Chapter 43 Chapter 43 It can’t be Mr. Lu…
This warehouse does not store any valuables. It is usually used to store miscellaneous items that will be used in the near future. As long as there is work need, workers can get the key from the supervisor.
This time, Lu Qinghe had a spare key, and Liu Xiaojun and Zhou Chao also had one. Today, Liu Xiaojun stayed at the end of the warehouse just to get the key in his own hands.
It was time to get off work, and the factory gradually left. Liu Xiaojun looked around for a while before carefully moving the bucket he had prepared in advance from the back of the warehouse.
He had worked with Lu Qinghe for so many days and knew very well what the last part Lu Qinghe was going to draw tomorrow would be.
Lu Qinghe is used to starting with the background. Tomorrow, in addition to two smaller figures, he also has to paint a small background of rainbows overlapping wheat waves.
White, blue and green.
That's all.
Taking aim at the paint bucket, Liu Xiaojun lifted the bucket he had prepared in advance and poured the turbid grayish-white lime water into it.
For such a large background, even a slight difference in color can be very obvious.
And the amount he mixed in wasn't large. Standing on the chair, Lu Qinghe probably wouldn't have noticed the color was different from the rest of the place at first...
After finishing, Liu Xiaojun threw the bucket away, locked the warehouse, and swaggered towards the Armed Police Hospital.
-
Military Family Courtyard.
"I don't agree with Jin Manqing being the president!!"
As soon as he reached the street corner, Lu Qinghe heard Yu Lili's yelling voice.
"Then I don't agree with you being the guild president. Do you know more words than you can count on your fingers? You're so shameless and want to be the guild president. What a piece of shit!"
It was actually Jin Manqing who said this. Lu Qinghe was a little surprised and took two quick steps over to see what was going on.
Yu Lili: "Oh, Miss Jin Manqing, you're swearing now! Didn't you always walk with your chin up? Didn't you look down on us country folk the most, and despise our crude ways of speaking and doing things? Tsk tsk tsk tsk, look at yourself now. What's the difference between you and us?"
Jin Man's face flushed with embarrassment, but he still stiffened his neck. "The past is the past, and this is now. I'm an educated person, and all of us military families are family! Stop talking about that bullshit past! What happened in the past doesn't affect your inability to read! We all have ambitions. If I asked you to go to school back then and you didn't go, who can you blame now?"
Yu Lili was determined to compete with Jin Manqing. "So what? I can't read, but that doesn't mean I can't count. It's just about calculating everyone's labor compensation. When I buy vegetables and meat, I can count faster than the salesperson!"
"idiot!"
Jin Manqing sneered at Yu Lili, "Have you ever seen an illiterate salesperson? What good is it if you can count but can't take notes? I'm telling you, you have to agree to this even if you don't want to. If Director Ying Lu agrees, there's no point in making a fuss!"
"Why is it useless? If you, Jin Manqing, really became the guild leader, I would go to your place and cause trouble every day! I would bang my head against the wall and die, leaving you covered in blood!"
The conflict between Yu Lili and Jin Manqing has been going on for a long time. If we dig deep to find the reason, it may be that the two of them are born with incompatible temperaments.
A guy from the countryside is full of scheming, while a guy from a big city is self-righteous.
Anyway, whenever they meet, they either quarrel or have conflicts, and there is no peace.
Lu Qinghe walked up to Ying Lu and asked what was going on this time. Ying Lu also looked helpless.
"Starting this year, military personnel have become increasingly scarce. Previously, the various teams in the family factories run by our military region were managed by people from the logistics department. Now, we're short on manpower, so we've decided to combine the sewing, breeding, and processing groups into a Military Family Service Association. We'll then select a member of the military family to serve as president, managing finances and other matters."
Ying Lu said, rubbing her brows tiredly. "I'm really overwhelmed. Now all the work has been thrown to me alone to handle. I'm already busy managing the affairs of our military families' home, so the service association has to pick someone else to take charge. At first, I thought everyone would recommend themselves, but who knew it would turn out like this."
Wang Ningyu came over with the child in her arms. Seeing Lu Qinghe was there, she leaned over to listen to what was said and asked curiously, "Then why don't you just assign someone? I think Sister Han would be fine. She's older and more experienced."
