Chapter 253: Chapter 250: Section 61, The Incident Occurs

June 1st, Children’s Day.

Early in the morning, many aunts and older sisters in the compound went to the market to buy groceries, planning to prepare something special for lunch to celebrate the festival with the kids at home.

At the Ling Family, after the kids had eaten their fill, they headed out with their schoolbags. Wang Liansheng was also urging little Wang Wenzhang, “Shi Tou, hurry up, or you’ll be late.”

Little Wang Wenzhang put the last pack of candy into his little schoolbag, then ran out with a patter, holding his dad’s hand. As they walked, he looked up and said, “Dad, did you bring the camera? You need to capture my performance, so we can show it to mom when she gets home.”

Wang Liansheng ruffled his son’s sticky-up cowlick with a smile, “Don’t worry, I brought two rolls of film, it’s more than enough. When we get home at noon, I’ll take some more photos of you with your brother and sisters.”

“Great!” Little Wang Wenzhang smiled so happily that his eyes turned into crescents.

As the father and son stepped out of the house, they saw their neighbor, Grandma Wang, returning with her vegetable basket right in front of them.

“Good morning, Grandma Wang!” Little Wang Wenzhang, a polite child, greeted her sweetly upon seeing her.

“Good morning, little Shi Tou!” Grandma Wang replied with a warm smile and then spoke to Wang Liansheng, “Are you running late for work, Little Wang? How about this: you go to work, and I’ll take Shi Tou to the daycare center for you?”

The neighbors lived close by and shared a close bond. The young ones would often help with any heavy lifting, while the older folks were happy to lend a hand with little things like looking after children. Everyone supported each other like this in their daily lives.

Moreover, everyone knew Ling Chengyan was out on a mission and wouldn’t be home for a while, leaving only Wang Liansheng to juggle work and childcare by himself.

Wang Liansheng thanked Grandma Wang with a smile and added, “Since it’s a holiday, I want to spend some time with the kid.”

Little Wang Wenzhang cheerfully added, “Grandma Wang, I’m performing today. Dad brought a camera to take pictures for Mom to see when she gets back.”

Grandma Wang smiled as she stroked his big forehead, “Okay, okay, make sure you show the photos to Grandma after you get them developed!”

Wang Liansheng dropped his son off at school, handing him over to the teacher, then sat down with the other parents in the audience seats in the courtyard to wait.

The parents around were greeting and chatting with him. A man in his thirties sidled over to Wang Liansheng and whispered with a grin, “Director Wang, I heard you’re in charge of the overseas Chinese investment project for the processing plant. How’s it coming along? I can help you solve the issue of cement and steel reinforcement needed for building the plant.”

Reinforcement steel and cement are all centrally coordinated materials that can’t be privately traded. You need to apply for a permit beforehand to purchase from the cement plant or supplies stores.

This man, Liu Qianjin, whose son Liu Xiaopeng was in the same class as Shi Tou, worked as a deputy director at the Materials Bureau.

Wang Liansheng only knew him by exchanging greetings and had no deeper relationship with him but understood that Liu was trying to court him probably because he wanted something.

“Thank you for the kind offer, Director Liu, but the processing plant is a key project invested in by overseas Chinese. The district leaders have given special instructions and exceptions; all materials are directly allocated from the district,” he politely declined Liu Qianjin’s attempt to cozy up.

The materials specially instructed and allocated by the district leaders didn’t need to go through the approval procedures of the Materials Bureau, which was Wang Liansheng’s implicit way of rejecting Liu Qianjin’s overtures.

“Haha, understandable. It’s quite a feat to get the overseas Chinese to invest in setting up a plant; of course everything’s in the fast lane.” Liu Qianjin didn’t seem to see the rejection and pulled his seat closer to Wang Liansheng, producing a box of Da Zhong Jiu cigarettes, tapping it against his hand to spring a few cigarettes out, gesturing them towards Wang Liansheng, who waved them off indicating he didn’t smoke.

Liu chuckled, lighting a cigarette for himself, took a drag, and said, “People think working in the materials system is good, but it’s not without its difficulties… (complaints omitted for a thousand words) … Sigh, owe favors whether things get done or not, and favors are hard debts to pay off!”

Wang Liansheng listened quietly to his complaints, occasionally glancing towards the room where his son entered.

Liu, unfazed by whether Wang was listening, kept on yammering, and when he noticed Wang’s lack of interest, he nudged him, “Old sport, it’s rough living in society like we do… Would you do your brother a favor, and arrange a job in the plant for someone? Doesn’t need to be a good position, any job in the plant office will do.”

Wang Liansheng turned to look at him, “The processing plant project just got started. It’ll take at least half a year for the initial construction, which means it’ll be around autumn, when it’s cold, and fishing for seafood stops… The plant won’t start production until next spring at the earliest.”

Liu chuckled, “Brother’s just giving you a heads-up. Once the plant begins construction, personnel for management will be needed, right? I’m talking about someone who’s just come up from the countryside, hasn’t been to school, can’t do accounting, but could work as an office clerk, answering calls and things like that will be manageable for her.”

Wang felt speechless, really wanting to ask him: Can’t even read, yet you want her in the office to answer phones? Who can’t answer a phone? Why do you need to hire someone just for that?

But, since they lived in the same compound and Liu’s father was a veteran cadre in the area, Wang didn’t want to offend him, so he tactfully said, “You know, the plant invested by overseas Chinese is managed by them, we have no say. But when there’s a recruitment plan, I’ll let you know immediately.”

Liu seemed a bit dissatisfied, but didn’t show it, nodding with a smile, “Alright then, keep that in mind. Your brother’s awaiting your news.”

Seeing the kids coming out dressed and made up, Wang quickly made his excuse, grabbed his camera bag and hurried over to take photos of the children as they appeared on stage.

On June 2nd, little Wang Wenzhang went to school with a stack of photos to show the teacher and classmates, proudly patting his small belly as he announced, “My dad took these, and he developed them, too. My dad can both take and develop photos; he’s the best!”

As a result, little Wang Wenzhang received a full day’s worth of praise from teachers and many envious glances from classmates.

What he didn’t know was that his father, Wang Liansheng, had already been exposed. Several sharp-eyed older women had noticed something amiss and stopped Wang, who was out grocery shopping, to inquire about him being suspended from work due to a mistake.

So, in the afternoon, when Xing Fei and Zheng Lin came to call on Xiaoxing to go to school, they did so with particular gentleness and reassurance.

“Xiaoxing, don’t worry. Uncle Wang will be fine,” Xing Fei said.

Zheng Lin added awkwardly, “My dad said Uncle Wang is cautious and wouldn’t make mistakes…”

However, before finishing the sentence, Zheng Lin stopped. He looked back at Xing Fei; both faces appearing a bit embarrassed: they forgot Xiaoxing’s father had made a mistake before and served time.

In fact, Zheng Lin’s dad didn’t say that at all. Rather, he expressed some disdain regarding the matter, saying something about a habitual offender and a feckless man living off his wife, predicting that once he’s in again, divorce might be inevitable.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep