Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 260

'Sister, eat, sister, eat.'

"You little glutton, here's a lick for you." He Yushui had grown up and knew that He Yutang was still too young to eat a whole candied hawthorn, so she let her younger brother lick it a few times.

He Yuzhu followed behind into the house, greeted He Daqing and Wen Yuping, and then put down the meat he had brought.

Wen Yuping quickly said, "Look at you, that braised meat shop has become state-owned. You have to pay for the meat if you want it, yet you still send it to me."

"Of course, take it to nourish your younger siblings."

As He Yuzhu spoke, the father and son went to the kitchen and prepared four hot dishes.

As I came out of the kitchen, I ran into Yi Zhonghai, who was carrying a dustpan back home. He smiled and said, "Old Yi, busy, huh?"

He Yuzhu simply gave a greeting; if two people were on good terms, they would invite each other to have a couple of drinks at this point.

However, He Yuzhu simply couldn't be bothered to mention it.

"Yes, we haven't eaten yet!" Yi Zhonghai replied.

He Yuzhu wouldn't have bothered with him if he hadn't wanted to ask about the mold.

"Is the mold ready? The factory is waiting to use it!"

"Why are you in such a hurry? Didn't you say it would take three days? It's not time yet."

The molds used to produce canned food jars are not just one, but eight, arranged in a circle for higher production efficiency.

He Yuzhu knew Yi Zhonghai was angry; he could tell from his tone. So he said:

"Great, I'll wait one more day."

Chapter 193 Fruit Cannery

"Hmph, I'm afraid of you?" Yi Zhonghai said, turning and going into the house.

Yi Zhonghai was quite assertive this time. In fact, he had already made three good molds, and the others could be completed in half a day.

With confidence in my heart, I didn't panic, and this time I also made a name for myself in front of the street leaders.

Feeling somewhat smug, he entered the house, put down the winnowing basket, took out some wine and a wine cup from the cabinet, and sat down to drink happily.

Aunt Yi asked, "Is the mold you made for the glass factory ready?"

"Why are you asking this? Sha Zhu already asked it once." Yi Zhonghai picked up his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

Aunt Yi didn't answer, but continued, "I've heard a lot of people say that a cannery is going to be set up on the street soon to produce canned fruit."

Yi Zhonghai put down his wine cup, thought for a moment, and said, "That should be it, right? I've heard it from others too. Why are you bringing this up?"

Aunt Yi said, "Our family's income is too low right now. I'm thinking that if a cannery were opened, I would go and work there."

"What? You want to go out to work?" Yi Zhonghai was surprised.

"Why not? You have to share half of your salary with others, and you have no savings at home. If we rely on you, we'll starve."

Yi Zhonghai looked embarrassed and couldn't help but say, "But isn't there still 30 yuan a month?"

"Hehe!" Aunt Yi glanced at it.

Although the environment was not good before, the family had a lot of silver dollars and gold bars stored up, so they lived a relatively wealthy life.

However, in the past two years, Yi Zhonghai has been causing trouble, not only squandering the family's savings, but also having to give half of his monthly salary to the Xu family.

Leaving aside the financial losses, the widow Bai, who was far away in Baocheng, did not leave after returning with her two sons. Instead, she lived outside the city, and Yi Zhonghai would often sneak off to visit her mistress and sons.

This left Aunt Yi feeling very aggrieved, and He Daqing took advantage of her vulnerability and conceived her.

For various reasons, Aunt Yi was very disappointed in Yi Zhonghai. If it weren't for the fact that she had no source of income, she would have divorced Yi Zhonghai directly.

I've heard that several small factories have opened up in the neighborhood, but I can't go to those places that require strong young men.

But this cannery definitely needs women to wash and cut the fruit, so maybe I could go work there.

That way, I can earn some extra money on the side, and having money in hand will put my mind at ease.

Even if Yi Zhonghai divorces her, she won't be afraid in the future.

Although Yi Zhonghai hadn't thought as far ahead as his wife, he still frowned and said:

"Although it's only 30 yuan a month, it's enough for the two of us!"

"Is that enough? It's not just the two of us who are spending the money, is it?" Aunt Yi said with some resentment.

Yi Zhonghai thought to himself, "Here we go again. This wife of mine keeps talking in such a sarcastic way."

Didn't he realize that the White Widow's two sons were his own flesh and blood?

Everyone in the courtyard knew, but no one said it out loud.

