Chapter 48 Compensation
When Lin Yuanshu heard the news, he was not surprised at all. It was the kind of thing Chow Tai Fook would say: "Plastic family ties, though fake, are solid."
Zhou Moli comforted him, saying, "Most gay men are like that. They can't stand seeing women doing better than them, just to protect their pitiful self-esteem."
Lin Yuanshu said with a smile, "I'm not sad."
Zhou Moli gave a thumbs up, "Well done, they're not worth your sadness."
Lin Yuanshu remained unaffected and continued working. While the workers admired Lin Yuanshu, they also felt sorry for Zhou Dafu's hardships.
After get off work, Lin Yuanshu and Zhou Xiangyang rode their bicycles home first. When Zhou Dafu arrived at the parking area, he only saw an empty ground. The rumors had misled him!
When Lin Yuanshu and Zhou Xiangyang reached the door, they saw that their room door was open.
It seems that Sister-in-law Xue and Aunt Zhou have returned home, and the house is about to become lively again.
Zhou Xiangyang grabbed Lin Yuanshu and shielded him behind him, saying confidently, "Be careful, a thief has broken into the house."
Lin Yuanshu said helplessly, "Mom and the others have gone home."
Zhou Xiangyang immediately stood up embarrassed, his ears turning bright red, and followed behind Lin Yuanshu without saying a word.
When Lin Yuanshu returned home, he saw Zhou Ma taking meticulous care of Sister-in-law Xue, pouring her water and cutting her fruit, busy and happy, but enjoying herself immensely.
Lin Yuanshu raised an eyebrow. How unpredictable things are! The positions of Sister-in-law Xue and Aunt Zhou have been reversed.
When Zhou Ma saw Lin Yuanshu and Zhou Xiangyang, she said expressionlessly, "You're home from work and you're not cooking? What if my precious grandson goes hungry?"
"I'll do it right away," Zhou Xiangyang replied.
Sister-in-law Xue said with a smile, "Mom, I'm tired of eating my younger brother's cooking every day. I want to eat yours today."
A smile instantly appeared on Zhou Ma's face. "Okay, no problem."
Sister-in-law Xue gave Lin Yuanshu a smug smile. She meant no harm; she just wanted to show off how good Zhou Ma had been to her.
Lin Yuanshu sat down beside Sister-in-law Xue's bed and asked, "Regarding Sun Yiyi's matter, how do you plan to make her compensate you?"
Sister-in-law Xue clutched her stomach and said, "I know her mother didn't push me on purpose, but I'll never forget how Sun Yiyi looked at me coldly when I asked for help, as if I were some kind of trash. I'm going to make her remember this lesson. You're not thinking of pleading with Sun Yiyi, are you?"
She remembered that Sun Yiyi and Lin Yuanshu were from the same village, and they married into the village at the same time and had a good relationship.
Lin Yuanshu shook his head and said with a smile, "I'm just asking. I'm not getting involved. As the aggrieved party, you're the only one who has the right to speak."
Lin Yuanshu stayed in Sister-in-law Xue's room for a while before returning to her own room. Before she could even sit down properly, she heard Zhou Ma calling her from outside.
She slowly walked out and heard Zhou's mother calling Zhou Xiangyang to go out and buy fish.
When Zhou Ma saw Lin Yuanshu come out, she waved to Zhou Xiangyang, signaling him to leave quickly.
"Go and invite Sister Hua's family over for dinner tonight. If it weren't for Sister Hua's daughter-in-law, your sister-in-law's baby would definitely be lost," Zhou Ma instructed seriously.
Lin Yuanshu raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "Mom, I didn't expect you to be so generous."
Aunt Zhou lowered her voice mysteriously and said, "That's a doctor. Only someone who's tired of living would mess with a doctor."
Lin Yuanshu smiled helplessly; it perfectly matched her stereotype of Zhou Ma.
