Chapter 291: Chapter 289: Vegetable Gardening and Recruitment

Early this morning, Wang Liansheng and the children all went out; Zhao Erni took little Shi Tou to the nursery and went to the vegetable market with her basket to buy groceries.

At the market, she asked about the cabbage and found it was still three cents a pound. Zhao Erni pursed her lips in a somewhat pained manner: “Just throw some seeds and it can grow hundreds of pounds, and yet you’re selling it for three cents.”

The man selling cabbage was a sincere fellow. Not annoyed, he chuckled, hands in his pockets, saying, “What the lady says is right; back in our village, that’s how it is. But city folks don’t have a place to grow them. Seems like you know farming too and understand that it ain’t easy to grow cabbage well, with watering, fertilizing, catching bugs, and tying them with a rope so they heart up…”

He rambled on for a while until Zhao Erni had nothing to say. She pulled out twenty cents and bought two big cabbages to take home.

Upon returning home, she glanced at the little vegetable garden that had been left to waste and found a shovel to turn the soil over and level it. Then, she slapped her forehead; turning the soil was useless, no seeds to plant.

Forget it, she thought; she would tell the children’s father, let him find time to make a trip back home to dig up some vegetable seedlings, easier than seeds, and growing faster too.

As it turned out, elder brother Wang Lianqi came over in the evening; as soon as he entered, sister-in-law noticed his unusual expression, brow furrowed into a knot.

“What’s going on with you?” Zhao Erni prepared a bowl of warm water for her husband to wash his face while inquiring.

“Sigh.” Wang Lianqi didn’t speak. He started with a heavy sigh.

Seeing him like this, Zhao Erni knew it must be bad news. More uneasy, she didn’t bother rushing to cook and instead sat by Wang Lianqi, waiting for him to speak.

Wang Lianqi washed his face and hair, then wiped with a towel while saying, “Today, Lianhua came to my construction site.”

“Wang Lianhua still dares come around you?” Zhao Erni was instantly annoyed hearing about the second house, particularly loathing her sister-in-law Wang Lianhua.

Previously, she thought of selling her own nephew, not to mention later coaxing her own sister out, only to have no idea where she ended up. Her parents couldn’t find her, and nobody knew. Amongst the muck of the Wang family’s second house, Wang Lianhua was the most scheming.

Instinctively swearing, Zhao Erni went on, “What’s she up to now? Plotting some new mischief?”

Wang Lianqi glanced at his wife and shook his head, “Actually, she wasn’t looking for me. She was talking to people from the village saying there’s a great job opportunity, heading to the southern cities for work, earning at least two hundred yuan a month.”

“Two hundred a month, does her family have a money printing machine?” Zhao Erni said bluntly.

Wang Lianqi looked at his wife, eyes showing a hint of amusement. Though his wife’s education was limited, she had a righteous heart; such a heart breeds no greed, and without greed, one is less likely to be duped. Alas, some folks couldn’t see as she could, seduced at the thought of earning two hundred yuan.

“It’s not just anyone they want. Wang Lianhua said they only want young women, ages seventeen to twenty-two, preferably pretty ones…”

Just as Wang Lianqi was speaking, Wang Liansheng came in with his bicycle, overhearing this and frowning.

Meanwhile, Zhao Erni unapologetically interrupted her husband, smirking: “Looking for young girls, and pretty ones at that—are they offering a job or tricking them into bride prices?… Hey, Liansheng, where are you going?”

Wang Liansheng had already mounted his bike out the door, throwing back a sentence from afar: “I just remembered something. Need to head back to the unit; eat without me, don’t wait.”

Wang Liansheng knew that his sister Wang Lianhua got remarried and lived in Huicheng; he knew her address. However, since the incident where Wang Lianhua tried to sell little Shi Tou, he was utterly disappointed in this sister, treating her as a stranger and never proactively contacting her.

Today, for the first time, he went to where Wang Lianhua lived now, inquiring about the job introduction matter.

Upon meeting her brother, Wang Lianhua looked disdainful: “Heard there’s good work and you can’t sit still? You’re a government official, and you still think about going out to earn money? Want that beggar girl you’re raising to earn too? I thought your family had goodwill, but in the end, you’re just looking to get money from this money tree!”

Wang Liansheng interrupted her nonsense directly, staring at her and asking: “Is Lianxiang in the south too? Did she enter a factory like you mentioned?”

Wang Lianhua’s expression froze momentarily, then she suddenly became angry: “Don’t mention that dead girl; she argued with me, tried to steal my money. I sent her back; I won’t care about her work…”

Before she finished speaking, standing at the courtyard gate, Wang Lianhua turned around inside, shut the gate with a bang.

Wang Liansheng looked at the closed gate, quietly standing for a while before riding his bicycle home.

Returning home, the children had finished eating and were doing homework, while eldest brother and sister-in-law waited for him.

Seeing Wang Liansheng return, the sister-in-law hurried to the kitchen to reheat dishes, while Wang Lianqi worriedly asked, “Is there a problem at work?”

Wang Liansheng shook his head, washed his face, came over, sat beside his elder brother, took the cup of water handed to him, drank it down, and put the cup down to say: “Big brother, tomorrow morning you should go home, speak to Uncle and Zhanrong about the recruitment; I reckon it’s unreliable, better not let the village girls go.”

Wang Lianqi’s face changed, and he asked: “Is it really a scam?”

Wang Liansheng shook his head: “I don’t know the specifics, but recently I’ve been in charge of external affairs, visited Hai City, and know a bit; although things there are better than in our area, they don’t need many outsiders for work, especially not specifically young girls… If there’s a chance of deception, it could be a bottomless pit.”

Wang Lianqi looked solemn, nodded after a while: “Okay, I’ll go back early tomorrow.”

Sister-in-law carried out dishes from the kitchen, hearing this and adding: “It’s good you’re going back, dig some vegetable seedlings from the garden.”

Wang Lianqi and Wang Liansheng exchanged a glance and both chuckled.

Wang Lianqi saw his wife slightly annoyed by the laughter and quickly said: “Alright, alright, I’ll dig them for you. Whatever you want, I’ll bring them back.”

Next morning, Wang Liansheng checked in at the office and then cycled straight to the Public Security Bureau.

The bureau had several transferred military officers, and Wang Liansheng knew a few. He found a familiar face and discreetly explained Wang Lianhua’s ’job recruitment’ situation.

“I just feel it’s unreliable. What kind of factory specifically wants young girls and says they should be pretty? I asked; they’re supposed to go to Yangcheng. Can you send an inquiry letter, have the police department there check if it’s true and report back?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep