Chapter 83: Hiring People from Hometown
The flag of not eating after brushing teeth was broken soon. When she entered the sixth month of pregnancy, Wen Jiajia often felt hungry. Not to mention during the day, she would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night because of hunger.
Some time ago, I received a letter from home saying that my eldest sister-in-law had given birth to a girl, and it went smoothly.
Perhaps it was because of the good care she took during pregnancy. She usually ate refined grains, had meat every few days, and had a bowl of egg custard every morning. In addition, with the milk powder that Wen Jiajia sent home and the goat milk that Wei Xin found for her, my sister-in-law felt better in the later stages of pregnancy than in the early stages.
The letter said that the child was born in the hospital and the doctor who delivered the baby was Wei Xin's classmate, so she asked the doctor to name the child Wei Wenying.
At the end, she wrote a lot about her pregnancy experiences, which filled up five pages. When Wei Dagang received the letter, he almost thought something serious had happened at home.
After receiving the letter, Wen Jiajia packed some things and sent them back, even several feet of fine cotton cloth.
office.
Wen Jiajia just came back from a meeting with Director Gao. The factory recently added a new product and the feedback was very good. The pharmaceutical factory next door has reserved all the production for this year.
There is no need to worry about not being able to handle the demand, because the factory has limited production capacity and cannot produce more products, so it needs to introduce another production line.
This meeting was about this matter.
At this moment, Wen Jiajia sorted out the information that was introduced into the production line last time and handed it to Director Gao next door.
Then he asked, "Director Gao, are you going on a business trip?"
Director Gao nodded and said, "I'm going to Hai City. I'll ask Liang Mu to go with me. You can stay in the factory. Oh, and come to the train station to pick up the machine the day after tomorrow morning."
Wen Jiajia was surprised: "You want to go somewhere else?"
Director Gao: "Yes, we have to go to Eastern Province."
Wen Jiajia understood that there was also a large medical glass factory in Eastern Province, and they probably went there for exchange and learning.
She left the office with a weekly plan given by Director Gao. During Director Gao's business trip, she had to complete some of his work. In other words, she would be a little busier in the next week.
Wen Jiajia returned to the office and started eating steamed buns again.
She was growling with hunger, and always felt as if her stomach had become a bottomless pit that could never be filled no matter how much she ate.
We used to have biscuits to eat, but now they have all been eaten by her, and all the biscuit and pastry tickets that we had saved have been spent completely.
After finishing half of the brown sugar steamed bun, Wen Jiajia wrapped the remaining half in oil paper and put it in the drawer to eat when she felt hungry in the afternoon.
Then we started writing work reports. We had to write these every week, and some people wrote them every day, and they did it voluntarily.
Wen Jiajia was puzzled at first, wondering why anyone would like to write and voluntarily write these things.
Later I understood that in this age without computers, some work content must be recorded with pen and paper, otherwise future work will be very troublesome.
For example, if she hadn't kept records of the new equipment she introduced during her last business trip, it would be difficult for her to provide Director Gao with more comprehensive information now.
Of course, a big part of the reason is that I have to write ideological reports on a regular basis, so it is normal to finish writing a work report while writing.
At noon, Wen Jiajia went to the cafeteria to eat.
The cafeteria has changed a lot. The original dirt floor has been replaced by a concrete floor, and even the food window has been installed with bright glass.
Wow, the factory is rich now.
As batches of goods are shipped out, money also flows into the factory.
Look, the cafeterias are much more spacious now that we have money.
Like the pharmaceutical factory, Yibo also has a big meal once a week. The big meal here refers to meat dishes such as braised pork, steamed pork with rice flour, or fried meat. The rest of the time, tofu and eggplant with a little more oil and water are already considered good.
Today was not a big meal day, but Wen Jiajia unexpectedly smelled meat. She went to the window and saw that it was minced meat vermicelli. She immediately opened the lunch box and asked for one portion.
It’s not that I don’t want two, but it says that each person is limited to one.
Next to the minced meat vermicelli was a steamed bun. Wen Jiajia thought about it and bought two steamed buns and also ordered some vegetables.
The steamed bun is slightly yellow and has some wheat bran on it, but fortunately it doesn't make your throat ache. It's quite good when eaten with the oily minced meat vermicelli.
Before crossing over, Wen Jiajia had never eaten authentic whole-wheat bread. After crossing over, she had eaten enough whole-wheat steamed buns.
