqi stepped into the office, he saw Jin Junwei standing alone at one end. Although it was clear that he had dressed up specially for the day, with a white shirt and green pants that made him look energetic, he still looked rather pitiful.
She had only rolled up her sleeve halfway when her master yanked it off.
Zhou Hongqi's anger subsided by half in an instant.
Once reason returned, I realized that now was not a good time to take action.
They were standing in a boiler factory, on someone else's turf, surrounded by boiler factory workers. For her, an outsider, to start a fight here would make her appear unreasonable, even if she was in the right.
If it were anywhere else, she would have beaten up those guys across the street, but at most it would have been a family matter. If she had taken it to the factory leaders, she would have only received a few words of criticism.
Upon suddenly seeing Zhou Hongqi and Engineer Su approaching, Jin Junwei's eyes lit up, and he was so surprised that he didn't know what to say.
He straightened up instantly and strode over to Zhou Hongqi in a few quick steps, explaining in a low voice, "I brought a letter of introduction, but I didn't expect to run into my mother at the factory gate, and she tore it up."
In the end, I was still a little angry and aggrieved.
He was furious when his letter of introduction was snatched away and torn up.
He left home happily this morning, thinking he could get the marriage certificate this afternoon, keep this gigolo job indefinitely, and then live a peaceful life.
The letter of introduction was torn to pieces, and he felt like half the sky had fallen. He was so angry that he decided to report them to the boiler factory.
He came in a fit of anger, but now that he's making a scene, he must have some other ulterior motive. He wants to prevent this family from ruining his good life later.
But as soon as she and Engineer Su arrived, he felt utterly wronged.
Zhou Hongqi raised his hand, intending to pat him on the shoulder, but then lowered it, and whispered to comfort him, "It's alright. Once things are settled, you can get the letter of introduction when you get back today."
The two of them were whispering to each other, but Su, who was standing nearby, pretended not to see them and gave a wink to the factory's union director and women's director.
The union director cleared his throat. "Xiao Zhou from our factory made an appointment with his girlfriend to register their marriage today, but she didn't show up. The security guard said that Xiao Zhou's girlfriend was taken away by people from the boiler factory. We've come to find out what happened, since they're getting married and she's practically family to our car factory."
"Oh dear, it's a misunderstanding!" The deputy factory director squeezed in, smiling as he reached out to shake hands with Engineer Su, the chairman of the automobile factory's labor union, and the women's director.
The deputy factory director originally didn't want to get involved in these trivial family matters, but when he heard that Engineer Su was coming, he rushed over.
Welders are easy to find, but level eight welders are so rare you could count them on one hand. If the factory has any welding technical problems in the future, they'll have to go to the car factory for help.
Now they've hired Engineer Su, but in the future they might hire his apprentice, Xiao Zhou.
The deputy factory director glanced at the Jin family members and felt a surge of disappointment: "Our son has found such a good partner, he should just become a live-in son-in-law, why is he making such a fuss?"
As soon as the deputy factory director arrived, the union director and women's director of the boiler factory also arrived one after another.
The workers outside the door were also persuaded to leave, leaving only a few leaders, Zhou Hongqi, and the Jin family members in the office.
Mediation of family disputes is the job of the women's director.
In front of the women's directors of the two factories, Jin Junwei told them everything about his family.
“My master raised me until I was eight years old. After that, I lived with my second uncle. They gave my second uncle five yuan a year, but they didn’t give me any food rations. They didn’t help me find a partner either. After I found a partner myself, they wanted to use me to get a job. They said that if I married Sister Hongqi, I had to get Engineer Su to arrange a job for my younger brother, or Engineer Su would have to take my younger brother as an apprentice.”
He has said these words countless times today, but only now are the boiler factory leaders willing to listen attentively.
The Jin family wanted to argue, but when they looked up, they saw Zhou Hongqi glaring at them angrily.
They suspected that if the leader hadn't been there, she might have physically assaulted them.
