allonlinenovel Chapter 132 Breaking the promise
Chapter 132 Breaking the promise
In fact, it would be fine for Qin Hanyi to live in the staff building of the machine tool factory, but everyone knew her rank in the cultural center, so her salary naturally could not be concealed.
Tong Sihe's salary at the machine tool factory was unusually high, even reaching a leadership level. The neighbors knew that Tong Sihe, an orphan and a widow, had a huge sum of money, and they would definitely become fat meat in the eyes of jackals.
It’s different when we move into the dormitory of the cultural center.
Firstly, her workplace was close by, and the people living here all considered themselves cultured and noble, and were ashamed to talk about money. Not to mention how much pension she and Tong Jia could get now, they didn't even know how much Tong Sihe's previous salary was.
Secondly, the teachers in both kindergarten and nursery schools here all have proper diplomas, at least they graduated from a technical secondary school, but that is not the case at the machine tool factory, and basically all the teachers there are family members of unemployed employees.
Qin Hanyi moved here for safety and her children's education.
Thanks to Secretary Li's efforts, Director Liu also learned that all her property had been lost. In order to take care of him, he gave her one month's salary in advance.
This salary includes money and various tickets.
Qin Hanyi did not refuse.
This is an advance payment, not given to her for free.
She needed it. Although her family didn't really lose all their property, she didn't have any tickets, and it was really difficult to get away with it before her salary was paid.
After sending away the people who came to warm up the house, Qin Hanyi started to clean up the house with Tong Jia.
Of course, it was Qin Hanyi who cleaned the house. Tong Jia sat on the bed and counted the money. The largest bill was a ten-yuan note, which was given by Secretary Li. The second largest bill was given by Dean Liu, who gave six yuan. Then came Director Wang, Section Chief Chen, and the deputy director of the cultural center, who each gave five yuan.
There were also two colleagues who worked in the same office with Qin Hanyi. Each of them gave two yuan, and the others gave fifty cents, twenty cents, ten cents, and even five cents.
Tong Jia counted them all, and the total was sixty-nine yuan and seventy-five cents.
(Note: In fact, the currency issued in 1959 should be the second set, but the amount was too large and difficult to convert, so the third set was used in advance.)
She handed all the money to Qin Hanyi and reported the figure, smiling and saying, "Mom, you're quite popular in the cultural center. After deducting the 35 yuan given by several leaders and your colleagues, there's still 34.75 yuan left."
Qin Hanyi smiled, took out an envelope, and said, "Your mother doesn't have such a good relationship with people. Even if I did, there wouldn't be so many people in the cultural center.
This was given to me by Section Chief Chen before he left. It contains a list of names. It seems that all the employees of the machine tool factory gave money, or the leaders forced them to give it. The workers are resentful, otherwise, there wouldn't be so many five-cent ones.
My mother worked at the First Cultural Center, and there were only eighteen people there. Excluding me and the four people who got the biggest pay, the remaining thirteen people must have agreed on fifty cents each.
These are all favors, and if anything happens to their family in the future, they will have to pay it back.
We have moved out of the machine tool factory and there won't be many opportunities for us to go back. The 160 or 70 employees know that they can't get back the money they gave out, so they will definitely not give more.
But what about the leaders?
I also want to save face and let everyone know that although your father is gone, they will not ignore the employees' families. The entire machine tool factory is a big family.
Just wait and see, in a few days they will bring people from the newspaper to interview us.
If it gets published, not only will the scandal of our stolen property be overshadowed, but the news of their compassion for their subordinates and the family-like nature of the machine tool factory will spread to every corner of the city."
"Ah? It's even in the newspaper?" Tong Jia was shocked that people nowadays are so publicity-conscious.
Qin Hanyi nodded and said, "Jia Jia, when the people from the newspaper come over, they will definitely want to interview you..."
"Don't worry, Mom. I understand. It was a good opportunity to complain and act strong.
I will definitely let those people know that although my mother and I are in a difficult situation, we are also trying our best not to cause trouble to the unit, and I will also speak well of those leaders. Tong Jia immediately understood what Qin Yiyi meant.
If Qin Hanyi told the newspaper reporter about the situation herself, she would inevitably be suspected of crying poor, but Tong Jia was different.
The little child was just sensible and wanted to lighten his mother's burden.
The income is indeed not small, but the cost of treating the child is indeed very high.
The mother and daughter are self-reliant and unwilling to accept donations from others, which can also achieve the purpose of publicity.
