Chapter 29 Chapter 29 Invoice
Tuesday morning at 8:20, in the family compound cafeteria.
There were still ten minutes before the meeting was to start. Quite a few families were already sitting in the cafeteria. People kept coming in through the door. When they saw someone they knew, they sat together in groups of three or five, holding hands and chatting.
"Wow, you all came so early today."
"Didn't they say yesterday on the loudspeaker that we need to issue invoices after the meeting today? Why don't you run faster?"
"Yes, several children in my family are waiting for this month's meat coupons."
"Who said it wasn't true? Fortunately, the fish and shrimp here are free."
"This week the accountant finally tallied the tickets."
"Oh my god! You don't know, Xiao Zhou has quit as an accountant a long time ago, and the new person is in charge of the finance department now."
"Ah?! I was wondering why the accountant suddenly came to his senses this week."
"Hush! Xiao Zhou is coming in."
…
At the entrance of the cafeteria, Accountant Zhou, oh, now Teacher Zhou, walked in, took a look at the noisy cafeteria, and prepared to find a place to sit down.
"Accountant Zhou, thank you for your hard work. You can finally send us the invoice today."
Teacher Zhou turned around and saw a woman coming over to talk to him with a smile. After a moment's thought, he realized that this was the relative of Deputy Head Chen who had just arrived not long ago. Her name seemed to be Qi Huiying.
Teacher Zhou smiled and said, "I no longer work in the Finance Department. The person who issued the invoice this time is a newcomer in the Finance Department."
Qi Huiying asked in surprise: "Newcomer? Who is it?"
Teacher Zhou pointed to the person below the podium in front and said, "Look, that's the one who is talking to Director Wang, the new family member of Director Xia, Director Meng."
"she?!"
Qi Huiying looked over in shock. Could it be that the job that Director Wang said the teacher would give her was in the Finance Department?
Teacher Zhou said, "Fortunately, Director Meng is here. Now I can finally go back to teaching with peace of mind."
Qi Huiying turned around in surprise and asked, "Are you going to continue to be a teacher?"
Teacher Zhou frowned slightly, feeling that her tone was a bit harsh, but she still explained: "I am a teacher originally, and I came to the Finance Department as a temporary emergency. As a result... Fortunately, now professionals are here, I can finally put down the burden here and return to school. I heard that Director Meng used to work in Haishi Bank, so I don't have to worry about invoice issues anymore..."
Qi Huiying couldn't hear what she said next. She only had one thought in her mind: If she goes back to be a teacher, what will she do? It seems that there is only one teacher's position in this elementary school...
Teacher Zhou talked for a while, and saw that Qi Huiying's eyes were blank and she was obviously not listening to what she said. She felt angry and wanted to say something, "Who is she?" It was clearly Qi Huiying who was talking to her.
As there were so many people here, she didn't say anything. She rolled her eyes at Qi Huiying and turned around to find a seat.
Qi Huiying came to her senses and wanted to ask if the school had any plans to recruit more teachers, but she found that the person in front of her had already left. She was furious. What kind of person is this! He just left without even saying hello. How rude!
She turned around angrily, but her legs bumped into someone. She staggered and almost fell.
"Who is it? You don't have eyes to watch when you walk." Qi Huiying was already in a bad mood, and her tone became even more impatient.
When I looked down, I found a little girl sitting on the ground. She looked familiar.
The person who was knocked to the ground and sat there was Xia Qinqin. She had been following Meng Yufei. When Meng Yufei was talking to Director Wang, she was looking around in the cafeteria boredly. She happened to see Fangfang not far away, and subconsciously she walked over to play with Fangfang.
Who knew that after just a few steps, she was lost in the crowd. From her perspective, she could only see the legs of adults walking around her, blocking her vision and making it impossible to find Fangfang.
She turned around and wanted to go back to find her mother, but accidentally bumped into someone, causing her to sit down on the ground. Her right hand was unconsciously resting on the ground, and at this moment she felt a sharp pain.
"It hurts so much!" Xia Qinqin raised her right hand and looked at the broken palm pitifully, tears welling up in her eyes.
Qi Huizi looked at the child sitting on the ground with an expression that looked like he was about to cry, and she felt annoyed. Really, she hated hearing children cry the most.
"Whose child are you from? Why are you running around?"
Xia Qinqin looked up at the aunt with a fierce expression, and heard an impatient female voice in her ears: Today is so unlucky, I heard bad news early in the morning, and I met a naughty kid, it’s so annoying!
Who is the naughty child this aunt is talking about? Qinqin is not a naughty child! Xia Qinqin thought aggrievedly in her heart.
"Hey, Qinqin, why are you here?"
