Chapter 3: Inquiring About the Job

Before dawn the next day, there was already activity in the kitchen.

Su Li simply got up.

She hadn’t been able to get used to sleeping on the kang last night; she disliked the smell on the quilt, her arm ached from lying on her side, and lying flat made it hard to breathe. On top of that, dust had fallen from the ceiling in the middle of the night, and spiders had crawled down, all keeping her awake.

Since she couldn’t sleep, she decided to get up and size up the household for half the night.

Su Li leaned on the edge of the kang to put on her shoes and sighed deeply. Her body needed exercise and care.

It was now the 1980s—she had to live to see the era of smartphones somehow.

Forty more years to ninety, just a little effort.

She pushed open the door. In the kitchen, the eldest son, Cheng Jundong, was pouring water into a barrel. He was tall and dark, his head nearly brushing the black wooden ceiling.

“Mom, you’re up.”

“Mm.”

Su Li responded with a hum.

Cheng Jundong was long accustomed to his mother’s coldness. He was big, and she had suffered much giving birth to him.

At this hour, all the households in the village were already up. During the autumn harvest, people hurried early and late—first heading to the fields, returning around seven or eight for breakfast, then back out again.

Breakfast was prepared by the eldest daughter-in-law, Miao Xiaocao, along with her two daughters: cornmeal flatbreads and tofu soup.

An extra boiled egg was cooked especially for Su Li.

The fifth son, Cheng Junguo, habitually reached out to grab it, but Su Li struck his hand with her chopsticks.

“Mom—”

“Mom nothing! You’re a grown man, and you have the nerve to snatch a sick old lady’s egg?”

Su Li glared, and Cheng Junguo suddenly recalled the old lady’s words from yesterday—he couldn’t be too biased in front of others or he wouldn’t find a wife.

“I wasn’t! I was going to peel the egg for you.”

He rubbed the back of his hand on his pants. The old lady’s act was too convincing, and she had quite a strong hand.

“I don’t need you. Eat your own food.”

Su Li slipped the boiled egg casually into her pocket.

“Eldest brother, my chest has been hurting these past couple of days. You’re strong—push me to the town hospital later.”

“Mom—what’s wrong?”

“Mom, are you okay?”

“Mom—”

Every one of them called her “Mom” with such urgency, it gave Su Li a headache. She wished she had eight hands to slap each of them.

“Stop the ‘Mom’ nonsense. Eldest, come with me. You all go work properly—go harvest the autumn crops.”

Su Li’s eyes swept the room. Not bad... at least none of them wanted her dead.

Soon breakfast was finished. The second son, Zhao Junnan, loaded cornstalks onto a two-wheeled wooden cart, then laid a mattress on top.

Su Li instinctively lifted her leg high, her foot about three centimeters off the ground before quietly setting it back down.

“Lend a hand, can’t you see?”

Maintaining her role, Su Li was helped onto the cart by the eldest and second daughters-in-law. The little cloth bag rested behind her; she picked a bag of beans, covered her legs with half the mattress, and patted the cart.

“Go work now. Eldest, let’s go.”

“Hey!”

Cheng Jundong was genuinely anxious. Putting his strength into it, he nearly sent Su Li flying.

“You blockhead, you want to break my fall!”

“Hey, hey—”

He slowed down, pushing Su Li toward the town.

Their Sanhong Village wasn’t far from Shuangxi Town—ten minutes by bike, over twenty by donkey cart, walking took between forty minutes and an hour.

After half an hour, Su Li reached back into her little cloth bag and pulled out a water bottle.

“Eldest, have some water.”

“I’m not thirsty; we’re almost at the hospital.”

“Stop!”

Su Li’s face hardened, and Cheng Jundong halted.

“Drink this, and eat this too.”

Cheng Jundong reached out, palm up, and found a warm, round boiled egg.

His mother had never given him an egg before.

When there were eggs, they always went to his younger brothers, later the youngest got them all.

“Eat up, no arguments!”

Su Li snapped without even looking at him.

She had gauged the family last night; the easiest to win over was the eldest son, Cheng Jundong.

This guy was truly honest, with some resentment inside but no malice—his heart was genuine.

She herself was unlikely to work, so she prepared for the eldest to do it.

Her talk last night about making everyone think it over was a lure; she wanted to see each family’s true attitude.

“Let’s go, don’t dawdle!”

Su Li performed the tough but soft-hearted old lady act perfectly. Cheng Jundong bit into the boiling hot egg in one bite.

His mother cared for him.

That single egg gave him the strength of a perpetual motion machine, cutting the half-hour journey to just fifteen minutes.

Su Li rubbed her sore backside, both annoyed and amused.

Such a big child starved for love!

“Eldest, go that way.”

“Mom, the hospital isn’t that way.”

Cheng Jundong had been to town before; the factory was that way, the hospital to the west.

Su Li took a deep breath and turned.

“Eldest, I’m fine. I’m not really going to the hospital. I want to ask about the job quota for our family. I didn’t say anything before because I didn’t want everyone’s spirits to waver.”

Here Su Li naturally got emotional, words flowing smoothly.

“Your father just passed away. If your hearts scatter now, how could I face the ancestors of the Cheng family?”

“You don’t know... Mom’s been troubled these days, tossing and turning at night, only brave enough to tell you this. You’re the eldest; in the end, Mom still has to live with you. This family depends on you.”

Cheng Jundong immediately panicked.

“Mom, don’t cry. Our family can’t fall apart. I don’t want the job, Mom, please don’t cry.”

He was tongue-tied, repeating the same plea.

Su Li felt the moment was right. She wiped her face and pointed toward the factory.

“Let’s go.”

“Hey!”

They soon arrived at the cement factory. Su Li chatted briefly with the gatekeeper, who kindly helped call out Director Jiang.

Director Jiang strode over upon seeing Su Li and Cheng Jundong.

“Aunt Su, why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I would have come to pick you up!”

Su Li knew this was just polite pretense.

“I happened to come to town. Our garden’s vegetables are ready to harvest—hope I’m not disturbing your work.”

“No, let’s talk inside.”

Director Jiang warmly led Su Li and Cheng Jundong to his office. Su Li had come for the job matter, and he was eager to finalize it.

Inside, he gave full respect—pouring water, inquiring about their health—and naturally shifted the topic to work.

“Aunt Su, I have two job openings: one as a temporary worker at the cement factory, and one as a gatekeeper at the tobacco and alcohol factory, which is a regular position. What do you think?”

Su Li’s mind began to turn.

Though it seemed like two choices, there was really only one.

The cement factory was Shuangxi Town’s pillar industry; most people would pick it. But no one wanted a “favor” hanging over them every day. Temporary workers could really remain only temporary. Plus, cement workers were prone to lung disease.

The tobacco and alcohol factory paid average wages but Su Li knew it was soon to be reformed, with a separate tobacco bureau to be established.

The tobacco bureau jobs were excellent—thousands would compete for one.

“A regular job, definitely a regular job!”

Illiterate Su Li hurried to speak, afraid to miss the “regular job.”

A satisfied smile flickered in Director Jiang’s eyes.