Chapter 45 Chapter 45 I felt something soft...
The weather was getting hotter and hotter. When Jiang Ling came to work that day, the staff of the Finance Department were gathered together reading newspapers.
Everyone was watching so intently that they didn't even notice Jiang Ling coming in.
When leaving Old Tang's desk, everyone had a bad expression on their face.
Jiang Ling was extremely puzzled. "What's the matter, Chief Tang?"
Old Tang looked like he didn't want to talk about it anymore. He waved her over and said, "Come and take a look and you'll know."
What's the big deal? Why are you keeping it so mysterious?
A black-and-white newspaper was placed on Old Tang's desk. The photo on the front page was of their Factory Director Ding, but even through the black-and-white photo one could see that his face was as pale as death.
The front-page headline of the newspaper reported the incident succinctly. It turned out that the Beicheng government organized a press conference for the public yesterday, at which it announced that bankruptcy warning notices would be issued to three state-owned factories in Beicheng that were poorly managed and faced huge debts. One of the three state-owned factories was a daily chemical factory. They were given a year to carry out internal rectification. If the current situation could not be changed, they would enter the bankruptcy process.
Jiang Ling sighed in her heart. The plot of the original book was irreversible. In the original book, the daily chemical factory where Xie Lang's mother worked went bankrupt. Because of the closure of the factory, Director Bai was unemployed at home. The conflict between her and Tong Wanyue, the mother-in-law, also gave Xie Lang a headache for a while.
If the factory is going to close down, she will have to find another employer quickly.
This headline was not only seen by Jiang Ling, but also by many employees in the factory. Even those who did not read the newspaper in the morning and went to the cafeteria at noon also knew about it.
The workers were very emotional because they were confused about the future and didn't know what the factory would do next.
Jiang Ling took a nap at her desk in the office at noon. When she got up, she saw a young man standing beside her desk. Jiang Ling looked closely and found that it was Jiang Liwu.
I don't know how long he had been there. Jiang Ling was taking a nap and he didn't say a word, just stood there waiting.
There was still someone in the office who had not woken up yet, so Jiang Ling took him to the corridor.
Jiang Ling hadn't seen her younger brother for several months. After leaving that shabby home, she didn't want to think about him anymore.
Jiang Ling asked him gently, "What's wrong? Are you short of money?"
The young man, about fifteen or sixteen years old, actually wiped away his tears when he heard Jiang Ling ask him if he was short of money.
What kind of big deal could make him cry like this? Jiang Ling asked uncertainly,
"Is it Dad who is dying? Or Mom?"
"Just tell me directly, I can accept it."
Jiang Liwu continued to sob, "Neither."
"That's so..." It's a pity. "What's the matter? Tell me now, don't waste time, young man."
While the two were talking, colleagues in the office woke up one after another and called Jiang Ling to come back and stop standing in the corridor. "Jiang Ling, bring your little brother back to drink some water." In fact, they were too boring at work, and Jiang Ling's little brother looked like something happened at home, so they also wanted to listen to the excitement.
Jiang Ling was happy to ask her colleagues to listen to the Jiang family's excitement, so she took Jiang Liwu back to the office.
Jiang Liwu was still crying, and his clothes were very dirty, as if they had not been washed for a long time.
"Third sister, I have to take the high school entrance exam tomorrow. My eldest sister-in-law came home at noon today and told mom that our factory is going to close down. She asked me not to take the exam and to find a job outside to help reduce the burden on the family."
Jiang Ling raised her eyes to look at the perpetual calendar hanging on the wall. It seemed that she heard on the radio a few days ago that this junior high school student was going to take the high school entrance examination.
But Zhao Hongyun was really quick. He probably heard the news about the factory's bankruptcy in the morning, and he couldn't wait to go home and tell them at noon.
After Zhao Hongyun got married, she didn’t want to support her brother-in-law anymore. If he went to school, the old couple would have to support him for at least another three years.
If Jiang Liwu stopped studying, he would not only not spend money but also make money for the family. With this in mind, she had told her parents-in-law that studying was useless in the past few months. With this subtle influence, the idea of Jiang's parents-in-law to let their youngest son study was shaken a little, especially now that the factory was facing bankruptcy. If they supported another student, the family would face great pressure in life. It would be better to let the fifth child enter the society and make money earlier. Didn't the older generation raise the five children even though they didn't go to high school or college?
