At this time, the textile factory’s office building hadn’t been built yet, so all the offices were crammed into a row of red-brick houses at the back.
The factory director and the party secretary each had a suite as their office, while the other staff were squeezed into one large room that looked a bit bigger than a classroom.
Within that space, tables were arranged to separate the factory office, the union, the publicity department, and so on.
The finance office, according to regulations, was supposed to be separate.
But due to limited conditions, it was only symbolically partitioned with plywood inside that big room.
If someone spoke a little loudly, people outside could hear everything clearly.
Wei Qiuxia still had work in the afternoon. She took Wei Nan there and handed her over to Sister Li from the factory office, whom Wei Nan knew well, and then left.
Sister Li then took her to the finance department.
Perhaps because the factory had already given instructions beforehand, or maybe because Wang Sanhua was such a nuisance that no one wanted any trouble, the moment the staff heard that the visitor was Wei Damin’s daughter, they seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
Without any hesitation, the accountant immediately put down the work she was doing and started helping Wei Nan calculate the accounts.
“Your father retired in April last year. Since he retired early due to illness and hadn’t reached the normal retirement age, his basic salary was low. His total retirement pay came to twenty-eight yuan.
At the time, he borrowed five hundred yuan from the factory, agreeing to deduct ten yuan per month from his salary.
In addition, ten yuan per month was to be deducted for housing rent, so he received eight yuan each month.”
As she spoke, the accountant handed Wei Nan the IOU, the repayment list, and the monthly retirement pay records with Wei Damin’s fingerprints for her to examine.
A growing unease settled in Wei Nan’s chest, but all she could do was nod while looking at the documents.
Seeing her acknowledgment, the accountant picked up her abacus and continued calculating with quick, sharp clicks.
“Your father retired in April, and up to now, he has received nineteen months of pay. That means one hundred ninety yuan has been deducted for repayment, leaving three hundred ten yuan unpaid.
According to factory regulations, when a retired employee passes away, a subsidy is given equal to six months’ salary.
Your father’s six-month salary totals one hundred sixty-eight yuan.
The factory also provides an additional one hundred yuan for funeral expenses.
But after your father passed away, you weren’t home, and there was no one else in your family to handle things, so all the arrangements were managed by the factory.
The cremation, the rental of the memorial hall, and even your father’s ashes, because no one was willing to claim them, had to be placed in the columbarium, and the factory had to pay for another year’s storage fee.
Adding everything up, it came to a total of 187 yuan.
With the 100 yuan funeral allowance plus the 168 yuan subsidy, the factory should have paid you a total of 268 yuan.
But after deducting the costs the factory advanced for your father and the money he still owed the factory, you now need to repay the factory 229 yuan on his behalf.”
The accountant couldn’t help but shake her head as she spoke.
She looked pityingly at Wei Nan, who was completely stunned by the flood of numbers, and pulled a loan receipt from the drawer, handing it to her.
“Your father is gone, but the account can’t just disappear. Fill out a new IOU.
As for repayment, if it’s too difficult, I can ask our section chief later to see if we can make some accommodations for you.”
Wei Nan stared at the red characters on the receipt, feeling them stab her eyes.
Even with all her mental preparation, she had never imagined reality would be this cruel.
She stood up from the chair and took two or three steps back.
Shaking her head forcefully, she said, “No, I won’t sign this IOU!”
Why?
Why should she repay Wei Damin’s debt?!
He was willing to spend his whole life groveling to his family, why should she be dragged into it too?!
Wei Nan had never dealt with anything like this before.
In that moment, her mind felt like it was buzzing, the world around her gray and lifeless.
It seemed as if there was no way out anywhere.
“Where’s the factory director’s office? I, I want to see the director!”
Standing at the doorway of the finance office, she took a deep breath before finally forcing out those words.
The accountant, a woman in her forties, saw Wei Nan as a child about the same age as her own daughter.
Seeing her like this, the accountant felt a pang of sympathy. After all, she was the one who had done all the calculations, no one understood this child’s frustration and helplessness better than she did.
She stood up, picked up her own teacup from the table, and handed it to Wei Nan. Then she patted her on the shoulder and offered comfort: “Don’t feel bad. It’s fine to sign the IOU later. Drink some water first to warm yourself up.”
After that, she pointed toward the door. “The factory director’s office is out this door and to the left. The first room you see is it. You can go talk to the director, see if there’s any way they can help solve this.”
She couldn’t help but sigh deeply. She knew it was unfair to suddenly place hundreds of yuan of debt on Wei Nan’s shoulders. But even if she went to the director, what could be done?
