Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 72 Jia Dongxu Goes on a Blind Date
"Sister-in-law, you're back?"

Middle Court.

When Wang Guihua saw Jia Zhangshi come in from outside, she couldn't help but show a look of surprise and delight on her face.

Because of the master-disciple relationship between Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu, the two families were very close. Jia Zhangshi was older than both Yi Zhonghai and Wang Guihua, so they usually addressed her respectfully as "old sister-in-law".

In the past, apprentices were expected to support their masters in their old age.

As a factory worker and fitter, although his profession doesn't emphasize inheritance and apprenticeship as much as traditional crafts like cooking, Yi Zhonghai still values ​​this aspect quite a bit.

After all, from the very beginning, Yi Zhonghai took Jia Dongxu as his apprentice with the intention that he would be able to support him in his old age.

Otherwise.

Over the past few years, Yi Zhonghai and his wife have never been so dedicated to helping the Jia family.

"Oh, an old lady."

Returning to the courtyard house and seeing Wang Guihua again, Jia Zhangshi felt an immense sense of warmth and familiarity.

The term "auntie" is a respectful way of addressing Wang Guihua in the courtyard. Jia Zhangshi often used this term to address Wang Guihua, as it showed respect.

only.

Having been away from the courtyard house for nearly a month, Jia Zhangshi's information was clearly somewhat outdated.

When Wang Guihua heard this title fall on her head again, she was a little stunned and felt a little disappointed.

Since Yi Zhonghai was removed from his position as the "Grandpa of the School of Management," she also lost her title of "Grandma," and at the same time, everyone's "respect" for her also changed.

Although it wasn't obvious, Wang Guihua could sense that people weren't as polite to her and Yi Zhonghai as they used to be.

Fortunately, the only family they had a conflict with was Li Hongbing's family in the front yard, so even though their reputation was affected, they were not targeted by others.

"Auntie, what's wrong?"

Seemingly sensing that Wang Guihua was in a bad mood, Jia Zhangshi asked with some confusion.

"Sister-in-law, please don't call me 'old lady' anymore, please use a different term of address!"

Wang Guihua sighed.

"What's wrong, Osmanthus Girl? What happened?"

Jia Zhangshi was puzzled and quickly pressed for answers.

"This……"

"Hey!"

“Sister-in-law, you’ve been away from the yard for a while, and so much has happened there that you may not know about.”

"Old Yi is no longer the big boss in the courtyard. Xu Fugui from the backyard is now the real boss of the courtyard..."

"how come?"

"Sister-in-law, let's go inside and talk!"

"..."

After bringing Jia Zhangshi back to her room, Wang Guihua quickly recounted everything that had happened in the courtyard during that time.

"what?"

"That kid surnamed Li, he's got some skills now?"

"A big... Old Yi is so confused!"

"How did I fall for that kid's trick?"

"hateful!"

"It's really abominable!"

"..."

Upon learning this, Jia Zhangshi was furious, yet felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Even Yi Zhonghai couldn't handle Li Hongbing, and even the deaf old lady couldn't do anything about it. Now, who in this courtyard can deal with him?

How is Dongxu doing now?

Knowing that Jia Dongxu had been arrested as a spy a few days ago, and that when he was brought back by Officer Yang, he argued and resisted admitting his mistakes at a meeting in the courtyard, Officer Yang reported the matter directly to the factory. This was the matter that Jia Zhangshi was most concerned about and nervous about.

"The factory issued a public reprimand to Dongxu and imposed a penalty of barring him from participating in promotion assessments for five years..."

After hesitating for a moment, Wang Guihua finally revealed the outcome of the matter.

Even if we don't say it now, Madam Jia will find out sooner or later.

This matter was no secret in the courtyard; someone would always tell her about it.

"My God!"

Upon hearing this result, Jia Zhangshi was completely stunned, as if struck by lightning.

Seeing this, Wang Guihua quickly comforted her, "Sister-in-law, don't get agitated about this. Lao Yi told me that the situation isn't too serious."

"Being banned from the factory's promotion assessment for five years isn't considered serious?"

Jia Zhangshi was quite dissatisfied with Wang Guihua's attitude and remarks.

So, since it's not their own child, they don't feel sorry for them!

No matter what, Yi Zhonghai was Jia Dongxu's master, and according to the rules, Wang Guihua was Jia Dongxu's master's wife, even though they didn't usually address her that way.

This made Jia Zhangshi feel somewhat disheartened.

"Sister-in-law, please listen to me first."

Seeing Jia Zhangshi's expression, Wang Guihua, fearing she might overthink things and create a rift between them, quickly explained, "Dongxu has only been a full-time employee for less than two years and is already a junior fitter. It's obviously not going to be that easy for him to take the intermediate fitter exam. He can use this time to hone his skills, and after five years, he can directly participate in the intermediate fitter promotion exam. Actually, the impact on Dongxu isn't as big as you think..."

Wang Guihua didn't understand these things, but Yi Zhonghai had said them himself, so she firmly believed them.

At this stage, the eight-level worker system is still being piloted and tried to be promoted, mainly in Northeast China.

For nationwide implementation, it will require five or six years of wage reform, linking wages to skill levels and formally establishing an eight-level wage system.

As the capital, the concept of "four nine cities" (referring to the old city area) might have been extended earlier, but clearly it hasn't yet.