Jiang Ling asked him, "So what do you think?"
"I want to continue to go to school. My grades are very good. My teacher said I can get into high school. My parents originally supported me to continue studying, but after hearing from my eldest sister-in-law that my factory might close down, they no longer wanted me to take the high school entrance exam. Third sister, you have been to high school. Among the children in our family, except for my eldest sister and eldest brother who did not get into high school due to poor grades, you and my second sister are both high school students. You should know how important studying is."
Originally, for Jiang Liwu, going to high school or technical secondary school was optional, after all, he had his father's job waiting for him to take over. Now that the daily chemical factory was about to close down and there was no job for him to take over, he had to get into high school.
Although Jiang Liwu was very young and didn't understand why the state-owned factory would go bankrupt, it was a stable job with a permanent position, so how could it go bankrupt?
This problem was no longer something he could think about. What he had to think about was that he had to at least get into a technical school in tomorrow's high school entrance exam.
Jiang Ling could vaguely guess the boy's purpose. There were three sisters in the family, so why did he only come to Jiang Ling? Because Jiang Ling was a troublemaker and would help him. The second sister Jiang He was also a troublemaker. But Jiang He is not from the daily chemical factory, and her innate conditions are not as good as Jiang Ling's.
Jiang Liwu is not a good guy either. He wants Jiang Ling to take him to make trouble in front of Zhao Hongyun's leader.
Zhao Hongyun is almost the head of the Jiang family now. It is useless for Jiang Liwu to persuade his parents to let him continue his studies. In the end, he still has to get through Zhao Hongyun.
Zhao Hongyun is a person who puts profit above all else, and she would not agree to let Jiang Liwu continue to be a burden.
The best way is to make Zhao Hongyun give up this idea.
When Jiang Ling was married to Song Guanshu, she often spoke ill of her family in front of her office colleagues. Her colleague's older sister had a very bad impression of Jiang Ling's parents and her new brother and sister-in-law.
After hearing what Jiang Liwu said, the already bad impression was made even worse.
They all condemned Zhao Hongyun, "What did I say? Marrying an unvirtuous wife brings disaster to three generations. Xiao Jiang, your sister-in-law is really too much. She wants to meddle in whether her brother-in-law studies or not. Isn't this definitely a mess in the family?"
"Yeah, this is too much. It's pitiful to cry like this."
"Jiang Ling, which department does your sister-in-law work in? Let's ask her leader to judge. How can there be such a person? Besides, your parents-in-law can't control her, but can the leader control her?"
Jiang Ling is not a nosy person. Jiang Liwu is a bit pitiful. If he doesn't study at such a young age, what can he do in society? Although many people in this society are vigorously advocating that studying is useless, holding a scalpel is not as good as holding a razor, and making an atomic bomb is not as good as selling tea eggs,
Children in their teens are at a critical time in the formation of their values, so they should study in the classroom. Reading is the best way to acquire knowledge. Perhaps some people in society who do not read can also make a lot of money, but those are only a few cases.
Just assume that she is full of sympathy, "Come with me, I'll take you to see her leader."
The older sisters in the office were really kind-hearted. Seeing the little boy crying pitifully, they thought of their own sons. No matter how much they forced them, their own sons refused to study hard. Little Jiang likes to study and has a promising future, so how could the family hold him back?
Afraid that Jiang Ling was too weak and alone, he had to follow to help.
Zhao Hongyun's workshop director was a woman in her forties. She knew Jiang Ling and had once wanted her to be her daughter-in-law, but she was unsuccessful.
Jiang Ling explained her purpose. "It's like this. We have some family problems and we may need the organization to mediate."
The workshop director suspiciously asked someone to call Zhao Hongyun.
"Before she comes, let me tell you the whole story. Zhao Hongyun is my brother's wife. She is now the head of my family. My parents-in-law have to listen to her. The child will take the high school entrance examination tomorrow, but her family does not want her to take it because Comrade Zhao Hongyun thinks that studying is useless and wants him to go to work in the factory as soon as possible."
Jiang Ling briefly explained the whole story, and then played the emotional card with the workshop director. She didn't say how pitiful it was that Jiang Liwu didn't study at such a young age and had no future.
