The old man was a city dweller, how could he not recognize the two people from earlier? They were from the county's top factory.
"One is the workshop director, and the other is the kitchen supervisor. They are both people of status." The old man looked at Zhang Liunian with admiration, thinking how lucky this young comrade was to be appreciated by these two.
Zhang Liunian didn't grasp the old man's thoughts. He put the iron bucket into his basket and realized, "So it was them."
Seeing that Zhang Liunian hadn't understood, the old man stepped forward and stated plainly, "You might be in luck."
Zhang Liunian was stunned. He thought for a moment and seemed to understand the old man's meaning. He thought that he, Zhang Liunian, might have the opportunity to work in the machinery factory's canteen.
"Grandpa, are you saying they might offer me a job?" Zhang Liunian asked with a smile.
"Isn't that right? Your dish is delicious, they'll surely want to hire you to cook!" The old man had seen it clearly: among the six people selling food here, only Zhang Liunian's skills were the best.
"If that's the case, then Grandpa, we can cooperate."
The old man was confused by Zhang Liunian, what did he mean by "we can cooperate"?
How could they cooperate?
Zhang Liunian saw the old man's confusion and explained, "If they offer me a job, I want to sell this job to you. I'm not sure if it's feasible."
"What? That's a state-provided iron rice bowl! Are you crazy, not wanting it?" The old man was first very angry at Zhang Liunian's words, and then he was stunned.
What had he just said? He could sell this job to him?
The old man's breathing tightened. He grabbed Zhang Liunian's hand and pulled him aside, asking, "Are you telling the truth?"
Zhang Liunian smiled and nodded, "If they really offer me a job and this job can be transferred, I will definitely sell it to you, and the price can be a bit less than elsewhere."
The old man's face crinkled into a smile like a chrysanthemum. "Good, good, good. I'll wait."
This was a job that others couldn't even beg for, and Zhang Liunian actually intended to sell it to him. He was truly a good comrade.
However, why would he be so foolish as to not want such a good job?
It wasn't easy to get into the machinery factory. Even the kitchen was a place where people in Datang County would scramble to get in. How did it become so unremarkable in this young comrade's mouth?
"Why don't you want it?"
The old man, filled with doubt, waited curiously for the answer.
Zhang Liunian replied, "I want to be a self-employed individual." After saying that, he left.
Be self-employed?
What was so good about being self-employed that it made him foolish enough to refuse the machinery factory's olive branch?
He was truly a silly comrade.
Alas, no matter. Whether he was silly or not, their family would have a chance to work at the machinery factory.
Zhang Liunian was unaware of the old man's thoughts. At this moment, he had just come out of the black market and headed straight for Tie Family Village.
His sister, Zhang Xiaomei, was married into Tie Family Village, a village only half an hour away from Zhang Family Village.
When Zhang Liunian arrived, he happened to hear Tie's mother scolding his sister.
"You unlucky star, you jinx! As soon as you married in, you killed my eldest son. If this were decades ago, someone like you would have been drowned.
Now I'm providing you with good food and drink, and asking you to help your younger brother-in-law with some chores, is that too much to ask? Do you have to deliberately cause trouble by washing the clothes until they're torn?
It seems you're getting restless without a good beating every few days."
"Slap, slap, slap..." The sound of hitting with hands came from inside the house. Zhang Liunian, standing outside the door, was furious and kicked out with his leg.
With a loud "bang," the tall courtyard gate opened from the outside inward.
Tie's mother heard the sound, stopped scolding Zhang Xiaomei, and looked up to see Zhang Liunian appearing before her in a fury.
"Oh, it's the brother-in-law. What are you doing? Are you going to pay for damaging my gate?"
Tie's mother naturally recognized Zhang Liunian. It couldn't be helped, Zhang Liunian was handsome, and people who saw him would not easily forget him.
Moreover, he was from her eldest daughter-in-law's family, so she naturally recognized him.
However, she remembered Zhang Liunian as the lazy bum from Zhang Family Village, the most useless man. How dare he kick down her door today?
Zhang Liunian cast a cold glance at Tie's mother, then shifted his gaze to his sister, who was curled up on the ground, covering her head, wearing wet clothes.
Was his sister living such a life at the Tie family's place? Zhang Liunian's aura changed, his starry eyes narrowed, and he turned to violently kick and beat the Tie family's courtyard gate.
"Bang, bang."
Tie's mother watched Zhang Liunian turn her courtyard gate into a wreck in just a few kicks, and her body instinctively flinched.
"What do you want? I'm telling you, this is Tie Family Village. If you act recklessly, our village chief won't let you off!" Tie's mother watched Zhang Liunian kick the courtyard gate into pieces, then walk towards her, and she was so scared that she retreated backward.
"Heh, I haven't even accused you of mistreating my sister, and you want to be the first to accuse me.
Fine. Since marriages nowadays don't have certificates, there's no need to get a divorce certificate either.
Then let me formally notify you. Zhang Xiaomei is my sister, and today I am taking her back to the Zhang family. From now on, she is not your Tie family's daughter-in-law."
At this time, couples did not specifically register their marriages.
If Zhang Liunian took his sister back, it would be considered a complete break from the Tie family.
"No, our Tie family spent fifty yuan to marry her. If you want to take her back, you must return the fifty yuan to us.
Otherwise, I won't agree."
"Do you still have a choice now? Or do you want to be this stick?" Zhang Liunian raised an eyebrow and kicked a wooden stick propped against the wall fiercely.
The next moment, with a "crack!" and "bang," the stick, as thick as a baby's arm, broke, and the courtyard wall also had a large hole broken through it.
This terrifying display of strength made Tie's mother realize that Zhang Xiaomei's third brother was a very formidable person.
Tie's mother was so frightened that she silenced herself and dared not say another word.
The neighbors, hearing the commotion, came out to see that it was Zhang Xiaomei's maternal brother who had come to help her. They all felt a sense of relief.
Ever since Tie Zhuzi died, Zhang Xiaomei had been bullied by Tie's mother every day here. The neighbors couldn't stand it.
Now that they saw her brother had come, they were practically ready to applaud.
"Little sister, come with me to Zhang Family Village. From now on, you will no longer be Tie family's wife." Zhang Liunian stepped forward, helped up his soaked little sister, wanting her to go to his house to recuperate.
Zhang Xiaomei, with her face devoid of color, leaned weakly against her third brother and then called out aggrievedly, "Third brother."
She had waited here for so long, and finally, a brother had come to save her.
Zhang Xiaomei, as if grasping a lifeline, tightly grasped her third brother's clothes and sobbed uncontrollably.
Seeing her like this, Zhang Liunian's eyes turned red as he glared at Tie's mother.
Tie's mother was startled by Zhang Liunian's display of strength and hid in the corner, not daring to make a sound.
As they walked out of Tie Family Village, Zhang Xiaomei's mood improved considerably. She followed her third brother and stammered, "Third brother, your family's situation isn't good either. Will I be a burden to you if I go back?"
"No, you're going back to lessen my burden."
"Impossible, third brother, you're lying to me. Your whole family relies on third sister-in-law to earn work points. If you add my mouth to feed, you won't be able to get by."
Zhang Xiaomei knew her third brother's situation better than anyone.
Her life was not much better than hers.
"Look, what's this?" Zhang Liunian knew that everyone's impression of him was still from the past, so he could only take out the meat from his basket to show his sister.