She didn't mind getting close to Zhu Huilan, after all, Zhu Huilan's maternal grandfather worked at the Pharmaceutical Industry Research Institute, and he was a big shot!
She didn't have any other ideas; she just wanted to improve the relationship so she could borrow books about chemical pharmaceutical research from Zhu Huilan's maternal grandfather.
Improving equipment can be attributed to a flash of inspiration, but manufacturing pharmaceuticals cannot be justified by that reason; it requires a vast accumulation of specialized knowledge.
When Lin Yuanshu invited Zhu Huilan, Zhu Huilan readily agreed. Among the residents of the tenement building, no one liked Zhou Ma the most except Zhu Huilan.
Since her family moved into the tenement building, her mother-in-law no longer kept a close eye on her all day. Instead, she would go out with Zhou Ma from time to time, which gave her a breath of fresh air in her suffocating situation. She really wished that her mother-in-law would go out with Zhou Ma every day and not stay at home.
"Oh, by the way, I haven't congratulated you on becoming the team leader yet. You truly deserve to be a celebrity in this tenement building; you're really impressive," Zhu Huilan said with a smile.
Lin Yuanshu smiled sheepishly, "You're very capable too. If you hadn't stopped my sister-in-law's bleeding in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
Zhu Huilan couldn't help but sigh and said softly, "I haven't touched acupuncture needles for several years. Fortunately, I haven't forgotten the skills I learned. When the child is a little older, I will send him to the factory's childcare center, and I will be able to return to my job."
“That’s exactly how it should be done. With your excellent medical skills, it’s a waste for you to stay at home all the time,” Lin Yuanshu said confidently.
Zhu Huilan gave a bright smile, "I knew you thought the same as me. My mom and the others have been urging me to stay home and take care of the family, but I don't want to. Women in China have been locked up for too long..."
Lin Yuanshu nodded in agreement. On the other hand, she actually admired those women who stayed at home to take care of their families. After all, taking care of a family is much harder than going to work, unless you meet a reliable and hardworking partner.
The two hadn't chatted for long when Zhu Huilan suggested going to see Sister-in-law Xue. Lin Yuanshu then led Zhu Huilan into Sister-in-law Xue's room.
At this moment, Sister-in-law Xue's room was already full of people, all looking at her expectantly.
"What are you doing?" Zhu Huilan asked curiously.
One of the women replied, "We're asking Sister Xue about her secret to getting pregnant."
Zhu Huilan asked doubtfully, "Is there a secret to getting pregnant? Isn't it just a matter of letting nature take its course?"
Sister-in-law Xue retorted confidently, "You've never experienced the pain of not being able to conceive, so of course you'd scoff at this secret recipe."
Other women chimed in with agreement, saying, "I've only been married for six months, and my mother-in-law has been staring at my belly, hoping I can have a child soon."
"It's only been half a year. If you still can't get pregnant after a year, you'll really know what it's like to live a life of bitterness."
“After I gave birth to my daughter, I couldn’t get pregnant. Now my mother-in-law doesn’t like me or my daughter. She thinks my daughter took away her grandson’s place.”
Gradually, the agreement turned into a grievance session.
Zhu Huilan has never had this experience because she and her husband live on an island and do not live with her mother-in-law. They occasionally exchange letters, so she has never been pressured to have children.
Just as everyone's mood was getting more and more somber, Sister-in-law Xue said with a smile, "To be honest, I don't really have any secret formula. I owe my pregnancy to my second wife. She helped me calculate my ovulation period. I just need to have intercourse at the time she calculated to increase my chances of getting pregnant."
Upon hearing this, everyone's gaze immediately fell upon Lin Yuanshu, their eyes filled with longing.
One of the women asked curiously, "What is the ovulation period?"
Lin Yuanshu cleared his throat and began to explain to the women in front of him what ovulation is, what the safe period is, the process of egg and sperm combining, the principle of conception, and so on.
