Chapter 157 Quarrel
As the central figures of the discussion, Xiang Bei and Tao Nan Feng were completely unaware of this.
On the third day after the front-page photo of Jiangcheng Daily was published, Xiangbei went to the post office to install a telephone. The company is developing rapidly now, and it is inconvenient to communicate with the outside world without a telephone.
As Xiangbei entered the hall, he filled in the name and address of "Nanfeng Design and Engineering Consulting Company" and handed over the form. The clerk sitting at the counter saw the company name on the form and immediately looked up and stared at him.
The other person was a thin man in his forties, with a hostile look on his face, and his eyes were filled with contempt and anger.
Xiangbei frowned, straightened his back and looked cold.
The man snorted and slammed the application form on the table.
"Are you the gigolo who raised a child in the newspaper? How shameless!"
These words suddenly rang out in the quiet hall, as if the calm surface of the water was broken by a huge rock and became turbulent.
There were three men in green uniforms behind the counter, staring at Xiangbei curiously, and saying things that made Xiangbei feel confused.
"You said you were going to take care of the child, so why do you have to publicize it so high-profile? And you even took a photo and put it in the newspaper! Now when I get home from get off work, my wife stuffs the baby in my hand and says that men should take care of children."
"Can a man breastfeed? Can he be as careful as a mother? What does it look like for a man to do a woman's job!"
"Isn't the role of a father in the family to earn money to support the family? He has to work and take care of the children at the same time, which must be exhausting."
The crowd who were doing business in the hall were also agitated, pointing towards the north.
Xiang Bei knew something was wrong, but he didn't show it on his face. He slammed the table hard, and the murderous aura gushed out of his body.
"Can I do the telephone service?"
Xiangbei was born tall, and the scar on his face made him look more ferocious. After this slap and yell, the staff behind the counter didn't dare to say anything more. They quickly stamped a few stamps and told him to go back and wait for news.
He drove north to go home and parked the jeep downstairs of the company with a serious look on his face.
Tao Nanfeng and Tao Shouxin were sitting in the reception room drinking tea. There were three copies of Jiangcheng Daily on the tea table. The tea had already gone cold, but no one was drinking it.
Hearing the sound of a car, Tao Nanfeng stood up and came out to greet it. I looked up and saw that his face looked strange, and asked anxiously, "You, know?"
Facing his wife, Xiang Bei's expression softened.
He said in a deep voice: "I heard some rumors outside, but I don't know what it is."
Tao Nanfeng stretched out his hand and interlocked his fingers, sighing softly: "Lü Xue published the photos taken at the company gate without our permission. Now the newspapers are deliberately guiding public opinion, and it seems that we have become public figures."
A soft little hand stretched out from the big palm, feeling smooth and cold.
Xiangbei clasped her hand, their knuckles touched, and a slight pressure came over them. All the depression disappeared, and the burden in her heart turned into water, flowing through her chest, soft and rippling.
Xiangbei comforted him: "Don't be afraid, I'll take a look first."
The two men walked into the reception room, sat in the host seat facing north, and boiled water and made tea again, neither hurried nor slow.
Tao Nanfeng and Tao Shouxin, who were sitting below him, were infected by his ease and were no longer nervous. They took the hot tea brewed by Xiangbei and took two sips.
Xiangbei took the newspaper and started reading.
The reception room was very quiet, with only the rustling sound of turning pages.
"Haha." The deep laughter was full of magnetism. Xiangbei finished reading and put the newspaper down. "The photos are very good. I will go to the newspaper office tomorrow to get the negatives, develop them, enlarge them, and hang them in the reception room."
Tao Nanfeng's eyes were filled with doubt: "Don't you feel offended?"
Xiangbei shook his head: "The man behind the successful woman is a very apt saying. The face is not shown in this photo, so it is meaningless to hold the newspaper responsible.
Besides...a photo has sparked heated discussions in society, which shows that women are awakening in this era. Don't be afraid, Nanfeng, we are not the focus, we are just the fuse that triggers people to think.
Don't worry about it, it will fade away naturally after a while. Everyone is busy making money, so who has the time to talk about these things? ”
A real man is one who remains calm in the face of adversity.
There was a hint of admiration in Tao Shouxin's eyes when he looked at Xiangbei.
Anyone who becomes a public figure for the first time and is cursed and criticized by so many people would be nervous, right? Wasn’t it because “people’s words were scary” that the star Ruan Lingyu committed suicide? But Xiangbei was not panicked, and was able to quickly grasp the key points and comfort Nanfeng.
The drooping corners of Tao Nanfeng's mouth gradually turned up, and his dull eyes became bright.
"I'm glad you don't mind! I was quite scared when I saw this newspaper. I was afraid that you might feel uncomfortable but not say it out loud."
