Chapter 31 Entering the Factory
The things were packed up and the car arrived, but the issue of the Guandi statue had not been taken into consideration before, so it was a small truck that came. It was more than enough to carry the blacksmith tools and the clothes of the Huo family father and son, but it could not fit the extra Guandi statue.

The statue of Guandi was related to Yan Xu's important plan, so in order to prevent collision, it was decided to transport it in two trips. Huo Changshun would go first, and Huo Zhengen would follow the next trip.

"Director, since we still have to wait, I'll go back and tell the old man first."

"It's okay, Master Huo, please go ahead." Yan Xu was wiping the statue of Guandi with a clean cloth and responded casually.

Huo Zhengen pinched his pocket, not knowing what mood he was in. After saying something to Yan Xu, he rode his bike to his hometown in the countryside. It wasn't far, only about twenty minutes by bike.

After all, the old man of the Huo family is old and can no longer work as a blacksmith. He also doesn't want to stay and cause trouble, so he returned to his hometown a few years ago and is usually taken care of by Huo Zhengen's wife Zheng Cuihua.

Because the old man was still in good health, there wasn't much for him to do on weekdays, just cooking and washing clothes. When Zheng Cuihua had time, she would go and tend to the two acres of vegetable fields at home. Today, she happened to be at the field and saw Huo Zhengen coming back on a bicycle. She thought something had happened.

"What's wrong, Old Huo?" Zheng Cuihua threw away the hoe, took two quick steps to the side of the road and asked loudly.

"Why are you talking nonsense? Are you afraid that people can't hear you?" Huo Zhengen said unhappily, and his hand pinched the golden Buddha in his pocket unnaturally.

"Dad?" Huo Zhengen asked without waiting for Zheng Cuihua to complain.

"We just harvested the peanuts yesterday. Dad is at home drying the peanuts and hasn't gone out yet." Seeing that nothing to do, Zheng Cuihua picked up the hoe and put it on her shoulder, carrying the basket at the edge of the field, which contained some freshly picked vegetables.

"Why did you come back suddenly? I haven't prepared to cook yet." Zheng Cuihua sat in the back seat of Huo Zhengen's car, holding her man's waist and muttered.

"Good news, a factory has taken a liking to my craftsmanship. The deal has been made, and we'll sign a contract when we get there. Even Shunzi will become a worker." Huo Zhengen said with a grin as he pedaled his bike.

"Really! This is such a good thing!" At that time, people were still obsessed with the iron rice bowl. No matter what factory it was, as long as they could become a formal employee, they would not even exchange it for a car. So Zheng Cuihua was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling. However, she was also a little confused. After all, this good thing came too suddenly, and she was afraid that the man in the family would be deceived.

"It's true." If Huo Zhengen still had some doubts at the beginning, now with the golden Buddha in his hand, all doubts are gone.

To put it bluntly, even if the father and son were sold together, they might not be as valuable as the golden Buddha.

What's more, although the factory director is young, he looks honest. The older ones are the old masters in the factory. Huo Zhengen is even more excited about the fact that he can still get a salary at such an old age. After all, he is not young anymore and can't be a blacksmith for many years. Shunzi's craftsmanship is still not perfect. If there is no guarantee, he won't be able to eat this meal for long.

"But." Huo Zhengen hesitated for a moment, but still told his wife that he had given her a few ancient books and that he had exchanged the statue of Guandi.

"It's time to change it. It's time to change it long ago." Zheng Cuihua reached out and touched the heavy golden Buddha in Huo Zhengen's pocket, said firmly, then took out the golden Buddha and kept it close to her body.

"Dad is old, you just need to know about this. Just say that Shunzi and I went to work in the factory in the neighboring town." Although he wanted to talk about this to vent his anger, after thinking about it, Huo Zhengen decided not to say anything. If the old man got angry, he would suffer. "Okay, leave the family to me, you and Shunzi go to the factory and work hard, and let the second son know that our family is not inferior to them." It was obvious that Zheng Cuihua was also holding back her anger, so she encouraged her man.

Huo Zhengen nodded. After living for most of his life, it was time for him to straighten his head and let people see that what he lacked was just an opportunity, not that he was inferior to the second one.

After returning, Huo Zhengen simply said that the business of the blacksmith shop was getting worse day by day, and he planned to go to the neighboring town with his son to work and earn some money.

Huo Tiande knew that the blacksmith shop's business was not good. Besides, there were workers everywhere nowadays, so he did not suspect anything. He just felt sorry for the eldest brother's family. Maybe he was too partial to them back then. The second brother's family lived well, but the eldest brother still had to work at his age.

But it's already been done, and there's no use regretting it now. I asked the second brother to think of a way, at least to send Shunzi to the factory, but he always made excuses and came back less and less in recent years. It was obvious that he could not be counted on.

When Huo Tiande came to his senses, Huo Zhengen had already left. The old man didn't say anything, just sighed, and walked into the house with his hands behind his back. Zheng Cuihua was picking peanuts in the yard while thinking about where to hide the golden Buddha. This was something her husband had earned with his own ability, and she didn't think a wooden statue could be exchanged for a piece of gold.

Without mentioning the Huo family's affairs, after the group took a car to the hardware factory, Yan Xu first took the two of them to sign the contract.

The factory built a two-story building a few years ago, where personnel, finance, meetings and offices are located.

Because they had called in advance, the contract had already been prepared. After signing and fingerprinting, the Huo father and son became their own employees.

"Let's go. I'll arrange a place for you to stay first." Now that his identity has changed, Yan Xu's attitude towards the Huo father and son has become much more relaxed. However, he has always respected capable people. He did not put on a condescending attitude of a leader, but he did not need to pretend to be so polite.

"Okay, Director." After carefully putting away the contract, Huo Zhengen let out a long sigh and unconsciously lowered his head by three inches. He spoke to Yan Xu very respectfully.

Because the place is large and the vacant land can be used to its full potential, the factory built ten bungalows against the wall. Two of them are kitchens, two are for storing sundries, and the remaining six are dormitories. Each of them can accommodate six bunk beds, but because most of the workers recruited are locals, they have never been fully occupied.

When Yan Xu arrived, the kitchen was cooking. White flour buns were steamed and millet porridge was cooked. The dish was radish and meat stewed in a big pot. The diced fat with skin on looked very tempting among the deep red radish, making him want to have a bowl.

"The factory provides a meal at noon. In the morning and evening, you can pay to eat in the factory or buy food and have the kitchen prepare it. You can also go out to eat by yourself. You can ask him for these matters." Yan Xu pointed to Old Deng, who was in charge of the chef, and gave it to the Huo father and son.

Old Deng, a fat and strong man wearing an apron, was seasoning the food. When he saw the factory director, he hurried over to say hello.

"This is Master Huo Zhengen, a master chef specially invited by the factory." Yan Xu said this because Lao Deng was efficient at work and managed the kitchen in a clean and orderly manner. He just liked to watch others prepare dishes, so he made special mention of it. In this way, he would be more polite when they met in the future and would not easily have conflicts.

"Just call me Lao Deng. Come to me if you want to eat anything." Lao Deng knew that he was not an ordinary worker after hearing what the factory director said, and he immediately became much more enthusiastic. Huo Zhengen also followed suit and was polite.

(End of this chapter)