Everyone was stunned. Although they didn't quite understand what she was saying, they thought Lin Yuanshu was amazing as she spoke eloquently.
Zhu Huilan was no stranger to the knowledge Lin Yuanshu was talking about, because she had studied it before, but she hadn't paid much attention to it. She didn't expect that Lin Yuanshu could apply this knowledge and successfully help her sister-in-law get pregnant. Sure enough, there was a reason why Lin Yuanshu could become a celebrity in the tenement building.
This ability to apply what they've learned puts them ahead of most people.
Zhu Huilan couldn't help but applaud, "Comrade Lin Yuanshu, you have such a good memory, you can explain this knowledge so clearly and logically."
The group had no doubt that Lin Yuanshu was lying, and Zhu Huilan's words made them trust him even more. After all, if the doctor agreed, it must be true.
One of the women asked rather shyly, "Comrade Lin Yuanshu, could you help me calculate my ovulation period? If it's too much trouble, then forget it."
Lin Yuan smiled and said, "How could it be troublesome! I'm happy to be able to help you. As long as I can change your current situation, I'll be happier than if I became the team leader."
"Comrade Lin Yuanshu, you are such a good person," the woman said excitedly.
The other women couldn't sit still any longer and came to Lin Yuanshu to help them calculate their ovulation periods, which Lin Yuanshu agreed to for each of them.
Zhu Huilan looked at Lin Yuanshu with admiration. Lin Yuanshu was indeed as rumored, both generous and warm-hearted. She smiled and said, "If you don't mind, I can help you too."
"Of course we don't mind," the women said excitedly.
Lin Yuanshu said emphatically, "Men know that they need to unite, so we women need to unite even more and work hard to live our lives well."
"Comrade Lin Yuanshu is right," the women comrades echoed excitedly.
Zhu Huilan looked at Lin Yuanshu with excitement. When she helped these women, she felt like she was back at work.
The patients who were supposed to be visited were ignored, but Sister-in-law Xue didn't mind. She watched the women acting like they were on steroids, and she couldn't help but feel a little exasperated. After all, she had been fooled by Lin Yuanshu in the same way.
Sister-in-law Xue couldn't help but look at Lin Yuanshu. She knew that Lin Yuanshu never did anything that didn't benefit him, so his initiative to help everyone must be for a profit. Unfortunately, she thought for a long time but couldn't figure out what the point of helping these women was!
She suddenly realized why Lin Yuanshu could become a team leader while she could only work as a kitchen helper!
Zhou Ma, who was cooking in the corridor, couldn't help but sigh when she heard the noise coming from Xue Dasao's room. She knew without a doubt that Lin Yuanshu was fooling people again. After fooling the neighbor aunties, he was now targeting the young women in the tenement building.
Hearing the lively commotion next door, Sun Yiyi originally wanted to take advantage of the crowd to go and apologize, but Aunt Wei stopped her, saying that Wei Yong had not returned and that she should not act rashly for the time being.
"Your little tricks might fool others, but they won't fool Old Zhou's wife. If she had any shame, her reputation wouldn't be so bad, so bad that it's affecting her youngest son's chances of getting married," said Aunt Wei with a stern face.
Sun Yiyi pursed her lips, her face pale, and said, "I understand."
After Lin Yuanshu finished calculating for everyone, she smiled and watched them leave. Judging from how quickly everyone spread gossip, there would probably be even more women coming to her tomorrow to have their ovulation periods calculated. Fortunately, Zhu Huilan was there to help, so it wouldn't take much time.
This was the first time she had ever hoped that gossip would spread quickly, ideally that all the women in the dormitory building would know about it by tomorrow, and all the women in the chemical plant would know by the day after. Of course, she could only dream about it.
So it would be only natural for these words to reach the ears of the women's director! This time, she didn't want to be the one to rush in; she wanted to devise a plan to make the women's director rush in.
