Chapter 22

Chapter 22

That night, Jian Li was eating her weight-loss dinner.

A bowl of vegetable and egg soup and a plate of cold salad.

She was very busy this summer, and she sweated out two pounds every day, so the thirty pounds she lost was not fake at all.

After coming back, Jian Li relaxed for a few days and then started her weight loss plan again.

A big check mark was already drawn on the original white paper, indicating the end of the first stage of weight loss. Jian Li took out another piece of white paper and wrote down her second stage weight loss plan.

She wants to lose weight to 120 pounds by the end of the year.

This plan is more difficult to implement than the first phase because it is almost time to gain weight in autumn, and Jian Li has limited time to exercise because she goes to school every day.

So she had to start controlling her diet.

Take tonight for example, Wang Mengmei made noodles. She and Jian Feng expended a lot of energy every day, and they were always busy during the day and didn’t eat properly. Only at night did they have time to quietly eat a meal that they liked.

Wang Mengmei has a very contradictory attitude towards her daughter's weight loss.

On the one hand, she hoped that Jian Li could lose weight. For a good girl, being fat was not only a physical problem, but she was more worried that her daughter would be bullied at school. Just like when she was in school, there was a classmate with polio in her class who walked with a limp, and some people with bad mouths would always chase him and call him a cripple.

Last semester, Jian Li was also called fat at school. She cried for a long time after returning home and didn’t eat much for two or three days.

Wang Mengmei saw it all and felt anxious. She also blamed herself for believing that careless doctor in the first place.

But on the other hand, Jian Lizhen started to lose weight, and Wang Mengmei always felt distressed.

Jian Li now has an egg, a bowl of porridge, and a plate of vegetables in the morning. She only has a small bowl of rice for lunch, and soup and vegetables in the evening. Wang Mengmei looked at Jian Li's pitiful face and couldn't help but feel soft-hearted, thinking about not reducing the amount.

It is the time when children grow up, and other people would not let their children down, but Jian Li dare not even eat snacks.

But Jian Li herself was very determined and executed the diet plan she set very well.

Wang Mengmei could only try her best to make Jian Li's reduced-fat meal more delicious.

After finishing a big bowl of noodles, Jian Feng solemnly announced at the dinner table that he wanted to get a driver's license.

"The factory's shifts have been reduced again this month. After much thought, I decided that I should learn something to be on the safe side."

Although Jian Feng did not think that the cotton textile factory would go bankrupt immediately, in his impression, the cotton textile factory was a state-owned factory. Even if it was not satisfactory for a while, it would not fail immediately in the future.

A skinny camel is still bigger than a horse. There are so many employees in the cotton textile factory. Even if many of them have been laid off before, there are still thousands of them.

Not to mention the various small factories that were set up in the early years to support the production of cotton textile mills. Including textile mills, grinding wheel factories, textile machinery companies, sales companies...

As the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people depended on the cotton textile factory, Jian Feng never thought that the factory would go bankrupt.

The difficulties are only temporary and the country will not ignore them.

Therefore, when he was considering what skill to learn, his priority was whether it could be used in his work in the future.

Then learn to drive.

Jian Li raised her hands in approval: "Dad, you can definitely learn to drive!"

In his previous life, Jian Feng was a good driver. When he was at the steering wheel, he never had any accidents, let alone scratches.

Although Wang Mengmei agreed, she was a little worried: "It shouldn't be cheap to get a driver's license, right?"

The family had just used the money to buy a washing machine. As for the money given by Wang Menglan, Wang Mengmei took Qianping directly to apply for a bank card and deposited all the money into it.

There are only a few hundred yuan in the house now.

“How much does it cost to get a driver’s license?”

Jian Feng was preparing for the exam and had asked about it, so he knew clearly: "The registration fee for a large vehicle license is NT$4,000, and in addition, the fees for arranging for the coach and other things would be at least NT$4,500."

Wang Mengmei took a deep breath and said, "So expensive!"

Jian Feng smiled bitterly. Isn’t it expensive?

