Xia Liang rode her bicycle to work at the factory as usual that day. There was a general meeting for all employees today, so she had to eat some breakfast in advance. Usually, she would eat some biscuits and make a cup of malted milk in the office. This morning, she got up half an hour earlier to make a bowl of noodles, afraid that she wouldn't have time to eat later. Upon arriving at the office, Xia Liang put down her bag, tidied her desk, and sat down at her workstation to wait for the meeting. The meeting was at 10:00 AM in the factory's large playground. Everyone brought their own stools, and Xia Liang found a spare bench in a corner and carried it to the playground. As soon as she arrived, she saw Zhao Weiting already waiting for her. Seeing that Zhao Weiting had also brought a stool, Xia Liang smiled and said, "I thought you wouldn't remember to bring one, so I brought one." This had happened before; the two had agreed to each bring one, but Zhao Weiting forgot to bring hers the time, and neither of them had brought one, so they had to find someone to sit with. Unfortunately, many people had already arranged to have someone with them, making the situation quite awkward. Today, they both had brought stools, so they looked at each other and smiled helplessly, saying, "Let's see who didn't bring one and borrow one." Xia Liang suggested, and Zhao Weiting nodded. She saw that a colleague in her department hadn't brought a stool, so she lent it to her. The two found a place to sit and wait for the meeting to begin.
As usual, they recited quotations, the leader spoke, outlining the development plans for the coming month, the completion of tasks from the previous month, and so on. Just as the leader finished speaking and announced the meeting adjourned, a clear female voice suddenly rang out from the crowd: "Wait a minute, I have a problem with the factory's job assignments!" Everyone stopped standing up; some people remained motionless, looking comical. Everyone stared at the young woman who had spoken. She was a woman around twenty years old, with delicate features, the kind of girl from a modest family. Xia Liang and Zhao Weiting were still wondering... Confused, the young woman called out, "I have a question about Xia Liang's position as consultant at our factory. She's only twenty years old. What makes her qualified to be a consultant?" The young woman's name was Zhu Xiuling. She was the daughter of the cousin of Factory Director Li's wife. She had heard from her aunt that her uncle's factory was hiring a consultant, and her mother had asked her what a consultant did. Factory Director Li's wife, Huang Huiying, was a middle-aged woman who had never worked a day in her life and was barely literate. She married the factory director because they were from the same village. Factory Director Li's family was poor when he was young, and he worked as a pig butcher in the village... Huang Huiying, the daughter of a craftsman, never lacked meat growing up. She would often secretly bring leftover pig offal and entrails to Factory Director Li. Director Li was deeply moved. He himself was ambitious, studying hard and getting into university, where he was directly assigned to the garment factory, his future bright. Matchmakers practically wore down his doorstep trying to arrange a marriage, but he never agreed. He had female classmates who were interested in him at university, but he could never forget Huang Huiying, who had brought him meat. Returning to the village, he asked his mother to propose marriage to Huang's family. Of course, his mother refused; her son was a university student, and now... The worker thought that the Huang family's daughter was illiterate and not worthy of her son. Her son kept bringing up the time when Huang Huiying used to bring meat to their family. Li's mother wasn't the kind of person to forget kindness, but she thought there were many ways to repay a debt of gratitude, and there was no need to sacrifice her whole life. However, her son was determined, and she couldn't do anything about it. Unable to persuade her son, Li's mother could only reluctantly agree. After the marriage, Huang Huiying followed Director Li (who wasn't the director yet) to the city and lived in the dormitory assigned by the garment factory. Huang Huiying took care of the housework, while Director Li's career progressed smoothly, and he became the director.
So, in Huang Huiying's eyes, the consultant did nothing all day but sit in the office drinking tea and reading newspapers. She thought she could do the job herself. Unexpectedly, her cousin overheard this and took it to heart. The cousin even went to Director Li's house and asked Huang Huiying if she could get a job at the factory. Huang Huiying thought that if she could do the job, her younger cousin could definitely do it too, so she said she'd talk to her uncle when he returned. However, Director Li was away on a business trip at that time. When he returned, Xia Liang had already taken up the position. Huang Huiying mentioned it briefly, and Director Li said someone had already taken it. What he didn't say was that he knew his cousin well—she wasn't very capable, but she was arrogant and overconfident. In the end, Huang Huiying had no choice but to ask Director Li to assign her a job in the workshop. Even that, she couldn't do well. Clothes she finished were frequently returned. If it weren't for the fact that she was the director's wife's niece, the foreman would have fired her long ago. She was also wasting time and delaying progress every day. Zhu Xiuling, on the other hand, believed that Xia Liang had stolen her job, and that she was taking advantage of today's meeting to reclaim her rightful position in front of everyone.
Others, unaware of the situation, suspected foul play and wondered if Xia Liang had connections. They reasoned that her easy job and high salary were a given. Many were clearly jealous of Xia Liang. However, those in the same workshop as Zhu Xiuling looked at her with disdain, thinking, "Don't you know who you are?" They reasoned that even if they didn't know Xia Liang's abilities, she couldn't possibly be worse than Zhu Xiuling. The remaining leaders invited Zhu Xiuling onto the stage and asked, "Comrade, you have a question about our factory's consultant position, right?" Zhu Xiuling nodded. "Yes, I don't think she's capable of being a consultant. She's not even twenty years old yet. How could she possibly do it well? I think it's unfair. I want to compete with her for this position." The leaders were speechless. The audience was speechless. Xia Liang and Zhao Weiting exchanged a glance, both seeing helplessness in each other's eyes.
Seeing the silence, Deputy Factory Director Yang broke it. After all, he was the one who proposed hiring Xia Liang as consultant, and if someone had a question, he would answer it himself. He guessed many people, like this young comrade, felt that Xia Liang shouldn't be in that position and receiving such a high salary. Deputy Factory Director Yang coughed twice and said, "What's your name, comrade?" Zhu Xiuling raised her head and said, "My name is Zhu Xiuling." The audience didn't know what she was so proud of. Deputy Factory Director Yang smiled and said, "Hello, Comrade Xiuling. You just said you had a question about Comrade Xia Liang's consultant position, right?" Zhu Xiuling nodded. Deputy Factory Director Yang said, "Do you know what a consultant does?" Zhu Xiuling said, "Isn't it just drinking tea and reading newspapers in the office?" The audience burst into laughter.
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