Chapter 501
Su Xiaoxiao looked at her second cousin’s family, all of whom were gazing at her with gratitude. Her face instantly turned bright red. But she couldn’t keep dwelling on this, so she just forced a smile and let the topic slide.
However, the issue that arose during the recruitment exam caught the attention of both the city authorities and the factories involved. Originally, Mr. Su, who would always return home for lunch after the factory resumed operations, made a special phone call this afternoon saying that he needed to go investigate the situation with the police. It wasn’t until past 8 PM that he walked in, looking exhausted.
Su Xiaoxiao was the first to rush over.
“Dad, did you find out why so many people got stomachaches?”
She had been thinking about it all day and still couldn’t figure out how so many unrelated people ended up with the same problem. If it were poisoning, causing so many people to get sick at once would make it easy to trace back to the culprit.
Mr. Su pinched the bridge of his nose, his expression a mix of helplessness and amusement. “We found out. These people all went to a state-owned restaurant and had some soy milk today.”
“So, someone at the state-owned restaurant was greedy and deliberately used rotten soybeans?” Su Xiaoxiao could only think of this possibility.
But Mr. Su shook his head. “No, it was the chef’s wife who did it.”
“Huh?” Su Xiaoxiao blinked in confusion.
“The chef’s wife was eligible to take part in this recruitment exam, but her husband and her mother-in-law wouldn’t allow her to go. So, she harbored a grudge. First, she wanted to use this method to get back at her husband and mother-in-law. Second, she resented those who could freely go to work.” Mr. Su didn’t even know how to express his thoughts about this woman.
“Why? Everyone’s struggling, wouldn’t it be better if one more person went to work?” Su Xiaoxiao just couldn’t understand the twisted reasoning behind it all.
To satisfy his daughter’s curiosity, Mr. Su had no choice but to explain in more detail.
“Her husband thought his wife was too beautiful and ten years younger than him. He was afraid that if she went to work, she might fool around with other men. Plus, his wife would help him prepare ingredients every morning, so he could do less work. At home, there were eight children—his own, plus two of his younger brothers’ kids—and his wife also helped her mother-in-law. So, for these three reasons combined, they wouldn’t allow her to work outside the house.”
At first, this explanation sounded ridiculous, but when Su Xiaoxiao thought about it, it made sense. This kind of thing happened everywhere, even in later generations. The less capable a man was, the more he tried to stop his wife from progressing.
Even in modern times, men who faced wives with greater abilities often tried to convince them to stay at home with all sorts of excuses. They would love to have a beautiful, graceful wife, but then wouldn’t want her to dress up properly. They wouldn’t let her wear black stockings or short skirts when going out, but they would still eye other women on the streets.
When their wives were busy with work, they’d complain that she didn’t take care of the home, that no one was cleaning, the kids weren’t being looked after, and that no one was helping care for their elderly parents.
Then, after living a miserable life, they would complain that their wives were lazy and didn’t earn a penny. They would talk about how hard and tiring their own lives were. What was worse was that they’d then act all high and mighty, saying that their wives had become out of touch with society, that they didn’t have any common topics to discuss with them. And finally, they would go out and find other, younger women who were more dazzling and eye-catching.
Su Xiaoxiao thought about the little videos she had watched with the maids and felt so angry that her face turned completely dark.
Jiang Yexun had no idea what she was thinking, but seeing how angry she was, he immediately felt heartbroken.
“Alright, don’t be upset. These are other people’s problems. We don’t need to let their issues ruin our health,” he said gently, bending down slightly, and whispered softly into his wife’s ear, trying to soothe her.