"Sister-in-law Han is in charge of allocating affairs within the service association, but I'm worried about her. She can't read, either. Even though she said she'd start attending literacy classes after taking this job, I'll definitely have to help keep an eye on things and take notes at first."
Lu Qinghe thought for a moment and said, "I do have someone to recommend to you."
"who?"
"Xiaohua from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, she's married to Yu Xuexue now, so she doesn't live at her parents' house on weekdays, but she's always there."
Ying Lu slapped her forehead suddenly. "How could I forget who? I'll talk to Xiaohua about it and ask her to help Sister Han with the distribution of tasks. She probably won't be able to handle other things. The benefits provided by the supply and marketing cooperative are good, she will definitely not leave it."
As she spoke, Ying Lu turned her gaze to Lu Qinghe, "Sister-in-law Lu, you..."
"Don't." Lu Qinghe waved her hands repeatedly. "You can see that I'm running back and forth between the Military Region Propaganda Department and the Third Line Factory. The Propaganda Department is still waiting for me to draw the new issue of the pictorial. Director Ying, it's not that I don't want to help, I just don't have the ability."
"Can I...can I do it?"
Wang Ningyu held the child, hesitant and cautious.
Ying Lu looked over, with some doubt in her eyes.
"I think we can let Wang Ningyu give it a try." Lu Qinghe thought for a moment and said approvingly, "Director Ying, Wang Ningyu and I attended literacy classes together for half a year. She has mastered all the pinyin and recognized quite a few characters. She even took the initiative to ask the teacher to learn arithmetic. She seems to have some talent in this area. Perhaps she could help with the finances."
Ying Lu thought about it and still didn't quite believe it, but with Lu Qinghe's words in mind, she hesitated for a long time and nodded: "Okay, Wang Ningyu can cooperate with Sister Yu on the financial side."
Jin Manqing was tired of arguing with Yu Lili. After hearing what Ying Lu said, he crossed his arms and looked at Wang Ningyu.
"If Wang Ningyu were here, I'd feel more at ease. Yu Lili definitely can't do it on her own. If you think it's okay, Director Ying, then I agree."
Yu Lili spat, "Bah! Hearing what you said, someone who didn't know would think you were already the president of the service club!"
Jin Manqing rolled his eyes. "Then why don't you suggest who would be the most suitable person to be the president? Don't you think there's anyone else in our area who is as well-rounded as me? I can read and write, and I can recite poetry and songs. When the time comes, we'll have meetings and reports to make. Do you have the knowledge to do that?"
"Ink is useless, ability is what matters!"
"Nothing can be missing. Besides, you know I'm not capable? Tell me who is capable?"
In a blink of an eye, the two started arguing again.
Ying Lu smiled bitterly and covered her ears. "What can I do? I really don't know what to do. Jin Manqing is actually right. There are still people living near us. Some of the military wives have young children, about the same age as Wang Ningyu's little girl. At most, they can only come out occasionally, and the rest don't want to go out."
"I'm going to tell you one, and you have to admit it!" Yu Lili pressed on, pinching her waist and pointing at Lu Qinghe. "If Qinghe becomes the president, I'll be the first to raise my hand and agree!"
This time, Jin Manqing shut up.
Lu Qinghe: “…”
"Qinghe, do you agree or not?" Yu Lili snorted at Jin Manqing, then looked at Lu Qinghe, "Our Military Wives Service Association is for the benefit of the entire Military Family Home. Don't you want to participate?"
"I'm too busy, Director Ying knows that." Lu Qinghe refused, "It's not that I don't care about our military families' home, but I have a part-time job at the military region, and one person can't do the work of two people."
Yu Lili gritted her teeth and said, "It doesn't mean that Jin Manqing can be the president anyway!"
The situation came to a standstill.
Seeing that the children had all returned from school and were eagerly waiting for the adults to prepare dinner, Lu Qinghe's eyes fell on Meng Bin.
"Director Ying, I have a suggestion."
Lu Qinghe said, "Since no one is convinced by the others, why not find someone who everyone respects? After the New Year, I heard from Sister Wei that her fifth child has gone to school in another province, and the youngest, Meng Bin, will be in the second grade after the wheat harvest this year. Why don't you go to Sister Wei's house and ask?"
"Sister-in-law Wei is suitable!"
