Chapter 52: Su He’s Good Second Uncle
Su He only now belatedly realized—anyone willing to offer a wage of one yuan per hour had to be seriously rich!
But where did this old man get his money from? And why did he have special privileges at the textile factory?
Mr. Yuan seemed to guess Su He’s thoughts and said with a pout, “I don’t care about material comforts. It was one of my students who insisted—crying and begging—to get me these privileges. I only reluctantly accepted in the end.”
Su He: …Give me a dozen students like that!
Su He was dying to know which remarkable student this was, but since they had just met, it didn’t feel appropriate to ask.
Mr. Yuan finished showing off and finally brought Su He to his study.
The moment she stepped in, Su He almost couldn’t find a place to stand.
Books were scattered everywhere—on the shelves, the desk, the floor.
There were even some manuscripts, messily piled about.
“It’s now 1:38 p.m. Let’s begin!”
Su He spent the whole afternoon organizing the chaotic study, classifying books and materials, putting everything in order, and even labeling them all.
Mr. Yuan was very satisfied. He thought to himself, This temporary assistant is quite capable—definitely worth the yuan I’m paying.
Su He, however, was sore all over and dizzy from exhaustion.
“Mr. Yuan, I’ve got quite a few things to handle these next two days, so I might not come at fixed times. I hope you’ll understand.”
Mr. Yuan’s eyes darted slyly. “Of course I understand. But I don’t have cash on hand right now—I’ll pay you at the end of the month.”
Su He: “…”
She didn’t bother arguing. She knew he wasn’t trying to avoid paying her; he was just afraid that if he settled her wages now, she might not come back.
After leaving Mr. Yuan’s home, Su He was too drained to go visit the He family to “spread goodwill,” and just went straight home.
Cao Hongmei and Su Yongshi were at home eagerly waiting!
They were both uneasy—could Su He really get them permanent positions just with a few hair accessories?
As soon as Su He walked in, Cao Hongmei attentively brought over a basin of water. “Xiao He, you must be tired. Come wash your face.”
When Su He was done, Su Yongshi was already waiting with a towel.
For a moment, Su He felt like an empress dowager—with one as her handmaid and the other… a eunuch?
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright, alright. You just want to know about the job situation, right? I’ve already spoken to Director Gao from the Supply Department. He said he’ll process your official employment paperwork in the next couple of days.”
The stone in their hearts finally dropped.
Cao Hongmei was so moved, she even shed a couple of tears.
“Xiao He, your second aunt and uncle will do whatever you say. If you tell us to go east, we won’t go west. If you say chase the dog, we won’t touch the chicken…”
Su He laughed, “This is just the beginning. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll have you two managing ten textile factories! So make sure you study hard at night school—don’t disappoint me.”
Cao Hongmei and Su Yongshi exchanged a glance. Sure, the girl was impressive, but wasn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?
Manage ten textile factories?
They didn’t even dare dream that big.
A little while later, Su Yongshi happily went off for the night shift.
Before bed, Su He asked Cao Hongmei, “Second Aunt, how did things go with spreading rumors about Lin Bo?”
Cao Hongmei looked pleased. “I casually mentioned it to Big-Mouth Liu in the workshop. I just dropped a hint, and she filled in all the blanks herself. With a mouth as loose as hers—like the waistband of old cotton trousers—I bet it’ll be all over the place soon.”
Su He was very satisfied and went to sleep.
The next day, Su He figured the hair accessory matter wouldn’t be resolved that quickly, so she went to the textile factory’s family housing complex.
She stopped by Granny He’s house first, helping with chores while chatting. She deliberately steered the topic toward Mr. Yuan.
“You mean that Mr. Yuan?”
“I heard he used to be a professor at Imperial Capital University. Then he was sent down here.
When the factory first brought in some foreign equipment, Mr. Yuan helped translate everything. The higher-ups gave him a place in the family housing as a reward.
