Chapter 3 The Boss is By My Side!
Chapter Three: The Boss is Right Beside Me!
As she walked out of the office, Xu Yaodong stood a short distance away and gestured with his chin towards her.
Lin Su walked over, and he asked with a smile, "The manager kept you here, right?"
"Mm." Lin Su nodded.
"Hey, I knew it. He's so loyal, he wouldn't throw you into the production team. Your little body can't handle that."
Lin Su asked curiously, "Is he nice to everyone?"
Xu Yaodong: "Of course, otherwise how can we win people's hearts?"
Lin Su also agreed, saying that although they had only known each other for two hours, he was not only handsome, but also a really good person and very capable.
Such a person would be an outstanding individual anywhere, becoming the backbone of any team.
As they were chatting, Zhou Yunqi came out of his room, closed the door, and glanced over.
Xu Yaodong immediately shouted, "Boss, are you going out?"
He walked over: "Go to the county."
Xu Yaodong chuckled like a lackey, "There's not much work today. Take me with you; it's been a while since I've been to the county town."
Zhou Yunqi did not refuse, but glanced at Lin Su and smiled gently: "Do you need help buying anything?"
Lin Su subconsciously shook her head: "No need."
She ran out of money.
It wasn't until the jeep left that Lin Su remembered that she could have asked him to buy her two painkillers.
Her period is due in a few days, but the original owner of this body is experiencing menstrual cramps.
This isn't just ordinary pain...
After lunch, Lin Su took her lunchbox to the cafeteria.
The canteen was a small room where everyone would take their food back to their dormitories to eat. Some people would buy eggs, pork, or other special items at the market and cook them in the kitchen themselves, a practice known as "cooking a private meal."
Stewed winter melon paired with pickled cowpeas made in the field was quite a good dish to eat with rice. Lin Su ate slowly; her roommates had already washed their lunchboxes, but she still hadn't finished.
A roommate walked in and suddenly asked, "Lin Su, did they just say that the factory manager is going to take you to work at the sugar factory?"
Lin Su sat on the edge of the bed, chewing rice, and paused for a moment before looking up at her: "That's what they said, but we haven't started work yet."
She exclaimed, "You and the farm manager are both from Beijing, so it's only right that I take care of you. But this job is really wonderful."
It was indeed beautiful. Cutting and carrying sugarcane during the harvest season was physically demanding, not to mention the fuzz on the sugarcane leaves could cause itching all over the body, and the sharp edges of the leaves could easily scratch the skin. The original owner's allergies were more severe than others; she would get red spots and itching as soon as she touched it, and in severe cases, she would scratch until her skin ulcerated.
Director Zhou probably knew about these circumstances, which is why he helped her.
Come to think of it, she had forgotten to thank him earlier.
_
In the afternoon, the men went to the peanut field to pull up peanut seedlings, while the women stayed under the greenhouse to pick peanuts.
Lin Su found a brick, placed some peanut seedlings on it, and sat down to slowly pick the peanuts off the stems and put them into the basket.
While picking the fruit, I listened to them chat about all sorts of gossip, and there were a few children playing nearby.
Li Nana, the daughter of Accountant Li, will soon be starting preschool. She is drawing kittens on the cement floor with a piece of chalk.
Lin Su went to get a drink of water halfway through. When she came back and looked at what she had drawn, she was suddenly overcome with childlike enthusiasm and said with a smile, "Your drawing doesn't look like it. I'll draw one that does."
Li Nana didn't believe it and obediently handed the chalk to Lin Su.
Lin Su had some basic drawing skills, and with a few strokes of chalk, she drew a lifelike kitten.
Li Nana asked, "Can you draw a puppy?"
"Okay." Lin Su drew another puppy.
The idea of drawing quickly attracted the attention of two other children, one of whom asked her to draw a sheep and a horse.
Lin Su said, "I have to go to work."
Picking peanuts is a relatively easy job, so no one objected to her drawing for the children. Li Nana's mother, Wang Ping, said, "It's okay, you play with them. These peanuts aren't urgent."