Jiang Ling sighed, "Comrade Zhao Hongyun may have some deviations in her values. She has been influenced by some impetuous ideas in today's society and believes that studying is useless and that she only cares about money. We can't say whether this view is right or wrong, but we think that people should pursue other things besides money, such as studying to serve the country and society. Just like decades ago, when our country was in the most dangerous time, the Prime Minister said that we should study for the rise of China. My brother was deeply moved and also wanted to study hard and contribute to reform and development."
Jiang Liwu originally just wanted to study for two more years and at least get a technical secondary school diploma so that he could find a job better. But after being inspired by Jiang Ling's words as the workshop director, he suddenly felt much more mature. He was right. He just wanted to become a useful person to the society and the country through studying.
The two older sisters who came with Jiang Ling were very moved after listening to this. Look at how this child is raised. This child has a bright future. No matter whether he can do it or not, it is great that he has this intention.
Jiang Ling couldn't always talk about big principles. She also had to flatter the other person. "We came to you this time to ask you to persuade him. After all, you are the leader and your words carry more weight. Comrade Zhao Hongyun will listen to you more. We can give this child a chance to study and repay the country and society."
After this talk, the workshop director, who was originally speaking out of respect, now also felt some sincerity. He thought that such a pillar of a country could not just disappear like that.
Zhao Hongyun was also confused when her co-workers called her. She thought that the director had discovered that she was secretly selling materials in the workshop.
When she arrived at the leader's office, she saw Jiang Ling and Jiang Liwu, a brother and sister. Even at this time, she didn't know why these two people came to the workshop to find her.
Zhao Hongyun didn't think that it was her who prevented her brother-in-law from studying. It was clearly her mother-in-law who made the decision. At most, she played a role in adding fuel to the fire. No matter what, it had nothing to do with her.
Besides, not allowing Jiang Liwu to study is a family matter, how can a family matter be brought to the workplace? Even if the three aunts are unwilling, they can only go home and make a scene. She is a pregnant woman, carrying the Jiang family's child in her belly. Even if they make a scene, what can they do? Her parents-in-law will definitely side with her.
Seeing a woman with a big belly coming in, the workshop director quickly asked her to sit down and first asked her a few questions about the baby in her belly.
"Can you still adapt to the work in the workshop? When did you give birth?"
Zhao Hongyun touched her belly and said happily, "It's almost there."
"Hongyun, I asked you to come here today because I wanted to talk about family matters. Do you feel that the burden on your family is too heavy? I remember that your father-in-law and your wife both work in the factory. With three workers in your family, your conditions are pretty good."
Although Zhao Hongyun didn't understand why the workshop director asked this, her instinct made her habitually play the victim. "Our family is actually a donkey dung egg with a shiny face. My mother-in-law is a housewife, my brother-in-law is still a student who needs to look up to his parents, and I'm pregnant with another one. Our family will soon have a third generation. Raising a child costs a lot of money. I'm just a temporary worker, and the factory often can't pay wages. Life is really hard."
She said her family was in financial difficulty, but there were many families who had a harder time than her.
The workshop director sighed, "No matter how hard life is, you can't stop your children from studying. If they don't study, they will be poor all their lives. Only by studying can they have a chance to change their current situation. How come you can't figure this out? Send this little one away, and the family will tighten their belts and live a hard life together for three years. When this child has a promising future, your family will be able to live a good life as well."
After listening to the workshop director, Zhao Hongyun understood that they had come to her to prevent the boy from taking the high school entrance examination. In order not to leave a bad impression in front of the leader, she said, "You all misunderstood me. I absolutely did not intend to prevent Liwu from studying. It's just that my parents-in-law are old and confused."
She refused to admit it in front of her leader, and even after returning home, she still did not allow Jiang Liwu to go to school. The workshop director could not do anything about it at that time.
Jiang Liwu was a cunning boy. He immediately knelt at Zhao Hongyun's feet and cried loudly, "Sister-in-law, please let me take the exam. I have been preparing for the high school entrance exam for a long time. Don't worry, I will spend less money after I pass the high school entrance exam. I won't compete with your nephews and nieces for food. I can only eat one meal a day. I will work and earn money during the holidays. I will definitely not add burden to the family. Please, just let me go."
