Courtyard House: Starting as an engineer, crushing a yard full of poultry

Page 207

Lou's father slammed the bowl on the table, clearly having lost all appetite.

Perhaps because he slept too much during the day the day before, Xu Damao naturally opened his eyes early in the morning.

Seeing that the spot next to the bed was empty, he was momentarily dazed, but quickly got up to wash and get ready.

In Xu Damao's mind, he had already made up his mind to divorce Lou Xiao'e after hearing the conversation between Lou Xiao'e and her mother-in-law yesterday noon, and he also planned to get back the money he had given her after the divorce today.

After tidying up, Xu Damao found out the documents needed for the divorce and headed straight to the Civil Affairs Bureau.

"This wedding really happened in the blink of an eye. I wasn't even ready, and she'd already sealed the seal for us..."

"Oh, don't worry about what I need to prepare. I'll definitely treat you well."

Xu Damao stood at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau, but Lou Xiao'e did not arrive. He didn't know what day it was, but there were quite a few people coming and going to get their marriage certificates.

Xu Damao, who had been standing for a full hour, had completely lost his patience, and his ankles were aching. He knew that Lou Xiao'e probably wouldn't come to complete the formalities with him today.

He originally intended to go to the Lou family to find Lou Xiao'e, but seeing the time, he realized he was already quite late. Things were different now; he was working under Li Xiangdong. He should hurry back to the factory and see if he could get a get-out-of-jail-free card from Li Xiangdong.

Since Li Xiangdong formulated the new batch of plans, the veteran employees in the workshop got into work mode very quickly. Except for He Yuzhu, everyone was working hard and diligently.

"He Yuzhu, come here for a second!"

After finishing his work, Li Xiangdong stopped to take a sip of water and happened to see He Yuzhu lounging around, looking around.

"What's wrong, Section Chief Li? What are your orders?"

He Yuzhu grinned, looking all fawning.

"When Director Yang brought you in, did he say you'd just sit around watching others work and get paid for nothing? Should I contact Director Yang to confirm what's going on?"

Li Xiangdong said calmly.

"No no......"

"So you're sitting in front of the machine looking around, are you waiting for me to do it for you?"

"Oh, Section Chief Li, you've misunderstood. It's not that I'm unwilling to do it. You see, everyone else works in pairs with great teamwork. My partner, let alone whether they work well together or not, is nowhere to be seen when it's time. How am I supposed to do the work by myself?"

He Yuzhu curled his lip, gloating as he waited to see Xu Damao make a fool of himself.

Just then, Xu Damao jogged into the workshop.

"Hey Xu Damao, what are you busy with? Did you oversleep at home? That shouldn't be the case. You're a long-time employee at the factory, how could you make such a mistake?"

Before Li Xiangdong could even speak, He Yuzhu perked up and shouted loudly at Xu Damao.

"I'm sorry, Section Chief Li, my stomach wasn't feeling well this morning, so I went to the hospital first. That's why I'm late, 690..."

How could Xu Damao possibly admit that he went to get a divorce, especially in front of He Yuzhu and Li Xiangdong? He thought a stomachache would be a good excuse and would be easy to get away with.

"You went to the hospital, right? Provide me with your hospital registration slip or medical record to get a leave application approved. Otherwise, it will be treated as absenteeism."

After saying that, Li Xiangdong turned around and went back to his workstation to continue working. He had already seen through Xu Damao's lie at a glance.

"I......"

"Haha, are you stupid? I've seen you ramble on and on all day, saying you have a stomachache. You might as well say your Lou Xiao'e is pregnant and has a stomachache..."

Seeing Xu Damao standing there dumbfounded, He Yuzhu immediately teased him.

"Get lost, you idiot Zhu! What's it to you?"

"Haha, of course it's none of my business. The deduction for absenteeism is your pay, not mine. You've really gone mad from staying at home all the time; you don't even understand the factory's rules anymore. I'm really unlucky to be in the same group as you..."

Chapter 288 The Workshop Farce

He Yuzhu curled his lip, looking like he was enjoying the show.

"Factory rules? What rules?"

Xu Damao scratched his head, somewhat puzzled, and followed closely behind He Yuzhu.

"Li Xiangdong stipulated that no one can take leave without a valid reason, and a certificate must be provided for taking leave; otherwise, it will be treated as absenteeism."

"So what if I skip work?"

"Absence without leave results in a week's pay deduction and six months' bonus deduction, so it's rare to see anyone taking leave without permission these days."

Upon hearing that so much money would be deducted, Xu Damao was immediately dumbfounded.

"What are you standing there for? Get to work! Don't drag me down with you and cause me to lose sales too."

"I......"

Xu Damao paused. He had only been faking illness; where was he going to find a hospital certificate? But the thought of being penalized for not having a certificate was still frightening for him, given his already tight finances.

