Chapter 11 The Terrifying Chemical Plant: Mom, I Want to Escape
Logically speaking, the national statutory marriage leave is only three days. Why was the original owner able to rest for so long? Because he worked long hours overtime.
Before her "love-struck" tendencies kicked in, she was completely focused on her work. Right after graduation, she spent every day in the lab, even Sundays off. She used all her precious holidays for her wedding leave.
Now that the holiday is finally over, Wang Xiao's first reaction is: Why bother going to work? I should just quit. 64 yuan a month isn't even enough for two days' worth of business income.
However, she underestimated the high level of veneration people had for formal employment in 1990. Countless young men and women couldn't find suitable jobs and were waiting to take over their parents' jobs in state-owned enterprises. She, a respectable university graduate assigned to a chemical engineering institute as a state cadre, wanted to resign and sell braised food? Don't be ridiculous.
Chen Yidong and Qian Xuemei completely ignored her nagging. The uncle even woke up his niece before four o'clock in the morning and put her in the car. It just so happened that he, as the sales manager, had to go to the provincial capital to deliver a batch of goods on behalf of the factory today, and he would take Wang Xiao to her workplace along the way.
So, before Wang Xiao could figure out how to persuade his uncle's family, he was dumped at the entrance of the Chemical Research Institute early in the morning, completely bewildered.
Hehe, she really should be grateful for Uncle Chen's thoughtfulness, otherwise she really wouldn't know which way the gate of the Chemical Engineering Institute opens.
However, looking at the white sign with black lettering on a white background of the Chemical Research Institute, she didn't dare to go in.
When she was in college, a doctoral student in the chemistry department had an accident during an experiment. The accident killed three people, including the professor and students. The doctoral student suffered severe burns all over his body, and the school even organized a donation drive for him.
From then on, Wang Xiao would avoid the chemistry lab altogether, let alone go inside.
Even professionals can cause accidents like this; if it were an amateur like her, well, she probably wouldn't just blow up the lab, she'd blow up the entire chemical engineering institute.
For the sake of human destiny and world peace, she knew she should resolutely give up and drift through life.
The problem is that she's had curly hair since she was a child.
Before she transmigrated into the book, her parents divorced before she even turned one year old. It was as if they'd planned it all out; neither wanted her, both busy pursuing their own love. Only her elderly grandmother was willing to raise her. Everyone laughed at her grandmother, saying she'd lost her mind, treating her granddaughter like a treasure. From a young age, she was constantly called a burden and ridiculed, which fueled her fierce competitiveness. Subconsciously, she felt compelled to prove her grandmother's choice was right, that she was worthy of being invested in.
As it turned out, her grandmother's gamble paid off. She's widely considered the most successful third-generation member of both families. Even her cousin, who's pursuing a doctorate, says she's even more impressive. Of course, the real academic genius's words are: "Studying is the easiest thing in the world; making money is the hardest."
In short, let her scramble, no problem; let her slack off, it's better to just stab her in the back.
She was in pain; every bone in her body ached. She couldn't bear to waste her precious time on doing nothing.
Unlucky Wang Xiao stood at the front door, hesitating, when two female employees around forty years old walked in. Seeing her standing there dumbfounded, they looked at her with suspicion: "Xiao Wang, why don't you go in?"
Wang Xiao could only bite the bullet and make up a lie: "I saw you two teachers from afar, so I'm waiting for you."
The female employee with the Lang Ping-style haircut immediately smiled and reached out to take her arm: "You're so thoughtful. Did you have breakfast at home? Sister Miao steamed some shumai. I'll take two to you and bring them over to eat."
Wang Xiao quickly declined the other party's kindness: "No, no, Sister Miao, I ate a big breakfast."
She got up early and drank a cup of milk powder and ate two eggs. She also had a lunchbox of potstickers that Qian Xuemei had made for her in her bag. They smelled delicious, so she didn't have to worry about lunch.
Sister Miao didn't force her and continued walking forward with Wang Xiao by her arm. They walked along the tree-lined path and were about to turn left when another woman with a rooster-like hairstyle spoke up: "Hey, hey, Teacher Miao, the logistics warehouse is over there. Don't keep dragging Xiao Wang along."
Wang Xiao was completely confused. The logistics warehouse? What was she going to the logistics warehouse for?
Before she could say a word, Sister Miao's face darkened: "Why is she going to the logistics warehouse? Is that a place for her? What nonsense!"
When she turned to Wang Xiao again, her expression softened. "Xiao Wang, let me ask you something. What are your thoughts for the future?"
Wang Xiao was completely bewildered. She couldn't think of anything else; all she wanted to do was figure out how to escape the chemical engineering institute.
However, having experienced the era when the country urged women to marry and have children, and society wished that female college students would quit school and rush to have children, when faced with an older woman guiding her to envision the future, every cell in her body instinctively screamed with alarm. She immediately emphasized, "I don't have any ideas, I just want to work hard."
"That's right!" Sister Miao clapped her hands, smiling like a Maitreya Buddha. "You're so young, you should be working hard. Let me tell you the truth, you need to have a serious talk with your boss. You're still so young, and you're not in a rush to get married. You should be putting your career into it. Why aren't you continuing with that AC foaming agent project? It's going so well so far, now's the time to see results, how can you just give up?"
In 1990, there were no secrets. Half a month earlier, all of Wang Xiao's colleagues at the Chemical Engineering Institute knew that she had refused to marry him and run away.
When Sister Miao arrived at the wedding as one of the representatives from the institute and learned that Wang Xiao had run away, she burst out laughing.
