Chapter 41

“Here.” The voice sounded familiar.

Before Ning Shu could figure out who it was, Er Bao spoke up, “It’s Grandma Village Leaders who’s here.”

When Brigade leader’s wife heard Ning Shu’s voice, she walked in and said with a smile, “What a coincidence, you’re having a meal.”

Ning Shu stood up. “Have you eaten, Auntie?”

“We just finished,” Brigade leader wife said. “By the way, our family’s Zhenxing is getting married on November 8th. Remember to come for the wedding banquet that day at noon.”

As she spoke, her eyes scanned the dining table. There were no extravagant dishes, just cabbage, loofah, and egg soup. But there seemed to be plenty of oil used, and the cabbage and loofah looked fresh.

People often said Ning Shu was lazy and extravagant, and she believed it too. But today, at Guodong’s house, her perception changed a bit.

Sweet potatoes were drying outside the yard, and the house was spotless. Even the kitchen was very clean, and the children were eating obediently, each wearing clean clothes.

If Ning Shu was a lazy wife, who cleaned the house? The three children?

So, can a person who keeps the house clean be a lazy wife?

Grandma Captain’s wife thought that other people’s words couldn’t be trusted, and one had to see things with their own eyes to believe them.

Thinking of this, she thought of Qin Ya.

Qin Ya had only been in the countryside for a few months and had always been unable to do any work, known among the educated youth for being bad at it, coming from a wealthy family.

It was said that she even gave candies to the children to collect firewood.

She was also worried about her youngest son finding such a daughter-in-law. But thinking that her youngest son could work and that a daughter-in-law with a comfortable life could help their small family, she felt better.

Besides, the daughter-in-law was a high school student, and any future children they had would also be smart in their studies.

“Then I’ll definitely come.” Ning Shu hadn’t expected Brigade leader’s wife to come to talk about this.

Brigade leader’s wife said, “Then I’ll go back first. You continue eating. No need to send me off.”

Despite this, Ning Shu still walked her to the kitchen door.

“Mom, do we eat big meat at a wedding banquet?” Er Bao looked curious.

“How do you know?” Ning Shu asked with a smile.

“We’ve had wedding banquets before. Mom, did you forget? We had one when Uncle Zhenzhong got married.”

Er Bao had a look of ‘Mom, your memory is really bad.’

Yes, Lin Zhenzhong also married an educated youth named Chen Na, who was in the same group as the original host and went to the countryside with them.

They got married in June of last year.

“Er Bao has a really good memory,” Ning Shu praised.

“When Uncle Zhenxing gets married, I’ll empty my stomach so I can eat lots of meat,” Er Bao said, full of calculations and self-satisfaction.

Ning Shu couldn’t help but laugh and cry. “Then you’ll have to empty your stomach for two days, one meal won’t be enough.”

“What?” Er Bao was stunned. Not eating for two days would starve him.

Yi Bao heard this and smirked. He thought Er Bao wasn’t as smart as San Bao, but he didn’t say anything. Watching his silly younger brother was also a kind of fun.

Ning Shu didn’t say anything either, watching Er Bao hesitate.

In the end, Er Bao said, “Okay, I won’t eat for two days.”

Ning Shu thought to herself, “He’s really silly. He’d probably even give away money if he was asked to count it.”

After lunch, Ning Shu and Yi Bao gave some instructions and then went to the county town.

Although the written test results were to be announced at 2 p.m., it was only 1:30 p.m., and there were already many people at the entrance of the garment factory.

As expected, Ning Shu saw Lin Xiaoqing. Lin Xiaoqing wasn’t squeezing in front of people; she found a place with fewer people and sat on a newspaper.

Ning Shu thought for a moment and realized she couldn’t just ignore her, so she pushed her bicycle over.

Lin Xiaoqing, who had been lowering her head, looked up when she heard movement.

Seeing Ning Shu approaching her, she looked at her but didn’t say anything. It was strange; she still disliked her for marrying her third brother and not treating the three children well.

But she didn’t dislike her as much as before.

Her feelings towards her were complicated.

Ning Shu didn’t have a newspaper. She locked her bike and squatted down beside Lin Xiaoqing. “Nervous?” she asked.

It was impossible not to be nervous. Lin Xiaoqing nodded and looked at Ning Shu, who seemed very calm. She asked, “Aren’t you nervous?”

“No, I’m not,” Ning Shu said.

“Maybe you came from a big city, so you’re not nervous.” But this job is very important to her. She has finished high school and doesn’t want to go back home to work.

She wants to work in the county town. It’s not that she wants to be a worker; she just feels that if she goes back to work, then all these years of studying would have been for nothing.

What’s the point?

“I grew up in the workers’ residential area in the factory since I was a child, so I’ve seen a lot,” Ning Shu casually gave a reason.

Listening to her talk about the past, Lin Xiaoqing also joined in the conversation. “They’re recruiting now, why didn’t they do it before you went to the countryside? If they had recruited before, maybe you wouldn’t have had to go to the countryside.”

In the minds of people in their village, being a city person is definitely good and respectable. Nowadays, who doesn’t want to have relatives in the city?