In short, our main point is that we will not take advantage of the public, but we also ask others not to take advantage of us.
After discussing these things, Qin Hanyi handed back the money that Tong Jia had just given her.
This action surprised Tong Jia.
Qin Hanyi took out two notebooks from her handbag, both of which were bright red plastic cover soft copybooks. She handed one to Tong Jia and then took out the advance salary that Director Liu had given her today from her pocket.
She said, "Jia Jia, watch.
Today is December 1959, 12. I received this month's advance salary and the salary that should have been paid to me last month, a total of 13 yuan.
We took out 70 yuan and stuffed it under the plastic cover. I took 12 yuan, and the remaining 30 yuan was placed on the page where I recorded my income and expenses.
What about these bills? Let's record them from the back.
Coarse grains and fine grains are recorded separately. Grain coupons and meat coupons with a time limit are directly inserted into this page. Other daily necessities coupons, soap coupons, cloth coupons, and cotton coupons that are not needed for the time being are stuffed into the plastic cover at the back.
Do you remember it? "
Tong Jia nodded.
Qin Hanyi said, "If you remember, then the money and tickets that Mom left with you will be left to you to take care of."
"Ah?" Tong Jia was confused.
Even though she is precocious, she is only five years old now.
Isn't it a bit too trusting of her to hand over all the family assets to me?
Qin Hanyi said: "Our Jiajia is smart. Not only does she know Arabic numerals, she also has no problem with addition and subtraction.
This money will be yours in the future. If you learn to manage money earlier, it will only benefit you and not harm you.
Moreover, I always feel that if we can’t find Tong Simin, your grandmother will definitely come looking for us.
This is what I thought. I would put all the money your father and I saved together, the national bills with no time limit that I exchanged with others on the road, and the pension issued by the machine tool factory with you.
You are a child. Even if someone is targeting us, the main target will definitely be me, and I will not make things difficult for you.
My income is clearly quantified. Just flip through the notebook and you will see it clearly. No one can find any fault with it.
If anyone asks about the pension, I will say that I have used it all to buy medicine for you."
Tong Jia looked at the notebook in her hand and asked in disbelief, "Mom, are you sure you want me to put all the money in this notebook?
There's so much money, it can't fit in any of the boxes! Why not put it in the bank?
How much simpler it would be to just accept deposit slips.”
She had counted her parents' past savings, which amounted to 18,000 yuan in 100-yuan bills, and there were also many bills with no expiration dates.
Even if you hollow out this notebook, it's still not thick enough, let alone stuffing it into the plastic cover. It's simply wishful thinking!
Qin Hanyi touched Tong Jia's hair and said to her, "I'll give you this notebook. How you use it is entirely up to you. How you hide it is also entirely up to you.
However, there is one thing: it cannot be deposited as a certificate of deposit, neither in a bank nor in a savings bank.
You are still young and have never experienced the days when a bank went bankrupt.
Money is yours only when it's in your hands. If the bank goes bankrupt or if there are policy changes, it's not worth it just for that little bit of interest."
Tong Jia understood why his highly educated parents were reluctant to deposit their money in the bank. It turned out that their previous experiences had influenced their thinking.
Okay, it’s okay not to deposit it in the bank.
So she said, "Then Mom, go down. I need to hide the money and tickets. Mom can't see them."
Qin Hanyi smiled and said, "Okay, you can hide it slowly. And hide the compressed dry food and milk powder together.
From now on, you have to clean the attic yourself. Mom will never come up without your permission.
Mom is going to work. When she gets off work, she will go to the state-owned restaurant to buy you something delicious.
I'll lock the door from the outside, so don't go out."
Tong Jia nodded obediently. After Qin Hanyi left and heard the sound of the door being locked, she went upstairs with the help of the ladder and carefully looked at this attic that belonged to her.
Because the kitchen is in the center of the yard and the bathroom is at the entrance of the alley, there is no need to lay any pipes in the house, and the overall floor height can be more than four meters.
The first floor has a height of two and a half meters. Because the attic has a pointed roof, the highest point is two meters, and the lowest point is about one and a half meters.
For adults, this height may be a bit short and may seem oppressive.
But for a five-year-old kid, it is enough.
Director Wang and Section Chief Chen were also very thoughtful and installed curtains on three sides of the attic to protect her privacy very well.
There aren't many things in the room, just a low cabinet, a set of tables and chairs, and a bed, but because there are two windows, even in the attic, it's very bright.
