1994: Starting with unpaid leave

The door opened, and the mother, with her shoulder-length short hair, looked on in astonishment:

"Oh, what brings you here? Don't you have to go to work today?"

"There wasn't much going on at the factory today, so I made some fresh pork ribs. A colleague also gave me two bottles of wine, so I just dropped them off on my way to see you guys."

Zhang Guifen took the heavy bag, her face immediately darkening. Opening it, she felt even more distressed:

"My god, these ribs must cost over 30 yuan! Why bother buying ribs? Why not just get some meat?! Besides, what kind of family do you have that brings back so much at once?! How are you going to make a living?!"

(Back in 94, because pork ribs contained bones, a significant portion of the meat was inedible, so their price was lower than that of pure pork. This situation only gradually changed over several years.)

Dong Jianguo didn't mind and chuckled, "I just didn't miss you and Dad!"

"You little rascal, you're the sweetest talker around!"

Zhang Guifen smiled and lightly kicked Dong Jianguo, then turned and carried the ribs into the kitchen.

After many years, seeing his mother scolding him again, Dong Jianguo couldn't help but grin foolishly, and then his nose started to sting.

Dong Jianguo's father, Dong Xuewen, was a railway worker, and his mother, Zhang Guifen, was a female crane operator at the Hecheng Machine Tool Factory, also known as a crane operator.

Back then, in order to ensure that Dong Jianguo's elder brothers, Dong Baoguo and Dong Weiguo, who had returned to the city after working in the countryside, could have jobs to make a living, the elderly couple took early retirement one after another. Thanks to the factory's "succession" policy, their two sons were able to find employment.

As for the older sister Dong Shaoying and the youngest son Dong Jianguo, they were directly assigned jobs by the labor bureau after graduating from technical school, which saved the elderly couple a lot of trouble.

Nowadays, the father, Dong Xuewen, works as a warehouse night watchman in a private warehouse to supplement the family income, while the mother, Zhang Guifen, stays at home to take care of the housework and also helps take care of the children of her elder brother and his wife.

Strictly speaking, the elderly couple didn't enjoy a very good life.

In my past life, back in 98, my father, Dong Xuewen, tripped and fell while crossing the street in winter, and that was the end of him…

Not long after Dong Jianguo arrived in Shenzhen, his work was just starting to improve when his mother, Zhang Guifen, collapsed at home due to a heart attack. By the time his older brother returned home from get off work, she was already dead…

At that time, Dong Jianguo could never have imagined that his farewell wave at the train station before heading south would be the last farewell between him and his mother.

"Mom, do you need any help?"

"Come on, I wouldn't have had a problem if you hadn't come. Now that you're here, you're just making things worse! Go watch TV in your older brother's room, turn the volume down, your dad's still asleep."

"What's so interesting about TV? I'm going to the factory later to pick up Xiuyun so we can have lunch together."

"Oh……"

The mother, Zhang Guifen, continued working with her hands, but her answer seemed somewhat uninterested.

Zhang Guifen was never very satisfied with her youngest daughter-in-law.

She was known for her toughness when she worked in the factory, and was a recipient of the March 8th Red Banner Award for several years in a row before she had children.

In her eyes, Zhou Xiuyun, though a pretty girl from the South, always gave off a gentle and weak feeling, lacking the assertive spirit of a girl from the North.

However, since her son liked it, she didn't say much.

"By the way, how many months pregnant is Xiuyun?"

"Four months...what's wrong?"

"Your dad keeps telling me to ask you if you want to find a doctor to help determine the gender?"

"what?"

Dong Jianguo looked distressed.

Although my father, Dong Xuewen, has many good qualities, he has one obvious flaw: he's a bit...

Yes, there is some preference for sons over daughters.

Especially now that family planning is strictly enforced, each family can only have one child.

The eldest brother, Dong Baoguo, has a son, and the second brother, Dong Weiguo, has a daughter.

The two children are only two years apart, but the love they receive from their grandfather is worlds apart.

Before Dong Jianguo got married, he once came to his older brother's house from his dormitory and saw his father taking two children to buy popsicles from afar.

As a result, Dong Xiaojun from the eldest brother's family wanted to lick the creamy ice cream in his hand until it sparked, while Dong Aiyang from the second brother's family cried loudly while holding a three-cent popsicle.

When he discovered it, his father didn't even blush or skip a beat; he even argued vehemently, saying strange things like girls don't need to eat so well...

In the end, I bought another cream ice cream with my niece Yangyang, and that was the end of it.

"Mom, what era are we in? It doesn't matter if it's a boy or a girl..."

