The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 464: Chapter 464: It’s Good to Have Relatives

Seeing how insistent Sun Dayong was, Han Xiaorui didn’t feel it was right to stop him any longer.

After all, her godmother was Sun Dayong’s grandaunt. It was only natural that he couldn’t go visit family empty-handed.

Bringing something, no matter how small, was just proper etiquette.

Granny Cai and Aunt Li from the village were busy cooking for the teachers and students at the kindergarten.

Granny Cai was an excellent cook. Every morning, she would ride her small tricycle to the market to buy fresh vegetables and meat like chicken, duck, and fish.

After she returned, Aunt Li would wash, prep, and chop all the raw ingredients, leaving the rest for Granny Cai to start cooking.

Just as the food was ready, Han Xiaorui arrived with Sun Dayong.

Granny Cai recognized Sun Dayong at once, her face filled with concern. ”Oh, my, Dayong, what brings you here today? Did something happen at home?”

Feeling his grandaunt’s concern, Sun Dayong quickly said, ”Grandaunt, everything’s fine at home! The textile factory where my mom worked isn’t doing well, so she was laid off. She’s found some odd jobs to do.”

”I came to Jinshan Bay to apply for a job. Sister Han is getting ready to open a Conch Jade craft shop, and I heard from Master Yao on Antique Street that she was hiring, so I came to try my luck.”

”It’s been a while since I’ve come to see you, and my mom feels terrible about it. When she heard I was coming to Jinshan Bay, she specifically told me to pay you a visit.”

Hearing this, Granny Cai smiled. ”Oh, so that’s what it is. That’s good! Tell you what, Xiao Rui, Dayong, wash your hands and eat with us.”

Han Xiaorui waved her hand. ”No, thank you, I’ll eat at home. I need to get back to my children. Dayong’s craftsmanship is excellent, and we’ve already agreed on his wages.”

”Once he settles his affairs, he can start work anytime! You two are relatives and probably have a lot to talk about, so I’ll leave you to it.”

After Han Xiaorui left, Granny Cai served Sun Dayong a bowl of rice and some dishes, and they chatted as they ate.

”I heard you’ve been an apprentice at the jade shop on Antique Street for several years now, haven’t you?”

Sun Dayong replied, ”One year as a handyman, three years as an apprentice. None of it was paid, but they did cover lunch. I should have started earning a salary by now, but the master’s wife won’t pay me.”

”If it were like before, when both my parents were working and getting full salaries, maybe I could have put up with it. But now my mom has been laid off, my dad isn’t getting his full pay, and I’m twenty-one this year—it’s time I started thinking about finding a partner.”

”I don’t earn a single penny and still rely on my family, and I feel awful about it. Even if my master and his wife get angry, I have to find a new job. I’m grateful for learning his craft, but I’ve already worked for them for four years for free. That repays the debt.”

Hearing this, Granny Cai frowned slightly. ”If you followed the rules, then they shouldn’t be withholding your wages. That first year you spent as a handyman should have counted too. You’ve already given them an extra year of work, so you repaid that debt long ago.”

”You were right to leave. Your master and his wife are playing good cop, bad cop, using ’learning a trade’ as an excuse not to pay you. That was wrong from the start. You’re apprentices, not indentured servants from the old days.”

Hearing Granny Cai say this eased Sun Dayong’s mind. ”If my master ever needs help, I’ll still do everything I can for him. But when it comes to my family’s livelihood, I have to be careful.”

”The suffering I endured these past few years wasn’t for nothing. My skills earned praise from Sister Han, and I’m qualified for the job here. The base salary is forty yuan a month, and I get a commission of 0.2 yuan for every piece of Conch Jade I polish.”

”Just now, to show off my skills, I deliberately polished a bit slowly. One piece every five minutes. Once I get used to it, I can do one every three minutes. In an hour, I can make twenty pieces. With a 0.2 yuan commission, that’s four yuan.”

”If I work eight hours a day, that’s thirty-two yuan. In a month, my commission alone will be over nine hundred yuan. Add my salary, and I can make over a thousand! With that money, my mom won’t have to wake up early and work late at odd jobs, suffering like that.”

Hearing this, Granny Cai’s eyes lit up. ”Oh, my sweet boy, that’s amazing! My goddaughter here is especially good to her employees. Don’t be fooled because it’s a private company; she’s a woman of her word.”

”You just work hard, and she’ll take good care of you! By the way, after you finish eating, go back and tell your mom to quit her odd jobs! Have her come here, and I’ll find her a job!”

Sun Dayong was incredibly grateful. ”Thank you, Grandaunt! Because I’m not married yet, she doesn’t dare to be idle even though she’s been laid off. I’ll tell my mom as soon as I get back. It’s just... Grandaunt, this place is too far from my home. Since I’ll be working here, I can’t commute every day. I’ll have to rent a place nearby.”

Granny Cai quickly waved her hand at this. ”Rent a place? Don’t be silly. We have rooms here! Renting would be like a slap in the face!”

”There’s another courtyard next to the kindergarten. No one usually lives there; it’s just used for storage. There are empty rooms. Your whole family could move in, no problem.”

Sun Dayong quickly waved his hands. ”That would be too much trouble for you, Grandaunt!”

”It’s no trouble! Your mother helped me a lot back in the day, and I’ve never forgotten it!” Granny Cai said with a smile. ”I’ll clean it up later, and you can just move right in.”

Sun Dayong insisted, ”Grandaunt, you have to let me pay rent. If you don’t accept rent, I won’t move in. My mom is very stubborn, you know.”

Thinking of her grandniece’s stubborn nature, Granny Cai smiled. ”Alright, you can pay me after you get your salary! How’s that? You must go back and tell your parents that I can find them jobs here that pay no less than one hundred yuan a month. Each. Not for both of them combined!”

Sun Dayong was astonished. ”Grandaunt, is the pay really that high?”

Granny Cai chuckled. ”Of course! Your mom is from the textile factory and used to work at a garment factory. We have a garment factory here, and the pay is very high. I just heard the other day they’re hiring. Your mom knows fabrics and clothing. I’ll put in a good word for her; I guarantee she’ll get the job.”

”As for your dad, he works at a food factory! Back when goods were scarce, that was a really good place to work. But now the economy has opened up and is booming, and his factory is still making the same old-fashioned pastries. Their profits are getting smaller and smaller.”

”Since business is bad over there, he should just quit! He can open a shop with me. On that commercial street you visited today, I bought three storefronts. I’m planning to open a bakery that sells both Chinese and Western-style pastries.”

”I was the one who taught your dad how to bake back in the day. He’s got a real knack for it. I’ve recently developed a lot of new pastries—not just Chinese style, but Western style too. They taste amazing, so the shop is bound to make money.”

”If your dad has any reservations, he can apply for unpaid leave from the factory or just take some time off to try it out here. If he really decides to commit, I can even give him a share of the business.”

Hearing this, Sun Dayong was deeply grateful. ’Whether it works out or not,’ he thought, ’Grandaunt is still looking out for us!’