Chapter 35
Although Chen Shuangyue's son is short, his figure is rare in that era of food and drink shortage. He is not thin at all, and his round face looks like a leader, which is somewhat contrary to his name "Zeng Gao".
He walked up to Lu Che with a swagger. Due to his height, he could only look up at him. Even so, his arrogant aura did not diminish. He pointed at Lu Che and said, "How can you, the son of a gangster, be qualified to be here? Get out now."
"Why doesn't he have the qualifications to stand here?" Jiang Yao retorted before Lu Che could say anything.
Zeng Gao turned his head and looked at Jiang Yao. Even though she was a woman, she was taller than him. He hated tall women the most in his life, because in front of them, he always felt inferior. He stared at her with disgust, "Who are you? I'm teaching a gangster's son a lesson, why are you meddling in other people's business here?"
"I have to take care of my man's business." Jiang Yao said with great momentum: "Also, you keep saying that Lu Che has no right to be here, but I think you, the cousin of a gangster, have even less right."
"You..." Zeng Gao hated it most when people mentioned his shameful cousin Lu Zhisen. He was so angry that his face turned red. When he was about to point his finger at Jiang Yao, Lu Che had already stepped forward to protect her behind him and said in a low voice, "Do you still want everyone to gather around and listen to your cousin's inferior behavior?"
It was rush hour at the repair shop, and many workers stopped to watch the fun. Zeng Gao didn't want others to know about the ugly things going on at home, so he could only endure it and said through gritted teeth, "Lu Che, we're not done yet."
After saying this, he threw his hand away and left angrily.
After Zeng Gao walked away, Jiang Yao asked Lu Che, "Why did you let him go like this? People like this need to be taught a lesson."
"Just bear with it." Lu Che said, "I haven't successfully entered the factory yet, and I don't want to make a scene. If the factory leaders see this, their impression of me will be greatly reduced."
"That's right." Jiang Yao felt that the boss was more thoughtful than herself.
The two continued to walk towards Director Hu's office. When they were almost there, Lu Che asked Jiang Yao to wait outside. After all, it was not convenient to bring her in with him.
"Just wait and don't run around." Lu Che instructed.
"That's enough." Jiang Yao laughed and said, "You really treat me like a child."
"You are much harder to take care of than a child." Lu Che said with a curled lip, then turned around and went in.
Jiang Yao waited in a shameless manner, and when she saw a few stone benches not far away, she walked over and sat down.
The stone bench was positioned so that she could see the exit of the office corridor at a glance, so she didn't have to worry about Lu Che not being able to see her later.
"Hey, I heard the factory manager is trying to get you in touch with Zeng Gong's son, is that right?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
"Don't worry about how I know this. I just want to ask you how Zeng Gong's son is doing."
"Not very good, his name is Zeng Gao, but his build is exactly like Zeng Gong, and he's even shorter than me."
There were two female workers talking on the stone bench next to them. Jiang Yao didn't pay much attention at first, but when she heard the word "Zeng Gao", her ears suddenly pricked up and she pretended to glance at the two female workers casually.
Judging from their clothes, they are not maintenance workers or technicians in the repair factory, but office workers in administration or finance. Their appearance is not outstanding, but just average.
"Being tall doesn't make a living, so if I ask you to marry a farmer who's 1.8 meters tall, would you be willing?"
"That's not what I meant... But Zeng Gao is really too short. He just came to me. Others were talking about it secretly. They must be making fun of me."
"We can't control other people's mouths. The most important thing is to live a good life. Zeng Gong is a veteran of our factory, and his salary and subsidies are very high. I heard that the factory is recruiting people this time, and they also want to bring Zeng Gao in. You marry into the Zeng family and enjoy a good life."
"That's true, but... Oh, it's fine if I suffer injustice, but if the child I give birth to is still this short, others will laugh at me."
"No, they say a son takes after his mother. You are tall, so your child will definitely be tall too."
"Who said that? I went on a blind date with him the other day, and his mom came too. His mom is tall, but he's short like his dad. Also, I don't think his mom is easy to get along with. She's already acting so arrogant even though nothing's wrong. If I really marry her, I'll be bullied terribly."