Ying Lu's eyes lit up. "If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known. I heard that Sister Wei has six or seven children at home. I didn't ask because I was afraid of disturbing her. If that's the case, I'll go find Sister Wei early tomorrow morning."
Wei Xiuhua has always been popular in the family compound. She is tactful in what she says and does, and considers things comprehensively. Even if things don't work out, there is always Commander Meng to give her advice. Even if there is something wrong, with Ying Lu's help, others dare not get angry with Mrs. Wei.
That's a good idea.
After hearing this, Jin Manqing and Yu Lili calmed down.
After Ying Lu took notes, she thanked Lu Qinghe and left. Wang Ningyu looked nervous and borrowed a dictionary from Lu Qinghe before leaving.
Jin Manqing didn't get along with anyone. He snorted, glared at Yu Lili, and took the child home.
Soon, only a few of his children and Meng Bin were left playing on the street.
Yu Lili saw that everyone had left before coming over and saying, "Qinghe, you have a really good relationship with Sister Wei. Even her husband Meng Bin often comes over to play. Next time you go out to play, just call our Zhuang Niu Niu."
Lu Qinghe frowned, "Your Niuniu is only three years old. They are just playing together because they are close in age. You can't let a few six or seven-year-old children look after babies in front of you."
Yu Lili smiled awkwardly.
There's nothing that can be done about it. The youngest child in her family is three years old, and the older ones are already in their teens, so they really can't play.
"I just said that casually. Speaking of which, I haven't seen Sister Wei for a while. Her children are all away, and she doesn't come out for a walk."
"She had the flu a while ago, and now it's her turn, but she should be almost recovered in the next two days."
"Oh, you two are still close."
Yu Lili said, forcing a smile, "Qinghe, look, when it comes down to it, our two families are the closest. No one else mentioned it just now, but I was thinking of you."
"I'm already busy running around. You should think about someone else next time. I can't accept this favor."
"Hey, you're still busy at the Third Line Factory? When can you go?"
"Tomorrow is the last day."
"Congratulations, Qinghe," Yu Lili said, her curiosity growing. "I'll have to take a good look at the Third Line Factory when I pass by it on my way out. You're a talent trained by our Military Family Home, and it's an honor for me to follow you. But by the way, you must have earned a lot of money for this work, right?"
“It’s free, no money required.”
Yu Lili was stunned. "Is this true?"
Lu Qinghe greeted the children and went home. He glanced over and said, "Of course it's true. If you don't believe me, go and ask. Building the Third Line Factory is everyone's responsibility. If you feel it's inappropriate, just pay me for the labor."
"Suitable, suitable... Oh, I told you, Qinghe, you have the highest level of awareness!"
Seeing that it was getting late, Lu Qinghe didn't say much to Yu Lili. After returning home, he braised the mutton offal he had bought a few days ago. Soon the aroma of the braised meat spread out.
Yu Lili smelled it from the other side of the courtyard wall and felt a sour feeling in her mouth.
"Look at them, they eat meat almost every meal! And it's mutton! They even look down on pork! Lao Zhuang, don't you know how to be more progressive?"
Captain Zhuang heard this upon arriving home and was unhappy. "That's Xiao Lu, he can earn his own money. If you have the ability, you should go out and earn money too. Why are you so obsessed with the family members' club's little money?"
Yu Lili was dissatisfied: "I've asked everyone today. Qinghe is helping the third-tier factories for free. If you ask me, you're just not as capable as Captain Zhao."
"The Third Line Factory is helping for free because they have a high level of awareness. But Xiao Lu actually gets paid for his work in the military propaganda department. Humph, besides, even if Captain Zhao is capable, they still look down on you!"
After arguing for a while, Yu Lili also sighed.
Every family has its own way of celebrating, and there’s no point being sour.
-
"Is there any news about the Ye family incident?"
While eating, Lu Qinghe and Zhao Zhanming asked casually.
"They say they've finished their investigation of the Ye family, and they need to go to Zhaojiagou again. It'll take some time, but..."
Zhao Zhanming paused, somewhat helplessly: "Since the investigation has reached this point, it should be almost certain. The police should be investigating the human traffickers now."
"After the results come out, shall we go to the Ye family?"
Zhao Zhanming: "We'll see what happens then. Maybe we don't need to go, and someone will go ahead and notify them."
"Um."
