The courtyard: the atmosphere of human life

Director Meng signed his name stroke by stroke in the attendance column of Darong that day.

Darong put her attendance sheet into her pocket with satisfaction.

"Xiao Yuan, I'll take care of Director Lu. You can go back to work. If you have any more questions, you can come to me. Just work hard and take care of your pregnancy."

"Thank you, director."

After respectfully thanking Director Meng, Darong planned to go back to the locker room to change clothes and go home from get off work.

Before leaving, he did not forget to move the stool borrowed from the cafeteria.

"Put it down quickly. I'll send it back later. Is it from the cafeteria?" When Director Meng saw that she was about to move the stool, he was afraid that something might happen to her, so he quickly spoke out to stop her.

"Okay, thank you for your help. Just give it to Sister Wang in the cafeteria."

Darong didn't hesitate at all. After giving instructions, she went out and returned to the locker room.

In the evening, before Darong reached the village entrance, she saw Zhong Yunxing waiting under the street light from afar.

Zhong Yunxing and Darong are in the same industry. Now their factory has received orders from the Light Textile Bureau and started working in shifts. They both get off work at the same time.

Zhong Yunxing and Darong had an agreement long ago that every time he got off work, he would wait for each other at the village entrance and go into the village together. In winter, it gets dark early and there are no street lights once you enter the village. He was always worried about Darong walking alone at night.

"How's it going? Did it cause you any trouble?"

When Zhong Yunxing saw the expression on Darong's face, he actually guessed about 80% of what she thought. Either everything was going well, or they were returning in triumph.

"It's pretty good. I sat in the office for a whole day and experienced what it's like to be a leader." Darong replied happily.

"What do you mean?" Zhong Yunxing was confused and didn't quite understand.

"Mrs. Lu handed me over to the Personnel Department, so I went to report there. If they didn't assign me a job, I would drink tea and read newspapers there, waiting for them to solve the problem."

"You spent a day in the personnel department?"

"Ah."

"With the head of the personnel department?"

"Ah."

"Wife, I really underestimated you. I have been worrying for nothing today!"

Zhong Yunxing gave Darong a thumbs up sincerely. It was also the first time he knew that Darong could be so powerful when she got stubborn.

The next day, Director Meng personally sent Darong back to the workshop. During the pre-shift meeting, he specifically mentioned his gratitude and praise for the pregnant women who persisted in working.

Darong was not the only pregnant woman in the workshop, but her resistance this time won all pregnant women the care they deserved.

From that day on, pregnant women were no longer given rigid production targets, nor were they allowed to have their wages deducted based on their production.

In this contest, it seems that Darong defeated Director Lu, but in essence, that era gave employees full protection.

Before the invasion of capital, the state-owned factories in the 80s were managed in a truly Chinese style.

For employees, this management model is the most solid support, but for the national economy, it is an inevitable reason for gradually moving towards reform.

We often say that we should not test human nature easily. But when state-owned factories fully protect the interests of their employees, stories like the farmer and the snake will continue to happen one after another.

But that was all many years later. For Darong and others at the time, no one would have imagined that the wave of drastic changes and reforms that would come so many years later would be so violent.

On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Darong worked overtime on a Sunday night shift. She did not rush home, but went to the vegetable market on the street first.

Darong had not worked much before, so she had no salary income. With the ten yuan in cash earned from two night shifts, she only had a little over twenty yuan on her.

When Darong passed by the department store, she took a few more glances at the fabrics on the counter. Although she liked them, she thought that she would not be able to wear them well since she was pregnant, so she turned around and went to the dried fruit counter.

This is the first Spring Festival for Darong after she married into Zhong Yunxing's family. She just wants her family to have a happy and harmonious New Year.

"Mom, I'm back." Darong pushed a cart full of New Year's goods in the yard and called out to Mom Zhong.

Mother Zhong was sitting in the east room at the moment. After seeing Darong through the window, she hurried out to take the things.

"Buy so many things!" Mother Zhong and Darong were carrying things into the house, and Xiaoping also came in from the backyard.

"Ah, it's not Chinese New Year, so I bought a little more."

Xiaoping took the things from Darong's hand and happily followed her sister-in-law into the house.

People in the north always like to prepare a lot of food and store it during the New Year. Mother Zhong comes from the rural area of ​​Dacheng, and her family is even more particular about this. At the end of the year, they have to prepare full warehouses and grains of food to indicate good luck in the coming year.

Darong was stunned when she saw the three full basins of leavened dough on the kang. It was the third day in a row that the dough had been leavened, and Darong was a little confused for a moment.

"Mom, are you steaming buns again?" Darong asked Mrs. Zhong in confusion.

"We're going to steam buns today and freeze them all. We won't let the dough rise during the first month of the year." Mother Zhong answered Darong while packing up.

Darong had a feeling of hopelessness in her heart. Steaming steamed buns was even worse than steaming steamed buns. It only took a little bit of kneading the dough and then steaming them. But to steam so many buns, it would take her half a day just to chop the stuffing.

"You should get some sleep first. The dough hasn't risen yet."

Mother Zhong is good at talking, and this one sentence has convinced Darong to make dumplings with her.

In fact, Darong was already very sleepy after working the night shift with a bulging belly, but after Mother Zhong said this, she lay in the west room and lost all desire to sleep.

In the past, Darong always felt that her mother didn’t love her, but now she understands how good her mother is to her.

At that time, Darong's mother was working and picking wool at the same time. She could work until dawn, but she would not allow Darong, who worked the early shift, to sleep in even an hour later.

The man who never cared about Darong actually gave her a lot of love.

Darong was lying on the bed, not quite asleep. At noon, Xiaoping called Darong to get up and eat.

Mother Zhong didn't ask Darong to help with the work, but she started to work by herself, carrying the basin and carrying the cabbages.

After all, Darong was a child raised by Darong's mother. She couldn't just ignore it and continue eating. She could only take a few bites quickly and then get up to help.

If Da Rong is a brave and resourceful female warrior at work, then Da Rong at home is a complete coward.

In fact, many of us are such two-faced people. The things we care more about in our personality often restrict our behavior.

For example, Darong, the eldest daughter in the family, has been instilled with too much thinking of an eldest sister since she was a child, which leads to her often feeling that she lacks love. She always habitually pleases her parents and family, thus creating her "sensible" character.