Currently, within steel rolling mills, skilled workers are only roughly categorized into apprentices, junior, intermediate, and senior levels.

Yi Zhonghai, who is in his early forties, has already entered the ranks of senior technical workers. It was precisely because of this that he was able to be successfully elected as the "Grandpa of the School of Management" and ranked first, becoming the "Grandpa" of the school.

Although rankings are related to age, without the advantage of being a senior skilled worker, Yi Zhonghai wouldn't even have been selected as an old man from the School of Management.

If it weren't for this mishap, where he stumbled and fell into Li Hongbing's trap, few could shake Yi Zhonghai's position in the hospital.

"But this does have an impact; if word gets out, it will damage Dongxu's reputation."

Although Wang Guihua's explanation came from Yi Zhonghai, Jia Zhangshi was still somewhat unconvinced.

In her eyes, her son was a genius, and it would definitely not take him five years to pass the intermediate fitter exam.

Doesn't this punishment directly affect Jia Dongxu's future?

Wang Guihua had no choice.

The result is already like this, so even if you're dissatisfied, what can you change?
evening.

When Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu returned from the steel rolling mill, Jia Zhangshi immediately hugged Jia Dongxu and burst into tears.

Although she wasn't in jail during this time away from home, in Jia Zhangshi's eyes, it was almost the same.

She had to sleep at a set time every day, exercise in the morning, and in addition to working, she also had to attend classes and study. The food she ate was not very oily, so she became very thin from hunger.

"Master Dongxu, I heard that the girl surnamed Li in the front yard is getting married next month, is that right?"

During dinner that evening, the two families gathered together again. After they had been eating heartily, Jia Zhangshi suddenly asked this question, which made the atmosphere at the dinner table pause for a moment.

As Jia Zhangshi asked the question, Yi Zhonghai subconsciously looked at his wife beside him and frowned.

Upon seeing this, Wang Guihua shook her head.

These things were not told to Jia Zhangshi by Wang Guihua, but rather by those in the courtyard who deliberately wanted to see Jia Zhangshi make a fool of herself.

Besides this news, there's also the matter of Li Hongbing becoming Guo Youzhong's apprentice.

"Sister-in-law..."

"Dongxu's master, Dongxu is not young anymore. Some people his age already have children running around and old enough to run errands."

"As Dongxu's mentor and a senior worker in the factory, you must have a wide network of connections. We'll have to trouble you to put in a lot of effort and help Dongxu find a good match..."

"If Dongxu finds a virtuous wife, then as Dongxu's master, you'll have one more person to take care of you, won't you..."

"..."

Yi Zhonghai had thought that Jia Zhangshi wanted to cause trouble for the Li family, but after hearing these words, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

However, this matter did indeed attract Yi Zhonghai's attention.

Finding a wife for Jia Dongxu is a serious matter that cannot be taken lightly, as it directly relates to their future retirement.

If they bring back someone who is unruly and wild, not only will they cause endless trouble for the Jia family, but their hopes for a peaceful retirement will also be dashed.

"Sister-in-law, don't worry about that. I've always kept this in mind. I've tried to introduce Dongxu to potential partners over the past two years, but..."

At this point, Yi Zhonghai stopped talking.

Despite Jia Zhangshi's usual tendency to be unreasonable, this was just one of her tactics. She was actually quite shrewd and immediately understood Yi Zhonghai's meaning. She earnestly lectured Jia Dongxu, saying, "Dongxu, finding a wife is about living life together. The important thing is that she is hardworking, virtuous, and good at managing the household. Whether she is good-looking or not is not important. You can't be as picky as before."

"Mom, even if looks aren't that important, we can't completely ignore them. I can't expect you to marry a woman with a face full of pockmarks or a crooked mouth and eyes, can I?"

Jia Dongxu was somewhat displeased.

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai felt quite helpless.

The women he had introduced to Jia Dongxu before, while not exactly handsome, weren't exactly ugly either. It was simply that Jia Dongxu wanted to find someone as beautiful as Li Hongmei.

But women as beautiful and capable as Li Hongmei are not common.

Moreover, given her personality, Yi Zhonghai would never dare to introduce her to Jia Dongxu.

If things go wrong, all my previous efforts and sacrifices for Jia Dongxu and the Jia family will be in vain.

When Yi Zhonghai was choosing a wife for Jia Dongxu, he mainly looked at her personality and how hard she worked; looks were secondary.

That's why things never turned out well.

Madam Jia, of course, knew all this, and was also angry. She immediately scolded him with some anxiety and disappointment, "Dongxu, good looks can't fill your stomach. You're already twenty-two years old. If you keep dragging this on, it'll be really hard to find someone, and besides..."

"Mom, I know. I'll cooperate well from now on. But I don't need to be super handsome, but I need to be at least presentable."

Jia Dongxu knew that after being criticized by the factory and banned from participating in promotion assessments for five years, his reputation and dating prospects had been directly affected.

Things aren't as good as they used to be. If I were to have the same high expectations as before, I'd probably be a bachelor for life.

Knowing that Li Hongmei was going to get her marriage certificate next month, he started to get anxious.

In this situation.

Jia Dongxu had no choice but to bow to reality and lower some of his demands.

Upon hearing Jia Dongxu's statement, Yi Zhonghai and his wife, along with Jia Zhangshi, all smiled.

(End of this chapter)