After Wang Fang recovered and went to report for duty, the scrap yard department was quite special. It was a dilapidated little house of about 20 square meters. When Wang Fang went in, she saw a kang (a heated brick bed) that was two meters long and two meters wide. There was a desk and a chair by the window, and a cabinet on the right with bowls and chopsticks. It was very simple and not as tidy as the place where she lived in the educated youth settlement.
She frowned, her disappointment with the job obvious. She only had one colleague, a woman in her forties surnamed Yu, who handed her a notebook and said, “Write in here what you received each day, how much you spent, what we sold, and how much we received. The spreadsheet has the buy-back price and the selling price. This job isn’t difficult. Hey Xiao Wang! Let’s talk about something. Let’s stop switching between day and night shifts. How about we each work one day and one night, then rest one day and one night?”
Wang Fang nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll listen to you, eldest sister."
The older sister smiled and nodded, saying, "Then you stay here for a while and watch how I do it. Once you're familiar with it, you can go back and pick me up tomorrow, okay?"
Wang Fang nodded and sat obediently to one side. Her older sister knitted a sweater while saying, "Don't be so formal. Nobody cares about us. Just do whatever makes you comfortable. When no one's around, you can lie down on the kang for a while and do whatever you want!"
Wang Fang smiled awkwardly and nodded, still feeling a bit uneasy. A little while later, a child came in to buy books. The older woman told Wang Fang to weigh them, then gave her two cents after calculating the price. She laughed and said, "You picked it up pretty quickly. That's it. This job doesn't require much skill!"
Wang Fang nodded, and after waiting a while until she felt comfortable enough, she said goodbye to the woman and headed home. When she got back, her mother, Qi, was sewing shoe soles in the yard and asked, "What's wrong? You're back so soon?"
Wang Fang, sitting to the side, said, "Grandma, I told that older sister that we'll each work one day and one night, then rest for one day and one night. I'll go relieve her tomorrow!"
Qi's mother nodded, then looked at Wang Fang and couldn't help but say, "Fangfang, people leave no trace and things pass without a sound. Let bygones be bygones. You didn't get this job easily, so work hard!"
Wang Fang nodded listlessly, "Grandma, I understand." Then she looked up at Qi's mother with a worried expression and said, "By the way, Grandma, I'm not tired from work. I want to use my time off to make some cardboard and earn some money to give Honghong a little something every month. She's having a really tough time there."
Qi's mother's eyes reddened, she pursed her lips and took a few breaths through her nose, "You're a thoughtful person, much better than your mother!"
Wang Fang lowered her head and whispered, "Grandma, don't mention him. From now on, let's pretend he never existed. My monthly salary is 23 yuan. I make some money by pasting cardboard boxes. I want to squeeze out 7 yuan a month for Honghong."
Mother Qi nodded, "Yes, let's be careful and make things easier for her."
Wang Fang sighed, "For a girl like me, it's better to have more money when I'm out in the world."
Wang Fang didn't have the strength to sew shoe soles, nor could she pull the hemp rope evenly, and no one would buy them anyway, so she chose to paste cardboard. When Wang Dong returned and learned of this, he was quite relieved. Qi's mother and the two little ones were living a relatively stable life, and for the time being, nothing major had happened.
Meanwhile, the Wei family invited Zhao Dahu, Wei Shuqing, Zhao's parents, and Zhao Aiguo over that day. Wei's mother put together six dishes: a canned meat dish, a canned fish dish, stir-fried cabbage with tofu, stewed green beans with pork bones, a cucumber salad, and stir-fried chives with eggs.
Children shouldn't interrupt adults. Zhao Aiguo called on Da Ni and Er Ni to eat, serving them food while also taking care of himself. He quickly ate three bowls of rice, a steamed bun, and gnawed on three large bones. He ate quite a bit of each dish before putting down his chopsticks. Wei's mother said with satisfaction, "Aiguo really has a big appetite!"
Zhao's mother sighed, her brows furrowing slightly. "She's not eating less than before, but she's lost too much weight. She's been growing taller lately and has lost all her weight!"
Wei Dani and Wei Erni almost burst out laughing when they heard this. Zhao Aiguo is 176 centimeters tall and looks to weigh over 140 pounds. And he's considered thin? He's actually slightly chubby now, okay? Before, he was practically a ball of flesh...
Mother Wei chuckled and said, "It's alright, you'll gain weight once you've grown taller!"
The two sisters exchanged a glance, secretly admiring the Zhao family's grandmother and their own grandmother's ability to blatantly lie. Looking at Zhao Aiguo's fanatical expression, they thought, "Grandma's right!" They decided to just lower their heads and eat. The Zhao family's aesthetic sense really did seem a bit unusual.
After finishing their meal, Wei's mother sent the three children out to play. Then she said, "My dear in-law, did you know that Da Hu came to introduce Jiang Zhen to Dani last time?"
Father Zhao glanced at Zhao Dahu, who nodded and said, "It's Jiang Zhen from your cafeteria who has taken a liking to our Da Ni."
Zhao's father nodded and said, "Jiang Zhen is indeed a good young man, but how did you know about this?"
Zhao Dahu laughed heartily, "It was your grandson who discovered this." He then looked at the Wei family, "So? You agree? What's Da Ni's opinion?"
Liu Taohua said shyly, "We have no problem with this, but we're afraid of being out of their league!"
Zhao Dahu knew in his heart that now that the child was registered under the mother's household registration, Jiang Zhen was going to marry Da Ni, which would actually be a heavy burden. Zhao's father had obviously considered this point long ago, but he couldn't say anything. He just felt that Zhao Dahu and Zhao Aiguo were not deep enough. Even Liu Taohua's grain ration was in their brigade. She had to go back every month to exchange for tickets. Of course, Liu Taohua always left her own share of grain at home.
However, Jiang Zhen is a full-time employee; a 24-year-old canteen supervisor earns 37.5 yuan a month. What kind of job couldn't he find? Wei Dani isn't saying he's bad, but compared to Jiang Zhen, he's far inferior. What if Jiang Zhen isn't interested? That would be so awkward!
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