The flour used to make whole-wheat steamed buns is wheat flour that is ground out with the husk. One bite of it will stretch your neck two miles. You have to keep a glass of water at hand while eating it, otherwise it will be difficult to save yourself when your throat gets choked.
It is said that eating this thing can help lose weight, but after Wen Jiajia's test, the effect is actually average. The main reason is that it can really suppress appetite. She has never eaten a whole whole wheat steamed bun.
If there are people who are so strong that they can eat two or three whole-wheat steamed buns in one meal, it is still very difficult to lose weight.
After dinner, she returned to the office and continued her work.
After writing my ideological report and work records, I also took a look around the R&D room next door.
However, there was no one next door, and they said everyone had gone to the workshop, so Wen Jiajia went downstairs to the workshop again.
The weather was hot, but the workshop was quite cool because it was on the first and second floors and was quite spacious.
There are windows on all four sides of the workshop, which is bright and ventilated. The hot wind from outside blows in waves, and the temperature drops when it blows into the workshop, making people feel refreshed, just like drinking a bottle of cold beer.
Wen Jiajia is popular in the workshop. She used to help with the work when she was on duty, which made the front-line workers in the workshop like her very much.
As she walked along, Wen Jiajia received many greetings.
"When will Comrade Wen's baby be born?" someone asked her.
Wen Jiajia smiled and said, "We have to wait until the end of the year. It's still a long way to go."
"Hey, are you looking for someone to take your place?" the man asked again. A relative at home asked her if there was any work in the factory, but Wen Jiajia...even if someone was needed to take her place, she would not choose her relative, so she just asked.
Wen Jiajia shook her head and said, "I don't plan to find someone to take my place."
If you are still working in a pharmaceutical factory, you can find someone to take your place. Many people like to find someone to take their place because they can earn a salary.
But she was a small leader in the hospital, so who could take her place? No one could do it, so she had to take a leave.
"I knew you wouldn't find one. By the way, Comrade Wen, did you discuss the housing allocation at the meeting today?"
After she asked this question, many people looked at her.
Wen Jiajia: …
She was just looking for someone.
Wen Jiajia could only say, "No, this kind of thing must be discussed at the factory-wide meeting, not internally."
The man curled his lips and said, "Forget it. I see the foundation of the building has been laid. It may be completed next year. The leaders have already found a good house and are just waiting to move in."
Wen Jiajia was surprised: "Has the foundation been laid?" She passed by it every day and never noticed it.
"Yes! The foundations of several buildings have been laid. It seems that they plan to build all the buildings in one go."
Wen Jiajia wanted to run away, so she waved her hand and said, "That's great, this way everyone can share."
Someone sneered: "It can be divided anywhere. People from the pharmaceutical factory and the chemical factory are waiting. It's not like we own all the buildings. It's good enough if we own one building."
"Yes, by then, this leader will have one thing, and that leader will have another. How much will be left for us workers?"
Wen Jiajia couldn't understand why they got so much information? She didn't know any of it.
Anyway, she would not participate in the room allocation, and she didn't feel that the person who said this was targeting her.
At this point, some people began to imagine:
"There are eight people in my family, and we live in a small house of more than 40 square meters. I should get a share of the house this time. Only if I get a share of the house can my eldest son get married."
This is the current housing norm, with three generations of a family living under one roof.
Many people cannot wait to be allocated housing, and some even have to wait until the house is demolished before they can live in a complete house.
Someone beside him laughed and said, "Your wife is not from our factory, so we should split the money first."
This is also correct. Factory housing is extremely limited, and usually they first divide the workers into double-employed workers, that is, the husband and wife are both workers in the factory, and then divide the workers into single-employed workers.
Wen Jiajia thought about Director Shen's personality, and then considered that most of the senior leaders of Medical Glass were transferred from other factories. She could probably guess who would be given the first place when the housing was distributed next time.
First, reserve a part of it as a dormitory, and then divide the rest.
The first group of people to get the houses will definitely be dual-workers with large families. However, there are not many dual-workers in the medical factory. After all, it is a new factory that has just been established, and the single employees in the factory have not had time to fall in love with each other, let alone raise the next generation.
So there must be houses left, and at this time it depends on who has a larger family or who is a model worker.
Yes, model workers can also be given priority in housing allocation.