"Is it as exaggerated as you say... Hey, what are you looking at?"
"Look at the man over there. Is he from our factory? Why haven't I seen him before?"
"That shouldn't be the case. Is he new here? He's so tall and handsome. If he's from our factory, we must know him."
"That's true. If Zeng Gao looked like this, I would tolerate his mother no matter how fierce she was."
Jiang Yao's tone suddenly changed when she heard the conversation. She looked up and saw Lu Che coming out of the corridor. He saw her and was walking towards her.
"Why... did he come to our side?"
"Yeah... Could it be that you want to get to know me?"
The two female employees' voices were full of excitement. Jiang Yao turned around and said to them, "You're overthinking. He's here to see me. Also, you little girls, don't think about other people's men."
"..." The female employees were stunned. They were about to retort when they saw Lu Che walk up to Jiang Yao. His cold expression turned gentle in an instant and he said, "Wife, let's go back."
"Okay." Jiang Yao raised her hand with a smile: "My waist is a little sore, help me up."
Without saying a word, Lu Che grabbed her hand, then put his arm around her waist and slowly helped her up, saying, "Being pregnant is really exhausting, wife, just bear with it, I'll buy you something delicious later."
"Yeah, thank you Cheche."
"We're outside, it's not good for others to hear us, you can yell as you like at home."
Two female employees: "..."
After leaving the repair shop, Jiang Yao told Lu Che what she had just heard about Zeng Gao, "How many people are the repair shop going to hire this time? I'm worried that your opportunity will be squeezed out by someone with connections."
"We'll only hire one." Lu Che consoled him, "Since we're here, we'll make the best of it. People with connections exist everywhere, not to mention hiring workers in factories. Even when it comes to arranging jobs for our production team, there are connections involved. Besides, I have confidence in Director Hu. If he didn't value my skills, there would be no need to go to so much trouble to arrange training for me."
"That's the truth." Jiang Yao didn't think about it anymore and asked, "When will the training start?"
“It will last for five days, two days after the rush harvest ends, and the results will be announced two days after the assessment.”
"Okay, then don't be too tired these days. Regain your energy to accept the upcoming challenges."
A few days later, the Qingyuan production team successfully completed the harvest of the last crop of rice. In order to reward the members, two days after the rush harvest, which was the day when Lu Che started training, Lu Dazhou organized the production team's annual event - the distribution of pork.
For rural areas where people only eat pork a few times a year, distributing pork is a big event, so the old lady was particularly excited that day. She got up early and called Jiang Yao to go with her to get the pork.
"Grandma, shouldn't the distribution of pork be arranged before the Chinese New Year?" Jiang Yao was a little confused. The programs she had watched on TV before usually showed pork being distributed before the New Year.
The old lady was very happy to answer her question and said, "We like to make bacon in winter here. It is easy to preserve. We don't have to eat all the pork at once. We can save some for the New Year or even after the New Year. It is best to dry the bacon before the winter solstice. The bacon tastes best and is easier to store."
"I see." Jiang Yao nodded, not quite understanding, "But now that we've eaten all the meat, won't there be any meat for the Spring Festival?"
"We share fish during the Spring Festival, which means abundance every year. What a good meaning." The old lady said, and then she remembered something and said to Lu Che, "I guess the three of us can only share three pounds of meat and some bones at most. You go to the county town today and see if you can get more meat. I'll dry some bacon. When your aunt comes back, let her take some to the port city to eat. She likes the bacon I make the most."
"No problem, I'll go take a look." Lu Che agreed and asked, "Is my aunt coming back?"
"Yes, she said so in the letter she sent me last time. It will probably be at the end of this month or the beginning of next month." The old lady was happy but couldn't help sighing, "It would be great if she could come back to celebrate the Spring Festival. Forget it... As long as she is doing well over there, that's enough."
Jiang Yao looked at the old lady's reluctant expression, and she couldn't help but cover her belly. If she gave birth to a daughter, she would have to marry far away in the future, and she would definitely be reluctant to let her go.
Today is the first day of training. Lu Che didn't dare to be late, so he went out after breakfast.
Jiang Yao and the old lady did handicrafts at home until about eight o'clock before going to the production team's granary to distribute the pork.
