After saying goodbye to Xu's father, the two boarded the train and traveled safely throughout the journey.
Back at the dam production team, Bo Jingran was left to tidy up, while Xu Qingqing took her own tools and went to the riverbank.
To test the thickness of the ice, Xu Qingqing slowly walked up to the center, took a sharp stone from the bucket, raised it above her head, and smashed it onto the ice.
One or two times...
Large holes were carved into the ice, waiting for fish to take the bait.
Soon, fish swam over one after another to breathe, some big and some small, the largest estimated to weigh three or four pounds.
When the children saw Xu Qingqing playing on the ice, they all ran to her side. When they saw that the hole was full of fish, they all jumped up excitedly.
Wow—! It's a fish! It's a fish!
A well slowly appeared on Xu Qingqing's forehead. Facing these children who were unaware of the danger, she roared, "Stop jumping! Don't you know you're jumping on a piece of ice that's been carved out? It's easy for it to crack and shatter! Are you trying to kill yourselves?!"
Xu Qingqing nodded in satisfaction as she watched the children obediently stop jumping around. She liked well-behaved children who didn't cause her any trouble.
Xu Qingqing instructed, "Good boy/girl, I love it when you're obedient. Hurry up and go home to get your things to put the fish in here."
When the children heard that there were fish, they excitedly ran home to find their parents. Soon, everyone who knew the news brought their basins, buckets, and other containers to the riverbank.
Not far away, Xu Qingqing was scooping fish out. Seeing that people had arrived, she pointed to the fish on the ice and said, "Be careful when you pick up the fish on the ice, there is water on it, don't slip."
The others smiled and said, "Thank you so much, Xu Zhiqing. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be able to eat this fresh fish today."
"Yes, Xu, the educated youth, is truly capable."
After everyone finished praising them, they excitedly picked up fish on the ice. Some people were quick and caught a lot of big fish, their mouths practically stretched to their ears with grins.
After a long while, Xu Qingqing saw that it was almost done, and then she saw that almost everything on the ice had been picked up, so she packed up her things and went home.
On the way, everyone was chattering and making more noise than during the New Year. The children were laughing and begging the adults to let them go home to eat fish.
On this day, every household cooked fish, like a competition to see who had the best cooking skills.
Xu Qingqing finally got to eat this pollution-free river fish. It had no fishy smell and the meat was tender. She gave Bo Jingran a thumbs up.
The next morning, after Bo Jingran pleaded with her, Xu Qingqing arrived in the county town, her face flushed with embarrassment, and slammed the door shut with a loud "bang".
Bo Jingran rubbed his nose, which had almost been bumped, smiled indulgently, and then went to the steel factory.
I should try to find a job for my wife so she can stay by my side.
After Bo Jingran left, Xu Qingqing lay in bed trying to sleep, but she couldn't fall asleep no matter how much she tossed and turned. She lay on her back in a daze, and in the end, she could only go into her space to make pills.
Bo Jingran entered the steel plant and returned to his post. The workshop director came over to tell Bo Jingran that Director Li was looking for him.
Bo Jingran grunted in response and walked to the door of Director Li's office, where he knocked.
Upon hearing the voice, Factory Director Li, without even looking up, called out, "Come in."
Bo Jingran walked in and asked, "Director Li, you wanted to see me?"
"It's Bo Gong!" Upon discovering it was Bo Jingran, Factory Director Li was delighted. He pointed to the chair opposite him and invited him to sit down, then continued, "Our steel factory received such a large order this time, and it's really thanks to your wife."
The order came down from above: you need to give Xu, the educated youth, some guidance and counseling.
"Mr. Situ's high regard for Xu Zhiqing is a tremendous opportunity for you all."
Bo Jingran frowned: "Mr. Situ?"
Factory Director Li nodded: "It's him. Do you know how many people are eager to befriend Mr. Situ? You have this opportunity that many people envy."
Ever since he learned that Xu Qingqing had beaten Mr. Situ into the hospital, he had cursed Xu Qingqing behind her back countless times.
Such a golden opportunity to soar to great heights was ruined by Xu Qingqing, making him so angry that his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys ached.
Bo Jingran didn't think this was a good opportunity. Situ Kong clearly had designs on Xu Qingqing; only a blind man wouldn't see that.
"Director Li, my wife has her own ideas and temper, and you know her personality, so I'm sorry I can't do this."
Factory Director Li was nearly driven mad by the two men's ungratefulness. So many people would kill for such an opportunity, yet these two threw it away like trash.
He's so angry!
Seeing that there was no other way, Director Li took a hard line: "I don't care. This matter has been assigned from above, and you must complete it."
"Please forgive me, but it's difficult for me to agree to this. I can't do anything that would make my wife unhappy or put her in a difficult position," Bo Jingran refused.
Factory Director Li stood up, pointed at Bo Jingran, and roared, "You stupid idiot, I'm not talking to you. Go back and tell Xu Zhiqing that I'm looking for her."
After saying that, without waiting for Bo Jingran to speak, he immediately chased him away. After Bo Jingran left, Director Li sat back in his chair, picked up the water glass on the table, took a sip, and immediately spat it out.
"Cough cough, why is it boiling water?!"
Meanwhile, Bo Jingran returned to his post and happened to run into Xie Zheng.
Xie Zheng turned his head and saw that it was Bo Jingran. He immediately turned his head away with a bad mood and scoffed, "That person really knows how to flatter. He can get this job just by talking. He's really something."
Bo Jingran stopped, adjusted his glasses, walked over to Xie Zheng, smiled faintly at what he had said, and retorted, "Engineer Xie is wrong. I don't rely on my words. My job depends on my wife. Who told me to have such a good wife?"
Bo Jingran then added meaningfully, "Speaking of which, the braised pork you snatched at the restaurant that day belonged to my wife. I wonder if Engineer Xie remembers it."
"Shut up!"
It would have been better if Bo Jingran hadn't brought this up. But as soon as he did, Xie Zheng remembered how they had made him lose face in front of others that day, and he wanted nothing more than to skin them alive.
Xie Zheng turned around and stared at Bo Jingran with resentment, angrily saying, "Bo Jingran! Don't go too far! You and your wife humiliated me at the restaurant that day, and now you want to humiliate me again at the factory."
"What right do you have to stay here, you incompetent man who relies on women!"
He was about to take action to vent his pent-up frustration.
Bo Jingran's expression turned cold. To say he was incompetent was just an accusation that his wife had poor taste. He couldn't let anyone who bullied his wife get away with it, so he went up to fight Xie Zheng head-on.
The others heard the commotion and wanted to go see what was going on, but they couldn't leave their posts, so they all strained their ears to hear what was happening.
When the workshop foreman heard that someone was fighting in the workshop, he immediately ran towards the workshop, wishing he had two more legs. But when he took a closer look, he almost fainted.
He wanted to get angry, but he couldn't afford to offend either of these two powerful figures, so he could only take them to Director Li's office and let Director Li handle it.
They quickly ordered someone to separate the two men who were fighting and led them to Director Li's office.
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