Xu Damao was playing with his son in the alley when they unexpectedly ran into Yan Jiecheng and his wife, along with a little girl, who were returning from outside.
Yan Jiecheng greeted them warmly and introduced the girl next to him.
"Da Mao, this is Yu Li's cousin, Yu Haitang. It's quite a coincidence, we just found out that Haitang has started working, and the place she works at is the broadcasting station of your family's steel rolling mill, owned by Wang Minzhi."
That's why Haitang insisted on coming over to take a look.
"Haitang, this is Xu Damao, the husband of your stationmaster Wang Minzhi. He lives in our backyard," Yan Jiecheng introduced.
Xu Damao looked at the legendary factory beauty, and indeed she was quite good-looking. In an era when women were generally not very tall, Yu Haitang was at least 167 centimeters tall, with fair skin, delicate features, an oval face, and a high nose bridge—in short, she looked very stylish.
Yu Haitang also glanced at the station manager's husband, and to be honest, it was hard to describe. Their station manager was beautiful, had a great figure, and did a good job, so why did her husband have such a long face?
His long face was one thing, but this kid always looked at people with a lecherous gaze, as if he could see right through their clothes to the depths of their souls, which made people very uncomfortable. Fortunately, Xu Damao only glanced at him once before turning his eyes away.
Xu Damao and Yu Haitang nodded in greeting, thus becoming acquainted with each other.
"Is Minzhi home, Damao? Let's go check on her," Yu Li asked, seeing that the two had nothing to talk about.
Yu Li and Wang Minzhi had a good relationship, though both were relatively quiet in the compound. They usually chatted about clothes, family, and children, and often visited each other. Unfortunately, Yu Li had been married for a long time but hadn't conceived, which worried the Yan family a lot.
“He’s at home, you guys go ahead. Xiao Yongjun just came out to play, he definitely doesn’t want to go back now. His grandparents also went back to their house over the weekend, I’ll stay here with him for a while,” Xu Damao replied.
So, the group said goodbye to Xu Damao and took Yu Haitang directly to the backyard.
When Xu Damao brought his son home, he noticed that the atmosphere was a bit off. Yu Haitang was talking incessantly to herself, and Yan Jiecheng and Yu Li tried to interrupt her several times but failed, so they could only let Yu Haitang continue.
“Sister Minzhi, let me tell you, at first my boyfriend wanted me to go to the office or the political department, saying that I would be close to the leaders and get promoted faster there, but I didn’t want to go. In the end, he let me choose, and I chose our radio station.”
Sure enough, everyone at the radio station was so nice, especially you, Minzhi. You're beautiful, incredibly skilled, and patiently taught me everything."
Yu Haitang was talking over there. Xu Damao initially thought that apart from her bragging a bit about her boyfriend, everything seemed pretty good, so why did everyone have that expression?
"So, Minzhi, it's really important to find a man who treats you well and is also capable. Think about it, if it weren't for Yang Weimin, how could I have gotten into the steel rolling mill after just graduating from high school?"
"Sister Minzhi, you have the figure and the ability. If you could find a better man, you might be a section chief by now. Brother Damao, I'm not saying you're bad, I'm just stating the facts."
After Yu Haitang finished speaking, she glanced at Xu Damao.
Xu Damao thought to himself, "You're not just saying I'm bad, you're practically trying to drive my wife away! Luckily, I've managed to keep her tied down with my son. I don't know if Yu Haitang is out of her mind or has a problem with me, but why is she trying to make things difficult for me right away?"
Xu Damao was right; Yu Haitang simply disliked him. How could someone with such a long face and lecherous eyes manage to marry such a beautiful station manager? She found it hard to believe.
"Alright, Haitang, Minzhi, you've seen it all. Let's go to my house. My in-laws are waiting for us to come back for dinner."
"Da Mao, Min Zhi, we'll head back now."
Seeing her cousin's increasingly outrageous remarks, even urging Wang Minzhi to abandon Xu Damao, Yu Li quickly dragged her sister away. Halfway there, Yu Li ran back to apologize for her sister's inappropriate behavior.
Xu Damao was alright, but Wang Minzhi was truly speechless about her subordinate. If she wasn't good to Wang Minzhi, she'd always be considerate of her; if she was good to her, why would she inexplicably criticize her husband? She's really clueless!
"What did you say before I arrived?" Xu Damao asked curiously.
"Whatever she says, it's all this girl babbling on and on, even more annoying than Li Tong. From the very beginning, she's been talking about how great her boyfriend is, how well-off his family is, how gentle and considerate he is. These days, girls just call someone a 'boyfriend.'"
Then she started implying that you weren't good enough in this way or that way. You heard it when you came in, and she even advised you to find someone better. I said, "Did you do something to that young girl? She seems to dislike you." Wang Minzhi looked at her husband suspiciously.
My subordinate has been behaving quite maturely at work these past few days, not like a naive student. Logically, she wouldn't speak ill of my husband like this to my face unless there's some hidden reason.
"Don't look at me like that. I only met her for the first time today, just now when they came in at the alley entrance. Maybe she's out of her mind, or maybe her relatives are here and she's in a bad mood," Xu Damao explained.
He and Yu Haitang had no past grudges or present animosity, so why did she suddenly dislike him? It was truly unbelievable that a factory director like himself was being looked down upon by a mere girl.
Unlike Xu Damao and his group, the Yan family over there had an indifferent attitude; it was truly like winter, with the temperature dropping to freezing point.
During this period, the Yan family received a lot of care from Xu Damao, although this care came with certain conditions and could even be said to have been earned through their own efforts. However, it is undeniable that this relationship of dependence became even closer after Yan Jiecheng and Yu Li joined the auto repair shop.
But today, Yu Haitang almost severed this tightly connected thread with a large cleaver. Even if it wasn't severed, it must have suffered significant damage.
"Haitang, don't talk about your boyfriend. He's only successful because of his uncle. Didn't your sister tell you that your station manager's husband, Xu Damao, is also a leader, and he's your sister and brother-in-law's factory manager?" Yan Fugui said with a gloomy face.
"What factory manager? That long-faced guy is just a worker. If he were really the factory manager, why would my sister and brother-in-law call him by his first name?" Yu Haitang said in disbelief.
Yu Li never imagined that her cousin's practice of treating people differently based on their status came from this.
When they first started working at the auto repair shop, they didn't know how to address Xu Damao at home. Later, Xu Damao noticed that they always called him "Factory Manager" when they met, so he suggested that they continue to address him as "Factory Manager" at home, but not at the shop.
As time went on, they didn't notice anything strange, but their cousin misunderstood.
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