Chapter 28 028 ...
028
Jiang Lai was still thinking that it would be too difficult for her to do work for the Women's Federation, given her personality that only wanted to be a homebody. It wasn't that she couldn't do work that required communication; the key point was that Jiang Lai didn't want to.
Jiang Lai had been planning to resign from this job before she came here today. It wasn't that she was so carefree as to just hand over a resignation letter and say goodbye. She intended to leak some information and transfer the job to someone else. After all, she had spent a lot of money to come here to work, and Jiang Lai wasn't so indifferent to money.
When Jiang Lai arrived at the location, she was shocked to find that her workstation had been taken, all her belongings were gone, and a young woman was now sitting in her place.
Jiang Lai noticed the subtle gazes around her, some gloating, some worried, and some who were on good terms with the original owner of the body secretly gesturing to her that this matter was related to the director of the Women's Federation. Jiang Lai understood somewhat.
Jiang Lai ignored what others thought and went straight to her workstation. She didn't make things difficult for the girl, but instead tapped on the table and asked, "Where are the things that were originally in this workstation?"
"They're all here." The girl had obviously learned Jiang Lai's identity from the conversation earlier. She picked up a wicker basket from the ground next to the table. This basket belonged to the original owner and contained all of the original owner's personal belongings, such as a water cup, notebook, and pen.
At this moment, the director and Wu Chunzhu came in together. Wu Chunzhu said sarcastically, "Isn't this Jiang Lai? You've finally come to work."
Jiang Lai retorted directly to Wu Chunzhu's sarcastic remarks, refusing to tolerate her: "Comrade Wu, it's as if you've never taken a day off since you started working here. I remember you always take a few days off every month, while I've only taken this one day off in all these years of work, and it was only because I really had something to do. How come it sounds like I've taken months off? Anyone who doesn't know better would think I'm just taking advantage of the director's affability to act recklessly."
Jiang Lai emphasized the words "reckless and unrestrained," implying that Wu Chunzhu was only able to take leave from time to time to go out and play because the director was a relative of hers and someone in her family worked at the Revolutionary Committee.
"Jiang Lai, are you out of your mind? I was just joking, why are you being so sarcastic?" Wu Chunzhu has always been thick-skinned, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to steal someone else's fiancé and still be so smug, thinking she was so charming. She didn't feel guilty just because Jiang Lai said a few words. On the contrary, because what Jiang Lai said was true, Wu Chunzhu became even more excited.
"Really? I was just joking. No way, you wouldn't be that petty, would you?" Jiang Lai said calmly. Jiang Lai was fearless because she originally wanted to resign and didn't want to work here anymore, so she wasn't afraid of ruining her interpersonal relationships or being retaliated against by others.
It's obvious that some people can be sarcastic and sarcastic on their own, but they can't stand it when others are sarcastic and sarcastic. Wu Chunzhu was so angry that her face turned green, but because she had said that she was joking when she was being sarcastic and sarcastic before, she didn't know how to respond to Jiang Lai's reply.
At this moment, Yan Fangfang, Wu Chunzhu's relative and also the director, spoke up: "Alright, stop standing here and go do what you're supposed to do. Jiang Lai, you haven't been to work for so long and you come back to cause trouble. Our Women's Federation is too small to accommodate a big Buddha like you. Besides, you're not in good health and always getting sick. Don't say that we leaders don't care about our subordinates. Just go back and rest. Come back to work when you're feeling better."
"I don't like what you're saying, Director. What do you mean by saying that because I'm unwell and often sick I should go home to rest? I'm not unwell, but I don't take sick leave often. Compared to others who take several days off every month, I've been working for several years and this is the first time I've taken a day off. How can I possibly be expected to go home to recuperate? I wonder how you, Director, have any explanation for this?"
"Just go back and rest when I tell you to. How can a leader do things? Do I need you to tell me what to do?" the director said, his face ashen.
"Of course, I don't need to tell the leaders what to do, but you should give me an explanation for this disguised dismissal. I'm not talking about how much work I've done or how much I've accomplished at the Women's Federation, or how much merit and effort I've made, but I deserve a reason, right? It's unreasonable that you give my work to someone else on my first leave after working here for so many years." Jiang Lai naturally wouldn't sit idly by when her interests were harmed; she would definitely fight for what she deserved.
"I didn't say I was going to fire you, I just want you to go home and rest. You can come back to work when you're better." Jiang Lai's unyielding attitude made the director, who already disliked her, even more disgusted with her. However, although she was a director, she didn't have the right to fire Jiang Lai arbitrarily, because Jiang Lai hadn't done anything wrong.
"Is that so? But I don't agree with your decision. I'm perfectly healthy and don't need to rest. I don't need you to decide for me that I need to rest. Are you forcing me to rest?" Jiang Lai didn't give her any face at all.
"Are you the director or am I the director? Do I need your approval to do things?" The director was particularly arrogant when she said this, as if she was certain that Jiang Lai couldn't do anything to her.
Is that really the case? Of course not. Jiang Lai is not the original owner of this body. Not only is she from decades in the future and knows the history of these years, but she has also read the novel and knows more about the plot. Some of the things Jiang Lai knows are enough to bring down the director's backer. So the director is arrogant, but Jiang Lai can be even more arrogant than her.
However, Jiang Lai didn't even need to reveal her trump card to intimidate her: "You are a leader, but if you abuse your power and use your official authority to suppress you and make you a staff member, I can still report you to the Revolutionary Committee. Don't tell me you have relatives in the Revolutionary Committee. Everyone has a few backers." Of course, Jiang Lai whispered the last sentence in her ear.