"That's not how it works," Grandpa Jin said cautiously, glancing at the boiler factory leaders before continuing, "When you were sent away, your family wasn't well-off, while your master was doing well. By the time you came back, the household registration system had already been finalized. You weren't a city resident, so you couldn't get a city food ration. If you stayed in your hometown, you'd still have a food ration..."
Jin Junwei was about to speak when Zhou Hongqi stopped him.
"So, counting from when I was eight, you gave me money for a total of twelve years, that's sixty yuan?" Zhou Hongqi said, pulling out money wrapped in a gray cloth from his pocket and quickly pointing out six ten-yuan bills.
Just as he was about to hand it over, he thought for a moment, then took another bill, totaling seventy yuan, and slammed it on the table in the middle.
"I'll give you back seventy yuan, including principal and interest."
Jin Junwei stared blankly at the wad of money in her hand: So much money?
The Jin family was speechless at her act of repaying the money, and for a moment they didn't know what else to say.
The union director of the car factory then spoke up: "That's right. Since this man, oh, Comrade Xiao Jin, has said he wants to marry into the family, it's Xiao Zhou's turn to contribute some money to his parents."
The women's director chimed in, "That's how it should be. Jin, oh dear, I'll call you Brother Jin and Sister Jin, we're about the same age."
“Brother Jin, Sister Jin, I have to say you’re really confused,” the women’s director said. “It won’t be easy for you to find Xiao Jin a partner from the city. Our factory’s Xiao Zhou is a level four welder, he can guarantee that Xiao Jin will be able to eat rice every day. Once Xiao Jin gets married, you won’t need to give him money every year anymore, and you can save some money. Xiao Jin, don’t you think so?”
Jin Junwei quickly nodded, "Now that I'm a live-in son-in-law, I definitely won't take my parents' money."
After saying that, he immediately added, "We can't move our things from my and Sister Hongqi's house to my parents' house either, or people will say I don't know what's good for me."
When you encounter a windfall, you shouldn't take it all; you should be content.
This was something his master had told him before he left.
The others nodded in agreement, "That makes sense."
Grandma Jin, her face grim, said, "I disagree!"
Despite the boiler factory leaders' kind and gentle persuasion, Grandma Jin was determined not to agree.
Zhou Hongqi's patience finally ran out, and he rolled up his sleeves and started slapping the shameless guys on the other side.
"Hey, hey, hey, Xiao Zhou, calm down."
"No, Lao Jin, you guys should hide."
After a while, both sides were pulled apart, and the factory leaders' brows were so furrowed they could trap flies.
Jin Junwei thought for a moment and then whispered a few words to Zhou Hongqi.
Zhou Hongqi changed his attitude and pulled Su Gong and his two factory leaders to leave.
"Fine, I don't mind if you don't agree. It's not like I can't find someone! Master, let's go."
Before the boiler factory workers could react, Zhou Hongqi had already dragged all three of them away.
As soon as they left the boiler factory, the women's director praised, "Xiao Zhou, you're doing it right! You're such a good catch, you won't have trouble finding a suitable partner. I'll introduce you to someone even better another day... But let's not talk about another day, how about tomorrow?"
Although Su didn't know what Zhou Hongqi was planning, she knew her own apprentice well. She was probably still thinking about dating Xiao Jin.
Sure enough, as she walked along, her apprentice kept turning back to look at her.
Also, as soon as she saw Xiao Jin in the boiler factory office, she stared at him intently.
On the other side.
The Jin family, bewildered by Zhou Hongqi's sudden departure, were kept behind for a talk by their factory leaders. When they were finally allowed to go home, they discovered that Jin Junwei was following them with a gloomy face.
As soon as he got home, Jin Junwei started smashing things like crazy.
Everyone in the boiler factory's residential compound could hear the loud smashing and banging of the Jin family's belongings, as well as the shouting and cursing between Jin Junwei and the Jin family members.
"If you won't let me live a good life, then you won't live a good life either!"
"Hey! Stop right there!"
—
Uncle Jin, unable to wait for his nephew to return, frowned and said, "You moved in right after getting the marriage certificate? You didn't even bother to let us know..."
Aunt Jin said, "If you're worried, go to town to check on things tomorrow."
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[Sprinkling flowers]
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