Song Lan smiled and explained, then asked, "Auntie, is there something from the factory to announce?"
"No, no."
The woman who was talking to Song Lan was named Ma Fenglan. Upon hearing this, she quickly shook her head.
"Oh, I thought it was a notification from the factory!"
Song Lan smiled and said, "Would you ladies like to come to my house for a visit?"
"Let's do it another day. We have something to do at home, so we'll head back now."
Ma Fenglan politely declined with a forced smile, and then gestured for the three women beside her to leave.
Watching them walk away, Song Lan pushed her bicycle into the yard.
But she still had doubts.
"Comrade Song, you're back."
Upon hearing the sound of a bicycle, Wu Dong came out of the house. He first greeted Song Lan, and then helped to unload the bamboo basket from the back of the bicycle.
"This box is filled with such real food!"
"My parents asked me to bring it back."
"Your parents?"
“Didn’t I tell you? My birth parents live in Shisong Village. I happened to pass through Shisong Village on my way to the forest farm, so I stopped by to visit my parents.” As she spoke, Song Lan suddenly smiled sheepishly: “I’m sorry, I really didn’t tell you.”
She did mention it to her second brother and the others, but not to Wu Dong.
"It's alright, Comrade Song, you don't need to be so polite with me."
Wu Dong, being a grown man, naturally wouldn't hold a grudge against Song Lan.
However, Song Lan explained: "I was switched at birth by hospital staff, so I was separated from my biological parents for nearly 20 years. It was last year that I learned that I was born in the countryside, but due to the distance and my work, I had not been able to contact my biological parents. Now that I have been assigned to work in the machinery factory here, I thought I would go and see them."
The woman in front of her is going to take care of Qin Yanzheng, so it goes without saying that she will be living with his family for a period of time. Now that she has explained her background simply, there will be no need for further explanation when she goes to Shisong Village in the future.
Wu Dong: "It's only right to visit one's parents." After saying that, he carried the bamboo basket into the kitchen.
"Comrade Wu, when I came back I saw several aunties standing at the gate of the courtyard..."
Before Song Lan could finish speaking, Wu Dong said, "If you're just watching the show, there's no need to pay them any attention."
"Watching the show?"
Song Lan became increasingly puzzled. She frowned in thought as she took the bamboo basket off the handlebars and quickly processed the herbs. Then, she hung the herbs to dry on the balcony under the eaves.
However, they simply put them in a winnowing basket to dry.
"Let's go to the living room, and you can tell me all about it."
Unable to come up with a solution, Song Lan got up and went into the living room after drying the herbs.
Wu Dong paused for a moment, then followed.
"But I don't understand, what does this have to do with my husband?" In the living room, after listening to Wu Dong's explanation, Song Lan's calm and reserved peach blossom eyes were filled with confusion. She said, "Qin Yanzheng was able to become the deputy director of the machinery factory. This must be related to that leader Guan, right?"
But before Wu Dong could respond, she added, "And Leader Guan should have also negotiated with the leaders of the machinery factory, and he couldn't have made this decision on his own, right?"
You're absolutely right.
Wu Dong was quite surprised. He knew Song Lan was smart. Even though they hadn't known each other for very long and hadn't gotten to know each other well, he could tell that Song Lan was intelligent and quick-witted.
But at this moment, he discovered that Song Lan also possessed astonishing insight.
Just by helping Comrade Qin Yanzheng with his onboarding procedures at the machinery factory, he could guess almost everything.
"If that's the case, why is the woman next door verbally attacking my husband?"
Song Lan's expression was cold as she stared directly at Wu Dong: "Although I can't ask too many questions about my husband's work, now that trouble has come our way, I feel it's necessary for me to know some things I don't know."
After a brief pause, she added, "It's about my husband."
Wu Dong's lips were tightly pressed together, his eyelids lowered, and he remained silent for a long while before finally meeting Song Lan's gaze again and speaking: "Actually, it's not that I can't tell you, it's just that I didn't think it was necessary before."
After all, the leadership had made arrangements that before Comrade Qin Yanzheng fully recovered and officially started his job, I would collect his salary on his behalf and then hand it over to you, Comrade Song. During this period, Comrade Qin Yanzheng's salary was not related to the Hongxing Machinery Factory.
Furthermore, the fact that Comrade Qin Yanzheng was appointed as the deputy director of the machinery factory was not publicly disclosed; in other words, only a few people knew about it.
Upon hearing this, Song Lan understood. She said, "It seems the problem lies with those few people you mentioned. You and Director Zhang are an exception, so that means the other two..."
Or perhaps one of the three people leaked the news of my husband's employment to the male homeowner next door. Thus, from the female homeowner's perspective, it seemed my husband had suddenly appeared and snatched away the deputy factory manager position that she believed rightfully belonged to her husband.
Wu Dong chimed in, "Now that you mention it, I think it's pretty much true."
Song Lan: "Regarding my husband receiving a salary from his former workplace during his recovery period, only you and Director Zhang should know this, am I right?"
"That's true, only Director Zhang and I know about it."
Wu Dong nodded.
"However, it is common knowledge that the machinery factory is going to add a deputy factory director. Combined with the fact that the lady next door has been making a fuss from yesterday to today, it is obvious that she thinks the deputy factory director position is rightfully her husband's. In fact, many people in the factory think so too."
Song Lan's face was expressionless as she said, "However, the premise is that the male head of the household next door currently holds a high position in the factory."
Suddenly, she laughed, but the laugh was tinged with sarcasm.
"He has doubts but doesn't go to his leader to ask for clarification. Instead, he lets the woman at home make a fuss. He's probably not a decent person, or maybe she's very good at scheming."
As she said this, Song Lan had an extremely bad impression of the family next door on the right, or more accurately, of the couple next door on the right.
Even though she didn't know her neighbors on either side, let alone was familiar with them, the things the woman next door had done made her feel disgusted.
Being used as a pawn by the men in her family, stupid and unaware of her own foolishness, standing in the yard like a shrew cursing others—this kind of person is a detestable figure, whether in her past life or in this life.
Wu Dong: "I'll go find Director Zhang right now."
Song Lan hummed in agreement and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Comrade Wu." The troublemakers were family members of employees of the machinery factory, and behind them stood the spouses of these family members. To solve the problem at its source, Director Zhang's intervention was naturally indispensable.
It's not that Song Lan is afraid of trouble, it's that she dislikes trouble!
As for why she didn't personally meet with Factory Director Zhang, it stemmed from the fact that Wu Dong was in charge of negotiating Qin Yanzheng's work at the machinery factory and communicating with Factory Director Zhang.
If she were to appear before Director Zhang, it would inevitably be seen as overstepping her bounds. But then again, if the woman next door were to continue her veiled criticisms and show no restraint, she wouldn't mind stepping in to teach her a lesson!
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