In the end, no one from the Qi family got the job, including the Qi family members.
Because this matter eventually escalated, all the neighbors present that day were persuaded by one sentence from Bu Ling: it was a job, after all, who wouldn't be tempted?
The old master of the Qi family was quite decisive. Seeing that things had turned out this way, he immediately instructed Qi Gong to say that they no longer wanted that job and should give it back to the machinery factory, and let the factory manager hire someone else.
Neighbors who need this information can inform the children who are going to the countryside to prepare for the exam. This applies to everyone, including Aunt Shen. The decision-making power is left to the factory.
In this way, everyone had nothing to say. Although they were dazzled by the job, they weren't blinded by greed. They knew that with so many people competing for one job, they weren't necessarily going to get it.
But exams are different. Everyone starts on the same footing, and parents always have an inexplicable confidence in their children, so everyone calms down.
Aside from Aunt Shen, who originally orchestrated this whole thing for her own daughter, now it's all been for someone else's benefit. Not to mention the money she spent to bribe that doctor, which has all gone down the drain.
How could she not hate this? But she was a strange person. She didn't hate the Qi family for giving the job back to the factory, nor did she hate the neighbors for competing with her for the job. Instead, she hated Bu Ling the most.
She believes that if Bling hadn't said that, the neighbors might not have realized what was happening, and the job would still have been her daughter's.
However, she harbored resentment in her heart but dared not dance in front of Bu Ling at all, mainly because the previous lessons had been too painful.
Back to Buling, she hadn't really taken the matter to heart, and she didn't care about Aunt Shen's attitude either, since she always settled scores on the spot anyway.
Since Qi Gong announced his self-study for his job, the postman has been coming to their compound more often.
One evening, Xia Qingmei, heavily pregnant, and Feng Daquan walked into the courtyard with large bags and small packages.
At that moment, Buling was squatting by the door, chatting with Aunt Tian while picking fennel seeds. She wanted to eat fennel dumplings.
"cousin!"
Bu Ling looked up in response and saw Xia Qingmei standing in the yard smiling at her. She quickly put down the fennel in her hand: "Cousin, what brings you here?"
"Are you pregnant?" she said, pulling Xia Qingmei into the house to sit down. Feng Daquan followed with his things, and the neighbors in the courtyard all had their eyes light up when they saw the two of them with their large bags and packages.
Buling brought a stool for the two of them to sit down, and then made two cups of brown sugar water, placing them in front of them: "My cousin's husband is really something, my cousin is pregnant, and he still makes her work so hard!"
Feng Daquan smiled憨厚ly.
Having spent a lot of time with Bu Ling, Xia Qingmei had become less formal. She was thirsty and taking small sips of her brown sugar water when she heard Bu Ling's words. She smiled and explained:
“It’s not his fault. I insisted on coming, and he couldn’t stop me.”
After saying that, Xia Qingmei continued casually, "I haven't seen my cousin for a long time, and I miss you terribly. It just so happens that this batch of vegetables in our village has just come out, so I came to bring some to my cousin."
A glint flashed in Bu Ling's eyes: "My cousin is really something, always worrying about me. You can't do it again next time, it's so chaotic outside, and you're pregnant. What if you get hurt?"
Xia Qingmei's expression dimmed for a moment, but she quickly cheered up: "It's my fault, it's my fault. I saw the patrolmen outside disperse and thought it was over."
Bling glanced at the eavesdropping neighbors. "It's over, but the aftereffects are still lingering. It's better to be careful."
"In any case, my cousin is worried about me, so there's no rush. The most important thing for her right now is to rest and recover. It would be my fault if I made you tired." She didn't close the door and spoke frankly.
Although Xia Qingmei was disappointed, she still smiled and said, "You're so good at making fun of people! I'll listen to you and come back after I give birth."
After saying that, she pointed to the bamboo basket next to Feng Daquan: "You are not allowed to refuse these. My mother asked me to bring them. She said it is a token of her appreciation as an elder."
Feng Daquan lifted the bamboo basket, revealing eggs and two pheasants inside.
Buling glanced at her without batting an eye, then said with a smile, "That's great! My family just ran out of eggs, so I won't stand on ceremony with you, cousin."
As she spoke, she stood up and took out a few tickets from a locked drawer in the wardrobe: "I'm not being polite to my cousin, and she shouldn't be being polite to me either."
"These are things I prepared for my future nephew or niece, cousin, please accept them." Buling placed the tickets on the table.
Xia Qingmei looked at the three cloth coupons, one soap coupon, and one sugar coupon on the table. She hesitated before saying no, "Then thank you very much, cousin. We really need these in our village. I won't be polite."
She collected the tickets on the table and handed them to Feng Daquan, who took them and carefully put them in his pocket.
“That’s more like it,” Bling said reproachfully.
Afterwards, the two talked with Buling for a while before saying goodbye. After the two figures left the courtyard, Aunt Tian was the first to step into Buling's house.
"Xiao Bu, when is your cousin coming again?"
Bling's expression remained unchanged as she closed the cupboard door, turned around, and said, "I don't know yet, but we'll have to wait until she gives birth."
Aunt Tian was a little disappointed, but she agreed, saying, "Your cousin did the right thing. For the sake of the child, we have to be careful."
“That’s right, this is my cousin’s first child, so we can’t be too careful.” Bu Ling continued, following her lead.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Aunt Tian looked at the two pheasants flapping on the ground and finally spoke up: "Xiao Bu, your chickens..."
Bu Ling interrupted her, raising her voice: "As for the chicken, I'm planning to have one for my husband's family and one for my own, isn't that perfect?"
Upon hearing this, Aunt Tian knew there was no hope. "It's just right. It seems your cousin knew exactly when to send it."
Bling pretended not to see her disappointment: "Yes, it's a perfect gift."
Aunt Tian was thwarted, and the remaining neighbors who were itching to join in stopped trying after hearing what Bu Ling said.
Even Aunt Lan only drooled for a long time before finally going back inside, no longer wanting to see it.
Bling nodded in satisfaction, picked and washed the fennel, chopped it into small pieces, and then waited for the mulberries to return.
As for the two chickens, Bu Ling kept her word and took one back to the military family compound. There, she had a meal of mushroom stewed chicken with Sang Shen and her two older brothers, and also gossiped about Liang Boda's latest romantic developments.
The other one was taken to the government compound, where she cooked braised chicken for Sangzi. Although most of the chicken ended up in her and Sangshen's stomachs, it was still made at Sangzi's house, so she kept her word.
As the postman came to their alley more and more often, the exam date for the Qi family's job was set for next month.
This clearly indicates that the factory knows the whole story and is giving everyone time to prepare.
As time went by, the children who had been sent to the countryside gradually returned to the alley.
Including Jiang Hua...
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