"Go tell your deadbeat dad! He nags me all the time, and I'll finally have some peace and quiet once you've convinced him!"

"Okay, then I'll wake him up and teach him a lesson."

"You unlucky kid, let your dad sleep a little longer~"

"Mom, what if Xiuyun is carrying a girl... what's your attitude?"

Zhang Guifen kept working: "What, do you think my attitude works? If my attitude worked, I'd be hanging around outside the hospital's obstetrics and gynecology department every day!"

"But I also hope it's a grandson... Girls have it too hard. Look at your mother, although I'm happy that you brought me meat, it's still me who has to clean up these ribs and cook for your whole family..."

She sighed and concluded, "So, what's so great about being a girl?"

After hearing this, Dong Jianguo first nodded, then shook his head.

My mother was just born at the wrong time.

She didn't see how much fun the girls had later.

He keeps talking about Old Deng and Biology Dad...

If any other boy dared to say those words, he'd be skinned alive.

Dong Jianguo smiled and, while his mother was preparing the ribs, tentatively inquired about the other relatives:

"Mom, how are my second uncle's family doing lately? I haven't visited them in a while, I'm thinking of going to see them..."

"I doubt he'll have an easy time either. Your second uncle is the factory manager of a fire equipment factory, after all. Even though he's close to retirement, he'll always be busy..."

"Your second aunt is a handful too. She's always taking care of Shouguo and Huguo's four grandchildren, it's driving her crazy. Last time she came to me crying, saying her four grandsons were begging her for some kind of Little Tyrant learning machine... Before she left, she even asked what sins she committed in her past life to have to take care of so many children in this life..."

Dong Jianguo could only laugh after hearing this.

Shouguo is the eldest son of the second uncle's family. He and his wife had twin sons a year after they got married.

Huguo was the second son of the second uncle's family. He and his wife had been married for a year and had twin boys.

The four brothers have been fighting since they were little, and now they are all around eight years old, the age when even dogs would hate them.

The second aunt was taking care of four children by herself, and her energy was clearly not keeping up with the children's rate of energy expenditure...

"Mom, how did you persuade Second Aunt?"

"I said I could just grit my teeth and get through it; after I die, there will be plenty of people burning money for me!"

"Hahaha!" Dong Jianguo burst into laughter at his mother's words...

After chatting for a while, Dong Jianguo secretly went to check on his father, who was still catching up on sleep, and then rode his bicycle back to the factory to pick up Xiuyun.

When he arrived at the factory, although it wasn't time to get off work yet, groups of workers were already walking out of the factory gate.

Unfortunately, during the market-oriented transition, without the protection of a planned economy, factories with inherently weak products rarely received orders.

No orders, no production.

Without production tasks, workers can't stay in the workshop.

So even if you leave early, nobody cares.

Dong Jianguo waited for a while longer and saw Zhou Xiuyun walk out of the factory. To her left was Tian Lina, who paid his wages, and to her right was her mentor, Zhao Hongmei.

Upon first seeing Zhao Hongmei, Dong Jianguo was somewhat dazed.

He had some impression of Xiuyun's master.

Her husband was a driver at the factory; he died in a car accident.

She was left behind with a girl named Yueyue.

During her first Spring Festival after being laid off, Zhao Hongmei couldn't bear it any longer. She used the money she had left at home to buy some minced meat and made dumplings for her daughter.

There was also rat poison mixed in the minced meat...

This incident became the most vivid and tragic memory of that impoverished period...

After seeing Dong Jianguo, Zhou Xiuyun said goodbye to the two men and then struggled to sit on the back of the bicycle.

"Go home."

"Going home? I don't believe Sister Tian didn't tell you anything. Let's go to my mom's for ribs!"

"Um……"

Sensing his wife's low spirits, Dong Jianguo was puzzled: "Don't you want to go?"

"No, I just felt I shouldn't go to my mother-in-law's empty-handed..."

Zhou Xiuyun's eyes darted away, and the hand gripping his waist tightened inexplicably.

"Did Sister Tian teach you to say that, or did Master Zhao teach you?"

"Tian Lina..."

Faced with questioning, Zhou Xiuyun didn't even struggle; she simply chose to betray her teammate.

Dong Jianguo felt that he was looking at her like an adult looking at a child; he could see right through her thoughts at a glance.

"Are you worried I'll squander my salary?"

"A little..."

Dong Jianguo didn't say much and went straight to the point: "Honey, I really want to buy some things."

"What should I buy?"

Have you heard of the Subor learning machine?