Especially in recent years, there are more and more taxis in the city. Everyone knows that taxi drivers make money. A taxi driver can make at least 2,000 to 3,000 yuan a month. As for car drivers, they make even more.

Compared to the money you make, the cost of a driver's license is nothing.

"How about you wait a little longer?"

Wang Mengmei also knew that this was a serious matter. Although she felt pained, she still supported her husband.

"Wait two months."

In two months, the family will have enough money.

Wang Mengmei's stable character prevailed, but Jian Feng felt there was no need to wait any longer.

"I asked someone and they said that starting next year, the fees for driving schools will be more expensive. They also said that the requirements for large vehicle licenses will be closed, so it will be difficult to pass the exam in the future."

Jian Feng wanted to learn. After that, he wouldn't have to worry and keep awake at night.

No matter how much they say that the factories will not go bankrupt, there are still rumors. Now many state-owned factories have not gone bankrupt, but they are almost bankrupt. Especially in the northeast, bad news has been spread through the mouths of many people in the factories in the past few months.

The cotton spinning factory itself had its roots in the Northeast, and many people had distant relatives there, so the news was alarming.

Salaries are not coming down, and oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, etc. are all expensive. People are desperate, and having a job is just a facade.

If rural people lose their jobs, they can still have a piece of land to grow some food and vegetables, so they will never starve to death all year round. But if city dwellers lose their jobs, where can they find food?

Many people in state-owned factories make their livings from them. If the factories really go bankrupt, most people won’t even be able to see their future.

Jian Feng didn't dare to think too deeply about it, and just thought about insuring his own little family against the turbulent waves of the times.

Truck drivers will never lose their jobs.

Wang Mengmei was worried: "If you want a few hundred yuan, I can still think of a way for you. I can just sell it to my eldest sister and return it to her in two or three months. But a few thousand yuan... How can I open my mouth to ask for that?"

No one's money comes from the wind, especially since Wang Menglan was recently cheated out of two thousand yuan by that fellow villager, and then gave another two thousand yuan to his daughter. The relationship between the couple was already very tense. No matter how Wang Mengmei thought about it, she couldn't use this matter to cause a quarrel between her elder sister and her husband.

Jian Feng: "I'll go there tomorrow."

Wang Mengmei's tone paused.

Jian Feng: "Don't worry about it. I'll go ask... If it works, that would be the best. If not, just wait a few months."

Wang Mengmei snorted: "We should go and ask."

Wang Mengmei had a thousand words to say to criticize her mother-in-law, but she endured it in the end.

Jian Feng's mother looks kind and speaks softly, but in fact she is so cruel that it's scary.

Although Wang Mengmei has never lived with her mother-in-law, after so many years, she has learned that her mother-in-law may appear sweet on the outside but be bitter on the inside.

Jian Feng's father died in the line of duty that year, and the factory treated him very well. Not only did he retain his job and house, he was also given a large pension.

Jian Feng never saw this shirt from beginning to end.

His mother only gave him this tube-shaped building, and did not mention anything about the pension, holiday gifts, or monthly subsidies given by the factory over the years.

Jian Feng basically went back home naked by himself.

When Jian Feng took the job, his mother came to the family compound and lied to him, asking him to give her 10 yuan a month for his old age. She said it nicely, saying that she would save the money and give it to Jian Feng when he got married and had children.

As you can imagine, the money was never taken out in the end.

It was not until she had Jian Li that Wang Mengmei stopped giving away the money.

It was broken, but Jian Feng couldn't really deny her.

In theory, he had lived in that house for nearly ten years and had eaten their food for ten years, but he would still bring some things to visit them during the holidays.

When Jian Feng asked for a loan, he didn't think to ask his biological mother because she wouldn't give him any.

Jian Feng wanted to borrow from his two younger brothers.

Jian Feng's biological mother Huang Guihua married into the Ge family and gave birth to two sons and a daughter, thus establishing herself firmly in the Ge family.

