Xu Baofeng lost his job, or to be more precise, he was fired.
Under the dim light, Old Man Xu squatted under the eaves with a sullen face, holding a pipe between his fingertips. The rising green smoke blurred his wrinkled face.
Xu's mother slumped on a stool, her eyes red and swollen, crying in a choked voice: "How could I lose my job when it was so good?"
Xu Ruyan knew exactly what kind of person Xu Baofeng was. He was lazy, greedy, and had no brains. Nowadays, most jobs were iron rice bowls, and factories generally would not easily fire someone unless they made a serious mistake.
"What on earth did you do in the factory?" Xu Ruyan stepped forward and kicked Xu Baofeng without saying a word.
Xu Baofeng didn't seem to realize the importance of losing his job and acted as if nothing had happened.
He glared at Xu Ruyan unhappily and said unhappily, "What can I do? The factory...is not doing well."
"Your food factory is not doing well. Do you believe this?" Xu Ruyan was so angry that she laughed.
The Yandu Food Factory is a state-owned unit. It used to produce canned food for military needs, but after reforms, in addition to producing canned meat and canned fruit, it also opened a cold drink production line, which is the first of its kind in Yandu.
In order to buy this job, her father spent a lot of money and favors. If the son of the family that cooked the pot was not about to get married, he might not have gotten this job.
Xu Baofeng was clearly playing dead. Instead of answering, he started to mock, "Dad is right. You women have long hair but short knowledge. You are in the military camp all day long. What do you know? If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense."
After saying that, Xu Baofeng sat down on a stool like a grandfather, and complained to his crying mother, "Mom, please stop crying. I'm so annoyed. I didn't eat lunch today, and now I'm starving."
Hearing this, Xu's mother stopped crying. Although she felt sad about losing her job, she couldn't let her precious son's health suffer.
"I'll make it now." Mother Xu stood up tremblingly and walked towards the kitchen.
Xu Ruyan saw that her mother was about to fall down in the wind, and she was quietly painting the matchboxes, not making a strong presence. Xu Runan said, "Little sister, stop folding and go to the kitchen to help mom."
Xu Runan finished painting the matchbox in her hand, put all the finished matchboxes together, and got up to go to the kitchen.
The Xu family had a simple dinner. They cooked a pot of rice porridge, steamed a steamed bun, and served it with a dish of salted radish pickled by Mrs. Xu herself.
After dinner, Old Man Xu, who had been silent the whole time, put down his bowl and chopsticks and said to Xu Baofeng, "Come with me to the food factory tomorrow."
Xu Baofeng refused without even thinking: "I won't go."
"Yes, old man, you have to go." Mother Xu seemed to have found her backbone. "This job was bought by our family with real money. Besides, our son is so outstanding, how can we just fire him? We must find Director Zhao to judge the matter."
Xu Baofeng felt a little uneasy, and he stammered, "How about... just forget it!"
"Mom, you don't know, that boiler room is really not a place for people to stay. Not only is the temperature high, but it's also dusty and it makes a rumbling sound every day. I don't want to do this job anymore. I'll just let it go if I lose it." He stared at Xu's mother, trying to dissuade them from going to the food factory.
Mother Xu was wavering. She looked at Old Man Xu and said, "Old man, how about this..."
"You must go." Old Man Xu made the final decision.
The Xu family is a powerful family. Once old man Xu makes a decision, it is basically a final decision and there is no room for negotiation.
Xu Ruyan watched coldly, and seeing that this idiot was still hoping for a lucky break, she urged him, "You'd better tell the truth! Even if you don't tell me today, you won't be able to hide anything when Dad comes to the factory to ask tomorrow. It's better not to embarrass yourself."
Old Man Xu glared at the aggressive Xu Ruyan, then looked at Xu Baofeng with a gloomy gaze.
Xu Baofeng knew that this was the prelude to his father's anger, so he didn't dare to challenge his father's authority. He stammered, "It's too hot in the boiler room. I...I just go to get some fresh air from time to time."
Breathable! When he was absent from work, Xu Ruyan looked at him with contempt.
"Anything else?" Old Man Xu continued to ask.
Although the two factories were different, Old Man Xu had worked in the factory for his entire life and had some experience. Xu Baofeng said that at most the punishment would be a fine and a notification, and it would not lead to dismissal.
"I...sometimes when I'm really hungry, I'll go to the warehouse to get some food to fill my stomach." Xu Baofeng lowered his head, not daring to look at Old Man Xu.
In fact, he used to do these things frequently and no one noticed. He was particularly unlucky these past two days. First, he was caught for being absent from duty. After being criticized and educated, he felt unhappy and went to get something to eat to vent his anger as he usually did. Unexpectedly, he was caught in the act again and was fired directly.
Old man Xu stood up suddenly, and with a "bang", he slapped the wooden table with a dull sound.
His face turned red with anger. He glanced around, picked up the broom from the corner, and swung it at Xu Baofeng, causing Xu Baofeng to scream in pain.
Xu Baofeng didn't expect his father to really do it, and he was completely unprepared, and was hit hard by the broom. Seeing that his father was going to continue, he was so scared that he ran away, crying, "Mom, save me, my dad is going to kill me."
Seeing this, Xu's mother screamed and rushed over, grabbing old man Xu's arm with both hands, crying: "What are you doing! Things have come to this, what do you have to do with him, do you want to force him to death!"
While the two were arguing, Xu Baofeng took the opportunity to snatch the broom.
Old man Xu looked at his son hiding behind his wife, his chest heaving violently, and shouted angrily: "A loving mother often spoils her son. You spoiled him like this."
"Alright! Stop arguing." Xu Ruyan was so annoyed by their crying and yelling that her head was about to explode. She said in a sharp voice, "Aren't you embarrassed enough?"
"Will the whole courtyard know that there is a thief in our Xu family? If that happens, I wonder who will dare to marry their daughter to Xu Baofeng in the future? The Xu family will just have no descendants!"
As soon as the voice fell, the room instantly became quiet. The people who were originally noisy seemed to be strangled by the neck. Their faces were red and they could not speak.
Because of the words "no more descendants", Old Man Xu's eyes were dark and scary, as if he wanted to eat Xu Ruyan alive.
Xu Ruyan felt a chill on her back as she was stared at. She licked her lips and said dryly, "Now let's think about what to do in the future. If there is no job, Baofeng will have to go to the countryside."
"Mom, I don't want to go to the countryside." Xu Baofeng's sturdy body trembled, and he subconsciously hugged Xu's mother, treating her as a life-saving straw.
The contrast between the sturdy Xu Baofeng and the skinny Xu's mother was so huge that the scene was extremely funny.
Old man Xu lit up his pipe again. The pungent smell of cigarette smoke filled the entire room. He paced back and forth in the room.
Suddenly, he paused and fixed his gaze on Xu Ruyan. His eyes flashed with calculation, as if he was planning something.
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