Chapter 29: Each with Their Own Calculations

Tang Lin walked out of the neighborhood committee office, so angry she wanted to curse.

Since the divorce hadn't gone through, Leng Yongkang felt a secret sense of triumph, his lips curling up unconsciously.

The more Tang Lin thought about it, the angrier she became, and she glared at him.

Leng Yongkang immediately averted his gaze to the other side, terrified she would see his smugness.

Seeing that Tang Lin was quite upset, Leng Hui asked, "Mom, why did your section chief come to the house yesterday?"

Tang Lin's attention shifted instantly to Leng Hui's question, and her pace slowed down.

Thinking about the section chief's visit yesterday, she frowned and said, "It's currently the spring plowing season, and there are too few technicians at the agricultural machinery stations below. They are short-handed, so they turned to the factory, asking for technicians from the technical section to go to the countryside to help repair machinery."

Leng Hui picked up the thread and voiced her own guess, "So, the factory's technicians are going to the countryside, and your section chief knows you've been discharged from the hospital and wants you to go back to work?"

Tang Lin nodded. "Yes, but since the factory is short-handed and I have health issues, he wants me to stay at the factory to hold down the fort."

Leng Hui shook her head in disapproval. "Your body hasn't recovered yet. Repairing machinery requires a lot of physical strength, and your body isn't up for heavy labor right now."

"That's exactly why I refused the section chief yesterday."

"That's right. Having experienced life and death, we should understand that nothing is more important than life."

However...

Leng Hui's eyes lit up. "Mom, how about I go to work in your place? Look, both of us know how to repair machinery. I can do the work you can do."

During the apocalypse, whenever various types of machinery broke down, they had to fix them with their own hands. In the early days of the apocalypse, talent was rare; if something broke and no one was around to fix it, you had to learn it yourself.

For example, if a car broke down halfway, you couldn't drive hundreds of kilometers just to find someone to fix it; you could only figure it out yourself and put what you learned into practice.

As they gradually gained more experience, they all became experts in mechanics.

Compared to the machinery of the future, the machinery of this era was certainly not on the same level. Compared to future technology, the machinery of this era was crudely made and could not be considered precision machinery.

Tang Lin glanced ahead; Leng Yongkang was already out of sight. "It's feasible for you to go. I was thinking that after finishing the divorce procedures today, I'd go for a stroll in the nearby mountains tomorrow. Maybe I can absorb some essence from the plants and awaken my superpower."

As long as she had her superpower, her body would recover quickly, and it wouldn't affect her ability to go to work then.

Watching the child running around all day, Tang Lin thought it would be good for Leng Hui to cover her shifts.

Ever since Sun Xiaojuan heard the Leng couple arguing about getting a divorce last night, she had been worried all night.

Since they left the house this morning, her heart had been filled with both worry and tension.

If the eldest couple actually divorced, where would their whole large family live?

Secondly, in their family of five, only Leng Yongxing earned a salary. How could one salary support five people?

Just thinking about it made her feel anxious.

While she was sitting at home feeling restless, Leng Yongkang returned. Noticing that the corners of his mouth weren't pulled down, it was clear he was in a good mood.

Did they divorce or not?

"Big brother, how did it go?"

Old Lady Leng looked up. Seeing that Leng Yongkang was back, she stopped gluing paper boxes and asked, "Did you divorce that wench?"

Leng Yongkang shook his head, sat down at the table, took a sip of the tea Sun Xiaojuan handed him, and sneered, "I wanted to, but..."

Hearing this, Old Lady Leng's eyebrows shot up. "That wench won't divorce?"

Seeing that she was about to lose her temper, Leng Yongkang didn't dare to pause too long and hurriedly said, "No, it's that the divorce requires a certificate from the neighborhood committee, and now the committee is stalling and won't issue the certificate."

Sun Xiaojuan breathed a sigh of relief. "That women's director at the committee must be trying to persuade reconciliation rather than divorce. Big brother, I'm not trying to lecture you, but once you've had your quarrel with sister-in-law, you should just live your life peacefully. Sister-in-law has a job and a high salary; if you divorce her, where will you find such a good wife?"

She was truly worried that if they divorced and the old woman helped Leng Yongkang find another wife, it might be fine if she had a job, but if she didn't and they had more children after marriage, how would this large family survive?

Don't blame Sun Xiaojuan for being selfish; it was better than the whole family starving later.

Old Lady Leng glared at Sun Xiaojuan. "Why is there something of yours in everything? I don't need you to teach my eldest son how to behave! I don't think it's the committee refusing to issue the certificate; I think that Tang woman has already conspired with the director at the committee to intentionally make things difficult because she doesn't want to divorce."

"That's impossible. I don't think that director even knows Xiao Lin. How could they have conspired in advance?" Leng Yongkang didn't believe this.

"A marriage of over ten years can't just be broken off like that. Big brother, I also think sister-in-law is reluctant to leave you."

For the sake of the family, Sun Xiaojuan conscience-lessly misled Leng Yongkang, hoping only that the couple wouldn't truly divorce.

Human nature is quite contradictory; if the couple was loving, she was jealous. If they fought, she felt a secret satisfaction, but she was also afraid they would divorce.

No one knew the conflict in Sun Xiaojuan's heart. Leng Yongkang pondered her words and felt that Tang Lin might truly still love him.

The chaos in the house lately was mainly to get his attention, to make him care about her more.

"Big brother, think it over carefully. I'll go cook now."

Sun Xiaojuan glanced at the sun outside and stood up to prepare lunch. The two school-going children and Leng Yongxing would eat lunch at school or the factory, but there were still several people at home to feed, so she had to cook.

"Don't make lunch today. Come help me glue paper boxes," Old Lady Leng said to stop her.

Sun Xiaojuan paused. "Mom, even if you don't want to eat lunch, the others in the family need to eat. If we don't cook, we should at least make some porridge."

Seeing that the second daughter-in-law was being disobedient, Old Lady Leng couldn't help but raise her voice. "I told you not to cook, so don't! Are my words useless? You're all learning how to defy this old woman one by one."

"Mom, I'm not." Sun Xiaojuan was inwardly annoyed by Old Lady Leng's irrationality, but she maintained a submissive appearance.

"I'm not letting you cook because I want to throw all the housework onto the eldest daughter today. We used to spoil her too much, making her lawless and making her disregard us," Old Lady Leng explained with rare patience.

Tang Lin and Leng Hui were unaware of the Leng family's schemes.

By this time, they had arrived at the machinery factory and found the section chief of the technical department, Li Yong, to discuss the matter of having Leng Hui cover the shifts.

Initially, Li Yong was unwilling.

Because the technical section relied on skill to make a living, what could a high school graduate who had only recently graduated do in the technical section?

Hand a wrench to a technician?

If Leng Hui said she understood technology, no one except Tang Lin would believe her.

She could only show that she was strong; at most, she could act as an assistant, moving and lifting machinery—any heavy labor could be given to her.

Only then did Section Chief Li Yong reluctantly agree to let her cover the shifts for a few days. If she truly adapted to the work, she could continue covering until Tang Lin recovered and returned to work.

After the group finished their discussion and left the technical section, it was exactly lunchtime. Section Chief Li invited them to eat at the canteen together.

"It's lunchtime. Shall we go to the canteen together? Your lunch box should still be on your desk."

"Alright, then we'll take advantage of the Section Chief's kindness and grab a meal at the canteen. It's been a while since I've eaten the canteen food; I actually miss it quite a bit."

Tang Lin did not refuse. Although she wasn't working, she had canteen meal vouchers, and it would be a waste to let them sit idle.

Since she was already at the factory, she might as well eat before heading back.