To Miao, who has dedicated over twenty years to the chemical industry, rushing into marriage and becoming a stepmother at such a young age seems utterly insane. Her precious youth should be devoted to the noble cause of chemistry.
Wang Xiao was completely confused: What is AC foaming agent? It knows me, but I don't know it.
Before she could even respond, Sister Miao reached out to the middle-aged man with a receding hairline in front of her: "Director Xiao, perfect timing, Xiao Wang wants to talk to you about her work arrangements. She's a top student, a graduate of the chemistry department of a reputable provincial university, always ranking first in exams and receiving scholarships every year. Now that she's in our research institute, she should shine. She's still so young, she can't just sit in the warehouse and retire, can she?"
Director Xiao had already seen Wang Xiao, but he deliberately lowered his head and walked quickly forward, trying not to run into her.
When these new recruits first joined the institute, Wang Xiao and his nephew were assigned to his team. In terms of both personal ability and work ethic, Wang Xiao should have been the one to be given priority for development.
In fact, her performance in the AC foaming agent project team during her three-month internship was remarkable. She even proposed a new idea that greatly advanced the project's progress. Originally, everyone in the institute thought this project would drag on until at least the end of the year, but now it has entered the final stage, and the thesis is almost finished.
Director Xiao was really worried at that time, because his nephew was utterly hopeless.
He had gone to great lengths to get this guy a place in a sponsored student program and get him into university, but who knows how he managed to get by in university? He probably even copied his diploma.
When they actually got to the research institute, this bastard turned out to be completely incompetent, constantly making mistakes while trying to help Wang Xiao.
With his internship period ending in March and his job assignments coming up, he was worried about how to get his nephew into the project team. Only by getting on the project team's coattails and writing a thesis could he get a promotion and move up the ranks.
Unfortunately, none of the core members of the project team were willing to take in his nephew, fearing that the brat would get in the way.
Just when Director Xiao was in despair, good news came unexpectedly.
Wang Xiao is indeed a woman. Even after going to university, she still understands the principle that a woman should support her husband and raise her children. She took the initiative to approach him and said that because she wanted to focus her energy on her family in the future, she would not be able to engage in scientific research work that often required overtime to supervise experiments. She hoped that the leader could make appropriate arrangements.
How could Director Xiao possibly disagree? He immediately waved his hand and assigned her to work as a warehouse keeper. She worked from nine to five, and could leave on time. Even if she closed the warehouse door and breastfed her child inside, no one would care.
He wholeheartedly supported Wang Xiao's marriage.
It's a pity that when Wang Xiao ran away from her wedding, their research institute arrived too late; she had already escaped. Otherwise, if he had been there, he would have blocked the door even if he had to lie on the ground, and wouldn't have let her leave no matter what.
After all, once a woman gives up on marriage, it's like flipping a switch; she's capable of anything.
Take now, for example. She just ran away from her wedding, and now she's changing jobs.
Director Xiao had to resort to bureaucratic jargon: "The positions have already been assigned, and everyone is doing their job. It's impossible for any comrade to just change positions whenever they want. If you're transferred, who will do the work of the warehouse keeper? My comrade, you can't engage in bourgeois liberalism and act like a hero. You need to have a sense of collective honor. For our Chemical Engineering Institute, everyone is a brick in the revolution, ready to be moved wherever needed."
Sister Miao wasn't about to let Director Xiao off the hook at all, and directly challenged him: "That also depends on whether the bricks are placed in the right position, whether they can be used, and whether they will be a hindrance!"
The older woman with long hair tied in a low ponytail pulled Sister Miao aside and advised in a low voice, "Why did you offend him? You know how he got into the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University, he's a pioneer! Even Xiao Wang didn't say a word."
Sister Miao, however, remained stubborn: "It's precisely because she's so naive that I have to speak up for her. Look at how few women are still working on projects in our research institute. Once we retire, there will be a talent gap. What else is the research institute doing if not research? Even if it's comfortable now, it'll be useless later if we leave our profession. These men are just hoping all the women will become useless so they can be in charge."
The long-haired older sister could only helplessly watch as Sister Miao, full of bravado, dragged Wang Xiao by the arm and ran towards the laboratory.
In all honesty, Wang Xiao swears that she didn't intentionally stay put and wait to be taken hostage; she genuinely didn't know which way the warehouse door opened. Otherwise, she would have run away long ago.
A logistics warehouse is great; it's the safest refuge right now.
Unfortunately, the initiative had been lost. Sister Miao, with the force of a single man holding off ten thousand, forced Wang Xiao to rush to the laboratory building. She turned back to Director Xiao with a cold smile and said, "This is not the kind of assistant our group needs. Look, he doesn't even clean up the lab at night."
A young man in his early twenties with slicked-back hair suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He rushed into the laboratory and hurriedly began to tidy up the lab bench and wash the test tubes.
Director Xiao immediately pretended to scold him: "I told you to go to bed early at night and not to stay up too late reading. See, come over earlier next time."
Sister Miao sneered: "He's reading books? I'd like to know whether he's reading Jin Yong or Gu Long's martial arts novels."
Just as Wang Xiao was pondering how to find a reason to play dead on the spot, instead of going forward to help without being killed by Sister Miao's gaze, a "bang" suddenly rang out in the laboratory. It was unclear whether a test tube or some other glass container had shattered, but glass shards were flying everywhere.
Her exclamation turned into a scream the moment it reached her lips.
Because a shard of glass pierced the arm of the guy washing lab equipment, probably severing an artery, blood gushed onto the ceiling.
Wang Xiao plopped down on the ground.
Oh my god, this is terrifying! I would rather die than go into the lab.
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