Tang Jianjun was so angry his hair almost stood on end. He pushed Tang Xiaoling out of the yard without a second thought and slammed the gate shut: "You stupid woman, if you want ginseng, go dig it up in the mountains yourself. Have you no shame for coveting other people's ginseng? From now on, you're not my daughter anymore. Get out!"
Tang's mother looked at Southwest with worry: "Southwest, Tang Xiaoling is such a stingy person. When she was little, if I gave her brother an extra bite of food, she would make a fuss and wouldn't stop until she got two bites back. Your master beat her a lot for this. I thought she had changed, but now it seems that she will never change in this lifetime. Why don't you two get a divorce and the child stay with you?"
Tang Jianjun glanced at his wife and nodded, "Southwest, why don't we get a divorce? Anyway, I'll go to the city with you and I'll get a salary. At most, I can support her."
Southwest was in an awkward position. If his master and mistress had helped their daughter scold him, he wouldn't have felt any psychological pressure about divorcing Tang Xiaoling. But now, he found it difficult to bring it up.
"Dad, I was wrong. I shouldn't have been greedy. Please let me come back. I'll change, I promise I will. Southwest, please forgive me for the sake of the child. I really will change." Tang Xiaoling's pleading voice came from outside.
Southwest rubbed her face with both hands: "Father, Mother, I'll forgive her this last time. If she talks nonsense about my Nannan again, I will never live with her again."
Tang's mother's eyes lit up with joy, and she quickly nodded in agreement, running out to open the door.
Tang Jianjun frowned deeply. He seemed to see a marital breakdown in the near future. He wasn't worried about the two children; the Yan family would definitely raise them. But he had to find a way out for Xiaoling, even if it was just to work. At least she had to be able to support herself.
Southwest was concerned about the furniture factory. While Tang Jianjun was arranging family matters, he rushed to the town and found the original furniture factory. Sure enough, although the factory had not closed down, the remaining people were all the factory manager's relatives and friends, while the skilled workers had all been laid off. There was no business, so what was the point of having skills? The factory did not support idle people.
Southwest rode his bicycle to visit one factory after another. He visited all the skilled and decent workers in the factory. When he heard that some of them wanted to work in furniture factories in Beijing, others did not.
Southwest didn't force anyone. For those who wanted to go, Southwest explained the benefits and the work they would be doing. When they heard this, their eyes lit up. They were all middle-aged, with elderly parents and young children to support. It was hard to find work in the county town, and even if they did, the salary wouldn't be this high.
Southwest was kind-hearted. He told them they would be leaving in three days, and anyone who wanted to go could sign a contract with him. Moreover, the company would reimburse their first train ticket to Beijing. After all, it was a recruitment drive, and they had to be given some incentives.
Holding five contracts—no, six contracts, including one for Tang Jianjun—Southwest happily went to the station to buy a ticket, his mind preoccupied with how to improve the Beijing furniture factory.
Nan Nan once said that the things she designed were all about exquisiteness, and exquisiteness is something that no small workshop can imitate. She asked the furniture factory to take two routes: one is to produce mass-produced goods that are cheap and of good quality, and the other is to take the route of exquisiteness, specifically to supply those wealthy and tasteful customers.
Nan Nan also consciously selected some precious woods, such as mahogany, rosewood, and nanmu. As for sandalwood and agarwood, these are rare and depend on luck.
After a busy ten days, on the day before leaving, Southwest treated the village chief's family to a meal. He solemnly entrusted his child, wife, and teacher's wife to Village Chief Ma, and also wrote down the factory's phone number and address. As for the address of the courtyard house, Ma Minghua knew it very well.
Tang's mother and Tang Xiaoling have been preparing food for the past two days. The father and son will be staying in the car for many days, so they need to make sure they have enough food and drink. Before boarding the train, Duoduo cried so hard that he couldn't catch his breath, and Wujinban also had tears in his eyes, which softened Southwest's heart.
Tang Jianjun decisively told the mother and daughter to take the child back first, and not to wait for the train to leave. He said they should leave now so that Southwest wouldn't feel bad. Southwest was a little embarrassed. She knew her own shortcomings and thought that Nannan was overestimating her.
The train chugged along, and the gentlemen who were following the Southwest to the capital were very excited. From childhood to adulthood, the farthest they had ever been was the county town. They had ridden in oxcarts, donkey carts, and some had even ridden in cars, but this was the first time they had ever ridden a train.
Everyone was running around excitedly. The toilets looked like this, the windows opened upwards, and the train staff wore such beautiful clothes. And why were the things on the train so expensive?
Watching them chatter like children, exploring things they'd never seen before, Southwest smiled. "You're having so much fun now, but you'll soon know how tough the train ride is. I hope you won't complain then."
Sure enough, after a night, everyone leaned back in their seats, feeling listless, wishing they could get to Beijing soon. They couldn't eat or sleep well on the train, and they just wandered around in the aisle all day. They had to queue to use the toilet and fight for a cup of hot water. It was exhausting.
A burly man took out a deck of cards. He figured he might as well play some cards to kill time since he had nothing else to do. Southwest declined, saying that he should use the time to study Southwest's college entrance exam materials properly, as time was not meant to be wasted.
When Southwest was reading and his eyes were sore, he noticed that some of his fellow workers who were playing cards were happy and some were sad. He knew that they must be gambling. It is said that a little gambling is fun, but a lot of gambling is harmful to health. Southwest took the opportunity to tell them some of the rules of the capital.
The environment in the capital is definitely different from that in the countryside. Gambling is absolutely unacceptable, otherwise there will be trouble. If you get caught, the factory will definitely fire those who knowingly break the law.
Fighting is also unacceptable. In the countryside, it's common to see people acting like hooligans and shrewish women, but in the city, you need to be civilized and polite, otherwise people will look down on you. Most importantly, you're going to Beijing to make money, not to fight.
Those people were somewhat alarmed: "Southwest, if they attack me, can't I fight back?"
Southwest shook his head: "You'll understand when you get to the capital. Under normal circumstances, no one would do such a thing. I hope the allure of the world won't blind you then."
The last sentence was a bit profound. They all looked at each other, wondering what the "world of wonders" meant. Why do you squint? It's not like you're drawing a line on a piece of wood, where you need to squint.
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