After the in-depth conversation last time, this matter did not cause much emotional fluctuation for either of them. They just mentioned it briefly and did not discuss it further.
The next day came in a flash.
Lu Qinghe arrived at the third-line factory early in the morning.
Zhou Chao and Liu Xiaojun hurried over, each holding half a steamed bun in their mouths, and kept apologizing.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Lu. Liu Xiaojun was late this morning because he had a cold. I was waiting for him to come along. Please wait a moment. We'll go get the tools right away."
"No rush."
Lu Qinghe said, glancing at Liu Xiaojun, "If you're not feeling well, you don't have to wait here this morning. There's only a little bit left anyway. Go and rest. I won't tell Director Jiang."
Liu Xiaojun's face turned pale. After hearing this, his eyes became evasive. "Thank you, Teacher Lu, for your concern. I... I'm fine. I'm fine. I'll go get the paint."
"Are you really alright? Why don't you finish your meal and then we can start again."
Zhou Chao breathed a sigh of relief. While chewing on a slice of black-faced steamed bread, he took out half a cucumber from his pocket and took a bite. "I said Teacher Lu is a good person. If he saw us eating, he would definitely not say anything about us. Unlike Director Jiang... Well, I didn't say anything, hehehe, thank you Teacher Lu!"
After he said that, Lu Qinghe actually felt less restrained and started chatting with them with a smile, "You guys don't look that old, do you?"
"I'm sixteen, and Liu Xiaojun is eighteen."
Lu Qinghe's eyes widened in surprise. "You're so young, aren't you going to high school?"
Zhou Chao: "No, my family can't afford to send us to university anyway, so it would be pointless. We'd rather stay here and build our country. But we're both helpers, doing odd jobs. Director Jiang said if we work for another year, we can get permanent positions."
Liu Xiaojun hesitated and agreed, "My family's financial situation is poor, and I have several younger siblings. Going to work early will help ease the burden on the family."
As they were talking, they finished their meal and moved the stools, picked up the paint and washed the board brushes as usual.
Lu Qinghe was used to starting painting from the background. She was almost done with the last area where the sun was shining through the clouds. She moved the chair into place, dipped it in paint, and stood on it.
The brush felt rough and heavy when it landed on the wall. Lu Qinghe was not used to it at first, but after painting for a few days, he felt that this touch gave him a sense of security.
“…”
After the first stroke was made, Lu Qinghe couldn't help but frown as he looked at the paint on the wall.
This color...
Something is wrong.
She was born with a keen ability to distinguish colors. Although she was painting on the wall, she only needed to outline the outline with a pencil in advance and pay attention to the layers when using paint. However, when painting a large area, if the distance is close and she doesn't pay attention to the surroundings, it is easy to have problems with the color layers.
Because of his experience in this area, Lu Qinghe was particularly careful when taking action.
The color of this first stroke is obviously different from the color of normal clouds.
It is still white, but the tone of this stroke is obviously gray. It may not be noticeable on the wall at first glance, but if it is painted over a large area, it will be very obvious.
Someone changed her paint.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Qinghe came to a conclusion.
In addition to this reason, she thought there were other reasons.
It is impossible for the paint to deteriorate in this season. If someone accidentally added water to it, the color would not be gray.
"Teacher Lu, what's wrong?" Zhou Chao asked curiously when he saw that Lu Qinghe hadn't moved.
"It's okay, Zhou Chao, please help me change the color."
"Okay, yellow, right?"
Lu Qinghe nodded, "Well, I'll draw this beam of sunlight first."
While Zhou Chao was dipping the paint, Lu Qinghe glanced at Liu Xiaojun.
Liu Xiaojun seemed a little abnormal since this morning. After a few days of contact, he was much more reserved and cautious than yesterday. Zhou Chao, on the other hand, was fine.
The scrub brush fell again.
The yellow is more obvious than the white. Not only does it appear gray, the entire tone becomes darker and a bit pink. Moreover, it is very rough to the touch when you put the pen to it, and there are obvious grains.
This must have been added.
Lu Qinghe didn't know what was added, but it was definitely some deliberate sabotage.
You are capable of using dirty tricks, but not showing up, right?
With a hum, Lu Qinghe did not stop his hands. He switched to white and continued to draw the clouds. After adding another part on the basis of the original clouds, he changed to yellow and continued to add upwards.
