On the way back, Chen Xianghong was picked up by Chen Xiangnan. Old Mrs. Xia and Xia Yu'e returned to their home and met Jiang Wenhua who was helping swallows build a nest.
"Swallows, oh swallows, who are so lucky as you? Come and build your nest under my eaves. Not only will I not charge you any site fees, I will also help you build your nest for free."
"Tell me, are you a proper swallow? How come you can't even build a nest? Several little swallows have fallen to their deaths. I don't even want to say anything to you anymore."
"After all, you are a swallow of our Jiang family. If you don't develop morally, intellectually, physically and aesthetically, you should at least be able to build a nest. Look at the nest you built, it's really shabby."
"I won't return the eggs that fell to the ground. Just give them to me as a little bit of nutrition as a reward. They're all broken and so small anyway. Why can't you lay bigger eggs? They're not even enough to fill my teeth."
"I didn't eat those little swallows of yours that fell to death. I wanted to, but my mom said if I did, you'd pick at me. They were so small they wouldn't be enough to fill my teeth. Forget it, it's not worth it."
"After I build you a nest, you must repay me. For example, you can let me eat you when you are about to die of old age."
Jiang Wenhua was muttering these words to the birds. Just as he mentioned eating, he noticed that his kind mother was looking at him from the window with a vicious look.
He had no choice but to change his words, "Okay, okay, I won't eat you. My mother said that swallows coming to the house is a blessing and can't be eaten. I won't let anyone else eat you either. If a child catches you and you escape, tell me and I'll go find them to pay compensation."
"Is this all right, Mom?"
Jiang's mother turned around and went into the kitchen, leaving him with the back of her head.
When Xia Yu'e saw him, she automatically moved closer to her home, for fear that he would say that he had taken the vacant space in front of his house and ask him for the land fee.
It had to be said that Jiang Wenhua's personality was not pleasing to anyone in their compound. Even the other troublemakers didn't like being asked for money all the time.
When faced with something like this, even the most generous people become stingy. They might have considered it a nice gesture for neighbors to give each other small gifts, and wouldn't have considered it too much. But with Jiang Wenhua being such a weirdo, they no longer dare to give anything casually, fearing they'd be blamed.
For example, a few days ago, Zheng Qianlan gave some water radishes to Old Lady Xia and the others. After Jiang Wenhua found out, he kept saying in front of her that Zheng Qianlan's family was not united with the compound and was deliberately isolating him, Jiang Wenhua.
Zheng Qianlan: ...She has lived like this for several years. Who can she tell about the sadness she feels?
Old Mrs. Xia also didn't want to pay attention to Jiang Wenhua. After walking a few steps, she found two little girls squatting at her door, looking at Jiang Wenhua with shining eyes.
She recognized them immediately: one was Qiao Yi, the other was Fang Yingdi. Qiao Yi coming to her house was fine, but why was Fang Yingdi here? Wasn't she coming here specifically to scold her? This vengeful spirit was a bit too strong, Old Lady Xia complained silently.
Fang Yingdi came to see Old Lady Xia today. She had been very nervous these days, afraid that her parents would come to the factory and make her lose her job. This job was her lifeblood. If she lost it, she would have to go back to the village and get married as arranged by her parents. That would be more painful than death.
When Fang Yingdi said for the umpteenth time that she wanted to buy a rope for emergencies, Qiao Yi finally couldn't bear it anymore and brought her to see Old Lady Xia.
But today, Old Lady Xia was in a hurry to get off work, so she didn't catch anyone. When she arrived at the yard, she found that there was no one there, so she had to wait there.
Qiao Yi felt Fang Yingdi couldn't keep going like this; if she continued to worry, her mental state would fail. She'd bought a rope just in case, so she could hang herself in the factory if she was fired, refusing to return to the village.
She was so terrified of what would happen if she lost her job that she couldn't afford to lose it. Normally, when her parents weren't right, the factory would stand by its own workers, but Fang Yingdi couldn't take any risk and kept muttering to herself, "Why not just die?"
Qiao Yi really couldn't stand it anymore.
When they arrived at the compound, they found that Jiang Wenhua also lived here. Thinking of the legend of this compound, Fang Yingdi and Qiao Yi's original admiration for him was partially shattered. These people were the most difficult to deal with in the factories. What was the reason for Jiang Wenhua's existence?
It can’t be because of his money-saving secrets, right?
The three of them exchanged pleasantries for a while, and then Jiang Wenhua began to repair the swallow's nest. They rarely saw someone not catching swallows to eat but instead building nests for them, so they watched for a while until Old Lady Xia came back.
Xia Yu'e was happy. She quite liked the lively atmosphere at home. However, she and Old Lady Xia's children were not very good. If they really lived together, there would definitely be some noise. So it would be enough to have the younger generation come over occasionally.
"This..." Xia Yu'e wanted to ask who the other girl was.
Old Lady Xia: "She is Qiao Yi's roommate, Comrade Xiao Fang."
Xia Yu'e nodded and said, "Comrade Xiao Fang, hello, hello, you are such a good girl. I will go get you some water while you chat."
Fang Yingdi saw that Old Lady Xia blushed a little, and her voice was smaller than a mosquito, "Comrade Xia."
When Old Lady Xia saw that Qiao Yi also looked embarrassed, she realized that there must be something that required her to step in, and it was probably not a good thing.
After entering the house, before Qiao Yi could say a few nice words to coax Mrs. Xia, Mrs. Xia got straight to the point and said, "Just tell me what you want to talk to me about."
Qiao Yi opened her mouth to speak for Fang Yingdi. She knew Fang Yingdi was embarrassed because she had treated her master badly before. In order to avoid embarrassment, she wanted to speak for her herself.
But Old Lady Xia told her to shut up and let Fang Yingdi speak for herself.
Fang Yingdi spoke in a low voice at first, and it was unclear whether she was embarrassed towards Old Lady Xia or ashamed of the little things that happened in her own family.
Old Lady Xia became irritated when she heard this. "Comrade Xiao Fang, please speak louder. I'm old and my hearing isn't very good. Also, you were quite loud when you spoke to me earlier. Now use that voice. Don't be so shy. We workers are proud to speak out, so we should be outspoken. And also, straighten your back and open your shoulders. Don't be so timid."
Fang Yingdi straightened her back immediately, took a deep breath and started talking about her family's troubles.
The more Old Lady Xia listened, the more annoyed she became. She always felt that Fang Yingdi's previous behavior was just like that of her second daughter-in-law, Dong Chunmiao. She was definitely the second generation of Dong Chunmiao.
After Fang Yingdi finished expressing her concerns, apart from Qiao Yi who was still worried as always, Comrade Xia and Comrade Xia's sister looked at her with an indescribable expression.
"What's wrong?" Fang Yingdi felt inexplicably guilty.
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