The courtyard: the atmosphere of human life

The old man was no other than the stubborn old director of the textile factory back then. Meng Weidong was also a college student cadre trained by him and the director of the personnel department of the textile factory at that time.

The old man's warning not only woke up Meng Weidong, but also the entire southern suburbs' investment promotion department.

In that era when cheap labor was still the main attraction for attracting investors, our cadres, while only focusing on development, ignored the vital interests of too many workers, which led to the bitter past of Darong and other first-generation laid-off workers.

In fact, when Darong was working at the textile factory, she only had that one encounter with the old factory director. After leaving the textile factory, she didn't see the old factory director again for many years.

It was just that due to limited financial conditions, Darong was unable to purchase a new building and so bought the old building in the cadre building. The old factory director also happened to live in that small cadre building.

When they met for the first time in the community, Darong's address of "old factory director" was just the reunion of the two of them.

At that time, everyone in the textile factory respected this just and fair old factory owner, so every time they met in the community, Darong would get out of the car and greet the old man very respectfully.

Today, Darong had already accepted her fate and swallowed her grievances. When she was riding her bike back to the community alone, she happened to meet the old factory manager who was sitting in the community and chatting with someone.

His proactive questioning made Darong, who was already full of grievances, open up her heart and pour out everything that had happened in the factory in the past few days and the unfair treatment she had received since entering the Korean factory.

Darong actually didn't know that Meng Weidong was now a cadre in the Labor Bureau, and she had never thought of asking the old factory director to help her. She didn't think a retired old man could help her in any way. She just simply needed someone to listen to her emotions.

But she obviously overlooked the influence of a combat hero on the government. Although the old factory director was only a retired cadre of the unit, his military medals could never be touched with any sand.

Later, Darong found out that although the old factory director had retired from the factory, he still enjoyed a national living allowance and still had his own supervisory position in the local government.

After the old factory director's rectification, the entire southern suburbs launched a labor rectification campaign targeting private, foreign-funded and joint venture factories, and conducted education, rectification and accountability for employers that over-exploited the labor force.

This rectification also allowed migrant workers in the southern suburbs to feel the protection of government power for the first time.

Although various labor disputes still occurred after that, at least the government's attitude had greatly comforted the people's suffering.

Although Darong seemed to have the upper hand again, she actually still left the Korean factory where she had worked for several years.

Darong is no longer the ignorant girl she used to be, and the Korean factory is no longer the state-owned unit it once was.

"Sister-in-law, I am a nobody and I really can't help you with anything..."

This was the first time that Zhong Yunxiang visited Darong's home. Although she had helped Darong sign up, facing the current situation, she was just an employee and could not stop anything from happening.

"Yunxiang, this matter is caused by your sister-in-law. Fortunately, in order to avoid suspicion, I never told anyone about our relationship. Otherwise, if you were implicated, your sister-in-law would not be able to explain herself."

Darong smiled awkwardly. She didn't think too much about the consequences at that time. She just relied on her own courage and Zhong Yunxing's support to challenge the Korean factory. Now thinking about it, she almost screwed her sister.

"Sister-in-law, have you decided where you want to work?" Zhong Yunxiang did not continue to respond to Darong's words, but changed the subject and asked about Darong's future plans.

Zhong Yunxiang is an honest person. She is not good at hypocritical greetings and courtesies, and prefers real and simple ways of communication.

"Then I'll find a job in a factory. I don't have any special skills, so I can only do simple jobs. I'll save the extra money I can earn for Ruyi's schooling."

Darong's answer was quite honest. She was almost 40 years old and it was indeed not easy for her to find a job.

"Sister-in-law, I have a friend who works in a private factory. The work he does is similar to what we do here, but he earns less. Do you want to go?"

Yunxiang has worked in the electronics factory for many years and has some acquaintances in that industrial area. In fact, her main purpose of coming here is to help Darong find another job.

Although she and Zhong Yunxing are not biological siblings, the word "Zhong" cannot be written with one stroke. Moreover, although Darong left the Korean factory, she also fought for the right treatment for those who stayed. In fact, Zhong Yunxiang still admired her sister-in-law very much.

"Of course I'll go. I'm just worried about where to find a job. Aunt, thank you so much."

For the second time, Darong went to work in another private factory through the introduction of Zhong Yunxiang, and her life was secured again.

The production standards in private electronics factories are actually not lower than those in Korean factories.

But people are sometimes quite strange. When there are no national differences involved, people don't seem to be that dissatisfied. They just work hard to produce their own products.

The feeling is similar to: I can hit my brother, but if you dare to move, I will fight you to the death.

Although they still have to work from dawn to dusk in the private factory, Darong and the others seem to have less resistance and more resignation to their fate.

Darong's life returned to its former peaceful state. Although she still had to work hard every day, she was always happy when her family was together.

"Ruyi, mom will enroll you in a physics cram school." Darong looked at Ruyi's final exam results and tentatively proposed the idea of ​​enrolling her in a cram school for the first time.

Ruyi’s personality is actually not very good. She always fails in the same subject. When she was in the third year of junior high school, she began to have the idea of ​​giving up, and then she started to deal with it in a bad way.

"Mom, there's only one semester left before the high school entrance exam. It doesn't matter whether I make up for it or not."

There was some resistance in Ruyi's tone. She felt that she really couldn't learn it, and it didn't matter much whether she attended cram school or not.

"You just won't study hard. You've been so smart since you were little. If you put in some effort, there's nothing you can't learn..."

Darong started nagging again in the same old way. Ruyi felt that there was no way she could communicate this issue with her, so she got up and went back to her room to continue reading.

"What can you expect from holding onto this pile of tattered magazines every day? If you had spent more time doing physics exercises, your grades would have improved a long time ago!"

Maybe Ruyi's attitude angered Darong. She chased Ruyi into her room angrily and continued to scold her for being disobedient.