To be honest, when Tao Nanfeng first saw this photo and the discussion in the newspaper, he was very frightened. Men also need to save face. Xiangbei must be unhappy when so many people say that he is a gigolo and has no future.
Some sacrifices can be made silently, but one does not want to be criticized.
Xiangbei refilled her teacup with water: "I'm happy that you care about my feelings, how can I be upset? When I married you, I promised that I would fully support your dreams. It is my honor, not a shame, to be the man behind a successful woman."
Tao Nanfeng felt a warm current rising in his eyes, and his eye sockets turned slightly red. Xiangbei carried out the promise made before marriage very thoroughly. He truly recognized his abilities and ideals and was proud of himself in every way.
With a husband like this, what is there to regret?
Tao Shouxin sighed: "Xiangbei, ah Xiangbei, if all men were as broad-minded as you, there would be happy families all over the world."
The three people let go of their worries and simply stayed out of the matter, treating themselves as ordinary spectators and commenting on the readers' letters.
"What do you mean women should stay at home and be housewives? That's bullshit."
"Look at this sentence, I am really laughing to death..."
"I didn't expect to see things from this perspective. It's interesting."
As the discussion was lively, a sharp female voice suddenly sounded at the door: "Tao Nanfeng, if you want to be a career woman, then go ahead. Why do you have to lead all the women to stay at home?"
The three of them exchanged glances.
Xiangbei signaled Tao Nanfeng to stay calm, stood up and walked out of the reception room.
Zhou Hongying was wearing a white Dacron shirt, her short hair was a little messy, she stood at the door of the company with her hands on her hips, looking angry.
Xiangbei said in a deep voice: "Want to cause trouble? The police station is only two stops away from here, very close."
Zhou Hongying didn't expect that Tao Nanfeng ignored her shouting and cursing, and the person who came out was Xiang Bei.
Xiang Bei looked like someone who was not easy to deal with. Coming from a military background, he was very strong and powerful, and most people didn't dare to mess with him.
Zhou Hongying's voice instantly became lower: "Xiangbei, you should also control your Nanfeng. Just because Nanfeng touts women's liberation, now my Minxing's girlfriend Lu Xue has followed suit, saying that she wants to follow Tao Nanfeng's example and become a successful career woman, and not consider marriage for the time being. I just said a few words, and Lu Xue said she wanted to break up. Minxing is already an adult, and she finally got someone to date, how can she break up?"
Xiangbei glanced at her and said, "That's your business. What does it have to do with Nanfeng?"
Zhou Hongying slapped her thigh and said, "How come it's none of her business? She's the one who started the company, appeared in the newspapers, and advocated that men take care of children and support women in their careers. With a role model like Tao Nanfeng, which woman wouldn't want to learn from her?"
Xiangbei laughed out loud: "The leader said that men and women are equal, like the rising sun in the east, and women can hold up half the sky. Why don't you dare to say a word?"
Zhou Hongying's face turned pale. After that campaign, who dared to question the leader's words? Don’t you want to live?
Xiangbei's laughter suddenly stopped, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he became extremely sharp, like a sword drawn from its sheath, revealing a cold light.
"It's just that you think Nan Feng is soft-hearted and easy to bully, right?"
Zhou Hongying met Xiangbei's gaze and took a step back in fear. Usually when dealing with Tao Nanfeng and Tao Shouxin, the father and daughter were kind-hearted and seldom argued or confronted anyone. Over time, this gave Zhou Hongying the illusion that the people next door were easy to bully.
Today, Ouyang Minxing told her depressedly that Lu Xue had proposed to break up, and Zhou Hongying felt like the sky was falling. Her family is a family of high-level intellectuals and her son works in a government agency with a stable job. How could she not be worthy of Lu Xue? She actually doesn't want to interact with her son?
After careful questioning, it turned out that Lu Xue and Ouyang Minxing were already discussing marriage, and the change happened after she interviewed Tao Nanfeng. After Lu Xue took the photo titled "The Man Behind the Successful Woman", she received a lot of attention and made a series of sharp comments, becoming a celebrity in Jiangcheng Daily.
After experiencing the sense of accomplishment brought by her career, Lu Xue became less enthusiastic about getting married. In addition, Zhou Hongying and Ouyang Minxing were urging them to get married, and they kept saying that they should get married early and have a son to carry on the family line, and that Lu Xue should stay at home and take care of her husband and children. Lu Xue was completely heartbroken and broke up with Ouyang Minxing.
Zhou Hongying refused to look for the reasons in herself and put all the blame on Tao Nanfeng. I originally wanted to rush over and have a fight, but I didn't expect that Tao Nanfeng was busy doing the preliminary design of Jiangcheng Gymnasium these two days and didn't return to the Little Red Building at all. The more Zhou Hongying thought about it, the more unwilling she became, so she ran to the company to arrest someone to vent her anger.