Because of Jiang Liwu's kneeling, Zhao Hongyun will not be able to hold his head up among his coworkers and neighbors for the next few years.
How else can we say that this guy is willing to take such risks? What normal person would be so shameless as to do such a thing?
Several people in the room were frightened by Jiang Liwu's action, and they all felt that the child must have suffered a great injustice to behave like this.
Before Zhao Hongyun's workshop director spoke, Li Chunjiao, who came with Jiang Ling, spoke first.
"I've seen many sisters-in-law who can't tolerate their younger brother-in-law, but I've never seen one who can't tolerate his younger brother-in-law when his parents-in-law are still alive." Li Chunjiao turned to Jiang Ling and said, "If you ask me, your parents are just two fools."
Jiang Ling smiled and didn't respond to her. She just said, "Actually, my family didn't have such a hard time. Before we got married, we lived at home and had to pay ten yuan a month to our family. At most, we sisters gave more than twenty yuan a month. When we three sisters got married, we didn't have much money, but my parents were rich. The money we sisters gave to our family should be more than enough to support the fifth child to study."
Zhao Hongyun was almost broken by the tone of this aunt. The three aunts gave money to the family, didn’t they eat and drink at home?
Before she could question Jiang Ling, she heard her say, "My parents are indeed partial to the fourth child. My mother gave the fourth child a formal job, but was unwilling to let the fifth child study for two more years."
Many people don’t know about these things in Jiang Ling’s family. If the old couple gave all the jobs to Zhao Hongyun’s wife, and Zhao Hongyun now doesn’t allow his younger brother-in-law to go to school, that would be too much.
Zhao Hongyun knew she was in the wrong, so she pretended to have a stomachache, "Ouch, my stomach, my stomach hurts."
No one had pushed her, let alone touched her. She had a stomachache for no apparent reason. The workshop director and Li Chunjiao had both experienced childbirth, so they asked, "Is she about to give birth? Send her to the hospital?"
Regardless of whether she was pretending or not, she was a pregnant woman after all. If something happened to Zhao Hongyun due to their negligence, they could not bear the responsibility.
Jiang Ling also said, "Yes, then ask someone to send her to the hospital and let her stay there for two days. In case she is about to give birth, ask the workers from the security department to push her there on a cart. If they are not willing to come, tell them they will pay three yuan each. There is no need to worry that they will not pay. Just deduct the money from Zhao Hongyun and Jiang Liwen's salary. I guarantee that there will be a group of young men willing to help."
"Although the money is a bit more, it is about the children after all, so we can't be careless."
Zhao Hongyun pretended to be in pain and said with a weak breath, "Why do you keep talking about money? That's too vulgar."
Jiang Ling said incredulously, "You can't let them make a wasted trip. After all, they saved your life and the child's life. Besides, helping a pregnant woman is a big responsibility. If you don't have money, they may not be able to do it."
Zhao Hongyun was reluctant to let her brother-in-law go to school because she loved money like her life. From what Jiang Ling said, a trip to the hospital would cost her almost a month's salary. How could she do that? She was just pretending to have a stomachache, and it healed instantly without any medicine.'
"It's slowed down. My stomach doesn't hurt that much anymore."
Now even Zhao Hongyun's workshop director thought she was weird, but as her leader, she had to solve the problem. She said, "Hongyun, you are a sensible and good child. I believe you just made a mistake for a moment. No matter what, you still have to let your brother-in-law go to school. He only studies for a few years, so how much money can he spend? You can buy two less pieces of clothes and eat two less pieces of meat."
"Director, I......"
Seeing that soft tactics didn't work, the workshop director tried hard tactics, "As you know, the factory is in a difficult period right now. The factory director just called us over for a meeting. Our factory is going to carry out internal reforms. According to the leadership, some workers may be forced to leave or be laid off.
When laying off workers, we not only look at their performance but also their family situation. I'm also considering you. You said that if your brother-in-law stopped studying and could go out to earn money, then your family situation might be a little better. And you are a temporary worker, so the possibility of being laid off is great. ”
Zhao Hongyun weighed the pros and cons and decided that the reason she could be so tough in her husband's family was not only because she was pregnant with the eldest grandson of the Jiang family, but also because she had a job and didn't have to ask anyone for money, which gave her the confidence.