When she was working at the pharmaceutical factory, she once heard Shayue say that a few years ago, when the pharmaceutical factory held its second housing distribution, some people worked overtime for half a year just to get a house and become a model worker.
It was a very stressful time, and even half a year's shift was not enough. Later on, I had to clean the factory and clean the toilets... In the end, a person who was so tired that he fell into a small pool in the pharmaceutical factory and almost drowned was awarded the title of Model Worker.
There was no way, the man fell down suddenly when his superior came to inspect, and his wife immediately shouted that he was too hardworking and tired. In this way, I don’t know whether it is true or not, but it is true anyway.
Not only were the factory's superiors criticized, but the company was also almost reported in the newspapers, accused of being black capitalists who exploited the workers.
Although Wen Jiajia didn't know the man, she could guess that he was probably having a hard time in the factory. The factory really couldn't do anything to him, but it was easy to prevent him from getting promoted, and they could easily come up with a reason that was difficult to refute.
She guessed in her heart that the same thing might happen to a doctor.
The workshop suddenly became abuzz with discussions about the house, and Wen Jiajia quietly left.
evening.
Wei Dai brought back a piece of pork belly, which looked particularly crisp and was still warm to the touch.
"Where did they come from?" Wen Jiajia was curious. Which brigade killed pigs during this non-holiday season?
Wei Dai put the meat in the kitchen, lit the fire again, and put the skin part of the meat into the pot to boil: "A pig from the village next door accidentally ran out and fell into the canal and died. I happened to pass by and asked someone to exchange it for a piece of pork belly."
No wonder it's so fresh.
Wen Jiajia had just returned and had not had time to cook. Wei Dai steamed the rice first, then cooked the braised pork, stir-fried a plate of vegetables and made a bowl of soup, and it was already eight o'clock.
Eight o'clock. Usually people are taking a shower at this time.
After dinner, Wen Jiajia felt extremely tired, both physically and mentally.
night.
Wei Dai suddenly asked: "Why don't we call mom over? This way we can eat earlier every day."
Wen Jiajia no longer has the desire to live with the old man, but there is no other way. Wei Dai is still at home. Wei Dai may go out on a mission at any time. When he is not at home, Wen Jiajia will really be stuck on her own.
But, Wen Jiajia turned over and faced Wei Dai and asked, "What about my sister-in-law? Mom will probably have to take care of her children." My sister-in-law's children must also need someone to take care of them.
Wei Dai put his hand on her belly again, feeling the fetal movement, "Why don't you let Mommy..."
He paused, "Mom has a cousin."
Wen Jiajia waited for a few seconds and looked up: "Well, there is my aunt, then what?"
Wei Dai said, "This cousin's family used to run a cloth shop in our county. Later, she married an employee in the shop. However, her husband died unexpectedly in middle age. One year, her eldest son was hit by gravel while paving a road in the mountains and died. Now she has only one son and one daughter. The son is supporting the northwest and rarely comes back. The daughter has started a family in the county next to us."
"Where does your cousin live?"
"She lives in Liangshui, the commune next door to us. She lives alone. She used to take care of her cousin's children, but she lived alone after her cousin's children grew up. Fortunately, her eldest cousin died in the line of duty, so she was not assigned to labor reform by the team."
Wen Jiajia understood.
This cousin was definitely more than just a small business owner, as it seems her cloth shop was quite large back then.
"Isn't it? I heard from my mother that at that time the fabric business in the county town was monopolized by my cousin's family. The large courtyard in the north of the county was used as a dormitory for the printing factory."
Wen Jiajia was shocked. It was indeed big.
It was definitely a wealthy family. She had seen that yard before and there were 18 families living in it, which showed how big the yard was.
Wen Jiajia couldn't help but wonder in her heart, Wei Dai's aunt all had this kind of background, then what about Wei Dai's mother?
She had never thought about this before, but when she thought about it carefully, she realized that her mother-in-law was indeed a little different from ordinary people.
It was as if there was ink in her belly, and the words she wrote were more beautiful than hers. Wen Jiajia had learned calligraphy in her previous life, and even though her level was not very good, she had the ability to appreciate it.
Wei Dai's mother's calligraphy is better than her calligraphy teacher in her previous life.
But Wei Dai didn't say anything, so she didn't ask.
Wen Jiajia asked, "Do you want mom to invite your cousin?"
