1994: Starting with unpaid leave

It was already 4:30 pm when the No. 3 bus turned into my alley.

When they looked up, Dong Jianguo and Erzhuzi were both taken aback.

The alley in front of Dong Jianguo's house, which was originally wide enough for trucks to pass through, is now only half the way to walk.

The remaining half of the road was firmly blocked by a line of more than twenty neighbors.

The two were taken aback, not knowing what was going on.

Erzhuzi carefully rode his tricycle to Dong Jianguo's door, only to find that all these people were there to queue up to buy eggs!

"Brother Jianguo, I have a feeling the eggs might sell even faster this time than last time?"

Dong Jianguo nodded without saying anything.

If each of these people buys 5 jin of eggs, that would amount to more than 100 jin.

I seem to have been focused on finding stable restaurant clients for bulk sales, but I've overlooked one issue.

Meat, eggs, and dairy products, these three staples, have always been in huge demand as basic necessities.

Putting aside everything else, the daily egg consumption of the factory's several thousand employees and their families is not to be underestimated.

Today, my small group-buying activity for eggs has actually caused such a big reaction from the nearby residents.

Seeing elderly people still hurrying towards the alley entrance, Dong Jianguo felt he needed to make another trip to Angxi District as soon as possible to secure supplies from other farms.

He jumped out of the car and called to Erzhuzi to help carry the newly bought rain shelter into the yard.

Before the two could even enter, a clear, childlike voice called out to them:

"No entry, you have to line up!"

Dong Jianguo looked down and realized that the one who had spoken up to stop the two was actually a thin, small girl.

The girl was only up to his waist, with two pigtails in her hair, wearing a faded pink dress, and holding a half-eaten piece of steamed rice cake in her hand.

Seeing that her face resembled Sister Hongmei's by about 70-80%, Dong Jianguo guessed her identity.

"Yueyue, right? I know your mother. Come on, make way for this uncle!"

"No way, even if you know my godmother, it's still not allowed! You'll have to queue up to buy eggs!"

"Godmother? Who's your godmother?"

"Look, that's the prettiest one in the yard!" Yueyue pointed behind her, and Dong Jianguo spotted his wife immediately.

Dong Jianguo was taken aback. How did he end up with a goddaughter after just one trip?

He took out the yellow peaches and ground cherries he had bought from a fruit stand he had passed by and waved them at the girl:

"Yueyue, be a good girl, let Uncle come in. I'll give you some fruit later!"

The girl was clearly tempted; she blinked, but still firmly shook her head in refusal.

"Fruit definitely doesn't taste as good as meat patties and steamed rice cakes!"

Seeing the little guy's determined look, Dong Jianguo was speechless for a while.

Fortunately, Zhao Hongmei heard the sound at the door and saw that it was Dong Jianguo returning, so she hurriedly came out to greet him.

Seeing that his daughter was blocking Dong Jianguo's way home, he quickly pulled her aside:

"Yueyue, you mustn't be rude to Uncle Dong!"

She was so worried that she squeezed a little harder, making Yueyue grit her teeth and tears stream down her face.

Two tears clung to her small, round face. Not only did Dong Jianguo feel sorry for her, but even the neighbors queuing to buy eggs couldn't help but complain:

"Oh dear, Hongmei, what are you doing? Let's talk this out, don't take it to heart!"

"That's right, the child is still young and doesn't understand yet, so you can teach them slowly!"

"Hongmei, you didn't see how well-behaved Yueyue was just now. If she hadn't been standing here maintaining order, there would have been complete chaos! You're not allowed to bully our little administrator!"

Zhao Hongmei's face turned bright red as she realized that she had been too hasty.

Erzhuzi picked up Yueyue with a touch of tenderness: "Yueyue, be good, how about Uncle takes you for a horse ride?"

Without waiting for the girl to speak, he lifted her up above his head and made her straddle his neck.

He held Yueyue's hands to prevent her from falling, and then, with a wobbly gait, he began to act as a human-shaped bionic horse.