The person who spoke was Xiao Cui from the Women's Committee. She came over and pulled up the fallen Xia Qinqin, and asked with concern: "Did you fall anywhere?"
Xia Qinqin was about to raise her hand to say that her hand was broken when she heard Qi Huiying say in a sinister tone, "Some people are really something. Can they take good care of their own children? They don't even apologize when they let their children run around and bump into people."
Xiao Cui turned to look at Qi Huiying, frowned and said, "Comrade Qi Huiying, if you are dissatisfied with me, just say it directly. Why take it out on the child?"
Qi Huiying snorted coldly and said, "I think you are the one who is deliberately looking for trouble. Did you let this kid bump into me?"
Qi Huiying and Xiao Cui had conflicts. Last month, they had a quarrel over the work of the Women's Committee. Everyone in the family compound knew about it.
At this moment, Qi Huiying saw Xiao Cui pulling Xia Qinqin, and she was sure that it was Xiao Cui who ordered someone to bump into her. She accused: "You are too petty, haven't you been given this job in the Women's Committee? What else do you want!"
When Xiao Cui heard her confusing right and wrong words, he almost laughed out of anger and was speechless for a while.
The Women's Committee had been preparing to recruit people for a long time, and Director Wang observed for a long time before finally deciding to choose herself.
As a result, Qi Huiying came to the island to join the army at this time. When she heard that the Women's Committee was recruiting people, she went straight to Director Wang to recommend herself.
Director Wang of course rejected her, and then Qi Huiying started making a fuss, saying that Xiao Cui had used a backdoor and snatched her job. This matter caused a lot of uproar in the family compound, and finally even reached the teachers.
Xiao Cui got angry when he thought about this. He had been with the army for several years and had been waiting obediently for the organization to solve the problem of job placement. Qi Huiying had just joined the army, so how could he have the nerve to say that he had taken her job!
"What are you talking about? I ordered a kid to bump into you? Do you want to see who bumps into whom?" Xiao Cui rolled his eyes at her and was too lazy to argue with her. There were so many people here, and if they ended up arguing, he would be embarrassed as well.
"This is Director Meng's child. I just came here to help find the child. You are so old, who would let a child bump into you?"
Xiao Cui bent down and said to Xia Qinqin, "Auntie will take you to find your mother, okay? Your mother is looking for you."
"Yeah, okay." Xia Qinqin sniffed. She was sensitive enough to notice that the atmosphere between the two aunts was not right. She suppressed the urge to cry and nodded obediently.
Qi Huiying looked down at the child in front of her and remembered that this was the child who played with Han Jianhong at the intersection that day. The image of Captain Xia and his family of three whom she met in the cafeteria a few days ago came to her mind again, and she remembered exactly who this child was.
She thought to herself: This naughty kid, her mother was competing with me for work, she teamed up with Han Jianhong to scare me with a snake, and now she's running over to bump into me again. Nothing good will happen when I meet her, she's so annoying. Why didn't she get bitten by the snake at that time?
Xia Qinqin, who was being dragged by Xiao Cui to find her mother, shuddered when she heard the voice behind her. Xiao Cui asked her, "What's wrong?"
Xia Qinqin shook her head and said, "I miss my mother."
She wanted to tell her mother that this aunt was so fierce and wanted to bite her with a snake!
Meng Yufei came to the cafeteria early in the morning and discussed the invoice issuance with Director Wang. But when she turned around, she found that the child beside her was missing!
Luckily this was the cafeteria, so she wasn't too worried about getting lost. After looking around, she saw Xiao Cui coming back with Xia Qinqin, so she hurried over to thank Xiao Cui.
"Xiao Cui, please help me find Qinqin."
"I happened to see her fall to the ground over there. I knew you were looking for her, so I quickly brought her here." Xiao Cui handed Xia Qinqin to Meng Yufei, "Sister Meng, the meeting is about to start. I have to go get busy first."
"Go ahead, thank you."
Xiao Cui turned around and ran to the podium to adjust the microphone. Meng Yufei bent down and said, "Qinqin, how could you run away without telling your mother? If you were outside, you might be kidnapped by bad people!"
Xia Qinqin lowered her head and whispered, "Mom, I'm sorry, I was wrong."
Meng Yufei touched her head and said softly, "If you want to leave mom in the future, you must tell her, okay?"
"Okay, I got it." Xia Qinqin nodded obediently.
Meng Yufei asked her again with concern: "Auntie Cui just said that you fell down. Did you fall anywhere? Does it hurt?"
Xia Qinqin raised her right hand and said pitifully, "Mom, my palm hurts!"
Meng Yufei looked at her daughter's broken palm and took it up to examine it carefully. There was light red blood seeping out of it, but fortunately the area was not large. She lowered her head and blew gently, saying in a soft voice, "It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt, Mommy will blow it for you. Our Qinqin is a brave child, right?"
