Chapter 1814: The Formidable Old Lady

The mamu driver was very talkative. As soon as the three of them got on the car, he asked, "Where are you three going?"

An Dachang replied, "We're going to the printing factory."

The driver said, "The printing factory went bankrupt long ago. Why are you still going there?"

Zhu Tie said, "We have relatives living there. We haven't been there for a long time, so we're going to visit them today."

The driver said, "You have relatives living there? Then they must be workers from the printing factory. Life there is not easy now."

An Dachang asked, "Why is life not easy?"

An Dachang and Zhu Tie were both from Changshan and could speak the Changshan dialect. Su Xinghui couldn't speak the Changshan dialect. As soon as he spoke, the driver knew he wasn't from Changshan, so he hadn't spoken at all, just wanting to hear some real talk from society.

Although he couldn't speak the Changshan dialect, he had no problem understanding it; after all, he had lived here for more than a year.

These county leaders basically never took mamus. Su Xinghui had taken many mamus in his previous life, but that was more than twenty years ago, and his impression wasn't deep now. Therefore, taking a mamu today felt quite fresh to him.

Moreover, mamu drivers, like taxi drivers, came into contact with many people from all walks of life and knew many things. Besides, in such a situation, he wouldn't say anything false, so he could hear some real talk. Even if there were exaggerations, it was still better than hearing lies.

The driver said, "The printing factory has already gone bankrupt. Now those workers are all laid-off workers and have no wages to collect. How can life be easy?"

Zhu Tie said, "That's true. With no wages to collect, my relative is indeed living quite miserably and often comes to borrow money from me."

The driver said, "I'm a laid-off worker too. I'm from the glass factory and have been laid off for several years. But at least I have many brothers and sisters in my family who pooled money to buy me a mamu; otherwise, I would be as miserable as them."

An Dachang asked, "How did your glass factory go bankrupt?"

The driver said, "How did it go bankrupt? The factory leaders were incompetent. Not only incompetent, but also corrupt."

An Dachang asked, "How were they corrupt?"

Hearing An Dachang's persistent questioning, the driver became a bit alert. He turned his head and looked at An Dachang, "Why are you asking so carefully? Forget it, the printing factory is here. I won't say anymore. You guys get off."

The driver stopped the mamu at the gate of the printing factory. An Dachang took out his wallet, "Master, how much?"

The driver said, "It's usually one yuan, but the printing factory is far away, and there are three of you, so I won't charge three yuan. You give me two yuan."

An Dachang nodded and gave the driver two yuan. This price wasn't expensive. From near the County Party Committee compound to the printing factory was at least two or three kilometers, and the printing factory was in the southwest suburbs of the county.

The driver took the money, turned the mamu around, and drove away in a flash.

Su Xinghui hadn't passed by here before, but since becoming a deputy county magistrate, he had mainly focused on the northern suburbs of the county because it was close to Matou Town and Yulin City. If the county was to develop, it should naturally develop to the north.

Due to the limited financial resources of the county, after developing the north, the south couldn't be developed for the time being. Su Xinghui had indeed neglected this side.

He wasn't the deputy county magistrate in charge of industry, so he hadn't been to these old factories in the county. Seeing the printing factory today, he couldn't help but feel a bit surprised. The printing factory looked dilapidated, barely better than a scrap collection station.

The scale of the printing factory wasn't very large, occupying only a few dozen mu. An iron gate was locked. Looking through the iron gate, the factory buildings in the yard felt a bit shaky. Actually, the factory buildings weren't quite that bad; after all, the quality was quite good when they were built, so they wouldn't collapse. It was just that the factory had gone bankrupt, and the spirit of the factory buildings had also collapsed, giving off that kind of feeling.

Zhu Tie bought some fruit and pastries at a small shop opposite the factory gate, then led the two into an alley by the wall. Past this alley was the dormitory area of the printing factory. This alley was a shortcut. Zhu Tie had grown up here and was very familiar with it.

Passing through the alley, they saw several "tongzi lou" (corridor-style apartment buildings) and the tar-felt sheds built in the open space between them—patches of sheds connected together.

Su Xinghui asked, "Zhu Tie, did you grow up here?"

Zhu Tie nodded, "I lived here for almost twenty years and only left after I got into junior college."

Su Xinghui said, "Then no one in your family lives here anymore?"