Zhou Jiaojiao was driven out of the governnt family compound, completely bewildered. She hadn’t expected Li Qianqian to be so ungrateful. She had kindly saved her and her child’s life; it was just so leftover fabric from the textile factory, but Li Qianqian refused to agree.
In front of everyone in the village, she spoke harshly, leaving Zhou Jiaojiao utterly humiliated.
"Jiaojiao, what do we do now? Are we really just going to go back like this?"
"You originally agreed that as long as you replaced Shen ng’s duties with your own, you would increase our processing fee. It’s only been two days, not only is the paynt for the previous work unsettled, but now they’ve even stopped supplying materials. Not to ntion getting more money, there might not even be any work in the future, Jiaojiao, you can’t just ignore this!"
"Yes, you have a job, and your husband works for the commune, your family can live well now, but we are left struggling, still having to toil in the fields for a living!"
"If we really can’t work anymore, Jiaojiao, you must compensate us for our losses. It’s quite a sum of money! We can’t work for free; we earn our money through hard labor, it’s different from your situation."
....
Discussions about Zhou Jiaojiao swirled around her. Before coming to the county, people could still talk tough, but now it was impossible. Zhou Jiaojiao kept claiming she was well-acquainted with the family of the Textile Factory Director, but now, the person in charge only acknowledged Shen ng.
Everyone was panicking inside; naturally, so started to doubt Zhou Jiaojiao, but there were still those who supported her, several elder sister-in-laws who were close to her waved their hands, pushing aside the people crowding around Zhou Jiaojiao.
"Nonsense, when did Jiaojiao ever say such things? And you still want Jiaojiao to pay up? What nonsense are you thinking, also, Jiaojiao never agreed to manage the workshop initially, you were the ones displeased with Shen ng, disliking the low pay, Jiaojiao was pushed into this reluctantly, how can you bla her?"
"Exactly, she’s a pregnant woman, running to the county with such a big belly, who else would she do this for if not for everyone? The village officials abuse their power, looking down on Jiaojiao, they are all in cahoots with Shen ng. If we plead with them when we return, they will certainly depose Jiaojiao and let Shen ng take over, every knows this, isn’t it just because of Lu Zhenping’s influence?"
"Let’s go to the commune. If the village officials don’t care, we’ll find the director at the commune, let him judge fairly. Jiaojiao has been working so hard for whom, and now you mock her as if she has no one by her side?"
A few elder sister-in-laws helped her, and Zhou Jiaojiao’s eyes turned red with emotion; she wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes, stifling her sobs.
"Alright, let’s go to the commune. The workshop concerns both Lu Family Village and Xiangyang Commune’s reputation and developnt. I refuse to believe that the director won’t intervene. The village chief, Secretary, and Director Guo are all biased towards my elder sister-in-law, I understand since the workshop was started by her, but how can they disregard all the villagers of Lu Family Village due to personal emotions?"
"Jiaojiao is right, let’s go now, let the director make a decision for us."
"If you want to co then co, no one is stopping you, but if the workshop resus normally, rember who made it possible. Be careful with how you speak to Jiaojiao in the future, especially now that Jiaxuan is working at the commune, knowing that Jiaojiao was wronged, he is sure to be angry."
Upon hearing this, everyone couldn’t help but shudder inside. Now that Lu Jiaxuan is working at the commune, he holds power, and if they ever offend him, they are bound to face difficulties.
"Sister-in-law Hua, don’t say that, we are all from the sa village, as long as everyone is well, I can bear so grievances."
Zhou Jiaojiao said this, but there was a hint of pride in her eyes. She glanced down at the few sister-in-laws, a re façade.
"Yes, yes, Jiaojiao always understands the bigger picture, she definitely won’t hold grudges against us, let’s go, let’s go. If the issue is resolved smoothly, we’ll follow whatever Jiaojiao says in the future."
"That’s true, we are just rural won after all, Jiaojiao as a city worker shouldn’t hold grudges against us!"
"Sister-in-law just misspoke, deserves to be scolded."
...
When one person admits a fault, several others co forward to apologize soothingly to Zhou Jiaojiao, all wearing ingratiating smiles, but their hearts are bleeding. Who wants to force a smile for others? It’s only because of hard tis at ho that they must do so. Thinking back to when Shen ng was around, she too had her pretentious monts.
Comparing the two situations, everyone had their own thoughts.
A group hurried to the Commune and were led to the office of the Revolutionary Committee Director, where they just happened to see Feng Si banging on the table at Shen ng and the village cadres of Lu Family Village.
Zhou Jiaojiao’s eyes lit up with glee, feeling sure the Director must have known about the village leaders favoring Shen ng, which complicated things for her.
Feng Si was about to speak when suddenly a crowd barged into the office. He frowned and looked towards them, while Shen ng and the others also turned around.
"Who are you, barging into the office like this? Hurry up and get out!"
Feng Si was very displeased; he detested anyone breaking into his office, as it even made him uneasy to snack in peace.
However, Zhou Jiaojiao was undeterred. The worse Feng Si’s attitude, the more she felt her timing was perfect. With all parties present, they could resolve everything and she could avoid running around heavily pregnant.
"Director Feng, hello, I am Zhou Jiaojiao, the wife of the Commune official Lu Jiaxuan, and currently in charge of the Lu Family Village’s Head Flower Workshop. I had a matter to discuss with you, but seeing the current situation, it seems you might already be aware."
Watching the calm and self-assured woman speak, Feng Si stared at her intently for a long while then slowly turned to look at Director Guo.
"Director Guo, is this the Zhou Jiaojiao you ntioned?"
Director Guo gave a helpless smile and nodded to Feng Si.
Feng Si, a year younger than Lu Zhenping, beca the director of a Commune’s Revolutionary Committee at a young age, his cleverness was self-evident. Combining what the leadership of Lu Family Village had said and what Zhou Jiaojiao ntioned, he roughly understood what was going on.
He looked at Zhou Jiaojiao and the others with a smile and then stood up.
"So this is the famous Comrade Zhou. I’ve long heard your na and am finally seeing you in person. Oh, you just ntioned the situation, no, actually, I don’t quite understand. Maybe you could explain it to in more detail, and help understand better. Also, your comrades who ca with you, Xiao Zhang, bring paper and pen, listen to Comrade Zhou and those who ca with her, and jot down every word. I am too busy and fear missing details, better a poor pen than a good mory, no offense."
Zhou Jiaojiao and others certainly took no offense, even feeling that Feng Si was ticulous in his work. They looked towards the village cadres and Shen ng with a sense of triumph.
Shen ng: "...."
Fools abound every year, but this year is exceptionally so!
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