In order to be fair, each household must draw lots before distributing the pork. They will get the part that they draw, and no objection is allowed.
"Yaoyao, you are lucky, so you can draw." said the old lady.
"My...good luck?" Jiang Yao was immune to lotteries. She felt she had no chance of winning, but the old lady insisted on letting her draw, so she went out and randomly grabbed something from the lottery box. She unexpectedly drew pork belly.
As expected, her luck only allowed her to draw the fat meat.
However, she was the only one who was dissatisfied with the pork belly. The old lady loved pork belly very much. Others also said that she was really lucky as a pregnant woman and they were very envious of her.
After receiving three pounds of pork belly and a large bone, Jiang Yao and the old lady returned home with a full load.
As soon as she returned to the Lu family, the old lady couldn't wait to pickle the pork belly and prepare it for drying. She said to Jiang Yao, "Yaoyao, I learned this secret recipe for pickling bacon from my mother's family. I never teach it to outsiders. You are my granddaughter-in-law, so I must pass it on to you."
"Thank you, grandma. I will learn it well." Jiang Yao gladly accepted the gourmet secret recipe.
In fact, the raw materials for pickled bacon are similar, nothing more than salt, blanching, soy sauce, white wine, etc. But to make it delicious, the ratio of the ingredients is very important, and the white wine is also very particular.
Although the old lady was old, she was familiar with the steps and amounts of seasonings for pickling bacon. Jiang Yao learned, watched and took notes at the same time. Her serious attitude made the old lady even happier.
At noon, Lu Che came back with ten kilograms of pork belly.
The old lady and Jiang Yao were very happy. Jiang Yao wanted to chat with him, but he hurried back to the repair shop.
It was not until the evening, when the couple returned to their room, that she had time to ask him, "How was the training today?"
"Very good." Lu Che said with a smile: "I have read a lot of books before, but I rarely had the opportunity to practice. Today I was able to get in touch with different agricultural machinery and repair it. Regardless of whether I can successfully take up the job this time, I think it is worth it and I can learn a lot."
When Jiang Yao heard what he said, she suddenly had a bad feeling and asked, "Did something happen?"
"..." Lu Che was surprised at her observation skills, and did not hide it from her. He said, "Although Zeng Gao is arrogant and annoying, he is actually quite capable. I guess his father taught him a lot at home before he came for training. Today, the factory director and deputy factory director are very satisfied with his performance."
Jiang Yao couldn't help curling her lips and asked, "What about you? Did you perform poorly?"
"Okay, the leader praised me." Lu Che said, "But Zeng Gao has a better chance of winning than me because of his father. But no matter what, I will go all out and never give up until the last moment."
"Well, just try your best. Even if you fail, it doesn't matter. At worst, you can just continue growing vegetables."
The next day, Lu Che went to training early again.
Jiang Yao and the old lady were at home. They first went to the vegetable garden to water the plants, then took the bacon out to the yard to dry, and finally sat down to do handicrafts.
"Grandma, how many days will it take for the bacon to dry?" A gust of wind blew, and the rich aroma of bacon drifted into Jiang Yao's nose. She felt a little greedy and couldn't help asking.
The old lady looked up at the sun and said, "If this sunshine and wind can last forever, it will be almost a week."
"Does that mean we can eat it in a week?" Jiang Yao asked excitedly.
"You little greedy cat." The old lady smiled lovingly, "You need to rest for a few days before you can eat. In this weather, it's best to eat preserved meat clay pot rice. How about you make a pot for grandma when the time comes?"
"No problem, I guarantee the preserved meat rice will be soft and fragrant."
In the blink of an eye, Lu Che welcomed the last day of training. This afternoon, the maintenance factory would assess this batch of trainees and finally decide one trainee to join the maintenance factory.
Lu Che was the first one to arrive that day, but he didn't expect Director Hu to arrive earlier than him.
"Lu Che, come here, I have something to tell you." Director Hu called Lu Che aside and said straight to the point without beating around the bush: "Your skills are definitely the best I've ever seen among newcomers. Even many old masters can't compare to you."
"Thank you Director Hu for your appreciation." Lu Che expressed his gratitude sincerely.
