Bei Qinghuan was just feeling puzzled.
Yan Guifang pushed the door open and corrected herself, “Oh no, they’re probably already fighting by now!”
Bei Qinghuan laughed, put down the paintbrush in her hand, and poured her mother a glass of water. “Mom, slow down. Wait, you came back early. Didn’t your workshop director say anything to you?”
Yan Guifang didn’t even drink the water, she was so excited. “Hah, everyone went to watch the commotion, so I slipped back to tell you. It’s gotten huge! The security department took several people to the Factory Administration!”
“What on earth happened?”
Yan Guifang recounted the story with a lively expression.
“They said a new employee joined the Third Workshop. At first, nobody paid much attention, but then someone, who knows who, said that hiring new employees now is against the rules. So, a few people went to ask her how she got in.
“At first, the woman didn’t say a word. But she couldn’t stand it when the entire workshop surrounded her and made a fuss, so she had to speak. And when she did, oh boy, guess what?”
Bei Qinghuan, of course, already knew, but she smiled and played along with her mother. “What?”
“She’s from Jiangbei! A country bumpkin!” Yan Guifang slapped her thigh.
However, she didn’t see surprise in her daughter’s eyes. Instead, she saw a look of resignation, very much like her late husband’s.
Indulgent.
But disapproving.
Yan Guifang immediately remembered that she was once the factory director’s wife and shouldn’t be like those ordinary workers, always engaging in regional discrimination and talking about country folk in that manner.
It wasn’t good.
Her late husband’s exact words were, “It shows a lack of personal character and is detrimental to the unity of the masses.”
Yan Guifang gave a dry cough to cover her discomfort and continued her explanation.
“So everyone found it strange. How did she, someone from the countryside without a city household registration, get into the factory? Weren’t they saying there’s no hiring recently? If they were hiring, everyone has relatives and friends at home, right? The crowd wasn’t having it. They swarmed over to Director Gao of the Third Workshop, demanding an explanation.
“Director Gao initially tried to smooth things over, telling everyone not to cause trouble, saying she was transferred from another workshop or something. But the person who started the fuss seemed to know a lot, saying that if she came from another workshop, she should be a skilled worker. They told her to try sewing a pocket. And guess what?”
What could Bei Qinghuan do?
It was her own mother; she had to indulge her.
She could only go along with her. “What happened?”
Yan Guifang had finally found her joy in storytelling.
“Hah! That woman didn’t know how to do anything. She didn’t even know where the electric switch for the straight-seam sewing machine was. You see, that just exposed the lie, didn’t it? So someone shouted for everyone to come and watch the show. We on the ground floor heard the commotion upstairs and all went up. The workshop director couldn’t stop us.
“With more people, all sorts of things were said. Everyone started mocking Director Gao, saying he must have brought in a relative of his. Everyone has relatives who want to get in. If they’re going to hire, it should be an open recruitment with an assessment, right? What’s with all this sneaking around? They raised a ruckus!
“Then someone got catty, saying she was a relative of the factory director’s family. A few days ago, someone had let it slip at the market that a relative of the factory director was joining the Third Workshop. That made sense, since the Third Workshop is managed by Qin Dagang. So someone went and called Qin Dagang over.
“But after Qin Dagang arrived, he said he didn’t know this new woman. Oh, what a twisty plot, more exciting than watching an opera. Huanhuan, let me ask you, is this woman Qin Zhenghua’s mistress?”
Bei Qinghuan had been listening with great interest. To this, she nodded helplessly. “She should be Qin Zhenghua’s wife from his sent-down village.”
“Wife? Is she worthy? Why are you undermining yourself like that?”
Yan Guifang strongly disapproved.
Bei Qinghuan said, “Mom, a man like Qin Zhenghua isn’t worth me fighting over who’s the main wife. Hurry up and tell me, what happened after Qin Dagang said he didn’t know her?”
Yan Guifang patted her daughter, somewhat displeased. “How did she come here?”
Bei Qinghuan said, “I wrote her a letter, so she was bound to come. Mom, hurry up and tell me. I want to see what the Qin family does next.”
“Oh, you’re really something else!”
Yan Guifang laughed so hard she rocked back and forth, now fully motivated to continue.
“Then Director Gao started scolding that woman, asking where she got the application form, if she stole it or something. The woman then said that she was actually introduced by the Qin family, and that it was Qin Dagang who signed her employee application form.
“That really stirred the pot. At first, it was just the Third Workshop making a fuss, but now all the onlookers joined in. Didn’t they say there was no hiring? On what grounds could the factory director just bring in a country bumpkin?
“But the woman said she wasn’t just anybody; she was the factory director’s daughter-in-law. Qin Dagang was furious and swung his hand, slapping the woman!”
As she said this, Yan Guifang mimicked a vicious motion.
Bei Qinghuan’s heart skipped a beat.
At the factory, Qin Dagang had always presented a very gentle demeanor, but as it turned out, he would resort to violence just like that.
So, everyone in the Qin family was a phony.
She couldn’t imagine how much grief she had endured from this family in her past life.
Yan Guifang was still going.
“Oh, you should have seen it. The woman’s face swelled up immediately. But she’s a clever one. She got up right away, lunged at the person who first questioned her, and started fighting, screaming that they were asking questions they already knew the answers to, trying to drive her to her death. She threatened to jump off the building. I don’t know how it happened, but in the chaos, several people started fighting.
“Someone must have notified the security department, because they came and took the woman and a group of troublemakers to the Factory Administration. They’re all raising hell there now. We can’t go watch over there, so I took the chance to come back and tell you.”
Bei Qinghuan listened with relish.
Yes, it wasn’t in vain that she had spent all night thinking of a plan. The effect was within her expectations.
She was just very curious about what would happen next.
Unfortunately, the Factory Administration office building had its own gatekeeper, and it was hard to get in without an excuse.
Bei Qinghuan had to settle for second best and asked her mother, “What does that woman look like?”
Yan Guifang’s lips twisted a few times, and she placed her hands on her chest. “This part is bigger than yours.”
“Mom!” Bei Qinghuan exclaimed in a low voice. “Don’t be like that!”
But Yan Guifang shot her a sideways glance and put her hands on her hips. “This part is also bigger than yours. She’s older than you, too. Bigger than you in every way. Satisfied now?”
“Really? You’re not just saying that to annoy me, are you?”
“I’m annoyed myself, why would I try to annoy you? It’s true. How should I put it… that woman is very… fleshy! Not skinny at all. Aside from her accent, she doesn’t look like she’s from the countryside. She’s dressed much better than you!”
To not be skinny while living in the countryside in this era meant she must have been eating very well.
Bei Qinghuan felt a little sad.
She was young when she was sent down, and she had truly lived a hard life.
“Can’t be helped. I heard Qin Zhenghua sends his entire monthly salary to her. I don’t have a man to support me.”
“That shameless hussy! Qin Zhenghua is shameless too! He’s spending his money to support a woman on the outside, and now he wants to marry you? It’s simply preposterous!”