20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 745 Huairou

There was nothing unexpected about the situation.

The next morning, when Lao Meng went to the printing factory again, his attitude suddenly changed and he no longer insisted on setting up Xijia Bank.

There were few hardliners among the workers to begin with. Once Zhang Lianfu was arrested, Lao Meng suddenly changed his mind, and now they are even more disheartened and like scattered sand.

Everyone soon came up with a plan for compromise.

As a result, the subsequent negotiation process seemed to go particularly smoothly.

After discussions between the two parties, it was finally decided to resume work in the afternoon of the same day.

Because Lao Meng voted in favor, he was commended by General Manager Zhu. He took the opportunity to take half a day off. After the meeting, he hurried back home to wait for news that his children had returned safely.

The waiting process was not long, but the couple was extremely anxious. Every minute and every second felt like torture, and they kept turning circles in the room.

The old lady was calm and composed. She ate and drank as usual, as if nothing had happened. She even seemed a little impatient from time to time.

"Hey, stop hanging around, the child is fine! This is kidnapping, not begging. Our family doesn't have much money. What else can they do by kidnapping your child, except to force you to vote to resume work?"

The old lady pounded her leg, shook her head and sighed, "Young people have never experienced anything, and they are at a loss when they encounter something. Can this family do without me?"

Sure enough, not long after, I heard a knock on the door outside.

"Boom!"

The incident happened suddenly and caused quite a stir.

The daughter-in-law had waited at home for a whole day and night, but when the time came, she didn't dare to answer the door. She just hid behind Lao Meng and pushed him, saying, "Go open the door!"

Old Meng hurried to the outer room, pushed open the door, but suddenly froze.

There were no children outside the door, only three or five strange men, wearing black silk shorts and western hats, with cold and hard faces, looking fearless.

Yang Lazi, who brought people with him, stood there without saying a word. He just stretched his neck and glanced into the room.

"Brother, the printing factory has resumed work now, where is my child?"

Lao Meng asked anxiously, but Yang Lazi didn't say a word. He suddenly turned around and waved towards the street behind him, and no one knew what arrangements he had made.

The couple didn't dare to say anything and could only wait and see what happened.

Soon, people were seen walking on the street, one carrying two sacks on his shoulders and the other holding a high-cylinder iron kettle in his hand. They came to the door and without saying a word, they just put these things on the threshold and then turned and left.

Lao Meng looked down at the sack. It was obviously not big enough to hold a person.

Just when he was feeling somewhat confused, he suddenly realized that Yang Lazi and the others were also leaving, so he hurriedly took two steps forward and asked, "Hey, big brother...where is my child?"

Yang Lazi turned around, pointed at Lao Meng, and ordered, "Stay at home and wait, don't go out."

Old Meng didn't understand what he meant, and didn't dare to ask any further questions, so he could only watch the other party leave inexplicably.

The wife was anxious. Seeing the man walking away, she quickly scolded him, "You don't know how to talk. Why didn't you ask when our child would be back?"

"This... didn't they tell us to wait at home?"

"You coward, I can't count on you for anything!"

The daughter-in-law couldn't help but complain, but no matter what, at least she had some news. Then she looked at the sack sticking out of the door.

"What is this? Go and take a look!"

Lao Meng nodded, walked over, squatted down, opened the two sacks one by one, then turned around suddenly with a look of surprise on his face.

"Rice."

"What?"

"Rice and flour, and a barrel of oil."

Lao Meng repeated it. His wife couldn't believe it. She hurried over to check it out and suddenly froze in place.

It was rice and flour, white as snow, each bag weighing at least 20 kilograms, and there was also a bucket of soybean oil, which was even more precious. How could ordinary people afford it?

Just as I was wondering, a mournful voice suddenly came from the inner room.

"I haven't eaten rice in years. Your father is incompetent and you are not filial. You don't give me rice. I have lived a miserable life!"

Whenever this happened, the old lady's ears would become pointed.

The couple didn't respond. They were confused, but also a little happy.

"What does this mean?" the wife asked, "You're not going to thank us, are you?"

Although Lao Meng also had this idea, he felt that he was not worthy of it. Suddenly, he found a letter in the rice bag, and he hurriedly opened it to read.

"What does the letter say?" the wife asked anxiously, "Does it say when our child will be back?"

Lao Meng shook his head and said, "This is a letter of recommendation."

"What do you recommend?"

"I recommend you to work as a female worker at the Bawangsi Soda Factory. You can get a salary of 20 yuan per month."

When the daughter-in-law heard this, a look of joy appeared on her face.

She used to work at the Fengtian Spinning Mill, where she could only earn 16 yuan every month by working very hard and overtime.

