Tang Boyi listened to everyone chatting so enthusiastically that he couldn't help but look up curiously. "Shumei, what is she doing here?" Although it was just a silhouette, Boyi recognized Shumei at a glance. He dropped his work and ran towards Shumei.
"Could it be Tang Boyi's wife?" The workers looked at Tang Boyi chasing Shumei and asked in confusion.
"No way! Didn't I hear that Boyi's wife is a heavyweight? This doesn't seem like it!"
"Yes! I heard that Boyi's wife died in childbirth."
"Dead? Could it be the new bride?"
"No way? I haven't heard of it!"
…
The workers were still discussing the relationship between Boyi and Shumei.
At this time, Tang Boyi had already caught up with Shumei.
"Shumei, what are you doing in the factory?"
"Bo Yi! I want to ask for justice for Ji Zong, at least some compensation from the factory!"
"Is that so? I'll go with you!"
"This...this, won't delay you from work, right?"
"It's okay, we don't need this much time."
The two of them walked side by side towards the factory director's office. At this moment, such a harmonious scene really looked a bit like a happy family of three.
Boyi knocked on the factory director's office door for Shumei, knowing that this kind of thing would offend people and might even cost him his job. But for Shumei, Boyi couldn't care less.
"What's up?"
The factory director was a fat, balding man in his forties. He paused pressing the counter when he saw Shumei and Boyi come in.
"This is Zhang Jizong's daughter-in-law, she..."
"Hello, Factory Director. My husband, Zhang Jizong, was injured while working at the factory the other day. If he doesn't get surgery right away, he'll be paralyzed for life. This is what the hospital found."
Shumei interrupted Boyi and put the checklist in her hand on the desk.
The factory manager picked up the checklist on the table and glanced at it casually. "Then take him to the hospital immediately! Don't worry, I will keep his position here."
The factory manager seemed completely oblivious to Shumei's intentions. He put down the checklist and spoke nonchalantly, his left hand continuing to flip through the account book on the table while his right hand moved back and forth on the calculator keys.
"Ahem... My husband had an accident at your factory. Although I understand the law, I also know that this is considered a work-related injury. I would like to ask the factory director to pay for his medical expenses and allow him to have surgery as soon as possible to avoid delaying the best treatment time."
Shumei stood where she was, coughed twice to clear her throat, and then went straight to the point and stated her purpose in a fairly kind tone.
Hearing Shumei's words, the factory director paused his work and smoothed the few remaining hairs on his head. He took a cigarette from the box on the table, placed it between his lips, and slowly struck a match, lighting the cigarette. He took a deep drag, then deftly removed the cigarette with his right index and middle fingers. He then blew a large smoke ring towards where Shumei was standing.
Shumei looked calm and didn't seem intimidated at all by the factory director's serious expression.
Boyi, however, was feeling uncertain, unconsciously leaning closer to Shumei. Shumei didn't understand, but he knew it all too well. The factory had explicitly prohibited any work on rainy days, and the director had issued a stoppage order the day before. Jizong's injury wasn't truly a work-related injury. Even if the matter reached the village, town, or even the county, the factory wouldn't be considered at fault.
The factory director took two more puffs and finally threw the remaining half of his cigarette into the ashtray on the table. "Sister, I deeply sympathize with your husband's injury, but he disobeyed the factory's ban and mined in the rain, which led to this disastrous result. This is really not our factory's fault."
"He worked in your factory and was injured there, and you actually said it had nothing to do with it. After all, you are a member of the upper class, how can you speak so heartlessly? You are trying to force our family to death!"
Although Shumei's tone was a bit harsh, it wasn't too unpleasant.
"I'm not running a charity, so I have no obligation to help the wounded and the poor..." The factory director hadn't finished his words when the phone on the desk rang. He picked up the phone, "Don't be angry, dear. I'll check last month's accounts and come right over."
On the other end of the line came a delicate woman's voice, "Right away, right away, you've said right away so many times. If you don't come, I'll find a country bumpkin to get the certificate and let your son call someone else dad."
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