To please others? It's better to please yourself.

"Mom, could you fry some eggs for me? It's always just cabbage or radish every day," Xu Jianshe said as he slurped up his porridge.

From Xu Jianguo to Xu Jianshe, all four children in the Xu family were at the age of rapid growth. Even though they ate eggs, meat, and milk every day, they would get hungry again in the blink of an eye.

The food these days is practically devoid of oil and fat, so it feels like no matter how much you eat, it's pointless. Besides, nobody ever says they're full; most people only eat until they're half full!

"Exactly, exactly," Xu Jingping quickly chimed in. Who wouldn't want to eat eggs?

"Who doesn't want to eat well? Is there anyone?" Xu's mother said discontentedly. "It's good enough to have anything to eat at all. What kind of family is this?"

Her eldest son has a girlfriend now and will be getting married soon, turning twenty this year. She'll be a grandmother and holding her grandson. It's a good thing, but where will the money come from? Xu's mother is worried whenever she thinks about it.

At this crucial moment, my youngest son and eldest daughter wanted to eat well, so of course I was anxious.

Xu Jianshe was unhappy when he heard this and pouted.

Looking at his youngest son, Xu's father said, "How about we go line up early tomorrow to buy meat?"

Seeing his youngest son's eyes widen with joy, he smiled as well.

"Old Xu, just keep spoiling him! How long can you keep this mouth going?"

Xu's mother rambled on for a bit.

Actually, who wouldn't want to eat meat? We only eat meat once a month, and sometimes we can't even buy it.

These days, we only have a fixed salary, but there are so many places to spend money. What else can we do but save every penny?

Finally, Xu's mother went to the kitchen and fried the last two eggs. She brought them out, and they were gone in an instant.

During this time, Xu Jing'an didn't say a word, just buried her head in eating cornbread and cabbage, and drinking the porridge in her bowl.

She can only eat a few more bites of vegetables if there are eggs; otherwise, she can only gnaw on pickled vegetables. Eggs and meat are never hers.

As they were talking, the eldest brother, Xu Jianguo, returned.

Xu Jing'an got up and went to the kitchen to bring him the rice that was still warm in the pot.

"The eldest son is back. Has he eaten?" Xu's mother asked hurriedly.

Xu Jianguo hung his head, looking dejected. "Mom, I'm not hungry."

Xu's mother asked in surprise, "What's wrong? Didn't you take your boyfriend home?"

Dating is a good thing, but the boss's appearance doesn't seem to match the word "happy" at all!

"Um, it's nothing," Xu Jianguo stammered.

"Boss, speak properly to me, what's wrong?" Xu's father asked with a stern face.

The whole family looked at Xu Jianguo.

Xu Jianguo sat down with a long face: "Mom, Dad, Duoduo said: We don't need a bride price for the wedding."

"This is a good thing!" Xu's mother exclaimed in surprise. "Why are you unhappy? What else did you say?"

"She wants a permanent job," Xu Jianguo said, and he became less nervous.

"What should we do? Where can we find a job?" Xu's mother was also at a loss. With jobs so hard to find these days, no one spoke.

"How about we talk to Duoduo again?" Xu's mother tentatively suggested.

"I will, Mom." Xu Jianguo had no other choice but to talk to his girlfriend more often to see if they could change the terms; he really couldn't do the job thing.

"That's good, eat some more." Seeing that he had convinced his eldest son, Mr. Xu was temporarily relieved.

Xu Jianguo picked up the bowl, ate the food in big mouthfuls, and then turned and went back to his room.

The rest of the people didn't say anything more and went into their rooms to do their own thing.

Mr. and Mrs. Xu had worked all day and needed to rest early.

The second child, Xu Jingping, is in her final year of high school, and the fourth child, Xu Jianshe, is in his final year of junior high school; both are at crucial stages of their education.

The school adds an extra class every afternoon, and there's a lot of homework, making the studies very demanding.

This has led to the current situation—almost all the housework in the Xu family has fallen on Xu Jing'an's shoulders. She doesn't even know who to push it off to.

Everyone has a perfect excuse to refuse. Even though everyone knows in their hearts that Xu Jianshe and Xu Jingping's academic performance is average, and they always barely pass their exams.

Not to mention the eldest brother, Xu Jianguo, he's already at work!

In the 21st century, there are plenty of men who come home from get off work, lie down, and do nothing, as if they don't have hands!

Moreover, in this day and age, men who don't beat their wives and children at home are rare finds. In a household with women, how many men nationwide would cook and do housework?

Right now, Xu Jianguo is in a bad mood and is probably lying in bed covered by the blanket like a corpse! After Xu Jing'an finished tidying up the housework and let everyone wash up, the hallway became quiet.

Xu Jing'an lay on the bed, rubbing her hands that she had just washed clothes. Her hands were red and sore from the cold, and it took a long time for them to warm up.

Her roommate, Xu Jingping, was already asleep, so she quickly closed her eyes as well; she'd be busy tomorrow.

With something on her mind, she woke up early the next morning. Hearing that her mother was already up, she quickly woke up her second sister, Xu Jingping.

When they went out together, the fourth brother also started yawning.

Xu's mother took the grain ration book, the non-staple food ration book, as well as receipts and money. The second and fourth sons took baskets and flour sacks to relieve Xu's father. After all, Xu's father had gone out to queue up late at night.

Xu Jing'an handed the hat and scarf to her mother.

Xu's mother instructed, "Prepare the meal at home, and go early later, don't forget!"

"I remember, Mom," Xu Jing'an said as she saw her mother out. She then immediately went into the kitchen to cook porridge, steam cornbread, and chop pickled vegetables.

After tidying up the kitchen, he went into the house and took out a pair of clean underwear with many patches from the wardrobe.

He sewed a large inner pocket onto his already worn-out underwear with a needle and thread.

He took the three yuan given to him by his mother and his own four cents of savings.

He put his household registration book, pen, needle and thread into his schoolbag, grabbed two steamed buns, and left home while munching on them.

For a penny, I took a bus to the No. 1 State-owned Cotton Mill, which is exactly the factory where the female lead works.

Go to take a job recruitment exam, a fair exam in which insiders fight for job opportunities for their children.

Because there are limited positions, we can only hire three people. Who should we hire?

The leaders all know each other and see each other all the time. This makes it inconvenient to use many methods.

After discussing it together, everyone decided to simply hold a unified exam, and whoever passed would be the winner.

The positions in the publicity department are so desirable; there are so many people competing for them.

Fearing that workers might report them, they decided to post a job advertisement on the factory wall today while everyone was busy queuing to buy supplies.

Take it off after thirty minutes.

If someone happens to be there, they're lucky and can take the exam.

The original owner was the lucky one!

When Xu Jing'an arrived, she happened to run into staff member Li Ji'an, who was preparing to take down the notice.

"Are they hiring comrades? Can I apply?"

Li Ji'an turned his head and looked at Xu Jing'an in surprise. He didn't expect that someone would actually be lucky enough to make it!

So he nodded: "Then hurry up and come in, the exam is about to start!"

"Okay, thank you, comrade." Xu Jing'an quickly thanked her. She didn't even ask why the recruitment exam was at six o'clock in the middle of winter.

I followed them into the examination room, found a seat, took out my pen, and waited for my hair to curl.

Less than two minutes later, the exam began. Xu Jing'an answered the questions with her head down; the papers would be collected in an hour.