The sound of a train whistle drifted through the window into the bustling office.
A man dressed in a Zhongshan suit meticulously reviewed the documents before him, then looked up to scrutinize the frail Miao Yunwei.
“Ke Youzhi must have told you! Our station is hiring temporary loaders, mainly responsible for handling luggage when buses depart and arrive. This job is actually more suitable for male comrades, but Ke Youzhi repeatedly assured us you could handle it. Out of respect for him, we’re giving you a chance to try. There’s a three-day probation period. If you can do the work, you’ll become a formal temporary worker. If not, we’ll have to replace you.”
Miao Yunwei’s expression was somewhat dazed.
In her previous life, it had been the same scene, the same words spoken. Her first reaction back then had been feeling deceived, leading to shame, anger, and an emotional argument with the man. In the end, not only did she lose the temporary job, but upon returning home, she was falsely accused by her eldest uncle’s family. Ultimately, she was forced to go to the countryside as an educated youth, her life ruined forever.
“Comrade Miao, have you considered it?”
The man’s voice pulled her thoughts back to the present.
Miao Yunwei pursed her lips, slowly clenched her fists, and silently nodded. “I can do it.”
The man’s gaze held a hint of appreciation. “Alright then, go get your work uniform first. Report here tomorrow morning.”
Even after leaving the passenger bus station, Miao Yunwei still felt a sense of unreality. Yet, the work uniform in her hands constantly reminded her: she had been reborn!
At this thought, intense resentment and a longing for a new life surged in her eyes.
Since she had been given a second chance, she absolutely could not repeat the mistakes of her past life.
So what if it was just a temporary loading job? Could any hardship compare to bending over in the fields under the scorching summer sun, carrying a child on her back?
But before that, she needed to go back and settle accounts with her eldest uncle’s family!
Following the path from her memories, Miao Yunwei traversed streets and alleys, walked along dusty dirt roads, and finally returned to the sugar factory’s residential compound.
Just past the compound wall, she saw her grandmother, Huang Caiying, sitting in the shade of a tree, chatting with a few elderly men and women.
She hurried over and called out in a clear, bright voice.
Huang Caiying turned around, her smile as radiant as the sunny day. “Did you finish the employment procedures?”
Miao Yunwei obediently nodded.
The elderly folks nearby immediately grew curious.
“Oh! Caiying, your Yunwei found a job? You kept it so quiet! Which work unit? What does she do?”
Huang Caiying looked proud but pretended to be modest, saying cheerfully, “Same unit as her father, the bus passenger transport company. She’s going in as a ticket seller.”
Hearing it was a ticket seller position, the group of elderly men and women turned green with envy.
“I must say, you’re truly blessed. Your eldest son took over your husband’s position at the sugar factory, your second son is at the bus passenger transport company—both iron rice bowls. And now you’ve even managed to get your own granddaughter in as a ticket seller. Tsk tsk tsk… can’t compare!”
“I heard your eldest granddaughter also got into the sugar factory, right?”
Huang Caiying replied modestly, “What are you talking about? It’s just a temporary job. Alright, enough said. I need to go back and cook for the whole family!”
Having spread the news she wanted to boast about, Huang Caiying, thoroughly satisfied, took Miao Yunwei’s hand and headed home.
Once away from the crowd, Huang Caiying dropped her proud expression and instructed Miao Yunwei, “When we get back, make sure to thank your eldest aunt properly. It was your eldest aunt who actively gave up this job for you. It’s much better than a temporary job at the sugar factory.”
Miao Yunwei’s expression remained placid, her eyes glancing downward. Seeing the old woman still chattering away over there, clearly unaware of the inside story, she immediately pursed her lips and began to sob tearfully.
Huang Caiying was startled, halting in her tracks. “What’s going on? Why are you crying on such a happy day?”
“Grandma, I’m not going to be a ticket seller at the bus station at all. What they want is a temporary loader. Just now, seeing how happy you were, I didn’t dare to shed tears in front of the other grannies and grandpas.”
As she spoke, Miao Yunwei sniffled, putting on an understanding and considerate act, looking as pitiful as could be.
Huang Caiying’s face changed drastically, and she slapped her thigh hard. “Are you sure? It’s really not a ticket seller?”
Miao Yunwei nodded, her voice tinged with sobs. “The director said it was Ke Youzhi who repeatedly assured him I could handle the loading work that got me this opportunity. There’s a three-day trial period. If I can’t do it in three days, I’m out.”
Huang Caiying felt her head buzzing, nearly collapsing on the spot.
Supported by Miao Yunwei back home, she caught sight of her husband and wailed, “Miao Dashan! Your second granddaughter is about to be cheated to death! Wuwu…”
The old man, who had been smoking his pipe, was so startled that he trembled, scattering ash all over the floor.
By evening, the Miao family, young and old, had returned one after another.
At the dinner table, Ke Guixiang looked at the bowl of braised pork, unable to contain her joy. “Mom, Dad, today really is a good day. Xuewei has successfully completed her onboarding and will be working in the same unit as her father from now on.”
Her daughter’s job had been a major concern for her. Now that the problem was solved, she even found the burdensome second branch of the family more tolerable.
Meng Suling couldn’t stand her sister-in-law’s smug expression and curled her lip, chiming in, “Who isn’t? Our Yunwei also completed her onboarding today. From now on, she’ll be a ticket seller at the bus station! We won’t have to queue up and squeeze with others to buy tickets anymore!”
Ke Guixiang’s smile froze, and she looked at Miao Yunwei with a strange expression. “Yunwei, you also completed your onboarding today? Wasn’t it supposed to be tomorrow?”
Damn, she almost ruined her own plans!
Meng Suling cut in, “What difference does one day make? What, just because her birth time wasn’t earlier, does she have to wait for her sister to onboard first too?”
It had indeed been agreed upon to complete the onboarding tomorrow, but she felt uneasy and deliberately had her daughter go today instead.
Ke Guixiang, rebuked, lost her smile. Hearing Meng Suling boast about how wonderful the ticket seller job was, her expression grew even stranger. Unable to hold back, she asked, “Is she really going to be a ticket seller? Don’t get your hopes up for nothing.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Meng Suling and Huang Caiying questioned in unison.
Realizing she had slipped up, Ke Guixiang quickly covered her mouth to backtrack. “Nothing, I was just curious…”
Huang Caiying slammed the table hard, pointing angrily at Ke Guixiang. “Fine! I was wondering why, if there really was such a good job as a ticket seller, you would give it up to exchange for the sugar factory’s temporary job with the second branch! Ke Guixiang, you’re truly vicious! Conspiring with your brother to set a trap for the second branch!”
Back when the old man retired, the sugar factory job went to the eldest son. So this time, when they secured a temporary position at the sugar factory for the second branch, it had all been settled. But the eldest branch suddenly interfered, insisting on exchanging it for a ticket seller job at the bus company, claiming that father and daughter working in the same unit could look out for each other.
They also felt this arrangement was more appropriate, and no one doubted the authenticity of the ticket seller job.
Meng Suling, however, panicked, gripping Miao Yunwei beside her tightly as she pressed, “Is what your grandmother said true? Were we really tricked?”
Miao Yunwei pinched her thigh hard, the pain causing tears to fall pattering down. “Mom! They were hiring temporary loaders, not ticket sellers at all. Aunt tricked me out of the job, wuwu…”