Chapter 242
Hua Shoucheng pondered for a moment and then smiled, “It’s indeed up to your sister to oversee this. Your sister is the most meticulous; with her around, there won’t be any problems with the accounts. I can also help her double-check every day to ensure everything runs smoothly for you.”
“Thank you, brother-in-law,” Jiang Yexun, rarely so polite in front of family members, responded.
Even Jiang Xinyue couldn’t help but glance at him a few more times.
“Alright, enough chatting. It’s getting late now. Let’s settle the work matters first to avoid any complications later,” Jiang Xinyue urged anxiously.
Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly got up, dressed, and hurried to the scrap station.
When they arrived at the scrap station, there were unexpectedly seven or eight people standing there. Three men were with their wives, and there were two others standing separately, obviously the old man’s daughters.
“What are you guys doing here? Don’t you plan to sell the job?” Su Xiaoxiao immediately frowned, eyeing them warily.
Those people hurriedly shook their heads, “No, no, we just have nothing to do, so we came to take a look.”
Take a look?
Are they here to look at this great injustice?
Or are they afraid that the seven hundred yuan won’t end up in their hands, so they came early to snatch it?
Su Xiaoxiao silently scoffed in her heart.
However, she didn’t say much to these people. Her gaze passed directly over them to focus on the old man.
Next to the old man was a table, a charcoal basin, a camp bed, two quilts, and several washbasins. There were even some things wrapped in bedsheets that looked like clothes.
Obviously, most of the time he lived alone in this small gatehouse.
Seeing this, and then looking at his children beside him, Su Xiaoxiao felt that the old man was too optimistic. After he sold the job for seven hundred yuan and divided it among his children, he probably wouldn’t have any good days left.
However, the old man was smiling happily, looking forward to going home and doting on his grandchildren.
“Old sir, shall we go to the neighborhood office now?” Su Xiaoxiao spoke up.
“Let’s go!” The old man walked out in front of everyone’s expectant gazes.
The dozen or so people walked together towards the neighborhood office, attracting many side glances along the way.
Fortunately, it was now cold weather, and those people wearing armbands usually didn’t loiter around on the streets, so they weren’t stopped and questioned.
The people from the neighborhood office also didn’t seem to have much acquaintance with the old man, just casually asking a few questions before transferring the job to Jiang Xinyue.
However, the officials at the neighborhood office were visibly surprised to see Jiang Xinyue, heavily pregnant.
“You’re still pregnant now. What about your future work?”
“I have few months before giving birth. I can still do some work myself. When it’s about time, my mother will come to help me for a while,” Jiang Xinyue replied softly, holding her belly.
Seeing that they had already made arrangements, and not wanting to be too nosy, the officials nodded satisfactorily, “Okay, as long as you don’t delay the work at the scrap station. And you must keep accurate records. If the money or items are short, it will be cutting the tail of socialism, and it will be hard to explain later.”
“Thank you, we understand. We will definitely double-check the accounts regularly,” Jiang Xinyue’s expression immediately turned serious.
Seeing her take the advice seriously, the officials smiled and didn’t say much more.
After leaving the neighborhood office, Su Xiaoxiao and the old man each handled their paperwork and money separately and went their separate ways. The old man’s belongings were already placed on a cart by his children and had been sitting there all along, so there was no need to return to the scrap station.
Su Xiaoxiao and the others first went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy two locks and everything they could use such as tables, camp beds, charcoal basins, and even a chest of drawers for storing food and essentials. When they returned to the scrap station, Su Xiaoxiao and Jiang Xinyue were urged to rest in chairs while Aunt Guo and two male comrades helped clean the doors, wash windows, arrange beds, and even cleaned the chimney properly to avoid any safety hazards when burning charcoal. After the work was done, despite the small size of the gatehouse, it was arranged in a particularly warm manner.
They went to a state-run restaurant for lunch, and in the afternoon, Jiang Yexun and Hua Shoucheng set up a shed next to the small gatehouse and covered it with waterproof cloth.
“We’re about to go to Shanghai, and I’m worried about leaving those things here at the production team. The Old Jiang family’s group of people have no shame. Who knows what trouble they might cause after we leave?” Aunt Guo said.
“Alright, when you come back, if you need these things, I’ll buy new ones,” Hua Shoucheng replied cautiously.
In the city, everyone had a quota for charcoal tickets. Even if there was a ticket, coal was scarce, and even if you had money and a ticket, you may not necessarily get it. And it was all thanks to Jiang Yexun with his methods, that his family could be well arranged.
With the arrangements made for the work, Jiang Yexun specially visited the post office.
Beijing sent back six letters in total. One was from the two service officers at the hostel. The other five were sent over by Zong Xiaoping, each one quite thick. They did not rush to open them and instead put them back in their bags.
After a busy day, until 4:30 p.m. according to the previous plan, they met Uncle Wang at the entrance of the cooperative. Seeing this time, the three aunts were curious why they hadn’t bought anything this time, and said, “It’s hard to make a trip to the city. What did you not take with you? When it gets colder, and there’s nothing to eat, you won’t have time to buy more.”
“Yeah, you’ve broken up with Old Jiang’s family. When winter comes, they definitely won’t lend you anything and will cause you trouble. You’ll have to borrow from the villagers then. By that time, everyone may not have enough to eat. Even if you have money, you won’t be able to buy it.” They would say this to worry about Aunt Guo.
Aunt Guo smiled at their kindness and replied, “I’m tired today. In a few days, when we come back to the city, we’ll see if we can buy something.”
“Well, your daughter is pregnant and living in the city. As a mother, it’s only right for you to have more responsibilities taking care of her. Xinyue has a good life, having a good mother like you who cares for her so much.”
Those aunties thought that in a few days, Aunt Guo would find another excuse to come to the city to visit her daughter. They saw it as entirely unnecessary.
After all, with her current spat with her husband, who could possibly control her?
Aunt Guo simply smiled and didn’t bother to explain. Family matters didn’t need to be clarified for outsiders.