Zhu Huilan wanted to chat with Lin Yuanshu a little longer, but when she heard the child crying, she had to run home to take care of the child.
Sun Yiyi waited until the noise from next door completely subsided, and Wei Yong also went home. The family then took the fruit and went next door.
At this moment, Zhou Dafu was still trying to explain the events of the day to Lin Yuanshu, "Little Second Wife, you know how things can go wrong! What they said wasn't what I thought. I'm still very happy that you were able to participate in the labor production competition organized by the Chemical Industry Bureau."
Lin Yuanshu looked up at the roof and asked seriously, "Dad, do you know why I'm looking up?"
Zhou Dafu thought for a while, but really couldn't think of an answer. "I don't know."
Lin Yuanshu said in a very poetic way, "Because of this, my tears won't fall."
Just being silly makes me happy.
Chow Tai Fook: "..."
In the corridor, when Zhou Ma saw Wei Da Ma's family, the smile on her face vanished instantly. She stopped talking to Li Xiaohua and instead gave Wei Da Ma's family a cold snort.
Li Xiaohua knew they had important business to discuss, so she made up an excuse to go home.
"We brought some fruit for your eldest daughter-in-law, and we also wanted to apologize to her in person," said Aunt Wei with a smile.
Mrs. Zhou said with a look of disdain, "How stingy! You only bought some cheap fruit. Who is so poor that they can't afford fruit?"
Aunt Wei said softly, "We didn't think it through. I'll buy you a big hen tomorrow."
Hearing this, Aunt Zhou's mood improved a little. She waved her hand and said, "Come with me."
Zhou Ma led Wei Da Ma and her family into Xue Da Sao's room, called Lin Yuan Shu and the others in, and then said to Zhou Xiang Yang, "This is none of your business. Go and watch the food in the pot."
After all, Zhou Xiangyang was the most useless of all.
Zhou Xiangyang, who disliked crowds, nodded and left Sister-in-law Xue's room without hesitation. Before leaving, he made sure to close the door behind him.
Although Lin Yuanshu didn't want to get involved, he also didn't want to miss such a memorable scene. In this era, without mobile phones, one could only listen to gossip and watch the drama unfold.
Sun Yiyi resolutely knelt down in front of Sister-in-law Xue and cried, "I'm sorry, it's all my mother's fault. She didn't know her own strength and caused this to happen to you. Fortunately, your child is alright, otherwise I would never have peace of mind for the rest of my life."
She said these words while frantically slapping herself.
Sister-in-law Xue had never seen anything like this before. Seeing Sun Yiyi's pitiful appearance, she quickly told Sun Yiyi not to hit her anymore.
“As long as you haven’t forgiven me, I deserve to be hit,” Sun Yiyi said resolutely.
Sister-in-law Xue's heart wavered for a moment.
Seeing this, Aunt Zhou sneered, "Even if you beat yourself to death today, it won't help. Don't try to avoid compensation. Others might be lenient, but I won't."
Aunt Wei quickly chimed in, "We don't have that idea. We will take on all the responsibilities we are supposed to bear."
She nudged Sun Yiyi's shoulder. "Stop hitting her. If you keep going, people will think the Zhou family is bullying you!"
Sun Yiyi stopped what she was doing and slowly lowered her head. Sure enough, Zhou Ma was her nemesis. Even though Sister-in-law Xue had softened her heart, she still couldn't get what she wanted.
Zhou's mother said frankly, "Our demands are not high. We ask for 50 yuan in compensation, and that Sun Yiyi work in the cafeteria in place of my daughter-in-law until she is three months pregnant, with my daughter-in-law receiving the wages."
She originally wanted 100 yuan, but Lin Yuanshu objected, saying that one should be lenient when possible. If they asked for too much compensation, they would go from being the right party to the wrong party, and they might even be falsely accused of deliberately extorting money.