Now, one of my two younger brothers is a doctor in a big hospital, and the other is doing well in business.

The youngest sister is a teacher at a key high school in the city.

Jian Feng was already disappointed with his mother, but he still had some affection for his three younger siblings. After all, he had taken care of them for the first few years.

His three younger siblings also respected him and always called him "brother".

Jian Feng had never borrowed money before, so he felt somewhat confident when he asked this time.

Jian Li looked at her father and shook her head.

Her father still doesn't understand it.

Until one gets involved in a situation, all the nice words and nice things he says are just nonsense.

Take Liu Xiangdong for example. When others give to him, he certainly won’t be stingy with any nice words. But when you ask for something in return, he’ll be sorry.

Jian Li shook her head, feeling that her father was destined to be disappointed this time.

When his family was in the most difficult time in his last life, none of Jian Feng's brothers and sisters helped.

As for her biological grandmother, Jian Feng's mother, she stayed even farther away from her.

Jian Li originally wanted to talk to her father about it, why bother opening her mouth to cause dislike. Then she thought, it's okay not to say anything, her father can just try it himself and then he will know if it works.

Jian Feng suddenly remembered that his wife was hiring, so he asked.

"Xiao Peng and Jianguo's wife, are you going to use it?"

Wang Mengmei: “No need.”

Wu Haixia and Sun Yan didn't usually interact with her much. Among Jian Feng's childhood friends, only Wang Liming's wife Xue Fang had a good relationship with her.

But Xue Fang's daughter was still young and there was no one at home to help her take care of the child, so Wang Mengmei had to find someone else.

But no matter who she wanted to find, she didn't want to find Zhao Xiaopeng and Xu Jianguo's wives.

It's not that she is petty, but having known them for so many years, she still understands what kind of people Wu Haixia and Sun Yan are.

Sun Yan was nimble with her hands and feet, but she had a merciless mouth.

Wang Mengmei runs a small business and she is looking for long-term customers. If Sun Yan comes, she will offend everyone around her.

Wu Haixia is okay. Unlike Zhao Xiaopeng who is always intriguing, she is just an ordinary woman in her daily life.

But Wu Haixia is a very stubborn person.

To what extent?

The amount of money Zhao Xiaopeng's family spends on groceries and meals every month is pitifully little.

It's not that Zhao Xiaopeng doesn't make money, it's simply that Wu Haixia is taking advantage of it.

She would go to the market at night to pick up discarded vegetable leaves, scraps of cloth, and even discarded rubber shoe soles. She would pick them up...

Zhao Xiaopeng actually had the best conditions among the group. His father was a level six worker in the factory with a high salary, and he had saved the most wealth over the years.

But Wu Haixia managed to bring the whole family to a new level.

There was an incident a few years ago when Wu Haixia made dumplings with meat that had been stored for who knows how long. After eating the meat, the whole family was sent directly to the cotton spinning factory hospital.

In the end, I suffered from vomiting and diarrhea and spent hundreds of dollars.

There were countless such incidents. Wu Haixia always saved small amounts of money and spent big ones.

Wang Mengmei was really afraid that Wu Haixia would come and ruin her business.

Jian Feng was not surprised by this result at all: "Who are you going to look for then?"

Wang Mengmei was very worried, but she didn't know what was going on.

The people in the compound were all so busy that no matter who she used, she felt like she was ordering them around. Most importantly, the relationships were not good.

Business in the market has been good recently, and many families have hired new staff.

Most people look for their own family members, such as the mother-in-law, father-in-law, and mother-in-law. It does not require paying more wages to their own family members and it saves time and effort.

But there are also people like Wang Mengmei who are useless to the elderly.

Wang Mengmei looked around and decided that it would be better to ask relatives for help.

Can……

"My eldest sister-in-law can't leave home, my second sister-in-law has a job, and my sister is even busier..."

Wang Mengmei sighed and said, "Let's talk about it later. I'll look for it again."

There are many capable people, but few suitable people.

