Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 352

Although I've already gotten started, I'm only at level one right now and need to quickly gain more experience.

He Yuzhu found that listening to his master's lectures improved his experience faster than practicing on his own, so he listened with great interest.

Master Ding doesn't just talk about theory; he connects theory with practice. He first demonstrates with wood, allowing many students to learn the basic operations. Then, he confirms that the students have mastered the skills by making a machine on their phones before confidently handing the lathe over to them for actual operation.

At the beginning, they produced only the most common and general-purpose parts, and in this way, one machine after another slowly started up.

He Yuzhu went to find Tong Zhi again and asked, "Want to earn some extra money?"

"What do you mean by that?" Tong Zhi asked.

Tong Zhi receives a fixed salary, and although the couple's combined salaries are high, their expenses are also quite large.

He Yuzhu said, "Although your factory has a heavy production workload, you can still take turns resting, right?"

"Yes."

He Yuzhu said, "I hired Master Ding at the steel rolling mill, but he's struggling to manage dozens of apprentices by himself. So you can ask around at the heavy machinery factory to see if anyone is willing to come and help us during their off-duty hours. We'll pay them."

Tong Zhi's eyes lit up. Previously, He Yuzhu had wanted to find a long-term mentor to come to the machinery factory and teach the techniques.

That takes a long time, so the heavy machinery factory definitely won't let people go.

However, if it were simply a matter of workers giving up their rest time to do odd jobs at the machine factory, many would still be willing.

"You used to train students?"

He Yuzhu said, "Yes, it mainly focuses on training trainees, but those who want to engage in production can also do so."

He Yuzhu obtained the blueprints for five sets of diesel engine manufacturing technology, ranging from 6 horsepower to 12 horsepower.

If someone isn't very good at training apprentices, they can directly use a lathe for processing and production, and be paid by piecework.

The machinery factory is a collective enterprise of the neighborhood, which is acceptable; it's not like they're working for a private individual.

After He Yuzhu explained it this way, Tong Zhi said, "Then this matter is easy to handle. I can find a few people to go over for you every day. Not too many, but three to five people will do."

Many workers in heavy machinery factories are short of money, and many are willing to take on part-time jobs in their spare time.

The heavy machinery plant operates on a shift system. It's not that the entire plant rests on Sundays, but rather that workers take turns resting. This means that even on Sundays, the machines cannot be idle.

"Okay, it's settled then. The product we'll be producing is a diesel engine head."

Tong Zhi nodded: "No problem, everyone who goes knows how to do this."

When I was almost home, I saw Xu Xiaomei waiting for me at the event, her face cold as she asked:

"He Yuzhu, is the child my sister gave birth to yours?"

Chapter 258 Brother-in-law, you're amazing!

These words startled He Yuzhu, who exclaimed, "You can't say things like that, it could kill someone!"

He Yuzhu saw Xu Zhaodi's baby immediately after giving birth and was relieved.

The child looks just like his mother. It's said that boys resemble their mothers and girls resemble their fathers, and this old saying is absolutely true.

He Yuzhu retorted, "Which eye of yours sees that child resemble me?"

Xu Xiaomei looked confident and said, "Don't pretend. Although that child looks like my sister, I can still tell that he looks like you when you were little."

"Stop talking nonsense, I don't see anyone who looks like me."

In fact, He Yuzhu was still quite guilty; many things were just a thin layer of paper separating them.

If no one breaks the ice, no one will think in this direction.

However, after someone points it out, others will scrutinize it carefully. If you compare the child with He Yuzhu, you can still see that the two have some similarities.

This would raise suspicions that the child was He Yuzhu's.

"Hmph, your denial won't change anything. How about I tell my sister-in-law to be the judge?"

"Don't make things so complicated. I even helped you find a job, so you can't let me down."

Xu Xiaomei said smugly, "Are you still denying it?"

"Of course I won't admit it. That's your sister's child. If you're lying, what will your sister do?"