If she lost this job, even if there was one more person earning money in the family, how much money could a child like Jiang Liwu earn? Even if he earned money, how much would she get? No matter how you calculate it, it would not be worth it.
So she smiled flatteringly and said, "You are right. This child has a promising future. I think we should let him go to school."
After the group left the workshop director's office, Jiang Liwu said,
"Third sister, I will return the money for Taosu to you in the future."
Jiang Ling went to see the workshop director to do some work. She couldn't possibly go empty-handed. Courtesy is always welcome, so how could the director be so proactive in helping her if she didn't bring something?
Jiang Liwu knew that once his brothers and sisters got married, they were no longer just his brothers and sisters, and it was not natural for them to spend money on him.
Li Chunjiao at the side smiled and said, "Silly boy, how much is that worth? You should study hard. If you can remember your sister's kindness in the future, it will be better than anything else."
Jiang Ling patted his shoulder and said, "Come on, study hard. You have an exam tomorrow, go back and review."
Before leaving, Jiang Ling stuffed him with two yuan and said, "If you don't have time to go home during the two days of the exam, just find a place outside to eat something. Don't be reluctant to spend money."
After thinking for a while, Jiang Ling said, "If it's inconvenient for you to stay at home these two days, you can come and stay at our house."
Jiang Liwu didn't feel comfortable disturbing Jiang Ling again, so he shook his head and said, "The test center is close to home, and it's more convenient for me to live at home. Otherwise, I can go find a classmate to squeeze in."
It's not a question of whether it's inconvenient or not. Jiang Ling is worried that Zhao Hongyun might cause trouble at home. If he doesn't sleep well at night, or has diarrhea in the examination room, it will affect the exam.
If the steel plant's staff quarters are far from the test site, Jiang Ling would say, "How about this, I'll take you to the staff dormitory. You'll live there for the next two days and eat in the factory cafeteria in the morning and evening. As long as you can get into even a technical school, Zhao Hongyun won't dare to stop you from going to school, even if it's a technical school. If you don't get into high school because you're not in good shape these days, it's not that she doesn't allow you to study, it's that you don't live up to expectations."
Li Chunjiao hadn't thought of this. When Jiang Ling pointed it out, she agreed, "Yes, listen to your sister. This is a matter of a lifetime, so we can't be careless."
She took Jiang Liwu to the staff dormitory and told the dormitory manager to let him stay there for two days. She gave him two packs of cigarettes, found him an empty dormitory without roommates, and asked him to check on her dormitory in the morning for the next two days to make sure he didn't oversleep.
Since the dormitory manager got benefits, naturally no one would refuse.
Li Chunjiao and Jiang Ling helped settle the boy. When they returned, she said with emotion, "You are a really good sister. You are more dedicated than your parents."
Jiang Ling smiled and said, "Even if you see a stranger encountering such a situation, you should lend a hand, let alone a relative."
Li Chunjiao nodded and said yes.
The whole factory was discussing the newspaper headlines, and Wang Qiang also saw the bankruptcy warning notice in the newspaper.
This is really great timing.
At noon, his colleagues all went to eat. He made the excuse that he had something else to do. Watching all his colleagues in the office leave, he walked to Song Guanshu's desk with ease and took away the small bottle labeled shampoo.
This bottle had been on Song Guan's desk for a long time, and there was no guarantee that other colleagues in the office had seen it. He poured the liquid in the bottle into a bottle he had prepared in advance.
For fear of being discovered, he even filled half a bottle of water into the emptied bottle.
Song Guanshu and Jiang Ling returned to the office after lunch and saw that the bottle of shampoo was moved.
In the afternoon, in front of all his colleagues, Wang Qiang copied the formula and shampoo on a new notebook and handed them to the section chief.
"Knowing that our products are not selling well, the leaders have been worried about this. I was also worried about this, and wanted to help the leaders. After my tireless efforts day and night, I finally developed a shampoo that is better than ours and the existing ones on the market."
The section chief and his colleagues know how capable Wang Qiang is. When they hear him bragging that his products are better than those currently on the market, isn't that just bragging?
At first, no one believed him.
