I Got Rich in Period Fiction
Chapter 508: Entering the Hall

Chapter 508: Chapter 508: Entering the Hall

This spring, the base had successfully applied for a bus route.

That was after the road had been repaired.

The bus route started from a stop 500 meters north of the base family quarters and extended all the way to the Xichuan Bus Station.

It passed through Xiaxi Town in Yushu County.

The operation of this bus route greatly facilitated the base employees.

Hitching a ride wasn’t easy, especially after the base’s rules had become more strict. If you were not part of this system, it was generally impossible to get a ride. Considering the base had many employees and relatives scattered throughout the country, there were quite a few visiting family every year.

Moreover, not all employees’ families lived at the base like Chen Sheng and Fang Xiaomei in Yushu County, and some lived in Xichuan, such as the newly assigned college students.

Starting from the base at six in the morning, making various stops, the bus reached Xichuan at 9:00 AM.

So those who wanted to catch the first bus had to get up very early, usually, the buses were most crowded on Sundays.

It was better on weekdays.

Old Lady Zhao, leaning on her cane, and her daughter-in-law, hurriedly carrying a long basket, rushed out of the main gate of the base family quarters.

They just happened to run into Qiao Qingyu and He Xiuyu, who were returning from a run.

Upon meeting, Qiao Qingyu naturally greeted first, but Old Lady Zhao merely grunted indifferently, dragging her daughter-in-law, who wanted to talk to Qiao Qingyu, and limped towards the bus stop ahead.

Her daughter-in-law was carrying the basket on her arm, nearly getting dragged off her feet by the old lady; she gritted her teeth, somewhat indignantly but not daring to speak out.

At this time, a lot of people waiting for the bus had gathered, all planning to go to the county or Xichuan to run errands.

Even many were preparing to go to the large market in Xiaxi Town to buy necessities.

Though the base store had expanded, it couldn’t sell everything.

For example, personally pickled vegetables, handmade shoe insoles and soles, or even woven basket covers and curtains were items not available in the store, but the Xiaxi Town market had them all.

Someone then asked Old Lady Zhao what she was doing so early, to which the old lady raised her voice and said, "My son is well-liked, and these past few days, his colleagues and friends have given us so many eggs, we can’t eat them all. Although it’s not that hot today, if we keep them any longer, they’ll definitely go bad. My daughter-in-law and I are going to the big market in Xi Township to sell the eggs and exchange them for something else..."

"Oh dear, madam, you’re really living the good life, having more eggs than you can eat. You even borrowed ten eggs from my house before, and now that you can’t eat them, you never thought of returning them..."

This was a middle-aged woman half-jokingly saying.

This was definitely true; Old Lady Zhao stood in front of her daughter-in-law, discontentedly saying, "It’s just a few eggs, and you still remember them. Wait till we come back, I’ll return ten eggs to you."

"Oh my, madam, I was just kidding."

"Hmph, what kind of joke. I can’t let you remember those ten eggs forever."

"How can you say that? A few years ago, when times were tough, those ten eggs were valuable goods in our base family quarters."

"Yes, indeed, a few years ago when my son had his birthday, I boiled an egg for him; he ate it in two gulps, nearly choked himself."

Old Lady Zhao and her daughter-in-law exchanged a glance and couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Qiao Qingyu and He Xiuyu did hear this conversation.

However, they did not take it to heart and started to jog slowly in the direction of their home.

Qiao Zhicai had returned to the Qiao Family Team a few days ago.

With the autumn harvest approaching, the Qiao Family Team was even busier than last year.

Nevertheless, this year Tenghai Research Base had provided the Qiao Family Team with a batch of agricultural machinery, which should make this year’s harvest a bit easier compared to dealing with the land traditionally, although sideline businesses remained the Qiao Family’s main source of revenue.

The pig farm had expanded, and now there were thousands of hogs, which meant no need for outside sales, as Zhining County alone had more demand than supply.

With reform and opening advancing by leaps and bounds, more restaurants had sprung up in Ning’an County.

Consequently, there was no worry about where to sell the pork.

But precisely because of this, when it came to autumn, the Qiao Family Team needed a mobilization of all their members.

In Qiao Qingyu’s opinion, if things really got too hectic, they could have her mother come back to help because her older brother and sister-in-law were there too; they couldn’t all just rely on her.

Her side was actually quite manageable; although the base’s main and side businesses were numerous, there were still some idle staff members.

Some of these idle staff members were not essential; they had been recruited due to Xichuan’s renown, like the neighbors of Sister-in-law Li, the Fang family.

Mr. Fang’s wife worked in the cafeteria, and they had three children.

After land was allotted, Mr. Fang’s parents contracted it out to their neighbors and moved in with Mr. Fang, along with his two nephews.

One of the nephews had finished elementary school, and the other had dropped out after half a year of middle school, unwilling to continue schooling or to farm, simply idling around in the village. The elderly couple thought of sending the two children to Mr. Fang. His family had three daughters and no sons; with family planning becoming stricter, they would not have another child and the grandparents weren’t foolish enough to pressure their second son to have another grandson and then lose their job.

Mr. Fang’s job was a matter of pride in their lifetime.

Besides, couldn’t the nephews be raised like sons? In case something happened to Mr. Fang many years hence, the nephews would be there, especially since the couple earned good salaries. Once the three daughters were married off, the Fang family properties would naturally go to his eldest and second grandsons.

"Fat water does not flow into others’ fields," thought the old lady.

She said she wanted Mr. Fang to help find a way out or jobs for the two nephews, but the real intent was clear to Mr. Fang and his wife.

The couple had had numerous arguments over this situation.

Yet Mr. Fang couldn’t just send his parents back immediately, and it was a pity for the two nephews to just loaf around when the factory was hiring apprentice workers who could become regulars once qualified.

Mr. Fang had someone take the two nephews to the workshop.

Meanwhile, Mr. Fang’s eldest daughter was attending college out of town, his second daughter and youngest daughter were both studying at a comprehensive school; one in middle school and the other a freshman in high school.

Their house wasn’t large, which only added to the conflicts.

Unable to settle down, the old man took up temporary work at the farm, while the old lady stayed home cooking three meals a day, much to the annoyance of Mr. Fang’s wife, who, even while being cooked for, never had a pleasant face for her mother-in-law.

This situation weighed heavily on everyone involved; it used to be her and her husband’s and three daughters’ home, but now with the old couple bringing in two nephews and practically taking over, it hardly felt like anyone could be happy about it.