On Monday, Shu Yao asked Auntie Cai to look after the children. She gathered all her documents and went to the Food Factory.
Only a few people at the factory knew Shu Yao’s identity, and factory director Guo Fumin was one of them.
He had been Shu Zhenzhong’s subordinate and had been placed at the Food Factory after transferring to civilian work.
“Yaoyao, have you taken care of everything at home?”
He stood up and poured Shu Yao a cup of cooled boiled water.
“Uncle Guo, everything’s taken care of.”
Guo Fumin nodded. There was not much he could say about this matter.
“All right. Go to the personnel department today and register. You’ll start work tomorrow.”
Just then, head of personnel department Wu Xiuling came over.
“Factory director, I wanted to tell you…”
“Shu Yao?”
When she saw Shu Yao, clear surprise appeared on her face, followed by deep disgust.
“Section Chief Wu, you came at just the right time. Take Comrade Shu Yao over to complete her procedures, notify her director, and she can be assigned a work schedule tomorrow.”
“Factory director, this isn’t appropriate, is it? Her husband’s family class background is problematic. If she returns to her post, I’m afraid the workers at our factory will object.”
Wu Xiuling was a thoroughgoing member of the revolutionary committee.
At the factory, she was also the most aggressive troublemaker.
She was the director of the personnel department as well, so she knew the family class backgrounds of the factory’s workers like the back of her hand. These past few days, while Shu Yao had been under work suspension at home, the factory had been especially lively.
Wu Xiuling had brought the whole movement’s methods into the factory, and, as luck would have it, she actually had a group of Red Guards under her.
Whenever anyone at the factory had an ancestor with a little money or had once run a small business, she let none of them off. She put up big-character posters on the factory’s propaganda wall and made people stand before them to confess aloud.
For a time, she had thrown the factory into such chaos that normal production was impossible.
Guo Fumin was extremely dissatisfied, but with the general situation as it was, he dared not stand out. For all he knew, he could be the next one to be denounced.
He could only do his utmost to keep the Food Factory running normally and ensure the Capital City’s residents received their non-staple food.
Fortunately, Guo Fumin had acted decisively at the time and immediately ordered Shu Yao to stop work and go home to deal with the matter. Otherwise, she would certainly have been one of those confessing before the propaganda wall.
The Old Madam’s memory of this period had already grown somewhat distant. Hearing Wu Xiuling’s words, Shu Yao pondered secretly.
This woman’s hostility toward her was intense.
“Section Chief Wu, Comrade Shu Yao has very high consciousness. She severed ties with that family completely, obtained a divorce certificate, moved her Household Registration out, and firmly safeguards our worker-peasant class.”
Guo Fumin indicated that Shu Yao should hand her divorce certificate and household registration book to Wu Xiuling.
Upon hearing this, Wu Xiuling’s expression relaxed, and a smile appeared on her face.
“Comrade Shu did the right thing. Big landlords, capitalists, and capitalist roaders are all our enemies. They should be suppressed harshly, so they won’t trip us up or drag us down on the socialist road!”
Wu Xiuling took the divorce certificate and glanced at it, clearly satisfied. But when she opened the household registration book, her face fell again.
“You brought along the landlord family’s little Brat?”
“Comrade Shu Yao, it’s not that I want to criticize you…”
Shu Yao’s head began to ache from listening, but she was good at reading the situation and knew she could not openly oppose this woman.
“Section Chief Wu, precisely because he’s still a brat, I brought him along. He is a child of the worker-peasant class. He should stand with us and with our factory.”
“Under the guidance of an outstanding leader like you, who devotes herself wholeheartedly to struggling and fighting for the worker-peasant class, I believe he will certainly grow into a qualified guardian of the worker-peasant class.”
Wu Xiuling forcefully suppressed the corners of her mouth as they tried to curl upward, then nodded with restraint.
“Mm, what you said makes sense. Bring the child to the factory more often and let him interact more with our working class.”
“That’s what I think, too. Once I start work, I’ll leave him at our factory’s nursery, where he can be imbued with the spirit of the working class.”
“Comrade Shu has very high consciousness, unlike some people at our factory.”
At this, Wu Xiuling’s anger flared again.
“They refuse to repent. Education is for their own good, to make them accept ideological reform, and yet—”
She slammed her palm onto the table.