Xia Qinqin nodded vigorously and said in a crying voice, "Yes, I am a brave child." As she said this, tears were still welling up in her eyes.
Meng Yufei felt so distressed that she tried to force a smile and comforted him, "Qinqin is awesome!"
She took her daughter to the podium to find Director Wang and said to her, "Director Wang, I'll take Qinqin back to the office to get the tickets. You guys go ahead and have the meeting."
Director Wang nodded and said, "Okay, go and do your thing first. Our meeting this morning will last about an hour, so you just need to come down before then."
"Okay, I understand. I'll be leaving now."
Meng Yufei took Xia Qinqin to the office upstairs, took out a handkerchief from her bag, and gently wiped Qinqin's injured palm.
As soon as the handkerchief touched Xia Qinqin's palm, she trembled in pain and pouted as if she was about to cry. Meng Yufei tried to comfort her again.
After finally wiping off the dust on her hands, Meng Yufei carefully reminded them, "Next time when we walk, remember to walk slowly, look carefully at your feet, and don't rush. If you rush, you will trip and fall."
Xia Qinqin nodded and said, "I see. Mom, I didn't stumble this time. I bumped into a vicious aunt."
"Aunt?"
"Yes, that auntie was very fierce. She quarreled with Auntie Xiao Cui and threatened to bite me with a snake."
“?!”
"What did you say? She wanted to bite you with a snake? Who was it?" Meng Yufei asked hurriedly.
Xia Qinqin complained: "It's a very fierce auntie. She also said that I was a naughty child. Mom, what is a naughty child?"
Meng Yufei hugged her daughter and patted her on the back, saying, "You are a good child, not a naughty child."
snake……
Why would this person suddenly bring up the snake to threaten Qinqin?
Could it be that that day was not an accident? Meng Yufei lowered her eyes in thought.
Meng Yu suppressed her speculation and patiently talked to Xia Qinqin for a while. Seeing that her daughter had calmed down, she stood up, opened the drawer, took out the tickets she had prepared yesterday, put them in her bag, and took her daughter downstairs.
The meeting in the cafeteria was already halfway through. Director Wang, who was sitting on the rostrum, was holding a microphone and speaking about women's rights. The women comrades sitting below were talking in groups of three or four, some were dozing off, and some were doing handicrafts...
The people sitting in the front rows were listening attentively.
Xiao Zhang saw Meng Yufei and ran over. "Sister Meng, I took down the account book early in the morning, but I couldn't find you."
Meng Yufei said, "I just went back to the office to get the tickets. I will issue the invoices after the meeting. You check the personnel and ask the people who received the tickets to sign in the album to confirm. If they can't write, they can put their fingerprints on it."
Xiao Zhang nodded and said, "Yes, I know. I brought the ink pad with me as well."
The two found a corner in the front row and listened attentively to Director Wang's presentation.
"Okay, today's meeting ends here. All participants, please don't leave yet. The new director Meng from the Finance Department has recalculated the tickets for everyone, and we will be able to issue all the tickets owed to you today! Now, we would like to invite Director Meng Yufei to the stage."
When they heard that the invoices were about to be issued, the people sitting below became excited. They clapped loudly and stared curiously at Director Meng who came up to the stage to issue the invoices.
Meng Yufei handed her daughter to Xiao Zhang, stood up and walked to the podium, took the microphone handed to her by Director Wang, and said with a smile: "Hello everyone, I am Meng Yufei who just came to join the army a few days ago, and I am the family member of Xia Junshan, the head of the first regiment."
"Director Wang heard that I had worked in a bank for several years, so he recommended me to the Finance Department. I am very grateful to the teachers and Director Wang for their trust in me and for giving me the opportunity to serve you all."
"With the cooperation of colleagues in the logistics department, we finally lived up to the expectations of the leaders and successfully completed the task. Our Finance Department sorted out all the tickets that everyone needs to collect every month on a form,"
He took out a form from his bag and continued, "If you want to know whether the number of tickets you received is correct, you can check it directly on this ticket. This form will be posted on the wall of the Finance Department."
"In addition, we will also compile and register the tickets that each household needs to collect each month. After receiving the tickets every month, please check them on site and sign to confirm."
Someone asked: "What should I do if I can't write?"
Meng Yufei smiled and said, "If you don't know how to sign, you can just put your fingerprints on it."
Meng Yufei held up the bag of tickets in her hand and showed it to everyone, "I've brought the tickets. Let's start issuing invoices now."
The people below were excited and clapped happily. The invoices were issued!
Director Wang shouted, "Start from the first row. Come up one row at a time. Everyone line up. Don't cut in line!"