The soda factory is much smaller than the spinning mill, but the wages are four yuan more. I think the position should be that of a small foreman in charge of things.

"Is this what Boss Jiang arranged for us?"

"Stop talking nonsense. A big boss like him doesn't have the time to care about these little things." Lao Meng said, "But it must be related to the Jiang family. The signature is Wang Zhengnan. Have you heard of this person?"

The wife shook her head: "You haven't heard of it, so I don't know it either."

The class gap is so huge that the two sides are like people from two different worlds and have no intersection at all in daily life.

They may have heard of Nanfeng's shop, but they don't know that the shop belongs to Nanfeng.

As they were talking, there was another knock on the door.

Old Meng was startled and quickly got up to open the door, but his children were still not there. However, he recognized the visitor this time.

"Hey, isn't this Doctor Han?"

The visitor was a famous old doctor in Daxiguan. His family ran a clinic and he seldom went out to see patients.

Although Lao Meng couldn't afford to hire him, he had heard of him and seen him since they lived on the same street. Now, seeing him standing outside the door with a medicine box on his back, he couldn't help feeling confused.

"Doctor Han, what are you doing..."

"Oh, I was asked to come and see what's wrong with the old lady's legs."

The couple looked at each other. It was of course a great pleasure for the old lady to have Dr. Han come to treat her, but the consultation fee...

Doctor Han waved his hand and smiled, "Don't worry, it doesn't cost any money. Someone has already paid for it."

In that case, what else is there to say? Lao Meng quickly invited people into the house and shouted with a smile: "Mom, I've asked someone to come and see you!"

"Who is it?"

The old lady's tone was quite impatient. When she saw Doctor Han come in, she was so angry that she didn't know who had offended her. She just rolled her eyes at him and pouted, "Where did you invite this weird doctor? Don't kill me again."

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Old Meng looked embarrassed and apologized quickly, "Doctor Han, don't worry, my mom is just like that, she has a bad temper."

"It's out of the way, it's out of the way."

Doctor Han has been practicing medicine for many years and has seen all kinds of situations. He has seen many old ladies who threw tantrums and refused to see a doctor, but he doesn't mind at the moment and just focuses on treating patients and saving lives.

He spent the whole cigarette-making time observing, smelling, asking and palpating.

Doctor Han understood what was going on, turned to look at Old Meng, and said, "How about letting me talk to the old lady alone?"

Without saying a word, the couple closed the door and left the inner room, leaving the old lady staring at the doctor with squinted eyes.

"How old is the old lady this year?"

"My unfilial son became thin due to starvation."

"Haha, the old lady has heavy ears."

"You are deaf!"

Doctor Han smiled and waved his hands, then suddenly lowered his voice and asked, "Okay, how about you tell me the truth, are you going to lie on the kang like this from now on?"

The old lady rolled her eyes, as if her intentions had been exposed, but she said, "My old man has never asked me to do any work in his life."

"You are so lucky. Not only do you have a loving spouse, but you also have a filial son!"

"Him? He makes me angry all the time. My old son is the best. He always thinks about me!"

"Oh, what about your old son?"

"He's busy outside, I won't cause him any trouble."

Doctor Han didn't ask any more questions.

In fact, the old lady knew clearly in her heart that the eldest son was the truly filial one, but she just loved her older son from the bottom of her heart.

When her eldest son gave her some meat, she thought it was too greasy; when her oldest son came for the first time, he brought a bag of dandelions, and she said that wild vegetables were good for reducing internal heat.

A biased person will not get help from another biased person, and will instead suffer from the anger of another biased person.

She didn't feel offended, but instead found ways to make amends for her older son.

Doctor Han knew the old lady's intentions and said with a smile, "I only treat patients, not family affairs. I won't expose you, but don't ruin my reputation. I will prescribe you some warm medicine to nourish you. I don't expect the medicine to cure the disease immediately, but you should at least leave me a message of 'getting better', right?"

The old lady didn't say anything, which was considered as her tacit consent.

Doctor Han then opened his medicine box, picked up a pen and ground ink, and quickly wrote down a few unnecessary, tea-like prescriptions. He went out and handed them to Lao Meng, and whispered, "Take the prescription and go to the Ninghe Pharmacy in the north of the city. The shopkeeper there is called Zhang Sheng. Just tell him your name and he will prescribe the medicine for you. He won't charge you."

Old Meng knew that this was probably another arrangement by the Jiang family, so he nodded in agreement.

Doctor Han continued, "By the way, someone asked me to give you a message, so remember it."

"Okay, okay, Doctor Han, please speak."