Wei Dai nodded: "Although my cousin doesn't want to undergo labor reform, she still needs to work in the fields. I'll let my mother ask first. If she's willing, we can invite her to come and give her 15 yuan a month, how about that?"
It is equivalent to hiring someone, but this is hiring a relative. On the surface, you can say that you are asking for help from a relative. Even if someone guesses the inside story, they can't say anything.
Wei Dai worked very quickly. He was worried that he would be on a mission someday, so he couldn't even wait to send a letter and called home directly.
The commune has a telephone, and the person who answered the phone today was Wei Xin.
"Brother, what's the matter?"
Wei Dai: "Why is it you? Usually it's my parents who answer the phone."
Wei Xin was unhappy: "I just happened to be in the commune, can't you tell me what's going on?"
Wei Dai: "...Forget it. Please tell mom a message for me and ask her to ask Liang Shui's aunt to see if she can come to the army to help me look after Jia Jia." As for the money, he didn't mention it for the time being, after all, there were other people around.
Wei Xin thought for a while and suddenly realized: "Okay. But why don't you call mom?"
Wei Dai was speechless: "My eldest sister-in-law gave birth not long ago, and the letter said that Wenying was still sick every now and then, how could Mom come?"
That’s right, Wei Xin sighed, “Sister-in-law had an easy birth when she gave birth to Wenying. Who would have thought that Wenying’s health would be worse than her brother’s? She even had a sudden fever the night before yesterday and called Uncle Ming to come home to check on her in the middle of the night.”
Wei Dai said, "You still have to go to the hospital. If there is no other way, go to the Progressive Commune to find Doctor Fang. He was the one who took care of your second sister-in-law's health. His medical skills are very good."
Wei Xin sighed, "I'll tell my brother."
She guessed that it was probably because of her elder brother that her niece was in poor health. She had been to school, so she knew that only good seeds could produce good fruits.
The phone call was expensive, so the two did not dare to talk for long. Wei Xin asked about Wen Jiajia's situation again, and hung up only after knowing that everything was fine.
Then he went home and told Cai Ruyun about it.
Cai Ruyun was drying some dried vegetables. When she heard this, she paused and sighed, "Your brother's call was really a coincidence."
Wei Xin: "What do you mean? I haven't seen this cousin for many years. I only remember her and her family background didn't seem to be good. But my eldest cousin always sacrificed for the public, so no matter how much trouble he makes, he can't blame my cousin."
Cai Ruyun: "Bring the basin to me."
Wei Xin: …
"Mom, stop messing with the pickled vegetables. It's written in the book that we should eat less pickled vegetables." After saying that, she finally picked up the vegetable bowl beside her.
It's quite troublesome to dry this vegetable.
Fresh vegetables need to be dried after being cut with a knife. One day is not enough, two, three or even a week is needed. Drying and harvesting every day, harvesting and drying again, takes a lot of time.
Cai Ruyun: "So you don't want to eat pickled vegetables? If you really don't want to eat them, I won't give you any this year."
"Then you should send it." Wei Xin compromised spinelessly, "You haven't told me what happened to your aunt yet."
Cai Ruyun: "Oh! It's nothing, I just don't feel well, I can't go out anymore. Someone said yesterday that she almost fell down on the ground some time ago. She's almost 50 years old. If she really fell down, how would she live alone at home?"
Her son was far away, and the conditions there were much worse than here. As for her daughter, her house was small and she lived with her parents-in-law. How could she bother her daughter?
So she just held on by herself, and Cai Ruyun only recently learned of her predicament.
"Okay, I'll tell you later. It's best to get this done early. I can't leave, otherwise it's my turn to go. Your second sister-in-law is due to give birth at the end of the year. She's still working now, so there really needs to be someone to help her at home, otherwise your sister-in-law will have to suffer when your brother goes on a mission." Cai Ruyun said, patting the dust on her hands after hanging up the last pot of vegetables.
In the afternoon, we arrived at Liangshui.
Cai Ruyun parked the car in front of her cousin's house and called out twice but no one answered. Then a neighbor came out and said, "Are you looking for Aunt Zhao? She's in the mountains chopping wood. Wait a minute. She went there this morning and should be back by now."
"Okay, thank you." Cai Ruyun sat down in the yard.
