Chapter 275
Jiang Xiaoman didn't care about Qu Jingjiang's objections; he just wanted to show all the other new employees their sincerity!
As the saying goes, clothes make the man and a saddle makes the horse. Wouldn't the best way to change the perception of newlyweds in a once impoverished town be to openly flaunt their wealth?
Sure enough, when they saw that their new company had actually rented a minibus to pick them up, and the leader was even driving a Land Rover, the new recruits who had been a little skeptical earlier secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Entities like urban investment companies have investment projects in various parts of the county. When they apply, they are prepared to be randomly assigned to different units under the urban investment company.
Those with connections, like the rich second-generation who recently ruined his entire family by flaunting his wealth, will naturally be kept at the county's investment headquarters, with a bright future ahead of them.
For those of them who got in through academic merit, needless to say, they can only leave it to fate.
They just heard from the HR department leader that they've been assigned to Langshan Town, and their hearts sank to the ground...
When Jiang Xiaoman and Shan Yan made their dazzling entrance, dressed head-to-toe in designer brands and driving a Land Rover, the newlyweds, who usually loathe flaunting their wealth, were actually a little excited.
This Langshan Cultural Tourism Industrial Park doesn't seem as poor as they imagined.
"Yu Feifei, Deng Yue, Yang Chenhua, Qu Jingjiang... Is everyone here? Let's set off now. The village is already preparing a welcome banquet. Today is the first day of registration, so please don't be shy. You can tell the company if you have any requests." Jiang Xiaoman gave up the Land Rover from Shanyan and personally accompanied the newlyweds onto the minibus.
Qu Jingjiang really wanted to pretend he wasn't familiar with Jiang Xiaoman. After all, if he tried to get close to her right after meeting her, other people who didn't know the situation might think he got in through connections.
Jiang Xiaoman couldn't help but chuckle to herself when she saw him staring out the window with an awkward expression that said, "I don't know you."
You're pretending not to know us now, but when we get to the village and everyone calls you Teacher Qu, let's see how you explain it to these new friends.
Looking around, Jiang Xiaoman noticed that only Qu Jingjiang had brought his family. Taking advantage of the opportunity to distribute bottled water to everyone, she successfully struck up a conversation with Qu's mother.
Hearing that Qu's mother was worried that moving to the village with her son would cause trouble for Qu Jingjiang, Jiang Xiaoman quickly comforted her.
"Don't worry, technical talents like Teacher Qu are national treasures in our industrial park! However, our staff dormitory has just been renovated and needs to air out first. Please bear with us for the two months while we rent a house in the village. Once it's habitable there, I'll have someone arrange a larger dormitory for you and Teacher Qu."
"You think I can live in your dorm? That's not really appropriate, is it? Should I pay rent instead?"
"Hey! What rent? Aunt Song, I was just about to ask you that. I see you're not that old, have you considered finding a job in our industrial park? That way, you and Teacher Qu would both be working, and you and your son could have your own separate dormitory, and no one could say anything, right?"
“Me? I can’t do it! I’m just a housewife. I used to just grow vegetables and do housework at home.” Song Chunlan, Qu’s mother, waved her hands repeatedly.
“That’s enough! Auntie, you don’t know, our industrial park just opened and we’re short-staffed everywhere. The logistics department is short of several cleaning ladies, and the after-school care center is short of two shift aunties…”
"After-school care? Our industrial park runs it itself?" Qu Jingjiang suddenly asked.
"Of course! Don't let the fact that our industrial park is located in a village fool you; the employee benefits are just as good as those in the county town!"
Jiang Xiaoman gave Teacher Qu an approving look. That was a good way to offer a ladder!
He was just wondering how to start a conversation with the new employees about the various employee benefits of the industrial park, and Qu Jingjiang's question immediately put him in the right place.
"If any of you have family members who want to come with you, you don't need to worry at all about not finding a job in Langshan."
“Our industrial park has its own employee dormitories. If a couple works together, they can be allocated a double room. Once the door is closed, it’s actually similar to a single apartment in the city.”
"However, living in our park is much more convenient than living in a studio apartment in the city."
“Our park has its own canteen, where you can eat three meals a day. The company will give you 300 yuan to recharge your meal card every month. If that’s not enough, you can recharge it yourself. Recharging 200 to 300 yuan a month is enough for one person to eat and drink their fill.”
"There are also a stadium and a gym in the park, which are free for employees to use."
"Oh, right, and about the after-school program I mentioned earlier. If you have children who want to come here, you can transfer them to the village primary school and bring them directly to the company after school to be cared for by the after-school program. The after-school program is also free, but each child will need to pay 300 yuan per month for dinner."
"President Jiang, you just said that it's easier to find a job if you bring your family. Could you tell me what kind of jobs are available? I'd like to ask if my girlfriend would be willing to come..." Yang Chenhua doesn't have children yet and isn't interested in after-school programs, but when he heard Jiang Xiaoman say that the industrial park is hiring, he immediately became interested.
