Chapter 6: Job Hunting Proves Difficult
Aunt Zhou looked puzzled and said, "What kind of bewitching potion has she given you? Why are you all speaking up for her? She's really not as filial as you think. You can't believe a word she says; she's just talking nonsense."
Zhou Ma thought she had seen through Lin Yuanshu's true colors. Would she protect her daughter-in-law's reputation? Of course not. The worse Lin Yuanshu's reputation was, the easier it would be for her to control Lin Yuanshu. When everyone around her sided with her, Lin Yuanshu would be isolated and helpless.
The crowd remained silent, only feeling sorry for Lin Yuanshu. They pitied her for having such a wicked mother-in-law. She wanted her mother-in-law to live a good life, but her mother-in-law wanted her to live a hard life. They didn't believe that Lin Yuanshu's genuine emotions were just an act.
Lin Yuanshu visited all the factories around the dormitory building, such as textile factories, machine tool factories, food factories, chicken farms, etc., and the security guards at the gates all gave the same answer: they were not hiring at the moment.
It seems that what the older women said is true; only the children of employees can participate in the recruitment exam. Unexpectedly, in a different place, she didn't even have the opportunity to take the exam.
However, she will not give up and choose to go back to being a housewife; her hands are not meant for washing clothes and cooking.
When the right path is blocked, she has no choice but to take crooked routes. It doesn't matter if she doesn't have connections; she just needs to work hard to build relationships with leaders. It's just a matter of using back channels! As long as she's shameless enough, there's nothing she wouldn't dare to do.
If all else fails, she'll borrow some money from Zhou Xiangyang and try to buy a job. Finding a job is incredibly difficult, but buying one with money isn't so hard.
It's really not her fault. She initially wanted to find a job through legitimate means, but she didn't even have the chance to take the exam. If you don't want to take the right path, there are plenty of ways. But if you want to take the right path, there's not even a door.
As it got dark, she had to put her job search aside for the time being and focus on buying some daily necessities. She went straight to the department store and bought toothpaste, a toothbrush, a washcloth, a washbasin, and underwear. Luckily, these items didn't require coupons, otherwise she would have had to come back again.
The most expensive item here was actually an enamel washbasin, which cost her 7 yuan. Two sets of cotton underwear were only 3 yuan. No wonder that when a washbasin broke in this era, the first thought was to get it repaired instead of replacing it. It was so expensive, how could anyone bear to replace it? An ordinary worker's monthly salary was only about 30 yuan.
She put the toothpaste and toothbrush into the washbasin, took them to the counter to pay, and it cost her 11 yuan in total. Not only did she not find a job, but she also lost most of her money, and it wasn't even her money.
She wanted to refuse Zhou Xiangyang's large sum of money with great pride, but unfortunately, the original owner only had 50 cents. She gave all the betrothal gifts to her parents and married into the Zhou family with a mirror, a box, a quilt, and other daily necessities.
She really didn't want to share such personal items with others, even though her body hadn't changed, her soul had!
Lin Yuanshu carried the pile of things home. When she passed by the grocery store, she saw that they were selling peach shortbread. She always felt that Zhou Ma would cause some trouble. In order to avoid going hungry, she spent 50 cents and the original owner's only 6-ounce grain coupon to buy a pound of peach shortbread.
Modern neighbors are too indifferent to each other, yet this era is too warm. Ever since she stepped into the tenement building, people have been greeting her all the way. She can only cover her stomach with the open side of the washbasin so that others can't see what's in it.
After all, in their eyes, her buying underwear was a waste of money; they could just buy fabric and make a set for a few cents.
She unlocked the door to the room with her key, and Sister-in-law Xue, who was cooking, saw Lin Yuanshu carrying an enamel washbasin and immediately exclaimed, "Second wife, what good thing did you buy back?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Yuanshu quickly opened the door and went inside. After closing the door, she hurriedly returned to her room, put the contents of the washbasin into her wooden box, locked the box, and placed the washbasin on the table.
Hearing what Sister-in-law Xue said, Zhou Ma, who was in the living room, hurriedly came out of the living room. Seeing that the door to the next room was closed, she cursed loudly, "What are you doing? Come home, come home! Why are you closing the door? What is there that you're ashamed of?"
Lin Yuanshu took a deep breath and told herself not to get angry. That was just Zhou Ma's personality. She opened the door and saw the neighbors looking on with amusement. She pretended to be aggrieved and said, "I'm used to closing the door behind me."
Aunt Zhou pushed the door open and walked into Lin Yuanshu's room, demanding, "What did you buy?"
Lin Yuanshu lowered his voice and said, "There was only an ordinary enamel washbasin."
"You spendthrift! There's a washbasin in the house, why waste money buying a new one?" Zhou's mother searched for a long time but couldn't find the extra thing in the room, so she had no choice but to accept the result.
"I've had a bit of a cold recently, and I'm afraid of infecting you all," Lin Yuanshu explained seriously.
“Then you can just not wash your face,” Zhou Ma said matter-of-factly.
Lin Yuanshu smiled and said, "That won't do. I wasn't this slovenly in the countryside. I can't become slovenly after coming to the city."
Unable to argue with Lin Yuanshu, Aunt Zhou impatiently walked towards the door, saying, "You talk too much all day long. Don't just stand here like an idiot, go and cook."
Lin Yuanshu took a deep breath and walked to the makeshift kitchen in the corridor, where Sister-in-law Xue had already started steaming the two-component steamed buns.
So-called "two-in-one" steamed buns are made from cornmeal and wheat flour, with cornmeal usually making up a larger proportion.
Cornmeal in this era didn't taste as good as it did in the previous generation because it was ground with a small amount of corn cob mixed in. This situation only improved in the late 1970s after the reform and opening up.
"Is there anything I can do?" Lin Yuanshu asked.
Sister-in-law Xue couldn't help but roll her eyes and said irritably, "You've come back just in time. I've already started steaming the buns and washed and chopped the eggplants and green beans. What can you do? You can only watch."
Lin Yuanshu sighed, puzzled, and said, "Why are you and Mom like you've swallowed a bomb? You can't communicate properly at all."
Sister-in-law Xue just smiled sarcastically and didn't say anything.
Ha, she worked all day, washing clothes, cleaning the corridor, and cooking for the whole family in the evening. In comparison, Lin Yuanshu was just out for a stroll. How could she possibly speak to Lin Yuanshu calmly?
How could her mother-in-law be happy about such a humiliating defeat at the hands of her daughter-in-law?
She had the nerve to ask them why they talked like they were on fire. It wasn't her who was angry; she could do whatever she wanted, so of course she was happy.
A note from the author:
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