Tong Jia carefully checked the low cabinet, table, chairs and bed, and finally decided to hide the plastic cover notebook Qin Hanyi gave her under the head of the bed.
But this is just a smokescreen.
Qin Hanyi was worried about Old Madam Tong. She was also worried about not only Old Madam Tong, but also Tong Simin's wife and daughter. She was worried about them as well.
Tong Simin has been missing for a long time, and those three people will eventually run out of money.
Even if Mrs. Tong could receive a pension of 36.9 yuan every month, she would not be satisfied as she has been used to a good life.
If these three people really came to the capital, Qin Hanyi would not be able to just drive them out.
Tong Simin's daughter, her cousin Tong Xue, will definitely live with her, and any valuables placed in the attic will be turned up.
So, she put all the money and tickets Qin Hanyi gave her into the space, even the contents of the two army green cross-body bags, leaving only one outside as a cover.
As for the notebook, she wrote down the following in pencil as Qin Hanyi had just taught her:
1959年12月13日，2元、5角、1角、5分（8），共3元。
Then, he took out a two-yuan note, a fifty-cent note, a ten-cent coin, and eight five-cent coins from the space and put them in the plastic leather cover of the notebook.
This is her pocket money. It’s hard to write in complicated characters, so I can only record it like this for the time being.
After writing this down, she put the notebook under the bed and went into the RV.
Tao Junle had seen the note she left last time and wrote on the back: [No matter when you come in, I will wait for you.]
This time, Tong Jia did not write a note to Tao Junle.
Because she felt that the two of them would definitely meet tonight.
In order to be in the best condition to meet Tao Junle, Tong Jia simply packed up and lay down to sleep.
Qin Hanyi didn't wake her up until she came home from get off work.
After the mother and daughter finished their meal, Qin Hanyi asked, "Jia Jia, you've been staying at home all day. Are you bored? Do you want to go out for a walk with your mother to help digest your food?"
Tong Jia hurriedly entered the space and said, "Mom, it's cold outside now. Didn't we tell others that I'm not feeling well and need to take medicine?
I'd better not go out now, let's talk about it later."
Upon hearing this, Qin Hanyi looked at Tong Jia with some guilt.
Tong Jia quickly said, "Mom, this isn't a bad thing. I didn't sleep well for so many days, so now's a good time for me to get some extra sleep and make up for the sleep I missed."
Qin Hanyi said, "As long as you don't feel bored staying at home."
Tong Jia thought for a moment and said, "Mom, please bring me a dictionary.
I can't sleep every day. After a few days of sleeping, I have to find something to do.
Since I can’t go out to play, I’ll just study at home.
When my father was alive, he taught me how to use a dictionary, and I can learn words by myself with it."
Qin Hanyi nodded and said, "Okay, after get off work tomorrow, Mom will go to Xinhua Bookstore to buy you the latest edition of the dictionary."
Tong Jia was very lucky. It was 1959 now. Simplified Chinese characters were introduced in 1956, and Pinyin was also popularized last year. Otherwise, in order to avoid being exposed, she would have to learn Qieyun first.
After chatting with Qin Hanyi for a few more words, she couldn't wait to climb up to the attic.
Quietly counting the time, listening to Qin Hanyi's movements downstairs.
After hearing the clock on the table downstairs strike nine, she dodged and went straight into the RV.
She thought Tao Junle was already waiting in the RV.
But after she came in, she found that the place was exactly the same as when she came in during the day, and Tao Junle had never been there.
Thinking that her original bedtime was not so punctual, she opened a box of milk and drank it while sitting in the massage chair waiting for Tao Junle to come in.
But she fell asleep while waiting, and still didn't see Tao Junle.
She fell asleep and saw from the four surveillance cameras that Qin Hanyi called her several times, but got no response, so he was anxious to climb up the ladder.
Tong Jia didn't even bother to leave a note for Tao Junle. She quickly got out of the RV and returned to her small attic.
When Qin Hanyi opened the curtain, she saw her daughter sitting on the bed with a dazed look in her eyes, looking as if she had not woken up yet.
Even when he saw her, he was in a daze.
She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I'm glad you're okay. I called you several times, but you didn't respond. I thought you were...
It's okay, it's okay.
You’ve slept for quite a while, come down and have dinner.
The big meat buns I bought at the state-owned restaurant were so delicious.
Bring out another pack of milk powder and I'll make you some milk."
Tong Jia did everything she was told. After sending Qin Hanyi away, she began to wonder why Tao Junle broke his promise.