After thinking it over, he pulled out the ticket he had used to queue at the Civil Affairs Bureau and decided to tell Li Xiangdong the truth. After all, divorce wasn't something that could be kept secret forever; sooner or later everyone would find out.

"Section Chief Li... I... I didn't actually go to the hospital... I... I just went to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get a divorce..."

"This... is the ticket I got in line at the Civil Affairs Bureau just now..."

Xu Damao walked up to Li Xiangdong somewhat embarrassed and whispered something.

"What? You want a divorce, Xu Damao? What happened? Is your Lou Xiao'e having an affair?"

Just then, He Yuzhu screamed from behind. His scream drew everyone's attention to Xu Damao.

"What business is it of yours whether I get a divorce or not? You idiot, don't meddle in my affairs..."

Even the usually thick-skinned Xu Damao blushed deeply after being teased by He Yuzhu.

"Oh dear, it's no one's business if others ask you. Don't you know what kind of relationship we have? We were good neighbors in the courtyard house, and now we're colleagues in the same group. Of course I want to take care of you!"

He Yuzhu smiled broadly and spoke in a sarcastic tone, while Li Xiangdong sat quietly to the side, watching the spectacle unfold.

"Shut up, Zhu. Have you even figured out your own mess?"

"You hang around the widow all day, all lovey-dovey with her in her room, but where were you when she was chased away by her mother-in-law?"

"A coward like you wants to find a wife? Even that widow wouldn't want to be with you!"

Seeing He Yuzhu lose face in front of everyone, Xu Damao was not to be outdone, so he simply went all out and exposed He Yuzhu's past misdeeds.

"I......"

"I know, Xu Damao. It was you who reported to Jia Zhangshi yesterday!"

After hearing He Yuzhu's words, Xu Damao finally realized what was going on.

"Hey, don't make baseless accusations without evidence. Instead of trying to figure me out, you'd be better off finding your young widow and leaving her out there alone with the child, freezing and starving!"

After saying that, Xu Damao angrily walked towards his workstation, but unexpectedly He Yuzhu kicked him hard from behind, and Xu Damao fell to the ground face-first.

"If you dare kick me, I'll skin you alive today!"

Xu Damao got up from the ground, and the two started fighting.

"What happened? What's going on? Why are they fighting?"

"You all stop it!"

Director Yang's original intention was to come to the workshop to inspect the work and show off his official airs, but he did not expect to see such a chaotic scene as soon as he entered the door.

Director Yang arranged for He Yuzhu and Xu Damao to enter the workshop, so he was very flustered and hurriedly stepped forward to personally pull the two apart to prevent the situation from escalating.

"Director Yang, you insisted on bringing these two people in. They caused this commotion before the machines were even turned on this morning, making it very difficult for our workshop to operate."

Seeing this, Li Xiangdong remained calm and sat to the side, speaking slowly to Director Yang.

"Well... Section Chief Li, you're busy, I'll handle them!"

"You two! Come with me!"

Seeing this, Director Yang had no choice but to bring He Yuzhu and Xu Damao to his office, partly to deal with Li Xiangdong, and partly to better win them over to his side.

"Director Yang! This is Sha Zhu... oh no, He Yuzhu kicked me first, that's why I hit him!"

As soon as he entered the factory manager's office, Xu Damao couldn't help but start complaining.

"Why did I hit others but not you? It's all because you have a foul mouth! You did such despicable things! No wonder you got a divorce. If I (Wang Nuo's) were Lou Xiao'e, I would have divorced you too!"

"He Yuzhu, stop spouting nonsense! I'm not divorced yet! Why don't you say it was you and the widow who were having an affair first?"

"You're two hours late this morning even before the divorce. Being in the same group as you is really unlucky; how can we possibly get any results? One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel..."

Xu Damao and He Yuzhu were shouting insults at each other, neither willing to give in, which gave Director Yang a real headache.

"Are you two ever going to stop? Can't you be quiet for a bit? If you keep arguing, I'm not going to bother with you anymore!"

After Director Yang said this, the two of them finally quieted down.

"Look at you two, out of all the people in the factory, who's like you?"

Chapter 289 Fatten the Pig Before Slaughtering It

"Everyone in the factory is in a specific position right now. Do you know how difficult it was for me to get the two of you in?"

As soon as Director Yang opened his mouth, he started to praise himself, attributing all the credit for He Yuzhu and Xu Damao's entry into the workshop to himself.

"But Director Yang, He Yuzhu was fired for making a mistake and then came back to the workshop... I only took a few days off, and I lost my job as a projectionist and became a workshop worker..."

Xu Damao didn't seem very appreciative and was still complaining about losing his projectionist job.

"You still don't understand the situation in the factory right now. Let me ask you, who is the most sought-after person in our factory right now?"