Chapter 6: Whoever Performs Best Stays

Lu Qiaoge continued righteously, "Zhao Qing made Sun Qin leave with nothing and didn't even want his own daughter, and Duan Xiaoxiang broke up her brother-in-law's family; they both claim it was the old lady who forced them to do it.

Looking at it now, was it really Old Lady Zhao forcing them, or did they collude to bully Sun Qin?

With a Zhao Qing and a Duan Xiaoxiang like that, why should I save face for them? Does Sun Qin not deserve to have face, or does she not deserve justice in front of everyone?"

Not far away, Sun Qin, who had been worried about Lu Qiaoge, had intended to come and apologize to her, but she happened to overhear these words.

She covered her mouth, tears rolling silently down her cheeks.

Huang Juan had already pulled Lu Qiaoge along, her expression extremely complex.

This version of Lu Qiaoge made her feel like a stranger, but she was also happy for Meng Xia; it seemed that the incident of falling into the water had stimulated her to become sensible and reasonable.

Lu Qiaoge’s eyes shifted slightly. After walking for a while, she stopped and thanked her sincerely, "Aunt Huang, thank you for the opportunity. I didn't do the job well and caused you trouble. I'm sorry."

She then added, "Even though Duan Xiaoxiang is dissatisfied and says I’ll never be able to enter the Neighborhood Office in this lifetime, I don't regret finding a place for Sun Qin to stay."

Huang Juan was stunned, then she pointed at Lu Qiaoge playfully, smiled at her, and said, "You girl, go home first. I’m going to the Neighborhood Office."

Lu Qiaoge obediently agreed.

A tabby cat darted out from the roadside bushes and meowed at Lu Qiaoge.

[Duan Xiaoxiang and Old Lady Zhao are arguing because no one is cooking dinner for them anymore.]

Lu Qiaoge picked up the tabby cat and stroked it a few times; the cat purred comfortably.

Sun Qin was a good cook and diligent. Now that she had moved out, those two were in for a rough time.

Lu Qiaoge remembered something and said, "Don't eat those two mice at the Zhao house; the information they provided today was very useful."

The tabby cat looked up at Lu Qiaoge.

It had gone to the Zhao house today and happened to run into those two mice. Its instinct was to catch and eat them, but it had held back. When it tried to ask questions, it realized that other than preparing to run and shivering, it couldn't understand a word they said.

But once Lu Qiaoge arrived at the Zhao house, it was suddenly able to communicate with the two mice.

It was quite magical; one of the mice even called it "Lord Cat."

The tabby cat proudly lifted its head: [Fine, I won't catch the Zhao family's mice.]

Then it shared its own discovery.

Lu Qiaoge narrowed her eyes. Cats and mice were different species, but perhaps because they were within her range of influence, they had unlocked each other's languages?

That must be it!

Lu Qiaoge patted its head: "I won't close the window behind my room; you can come in whenever you want. But you aren't allowed to catch mice and bring them in to eat."

The tabby cat nodded hurriedly.

Lu Qiaoge let go and let it go play on its own, while she glanced toward the Neighborhood Office before turning and walking toward home.

The entire Lu family was there.

Big Brother Lu was talking about finding an opportunity to beat up Liang Aishu, but was scolded by Meng Xia, who told him not to stir up trouble at a time like this.

However, Meng Xia was feeling restless; she had heard about today's events.

Her second daughter had actually found a job for Sun Qin.

She felt so sour inside.

One had to know that in their Lu family, only Lu Da was a formal worker.

Although her eldest son was a temporary worker for the transport team, because there was no labor quota, he not only lacked labor insurance benefits, but his monthly salary was only eleven yuan. Because his payroll wasn't with the transport team but with the Neighborhood Office, he also had to pay a management fee to the Neighborhood Office every month.

In this era, you couldn't just find temporary work; the unit had to have a quota.

Therefore, this kind of temporary work without a quota was completely unstable, and one could be fired at any time.