It was not until he held up the small bottle and let everyone smell it that the section chief sighed, "Let's not talk about the efficacy of this shampoo. This smell is really good. My daughter will definitely like it. She told me a long time ago that the fragrance of our factory's shampoo is too strong and unpleasant."
Wang Qiang promoted this shampoo as if it was truly developed by him, without any unnaturalness.
To the extent that, my colleagues only suspected that the shampoo was not effective, but did not doubt anything else.
Wang Qiang said to a colleague who had a better relationship with him, "Brother Feng, go and try it, it works very well."
He looked at the sun outside and thought that hair would dry quickly after washing. Out of the desire to help his friend, he put some shampoo on his hair and went out.
Five minutes later, he came back with water stains all over his body.
Although he has a good relationship with Wang Qiang, since the matter concerns the entire factory, he said honestly, "It is indeed better than the shampoo in our factory."
Everyone knew his character and knew that Lao Feng would not talk nonsense, so they passed around the notebook with his recipes.
"This is an update on our factory's original shampoo formula. Great, Xiao Wang, you have the talent to do this."
Wang Qiang had no idea what the formula of the factory's shampoo was, so he just responded according to what his colleagues said.
"That's great! Maybe this factory won't go bankrupt and be liquidated."
When the notebook was passed to Song Guanshu, he was very nervous and his palms were sweating. After all, he had stolen it from someone else, so no matter how confident he looked on the outside, he couldn't help feeling insecure on the inside.
Song Guanshu frowned slightly, "This..."
Wang Qiang immediately retorted, sneering, "This is the new shampoo I developed with great difficulty. You are not going to say that this formula looks familiar, like a new formula you developed?"
"Don't be so funny, if you really figured it out, why didn't you bring it out before? Now that I have brought it out, you have remembered yourself."
Wang Qiang's tone was too aggressive, and several colleagues were a little annoyed. "Wang Qiang, Xiao Song didn't say anything. After all, he is a colleague. Your words are too harsh."
Wang Qiang used to be less popular in the department than Song Guanshu, and his colleagues thought he was a bit too much.
"Besides, Xiao Song is not that kind of person."
Wang Qiang snorted coldly, "I'm just taking precautions. I'm afraid that when life gets better, some random people will come up to me and say that this is all his fault."
Song Guanshu smiled and passed the notebook to the next person. "Since Brother Wang said that he alone researched the formula of this shampoo, I naturally cannot take away his credit."
The goal was achieved, and this recipe had nothing to do with Song Guanshu anymore. Wang Qiang was very happy.
Before leaving get off work, I gave some to each of my colleagues and asked them to take it home and try it.
Jiang Ling had nothing to do during the day, so she was ready to leave work before the bell rang. She just waited for Song Guanshu to come downstairs so they could go home together.
Today Song Guanshu came a little later than usual, but Jiang Ling didn't take it seriously at first.
After I got home, I felt like something was wrong.
It was strange. The expression on this man's face was obviously no different from before, but Jiang Ling could tell that he was in a bad mood.
Jiang Ling reached out and poked his waist, "What happened? Did anyone bully you?"
After asking this question, he felt that he was redundant. Who could bully Song Guanshu? It was good enough that he didn't bully others.
"I modified the shampoo according to your suggestion. This afternoon, a colleague in the department brought the same formula as mine and said he had researched it." Song Guanshu said, "I looked at the bottle where the shampoo was originally stored, and the shampoo inside was replaced by someone."
He looked unhappy, and his beautiful eyes were dim.
Jiang Ling was blinded by lust and forgot what kind of person Song Guanshu was. She felt that he had suffered a great injustice in the unit.
"I'll go find your leader!" After saying that, I felt like she seemed to have said something similar today.
Not long ago, she just went to see Zhao Hongyun's leader. This can be considered as practice makes perfect.
Song Guanshu held Jiang Ling's hand and stopped her from going. "I saw that the recipes were similar, and just when I was about to speak, he mocked me and said that I wanted to steal good things from others when I saw them."
This is so pitiful. His colleague is such a jerk.
It's bad enough that they steal the fruits of other people's labor, but they also mock the victims.
Jiang Ling wanted to reach out and touch his head to comfort him, but as soon as she stretched out her hand, she felt something soft rubbing against her palm.
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