To avoid this trouble, Lin Yuanshu suggested that they ask for a reasonable amount of compensation.
She wouldn't have lowered the compensation price if she wasn't afraid her neighbor would retaliate. The main reason was that things were different now; her eldest daughter-in-law was pregnant, and if she was pushed down again, the baby would really be lost.
Grandpa Wei frowned and said, "Fifty yuan is too much!"
Although it was less than he had imagined, he still hoped to lower the price a bit, since saving a dollar was like making a dollar.
Zhou's mother said matter-of-factly, "How is this too much? You and your son's combined monthly salary is more than 50 yuan. This little bit of money is nothing to you!"
Aunt Wei retorted, "We still need to live and eat. After deducting living expenses, there isn't much money left."
Zhou Ma said with a disdainful look, "What does that have to do with me! It's not like I asked your in-laws to push my daughter-in-law. If it weren't for the fact that we've been neighbors for many years, I wouldn't have only asked for fifty yuan. My eldest daughter-in-law's medical expenses, compensation for mental distress, and cost of rehabilitation have far exceeded fifty yuan."
Aunt Wei said hesitantly, "That was just an accident. Nobody wants something like that to happen. I admit my in-laws did something wrong, but your daughter-in-law did nothing wrong! We are willing to compensate, but we hope the price can be reasonable."
Grandpa Wei nodded in agreement. He looked at Zhou Dafu and said, "Old Zhou, we've been friends for many years. You know this is an innocent disaster for me, since it wasn't my family who did it. Fifty yuan is indeed a bit too much."
Before Zhou Dafu could speak, Zhou's mother spoke first: "When you were giving your daughter-in-law's brother the dowry money, you didn't think it was too much. But now that it's time to compensate us for our medical expenses, you're complaining that it's too much. If you want to compensate, then compensate. If not, then leave. Don't argue with me about right and wrong. We don't have that much time to waste on your nonsense."
Lin Yuanshu didn't expect that Zhou Ma's fighting power was quite strong; every word she said was true and hurtful.
Looking at Zhou Dafu, who remained silent, Grandpa Wei knew that Zhou Dafu shared the same thought as his wife: there was no room for negotiation. He glanced back at Wei Yong, who nodded helplessly.
"We'll pay," Grandpa Wei said through gritted teeth.
He lost a third of the money he originally intended to use to buy a bicycle.
They only objected to the amount of compensation; they had no objection to Sun Yiyi taking over Xue Dasao's work, since Sun Yiyi had made a mistake and should bear some responsibility.
Sun Yiyi had even less say. She had already caused the Wei family to bleed heavily, so she didn't dare to have any thoughts at all. She did whatever Wei Yong told her to do.
After discussing the compensation details, Zhou's mother followed Wei's mother to the next door to collect the compensation money.
After receiving the money, Zhou Ma reminded her, "Don't forget to send over the big hen tomorrow. If it weren't for my second wife speaking up for you, I wouldn't have let you off the hook."
Aunt Wei said weakly, "I know, you don't need to remind me again."
“I’m afraid you won’t be willing to give it to me,” Zhou Ma replied without hesitation.
After the Wei family left Sister-in-law Xue's room, Zhou Ma took the freshly minted fifty yuan, gave Sister-in-law Xue twenty yuan, and gave Zhou Dafu and Zhou Xiangyang five yuan.
"You've all worked hard during this time."
Everyone was happy except for Lin Yuanshu. She followed behind Zhou Ma and asked pitifully, "Mom, why don't I have any money? I also did my part."
Aunt Zhou retorted confidently, "You still want money? You haven't handed over your salary this month! You eat my food, drink my drinks, and you still want money! Dream on!"
Lin Yuanshu paused for a moment, then explained earnestly, "Mom, it's not that I don't want to hand it in, it's just that I don't have the money. I buy all the meat in the house, and I also need money for social obligations. If I didn't contribute a single penny, I wouldn't be a team leader now. My current efforts are for a better future. I swear on my conscience, I will definitely hand in the money next month..."