"I appreciate you because you have the ability." Director Hu patted Lu Che on the shoulder and sighed, "But you also know the relationship between Zeng Gao and Zeng Gong. If that guy doesn't even know the basics of Kung Fu, it's fine. But if he really has some mediocre Kung Fu, I'm afraid... But don't worry, I will definitely try my best to fight for you."
"Thank you very much." Lu Che had never been valued so much by an outsider since he was a child. He said, "No matter what the result is, I am grateful to you."
"I don't need you to be grateful to me, I just hope you can help me." Director Hu said: "You can fix the tractor that Zeng Gong couldn't fix before. Our repair shop needs talents like you."
After the morning training, Lu Che took the lunch box that Jiang Yao made for him to the cafeteria and borrowed the stove to heat it up.
Students do not receive food and accommodation, so they cannot eat in the cafeteria. Fortunately, the uncles in the cafeteria are friendly. Especially when I see Lu Che's lunch box changing up every day, I can't help but admire that he really married a good wife.
After heating up the meal and thanking the uncle, Lu Che took his lunch box and went to sit on the stone bench outside to eat.
"Hey, the food for the second-rate guys is pretty good." Zeng Gao's provocative voice sounded, but Lu Che didn't even bother to raise his head and ignored him.
Being ignored, Zeng Gao was furious. He pointed at Lu Che and said, "After today, I wonder if you can still be so arrogant. I'll tell you the truth. The repair factory is hiring this time, and I'm determined to get the job. My dad has already informed the factory director and deputy director. I know Lao Hu likes you, but don't think he can protect you."
"Are you done?" Lu Che slowly raised his head.
Zeng Gao suddenly felt secretly delighted that his provocation had succeeded.
If Lu Che wants to curse back or even hit someone, then that would be the best. Just use this reason to eliminate him, so as to avoid being criticized for winning unfairly.
Who knew that there was no anger on Lu Che's face, only disgust. He said, "If you have finished speaking, just go away. Don't spit here and dirty the meal my wife made for me."
As he said this, he closed the lid solemnly.
Zeng Gao's face turned black in an instant. Coincidentally, several other students passed by and joined in the fun. Zeng Gao had no chance of winning against several others, so he left angrily.
"Lu Che, to be honest, unless you are chosen this time, I won't submit to anyone else."
"Yes, Zeng Gao has some skills, but he is far inferior to you. He is just relying on me to show off his power."
“…”
Several people cursed Zeng Gao for a long time, and Lu Che listened quietly without replying.
The afternoon assessment went as smoothly as expected. After it was over, Director Hu asked everyone to go back first. The assessment results would be announced at nine o'clock the day after tomorrow.
After Lu Che left the repair shop, seeing that it was still early, he went to pick up 100 kilograms of firewood for the machinery factory.
When he went to deliver the firewood, the machinery factory had already closed for get off work, but Director Fang had not left. Seeing him pulling the firewood over, he was overjoyed and said, "I thought you forgot about the firewood for our factory. If you don't deliver it, we won't be able to cook tomorrow."
"Director Fang, I'm sorry, I've been a bit busy these days." Lu Che apologized.
"It's okay, as long as it's delivered in time." Director Fang said, "That's not right...Hasn't the production team's rush to harvest ended? What are you busy with? Also, I think I saw you go into the maintenance shop a few days ago. Are you busy delivering firewood to them instead of us?"
"No, I didn't send the firewood to the repair shop." At this point, Lu Che had nothing to hide, so he told them about his training at the repair shop.
Director Fang was so surprised when he heard this that he said, "I've always thought you were quite capable, but I didn't expect you also knew about mechanical maintenance. You're an honest and hard-working person, and I'm optimistic about you."
"I'll just give it a try, but I may not be selected." Lu Che said modestly.
"It's okay to give it a try. People should try more so that they can have broader paths to explore," Director Fang encouraged.
After handing over the firewood, Lu Che rode his bicycle back to Qingyuan. Before going home, he first went to the production team and handed in 15 cents to the collective and recorded the public cents.
After handing it in, he didn't stay long and went straight home.
"Lu Che, where have you been?" When he returned to the alley of Lu's family, a woman who lived at the end of the alley stopped him.