Meng Yufei sat behind the table at the rostrum, Xiao Zhang sat next to her, and Xia Qinqin played behind their stools.
Director Wang and Xiao Cui were busy organizing the family members to line up.
"What's your name?"
"Zheng Daya, from the home of Battalion Commander Ge Shuisheng of the Third Regiment."
"Okay, I'll look for it and I found it. There is one adult in your family, who receives 25 kilograms of food coupons every month. There are also two children, one aged eight and one aged seven, who receive 13 kilograms of food coupons every month, so the two of them receive 26 kilograms of food coupons. There is also a two-year-old child, who receives 7 kilograms of food coupons every month. The food coupons your family needs to receive this month are 58 kilograms."
"And your meat coupons are..."
The little boy spoke in a clever voice while Meng Yufei sorted the tickets and handed them to the family members who came to collect them.
"Please check the ticket and sign it if there is no problem."
"I'll sign it. You guys are so nice. You've made everything clear."
The family members lined up to receive their tickets one by one, and the process was quite fast because the accounts were clear and there was much less time spent haggling than before.
The people sitting in the front row received their tickets and went home first. The people sitting in the back were waiting anxiously. Captain Cao sighed and said, "If I had known earlier, I would have sat in the front row."
"Forget it. You always sit in the last row at every meeting."
"How could I have known that the invoices would be distributed from the front today? If I had known, I would have definitely grabbed the front row."
"It's going to be sent anyway, why rush? Just wait."
"All right……"
Director Wang directed the scene skillfully, asking a row of people to line up on the side of the rostrum to receive their gifts each time. After they had all received their gifts, he would let the next row of people line up.
When the tickets were distributed to the last two rows, Xia Qinqin, who had been sitting next to Meng Yufei, gently pulled the corner of Meng Yufei's clothes. Meng Yufei looked down and asked softly, "What's wrong?"
Xia Qinqin leaned close to her mother's ear and whispered, "Mom, the aunt standing at the back is the fierce aunt."
After listening to her daughter, Meng Yufei looked to the end of the line and saw women standing in line wearing blouses, with their hair loose and wearing striped headbands.
This person...
Meng Yufei narrowed her eyes and remembered that this was the relative of Deputy Head Chen who lived next door to Zhang Dasao's house. Her name seemed to be Qi Huiying.
Does she have any conflicts with her family?
With countless thoughts swirling in her mind, Meng Yufei still maintained her composure and distributed the tickets to each household.
When Qi Huiying came over to collect the ticket, Xia Qinqin glanced at her and quietly hid behind Meng Yufei. Meng Yufei patted her daughter's shoulder soothingly.
Xiao Zhang asked concernedly, "Qinqin, what's wrong? You must be bored waiting here. Just hold on for a while. Auntie and mom will finish their work soon."
"Hey, why haven't you issued the invoice yet?" Qi Huiying said dissatisfiedly.
Little Zhang frowned and said, "I'm just talking to the child, why are you so anxious?"
Qi Huiying said, "If you want to play with your children, go home and play. Aren't you wasting everyone's time by staying here?"
"You..." Xiao Zhang was so angry that he wanted to argue with her, but was stopped by Meng Yufei.
"Xiao Zhang, please issue the invoice first."
When Xiao Zhang heard Meng Yufei say this, he suppressed his temper and continued issuing invoices.
Qi Huiying took the ticket, glanced at Meng Yufei and her daughter, turned around, and walked away clattering in her high heels.
Her action caused a lot of discussion among the people waiting to collect their tickets. They were wondering why Qi Huiying had a conflict with the people in the logistics department again. The quarrel she had with Xiao Cui from the Women's Committee some time ago was still a topic of conversation after dinner.
It was almost noon before all the tickets were distributed to everyone who came to collect them today.
Director Wang came over and asked, "How is it going? Have you distributed all the papers?"
Meng Yufei said, "All the people who came to the meeting today have received their tickets. There are still seven family members who have work and cannot take leave to come here today. Another three family members have returned to their hometowns and are not on the island for the time being. By the way, Director Wang, Comrade Xiao Cui, these are your tickets."
He handed them their tickets and said to Director Wang, "Director Wang, Dr. Huang is not here today. Do we need to send these tickets to the teacher's home?"
Director Wang said, "She's been on duty at the hospital these days, so let's keep her with you for now."
Meng Yufei nodded and said, "Okay."
Director Wang and Xiao Cui cleaned up the microphone and table on the podium, and Meng Yufei and Xiao Zhang hurried over to help.
After cleaning up, Director Wang said, "Okay, it's time to get off work. Xiao Meng, I'll go to your logistics department this afternoon to talk to Director Fu about the kindergarten. You can be there this afternoon."
Meng Yufei nodded and said, "Yes."