Chapter 488: Familiar Faces
Chapter 488: Familiar Faces
After the inspection, the officials instructed Jiang Xia to continue her good work, maintain her excellent work ethic, and strive to be recognized as an outstanding individual business owner by the end of the year. Each of them left with two bags of squid gifted by Jiang Xia.
Zhou Bingqiang's wife stood in the crowd, watching the officials leave without taking any action. She was dumbfounded.
Just like that, they left?
Shouldn't they have stopped them from continuing their work?
Shouldn't they have been severely criticized and denounced?
Why were they praised instead?
Why were they encouraged to keep up the good work and aim for an end-of-year award?
As they were leaving, Team Leader Zhou called out to Zhou Bingqiang's wife, "Come to the production team later, I have something to tell you."
Zhou Bingqiang's wife's heart sank. Was she going to be criticized and denounced? Wouldn't even a complaint work?
She rushed home and went upstairs to confront Wen Wan, "You said that a complaint would stop them, but why was Jiang Xia praised instead? Why was I called by Team Leader Zhou for a scolding? The higher-ups are now paying attention to their little workshop, and they even plan to award them at the end of the year! We haven't gained anything, and instead, we've helped them get recognized as an outstanding individual business! I deeply regret it now."
Team Leader Zhou calling her to the production team might be for a scolding!
Sure enough, her husband was right; she shouldn't have listened to Wen Wan.
Wen Wan was also furious with Zhou Bingqiang's wife, "I never said that, I only said it might happen. And when you reported them for poisoning, it was just an unfounded accusation. Of course, they found nothing during the inspection, so there's no issue!"
Even if she had complained, it wouldn't have made a difference. She accused them of poisoning, saying the smell was nauseating and made her dizzy. She was truly infuriated by Wen Wan.
"You shouldn't have accused them of poisoning. You should've just said the constant oil smoke was overwhelming, making you dizzy and nauseous!"
Zhou Bingqiang's wife was exasperated, "I didn't exaggerate; I only mentioned the heavy oil smoke. Who would take action over that? Every household cooks daily. During the holidays, everyone fries various foods. Is it unusual to feel nauseous from the smoke? Do you think people are fools?"
"If I had reported that the smoke from their squid processing made people sick and nauseous, they'd think I was crazy! Every household cooks three meals a day."
"Only you would say the smoke is bad for the baby. Jiang Xia, despite her pregnancy, works at the stove daily, and she never complains. You're just making excuses to avoid work."
That's why she had to accuse them of possible poisoning; the smell was nauseating and dizzying.
Wen Wan was getting annoyed. The entire Zhou Guohua family was good at starting trouble but not finishing it!
Their lack of education was truly frightening. The oil smoke was indeed harmful to pregnant women, and Jiang Xia, in her previous life, had a short lifespan, so she was unaware of these dangers.
Wen Wan didn't want to hear another word from Zhou Bingqiang's wife. She retorted, "Jiang Xia is so great, why didn't you let your son marry her? Why did you marry me instead?"
She had already said that an ant couldn't topple a tree. She was going to report them herself, and now she was blaming Wen Wan!
Zhou Bingqiang's wife was also furious and couldn't help but roll her eyes, "Isn't it because Zhou Guohua is blind that he chose you? You're not even worthy of being Jiang Xia's servant! Any other woman in the village is better than you!"
After saying this, she stormed downstairs to the production team, ready to face the music!
She had indeed married a good-for-nothing!
---
Jiang Xia bid farewell to the inspecting officials, and many villagers remained in the village.
It was the first time the villagers witnessed how those carts of small squids were made.
Not only was the kitchen clean, but the courtyard and the storage room across from the kitchen were also spotless.
The freshly made squid was stored in large jars, covered with dust-proof gauze, and placed in the storage room to cool down before packaging.
There was also a vacuum packaging machine in the room.
The cooled squid was packaged here and then transferred to snake skin bags.
A snake-skin bag holds fifty packets, which is around fifty jin (approximately 50 kilograms).
After packing the fish into the snake-skin bags, they were stored in the warehouse, which was the room where Zhou Zhou had slept before. The large snake-skin bags were neatly stacked on wooden boards.
The window of this room had been sealed with fine-meshed wire netting to prevent mice from entering.
The room where Zhou's parents lived was used to store packaging bags and seasonings.
Everyone surrounded Jiang Xia, asking questions about the vacuum packaging machine, whether vacuum-packed food could really be preserved for a long time, if fresh fish could be preserved this way, and if it meant they didn't need ice anymore.
Jiang Xia patiently answered everyone's questions.
However, they had too many questions, and most people repeated the same inquiries. Zhou Chenglei grew impatient with them crowding around Jiang Xia and directly shooed them away, "Alright, we've wasted half the day. Our small squids aren't even done yet. Please, all you aunties, leave first, and if you have any questions, ask my mom later!"
Zhou's mother also urged everyone to leave.
She knew how pressed for time He Xinghuan and the others were, having already wasted more than an hour.
So, the villagers left one after another, understanding the situation.
After all the villagers had left, He Xinghuan couldn't help but speak up, "I don't know who is so despicable to do such a thing."
Zhou's mother: "Who else could it be? There are only three or four pregnant women in our village! And only one living next to us! It's a real plague!"
Second Uncle's Wife: "It's obvious that they're jealous of our earnings and don't want us to continue."
When she returned home, she often encountered villagers who asked about her salary and how much Jiang Xia could earn from selling such a large amount of goods in one day.
There was envy in their tone.
They even advised her to learn the trade and start her own business instead of working so hard for a mere twenty to thirty yuan.
What they didn't know was that none of their wages were as low as twenty to thirty yuan. The minimum was sixty, and for working hours exceeding eight hours, Xia received triple the wage, plus bonuses.
Jiang Xia said, "Thank you all for your hard work today! Thank you for supporting our small workshop and me!"
Everyone agreed, saying that she was speaking the truth.
After expressing her gratitude to He Xinghuan and the others, Jiang Xia turned to Zhou Chenglei and said, "I'll make a call to the production team."
Wen Wan offered her a drink, and she accepted. Now it was her turn to offer Wen Wan a drink.
Of course, she didn't offer Wen Wan a drink, as it wasn't necessary to make a big fuss. A phone call or two would suffice.
Zhou Chenglei offered, "I'll drive you there."
His car was parked by the roadside, and he was about to drive it back, so they went directly in the car instead of taking the motorcycle.
On the other side, a group of staff members left the old house of the Jiang family and returned to the production team to get into their cars, ready to depart.
The leader, who had been thinking about it all the way, felt like he had seen Jiang Xia before. He asked Team Leader Zhou, "That female comrade seemed familiar. What did she do before?"
Team Leader Zhou replied, "Comrade Xia's surname is Jiang. Her husband was a commander and was discharged just last year."
Leader: "..."
Surname Jiang?
Her husband was a commander?
He remembered!
No wonder she looked familiar!
"Who made that false report?!"
Zhou Bingqiang's wife arrived at the production team, feeling anxious.
Team Leader Zhou severely criticized her!
She was scolded for not knowing how to get along with neighbors and deliberately framing them, always causing trouble, and being destructive without any sense of community!
She lacked the spirit of unity and friendship!
If it happened again, he would hold a meeting to criticize and educate her severely!
She had disgraced the production team!
Zhou Bingqiang's wife was scolded until her face turned ashen, and she didn't dare to lift her head.
When she returned home, she furiously scolded Wen Wan!
Thus, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law started arguing again!
(End of Chapter)
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