This woman had some friendship with Old Lady Lu, so Lu Che stopped and said to her, "Go to the county town to collect firewood."
"It's only been a few days since the harvest ended and you're already busy. You're such a hard-working kid." The woman said, "You work hard to earn money to support the family, and it's worth it that your wife treats you so well."
"My...what's wrong with my wife?" Lu Che asked in confusion.
"Your Jiang Yao wanted to cook fish for you today, so she went door to door asking people if they had any fish. When there was really no one, she asked Aunt Huang's eldest son to go to the pond and catch one. It's not easy to catch a fish in this weather, so Aunt Huang's eldest son asked for a high price, but she gave it to him without blinking an eye." The woman spoke vividly.
As Lu Che listened, his chest felt as if a fire was set on fire. The unfair treatment he had received that day was not worth mentioning at this moment.
He rode his bike and rushed home. When he got home, he found Jiang Yao in the kitchen. She had just finished boiled fish and was taking it out of the pot.
"You're back!" Jiang Yao smiled at him.
"I'm back." He walked over and hugged her.
Seeing that he was suddenly emotional, Jiang Yao asked worriedly, "What's wrong? Did you not do well in the test today? It doesn't matter if you don't do well..."
"No." Lu Che kissed her forehead and said, "Don't go around asking people to fish for you in the future. I can't bear it."
Jiang Yao didn't know why he knew that. She patted his back and comforted him, "It's not as exaggerated as asking for help. I just asked someone to help me. You've worked hard for a few days in training. I want to let you have a meal that you like and comfort you."
She knew that no matter how he performed today, Zeng Gao would always be a stumbling block for him. Although he didn't say it, she knew he was under pressure, so she wanted to make him something delicious.
"Cheer me up?" Lu Che laughed and said, "You should know very well how to cheer me up."
His tone was ambiguous, and the misalignment in his brows was too obvious, so it was hard for her not to understand.
Jiang Yao's cheeks became hot from his stare, and she punched him, "Be serious."
"I'm serious. It's been almost ten days since the last time. Can you give it to me today?" Lu Che coaxed.
"Okay, let's talk about it tonight. Now hurry up and serve the food out." Jiang Yao pushed him.
Her answer without rejection was considered as a tacit agreement in Lu Che's eyes.
After dinner, he couldn't wait to pull his wife back to the room, and all the grievances of the day were gone with his sweat.
Soon, it was the day when the assessment results would be announced.
Lu Che left home for the county town at around eight in the morning. Jiang Yao originally wanted to go with him, but that would put pressure on him, so she finally decided to wait for him at home.
"Yaoyao, if Cheche doesn't get selected, will you be unable to bear the blow?" the old lady asked worriedly.
"Grandma, it's okay. Even if he doesn't get selected, he can withstand this blow." Jiang Yao has confidence in Lu Che.
"That's true, but now everyone in the production team knows that he went to the repair shop for training. If he is not selected, he will be very embarrassed."
They did not publicize the fact that Lu Che went to the maintenance factory for training, but he took several days off from work, and the news that Director Hu went to see him in person spread from other production teams, so people still found out.
Now many people are waiting to see him make a fool of himself.
Jiang Yao could comfort the old lady verbally, but she was still worried in her heart. She was even more nervous than when the college entrance examination results were announced.
She hoped that he would come back soon to tell her the result, whether good or bad, but she also wanted him not to come back so early, because if he came back late, he must have been delayed in handling procedures at the factory.
She was anxious all morning, and Lu Che finally returned home before twelve o'clock.
"How is it? Were you chosen?" Before Jiang Yao could speak, the old lady pulled Lu Che aside and asked.
"No." Lu Che shook his head.
Jiang Yao and the old lady were stunned, and before they had time to feel disappointed they began to comfort him in various ways.
"It doesn't matter. We can continue to grow vegetables in the future. It's not much different from being a worker," said Jiang Yao.
"Wife, I'm afraid I won't be able to grow vegetables with you in the future." Lu Che said, and suddenly laughed.
"What are you...laughing at?"
Lu Che hugged Jiang Yao directly and said, "The mechanical and electrical factory hired me, and I will start working next week.
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