Memoirs of a Female Prisoner

Chapter 15

Views:

/14/Yangtze River Chinese Network

The days of waiting for wages are like this dry land waiting for the nourishment of rain. I don’t know when it happened. She has been working for more than half a year. She has only received wages once. The wages in January are two hundred and thirty-six yuan. Fifty cents, after two months of food expenses were deducted, there was one hundred and thirty yuan left. I bought some daily necessities, and there was more than eighty yuan left. I gritted my teeth and bought a pair of sports shoes. Seventy-five yuan, which was originally a luxury The high-quality shoes are not in the plan, but I have worn the cheap sneakers for two years and ordered them a few times, but they are worn out. Every time I go out, I always feel that others are looking at her pair of shoes.

This pair of shoes made her shy away from taking a step, suppressed her self-esteem, and made her feel inexplicably inferior, so that time, as soon as she was paid, she reluctantly bought the most expensive pair of shoes so far. The remaining change is less than ten yuan, and she has been struggling for several months. Fortunately, there is no need to pay cash for food expenses, and each meal is billed, so she has not starved to death so far.

What makes her strange is, how do those breadwinners live without salary for half a year? And everyone dressed like a star, most of them acted nonchalantly and took it for granted, only a few complained occasionally.

In fact, some people are trying to make themselves fat, especially those ordinary cadres in Baohandi Village, who are extremely poor, but no one publicly admits that they are poor, because admitting that they are poor is the same as admitting that they are incompetent. Number.

She really wanted to go home to visit her mother, but she didn't have the travel expenses to go home, and she was too embarrassed to ask someone to borrow money, and she was very anxious.

That day, she went to Director Qian's office to find out when the salary would be paid. Director Qian's office was full of people, including Lao Cheng, Hu Ping, and a few bill collectors, filling the hut to the brim. The people who asked for the bill were holding a handful of papers in their hands, and one of them was Zhang San, a tofu seller, who often delivered tofu to the town canteen. Zhang San put the stack of notes in his hand on the desk in front of Director Qian, and begged to flatter him, "Director Qian, please think of a way, please pay me some money, it's been on credit for two years. If it goes on like this, my tofu shop should be closed." Behind him was a bearded, dark-faced, burly man full of anger, yelling that he hadn't paid for the mutton he bought the year before last, and that he had paid some apportionments and agricultural taxes last year. No, he still owed so much money, saying Shoving his hands, he angrily left the note on Director Qian’s desk, and the others followed suit. Xue Bing glanced at the notes, they were all IOUs made by Lao Ding .

Impatient and embarrassed, Director Qian said, "Everyone pick up the slips first and put them on my desk, won't you be afraid of confusion?" I really can't help it. The salaries of the cadres have not been paid for half a year. I really have no money. Besides, the senior and second leaders are not here, and I have no right to pay you. You just have to wait a few more days.

"How many days to wait? How many days will there be money?" the black-faced man said angrily.

"The first and second leaders are not here, what are you doing?"

"Go back to the county and ask for money"

"When will the big and second leaders come back?"

Director Qian said helplessly: "I don't know either. The leader went out and didn't ask us for instructions. He probably will be back in two days. You should find out by yourself. Come, come over and put away your IOUs.""These We have held the note for several years, and it will crumble if we hold it again." The black-faced man said.

Director Qian said: "How about you give these IOUs to the accountant, ask the accountant to issue a receipt for you, and hang it in your personal current account. When you pay, you can get the collar slip and ask the leader to sign it to pay." The people who asked for the bill looked at each other suspiciously, and the dark-faced man said, "Is this okay? Don't let it become a dead debt in your account. We can still pay the apportionment with these IOUs. If it doesn’t work, I can ask Old Ding to ask for it. What can you do with a single receipt, and the apportionment collector doesn’t need a receipt. Besides, your town government owes a lot of money. If you change the leader again, you will kick us like a football. Huh, if the government plays hooligans, it is not as good as an individual.”

Director Qian spread his hands and said impatiently: "Then you continue to hold it."

Several people came over and picked up their respective notes, and put them in the inner pockets of their jackets like treasures.

Hu Ping sat on the sofa and said with a smile: "Old man, how much money do you have, and such a big government depends on how much money you have?"

The man named Laohou said loudly with rounded eyes: "Is there anything you can't do? Don't you pay your bills? Why don't you pay your debts after a few years? Huh, it's not easy for us farmers to earn two dollars. , which is a little cooler than you cadres sitting in the office every day."

After the people who had to pay the bill left, Hu Ping hurriedly asked: "What kind of money did the leader ask for when he returned to the county? Is he going to pay us wages?"

Director Qian said happily: "We want project funds, and the leaders ran back from the province to develop a water conservancy project. It is said that it is a large project worth more than one million yuan. Now we will have a good life."