“At that time, there was a notice that each household had to send a child to the countryside. I have twin older siblings above me and twin younger siblings below me. So, I didn’t know, my parents signed me up,” Ning Shu said things that the original host had never said.

The original host felt that not being loved by her parents was a bit embarrassing.

But Ning Shu didn’t think so.

She thought it was good to appear as a weak person at times. After all, humans sympathize with the weak.

Huh?

Lin Xiaoqing grew up under the love of her parents and siblings, so she was raised somewhat naively. She didn’t expect someone as proud as Ning Shu to have such a past.

However, she said, “Your parents are amazing, having so many twins. You must have inherited from them, so Yi Bao and Er Bao are also twins.”

Ning Shu: “…This girl’s thought process is a bit abnormal.”

Ning Shu didn’t say anything, and Lin Xiaoqing didn’t say anything either. Their relationship was already a bit awkward.

However, during this brief interaction, Ning Shu also discovered that Lin Xiaoqing was originally a girl with a simple personality.

In their silence, time slowly passed until the whistle sounded, and a female comrade walked out of the factory and posted the results of the written test at the factory gate. Everyone crowded around. For a moment, the factory gate was very crowded.

Ning Shu saw that Lin Xiaoqing next to her hadn’t gone over yet, so she asked, “Aren’t you going to take a look?”

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Lin Xiaoqing swallowed nervously. “I… I’m a bit nervous.”

At this moment, there was a delighted voice from a female colleague in front of the notice board. “I passed!”

“Me too! Oh my god, I actually passed!”

Exclamations of joy kept coming, clearly from those who had passed the recruitment test.

Lin Xiaoqing’s face visibly fell, then she stood up. “I’ll go take a look. Are you coming?”

“I’ll come take a look too.” Ning Shu was quite composed.

Since the results were out, many people dispersed after seeing that their names weren’t on the list. When Lin Xiaoqing and Ning Shu went over, there were hardly any people left in front of the notice board. The two looked at the results on the notice:

Workshop Workers: Ning Shuu, Yu Xiaomei Secretary: Jiang Yunting

Seeing that their names weren’t there, Lin Xiaoqing and Ning Shu said goodbye.

“I’ll head back to school first,” Lin Xiaoqing said somewhat sad.

“I have a bicycle. Shall I give you a ride?” Ning Shu offered.

“No, thanks.” Lin Xiaoqing declined. She felt that she and Ning Shu weren’t that close.

Ning Shu had just asked casually, so she didn’t insist. She glanced back at the notice board and saw the name Ning Shuu listed as one of the workshop workers.

She found it a bit coincidental since her name was Ning Shu.

Could it be a mistake by the person writing the notice? Was it actually her?

It wasn’t that Ning Shu was overly confident. If today’s recruitment was for a secretary and the name Ning Shu was listed, she wouldn’t think much of it because she didn’t apply for that position.

But for the workshop worker position, she felt it wasn’t just a coincidence. Moreover, she thought she had done well on the workshop worker’s test.

With this in mind, Ning Shu decided to ask. So, she went to the security booth to ask Mr. Wang.

“Mr. Wang…”

Mr. Wang remembered Ning Shu; after all, this female comrade had just been there yesterday. So, he smiled and asked, “Comrade, what’s the matter?”

Ning Shu didn’t beat around the bush and said truthfully, “Mr. Wang, the thing is, I participated in the workshop workers’ written test this morning. I saw a name listed as Ning Shuu, with ‘Shuu’ as in gentlewoman, while my name is Ning Shu, with ‘Shu’ as in books. So, I wanted to ask, could it be that this name is actually mine, but the teacher made a mistake when writing the name?”

After hearing Ning Shu’s explanation, Mr. Wang also thought it was possible. “Let me go check,” he said.

It was rare to have this job opportunity, so Mr. Wang understood the seriousness of the matter. He checked the notice board and indeed, the name Ning Shu was written there.

Mr. Wang was a kind-hearted person. Since there was a question, it needed to be resolved. “Comrade, I’ll go ask for you. Wait here for me,” Mr. Wang said, genuinely concerned but also curious.

“Thank you, Mr. Wang,” Ning Shu replied.

Mr. Wang left the security booth and went straight to Director Wang’s office.

Director Wang was in his office. When he saw Mr. Wang enter, he stood up. “Uncle, why are you here?”

Yes, Mr. Wang was Director Wang’s actual uncle, but not many people knew about their relationship. Just like Zhang Jianyi, who knew Mr. Wang had connections with the leadership but didn’t think much of it.

“I’m here to ask about the workshop worker’s matter…” Mr. Wang explained the situation with Ning Shu and Ning Shuu’s name.

“Are you saying that the girl named Ning Shu who came to participate in the workshop worker’s exam yesterday?” Director Wang thought highly of Ning Shu.

He saw her confident demeanor yesterday and thought that if she really had the ability, she would definitely be recruited into the factory.

He also remembered yesterday when he offered to reward Ning Shu with a job, but she declined, asking for a bonus instead.

Then, she went to take the recruitment test. Could it be that she thought she was capable enough to take the test and wanted both the bonus and the job?

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but find it amusing. However, since it was just a misunderstanding, and Ning Shu’s suspicion about the name wasn’t unreasonable, he said,

“Let me go ask.”