Chapter 1816: Too Many Good News

The old woman's strange remarks actually made Su Xinghui think even more highly of Zhu Tie. Zhu Tie had been the director of the government office for several years and had been a deputy county magistrate for several months now, yet he hadn't used his power to seek any benefits for his father-in-law's family. This was truly not easy.

The two old people living in this shed were proof. This couldn't have been arranged in advance. His coming to the printing factory today was a temporary idea, and Zhu Tie couldn't have known in advance.

The old man said, "Old woman, stop talking nonsense. Hasn't Tiezi helped our family little over the years? Every time he and Yunying come, they bring a pile of things. Where should our family live if not here? You want him to find us a house? Aren't you trying to make him commit a mistake?"

The old woman said resentfully, "Anyway, we have worked for the country for a lifetime. We have a pile of certificates for model workers and advanced workers. Now that we are old, we shouldn't be treated like this."

The old man said, "You shouldn't say this in front of guests. Not only does Tiezi say County Magistrate Su is a good person, but Auntie Li next door also says County Magistrate Su is a good person every time she comes back. Where haven't we heard people say County Magistrate Su is a good person on the street!"

The old woman's tone softened a bit, "Then a good person should solve our problems."

Su Xinghui smiled and said, "Grandma, we came today to solve your problems. This is Comrade An Dachang, the deputy county magistrate in charge of industry. We can think of a good way together to solve your various problems."

An Dachang said, "Yes, Grandpa, Grandma, what are your main problems now? Can you tell us?"

The old man said, "Sigh, this is really causing trouble for the two county magistrates."

The old woman said, "If there's something to say, say it. This matter should have been managed by someone long ago. It's like this: we two old people retired a few years ago, but after retirement, we didn't get any retirement pension. The factory situation wasn't good, and it had owed us wages for several years. Our family has two sons and two daughters. Except for our youngest daughter, Yunying, who married Zhu Tie and has a better situation, the others all live here and have no jobs or income now. In this situation, what do you say we should do?"

An Dachang asked, "Grandma, haven't you had a retirement pension for several years since you retired?"

The old woman said, "The year we retired, the factory manager was still Deputy County Magistrate Zhao Yangang. He made a mess of the factory and couldn't even pay the wages of the workers on the job, so our retirement pension was naturally out of the question. In the past two years, the factory has completely gone bankrupt, so there's even less hope. We went to find Deputy County Magistrate Zhao, and he said this was the pain of reform and asked us to understand, meaning we should find a way ourselves."

Su Xinghui's brows furrowed. How could Zhao Yangang say that? This was too irresponsible, right?

The old woman continued, "Fine, we listened to him and found a way ourselves. Who let us be models? But what way can we find? To put it bluntly, even if we set up a stall at the factory gate to repair bicycles, we can't earn money. Everyone is a pauper; who has money to repair bicycles? We are over sixty; what else can we do?"

An Dachang asked, "Have your sons and daughters found jobs now?"

The old woman said, "It's not the same as Auntie Li and her husband. They do some odd jobs, and that little income is hard to support themselves, let alone support children and support us two old people who are not dead yet. Fortunately, our Yunying married a good man who can bring some things over from time to time."

Zhu Tie lowered his head in shame. He knew his mother-in-law was dissatisfied with him, but he had already tried his best.