Chapter 8 Under the Hot Sun
"Xiaorong, come here." Just as Lu Xiaorong was packing her things and walking towards the second workshop, a familiar voice called her.
The person who spoke was a woman in her fifties with short hair. She looked very smart and capable. She was wearing a blue work suit and even though it was a hot day, she still had two sleeves on her sleeves.
"Mom!" Lu Xiaorong came to the woman and said softly.
"Xiao Rong, you've been wronged this time, it's all because of that useless thing! It's said that adopted daughters marry into wealthy families, I had hoped that you could live a good life after entering his family, but I didn't expect that the Shen family would just say no!"
Chen Hongying complained: "This ungrateful person is like a rabbit with a tail that can't grow long. When he offends all the senior people in the factory, I wonder how long he can keep his position as the factory director!"
Lu Xiaorong smiled helplessly. She could only listen to her mother's words. Now the government advocated that cadres should be more knowledgeable and younger. Bai Bin met all the requirements. It would be difficult to get him to step down!
"Mom, it's okay for me to go to the workshop. I'm not unfamiliar with Workshop 2." Lu Xiaorong comforted his mother.
Chen Hongying snorted and said, "You are a cadre, and he is such an ungrateful person that he wants you to go to the workshop! I have already informed Lao Feng in the second workshop, and he will not assign you to a heavy job."
At this point, Chen Hongying took Lu Xiaorong's hand, looked at her daughter's face for a few seconds, and said angrily: "That bastard hit you again? Xiaorong, we can't drag it on any longer."
"You are still young, you can't hang yourself on a crooked tree!"
"Divorce him quickly. You can't live like this anymore."
Lu Xiaorong had already considered her mother's proposal, and even before yesterday, she was almost moved.
But yesterday's experience made her feel that Shen Lin was not hopeless.
Thinking about the fish soup he stewed yesterday and the eggs he cooked for her this morning, Xiaorong was no longer so determined to divorce her.
"Mom, Shen Lin wasn't always like this. He has changed..."
"Change? I think he's a dog that can't change its nature!" Chen Hongying said with disdain, "If he can change, I'll turn my head off and give it to you."
At this point, Chen Hongying took out two dollars from her pocket and said, "Xiaorong, take these two dollars for emergency use, but don't let your sister-in-law know about it."
"By the way, don't let Shen Lin know."
"As for the rent, don't pay it yet. When Aunt Chen kicks you out, you'll be back home. We can take this opportunity to get a divorce."
Lu Xiaorong looked at the crumpled bill her mother handed over and felt a pang of pain in her heart. She did not mind that her mother gave her so little.
She knew her mother's difficulties.
Now my brother's factory can't pay wages, and my sister-in-law just gave birth to a son, and the whole family is waiting to eat. If my sister-in-law, who has a hot temper, knew that my mother was secretly taking care of her married daughter, there would be nothing she could say.
These two dollars must have been saved secretly by my mother.
"Mom, Shen Lin has already paid the rent, and he also gave me five dollars." Lu Xiaorong stuffed two dollars back into his mother's pocket and said, "Mom, keep these two dollars for yourself!"
Chen Hongying was surprised at first, then she said with a pah sound: "He is asking for money from his father again. He doesn't even look at what his father looks like, and he's still asking for money from his father."
"Humph, how could Old Shen give birth to such a useless thing!"
In the past, no matter what Chen Hongying said about Shen Lin, Lu Xiaorong would not say a word, but now, she felt that she should say something fair for Shen Lin.
After all, this money was earned by Shen Lin himself.
"Mom, this money was earned by Shen Lin himself!"
"He doesn't even have a job, how does he make money? I'm telling you, Xiaorong, don't listen to his nonsense, maybe he stole it!" Chen Hongying stuffed the two yuan back into his pocket while she was talking, and said without hesitation, "Just take it if I tell you to. I'm leaving first."
Lu Xiaorong watched his mother leaving, but his mind was filled with what his mother had just said.
Shen Lin said that he earned this money from collecting scrap metal. Is that true?
After working a whole morning in a daze, Lu Xiaorong walked out of the factory. She was originally going to go home, but for some unknown reason she walked towards the street.
She didn't know where Shen Lin was, but she knew the location of the scrap collection station, and she couldn't help but want to go there to see if what Shen Lin said was true.
The scorching sun is baking the earth!