Who knows what gossip is going on behind their backs, which is making them quite annoyed, but they can't say anything yet.

Aunt Yi would often say something like that in a sarcastic tone, but she would never mention the White Widow's name.

Yi Zhonghai snorted and said, "You're still not allowed to go. What will people think of me if you go?"

Yi Zhonghai used to have the highest wages in the courtyard. Even now, only He Yuzhu has made a lot of money through business. Apart from He Yuzhu, Yi Zhonghai still has the highest wages.

There was also a subtle sense of superiority.

But if Aunt Yi went to work at the cannery, Yi Zhonghai would feel very embarrassed.

"So, aside from the money given to the Xu family, I'll give you all the rest of the money. Is that alright now?"

As the pillar of the family, Yi Zhonghai had always managed the family's finances, giving his wife only a small living allowance while keeping most of her salary for himself.

To appease his wife, he reluctantly has to hand over all his wages.

He was determined that his skills were top-notch, and he was often commissioned by companies or individuals to make parts that they couldn't make themselves.

Yi Zhonghai also earns a considerable amount of extra income each month. Since he doesn't have a wife, he still has extra money to spend.

Even so, Aunt Yi was still somewhat dissatisfied. She had long wanted to break free from Yi Zhonghai's control, and the primary prerequisite was that she could have her own source of income.

A cannery has just been built on the street, which will definitely hire a lot of female workers. I heard that Zhu Zi has some influence in it.

That way, even if they don't know it themselves, they can still get Zhu Zi to recruit them through He Daqing.

"I'm just letting you know that I'm definitely going to do this job."

"you..."

Yi Zhonghai was furious. He was about to hand over control of the finances, so why was he still thinking about going back to work?

Inside the main room, the He family father and son drank wine and started talking about the cannery.

He Yuzhu instructed, "If anyone asks, just say that I don't have a position there and can't manage anything, so that no one will want to go and work."

The women who run their own breakfast stalls will all be assigned to work there, and then the breakfast stalls will be closed.

Although it's quite a distance from Qianmen to Gulou Street, this is the only way.

The cannery wouldn't need too many workers, only about 20. He Yuzhu couldn't assign too many, as he had to leave room for the neighborhood committee.

There are still many families without jobs, and we should provide employment for such families whenever possible.

"I know I won't cause you any trouble, and no one else can invite me here."

He Daqing agreed. He didn't have much contact with the neighbors in the courtyard. The two women he had secretly developed were not short of money. The Xu family and Aunt Yi were not short of money either, so they probably wouldn't think about going to work.

Even if others ask him to intercede on their behalf, he can refuse.

The next day, after having lunch at the steel plant, Yi Zhonghai waited until it was time to go to work, then rode Director Shen's bicycle to the glass factory with the molds.

After some testing, Master Pan confirmed that there was no problem with the mold for the canning jars, and then began producing the canning jars directly.

When He Yuzhu arrived the next day, he saw hundreds of canning jars piled up in the warehouse.

"I've checked them all, and there's nothing wrong with these canning jars," said Factory Director Shen.

He Yuzhu examined it and said, "It looks pretty good. Old Yi is quite capable. Let's take this opportunity to have him make another set as a spare, or some other styles."

One mold can only correspond to one size specification. If you make a slight change, you have to make a new mold.

Factory Director Shen nodded: "Yes, that will save us the trouble of contacting him next time."

Molds are subject to wear and tear; after producing hundreds of thousands of pieces, the molds become unusable.

Besides, canneries are seasonal; if there is no fresh fruit, they will only temporarily close.

However, the glass bottle production line cannot be stopped; it will continue to operate. At other times, it can produce wine bottles, brine bottles, and glass cups, etc.

"I'll make arrangements later. So, can we put the acquisition of Apple on the agenda?"

"Let's go see Director Li today."

"Ok!"

Factory Director Shen told Master Pan to go and produce canned food jars, and then he and He Yuzhu went to the street to deliver the good news.

Looking at the brand-new canning jars in front of him, Director Li repeatedly praised them, and kept playing with them in his hands as if they were antiques.

After a long while, he reluctantly put it on the table and said, "Now the cannery can start operating."

"Yes, that means another factory will be built on the street," said Factory Director Shen.

On the surface, he was expressing his feelings, but in reality, he was reminding Director Li that he was still just the director of the glass bottle factory, and he couldn't let someone else take over the new position as director of the cannery.