Lin Su had no choice but to patiently draw small animals all over the ground.
These three children are all descendants of educated youth sent to the countryside. Two of them are about seven or eight years old and I heard they attend primary school in Bamei Village nearby. Lin Su asked, "Sister Ping, is Nana in school yet?"
Wang Ping said, "Go to preschool right away."
Someone asked, "It's about two miles to Bamei Village Primary School. Is she going alone?"
"Qing's daughter is in third grade, so let her look after her for a bit."
"Alright."
"..."
Lin Su continued listening to their gossip, saying that a young man from a nearby production team was about to marry the village secretary's daughter, but his family suddenly found a way to bring him back to the city, so he had to leave her behind.
Some people said, "This kind of thing is very common. He's not even married. I also heard about a male educated youth who got together with a girl from the local village and they even had a child. After he was admitted to university last year, I couldn't contact him anymore."
Someone else said, "Wang Ping, you're in a good situation. You've officially registered your marriage, and you're both former educated youth from the same city. If you go back to the city, you can bring your child with you."
Wang Ping said, "Actually, I had the opportunity to go back. My family had already found me a job in a factory, but he wouldn't let me. He said we should all go back together, so I had to leave it here."
Someone laughed: "He's afraid you'll run away."
Wang Ping said speechlessly, "I don't know him. Besides, where could I possibly run off to? We know him inside and out."
"So he needs you to be with him, but it's good that the four of you are here."
Wang Ping shook her head: "What's so good about it? When I went home for the New Year, my two kids looked like beggars compared to my brother's children. They'd never seen this or eaten that. I felt so sorry for them. My sister-in-law is also rude and has an extremely strong sense of superiority. I really don't want to see her..."
Everyone chatted casually, creating a lively atmosphere.
Suddenly, someone started gossiping about Zhou Yunqi again.
"Have you heard? When our farm manager went home to visit his family, someone wanted to introduce him to a potential partner."
Someone immediately chimed in: "Yes, yes, I heard that. The other party is the daughter of a county official."
"It seems to be the daughter of some bureau chief."
"You think he's going to the county this afternoon? Could it be for a blind date?"
"That's possible!"
"We'll find out when Xu Yaodong gets back and we can ask him."
One of the educated youth said, "I think it's unlikely. Last time, someone introduced him to a girl who worked at a company, but he refused outright and didn't even go to see her. As a result, the girl was furious and blocked him at the sugar factory."
“I’ve heard about this. I don’t know what he said, but he managed to persuade the girl to leave.”
Wang Ping said, "I think he will still go back to Beijing, so he certainly won't easily find a partner here."
"Too……"
Lin Su listened intently to the gossip, and the afternoon passed quickly.
After dinner, Lin Su took a shower, washed her clothes by the hand pump, hung them on the wire in front of the dormitory, and then lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
I slept soundly through the night. When I got up the next morning and went to wash up by the hand pump with a basin, I saw some workers who had gotten up early washing the peanuts they had picked the day before to dry them on the cement floor. A male educated youth was standing to the side eating raw peanuts, and there were many peanut shells scattered on the ground.
The man even asked Lin Su if she wanted to eat.
Lin Su shook her head: "I can't eat raw food."
"What, you have diarrhea?"
Lin Su nodded.
He laughed loudly: "You really are weak."
Lin Su said helplessly, "There's nothing I can do."
The worker said, "I think the task of washing peanuts should be given to Xiaolin, since she won't steal any."
The people nearby were laughing and chatting, and the relaxed atmosphere made Lin Su feel that she could probably survive here for half a year without any problem.
...
The morning's work was still picking peanuts. As they were picking, Xu Yaodong came over.
After chatting for a while, someone started asking, "Xu Yaodong, what did you do with the farm manager yesterday?"
Xu Yaodong gathered a bunch of peanut seedlings, sat down next to Lin Su, and replied, "What else can we do? We went to the sugar factory, of course. We still have to go to the county supply and marketing cooperative to discuss orders today."
"Didn't you accompany the factory manager to a blind date yesterday?"
