Everything was going smoothly for the Xiang family. The only major problem at the moment - the marriage of the third son, Xiang Lidang - had also been resolved. Zhang Jidi finally relaxed.
A few days after the proposal, a courier came to the Xiang family on a 28-inch bicycle. There were two large army green bags bulging behind the seat. He took out a letter and gave it to Xiang Mianmian who happened to be at home.
When he saw the sender, he realized it was Xiang Lihua, who made Zhang Jidi worried.
Xiang Mianmian opened the letter and read it to her mother:
Mom, I'm in the military camp now. Don't worry about me. I've learned all these movements and trainings. It's very easy. It's just that it's so boring to practice from morning to night every day.
There's nothing bad about this place. Food, clothing and other necessities are all provided by the government. I don't have to spend a penny. Hehe, I can't use the pocket money you give me at all.
I like shooting the gun the most. My squad leader and the others said that I was a natural with guns. No exaggeration, I can hit the target with ten shots out of ten at 400 meters.
Unfortunately, I picked up a few bullet shells and wanted to give them to you as souvenirs, but the camp wouldn’t let me and confiscated them. But it’s okay, I’ll bring you some good things when I visit my family.
…
He wrote a thousand or two thousand words, which took up three sheets of paper and still couldn't fit them all.
Xiang Mianmian was reading a letter to Zhang Jidi, who was not very literate, and she was at a loss whether to laugh or cry: "This fourth brother is really not good at studying. Not only is his handwriting ugly, but why does he even use pinyin!"
Zhang Jidi wiped her eyes and didn't let the tears fall. She was worried about her son who was nowhere to be found.
She put away the letter sent by Xiang Lihua, took out a blank piece of letter paper and asked Xiang Mianmian to write a reply to her fourth brother.
Zhang Jidi briefly recounted the important events such as Xiang Lili's admission to the methane plant, the allocation of housing to the family, and the marriage proposal for his third brother Xiang Lidang, and added that everything was fine with his family.
He was told not to show off, but to train diligently in the army and to retire and return home when he had the chance in a few years.
Although he knew that Xiang Lihua, the traitor, would not listen, Zhang Jidi still wanted to write it to Xiang Mianmian.
I wrote a letter and also sent Xiang Lihua's favorite dried meat, which was spicy. He loved it the most and always asked his mother to make it for him when he was at home.
Knowing that Xiang Lihua was safe, Zhang Jidi finally felt happy after receiving the letter.
Rebellious children get more attention from their parents, which is commonly known as: the crying child gets the milk. Zhang Jidi has five children around him, so he can't help but worry about the naughty children far away.
Days passed, those who should work worked, those who should go to school went to school, and time passed until the second year when the methane plant was recruiting workers.
After all, the methane plant was newly opened, and the scale of recruitment in the first year was small. Once the convenient Flint lighters sold quickly and the construction period could not be met, the factory would definitely have to expand its scale.
This time, the number of technical positions is no less than the 70 we searched for last year, it has doubled!
While other factories are tightening their staff and not hiring, or only hiring three or five workers, methane plants are clearly more popular.
So people from all over the county came to apply for the exam. The methane plant didn't expect such a large number of people, and they even had to hold the exams in batches, and they were almost overwhelmed.
Because Xiang Mianmian was only in junior high school and was young, and there were no other candidates of the same age in her family, Zhang Jidi didn't pay much attention to this matter. She was more concerned about Wang Chunting's belly.
Wang Chunting, the eldest daughter-in-law, has given birth to a granddaughter, Xiang Youfeng. Although a daughter is also a treasure, Zhang Jidi still wants to have a grandson.
Wang Chunting was already seven months pregnant at that time. The fetus was not stable, so she went to the hospital and was told that she was about to give birth at any time.
"Mom, why don't I hire someone to do it for me? After all, children are more important." Wang Chunting thought for a while and then reluctantly discussed it with her mother-in-law.
She said it because she really couldn't stand it anymore, and she was worried that her mother-in-law would be unhappy about not getting paid for several months.
Zhang Jidi looked at his daughter-in-law's pale face. He felt it was not good to oppress a pregnant woman who was about to give birth, so he just said, "Go ahead and tell your boss that you can stay at home to take care of the baby."
This pregnancy was really troublesome. The morning sickness has never stopped since the beginning of the pregnancy. Wang Chunting only considered outsourcing because she couldn't stand it anymore.
Subcontract work means that when an employee is injured or inconvenient, he or she hires someone else to help with the work. The salary goes to the subcontractor, and the employee will still have to go to work after a few months.
But the tickets are welfare benefits, and they belong to the employees. People work for you, so you should at least give them some benefits, right?
Wang Chunting's supervisor understood her situation and asked her, "Who are you looking for to do the work? We'll have to give it a try. If they're not suitable, we won't accept them."
His concerns are easy to understand.
Wang Chunting's job is to count the tonnage and cubic meters of coal. All the money coming in and out has to be accounted for, which requires some financial thinking. It's impossible for just anyone to do it.
What if she brings anyone from her family to do the work for her in order to keep the money within her family, and the accounts turn out to be a mess? The factory will not hire her.
Wang Chunting has already picked out the candidate: "It's Aunt Qi who retired from our factory. She was the one who brought me up. I'm sure she can take over."
When selecting new people, people are afraid that they will be squeezed out if they perform too well. However, it is different for retired people. They are happy to get paid for a few months, and it is also convenient to hand over their positions.
It was an acquaintance. The leader was very satisfied when he heard this: "Okay, then you can hand over the work to Aunt Qi and check the account books. You don't need to come tomorrow."
The retired Aunt Qi is not very old. She is actually only in her early forties. She retired early so that her family and children could stay in the city. She must be very happy to have a contract worker now.
Wouldn’t it be nice to earn a few more months’ salary?
The two quickly handed over their work. Wang Chunting said, "I will probably be back two or three months after giving birth, so I expect to trouble Master Qi for three to six months."
Aunt Qi smiled and said, "Okay, you take a good rest. When you're ready to go back to work, tell me. It's best if we take a full month or half month handover so we can calculate the salary."
This is normal. People usually do this to avoid disputes.
Wang Chunting knew the rules, agreed, and slowly went home holding her belly.
When she returned home, her mother Ming Erni had already prepared soup for her. The soup had been stewed for a long time and the whole house was filled with fragrance.
Wang Chunting asked curiously, "Mom, aren't you working today? How come you have time to come to my place?"
Ming Erni helped her daughter sit down. "I changed shifts, and I brought you some chicken stew to nourish you. This pregnancy is really hard for you. Try it. I skimmed off all the oil."
Wang Chunting vomited while eating the light chicken soup.
Ming Erni supported her distressedly and handed her water to wipe her mouth: "Forget it, let your brother's eldest niece take my place, I will take care of you."
Wang Chunting was exhausted from vomiting and shook her head. "No, Mom, work is so important. You'll retire normally in two years. If you retire now, your salary will be cut in half."
"It's not just for you. Your eldest niece is almost old enough to go to the countryside. If I step down, at least she can take over and stay in the city."
Wang Chunting still shook her head: "Tell your brother to find a way to buy one himself. You can't just rely on Mom's savings."
Ming Erni sighed, "Oh, it's so hard to buy books. There are so few jobs. Your eldest niece didn't pass the exam even after memorizing the list of books your second brother-in-law Chen Wei gave her. You can only say that she's not that lucky."
There was no chance to buy the job, and she couldn't pass the exam, so she had no choice but to give the job to her granddaughter.
Wang Chunting touched her belly and sighed, "My mother-in-law watched me for three years but couldn't find a job. Lili managed to get in by herself."
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