Zhou Hongying was choked to death by Xiangbei's retort. She didn't know how to respond for a moment and tears started to flow.
"You don't understand. You don't understand the feelings of us as parents... If women are busy with their careers, who will give birth to children and who will do housework? Are all men single? You get married and have children, but you deliberately lead young people astray. Doing this will disrupt traditions and the foundation~~"
When Zhou Hongying throws a tantrum, Xiangbei can use harsh words. But when she complained and cried, Xiangbei felt a little troubled.
Just as his mind was racing as to how to deal with this disgusting neighbor, chubby sister Ye Yuan came over from the bus stop, supporting Ye Yintong. When she heard what Zhou Hongying said, she was immediately furious.
"What bullshit are you talking about? If you keep howling, I'll slap you to death!" After cursing, Ye Yuan handed her father to Xiang Bei, and she confronted Zhou Hongying head-on.
"With a mother like you who doesn't know how to deal with things, it's no wonder your son can't find a partner! If you think women are too busy with their careers, why don't you just find an uneducated rural girl? To put it bluntly, you think you don't like rural girls because they don't have a city hukou and can't work to earn money.
You want to take all the good things, how can you be so shameless! They want women to earn money to support the family, and they also want women to give birth to children and do housework. You are a woman yourself, so how can you be so vicious that you want to squeeze all the blood and sweat of women before you stop? ”
There is a row of storefronts next to the west gate of the university, which usually do some small business for students, such as selling fruits, grocery stores, stationery stores, and shoe and umbrella repair stalls. When they heard the quarrel here, they all came out of the shops to watch the fun.
Everyone whispered to each other and filled in the missing pieces, and their eyes turned towards Zhou Hongying with contempt.
"Her son's girlfriend didn't want to get married, so she came to quarrel with the people at Nanfeng Company, saying that it was because Tao Nanfeng was busy with his career and set a bad example for women."
"No way? Can you blame Boss Tao for this? Boss Tao is really wronged! It's not like anyone can start a company or appear in the newspapers if they want to. Besides, she can't control others from learning from her."
"It's so difficult for women to do something now. She is a woman herself and seems to be a government employee. Why do they make things difficult for women all day long?"
Zhou Hongying finally tasted the pain of being pointed at and criticized. She felt that the gazes of these people were like hot oil, sizzling when poured on her body.
Ouyang Cheng rushed over from school, dragged her over, and yelled in a low voice: "Shame on you! Come home with me."
Ye Yuan put his hands on his waist like a victorious fighter, and laughed happily: "You are glorious, you are traditional, hurry up and resign and go home to take care of the children!"
Everyone laughed.
Zhou Hongying left dejectedly. Ye Yuan and Ye Yintong sat in the reception room and called Fan Yajun and Ye Chu down.
Ye Yintong bent down and rubbed his knees, smiling and saying, "I saw the photos and comments in the newspaper. I felt uneasy at home, worried that you and your wife might have a rift, so I asked your sister to come with me."
Fan Yajun was so busy that she asked blankly, "What newspaper?"
Ye Chu chuckled, took the newspaper, pointed at the black and white photo on the front page and said, "That's it. The newspaper praised me as the man behind the successful woman."
Fan Yajun said, "Oh," "The photos are nice. But I'm not successful yet."
Ye Chu smiled and said to his father, "Dad, you're worrying for nothing. Yajun doesn't know anything and doesn't think that much. We should just be happy with our family affairs. Let outsiders say whatever they want."
Ye Yuan glared at him and said, "You! You have never been a quarrelsome person since you were a child. Do you know what people in the family quarters of the towel factory say about you? You really want to piss people off to death! If it weren't for your sister's strong mouth, who knows how the rumors would spread."
Ye Chu scratched his head: "Sister, you have worked hard."
Fan Yajun turned her head and looked at Tao Nanfeng: "Are you okay? No one said anything to you, right?"
Ye Yuan picked up the jasmine tea Xiang Bei had brewed and drank it all, then said triumphantly, "Someone came to my house to pick on Tao Nanfeng, but I scolded him back. Tsk! I, Ye Yuan, speak with clear logic, clear logic, and solid evidence. I am invincible in the towel factory. A mere professor's wife is nothing."
A smile appeared on Tao Nanfeng's lips, and he was deeply moved.
She stood up and bowed deeply to everyone: "Thank you, thank you for your support and love."
In the 1970s and 1980s, China was still a patriarchal society, with men having absolute say. It was very difficult for women to make a career! But now there are so many people around him who respect and care about women, Tao Nanfeng feels very lucky.
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