☆ 21. I Want You

“Sister-in-law, are you okay?”

“What’s going on?”

Meng Ling and Ji Meng rushed forward, pulling apart the people fighting, successfully rescuing Zhang Ru. Looking at the chaos before her, Meng Ling couldn’t help but ask.

“What else could it be? There are only 20 spots available, and everyone wants to sign up, so they started fighting!”

Zhang Ru had been working for so long, but this was the first time she found herself in such a mess. She raised her hand to touch her head and saw a few strands of hair that had been pulled out. Her anger surged, and she even started to vent some of her frustration on her sister-in-law.

Who told this girl to stir up trouble all the time? Now the trouble had even spread to the factory.

“Uh.”

Meng Ling could sense her sister-in-law’s anger. Her face was awkward as she glanced at the people still bickering and fighting, sensing things were getting worse. She couldn’t help but look at Ji Meng, her eyes asking what to do.

Ji Meng didn’t expect that the factory employees to start fighting over signing up. It was unbelievable, but it needed to be resolved, or the competition might not even be able to proceed.

“Sister Ru, can you stop them? I have something to say.”

“And you are?”

Zhang Ru looked at Ji Meng. She wasn’t from the neighborhood, so Zhang Ru didn’t recognize her.

But Ji Meng was incredibly beautiful, the kind of beauty that couldn’t be ignored. She should’ve seen her before.

“She’s Ji Meng, Uncle Ji’s daughter. You haven’t met her, Sister-in-law, because she went to the countryside before.”

“I invited her to help with the competition, handling the rules, makeup, and hosting.”

“So, you’re Ji Meng.”

Zhang Ru’s expression became complicated for a moment. The family had actually discussed Ji Meng before. Her husband had even pitied her misfortune, but Zhang Ru didn’t pay much attention at the time. Now, seeing her beauty, Zhang Ru felt a bit mixed.

Ji Meng didn’t miss the complexity in Zhang Ru’s eyes, but she didn’t know what was going on. Her smile remained unchanged.

“Yes, Sister Ru, I am Ji Meng.”

“Organizing a beauty contest is a good thing, but the factory is already quite busy, and causing trouble here isn’t appropriate. It’s better to stop the chaos in the workshop as soon as possible.”

Ji Meng gently reminded her.

“Right.”

Zhang Ru understood the situation. She took a deep breath, tidied her hair, and then walked over to the group, shouting:

“Stop arguing! Do you want the leaders to come down here?”

“Fighting at your workstations will get you severely punished!”

With these words, the workshop finally quieted down.

Zhang Ru looked around and continued:

“I understand that everyone wants to sign up, but the reality is, we only have 20 spots. We’ll need to select people. If you’re not satisfied, go talk to the leaders. I’m just here to register.”

“So how will you choose? You might as well lay out the criteria now. It’d be humiliating to get kicked out after registering.”

The factory workers looked at each other in silence for a while, and then someone reluctantly murmured.

Hearing this, Zhang Ru couldn’t help but look at Ji Meng.

Ji Meng noticed and stepped forward, saying, “Let me explain what the fashion model beauty contest is about.”

“Fashion models, to put it simply, means you wear a piece of clothing and need to showcase its features, characteristics, and beauty.”

“What we’re judging is whether you can wear this clothing in a way that highlights its features and then display it in front of the public.”

“Why are we holding this event? I believe you’ve heard that the clothing factory recently had a batch of clothing returned, resulting in significant losses…”

“The factory leaders hope this event will showcase the clothing from our factory, emphasizing high quality, excellent style, and also provide some benefits for everyone on Women’s Day. Isn’t it often expensive to buy clothes at department stores?”

“So this time, the internal benefits for employees will be offered at a super affordable price!”

Ji Meng briefly explained the situation, emphasizing the challenges the factory faced. The current workers placed great importance on the factory and had a strong sense of collective honor. After Ji Meng finished speaking, some of the dissatisfaction on their faces eased, but not everyone was satisfied.

“You’ve said so much, but what are the requirements for selection?”

Ji Meng smiled: “That’s exactly what I’m about to tell you.”

“You know this is an event for Women’s Day, and it’s happening the day after tomorrow, so time is tight. The beauty contest requires you to be on stage and showcase yourself in front of thousands of people. You can’t be nervous, or else if you go on stage and someone boos or creates a ruckus, you might panic, fall, cry, or become awkward. Not only would you fail to showcase the clothing, but you would also embarrass yourself in front of thousands of colleagues, right?”

