Chapter 245: Her Stepmom Must Regret It To Death
Lu Qiaoge didn’t know that people in the general office were whispering.
She heard Chen Dafeng and Huang Juan from next door complaining in the corridor: “What’s this? Slept with me for a year for nothing, wanting a divorce? No way!”
Lu Qiaoge: ……
That’s indeed a reason not to divorce.
The door to Director Hu’s office was open, and Lu Qiaoge didn’t knock because Director Hu was just about to walk out. He saw Lu Qiaoge and said while walking, “Old Lin and his family have come, bringing witnesses and Chang An’s adoptive parents, as well as the village branch secretary and brigade leader. Oh, right, it’s confirmed—Chang An is Old Lin’s youngest son.”
Although it was expected, Lu Qiaoge was still quite happy for Chang An.
These days, she had run into Deputy Director Lin several times too. He was wandering around outside, probably hoping to bump into Chang An. She didn’t know if they had met yet.
“First go find Chang An at the food factory. We’ll talk about the rest later.”
The reunion scene was actually quite sad and hard to describe.
The ones crying their hearts out were Chang An’s parents—Old Lin and Old Lin’s wife.
The couple from Old Chang’s family were still terrified and uneasy.
The old branch secretary had always been good to Chang An and had come this time as a witness.
Seeing such a large military factory, and seeing Chang An neatly dressed and able to have simple conversations, they knew he was doing very well.
They heard he was now deputy director of the handicraft factory.
He had truly turned his luck around.
Even if he hadn’t found his biological parents, life with Zhou Li wouldn’t have been bad for him.
Even if Old Chang was a rogue, he wouldn’t dare cause trouble here.
He couldn’t even get in through the main door.
That’s great. He was happy for Chang An.
Chang An was bewildered and at a loss, while Zhou Li hadn’t even reacted yet.
But however it was, what needed to be clarified still had to be said clearly.
Old Lin’s wife choked up and said, “……It’s not that we didn’t want you. Back then at the station, bad people were causing trouble, and someone threatened the police with explosives. The crowd scattered and ran. I was taking you to Beidu to find your dad, carrying you in my arms. But your older brother was knocked down by several people and couldn’t get up. I reached out with one hand to pull your older brother, and then someone rushed out from the side and snatched you away……”
That was how it happened back then.
It was also the lifelong pain of Old Lin and his wife.
Chang An’s emotions had improved a lot, but he silently lowered his head. Director Hu had to smooth things over.
This definitely meant they couldn’t go to work.
So he gave Chang An and Zhou Li time off.
Chang An gripped his hands tightly and stammered, “Now…… the production tasks…… are tight. I…… I……”
Remembering how her son had been abused, Old Lin’s wife couldn’t help but cry again.
Lu Qiaoge spoke up at the right moment, her voice carrying a smile: “No matter how tight the tasks are, it won’t make a difference in this moment. Finding your biological parents is a huge happy event. We’re all happy for you. You two must have a lot to say to each other. Go ahead, it’s fine. Xiao Yu is still here.”
Zhou Li glanced at her husband’s parents, feeling like it was all a dream.
Did she have any thoughts? Actually not. Her mind was a complete mess.
But her husband was holding her hand and wouldn’t let go, so she had no choice but to follow along.
Once everyone had left, Director Hu said, “If Chang An leaves, then let Xiao Yu be the deputy director.”
Lu Qiaoge nodded: “The handicraft factory speaks through strength. Xiao Yu is the talented type, and all those master craftsmen like her.”
They would naturally support her work too.
But actually, the factory was easy to manage in the initial stage because there was no private enterprise. The current situation was that people were either workers or peasants, with no extra choices.
So having a formal job was the only goal.
In the 1950s, the population was small, and the country was building, so there was a shortage of workers. As long as your background was fine, you could get a job.
But after experiencing explosive population growth, and with state-owned factories not recruiting, jobs were especially hard to find now.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been the policy of going down to the countryside.
And this situation wouldn’t start to resolve slowly until after reform and opening up.
Lu Qiaoge was now the acting factory director. The authorities really didn’t know how to arrange things for a factory that had only been around for a little over a month, so they were taking a wait-and-see attitude.
For now, things would stay like this.
Director Hu said the same: “Qiao Ge, you’re still the acting factory director for now. The two deputy directors are very capable too. The rules and regulations you specified are very comprehensive. These workers have all proven themselves reliable. You don’t need to put all your energy here. If you don’t go to the study class, you can’t miss the night school classes. You need to quickly raise your education level to high school graduate.”
Lu Qiaoge nodded repeatedly. That’s exactly what she thought.
“Thank you, Director Hu, for your support and trust in me.”
Director Hu laughed heartily: “You child, still being so polite with me.”
Lu Qiaoge smiled too: “I’m speaking from the heart.”
Meeting leaders like Director Hu and Aunt Huang was actually quite fortunate too.
Many of her ideas and approaches were very new, and leaders who weren’t very accepting could really dampen people’s enthusiasm.
At this moment, Director Hu was standing in the courtyard of the food factory.
In front of him were two factory buildings.
One of them was under renovation.
One had been divided in two, and the other was the handicraft factory’s factory building and warehouse.
For the North, the advantage had always been vast land with sparse population.
Even the original pickle factory had occupied a large plot of land.
The idea back then was that once the pickle factory grew bigger, more factory buildings would be built.
But all sorts of problems arose, and because raw materials were restricted, the pickle factory couldn’t continue, so the place was left idle.
But now it had new life.
Director Hu felt very satisfied.
Lu Qiaoge also told Director Hu about Sun Da Tian, Xiao Tao, and now Lin Liang, the son of Old Lin, who was the brigade leader and also the branch secretary.
Director Hu had always trusted Lu Qiaoge.
Even if it was through connections, her connections carried the most weight.
Director Hu had never opposed anyone Lu Qiaoge recommended. He directly said to her, “Alright, I’ll say hello to Old Wu.”
Old Wu was the person in charge of personnel at the neighborhood committee, but now he was called the labor and wages staff.
In other words, even if these three didn’t pass the exam, there would be other arrangements for them.
Lu Qiaoge said, “Their cultural levels should be fine. Especially Lin Liang—he ranked in the top ten on the cultural exam for our city’s machinery factory, but he was rejected because of eyesight issues.”
Director Hu frowned: “The machinery factory has plenty of jobs, but using poor eyesight as an excuse is plausible enough.”
Lu Qiaoge said, “I’ve tested it. His eyesight is perfectly normal. And I saw his craftsmanship in weaving straw hats and baskets. Though not as good as Chang An and Xiao Yu, he has a lot of room for improvement.”
After all, his mind wasn’t fully on it.
Old Lin had always wanted his son to come to the city as a worker.
Last year, he had even worked as a temporary worker at the shoe factory for half a year.
Of course, he ended up being pushed out in the end.
After all, temporary workers were hot commodities now.
—
The news that Zhou Li’s mute husband was the lost youngest son of a high official’s family spread throughout the entire factory overnight.
Meng Xia excitedly asked Lu Qiaoge a bunch of questions, then said, “This is what they mean by ‘don’t judge fat people until they get on the kang.’ Zhou Li is truly blessed. Her stepmother must regret it to death.”
Old Mrs. Lu said, “So, you can’t be too harsh as a person. Always leave yourself a way out.”
Lu Qiaoge thought so too. If they had helped Zhou Li and taken in their whole family back then, they might be benefiting from it now.
