1994: Starting with unpaid leave

As soon as she lifted the curtain, she saw the messy quilt on the kang (a heated brick bed) that hadn't been put away yet, as well as her unwashed underwear that she had changed out of that morning. Xiuyun blushed with embarrassment.

"Sister Hongmei, please wait in the outer room for a moment. I'll tidy up before you come in."

Xiuyun rushed into the room, and after a while she called Zhao Hongmei in.

Zhao Hongmei sat at the end of the kang (a heated brick bed), placed the water cup that Xiuyun had handed her on the bedside table beside her, and complimented her:

"Xiuyun, what's going on in your house...?"

Seeing the haphazardly placed slippers and the corner of the quilt peeking out from under the kang (heated brick bed), Zhao Hongmei paused for a few seconds before exclaiming, "The natural light is wonderful!"

She wasn't good at flattering others; when she tried to force a smile, her twitching lips looked worse than crying.

Xiuyun smiled awkwardly. Only when she sat closer did she realize that Zhao Hongmei's face was pale and bloodless.

"Sister Hongmei, just tell me what's wrong. We're colleagues in the same workshop, and you've always taken good care of me. I'll definitely help if I can!"

As soon as Xiuyun finished speaking, a rumbling sound came from Zhao Hongmei's stomach.

She was stunned for a moment before realizing that Zhao Hongmei had lied to them and must still be hungry.

"Sister Hongmei, sit here and wait a moment, I'll go get you some pies!"

"Oh, no!"

Zhao Hongmei held Zhou Xiuyun's hand:

"Hey girl, I came to your house to ask if you need any help, not to beg for food..."

"Hiring someone to help?"

Zhao Hongmei nodded. Now that she had spoken, she no longer cared about saving face.

"Xiuyun, don't let my thin appearance fool you, I'm just as strong as any man!"

"Even the most physically demanding jobs, like carrying things up and down, I can do them!"

"And I'm pretty good at math, so I'll definitely be able to help you with the accounting and collecting money when you sell eggs..."

In her haste, a blush finally appeared on her pale face.

As a long-time female worker, Zhao Hongmei earns about 200 yuan a month.

When the factory pays wages normally, she can support herself and her daughter on her own salary.

The factory is not doing well right now and has been in arrears with wages for three months, which has made the already struggling family even worse off.

Workshop 2 has now agreed to a one-day-on, two-day-off work schedule, but wages will be reduced to one-third of the original amount.

Most importantly, no one can say for sure whether the remaining third of the salary will be paid on time.

The factory can delay paying its workers' wages, but we really can't keep delaying paying for our daughter's daycare...

When I picked up my daughter Yueyue from school yesterday, the daycare teacher made it very clear: "Yueyue's mother, if you don't pay the tuition and meal fees soon, Yueyue won't be able to come next month..."

Seeing the tears welling up in her daughter's eyes, Zhao Hongmei felt like dying at that moment.

This morning, she was at home worrying when she suddenly heard her neighbor say that Dong Jianguo and Xiuyun had somehow gotten a truckload of eggs.

Although I was a little embarrassed, I still mustered up the courage to come and ask if I could get a job.

"Xiuyun, I really had no other choice but to come here."

"You know my family's situation..."

Zhao Hongmei withdrew her hand from Xiuyun's and twisted it helplessly in front of her.

She had so much to say, but once she opened her mouth, she realized that it seemed to have nothing to do with Xiuyun, and it was even less appropriate to use it to put pressure on her.

Xiuyun couldn't stand this the most.

I can only imagine how much hardship a widow has to endure with her child, even though I'm not a mother myself.

Moreover, Xiuyun knew that reality was definitely more bitter and cruel than she had imagined!

With red eyes, she waved her hand and said, "Sister Hongmei, please stop talking."

"what!"

The flame of hope in Zhao Hongmei's eyes was instantly extinguished, and the blush on her face faded, returning to a deathly pale state.

She knew that the young couple could do all the jobs she mentioned, so there was no need to hire outsiders.

Besides, Wu Qianzhu, a young man, was helping out in the yard!

Compared to Wu Qianzhu, she had no advantage at all.

Thinking of this, Zhao Hongmei nodded sadly:

"I...I understand. I won't bother you any longer. You guys go ahead with your work, I'll head back now. Yueyue is still waiting for me at home..."

Seeing her get up to leave, Xiuyun quickly reached out and grabbed her:

"Oh dear, Sister Hongmei, what's the rush!"

"Jianguo is in charge of all our family business, and I don't know anything about it. What I mean is, could you stay here? I need to talk to him about it."

"You just wait!"

Xiuyun got up and got off the kang (a heated brick bed), but stopped just as she was about to leave.

She took a plastic bag from under the TV cabinet and handed it to Zhao Hongmei:

"Sister Hongmei, there's some steamed rice cake here. Try it; it'll be a nice dessert after your meal!"

Just as Zhao Hongmei was about to wave her hand in refusal, Xiuyun lifted the curtain and walked out of the room.

Looking at the golden-brown pastries, Zhao Hongmei felt her mouth watering more and more...

……

"Erzhuzi, we don't need to rush out to sell eggs this afternoon. We need to set up a rain shelter in the yard."

"If all else fails, we'll just buy some tarpaulins to tide us over. We're lucky it hasn't rained these past few days; if it had rained, the eggs piled up here would have been ruined!"

Upon hearing Dong Jianguo's arrangement, Erzhuzi nodded repeatedly, then seemed to remember something else:

"By the way, Jianguo, what are you planning to do when it snows heavily here in winter?"

Dong Jianguo pointed to the room behind him: "Of course, it's in there!"

Erzhuzi frowned: "Ugh! That must smell awful! How can anyone live in that room?!"

The farm's eggs are all freshly collected, so they inevitably get a little chicken droppings on them.

It's fine in the open courtyard, but if we move it into the room, the smell... I definitely wouldn't sleep in there!

Dong Jianguo chuckled:

"Who said I was going to live in there? Xiuyun and I will probably move out by then, and this room just happens to be a ready-made storage room!"

"Move out! Where are you moving to, Brother Jianguo?! I'm moving with you!"

Fearing that Dong Jianguo would abandon him, Erzhuzi hurriedly expressed his support.

"Sure thing, I'll let you know first once I've decided where to move. Anyway, you'll have to come help with the move!"

"Hehe... By the way, Brother Jianguo, what did you think Sister Hongmei and Sister-in-law were talking about in the room?"

What do you think they're talking about?

Erzhuzi thought for a moment: "I feel like Sister Hongmei might want to stay here and help out..."

"Oh? So do you think I should keep her here?"

Dong Jianguo asked casually.

"They should stay!"

Erzhuzi's resolute answer surprised him somewhat:

Why?

"I'm also in the factory's vehicle team. Everyone in our team knows about Sister Hongmei's husband's situation, and everyone keeps saying that the factory doesn't handle things fairly."

"Now that she's in trouble, I think I should lend a hand!"

Dong Jianguo was even more puzzled: "The factory was unfair to her, but it wasn't much better to me either! Why should I pay for the factory's mistakes?"

"This..." Erzhuzi was speechless for a moment.

Dong Jianguo smiled and decided to teach him a lesson:

"If you want me to keep Sister Hongmei here, you should say something like this: 'Now that your sister-in-law is pregnant, it's easier to take care of Sister Xiuyun if anything happens...'"

"If you want someone to do you a favor, you can't just think from your own perspective. You have to think more about what others want and consider their interests; only then will they agree."

He had barely finished speaking when Xiuyun's crisp voice came from behind him:

"Huh, you knew all along?"