novelraw Chapter 153
Chapter 153
"This diesel generator produces quite a bit of dust. I'm afraid putting it inside the workshop will affect the ingredients. How about we build a temporary shed outside for it?" Song Nianchu said.
"That's easy. There's plenty of bamboo on the mountain. I'll take some people to cut some down right now. We'll build it overnight so it won't delay its use tomorrow," Wu Gang readily agreed.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Brother Gangzi." Song Nianchu's furrowed brows finally relaxed.
"It's no trouble at all. The more I work now, the more grain I'll get at the end of the year. I'm actually eager to do more." Wu Gang laughed as he called some men to go up the mountain to cut bamboo.
It was already time to finish work, so Song Nianchu let Aunt Wu and the others go home first.
Meanwhile, she herself went to Meng Yingying's dormitory.
Probably to avoid drawing attention, the door to Meng Yingying's dormitory was closed, and the windows were shut.
Song Nianchu stepped forward and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" a rather weak voice called out from inside.
"It's me," Song Nianchu replied.
The next moment, there was a rustling sound from the room, followed by the door opening a crack from the inside, and a head popped out.
It was Meng Yingying.
"It's just me." Seeing Meng Yingying's cautious demeanor, Song Nianchu found it somewhat amusing.
Hearing that Song Nianchu was alone, Meng Yingying immediately pulled her inside and closed the door.
"You faked that weak voice pretty well. If I didn't know better, I really would've thought you were terminally ill," Song Nianchu said, looking Meng Yingying up and down.
Her current condition was already much better.
"Before, Third Wu was always beating me. If I pretended to be weaker, he would hit me a little less." Meng Yingying looked a bit embarrassed.
To her, this wasn't exactly a useful skill to brag about.
Song Nianchu's expression paused upon hearing this. The smile in her eyes gradually faded, entirely replaced by heartache.
"Are you here to see me now because there's progress with Zhou Ziqiang?" Meng Yingying didn't notice Song Nianchu's shift in mood and instead stared at her excitedly.
"Yes. I told the village chief what you told me. He found refugees from the same village as Zhou Ziqiang and has already gone to the police to make a statement, identifying the burial site. Once the police actually dig something up, the lightest sentence they'll get is the firing squad." Song Nianchu snapped back to reality, though her voice was uncontrollably hoarse.
"That's wonderful!" Hearing this, Meng Yingying finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She had been staying in her room for the past two days, not daring to step out or interact with anyone, terrified they would notice something amiss. Now, hearing Song Nianchu's words, she felt it hadn't all been in vain.
"Yes, it's wonderful." Song Nianchu seemed infected by Meng Yingying's joy, a faint smile returning to her eyes.
"Then when can I go out?" Meng Yingying asked again.
Not working for these two days made her feel like her bones were rusting.
"Are you that eager to work?" Song Nianchu laughed.
"Of course. I earn full work points every day now. Missing even one day is a big loss." Meng Yingying nodded emphatically.
"Then come to the workshop tomorrow. It just so happens that I've developed a new product, and I plan to put you in charge of it." Song Nianchu didn't refuse Meng Yingying this time.
Either way, Zhou Ziqiang wouldn't be able to escape.
"Me? I can't do it." Upon hearing she would be in charge of a new product, Meng Yingying quickly waved her hands in refusal.
"Why not?" Song Nianchu frowned.
"I..." Meng Yingying couldn't answer right away.
"Look, even you don't know why you can't, so why did you reject me immediately?" Song Nianchu asked in return.
Meng Yingying was even more at a loss for words.
"This new product I've developed is targeted at wealthy families, so the quality requirements will be stricter. You work seriously and meticulously. It's because I trust you that I want to hand this new product over to you." Song Nianchu stared at her with burning eyes.
"But..." A trace of conflict flashed through Meng Yingying's eyes, and both her hands involuntarily twisted the hem of her clothes.
In her past life, she had been trapped by Third Wu's side. Even when all the other educated youths later returned to the city, she could only stay in this Qinghe Fishing Village.
She washed his clothes, cooked his meals, bore his children, and wasted her entire life.
But in the end, neither Third Wu nor her children respected her. They called her a haggard wife, said she knew nothing, was stupid and clumsy, and looked like an old crone at the age of fifty. They found it embarrassing to even take her out.
Under such day-after-day oppression and verbal abuse, her self-confidence had long since collapsed.
Even though she had been reborn, she still couldn't shake off the inferiority and cowardice etched deep into her soul.
"Weren't you just feeling heartbroken over losing a few days of work points? If you take charge of this new product, apart from your full daily work points, I can also give you an extra dividend," Song Nianchu said.
"There's a dividend too?" Meng Yingying jerked her head up.
"Of course there will be. When we distributed the money before, didn't I get the most?" Song Nianchu asked.
Meng Yingying nodded heavily.
"Since I can, why can't you?" Song Nianchu said.
Meng Yingying was stunned for a moment before she realized what Song Nianchu meant.
Looking at the incredibly serious expression on Song Nianchu's face, Meng Yingying felt as if a seed had sprouted deep in her heart.
"Okay, I will give it my all!" Under Song Nianchu's gaze, Meng Yingying finally nodded.
"I believe you." The smile on Song Nianchu's face finally deepened a bit. "Then get some good rest. I'll head home first, and we'll see each other at the workshop tomorrow."
"Okay."
"..."
Meng Yingying walked Song Nianchu to the door and watched her figure disappear before closing the door again and returning to her room.
She pulled out a small box from under her bed. When she opened it, there was some loose change inside.
Meng Yingying poured all the money out and counted it carefully, bill by bill.
After poisoning Third Wu, she had taken all the money in the house.
It wasn't stealing; this money originally belonged to her anyway.
After counting all the money, it totaled eighteen dollars and twenty-three cents.
If she could handle the job Song Nianchu gave her, she might be able to earn even more money by the end of the month. By then, she could scrape together twenty dollars.
She remembered that it was exactly because of this twenty dollars that she had lost her most important relative in her past life.
Meng Yingying put the eighteen dollars back into the box and carefully hid it beneath the innermost part of her bed. The light in her eyes was so bright that not even the darkness could conceal it.