The girl, who hadn't played this kind of game with anyone in a long time, was amused by the familiar feeling and giggled. Seeing that her mother didn't stop her, she laughed even more happily and quickly forgot about the unpleasantness just now.

Seeing this, Zhao Hongmei wiped her eyes and quickly apologized to Dong Jianguo:

"Jianguo, I'm so sorry, Yueyue didn't mean to stop you. It's her first time here, she doesn't know you yet..."

Dong Jianguo didn't care at all and just laughed it off.

"Sister Hongmei, don't be so reserved. Although we have an employer-employee relationship, we can just get along normally. I'm not used to you being so cautious."

The two chatted as they entered the courtyard.

Dong Jianguo's courtyard was not very big to begin with.

After the 60 boxes of eggs delivered today were stacked together, only one-third of the space remained empty.

Now, in this last remaining open space, four or five people are standing and selecting eggs.

Meanwhile, his wife, Xiuyun, sat on a stool with a wad of change, waiting to settle their accounts.

When she saw him return, Xiuyun smiled, her face showing excitement over the booming egg sales, but also a hint of undeniable fatigue.

Dong Jianguo felt a pang of sympathy and walked over to touch Xiuyun's face: "Why are there so many people all of a sudden?"

Xiuyun shook her head: "I don't know either. Not long after you left, a lot of people came one after another. We've probably sold two or three hundred catties of eggs in a little while!"

"It's not even time for the factory to close for the evening yet. I reckon there will be a huge wave of people coming to buy eggs after 5 PM!"

Dong Jianguo pointed to Yueyue, who was helping to maintain order: "What's going on with godmother again?"

"Of course I like it! You have no idea how well-behaved the little girl is. When we give her rice cakes, she insists on giving them to Sister Hongmei first. When we give her meat pies, she's drooling with envy, but she still wants to give them to Sister Hongmei first."

"I hope our children will be like this in the future..."

Xiuyun touched her bulging belly, her eyes filled with longing.

Yueyue's behavior is just as damaging to her mother as the mother washing her feet in the charity video.

"I was so envious, so I told Sister Hongmei I wanted to take her in as my goddaughter... Are you angry?"

Dong Jianguo shook his head: "What's there to be angry about? I just didn't expect to become a godfather as soon as I got back..."

The term "godfather" has changed its meaning in just a few years as times have changed.

But at least now, there's still the simple, genuine human sentiment...

"That doesn't count. If you want to be Yueyue's godfather, you have to discuss it with Sister Hongmei yourself. I'm not going to speak for you!"

Dong Jianguo nodded: "Honey, go inside and rest for a while, let me take over."

"No! I rarely see so much money. Let me collect the money a little longer!"

Seeing his wife's insistence, Dong Jianguo had no choice but to nod in agreement.

He wasn't idle either; he told Erzhuzi to put Yueyue down and called him to help set up a rain shelter in the yard.

The rain shelter works quite well. It's just the right size, slightly smaller than the yard. The three sides of the transparent plastic sheet have hooks, so you can hang bed sheets and blankets to provide shade whenever needed.

The side facing the courtyard wall is right next to the courtyard's drainage ditch, so there's no need to worry about the courtyard flooding on rainy days.

After packing them up, they called on Erzhuzi to carry out a few boxes of eggs and go to the nearby restaurants to see if they needed any.

Seeing him busy working non-stop, the neighbors who came in to buy eggs all gave Jianguo a thumbs up.

"Great job, Jianguo! You're getting more and more serious about things now! That's what a good young man from our textile factory should be like!"

"You've got cheap eggs and you still remember everyone in the factory. If there were a vote for factory manager, you'd be my first choice!"

"Jianguo, when are you going to get some pork again? Even if it's just two cents cheaper than the market price, my whole family will treat you like a god!"

Everyone said nice things, and Dong Jianguo responded with a smile.

That's how business is; it's all about maintaining a harmonious working environment.

But when someone stood in front of him and handed him the eggs to weigh, Dong Jianguo was taken aback:

"Secretary Wang, why aren't you at work today?"