When Ji Meng said this, she noticed many people in the workshop changing their expressions. They had been caught up in the excitement of the rewards and hadn’t considered this issue.

Ignoring their expressions, Ji Meng continued, “The people we want on stage should have participated in organized activities at the factory in the past few years, such as choral performances, solo singing and dancing, or recitations…”

“If you don’t have those experiences, it’s okay as long as you have the confidence!”

“Of course,” Ji Meng said with a smile.

“Everyone shouldn’t be too scared because I will control the situation and help ease the atmosphere throughout the event. When you get on stage, you won’t have to perform, just take a walk, and ask everyone if they like your outfit and if you look good.”

“Of course, if you have any talents, you can showcase them too. You can even campaign for votes! This time, we won’t just have the factory leaders judging, the audience will also participate in the voting. So feel free to gather support!”

As Ji Meng said this, the smile on her face widened, her tone became more playful, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly relaxed.

Some people even asked, “Really? We can campaign for votes? Can we bring friends and family to help vote?”

“Of course! Anyone in the audience can participate.”

Ji Meng answered without hesitation, hoping that the more people who came, the better. The relatives and friends of these factory workers could promote the event, making it known across various factories in the provincial capital.

Looking around, Ji Meng felt it was about time and clapped her hands: “Alright, that’s how it is. Everyone thinks carefully about who wants to sign up. If there are too many people, it’s not a problem, we will make selections. And don’t worry if you can’t go on stage this time, this isn’t a one-off event, we will hold it every season, so there’s no need to stress.”

“I’m not participating.”

“Me neither.”

As Ji Meng finished speaking, several people withdrew, but there were also some brave souls, attracted by Ji Meng’s words, who insisted on participating.

In the end, thirty people signed up from the entire workshop.

Ji Meng didn’t eliminate anyone on the spot, she discussed it with Zhang Ru and asked her to arrange for the participants to wait for her in an empty office at the factory.

She then went with Meng Ling to the clothing factory next door, where they encountered similar issues.

Ji Meng used her usual method to resolve it, eventually bringing back twenty-six people.

Now there were a total of fifty-six participants, all with great figures. A couple of them were slightly shorter, but they had excellent bone structure, strong potential for modeling, and exceptional confidence and adaptability.

Ji Meng tested the group’s responsiveness, taught them the basics of walking, and let them practice walking on stage.

She discovered that they were all quite impressive, with a few even picking up stylish walking techniques on their own, exuding confidence and charm that was particularly captivating.

Ji Meng pondered for a moment and decided to pair them up to go on stage together.

Once this was confirmed, Ji Meng discussed it with the clerks at the clothing factory and with Zhang Ru and Meng Ling.

Everyone wanted to do a good job and didn’t want to eliminate anyone. Since the numbers weren’t excessively high, they decided to apply for it.

In the end, this was finalized.

Afterward, Ji Meng continued teaching them how to walk because they needed to finalize their outfits the next day and have a rehearsal, so their real practice was limited to just one afternoon.

While Ji Meng was teaching them, Meng Ling took care of some errands.

She handled everything Ji Meng needed, such as banners, GG paper, GG cards, arranging for people from various factories to make small GG items, and getting a voting box and voting papers ready.

By 4:50 PM, Meng Ling had wrapped up most of her tasks, and Ji Meng felt that everything was almost ready, with just a few remaining things to finish the next day, so they both left the factory together.

The factory was very close to the Yuhong class, and although Ji Meng had told Ji Qinghe at noon to check on Qiuqiu, she wasn’t sure if he had gone to pick her up, so Ji Meng planned to stop by.

Meng Ling was going to get a sewing machine and adhesive for Ji Meng. She dropped Ji Meng off at the entrance of the Yuhong class and hurried off.

At this moment, Qiuqiu had just finished school. The little girl was the first to come out, carrying a military-green backpack, looking around as she walked out.

There were many adults picking up children at this time, and she was observing carefully. Upon seeing Ji Meng, her round eyes lit up, and she immediately ran over.

“Mom!”

The little girl missed her mother, and Ji Meng missed her daughter. As soon as Ji Meng came out, she bent down and scooped her up.

“How was your day, baby? Did you like it? Are you used to it?”

“Yeah, I’m used to it!”

This was Qiuqiu’s first time being held by her mother in front of many people. She felt a bit shy but mostly happy, wrapping her small hands around Ji Meng’s neck and obediently answering her, sharing details about her day at school.

