novellhall Chapter 123 The Leader's Inspection Goes Wrong
Chapter 123 The Leader's Inspection Goes Wrong
"What kind of talk is that? Isn't the food here meant to be eaten?"
"What's wrong with my child eating a couple of bites? It's not like it'll bankrupt Qiao An's family!"
Shi Ahua spoke with conviction.
Last time she offered to help Qiao An steam buns, this little woman didn't appreciate it at all.
Shi Ahua is complaining about having an upset stomach.
Their family steams buns and bakes pies every day. The aroma is so enticing that everything tastes like cardboard.
Let alone the three children, even she herself was drooling with envy.
I came to their house today partly to drop by, and partly to have a good talk with Qiao An.
I really want to find a cooking job at Qiao An's house after the New Year, no matter what.
She didn't believe that Qiao An really only gave Aunt Liu and the others steamed buns and pies; she was sure there was also some wages involved.
"Yes, it's a good thing that not everyone in our village is like you, otherwise Qiao An's family could really be eaten out of poverty by someone like you." Aunt Feng glanced at her.
Shi Ahua wasn't angry; her gaze remained fixed on Qiao An.
"Qiao An, we're all neighbors, from the same village, so I'll speak frankly. Look at my family, we have three boys, they're at the age where they're growing, and I'm worried about how much they eat."
"I had a difficult childbirth with my third child, and my health wasn't good. I couldn't do any heavy work, and our family was struggling financially, you see..."
Just as Shi Ahua was about to mention coming to help out, Qiao An spoke up, "Ahua, I know you're having a hard time, but no matter how hard it is, don't do anything foolish. You can't do things like begging."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Feng burst out laughing.
Qiao An has a silver tongue; no wonder she's managed to keep the Huo family, Jiang Heizi's family, and the front yard in line these past few days.
"You..." Shi Ahua blushed, "That's not what I meant. Aren't you short-staffed?"
"I see you've found Dongmei, but she'll have to go to school when it starts. Won't you be all alone then? I live so close to your house, I'm perfect for you."
Joanne simply smiled.
"Ah Hua, I made myself very clear that day. Look, I have to produce so many things every day. If something goes missing, everyone will suspect you first, and then you won't be able to explain yourself."
"If I end up in jail for this, don't say I'm heartless."
Shi Ahua's expression changed; the news of her theft had already spread throughout the village.
She didn't care what others thought, but Qiao An had just said she might end up in jail, so she had to be careful about this.
"These days, finding evidence is such a hassle. I work at the police station, and I see people crying foul every day, but who knows if they're truly innocent or not?"
These words took on a different meaning in Shi Ahua's ears.
If someone steals something and frames her, she'll be in a difficult situation and won't be able to explain herself. If she ends up in jail, no one will help her.
Shi Ahua's face turned pale, and after thinking for a moment, she decided not to mention helping out again.
But seeing the food on the table made her angry.
How come Qiao An's family is so prosperous when they're from the same village?
Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year. All three children in their family are wearing new clothes and shoes, and their faces are fair and tender, making them look just like the children in the city.
Especially Huo Fang, who is clearly just Qiao An's niece, was dressed up beautifully, with a blue hair clip in her hair and colorful hair ties.
Not only that, Shi Ahua had already noticed that Huo Fang was wearing small leather shoes!
Why would a child in his teens wear leather shoes?
They've got money to burn.
Then look at the three people following him, they're all covered in dust and dirt.
The second and third children were wearing hand-me-downs, and snot was running from their noses.
They look like two idiots.
snort!
To put it bluntly, isn't all this money made through speculation and profiteering?
It's not necessarily aboveboard or honorable.
Since Qiao An is so disrespectful to her, then she shouldn't blame her for disregarding feelings.
Qiao An noticed Shi Ahua's expression and had a feeling that this person was up to no good.
After sitting for a while, Shi Ahua led the children away, and before leaving, she made sure each child grabbed a handful of candy and put it in their pocket.
As Aunt Feng watched their retreating figures, she thought, "What kind of trash comes from that scumbag family?"
"When their family goes to the doghouse, they can even pick up dog poop and run away."
Qiao An was amused by Aunt Feng.
All day on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the front door of the house was open, and Qiao An invited Huo Jiyun to go out and visit other people's homes.
After all, he didn't come back for several years.
However, Huo Jiyun paid no attention to anything else and devoted himself to repairing the kang (a heated brick bed) in the side room.
Since he wouldn't be returning to this place anyway, and he didn't want to leave, Qiao An didn't keep trying to persuade him.
The entire town of Jinshui was immersed in the joy of the Spring Festival. Spring Festival couplets were pasted on the gate of the machine tool factory, and red lanterns were hung on the road.
Almost all factories take a break during the Spring Festival, except for machine tool factories.
They are working overtime to produce the grinding machines needed by the army, so the production line runs day and night with workers working in three shifts.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, provincial leaders made a special trip to the machine tool factory to extend their greetings and brought many gifts to reward the frontline workers.
Yu Linzhou and Zhao Zhengang, one the Party Secretary and the other the Chief Engineer, were both on duty at the factory, specifically to welcome the leaders from the provincial capital.
After the leaders finished speaking in the conference room, Yu Linzhou and Zhao Zhengang led them to the workshop.
"Xiao Yu, the workers are still working so hard during the Spring Festival, so we must make it up to them and not let them feel disheartened."
The speaker was Xu Zhengqiang, director of the provincial party committee office, who was also the highest-ranking leader here today.
"Yes, yes, we have prepared a lot of rice, flour and cooking oil. All the workers who are working on the front line during the Lunar New Year will receive some."
"Hmm, not bad."
As they were talking, they arrived at the workshop, which was very noisy, and they had to shout to speak.
Suddenly, a commotion arose ahead.
Many workers gathered together, wondering what had happened.
Yu Linzhou was startled.
He and Zhao Zhengang exchanged a glance, both seeing unease in each other's eyes.
"What's going on over there? Let's go take a look." Xu Zhengqiang walked towards the direction of the commotion.
Yu Linzhou and Zhao Zhengang quickly followed.
Reaching the crowd, Zhao Zhengang pushed his way through the throng, asking, "What's wrong? What happened?"
When the workers saw that it was Zhao Zhengang, they started talking all at once.
There was a commotion around Zhao Zhengang's ears. He pointed at Qi Guoqiang and said, "Everyone else shut up! Guoqiang, you speak."
"Chief Engineer Zhao, there's a problem with the guide rail installation. The error is getting bigger and bigger. Look at this, the error is almost one millimeter. Even if it's installed properly, it'll just be a pile of scrap metal."
Qi Guoqiang held the component in his hand, his eyebrows furrowed in worry.
Zhao Zhengang took the newly installed one and then asked Qi Guoqiang to bring over an original one.
When you compare the two, the difference is obvious to the naked eye.
Zhao Zhengang broke out in a cold sweat instantly.
"What's going on? You're a newly established pilot machine tool factory in our country, a future experimental site for data machine tools! And now even the precision of the guide rail mounting surface is outrageously high."
"How can the Party and the State entrust military projects to you?"
A middle-aged man standing next to Xu Zhengqiang was furious.
Zhao Zhengang glanced at him; the man was Wei Xiangjun, a mechanical engineering expert from the capital.
He and Wei Xiangjun were old acquaintances; before the turbulent period, they were both studying at Beijing University of Science and Technology.
The two had similar grades and were pure competitors.