Wang Mengmei wanted to be cautious, so she decided to think about it again.

Although Qian Ping has gone to school, Jian Feng can still help. Especially since the factory has been in a recession recently, Jian Feng has more free time.

******

Jian Feng went to find his two younger brothers the next day, and both of them said they would go home to discuss it.

Jian Feng thought the matter was settled, but his mother came the next day.

It was the weekend, and Wang Mengmei took a day off to clean the house, so when her mother-in-law came over, the whole family was there.

Jian Li finished her homework easily and borrowed books from the library to read at home.

Jian Feng was ordered by Wang Mengmei to climb up and down and give the house a thorough cleaning.

The more Wang Mengmei looked at her house, the smaller it seemed to her.

I didn't think so before, but now I find everything I see displeasing.

The house is too small, the windows don’t face the sun, the first floor is too damp, it’s too close to the bathroom, and the kitchen is so close that it’s hard to turn around. It’s almost winter, and I still have to go to the bathhouse to take a bath…

There is not enough space at home to put many things.

Jian Li originally didn't plan to sell her elementary school textbooks, thinking of leaving them for her children. However, after piling up boxes after boxes, she still couldn't find any space, so she had to sell them all.

Wang Mengmei: "I don't know when I can move to a new house."

Their houses are the oldest in the family compound, and the later units all have their own bathrooms.

A few years ago, there were rumors that the factory planned to demolish the first batch of houses and rebuild them, but now there is no further news.

Wang Mengmei wants a house. It doesn’t need to be too big, just two bedrooms and a living room. It doesn’t need to be very convenient, as long as it has an independent bathroom.

She had never dared to think about this idea before, but now she dared to think about it.

Wang Mengmei calculated in her mind that a two-bedroom, one-living room apartment would have to be at least 60 square meters.

Now the beautiful newly built building with elevator costs 800 yuan per square meter.

Wang Mengmei felt that she couldn't afford it, so it would be better for her to look around the family compound to see if there was anything suitable.

The houses in the family compound are cheaper, only about 500 yuan per square meter.

A house costs thirty thousand.

Wang Mengmei has a three-year plan in mind.

Coincidentally, Jian Li also had a plan.

Jian Li closed the door of her bedroom.

At her strong request, Wang Mengmei finally agreed to install a latch on the back of her door.

This way, when Jane Li is alone in the room, she can close the door.

Wang Mengmei refused to agree at first: "She's just a kid, who are you guarding against?"

Jian Li jumped up and said, "I'm grown up now, I want some private space!"

In the end, Jian Li had the upper hand. Who told Wang Mengmei to beat her up a while ago, and was she in a compensatory mood during this period?

Jian Li hid in the house, writing out her plan stroke by stroke.

At the beginning of the school year, the teacher asked students to write about their ideals. Jian Li thought about it again and again, and finally found her former dream in the pile of old papers in her memory.

When she was in high school, she actually wanted to study liberal arts rather than science.

But as family difficulties began to emerge, Jian Li finally chose science in a confused state and later studied the famous Tiankeng major.

Environmental science in biochemical and environmental materials.

Later, Jian Li spent a long time to successfully change careers and became a product manager in an Internet company.

If she had the chance to do it all over again, Jian Li decided to study liberal arts. Although she hasn't decided on a major yet, she definitely won't study science.

Jian Li solemnly wrote "select a subject" on the composition paper.

As a liberal arts student, Jian Li knew it would be difficult for her to make a fortune in her future job.

So Jian Li set a five-year plan for herself.

She hoped that she and her parents would be able to save their first pot of gold before the millennium arrived.

Chasing dreams requires solid material support.

Starting over again in life, Jian Li doesn't plan to just work hard for money all her life.

We have to find some value in life, right?

Although it sounds idealistic, she has been reborn and she just wants to learn something she wants to learn.

Jian Li wrote her plan in a notebook.

Her parents have found their own direction now, so she doesn't have to worry too much.

What Jian Li needs is guidance when necessary and to save up her own little treasury.