“Today, Qiuqiu played games with her friends at school, including ‘^[1]“Drop the Handkerchief” is a children’s game where players form a circle, and one child walks around the outside. They drop a handkerchief on another player’s shoulders and … Continue readingDrop the Handkerchief’ and ‘^[2]“Eagle Catches the Chicks” is a children’s game where one child (the “eagle”) walks around a circle of seated players, tapping them and saying, “Eagle catches the … Continue readingEagle Catches the Chicks.’ Qiuqiu was the eagle and caught Zhuangzhuang and Honghong.”

“Mom, I made two good friends today, Zhuangzhuang and Honghong.”

As Qiuqiu spoke, her dark, shiny eyes brightened even more: “They gave Qiuqiu some egg cakes, and I shared the cookies and candies that Grandpa bought for me.”

“Mom, Grandpa came to see me at noon. He said you missed me, so he came to see me on your behalf. Mom, I missed you today, too.”

Ji Meng’s heart felt like it was soaked in syrup, washing away the fatigue of a day at work. She couldn’t help but love the soft little face of her daughter:

“Mm, Mom knows…”

“Qiuqiu!”

As Ji Meng was speaking, she suddenly heard a shout. Following the sound, she saw a chubby but sturdy little boy and a delicate-looking little girl approaching.

“Zhuangzhuang, Honghong!” Qiuqiu called out to them.

“Qiuqiu, is this your mom? Your mom is really pretty!”

Zhuangzhuang, clearly an outgoing child, stared at Ji Meng with wide, round eyes, unable to help but open his mouth in admiration.

Ji Meng wanted to laugh, thinking how amusing this child was. Just as she was about to speak, she heard a familiar female voice: “Zhuangzhuang.”

Turning her head, Ji Meng saw Zhang Ru, along with an older sister who was with her. Ji Meng was puzzled about who the older sister was until she heard Honghong call out “Mom.”

“Sister Ru,” Ji Meng greeted Zhang Ru with a smile.

“Yeah, what a coincidence! Your daughter is also in the Yuhong class.”

Zhang Ru was also surprised, they had just parted ways not long ago. She was astonished by Ji Meng’s efficiency. Wasn’t she back just yesterday? Yet, she had already settled her daughter and was even encouraging her sister-in-law to organize a big group activity.

Zhang Ru’s position as a union officer wasn’t solely due to her father’s connections, she was clever and capable in her own right.

Seeing Ji Meng again in the afternoon and observing how adeptly she managed the model event arrangements, Zhang Ru understood that her sister-in-law’s plans for the big group and events were closely related to Ji Meng.

However, Ji Meng was competent and thorough in her work, which didn’t make her annoying. It seemed that Meng Ling could learn a lot from her, so Zhang Ru pretended not to notice.

Since they all knew each other, there would be many more opportunities for interaction in the future. Zhang Ru took the initiative to introduce Ji Meng to Honghong’s mother.

“This is Honghong’s mother, the wife of Director Feng from our factory’s logistics. She works at the city government now and is in charge of commercial planning, they also manage the small market.”

“We reported the fashion model contest up the chain, and the higher-ups found it quite interesting. Honghong’s mother said she wanted to learn more about it from you.”

The last sentence was the key point.

Then she introduced Ji Meng to Honghong’s mother: “This is Ji Meng, whom I just told you about.”

“Hello!” Ji Meng put Qiuqiu down and greeted her with a smile.

Honghong’s mother appeared very approachable. When Ji Meng greeted her, she responded with a smile, perhaps not wanting to discuss work after hours. She didn’t mention the contest but instead encouraged the two kids to play together in the future.

After some small talk, Ji Meng took Qiuqiu home.

Not knowing whether Ji Qinghe was back from work yet, she took a detour toward the pharmacy and happened to run into Ji Qinghe, who was hurrying to the Yuhong class.

“Did you go to pick up Qiuqiu? I was worried you didn’t go and that Qiuqiu would be anxious waiting. It was supposed to be earlier, but I was late because I had to give acupuncture to a patient.”

“I said I would go pick her up in the afternoon.”

Hearing Ji Qinghe’s self-reproach, Ji Meng didn’t blame him and replied with a smile.

“I’m glad you went.” Ji Qinghe sighed with relief and then bent down to talk to Qiuqiu:

“Did you behave well this afternoon, Qiuqiu? Let’s go home, Grandpa has cooked something delicious for you.”

—

^[3]Meow: Seriously I’m not planning cutting chapter into 3 but this chapter is over 8,000+ words… To long