Most people in the countryside don't lock their doors, but my cousin lives alone in her house, so the door to the main room is locked.
Just by looking at the yard, which was clean and tidy, with all kinds of wild vegetables and herbs drying on it, I knew that my cousin went up the mountain quite often.
Just as the neighbors said, my cousin came back soon.
"Sister, why are you here?" She was surprised, then carried two loads of firewood into the house.
Cai Ruyun hurried over to help and said, "Huisheng, next time you need to chop wood, come find me. I'll ask your brother-in-law and Xiaoxin's husband to help you chop wood."
Zhong Huisheng: "No, no need. I can still move. I am not in a hurry. I can just live alone and chop wood slowly. By the end of the year, I will have enough firewood for the winter."
As he said that, he took out the key from his pocket and opened the door.
The main room was clean, the floor was made of tumbled dirt, but there was not a speck of dust on the ground.
Cai Ruyun followed him in, sat down and said, "I have something to ask of you."
"What's the matter? Tell me, sister." She poured a glass of water for Cai Ruyun without sugar because she knew her sister didn't like sweets.
Cai Ruyun: "Isn't my youngest son Wei Dai in the army? His wife is pregnant. Please let me ask you if you can help take care of her. I can't leave here, and you know that my eldest daughter-in-law has a baby, so she has someone to take care of her when she is in trouble."
Zhong Huisheng didn't expect that her cousin was talking about this. She thought for a moment and asked, "How long do you need me to take care of you?"
Cai Ruyun: "Wei Dai's wife is only six months pregnant. She will have to go back to work after the baby is born. It may take three or four years. Besides... you know Wei Dai's child. Your second son is not around. Wei Dai will probably keep you. How about you come back when your second son is transferred back one day?"
Zhong Huisheng smiled and said, "That's great. I'm not lying to you. I'm very happy to be able to leave this place. How can I be thinking about the bad life when I can live a good life? But I can't stay here forever. If my daughter gives birth, I have to come back to take care of her child."
Cai Ruyun said softly, "I think Wei Dai will also pay you, but it's hard to say over the phone."
"Well, money doesn't matter. I don't care about it anymore. At our age, there is nothing to be indifferent to." Zhong Huisheng shook his head.
Cai Ruyun: "Go to the army and discuss this with Wei Dai." If she can convince that stubborn guy, she will lose.
Zhong Huisheng asked: "When do we leave?"
"As soon as possible."
Zhong Huisheng: "Then let's do it the day after tomorrow. I have to go to my girlfriend's house tomorrow."
"Okay! I'll have someone buy you a ticket."
After the matter was settled, Cai Ruyun left, returned to the commune, and hung up the phone to Wei Dai.
But Wei Dai was not there, so she only left a verbal message.
That night, after receiving the message, Wei Dai told Wen Jiajia about it.
Wei Dai: "This cousin is coming the day after tomorrow, or maybe the day after tomorrow. How about we clean up the utility room?"
Wen Jiajia: "Sure. As for those cabinets, put the cupboard in our room, and put the medicine cabinet in Wen Chun and Wen Xuan's room. Didn't you build another closet before? Move it to the utility room. As for the bed, we can only buy it tomorrow. Fortunately, I have the furniture ticket."
Tomorrow is Sunday, so I can tidy up my room.
The next day.
The two planned to clean out the clutter in the utility room together, but because Wen Jiajia was unable to do heavy work, Wei Dai had to drag Xie Yang from next door to help move the clutter.
The two big men were very efficient and cleaned the utility room in just over ten minutes.
Wen Jiajia came in at this time and swept the walls with a long broom. After sweeping the dust off the walls, she swept the floor.
It took three sweeps to get rid of all the dust. She guessed that this cousin must be very clean.
Finally, Wen Jiajia mopped the floor twice and wiped the windows twice. The temperature was high in early autumn, and the floor in the room dried up quickly, so it was OK to step on it with your feet closed.
As for Wei Dai, he went to buy a mattress. The mattress was not very big and could be transported back with a donkey cart.
At noon, Wei Dai arrived home.
He installed the bed, and then put the bedside table, wardrobe, table and chairs he had built earlier into the room.
Looking at all the new furniture, Wen Jiajia couldn't help but say, "Your hobby of woodworking can still come in handy at critical moments."
From now on I will never blame others for having nothing to do and making sawdust all over the floor and debris all over the house.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