Zhou Ma didn't believe a single word Lin Yuanshu said. She even suspected that Lin Yuanshu didn't know how to write the word "conscience" and just knew how to make up excuses to fool her.
"No money, no discussion." Afraid that Lin Yuanshu would swindle her out of the money, Zhou Ma stuffed the money into her pocket and refused to communicate with Lin Yuanshu.
Lin Yuanshu sighed, "There's absolutely no trust between people."
After hearing Lin Yuanshu sigh, Zhou Xiangyang stuffed the money in his hand into Lin Yuanshu's hand, saying, "Here's my money."
Lin Yuanshu smiled and said, "You're the best."
Although Zhou Xiangyang's money was also very appealing, she still preferred to squeeze money out of Zhou's mother.
Sister-in-law Xue looked at Lin Yuanshu and Zhou Xiangyang with envy, and then turned her gaze to her elder brother.
The older brother said innocently, "Mom didn't give me any money either!"
"Oh," Sister-in-law Xue said expressionlessly. Comparison is the thief of joy.
As darkness fell, Zhou Ma quickly prepared the braised fish. She brought this main dish to the table and asked Lin Yuanshu to call Sister Hua's family over for dinner.
Since the two houses were so close, Lin Yuanshu didn't need to knock on the door herself. She simply called out loudly from the doorway, "Sister Huilan, dinner's ready."
Seeing this, Aunt Zhou said speechlessly, "You might as well just be lazy to death."
Lin Yuanshu argued emphatically, "This is called making good use of time."
Zhou Ma rolled her eyes and went to get the other dishes.
When Li Xiaohua heard the time, she came out of the room and helped Zhou Ma serve the dishes.
Zhu Huilan, carrying her child, came to the dining table and said with a smile, "It smells so good!"
Sister-in-law Xue chimed in, "My mother's specialty is braised fish, which doesn't taste fishy at all. We owe you a lot for your help that day."
Zhu Huilan waved her hand dismissively, "Given the friendship between our two families, there's no need to be so polite. Even if it weren't you who was there that day, I would still have helped. Thanks to you, I'm in for a treat today."
Sister-in-law Xue said with a smile, "Then you must eat a few more bites."
After everyone sat down at the table, Zhou Ma picked up her teacup and said in a serious tone, "Thank you so much for your help during this time, Sister Ahua and Comrade Huilan. I would like to offer you a toast with tea instead of wine to express my gratitude."
"It's nothing, but you can't be so polite in the future. You're not treating me like a friend!" Li Xiaohua pretended to be unhappy.
Zhou Ma was stunned for a moment, then looked at Li Xiaohua with teary eyes and said emotionally, "Sister Xiaohua, it's so good to have met you."
Li Xiaohua patted Zhou Ma on the shoulder, "That's what I think too."
At this moment, Lin Yuanshu was enjoying Zhou Ma's specialty dish. It seemed that Sister-in-law Xue was not lying; it was indeed delicious. At least Zhou Ma had been generous with the ingredients.
"You've really married a wonderful daughter-in-law. If Comrade Zhu Huilan were my daughter-in-law, I'd be laughing in my sleep," Zhou Ma exclaimed.
Upon hearing this, Li Xiaohua showed no joy whatsoever. Instead, she looked at Zhou Ma with envy and said, "You also have a good daughter-in-law. Now that she's pregnant, you're truly perfect."
"Why doesn't anyone praise me?" Lin Yuanshu asked innocently.
The sudden question startled Li Xiaohua. She thought for a moment, her mind filled with unpleasant words, "Uh..."
She turned to look at Zhou Ma and gestured for her to praise her. She wasn't familiar with Lin Yuanshu, so she naturally couldn't think of any words to praise him. Zhou Ma, on the other hand, was familiar with her daughter-in-law and would definitely be able to come up with good words.