After walking a few steps, Lu Xiaorong felt sweat pouring down her body. She tried her best to walk in the shade of trees, but the newly paved road still made her feel like the soles of her shoes were stepping on a hot iron.
The scrap collection station was quiet, without even a single person in sight. Standing under the eaves of a store, Lu Xiaorong quietly looked at the gate of the scrap collection station.
One minute, two minutes...
The sun was rising higher and higher, and the temperature was getting hotter and hotter. The leaves were curled up by the sun, and there was no pedestrian on the road for several minutes.
He should have gone home.
Lu Xiaorong found a reason in her mind and turned around to walk towards home, but at this time, she heard the sound of wheels rolling on the road.
Immediately afterwards, Lu Xiaorong saw a scene that she would never forget in her life.
The man who always dressed neatly and liked to look clean and tidy was now wearing a vest, standing in the scorching sun, hunching his body, and trying to pull the flatbed cart forward like a big shrimp.
On the flatbed truck, there were piles of old newspapers and a lot of iron objects that Lu Xiaorong couldn't even name.
He is really collecting waste paper!
Lu Xiaorong wanted to speak, but she felt a salty taste in her throat, as if something was blocking it!
Shen Lin didn't know that Lu Xiaorong was looking at him at this moment. He pulled the cart and walked step by step to the scrap collection station.
His skin, which was a little cracked by the sun, felt pain whenever he moved. But Shen Lin didn't care about that. He wanted to seize this opportunity to make money so that he could save more for the future.
"You have so many waste newspapers!" The fat man in charge of purchasing said with a smile as soon as he saw Shen Lin.
Shen Lin quickly handed the fat man a cigarette and said, "My uncle has many friends. This is the waste newspaper from other factories that he introduced to me."
"Brother Liu, you smoke."
The fat man looked at the cigarette handed to him and said with a smile: "Hey, it's still Ximei cigarettes, not bad!"
Shen Lin looked at the fat man's expression, quickly took out the cigarette box from his trouser pocket and said, "Brother Liu, I'm trying to quit smoking these days, please help me finish , otherwise they will all be wasted."
Looking at the cigarette that had just been opened and was only missing two , the fat man smiled even more. He said to Shen Lin, "Okay, then I'll try it first."
After Shen Lin moved the bundles of old newspapers to the scale, he looked around the scrap collection station. He found that there was really everything in the scrap collection station. In the corner, he even saw a tricycle with only one wheel left.
Shen Lin wanted a tricycle from the time he started collecting scrap. Unfortunately, buying a tricycle not only required a ticket, but also cost more than 200 yuan.
He basically doesn't have to think about buying a car in the short term.
However, this old tricycle caught his attention. Although only one wheel was left, the frame was still there.
When he walked to the tricycle, Shen Lin found that the bottom of the old tricycle was completely rotten. Not to mention pulling things, there was a big hole when he pressed it with his finger.
However, after Shen Lin looked at the tricycle for a few seconds, he felt that the tricycle could still be saved.
"Xiao Shen, this time you delivered 621 kilograms. Please keep the receipt." The fat man handed the purchase order to Shen Lin and said with a little envy: "You made a full three dollars this time!"
Shen Lin hurriedly said, "It's not that I'm lucky. My uncle happened to introduce me to a few big households. After these two households have collected the goods, I don't know if I can collect the goods later!"
At this point, he pointed at the old tricycle and said, "Brother Liu, where did this thing come from?"
"It's just some junk someone sent me!" The fat man pointed at the old tricycle with only one wheel left and said, "It's so rusted that it's useless. It can only be used as scrap metal."
Shen Lin turned toward the tricycle and said, "Brother Liu, I want to take it home and disassemble it for parts. How much do you think it will cost?"
The fat man looked around, held up two fingers and said, "This scrap metal is worth a lot of money. How about this, you give me two dollars and it's yours."
Shen Lin looked at the fat man who looked like he was taking advantage of him, and knew that this guy wanted to take advantage of him.
"Forget it. The parts of this thing are quite old. There aren't many that can be used after disassembling them. I don't want it." Shen Lin said with a regretful look.
As he spoke, Shen Lin took the receipt and walked towards the finance office.
When the fat man saw Shen Lin preparing to leave, he grabbed his hand and said, "If you really want it, take it away for one dollar."
"After all, we are acquaintances, and I can't let you suffer any loss."
Looking at the fat man's smiling face, Shen Lin said with a smile: "Thank you, Brother Liu, I will take it away this afternoon."