"There are not many prestigious workers in the printing factory, and you are one of them. Work hard in the future. If you encounter any difficulties, go to Nanji Grain and Oil Store and explain the matter to the shopkeeper or the clerk. No matter whether it is a big or small matter, even if it is about your child's schooling, you can go and talk."

Lao Meng was stunned for a moment before he responded, "Okay, I understand."

"Then I'll be leaving!" Doctor Han lifted his gown, stepped over the threshold, and suddenly turned around, "Young man, more friends mean more roads, more enemies mean more walls. Living a good life is the real thing. Why risk your life when you have nothing to do?"

After saying that, he walked away.

At this time, it was almost evening.

Lao Meng waited at home for another half a day, until it was getting dark outside and the number of pedestrians on the street gradually decreased, and then the knock on the door sounded for the third time.

When I opened the door again, nothing unexpected happened and my two children finally returned home safely.

Old Meng's wife was filled with mixed feelings of sadness and joy. She hugged her children in her arms and examined them carefully from head to toe, inside and out.

The result was just as the old lady said. Not only were the two children not beaten, there were no marks of strangulation on their bodies. When they returned home, each of them had two dollars in cash in their pockets.

Although the storm has subsided, kidnapping is still kidnapping no matter what.

The two children were so frightened that their faces turned pale, they spoke haltingly, and could not remember any details.

When asked whether they had seen anyone during this period, where they were taken and how they were brought back, the two children could not explain clearly, and their statements often contradicted each other.

"It's better to forget it, it's better to forget it!"

The old lady was very proud. She leaned against the big suitcase and said slowly to her son and daughter-in-law, "See? I told you a long time ago that nothing will happen to the child. They are trying to win you over. If they are just negotiating for resumption of work, they have plenty of ways to deal with you. Why would they bother to help the child?"

Things have come to this point, Lao Meng naturally has no objection.

The Jiang family used both soft and hard tactics, first giving warnings and then offering benefits. After all this persuasion, Old Meng no longer dared to be so high-profile.

However, I still feel a little guilty towards Zhang Lianfu.

The daughter-in-law was quite open-minded. Not only had she forgotten the pain after her wound had healed, but she was now even criticizing the laborers.

"It's the same with your printing factory. The situation in the provincial capital is so bad right now. It's lucky that General Manager Zhu's office didn't lay off any employees, but they insisted on asking for a break. Go ahead, even though we raised their salaries, they still won't stop. People need to learn to be content. Don't be greedy."

Hearing this, Lao Meng glanced at his wife and said, "You've changed so quickly. You haven't even started working at the soda factory yet, but you're already talking like a foreman."

"So what? I'm telling the truth. If the factory doesn't make money, how can we make money?"

The daughter-in-law was completely immersed in the vested interests and only cared about the good things of the Jiang family. She then said, "Boss Jiang is still a man of integrity. He sent us rice, noodles, and oil, and even hired someone to treat our mother. The medical expenses were waived, and the child is now back home safely. This is great."

"He's kidnapping!" Old Meng slammed the table and shouted, "Zhang Lianfu is still in jail!"

"Oh, you really don't have enough to worry about. Go and rescue him now. And send the rice, flour and oil back to him!"

After his wife said a few words to him, Lao Meng was speechless.

Ultimately, these are tangible benefits that are easy to accept but difficult to give up.

The old lady suddenly added, "Oh, that's enough, that's all true - the crying child gets the milk! There's nothing wrong with crying for a rest, you have to cry when you should, you can't keep silent and suffer the loss, there's one thing, you should cry and make a fuss, but you can't bite people, biting people is seeking death, crying poor will bring you sweetness!"

In the end, I found out that the most down-to-earth person in Old Meng's family who knows how to seek benefits and avoid harm the most is this shrewish old woman who pretends to be paralyzed.

The old lady was calm and collected, especially when she occasionally uttered a few jargons, which made the family feel unfamiliar.

Banditry has been rampant in the three northeastern provinces for decades and has never been eradicated. There are also women in charge of the gangs in various mountains.

At the beginning of this year, Kuanchengzi shot to death a female leader who led 2,000 bandits - Zhang Shuzhen, also known as "Double-Gun Camel Dragon"!
This case caused a sensation. To be honest, this Zhang Shuzhen is actually Jiang Lianheng’s fellow villager!
Lao Meng worked in a printing factory and was familiar with all kinds of news and newspapers. Thinking back to the report of "shooting Tuolong", he couldn't help but ask, "Mom, you used to be a beard, didn't you?"

"Ah? What did you say?"

The old lady was deaf again, pointing outside the door and saying, "You can't store that rice. It won't taste good if it gets old!"

(End of this chapter)