Zhou's mother hesitated for a long time before finally managing to say, "Well... you should eat more of my specialty dishes."
She was good at scolding Lin Yuanshu, but praising him was a bit of a stretch; she would never forget the scene of being forced into retreat by Lin Yuanshu.
Lin Yuanshu's little mind was filled with great doubt. She admitted that she was not a good daughter-in-law in the traditional sense, but surely she could think of a single word of praise!
Zhou Xiangyang glanced at Lin Yuanshu, mustered his courage, and said, "In my heart, you are the best wife."
Lin Yuanshu said with a touched expression, "You are the best husband too."
Everyone: "..."
It feels like I'm already full even though I haven't eaten yet.
As everyone ate and chatted, the meal gradually drew to a close.
Zhou Dafu and his elder brother accompanied Zhu Huilan's lover to drink, while Zhou Xiangyang, who did not drink, could only help pour drinks from the side.
Zhu Huilan's husband had drunk a bit too much, and he shouted loudly, "As a real man, you can't not drink. Let's have a drink!"
Zhou Xiangyang explained embarrassedly, "I'm allergic to alcohol."
"I'm sorry, I misspoke," Zhu Huilan's husband said apologetically.
Zhou Xiangyang shook his head indifferently.
Lin Yuanshu was too lazy to watch this group of drunkards drinking and bragging. She took Zhou Xiangyang's hand and left the living room. No one came forward to stop her, mainly because they knew they couldn't.
As soon as Lin Yuanshu left, Sister-in-law Xue naturally followed closely behind; nothing was more important than her pregnancy.
Seeing that Lin Yuanshu and Sister-in-law Xue had both left the living room, Zhu Huilan also took her child and went home.
Zhou Ma was left to look after the three drunkards. She wanted to leave as freely as Lin Yuanshu, but years of habit prevented her from doing so.
Zhu Huilan's husband, slightly drunk, said, "Uncle Zhou, your daughter-in-law is something else! Why have we been so busy lately? It's all to protect the workshop she built. If she were a man, she would definitely have a bright future..."
Zhou Dafu chimed in, "It's such a pity. I wish my second daughter-in-law were my son. Neither of my two sons are as capable as my youngest daughter-in-law."
Big Brother: "..."
He felt he shouldn't be drinking there; he should have gone back to his room with his wife. He didn't want to hear his father praising Lin Yuanshu and belittling him.
The Zhou family was filled with laughter and joy, but the atmosphere at the Wei family was not so harmonious.
Wei Yong spoke first, saying, "This matter originated from your parents. It's impossible for your parents to completely stay out of it and let my Wei family take full responsibility. When Dad and I have our holidays, our whole family will go to see your parents and have a good talk with them about the seriousness of this matter."
Sun Yiyi had no choice but to agree. She only hoped that her parents would pay the compensation money, otherwise Wei Yong would be even angrier and take his anger out on her.
Seeing Sun Yiyi's submissive attitude, Wei Yong didn't say much. He couldn't very well beat his wife over this!
Sun Yiyi already felt inferior in the family because of her younger brother's dowry issue. After this incident, she became even more careful in serving the Wei family. She used to dare to say that she wanted to find a job, but now she doesn't dare to say such a thing at all, for fear of angering the Wei family.
Inside the Chemical Industry Bureau's conference room, the bureau chief and other leaders had not yet arrived, so the plant managers of the chemical plants began to chat idly.
"Director Qian, you're quite the surprise! You've been quietly making a big move, hoping to achieve good results in this competition," Director Nan said with a smile.
Although Director Qian wanted to keep a low profile, the other factory directors weren't fools. They only needed to inquire at the Hongguang Dye Chemical Plant to find out that Director Qian had taken special measures to participate in the competition.
The other factory managers laughed when they heard this. They thought, "We can't win first place anyway, so why bother? We won't get any benefits, and it will only waste the factory's energy and time."
