Where had she seen her before? Looking at Fu Wan's familiar smiling face and the same short hair, Zhang Xiaoqing suddenly had a flash of inspiration and remembered who this person was.
"Comrade Fu, you are Comrade Fu, right?"
When Fu Wan saw that she remembered, her smile deepened.
"Yes, it's me. Where are you going, Sister Zhang?"
"Ugh, I had a job interview scheduled, and I was on my way there on my bike when the chain broke and I can't get it back together."
Zhang Xiaoqing gets angry whenever this car is mentioned. She bought it on the black market after giving birth, and has only ridden it for less than three years. It suddenly broke down at a crucial moment.
Fu Wan felt something was off. Zhang Xiaoqing was the director of the city's automobile factory, and it was already a coincidence that she appeared in their small county. Why would Zhang Xiaoqing say she was going for an interview?
"Sister Zhang, please get on the bus first. Put your bicycle on the back seat. Where are you going? I'll take you there."
Fu Wan had a good impression of Zhang Xiaoqing before, so when she saw that Zhang Xiaoqing was in trouble, she naturally offered her help without hesitation.
Zhang Xiaoqing is a straightforward person. As the former director of the automobile factory, she also has a deep understanding of the domestic automobile industry.
The car Fu Wan was driving wasn't available in the city. Moreover, if she remembered correctly, only military personnel had the opportunity to drive this behemoth.
The bus was full of women, and Zhang Xiaoqing boarded without hesitation.
The bicycle wasn't stolen either; Fang Min helped put it in the trunk.
Fu Wan switched places with Fang Min. Fang Min was driving, and Fu Wan started chatting with Zhang Xiaoqing.
"Sister Zhang, what are the prices of cars at your car factory now? Do we still need a letter of introduction?"
Fu Wan asked casually, but Zhang Xiaoqing's reply made her doubt her hearing.
"Comrade Fu, I'm quitting my job at the car factory!"
"What? You're no longer working at the car factory?"
Fu Wan was very surprised. Car factories were not like food factories or canneries. In the 1980s, car factories could be considered to be among the state-owned factories with relatively high income and profits.
After all, foreign companies had not yet entered China much at that time, and the prices of cars and tricycles were very high, so car factories could not face the same risk of low profits and bankruptcy as food factories and canneries.
Recalling Zhang Xiaoqing's work ability, Fu Wan instantly realized that this matter was not simple.
Zhang Xiaoqing loves her job and would not resign without a reason.
Sure enough, Zhang Xiaoqing tidied her hair. Although she was reluctant to tell outsiders about her recent situation, perhaps because they were both women, she inexplicably told Fu Wan about her experiences during this period.
Car factories do indeed make a lot of profit, so the workers' wages are also quite high.
As the sales director of the factory, Zhang Xiaoqing worked incredibly hard, starting as a female worker tightening screws in the workshop, and it took her more than ten years to climb to the position of director.
But in the eyes of those men, all these efforts were seen as her relying on men to get ahead.
Zhang Xiaoqing's husband is the deputy director of an automobile factory. The two met through a blind date, got married, and had a daughter.
The child is only five years old and is being cared for at home by her mother-in-law. Due to the family planning policy, Zhang Xiaoqing has no plans to have a second child.
But her husband disagreed with her idea and wanted her to quit her job, go back to the countryside, get pregnant, and have a son.
Zhang Xiaoqing, passionate about her career, naturally refused. However, her husband secretly began an affair with a young woman from the factory. Ironically, because Zhang Xiaoqing was so focused on her work and daughter, she didn't discover the affair until the woman had already given birth.
Fu Wan frowned upon hearing this. "So you resigned?"
Zhang Xiaoqing shook her head, "How could that be? They're the ones who did the dirty work, I can't resign because of them."
"But my husband, no, my ex-husband, was the deputy director of the car factory, and there were plenty of people who wanted my position."
Recently, due to rising prices for auto parts, the factory hasn't had many orders, so they blamed it on me and insisted on removing me from my position as manager in a meeting.
"I was so angry that I just quit!"
She has hands and feet, how could she not find a job to support her daughter?
Despite this thought, Zhang Xiaoqing's confidence was repeatedly thwarted in interviews. Today, she was supposed to go for the job interview at nine o'clock, but then her bicycle broke down.
When you're really down on your luck, even drinking water can cause problems!
Upon seeing Zhang Xiaoqing's red-rimmed eyes, Fu Wan quickly took out a handkerchief she always carried with her.
"It's alright, Sister Zhang, don't worry."
"Have you completed the formalities with that person yet?"
Zhang Xiaoqing wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and nodded through gritted teeth.
“It’s settled. The house allocated by the factory will go to him, and the children and savings will go to me.”
She originally wanted a house, but since she didn't work at the car factory, she worried that if she continued to live there, she would become the subject of gossip every day.
She doesn't care, but her own daughter can't grow up in that kind of environment.
So she simply took the money and bought a small two-bedroom house in the county. Her daughter also transferred to a new kindergarten, and she wanted to find a job to start over.
Regarding Zhang Xiaoqing's ordeal, not only Fu Wan, who was sitting in the passenger seat, but even Fang Min, who was driving, couldn't help but feel a bit angry.
Damn it, how come there are so many scumbags in this world?
Zhang Xiaoqing wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
"Comrades, I'm sorry to have made you laugh."
"To be honest, after these things happened, my family has always disagreed with my getting a divorce, let alone quitting my job."
I gritted my teeth and left with my child, feeling a lot of resentment in my heart.
But after you all told me that, I feel like I can definitely make a comeback!
Seeing her confident demeanor, Fu Wan couldn't help but smile.
She said that if she continued to be depressed, then Zhang Xiaoqing would not be the energetic Zhang Xiaoqing she once was.
Fu Wan's eyes flickered, and a thought suddenly came to her mind.
"Sister Zhang, to be honest, I'm also here in the county on business. I have a friend who works at a food factory, and the factory is planning to produce some seafood. You're in sales, could you give my friend some advice on how to open up the market?"
All sales are essentially one family; ultimately, everyone is trying to sell their own products.
Speaking of this, Zhang Xiaoqing couldn't help but sit up straight.
Her eyes lit up, and she immediately began to explain how to plan the layout.
"Comrade Fu, first your friend needs to conduct market research to see if the supply and marketing cooperatives and Friendship Stores have similar products and what their prices are."
After the product is manufactured, you can take some samples to places like supply and marketing cooperatives where there are many people for customers to try and see if they have any suggestions.
After improving the product, set a profitable price, and then take the priced product to customers, such as supply and marketing cooperatives, Friendship Stores, and even some small shops to promote it.
"If possible, we could even open dedicated stores..."
When talking about work, Zhang Xiaoqing spoke eloquently, and Fu Wan's smile deepened as she listened.
Before Zhang Xiaoqing could finish speaking, Fu Wan eagerly asked, "Sister Zhang, let me be frank, are you interested in working at the food factory?"
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