"I only came to find you because you're my sister; otherwise, I would have gone directly to my sister-in-law."

He Yuzhu said, "Stop talking nonsense. It will damage your sister's reputation. She is a widow. If such things are spread, how will she live in the future?"

"You still know to consider my sister's reputation? You big jerk, tell me, how did you get involved with my sister?"

"What flirting? You're being so rude."

"You admit it, don't you?"

"What did I admit to?"

He Yuzhu looked Xu Xiaomei up and down.

Startled, Xu Xiaomei took a half step back, clutching the weapon with both hands, and demanded, "What do you want to do?"

"It's as flat as the North China Plain. What would they think of a young girl like you?"

"Nonsense, I'm not young anymore."

Indeed, no woman can calmly accept being questioned by others.

Xu Xiaomei straightened her back in anger, puffed out her chest, and said with some pride:

"Hmph, I'm even bigger than my sister."

Then realizing something was wrong, he shrank back, still crossing his arms, and shouted:

"You idiot Zhu, you're a pervert."

"Who's being a hooligan? That's not what I meant. I just noticed your clothes are a bit worn out. How about I make you a new outfit?"

Since Xu Xiaomei realized that the child might be hers, and she couldn't kill him to cover it up, she could only pay to avoid further trouble.

He Yuzhu then offered to make him a set of clothes, hoping to use them to shut her up.

"Hmph, aren't you trying to bribe me? I don't want your stinky clothes."

"So what do you want to do?" He Yuzhu asked.

“I want to change jobs, and you have to help me with that too. If you help me, I promise I will never say that my little nephew looks like you again.”

"Weren't you doing a great job as a teacher?"

"I don't want to do this anymore. Running around all day, and I can't teach any of them. It's so annoying."

He Yuzhu was speechless; this was really a child's temper.

No job is ever this smooth. Being a teacher is already a very good job; you're protected from all hardship.

Wherever I go, people respectfully call me Teacher Xu, which sounds nice even when I'm out in public.

What kind of job do you want to do?

"Ideally, it should be an office job, a permanent position. I don't want to eat chalk every day. I've heard that being a teacher for a long time can make you sick."

He Yuzhu suddenly realized that even 20 years from now, the chalk used will still not be dustless chalk.

Prolonged exposure to chalk dust can indeed easily lead to respiratory illnesses.

Perhaps someone told him about this, which frightened Xu Xiaomei.

No wonder he stopped me today and brought up the topic of his nephew resembling me.

I originally wanted to use this as leverage to find myself a job.

That's just childish behavior. He could have just spoken to Xu Zhaodi and asked her to whisper in his ear, and he could have gotten the job done himself. Why scare himself like that?

"Changing jobs is easy, but getting a permanent position is not so easy!"

The factories on the street are different from large factories; they all employ temporary workers.

One important reason is that it makes it easier to balance the burden on disadvantaged households.

If someone is a permanent employee, it's not easy to fire them. But if someone is a temporary employee, it's easier to arrange for them to work in a different situation.

"I don't care, you're my brother-in-law!"

"Don't talk nonsense."

"You still deny that the child isn't yours?" Xu Xiaomei retorted.

He Yuzhu certainly couldn't admit it, but denying it wouldn't make any sense either.

I should try to calm her down. After thinking for a moment, I said, "You should go back first. I'll make arrangements for you later."

"Then you have to keep your word and find me a permanent employee, preferably one who works in an office."

"Okay, I'll try my best."

In fact, He Yuzhu already had a solution in mind: the newly established machinery factory was currently short of staff in its offices and lacked many positions.

Since Xu Xiaomei wants to work in an office, then arrange for her to work in the machinery factory's office.

Unexpectedly, Xu Zhaodi took some time that evening to come to the tavern and stayed for a while. He Yuzhu knew she was looking for him.

Then, that night, he sneaked into her room. When the sun was high in the sky, Xu Zhaodi brought up the topic of her younger sister wanting to change jobs.