Factory Director Qian did not deny it, but directly admitted: "Since we are preparing to participate in the labor production competition, we must make serious preparations."
Factory Director Nan looked at Factory Director Guan and asked with a smile, "Factory Director Guan, how are you feeling? Are you nervous? Someone wants to challenge your number one position."
Factory Director Guan glanced at Factory Director Qian and said confidently, "It's like throwing an egg against a rock."
After all, he was different from other factory managers. He was not complacent and was enthusiastic about reform. Therefore, his factory would regularly carry out workshop renovations, both to complete production tasks faster and to improve the product qualification rate.
"As expected of Director Guan, he has real confidence," Director Nan said with admiration.
Factory Director Qian smiled broadly and said, "We'll wait and see."
If it weren't for Comrade Lin Yuanshu's use of solvent sulfonation to extract the naphthalene intermediate, he wouldn't have had much confidence. But now, he's incredibly strong.
Factory Director Nan looked at Factory Director Qian with considerable surprise. He knew Factory Director Qian's temperament and knew that he was a steady person. Unless he was certain of victory, he would not say such arrogant words. It seemed that this year's competition would be quite a show.
The deputy director, who overheard the two arguing outside, was not angry at all. Instead, he burst into laughter and walked into the conference room while laughing.
"Seeing you all chasing each other makes me feel at ease, because competition won't affect your relationship. It will only make you continuously improve yourselves and enhance the overall strength of the chemical industry. Learn from competition and become stronger through competition," the deputy director said with a serious expression.
This was the first task he was in charge of after becoming deputy director, and he naturally hoped that the plant managers would take this competition seriously, rather than being perfunctory and deliberately fooling him.
The factory managers laughed and chimed in, "We're all looking forward to the competition starting soon. We're all ready and eager to show our skills."
The deputy director nodded in satisfaction and encouraged them, "Keep it up! I hope the winner this time will be able to cooperate with our big brother and export our factory's products to him."
Factory Director Nan said in shock, "Really? I haven't heard of this before?"
The deputy director explained, "Because the higher-ups and the big brother just finalized the cooperation agreement recently, the director is worried about the number of slots. I thought that this slot could be used as a reward for the first place winner. Whoever gets first place will get this reward."
The factory managers looked at each other in bewilderment. Although they had confidently assured the deputy factory manager that they were prepared, in reality, they had not prepared anything at all.
After the deputy director shared this news, the factory managers lost all interest in the meeting and immediately rushed back to the factory to prepare for the competition.
After the meeting, Director Nan asked Director Qian mysteriously, "Did you hear something? Is that why you're making such a big fuss about participating in the competition?"
Factory Director Qian frowned and said, "Even you, the know-it-all, haven't heard any news, so how could I possibly have heard anything? Participating in the competition is only a small part of the reason. More importantly, I hope that the dye chemical plant can develop better and better..."
Factory Director Nan looked at Factory Director Qian with a complicated expression. He was still as stubborn and meticulous as ever.
When Director Qian learned that the other factory directors were actively preparing to participate in the competition, he began to instruct Lin Yuanshu and others to keep a close watch on the workshop and not to let their guard down until the competition was over.
If the security department hadn't run out of security guards, Director Qian would have liked to send a group of guards to watch over the workshop.
At this moment, Wu Jianhua was somewhat glad that he hadn't acted rashly. Otherwise, with Director Qian and others paying close attention, he certainly wouldn't have succeeded and would have gotten himself into a lot of trouble.
Lin Yuanshu's seriousness only applies to working hours; when it's time to leave work, she is never hesitant and has no intention of working overtime.
This forced Director Xia, the head of the technical department, the head of the maintenance department, and others to spend extra time on the workshop. After all, the workshop's performance was not only related to Lin Yuanshu, but also to them. They were hoping that the chemical plant could achieve good results in the competition!
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