He has a childhood sweetheart girlfriend who studies early childhood education. This major was indeed very popular a few years ago, but now that people are unwilling to have children, the early childhood education industry has also declined.
Yang Chenhua graduated last year with his girlfriend. The two of them unfortunately encountered what was called the "most difficult graduation season in history," with more than ten million college students graduating at the same time. Finding a job, taking the postgraduate entrance exam, or taking the civil service exam were all crowded with people!
In the first year, I failed to find a job and failed the civil service exam.
The following year, his girlfriend was still staying at home doing nothing. Yang Chenhua, a grown man, couldn't keep sponging off his parents. So, he gritted his teeth and decided to find a job in the public sector, but not a permanent one, and then slowly pass the exams to get a government job. That was one way out.
Now, Jiang Xiaoman says that the industrial park is still recruiting, and there are free dormitories and canteens. There are also no entertainment activities in the countryside to disturb them. Isn't this an excellent springboard for preparing for the exam?
When Jiang Xiaoman heard that Yang Chenhua's girlfriend was studying early childhood education, she was overjoyed and immediately urged him to call her.
While after-school programs can hire two nannies to help look after the children, wouldn't it be even better if they could hire a college student to help the children with their homework?
There's only one after-school care teacher, and room and board are provided. The teacher's salary is at most three thousand yuan a month. Spending that little money to hire a reliable after-school care teacher for the children in Langshan is the best deal ever!
Deng Yue and Yu Feifei are both single and don't have any family members to pay salaries, but they still kept this in mind and decided to inquire later whether there were any suitable positions in the industrial park that they could recommend to relatives or classmates.
After all, these days, who doesn't know a few college graduates who can't find jobs?
Under Jiang Xiaoman's persuasive words, Qu's mother also decided to work as a caregiver at the after-school care center.
She has always loved children. Back then, because the family planning policy was strictly enforced, she witnessed a pregnant woman in the village who was seven months pregnant with a very big belly being taken away by the family planning office for an abortion. She almost lost half her life when she came back. Ms. Qu was timid to begin with, and after being so frightened, she dared not have any more children.
Jiang Xiaoman is right. Although her son isn't married or has children yet, she can work as a nanny at an after-school program to learn how to take care of children. That way, when her son Jingjiang has children, she, as the grandmother, will have experience as a nanny at an after-school program, and even her daughter-in-law won't dare to criticize her or think she can't take good care of her grandchildren, right?
Qu Jingjiang: "..."
Jiang Xiaoman really hasn't changed at all! With that mouth of his, even if the King of Hell himself came to collect souls, he could make the dead come back to life with his words!
However, Qu Jingjiang would actually be quite happy if his mother could find a stable job in the industrial park.
He impulsively brought his mother to Langshan, but regretted it halfway there, worried that she wouldn't be able to adapt to life there.
Perhaps it would be good to give his mother a stable job to help her pass the time?
And so, Qu's mother and son stayed in Langshan.
...
The Qu family, after hearing from their two sons that Qu Jingjiang had resigned from his original job and disappeared, went to the house that Qu Jingjiang had rented for his mother. When they knocked on the door, they found a young couple they didn't know living there.
Only after asking did they learn that the original tenants had moved out long ago. They had rented the house from the landlord and didn't know Qu Jingjiang and his mother who used to live there at all.
"What about the house that the eldest son bought? He ran away, but the house can't just grow legs and run away too, can it?" Old Mrs. Qu said through gritted teeth in anger.
She didn't care whether her eldest daughter-in-law lived or died; she was only looking for the house and money.
"Hey! Mother, we've all been fooled by that little beast Jingjiang!" The second son of the Qu family's naturally mean-spirited triangular eyes almost pierced the sky.
Qu Jingjiang had previously told them that the developer was out of money, so the house his father bought for him was abandoned and could not be delivered. He even told them to watch the news.
That news really caused quite a stir at the time, and some homeowners even went to the real estate company to hold up banners and protest.
The Qu family are all bullies within their own ranks, daring to bully their own family members, yet they don't even have the guts to go to the construction site to put up banners and protest.
The second and third sons denied that they dared not go, and secretly brainwashed Old Lady Qu, telling her to relax and wait for Qu Jingjiang to get the unfinished house. They said that when Qu Jingjiang got the house, they would go to Qu Jingjiang to ask for it back, so they wouldn't have to spend money to sue the real estate company or be beaten up.
Who would have thought that the local government would actually come out and do something like "guaranteeing the delivery of the building"? How would they know about this news when they're in the countryside?
After waiting for almost half a year without receiving any news about the handover of the houses, they went to the city to inquire and learned that the local government had taken over the unfinished housing project and nationalized it a few months ago.
I heard the government gave the original homeowners two options:
Those who are willing to wait can take their own house after the house is built, following the established procedures.
Those who can't wait can transfer the house to the local government at the original price.