Hu Ping asked in puzzlement, "How can I ask the county for the money I ran back from the province?"

"How can the money from the province bypass the county and go directly to the town?" Director Qian said.

";Then the county still has to peel a layer of skin?" Hu Ping said that Director Qian didn't talk to him, but just said "huh" inscrutablely.

"Let's take the lead," Hu Ping said as if asking himself. After finishing speaking, he got up and walked around the hut excitedly, then leaned on the sofa again, muttering: "I thought the leaders had gone to the countryside, but they returned to the county town, it's strange that I didn't see Liu Xusao along the way this morning." tower."

A sneer flashed across Director Qian's face, and then he said coldly: "You boy, be careful what you say, Liu Xu may be promoted."

"Cut! So what if he gets promoted? I can't afford it?" Hu Ping said with a disdainful grin, like a piece of tofu dropped in the ashes, and then asked, "How do you know he's going to be promoted?"

"The county sent a group of reserve cadres to study at the Suzhou Party School. The first batch went to the deputy department level. Yin Yunfei has already left, and Liu must go next."

Xue Bing was sitting at Feng Yuyao's former desk and was flipping through the newspaper. (Feng Yuyao has moved to the statistics room in the back row. The new accountant Huang Juan and the former cashier Zhang Qingqiu are in the next office. This desk is now empty.) Suddenly heard Yin Yunfei The news that he was about to be promoted made his heart tense, and then he felt a complicated emotion. He suddenly thought, is it possible for this annoying devil to be transferred away after being promoted? I was harassed, and I couldn't help but feel relieved when I thought of this, and I became happy.

"Aren't you also a reserve cadre? Why didn't you be sent away?" Hu Ping stood up, blinking his small eyes at Director Qian and asked.

Director Qian said angrily, "How do I know that!"

Hu Ping moved his body, put his two calves on the armrest of the sofa, and said with a smile while lying on his side, "It must be that you don't want to be the big housekeeper, or you just don't want to spend money."

"What big butler, I'm just a maid with keys - I'm not in charge of the house!" Director Qian argued urgently.

Hu Ping laughed and said: "That's because Liu Xu has two tricks, and he will be promoted after only three years of backup."

Director Qian said with a sneer, "Huh! Liu Xu has two hands, sweeping the platform and pouring water for washing feet."

"There are too many offerings!" Hu Ping added with a big laugh, and teased again: "You are a close minister of the Tu Emperor, if in the past, you were in charge...then what?... What did you say in the TV series?" Hu Ping pouted and said, "Yes, it's called Yushansi, and you are the minister who manages the imperial cuisine, so you're no better than a person who pours footwashing water." After speaking, he laughed loudly.

"Don't talk nonsense, you boy!" Director Qian said sullenly.

Sitting in a corner of the sofa, Lao Cheng, who had always been taciturn, stood up and walked away silently. Xue Bing also came out, and Hu Ping followed quickly, and then walked towards the street of the small town, whistling.

Looking at Hu Ping's back, Xue Bing couldn't help but glance at the accounting room, only to see Director Qian lighting a cigarette and silently puffing.

For the next few days, she anxiously waited for the leader to come back. She looked forward to the stars and the moon. Finally, one afternoon, the white Mitsubishi car in the town drove into the compound leisurely. The driver Xiao Wang He and Liu Xu got out of the car and quickly opened the door for the leader. The two leaders got out of the car calmly, patted the dust on their bodies, stretched their stiff waists after sitting for a long time, and then walked steadily to their respective offices. Go, the drivers Xiao Wang and Liu Xu rushed to the front to open the door for the two leaders respectively, and then busily carried white aluminum pots and large plastic buckets to the water room to fetch water.

The leader finally came back, and she felt a little joy in her heart, maybe tomorrow the accounting room will make a payroll and pay wages, maybe. . . . . . . ah! That's great. However, several days have passed, and there is still no sign of the accounting office paying wages. Many cadres have come to poke around and inquire about it, but the news of the wages seems to be groundless, and it seems that someone accidentally made a rumor. , was blown away without a trace by a gust of wind in everyone's wishful thinking. Groups of people came to the leader's office every day like going to a market. Some people walked away with their heads bowed, and some people left cursing.

The days flowed smoothly and peacefully as usual, and suddenly a group of migrant workers came to the government compound one morning, chatting with non-local accents, digging the yard dignifiedly, she looked like a frog in a well Puzzled, she asked Ms. Wang, a technician in the family planning office in the office, "What are these people doing?" Ms. Wang smiled and said, "You need to harden the compound. Why don't you know anything when you live in the town every day?"

Oh, it turned out to be like this, she really felt like a stupid wooden person, always a row behind.