"Why would our boss be the type to go on blind dates?"
One woman said, "During his visit home, someone tried to introduce him to a potential partner—the daughter of a bureau chief."
"Who cares if she's the daughter of some bureau chief? The boss doesn't even have that kind of intention."
As Lin Su listened, she tossed the peanuts she had picked into her basket. Xu Yaodong asked, "Lin, you've been here all day. Are you getting used to it?"
"I'm quite used to it," Lin Su replied, mainly because the work was easy and the atmosphere was harmonious.
"That's good." Xu Yaodong casually picked peanuts. "If there's anything you need, just let me know."
Lin Su nodded: "Okay, thank you, Brother Dong."
Someone joked, "Dongzi is a kind-hearted person, and you're from the same hometown, so you can look out for each other."
Just then, Nana came over with two pieces of colored chalk and called out, "Aunt Lin, could you draw me a frog?"
Lin Su patted the mud off her hands: "Okay, wait for me to wash my hands."
Xu Yaodong grinned: "Xiao Lin, you can draw too?"
"Yes, I will." Lin Su got up and went to wash her hands.
Soon, in the open space next to them, a pattern appeared: a small frog was squatting on a lotus leaf in the pond, and a frog was swimming in the water. Nana said, "What beautiful lotus flowers!"
Lin Su held a purple chalk in her hand, intending to color the lotus flower purple. After thinking for a moment, she handed it to Nana: "You color it."
Nana gave a soft "Mmm" in her childish voice, took the chalk, squatted down, and started coloring. Lin Su encouraged her from the side, "You're doing a great job!"
Suddenly, a soft laugh came from behind her. Lin Su turned her head and looked up. Zhou Yunqi's face came into view. She quickly stood up and called out apologetically, "Manager."
Zhou Yunqi nodded: "It's well drawn."
Lin Su said, "I can only draw simple things."
He glanced at the ground again, then called out to Xu Yaodong, "Dongzi is gone."
"Okay." Xu Yaodong tossed the peanut seedlings aside and went to wash his hands.
Lin Su returned to her spot and continued picking peanuts. Watching Zhou Yunqi's figure, she asked curiously, "Does Xu Yaodong usually work with the farm manager?"
Wang Ping said, "Yes, he can drive. Sometimes, for the sake of the sugar factory's sales and profits, the factory manager has to treat people to meals and smooth things over, and he goes along with them."
Lin Su thought to herself, that's the role of an assistant.
With Zhou Yunqi's talent, once he returns to Beijing, starting a business, building a factory, and opening a company will be a piece of cake. With a capable assistant by his side, he will easily take off.
She casually asked, "What does the farm manager's family do?"
Someone exclaimed "Wow!"
Lin Su was a little confused: "What's wrong?"
Amidst the various opinions, Lin Su heard the names of the commander, chief of staff, army commander, and so on...
Finally, Wang Ping said, "Actually, no one knows his father's specific position; these are all just wild guesses. All we know is that he came from a military compound and that both his parents are deceased."
Lin Su: "Huh? He's gone..."
"Yes, we don't know the specifics either. When we asked Xu Yaodong, he just said not to ask any more questions."
Lin Su sighed inwardly, never expecting the farm manager to come from such a privileged background. By that logic, he was a legitimate second-generation rich kid. Once back in the city, wouldn't he be able to leverage his connections and resources to rise to power and become a big shot?
As soon as the thought popped into her head, Lin Su felt a sense of déjà vu, but she couldn't quite place where that feeling of déjà vu came from.
Half an hour later, while picking peanuts, Lin Su suddenly remembered that in the later part of that novel, the timeline shifted to the 1990s, and the male and female protagonists went to Beijing and met a big shot. That big shot was also surnamed Zhou and was an educated youth from the same farm as them.
Lin Su was startled, her eyes widened, and she gasped. His name seemed to be Zhou Yunqi!
No wonder she felt a sense of familiarity when she heard the name, but she couldn't quite place it at the moment.
In other words, the big shot was right next to him!
...
A note from the author:
----------------------
[Pitiful]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