Of course, if you choose to transfer the property, the owner will have to bear the interest lost during these two years.
That heartless bastard Qu Jingjiang actually transferred the house to the government.
Now that they've taken the money, I don't know where they've run off to with their sister-in-law; they've even changed their phone numbers!
The whole family panicked.
Sister-in-law Song Chunlan has always had a gentle temperament. After her brother died, the Qu family looked at her as if she were a lump of dough in their hands, and they could mold her however they wanted.
The second and third brothers even secretly arranged for the house their eldest brother had bought.
Qu Jingjiang is a promising young man. I heard he got a job at some big company with a yearly salary of several hundred thousand. He's perfectly capable of earning his own money to buy a house!
The house my older brother bought should be left to my mother for her retirement.
However, Mother can't live alone. The two families can move to the city together. Then, my sister-in-law can give them over 100,000 yuan to start a business. In the future, they will be city dwellers with houses and shops!
With a house, they can settle down in the city, and their children can go to school in the city. Maybe they can even go to university like Qu Jingjiang?
The more he thought about it, the happier he became. Two months ago, Qu Lao Er had persuaded Lao San to rent out their houses and land in the countryside. Now they were all crammed into Qu Lao Niang's place, just to force Qu Lao Niang to help them find their sister-in-law and bring both of them to live in the city.
Since they have nowhere to live in the countryside anyway, Old Lady Qu can't just stand by and watch them become homeless, can she?
Who would have thought that my usually meek and easy-going sister-in-law would run off with my nephew without a word?!
"My sister-in-law isn't answering the phone, and we can't find her. What should we do now?" The second son's wife was dumbfounded.
She had secretly promised her family that once they moved to the city, she would transfer her nephew's household registration there as well. The high school entrance rate in their rural town was too low, and her sister-in-law was worried that her son wouldn't be able to get into high school and wouldn't even have the chance to go to university. Her second brother's wife also felt that she should help her nephew.
The second son's wife was secretly anxious, while the third son's wife was even more anxious.
She lied to her husband, saying that the house was rented out and the money was saved for the child's schooling, but in reality, she had given the house keys to her parents' family.
The third son's wife has a younger brother who, because he doesn't own a house, can't even find a matchmaker to introduce him to potential partners. So the family discussed that they would borrow the third son's newly built two-story house for two years, and tell others that the house was a gift from their son-in-law, and that they would get the wife into the family first.
If they can't get into the city, they'll definitely have to take the house back and live there themselves. How will they explain that to their parents' family?
Chaos erupted at the Qu family's place. Old Mrs. Qu was so annoyed by her second and third sons' nagging that she went out for a stroll. She saw that a duck in the village had laid two eggs in the river. Greedy, she wanted to take the two big duck eggs home to cook a dish, but she accidentally stepped into a hole and fell heavily into the river.
Luckily, she was alive. She fell on a shallow beach, but because it was midday and there was no one on the riverbank, she shouted for a long time before being discovered by villagers who came out to look for ducks in the afternoon.
However, because he had been in the water for too long, he fell seriously ill when he got back and almost didn't make it. He also broke his arms and legs and was bedridden for several months.
Once she lay down, she could finally see clearly whether her sons and daughters-in-law were human or ghosts.
When her eldest daughter-in-law was at home, whenever she had a headache or fever, Sister Qu would bring her three meals a day to her bedside and sleep in the same room with her at night to take care of her.
But now that the eldest daughter-in-law is gone, the second and third sons' families are all lazy. They used to rely on her to cook, but now that she's sick, these two sisters-in-law simply used the excuse that their mother was also sick and actually took their children back to their parents' home!
The second son was somewhat filial to her, never forgetting to bring her meals three times a day. However, he himself did not usually cook. The rice he cooked was either undercooked or burnt, and the vegetables were boiled like water. Because he did not know how to cook meat dishes, he simply did not buy meat!
That little rascal, the third son, is truly spoiled rotten by her. When Old Lady Qu is paralyzed in bed and unable to move, instead of taking care of her, he takes advantage of her inability to move, knocks on the wooden box where she hides her money, and takes away all the more than 10,000 yuan she has secretly saved!
That was the money the eldest brother gave her as a token of respect during holidays when he was alive!
Old Mrs. Qu was both angry and resentful. Only now did she finally remember the good qualities of her eldest son and his wife.
Unfortunately, her eldest son, who was truly capable and willing to be filial, is no longer alive.
The eldest daughter-in-law and eldest grandson were also forced by them to sell their house and have disappeared without a trace...
The weather was hot, and Qu Lao Er and Qu Lao San were reluctant to spend money to take Qu Lao Niang to change her dressings. In less than a month, Qu Lao Niang's wound, which was originally just a broken bone and a laceration, began to rot and smell.
This old man thought his second and third sons' wives were as easy to bully as his eldest son's. Even though they were so sick, he was still verbally abusing his second and third sons' wives through the window, yelling at them to take him to see a doctor right away.