Chapter 27 - For the first time, he felt that letting this woman back into their lives was the right decision. (1)
The Xu family were having dinner when Tong Xuelu and her siblings arrived.
The Xu family were a bit surprised when they saw Tong Xuelu and her siblings.
Zhou Fang was the first to recollected herself. “Aiya, big little sister, you are over. C’mon in.”
The Xu family’s living quarter was even smaller than that of the Tong family. It was a dinky place that piled in three adults and one kid. It was very crowded.
Mother Xu had a boy around 2 years old on her lap. He looked dark and unhappy, like he was upset at everyone and everything.
Tong Xuelu pretended that she didn’t see that. She smiled and said, “Sister Zhou Fang, why don’t you finish your dinner first? We will wait outside. We can talk after you are done eating.”
Xu Baigen quickly shoved the rest of the content in this bowl into his mouth, stood up, and said, “Mother of the child, go ahead and clean up. Big little sister, c’mon in and have a seat.”
Zhou Fang acknowledged him and said to Tong Xuelu, “There are a lot of mosquitos outside. You don’t want to stand out there.”
Tong Xuelu acknowledged her and walked inside with Tong Mianmian.
She observed Xu Baigen and his wife at the same time and nodded to herself when she noticed that they did not look visibly unhappy.
Tong Jiaming might be young but he knew how to read a person.
Xu Baigen husband and wife did not look like the kind who were greedy or would bully those who were weaker than them.
Mother Xu looked unhappy but, in the end, did not say anything nasty. She gave the child to her daughter-in-law and carried the dishes into the kitchen to be cleaned.
After they were seated, Tong Xuelu cut to the chase. “We are here today to talk about the position at the textile factory.”
Xu Baigen nodded. Looking embarrassed, he said, “Right, right. We had wanted to talk to you about it the day you returned but my child didn’t feel well that day and we had to take him to the hospital. Then you went to the city the next day.”
Zhou Fang nodded in agreement to her husband’s words. “We found out that you returned today and were planning to head over to yours and talk to you after dinner. But you came before we had a chance to head over.”
Tong Xuelu, “I would like to start working at the textile factory tomorrow. As for the money that Sister Zhou Fang had made so far, I will have Jiaming bring it over when I am paid.”
“Thank you, big little sister.”
Zhou Fang thanked Tong Xuelu with a smile on her face but she sighed to herself.
Without a job, her mother-in-law would nag her about how she was a burden to her son again.
She met Xu Baigen in school but the difference was that Xu Baigen was a city-dweller and she was a villager.
Her mother-in-law had always wanted a daughter-in-law from the city, which was why her mother-in-law had been picking on her left and right ever since she and Xu Baigen had gotten married.
She had finished junior high school but all positions in the city had been allocated and it was very difficult to break in without connections.
They had wanted to buy the position from the Tong family but with Tong Xuelu’s sudden return, that probably would not happen.
They were sad about it but it was the Tong’s position and it was the right thing to do to give it back to them.
Tong Xuelu noticed that the two of them really didn’t look like they were disgruntled at her before she threw out the second part of her plan. “Jiaming is planning on returning to school so we plan to sell the position of stevedore. I wonder if Brother Xu and Sister Zhou Fang might know someone who will be interested.”
Xu Baigen and Zhou Fang were taken aback a little when they hear that. “Sell it? Doesn’t your family need this position?”
Tong Dajun had two brothers back home. They would complain about not having work every time they came to visit. Once, they pressured Tong Dajun into helping them get jobs and stayed in the city for half a month before they left with his money.
Would his two brothers like that be willing to sell the position?
___