It took just over a month for the town government compound to take on a new look. The original uneven sandstone floor became a smooth and clean concrete floor, dotted with a few small green lawns; two beautiful and unique large flower beds, Standing in front of the party and government office, some beautiful flowers and plants were transplanted inside. The two weak little pagoda trees at the door were cut down and replaced by a neat row of small weeping willows dancing in posture. All the houses were painted Painted. Against the backdrop of the dilapidated and crumbling earthen houses around, the brand-new large courtyard looks as magnificent as a royal palace.

She and Huang Juan moved to the old guest house in the front row. Secretary Qiao said that this row of houses will be used as dormitories for ordinary cadres, and the rest of the empty houses will be temporarily used as warehouses. In those days, they were busy "moving", cleaning, the party and government offices were redecorated, and the leaders' offices needed to be cleaned. She and the eldest sister cleaned one by one. Of course, the main leaders' offices were not their turn to clean. The individual has already cleaned up before everyone else.

After that, the town government repaid three months' wages for the first time, and drilled two mobile wells in village y. The cadres were overjoyed. Changes, praised Secretary Qiao for his "capability", "ability", and "willingness to do things". He was able to pay the cadres in such a poor town. The government compound is as magnificent as a palace, which is amazing! It is indeed remarkable! So Secretary Qiao became the candidate for the next deputy county magistrate as a matter of course, and it is said that a reporter from Tianchao TV Station will come here to interview. Believe it or not, in this remote backcountry, people who can only be seen on TV come here for interviews; suddenly there are people who are high above and far away, like people in the clouds, this poor person even enjoys the luxury of enjoying the green The place where is going to be on TV, everyone is very excited, very happy, looking forward to opening their eyes and seeing the demeanor of reporters from Tianchao TV Station. However, for Xue Bing, this is a completely bad thing, because her plan to ask for leave In the past few days, the town government was very busy preparing for interviews. Every day, the superiors came, and a group of people came before they left. Many cars were parked in the compound, and the cafeteria was even more busy. It's not easy to hand over, so she wisely didn't ask the leader to ask for leave.

As usual, at such times, besides serving tea and pouring water, she also served as a helper for the chef and as a waiter. When the guests in the private room were drinking wine, the leader sent someone to ask her to go in to toast and sing for fun. There were many times , she tried her best to shirk it. She was very disgusted with such a request from the leader, and even angry. She felt that her self-esteem was being trampled on. But Lao Dingtou and the others shook their heads and sighed, as if they hated iron but steel. At times like this, Lao Dingtou would inevitably have to teach her a few words, and he used the excuse of "for her": "Students, You're stupid at school, you're too good at it, this is the leader's praise, why don't you take advantage of such a good opportunity to get close to the leader?" Every time he finished speaking, he would shake his big fat head as usual, Xue Bing always kept silent, just gave him a disgusted look, and said secretly in his heart: "What do you know, a smug old man?" Later, when she waited for the dishes to be served, she simply slipped away. That day she had just run back to the dormitory and locked the door for her lunch break when suddenly there was a knock on the door. She thought it was Old Ding coming over again to ask her to toast and sing, so she let the people outside the door feel disgusted. No matter how people knock on the door, it won't open.

"It's me, Xiaoxue!" It was the eldest sister of the guest house.

She got out of bed and opened the door. The eldest sister blushed with excitement, out of breath, and said excitedly, "Why don't you open the door?"

Before she could explain, the elder sister said again, the reporter from the TV station is here, hurry up and look! It's a woman!

She thought something earth-shattering had happened, but it turned out that a female reporter had come, and she couldn't help laughing, but tried her best to hold back, and said very tiredly: "Sister, I'm very sleepy now, I want to rest, can I go and see in the afternoon?" OK?"

The elder sister seemed to find it difficult to understand her reaction, and said eagerly: "I went out to interview in the afternoon, and I may leave as soon as the interview is over. Now the leaders have gone to the guest house to receive reporters, and they will leave soon." .

Let's just go, she's just a woman, what's there to see, she's not a three-headed and six-armed monster. She was always reluctant in her heart, and she was afraid of spoiling the elder sister's kindness, so she was dragged by the elder sister towards the guest house. As soon as the door lady entered the service room, she said in a low voice, "They will come out in a while, and I will show you when they come out." This posture seemed to be watching a monster. About half an hour later, a group of people surrounded a thin woman and came out from the corridor door of the luxury suite of the guest house. The eldest sister pointed excitedly and said, "Look, that's the one, the one with Secretary Qiao."

Secretary Qiao and the female reporter were talking about something, and the group of people who were drunk in the cafeteria just now cheered up and followed behind. After a while, the sound of a car starting was heard, and all the cars in the compound drove away.

A few days later, Secretary Qiao and the head of village y appeared on the news broadcast of Tianchao TV for about half a minute. The head of village y talked about some new changes in his village being built into a new countryside, and what kind of words he was thankful for. It's a pity that she didn't see it with her own eyes. Since then, Secretary Qiao has become famous in X County for a while.