After all, there’s no way the factory would advance the money for her, it can’t risk any loss to the state. Still, maybe asking couldn’t hurt. Perhaps they could reduce it a little?
Even the accountant herself felt uneasy and not sure how best to comfort Wei Nan.
After the initial shock and anger passed, Wei Nan steadied herself. She took the cup of water from the accountant with both hands and held it until her body stopped trembling, then left the finance office.
Outside, she didn’t glance at the sympathetic looks from others. She went straight to the factory director’s office and knocked on the door.
“Come in!”
The moment she lowered her hand, a man’s voice came from inside.
Wei Nan pushed the door open and saw an office desk placed directly opposite the entrance. Behind it sat a middle-aged man, probably around thirty.
He had a square face, slightly overweight, with a thinning crown. He wore a gray [1]Zhongshan suit is a type of traditional Chinese jacket, also known as a “Mao suit” in later periods. It has a straight, structured cut with a standing collar, a front that buttons up to the neck, … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2020823_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2020823_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });Zhongshan suit, very fashionable for the time, though it looked a little dark and worn, giving an impression of age.
Looking at him, Wei Nan hesitated, not sure if he was the director. She spoke up: “Hello, I’d like to see the factory director.”
The man looked at her, paused for a moment, then furrowed his brow. “Which workshop are you from? What’s your name? Did you make an appointment with the director?”
Hearing this, Wei Nan realized immediately that this man was not the director, he was probably a secretary or assistant.
She quickly stepped forward and introduced herself: “I’m not a worker here. My name is Wei Nan, and I’m a family member of someone in the factory.”
“Wei Nan?”
Hearing the name, the man quickly sized her up from head to toe, his gaze sharper and colder than before.
“What is your relation to Wei Damin?” he suddenly asked.
“I’m his daughter. I just returned to the city.”
Although she sensed the displeasure in his eyes, Wei Nan answered calmly.
Upon hearing this, the man recoiled as if he had seen something filthy, leaning back in his chair as though he wanted to be as far away from her as possible.
He glared at her and snorted coldly. “Who sent you here? How did you even get into the factory?”
Before she could respond, he slammed his hand on the desk. “Do you know this is a key office of the factory? You’re an outsider! Without approval from the leadership, who allowed you to come here?
I’m telling you, this is the most critical time for boosting production and the economy. The director and the secretary are overwhelmed just with workshop matters every day!
Who has time to deal with your family’s trivial nonsense? Totally clueless and out of line!”
He stood up, face full of impatience, and reached out to shove Wei Nan.
“Go, go, go! Get out! If you cause any delays in our work, can you take responsibility for it? Out! Don’t make me call someone to throw you out!”
From the moment she entered the office until she was pushed out, Wei Nan had spoken only two sentences.
Watching the door slam shut in front of her face, for a moment, she felt as if she were dreaming.
Although she was standing there, nothing felt real.
The disdain in his eyes, the sharpness of his voice, all of it made her feel a humiliation she had never experienced before.
She had never been treated like this in her entire life.
At that moment, she completely lost the ability to think and just wished she could disappear on the spot—
Disappear, and maybe then she could go home?
But of course, disappearing was impossible.
Wei Nan stared at the factory gate in front of her, struggling to suppress the flood of despair and anger surging inside her.
She held her breath, trying not to let her mind’s confusion push her into doing something reckless, yet her hands trembled uncontrollably.
At that moment, a pair of hands suddenly rested on her shoulders from behind, pulling her close.
Wei Nan turned her head and saw it was Sister Li from the factory office.
Sister Li looked at her with pure concern and sympathy.
Then, the accountant who had accompanied them handed her a clean towel and gently wiped away the dampness at the corner of her eyes.
Soon after, several more people came over, forming a protective circle around Wei Nan.
Her vision blurred instantly.
She couldn’t clearly see who these people were, but she could feel the care and goodwill emanating from each person leaning toward her.
It seemed like the entire office had gathered around.
Wei Nan suddenly lost control. Tears streamed down her face, and her legs weakened as she choked on her sobs.
Sister Li held her tightly, while the accountant pushed open the door to the director’s office.
“Secretary Liu, you’ve really gone too far! Wei Nan came here because I asked her to see the director, so any anger you have, take it out on me!
Since when did the director’s office become some sacred place where ordinary people can’t enter? Did the director know you were saying this?
Secretary Liu, you’re already in your thirties, how can you bully a young girl like this and still have a conscience?!”
The accountant clearly carried a lot of authority in the factory.
After her scolding, Secretary Liu’s face flushed red and pale repeatedly, but she didn’t dare say a word.
Not only did she not argue, but she also grit her teeth and kept nodding profusely, apologizing repeatedly to the accountant.
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