It has to be said that she really pulled off the act. Jiang Lai was too calm and composed. In fact, she was indeed confident, but it was precisely because of her confidence that she intimidated the other party.
"What exactly do you want? I only asked you to go back and rest for a while because you're not feeling well. Since you don't appreciate it, then go to work now. Just yesterday, several women came to the Women's Federation for help. As a senior member, why don't you take the new members to visit them?"
"Excuse me, didn't you say I'm not feeling well and need to rest? I'll ask for two more days off to go back and see a doctor." Jiang Lai was so arrogant. After saying that, she left without taking the director seriously at all. It was precisely because of Jiang Lai's arrogance that the director thought that Jiang Lai really had a powerful backer. He was so angry that his face turned pale, but he didn't dare to do anything to her.
"What are you looking at? There's so much to do, why aren't you working?" The director vented his anger on the innocent staff.
Hearing the commotion behind her, Jiang Lai curled her lips. Judging from what she had said to Shi Cheng yesterday, the director's backer should be in trouble soon. Pulling out the radish would bring out the mud, and the director wouldn't be in much better shape either. She knew a lot of information from the original owner's memories. Once the Revolutionary Committee changed its leader, she would go and lend a hand.
After making her decision, Jiang Lai happily went home. On her way home, she even stopped by the supply and marketing cooperative and bought two fish. She then exchanged these two fish for the same type of fish from the secret space, and after returning home, they became her favorite pickled fish and fish head tofu soup.
During dinner, Jiang Lai told Liu Aihua and the others about what had happened that day. Although they were somewhat happy that Jiang Lai had lost her job, no one objected to her decision. They cared more about Jiang Lai's own feelings.
"Sister-in-law, you definitely can't lose this job. Don't you have a younger brother who's about to graduate from high school? I think I heard you mention last time that if you can't find a job, you'll have to go to the countryside. So, sister-in-law, why don't you go home and ask your family if they'd like to see if they'd be interested in this job?"
Jiang Lai's idea was quite simple. Her previous thought was to sell this job. Although she had a small conflict with the director, it wouldn't affect anything. However, Jiang Lai had a good impression of her sister-in-law, Meng Wenying, so she added, "Don't worry, sister-in-law. Even if the director has a problem with me because of today's incident, I'm not afraid. She will soon be nothing to fear."
"Lai Lai, do you know something?" Meng Wenying asked curiously.
"Well, but I can't say right now," was all Jiang Lai could say.
“In that case, you don’t need to resign. Jobs are hard to find these days.” Although Meng Wenying also wanted her younger brother to stay in the city instead of going to the countryside, she was also concerned about Jiang Lai.
"It's alright. I don't really want to do this job either. I want to change jobs. Besides, after I get married, I'll be going to join Ye Anguo's military unit. I'll have to deal with this job sooner or later. Rather than letting someone else benefit, I might as well help my own family. Isn't your brother in a hurry?" Jiang Lai said nonchalantly.
Meng Wenying was tempted, but in the Jiang family, she was just a daughter-in-law, and there were Jiang Bolin and Liu Aihua there. Even if they had no objections, it didn't mean she could make a decision on her own without asking their opinions. Besides, Jiang Lai's job was found through their connections, so there was nothing they could do if they disagreed.
"Mom and Dad, what do you think?" Meng Wenying asked cautiously. Jiang Qin held her hand under the table, but his face remained calm. Although Liu Aihua and Meng Wenying usually had a good relationship, it didn't mean that they hadn't had any conflicts after so many years of marriage. His past experience told him that he had no say in this matter.
"Your mother decides what happens at home." Jiang Bolin calmly ate his meal, passing the buck to Liu Aihua.
"I have no objection to this matter. You can go back and talk to your family about it tomorrow." Liu Aihua had no objection to Jiang Lai's decision and said nothing more. The Meng family would know what to do.
"Thank you, Mom. Then I won't be home for lunch tomorrow. I'll go tell Mom the good news," Meng Wenying said happily.
"Go ahead, the sooner the better. Also, don't go back to your parents' house empty-handed. Doesn't your mother really like lotus root? There's a whole bunch of lotus root that Lai Lai bought in the kitchen, pack some for yourself." Liu Aihua and Meng Wenying's mother had a pretty good relationship.
"That wouldn't be good. I'll just buy some more. My family really likes it." Meng Wenying refused instinctively.
"It's alright, sister-in-law, I know where to buy it. I'll go buy more after we finish eating," Jiang Lai said casually. She had countless lotus roots in her spatial storage; she could eat them all.
That was how the matter was settled. After that, it was quite simple. Everything went through the normal procedures, and Jiang Lai's job was transferred to Meng Wenying's younger brother, Meng Wenbin. When they went to transfer the job, the director didn't dare to say a word, because at that time, her backer was already in a terrible predicament.
The following time passed both quickly and slowly. It passed quickly because time went by very fast, from October to the winter of 1970. It passed slowly because Jiang Lai and Ye Anguo kept corresponding back and forth during this period, and in just one month, they had accumulated a stack of letters between them.
During this period, Jiang Lai did not do nothing but stay at home. In addition to keeping in touch with Ye Anguo, Jiang Lai also "met" and "interacted" with Ye Anguo's three adopted sons. For the first time in a long time, apart from having pen pals with others in elementary school, Jiang Lai now had three more pen pals.
This all started when Ye Anguo returned to the army and immediately gave away all his personal savings, including all his wages except for the expenses of the four of them, and sent them back to Jiang Lai, as well as the fabrics that Jiang Lai and Ye Anguo had bought together.
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