There are only so many things you can do with the 300-plus yuan you have, but if you want to buy a house quickly, this amount of money is not even enough as starting capital.

What's more, Jian Li has to study and has no time at all.

There was only one thing Jian Li could think of.

Contribute to magazines.

Jian Li used her own small treasury to buy all the magazines on the market.

There are more than twenty books in total.

Four of them are movies and TV, three are picture books, eight are literature, and there are several other more niche categories.

Jian Li used her work attitude as a product manager to analyze the style and popularity of each magazine, and finally selected two as her intentions.

This is a literary magazine that mainly consists of short stories. Many of the short stories have a strong flavor of chicken soup. There are also some historical analyses, including analysis of the Dream of the Red Chamber and Water Margin. There are even some product soft articles in it!

For example, an old lady had a bad relationship with her children. Later, her children bought her some health products. She then realized that she had been obsessed with her career and neglected her family. In the end, the family got together and made dumplings.

Jian Li was delighted when she saw it.

Three hundred words are spent here to describe in detail the name and effects of the health product. You can tell at a glance that it is soft copy.

Therefore, this magazine is more of a general literary magazine that caters to people's preferences rather than a literary magazine.

After a rough calculation, Jian Li felt that it was quite feasible.

As a product manager, she is an expert at writing soft copy.

This magazine in particular has very good sales, and the submission address is written on the back cover.

【The manuscript fee for this magazine starts from NT$80 per 1,000 words. Once the manuscript is accepted, the treatment will be favorable.】

Jian Li copied down the submission address of this magazine and prepared to submit a few articles to practice her hand.

The other magazine is very niche.

Jian Li had never heard of the name of this magazine in her entire life.

It was expected that it would go bankrupt soon and would not even live to see the millennium.

The reason why Jian Li chose this magazine as her alternative is because it is actually very avant-garde.

It is a passionate comics magazine.

Speaking of comic magazines, the most popular magazine in recent years is actually "Hua Shu Da Wang".

Jian Li still has many copies of this magazine at home, and this is the comic magazine she reads the most.

However, with the closure of "Hua Shu Da Wang" in 1995, many comic magazines have appeared on the market.

There are even quite a few magazines that have introduced comic copyrights from foreign countries and Hong Kong.

After the closure of "Painting Book King", a series of comic magazines such as "Cartoon King", "Science Painting King" and "Beijing Cartoon" appeared one after another.

However, these comics are mostly aimed at primary and secondary school students, and the content is mostly popular science education. There are very few comics with the same positioning as Japan's "Jump".

If we divide the comics in China into different stages, then "Painting Book King" is the first stage, and these textbook-based comics are the second stage.

The book in Jian Li's hand has already reached the third stage.

It is mainly aimed at people of all age groups, and the serialized comics have a hint of the flavor of passionate boys' comics.

One of Jian Li's hobbies throughout her life was reading comic books.

When she was in college, she even submitted her manuscripts to comic magazines. At that time, print media was still popular, and her comics were accepted several times.

Later, when the magazine failed, Jian Li became a social animal and could no longer find the mood to leisurely draw comics in college...

Jian Li flipped through the magazine and thought this might be a good opportunity.

Her drawing skills are average, but she has seen many types of comics, and her previous comics have been praised for their unique style. For her, the story is not a problem when it comes to starting a long-running comic.

Jian Li wrote down in the plan - Literary Magazine Submission

Comic submission.

To start a long comic book, a lot of preparation is required, and every aspect of the character setting and plot must be taken into consideration.

Jian Li was busy, and was interrupted by the noise outside.

"Mom, why are you here?"

The sound coming from outside the window was old yet warm.

"I heard from Changyuan that Xiaoli seemed to have taken the wrong medicine and is not feeling well. I came to see her."

Jian Li curled her lips.

She got sick because she took the wrong medicine in the first half of this year, and her father took her to see Ge Changyuan at that time.

Her grandmother, on the other hand, is thinking of coming to visit her now, more than half a year has passed.

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