Chapter 165 - Working For Nothing

This didn’t shake Duan Mei’s determination to look for the village chief today. However, she still had her pride. Family scandals couldn’t be exposed. Shi Lian was still here, so after going to the field, she pulled the village chief aside to talk.

She revealed the family’s financial difficulties. “Mr. Wu, as a parent, how can I not care about Yu Bing? However, this child misunderstood us. She resents us for letting her come to the countryside, but we had no choice. Our family couldn’t find any way to let her stay in the city.”

Duan Mei’s words made her seem like a helpless parent, while Yu Bing was an insensible daughter. If Yu Bing hadn’t specifically come to tell Wu Jin about it yesterday, Wu Jin really would have thought that Yu Bing had some misunderstanding with her family, and would have helped mediate.

Wu Jin had worked with Yu Bing for a few months and knew her quite well, so he chose to believe Yu Bing without hesitation.

He looked at Duan Mei and said in a comforting tone, “I understand Yu Bing. She’s not a petty person. Talk to her again. If it’s really a misunderstanding, how can Yu Bing really hate you?”

Duan Mei could discern the evasion in Wu Jin’s words, so she sighed and continued, “I know you’re in a difficult position. Actually, my request is very simple. In the future, please arrange for someone to transfer Yu Bing’s salary to me every month. I won’t let you help for nothing. I’ll pay 20 cents for every transfer!”

Nowadays, factories allowed parents to help collect salaries. Even if their children were unwilling, if the parents were unyielding and went to the factories to cause trouble every two to three days, many factories would choose to compromise in the end. Their monthly salary would be taken by the parents.

However, Wu Jin wasn’t intimidated by this question at all. He revealed an awkward smile. “Yu Bing’s mother, you just came and don’t know much about our factory. All the projects in our village are in debt now, so we can’t pay Yu Bing at all. At that time, when Yu Bing accepted the job, she also clearly expressed that she was willing to wait until the factory made a profit before getting paid.”

Duan Mei frowned when she heard this. “You’re saying that she’s working for nothing?!”

Wu Jin nodded with an embarrassed but forced expression.

When Duan Mei heard this, she became unhappy and said, “Mr. Wu, it’s unreasonable for a worker to not be paid, isn’t it?”

Mr. Wu had long become extremely thick-skinned. Moreover, now that Yu Bing, the person involved, had agreed, he smiled and said, “It’s not that we won’t distribute it, but we’ll distribute it later. After all, the factory is in trouble now. As cadres, we should take the lead!”

“However, we all believe that the difficulties are temporary. When the difficulties pass, we will definitely make up for the salary we owe previously.”

When Duan Mei heard the words “make up”, she asked patiently, “Then how much do you owe?”

Mr. Wu told her the number. When Duan Mei heard that there was a debt of more than 10,000 yuan and that the factory only produced jam at the moment, she felt that Mr. Wu had made things sound too good just now. Who knew when it would be paid off? If it closed down before the debt was paid off, she would really have worked for nothing!

Seeing that there was no hope of getting the salary, Duan Mei planned to go to the commune. The commune was a government organization. The salary wouldn’t be delayed anymore.

Fortunately, her ankle wasn’t very sprained. After applying hot compresses, she would basically be fine tomorrow. Then, she could go to the commune.

Compared to Duan Mei’s carefree life, Shi Lian’s heart ached whenever she saw Yao Nian working. She insisted on farming with him every day.

Yao Nian wanted his mother to help him share the burden, but there were so many people watching. He didn’t want the villagers to gossip about him needing his mother’s help. He couldn’t afford to lose face, so he could only reject Shi Lian’s idea.

Yao Nian was in charge of picking out feces from the septic tank in the village that was used to ferment farm fertilizer. Yao Nian usually hated this dirty and tiring job, but he was very happy today.

This was because when people couldn’t see them, Shi Lian would help him pick them. Whenever they realized that there were villagers around, Yao Nian would do it. Shi Lian would also carry a bucket at the side so that Yao Nian could save some energy.

The countryside life these few days also deepened Shi Lian’s intention to matchmake her son and Yu Bing. How could Yao Nian continue doing such a job?!

Without Shi Lian by her side, it was much easier for Duan Mei to meet Yu Yan in the dormitory. After all, it would be unreasonable for Duan Mei to acknowledge the daughter she sent away.