Jiang Xuan walked over affectionately, "Sister Lan, why are you only getting off work now?"
Ma Xiaolan looked exhausted. "I had to rush an important order last night, so I got off work a little late."
"You haven't eaten yet, have you? Wait here, I'll go make you an egg pancake."
"No need, Jiang Xuan, I ate at the cafeteria this morning." As she spoke, Ma Xiaolan yawned twice.
"Sister Nalan, you should go to sleep for a while, we can talk later."
As soon as Ma Xiaolan returned to the bedroom, Sun Jianjun jumped out of bed and demanded with a stern face, "Why can't I collect your salary this month?"
Ma Xiaolan hung her coat on the chair and said calmly, "Since you went to the factory today, you should have heard about the new policy. Starting this month, wages cannot be collected on behalf of others."
"Nonsense, what new policy? The finance officer clearly said you collected your salary yourself."
"Yes, it's because of this policy that I accepted it myself."
Ma Xiaolan filled a basin with water and prepared to wash her feet.
Seeing her nonchalant attitude, Sun Jianjun became somewhat annoyed: "Then where's the money? Give it to me, and I'll keep it safe."
Ma Xiaolan smiled and said, "From now on, you can keep your own money. I'll keep my own salary, and it'll be more convenient for me to buy groceries and such."
Sun Jianjun was taken aback.
He never imagined that one day this woman, who had always been so timid and submissive, would say such a thing.
"How could you say such a thing?"
Ma Xiaolan still appeared gentle and weak, her tone flat, "Don't overthink it, I just want to protect my money."
You weren't like this before.
"The past is the past."
Sun Jianjun felt a lump in his throat.
After thinking it over and over, he finally figured it out: it must have been that Jiang guy next door who instigated it again.
This is outrageous!
He'll have to ask her about it later.
Although he had worked the night shift last night, he came back around 7 a.m. and was still upset, so he couldn't sleep and got out of bed and stormed out the door.
Seeing him about to leave, Zhang Guiying called from the kitchen, "Jianjun, the food is almost ready, what are you going to do?"
"Mom, I'm not eating, you guys eat."
"Oh dear, how can you not eat? Then go eat in the cafeteria, don't be stingy with the money."
Ma Xiaolan sneered from inside the house: "Your son is a grown man, and you're afraid he'll starve to death if he misses a meal, but my Xiuxiu is only 8 years old and doesn't even have the right to eat meat."
She was too weak before; from now on, she will support her daughter.
As soon as Sun Jianjun stepped out of the compound, he ran into Sun Jianfang, who was holding Wenbo's hand.
Sun Jianfang works as a temporary worker at the subdistrict office, and her working hours are flexible. It's summer vacation now, and apart from the kindergarten in the family compound, the children are already on summer vacation.
Because of her status as a sent-down youth, the leaders allowed her to bring her child to work on weekdays.
"Jianjun, where are you going?"
"Just taking a walk, sis, are you off work?"
"Oh, right, Jianjun, today should be payday at the clothing factory. Could you lend me three yuan? Wenbo's clothes are tattered beyond recognition. I'd like to get some fabric to make him a new outfit."
It was fine as long as the topic of wages wasn't brought up, but as soon as it was, Sun Jianjun scratched his head in frustration. "Hold on a bit, I'll pay you when our factory pays its wages."
"What's wrong? Hasn't the garment factory paid wages yet?"
Xiaolan collected her salary herself.
"Huh? Why is she collecting her own salary? Didn't you always collect it before?"
They can receive subsidies for their family after receiving the money.
"It's their factory's policy, you should go back quickly, the food will be ready soon."
"It must be that woman next door who's up to it again. Our family is so unlucky to have run into such a family. Ever since they moved in, our house has felt like it's in complete chaos."
"First, she threatened Mom, preventing her from arranging for Ma Xiaolan to do the laundry. Then she opened the toilet door. Now she's making Ma Xiaolan collect her own salary. I think Ma Xiaolan's head is just attached to that woman's body."
"And you work the night shift, so you have no idea how ridiculous things happened in the morning."
Sun Jianjun: "What is it?"
"She made some lousy pancakes, and Bowen couldn't resist taking one, but only took a tiny bite." Sun Jianfang gestured with her hand.
"She said her pancake cost a dollar, and even called over neighbors from other courtyards to judge the matter. In the end, Mom was forced to give her a dollar. That piece of junk cost a dollar?"
Sun Jianjun frowned; it seemed he needed to talk to her as soon as possible.
*
By 2 p.m., Jiang Xuan had finished patching all the patches and the cloth bag for his sister-in-law.
She thought she should take advantage of this free time to deliver it to them as soon as possible.
Wang Xiuli was washing clothes in the yard, cursing as she washed: "What's the difference between this and a pig? The clothes I wore yesterday are already this dirty. They'll be ruined even if I don't wear them out."
"Sister Li, are you doing laundry?"
Upon seeing Jiang Xuan, Wang Xiuli quickly shook the water off her hands, stood up, and said, "Platoon Leader Lu's wife, come in quickly."
As she spoke, she moved her small stool, which she used for washing clothes, over to him. "Please sit down, I'll go get you some water."
"No need to bother, Sister Li. I'll come over and bring you some patches. I also need to bring some to Sister Jinhua later."
"Okay, then I won't keep you any longer. Thank you."
After leaving Courtyard No. 1, Jiang Xuan originally planned to go to Courtyard No. 4, but no one answered the door after knocking for a while, so she thought she would deliver it later.
As soon as she turned around, she saw the refined-looking man from that morning pushing his bicycle out.
The man nodded when he saw Jiang Xuan.
Jiang Xuan smiled politely as well.
Just then, Guo Caiyun hurried out of the yard with a brown paper notebook in her hand. "Dajiang, wait a minute, I forgot to bring my lesson plan."
"Okay." He Dajiang quickly steadied his bicycle and hurried over. "Slow down, I'll get it."
So they were a couple?
The two seem to have a good relationship.
Jiang Xuan greeted Guo Caiyun: "Hello, comrade."
Guo Caiyun looked at the checkered bag in Jiang Xuan's hand and joked, "Hey, is this bag a gift for me?"
Jiang Xuan smiled and said, "You guessed right, I just made it. See if you like it."
"Oh, it's really for me? You're so kind! You bought a pancake and actually made a bun for me. Thank you so much!"
Guo Caiyun took the bag, touched it from left to right, and looked at it with great affection. "There are even little pockets here. It's so pretty. Your craftsmanship is excellent."
"You're welcome. By the way, if I may ask, was that gentleman your spouse?"
Guo Caiyun laughed and said, "Yes, teachers are very busy lately with all the teaching analysis they've been doing."
"Which school do you teach at?"
"It's right next to Ningzhou No.1 Middle School, not far from here."
Ningzhou No.1 Middle School?
Isn't Lu Xiaomei in this school?
"Does he teach high school or middle school?"
"I teach Chinese to two classes of second-year high school students and am also the homeroom teacher of one class."
What a coincidence.
So, he's my younger sister's homeroom teacher.
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