Both husband and wife were registered as rural residents, and in this era of a planned economy, grain was supplied per capita, so every month when the family's grain wasn't enough to eat, they had to go out and borrow.

She was a housewife now, relying on pasting paper boxes to supplement the household income.

Her third daughter was sent to the countryside in their hometown; although she was looked after by her mother-in-law, they had to mail living expenses every month.

The only consolation was that Lu Da was a seventh-grade worker with a high salary, which kept the family from starving, but Lu Da was stubborn. Although he was a senior worker with seniority, he refused to find leaders to pull strings to arrange jobs for his children. Coupled with his youngest son's poor health, which required frequent medicine and injections, their life grew poorer by the day.

Compared to other families, none of her four children had achieved anything.

Meng Xia didn't want to think about how much money their family owed, but she had to calculate it just now, and it was nearly three hundred yuan.

It felt like she would never be able to pay it off in this lifetime.

Although Meng Xia didn't think much of her eldest daughter-in-law, Su Hui, she still hoped she could have a formal job.

The more she thought about it, the more stifled she felt, so she complained to Lu Da, "Your fourth daughter is also a piece of work; she didn't even tell me about such a good thing. Regardless of whether it would work or not, she should have let Su Hui try. Isn't it just cooking? Su Hui's cooking is also quite good, surely no worse than Sun Qin's."

Su Hui, who was cooking, gripped the spatula tightly in excitement, but after a few moments, she let out a sigh of resignation.

She knew in her heart that even if she went, it wouldn't work.

Lu Da was sitting under a tree to cool off. Hearing this, he frowned and said, "That's a military industrial research institute; the background check is very strict. Don't you know what your eldest daughter-in-law's family background is?"

Meng Xia retorted unhappily, "Is Sun Qin's any better?"

Just then, Lu Qiaoge pushed the door open and, hearing this, said, "Mom, Sun Qin is definitely fine, because she was once the wife of a technician; the organization has vetted her who knows how many times."

Lu Qiaoge glanced at her sister-in-law, Su Hui. Sujiatun had once belonged to Su Hui's ancestors, so one could tell what Su Hui's family background was.

Fortunately, by the generation of Su Hui's father, the family property had been mostly squandered by him.

Su Hui had always been cautious at home, mainly because Meng Xia had a bad temper and loved to lose it. She didn't want to cause conflict over a non-existent job, so she quickly said softly, "Dinner is ready, let's eat."

At the same time, at the Neighborhood Office, Old Hu also said, "Since only Lu Qiaoge has completed the task, let's end the discussion here for today. It's time for us to get off work and go home for dinner."

Ren Xiaocui: "I don't think we need to discuss it. We'll just look at the satisfaction of the follow-up visits. Whoever does the best stays!"

Huang Juan's eyes flickered, and she smiled: "If you put it that way, Lu Qiaoge is out of luck. You don't know this, but Duan Xiaoxiang said she was extremely dissatisfied and even said that Lu Qiaoge shouldn't even dream of entering the Neighborhood Office in this lifetime."

Director Hu frowned: "Whether it works or not isn't up to Duan Xiaoxiang."

"But she is the party involved. She's dissatisfied that Qiaoge found a formal job for Sun Qin; it would be a miracle if she gave Qiaoge any praise."

As Huang Juan spoke, she tidied up the things on the table, stood up, and walked out.

The others felt that these words didn't sound quite right.

Duan Xiaoxiang clearly had poor character, so how could she be qualified to judge?

Ren Xiaocui glanced at Huang Juan, feeling that she had said that on purpose.

Director Hu also stood up and said, "Although Lu Qiaoge acts impulsively, her mind is truly sharp, and her observation skills are strong. How about this, Old Huang, you go notify Lu Qiaoge and see if she can solve the problem regarding Old Chen's son."

Ren Xiaocui's eyes widened: "Qiaoge is a young girl; isn't it inappropriate for you to ask her to solve the matter of the Yao family?"