I heard he made some contributions these past years too, so the factory gave him two more rooms next door.
Mr. Yuan’s a good man. When kids have trouble with homework, they go to him. And since everyone knows he lives alone, they often bring him food when they cook something nice…”
Su He was completely reassured after hearing that, and went straight to Mr. Yuan’s place.
Mr. Yuan opened the door for her, then quickly rushed back into his study.
Su He saw him scribbling and calculating away, afraid of interrupting, so she quietly grabbed a book from the shelf and started reading.
Since she was going to be his assistant, she figured she should at least learn something about supercomputers.
But the sun was already setting, and Mr. Yuan was still immersed in his calculations.
Su He had no choice but to cook dinner for him, then quietly left after setting it on the table.
She couldn’t help but admire how scholars could get so absorbed that they forgot to eat and sleep.
Figuring Mr. Yuan wouldn’t need her help for a while, Su He spent the next two days at the machinery factory.
After work one day, she had planned to walk home with Qian Huifang, but the union called a meeting. So Su He had to head home alone.
Just as she reached the intersection, she saw Lin Bo.
“Comrade Su He, I bought you a dress…”
Su He stared coldly at him. “How do you know my name?”
Lin Bo put on an air of charm and smiled, “Of course I asked around. If I want to know someone, it’s not hard! Take a look at this dress—it’s the most fashionable style from Shanghai…”
Su He felt nauseated just looking at his eager face and said coldly, “I already told you—don’t bother me. Don’t you understand human speech? If you come harassing me again, I won’t be polite!”
Lin Bo was clearly agitated but forced a smile, remembering someone’s instructions. “Comrade Su He, a gentleman pursues a fair lady. Why keep me at arm’s length?
If you’re unhappy about something or have any requests, just say it—I’ll do whatever you want. Here, take this dress first!”
As he spoke, he tried to force the bag into her hands. Su He wanted nothing more than to punch that fake smile off his face.
Just then, she saw Su Yongshi coming back from work and immediately shouted, “Second Uncle, he’s harassing me!”
Su Yongshi wasn’t the same person he used to be. Now, he was Su He’s good second uncle!
At her call, he ran faster than a sprinter and landed a flying kick straight at Lin Bo!
Lin Bo, with his back turned, flew over two meters and landed face-first in the dirt.
Su Yongshi rushed to Su He’s side. “Xiao He, are you okay? Did he do anything to you?”
Tearing up, Su He said, “Uncle, he’s been bothering me for days. Thank goodness you got here in time—who knows what he would’ve done otherwise!”
Su Yongshi’s anger exploded. He turned and roared at Lin Bo, now struggling to get up: “You little punk, harassing a woman in broad daylight—do you have a death wish?!”
Lin Bo was both hurt and furious. He dropped his act and shouted with a twisted expression, “Bullshit! When did I harass her? I just wanted to give her a dress! Do you even know who I am? Do you know how precious this face is?! I’ll sue you!”
“I don’t care who you are! I’ll beat you anyway—wait… you’re that Lin Bo from the county opera troupe?”
Su Yongshi suddenly panicked.
Lin Bo was the star of the county troupe and had connections with powerful people. If he’d really just assaulted him, he could be in big trouble!
Lin Bo noticed him backing off and sneered, “Afraid now, huh? Too late! Unless your niece agrees to date me, I’ll make sure you end up behind bars!”
Su Yongshi instinctively looked at Su He, only to see her staring at him with a calm, icy gaze.
He shivered—remembering what happened to Zhao Bin.
This little auntie of his had just started to forgive him. If he screwed up again, there’d be no mercy!
And besides, he and his wife were still counting on her to secure their permanent jobs!
At that thought, Su Yongshi stormed up and gave Lin Bo another punch to the face.
“My niece is a celestial goddess—how dare you think you’re good enough?! You toad dreaming of swan meat! Shameless! You deserve every hit—I’ll beat the likes of you, you filthy scoundrel!”