About half an hour later, Lu Qinghe threw away the scrub brush, jumped off the bench, and accidentally kicked the bench to the ground. He screamed and asked someone to call Director Jiang over.
"Something's wrong, Director Jiang!"
Lu Qinghe pointed at the painting on the wall and showed it to Director Jiang. "I don't know who changed my paint. I could have finished it today, but who knew it would turn out like this!"
"I was painting from too close and couldn't see the overall effect. I only realized something was wrong halfway through. Director Jiang, the clouds in our painting have turned dark, and the sunlight has turned into this weird color!"
Director Jiang stood there in a daze, looking at the obviously ugly and discordant colors on the other side.
"How did this happen?"
Lu Qinghe also looked panicked. "Yeah! Logically speaking, these pigments are kept in our factory. How could such an accident happen?"
Liu Xiaojun hung his head and interrupted, "You can't just say someone changed the paint. After all, it's been locked up in the warehouse. Maybe it's gone bad? I heard that it will change color if it goes bad."
"Absolutely impossible!" Lu Qinghe explained immediately, "The temperature is right this season. If you say that food will spoil if it's kept in a warehouse, that's a possibility, but pigments definitely won't. If you don't believe me, we can contact an expert and ask."
Liu Xiaojun was also dumbfounded after hearing this.
Zhou Chao, however, ran over from a distance. Seeing this scene, he was so upset that he almost squatted on the ground and cried, "Which bastard came to destroy it?! This is my first job in the factory, and it was fine before! Liu Xiaojun, Teacher Lu asked me to fetch water, and you were watching from below. Why didn't you remind Teacher Lu? Why did he draw so many pictures..."
"I, I didn't really notice..."
Director Jiang also looked very unhappy. He went to call the security team and the factory secretary over with a dark face.
Soon everyone arrived, and Secretary Fu of the Third Line Factory was so angry after seeing this scene that he started cursing.
"Damn it! The boss is coming to inspect tomorrow. If they put a dark cloud here, wouldn't that be intentional to make things difficult for him? Our factory will be completely disgraced!"
After saying that, Secretary Fu looked at Lu Qinghe anxiously again, "Teacher Lu, can we put this paint issue aside for now? Is there any hope of salvaging the painting on the wall? This situation is truly urgent!"
Lu Qinghe looked embarrassed and thought for a while before nodding in the expectant gaze of everyone.
"Yes, it is possible, but..."
Secretary Fu and Director Jiang exchanged a glance and quickly said, "As long as it can be remedied, we can meet any request Teacher Lu makes!"
"Require?"
Cai Shunli, who was mixed in the crowd, shouted sarcastically, "Hey, if this can be remedied, why don't you just do it? And you're even making demands. Could it be that Mr. Lu is deliberately sabotaging and making things difficult for our factory just to get more compensation?"
After saying this, several people echoed him.
Zhou Chao was a reckless person. He jumped up from the ground, rushed to Cai Shunli and punched him.
"What did you say? How dare you slander Teacher Lu?!"
"Slander? Who knows what people will do for money these days... Don't fight me, you little brat..."
"It couldn't possibly be Mr. Lu. Mr. Lu was doing this painting for free!"
"Free?"
Zhou Chao's face flushed with anger. "Of course! Others might not know, but how could I not know? Teacher Lu works so hard painting, and he doesn't ask for a penny! And you still say that!"
Cai Shunli was stunned.
Those who just agreed with Cai Shunli are now silent.
Some people who hadn't spoken a moment ago grumbled, "Zhou Chao, calm down. The people who were talking to Cai Shunli just now were just his friends."
"That's right, Cai Shunli, why are you so anxious? Teacher Lu hasn't even said what the requirements are!"
"You're so anxious, you didn't change the paint, did you?"
"that is……"
Seeing that the situation was getting chaotic again, Secretary Fu cleared his throat to quiet everyone down before asking, "Teacher Lu, some people have low awareness. Please don't bother with them. We will deal with them later. Teacher Lu, please tell me the conditions first."
Now Lu Qinghe had roughly figured out what was going on.
She glanced at Liu Xiaojun, then at Cai Shunli. "It's simple. I can fix the painting this afternoon, but I demand that the person who sabotaged it be found and severely punished for damaging public property!"
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