“They can even recite the Quotations incorrectly. Does that look like reform to you?!”
Shu Yao was jolted by the sound. Good heavens, she had almost forgotten about this. Once she got home, she would have to cram in earnest.
Wu Xiuling continued.
“I propose that if they continue like this, they should be sent for reform through labor!”
“Comrade Wu Xiuling, you know how heavy our factory’s production workload is. If we send this group away for forced relocation, where will we suddenly find so many skilled workers to replace them?”
Guo Fumin used production as his argument.
“How about this? Reciting the Quotations incorrectly is indeed a serious ideological problem. Send them to the steaming workshop for labor, and have them submit one report every day.”
The steaming workshop was the most grueling workshop in the Food Factory during summer. Enduring it for a while was still better than being sent away for forced relocation.
Wu Xiuling thought it over and agreed.
“All right. Then I’ll take Xiao Shu to complete her procedures.”
By this point, everything about Shu Yao pleased her.
“Xiao Shu, I think you’re excellent. Your ideological consciousness is high. You can give the entire factory some ideological propaganda and wake those backward elements up.”
Shu Yao: …
What kind of sin had she committed?!
Maybe she should just go home and lie low. In any case, the money she had on hand was enough to last her until the reform and opening-up.
But living off her savings without any income coming in would seem strange, too.
Shu Yao mourned herself silently in her heart.
“Section Chief Wu, I can’t compare with you. You’re a modern-day Women’s militia, and anyone can see you’re destined for great things. I’m no good—I’m timid, and whenever I’m in a serious setting, I start trembling.”
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to achieve the expected results with propaganda.”
The corners of Wu Xiuling’s mouth curled upward discreetly. Then she thought about it and decided Shu Yao had a point. What would it look like to stand onstage trembling all over?!
She truly was useless and unfit for important work!
Wu Xiuling had originally wanted to promote her a little because of her high consciousness, but never mind.
“Then do this: cooperate with the comrades from the propaganda section and let them use you as an example to make an issue of the wall newspaper.”
Shu Yao: …
In the end, she could not escape it.
Wu Xiuling took her back to the personnel department, had a Cadre fill out her paperwork, and then hurriedly left.
After completing the procedures, Shu Yao went to the factory’s nursery.
The turmoil in the factory seemed not to have affected this place. The nursery attendants were leading the children in outdoor activities.
“Comrade, are you…”
A nursery attendant carrying a child came over.
“Oh, hello, comrade. I’m Shu Yao from the Syrup Workshop. I’d like to ask about the toddler class.”
“You’re from the Syrup Workshop!”
The nursery attendant’s face filled with smiles as she opened the door.
“How old is Comrade Shu’s child?”
“Exactly two and a half months.”
Shu Yao recalled the birth date written in the household registration book.
“Can I bring him here?”
“Of course, of course. Our youngest child is only a little over one month old.”
She led Shu Yao to a room at the very end.
“All the children under one year old are here. There are twelve in total.”
Seeing so many children made Shu Yao’s head ache.
“If one of them starts crying, will the others start crying too?”
“Don’t worry, Comrade Shu. If a child cries, we’ll take them out immediately and comfort them.”
Shu Yao quietly went inside to take a look. The small beds were very clean, and the bedding was not dirty either. The hygiene seemed quite good.
“What about their food and drink?”
“The older children pay a meal fee. We provide their meals here.”
“The younger children who are still drinking milk are either fed by their mothers when they have time, or their mothers buy milk powder and leave it here for us to feed them.”
Shu Yao nodded. It was already very considerate.
The nursery was free for the children of the factory’s employees. They only needed to pay the meal fee. As for Shen Huaiyu, he did not even need to pay that; he only had to bring his own milk powder.
When she returned, Shen Huaiyu was sleeping soundly. Auntie Cai sat in the main hall, pasting matchboxes, while Shen Huaiyu lay in a small bamboo basket beside her.
“Thank you, Auntie.”
Shu Yao took five or six White Rabbit creamy candies from her pocket and placed them on the table.
“Give them to Xiao Man and Xiao Chen to sweeten their mouths.”
“Oh my, why are you being so polite?”
Cai Cuifang cast her an accusing glance.
“I just fed him, and he fell asleep.”
Shu Yao carefully carried him back to the room, then made herself a steamed egg and boiled a bowl of rice.
She ate until she was sweating profusely.