Stepmother Reborn: Dad, my mom hasn't hit me for three days

Before they said a few words, someone outside called "Zhang Xiuhua". She came out to take a look and was surprised to see so many people.

"Are you looking for me?" Zhang Xiuhua was confused.

"No. I heard Ergou is back." The old village chief squeezed in. "We came here to ask about the situation. Didn't Nantong have heavy rain in May? All the factories were flooded. I wanted to ask what happened."

Although Zhang Xiuhua had already told them how to get through the difficult times, they still wanted to hear Ergou's opinion.

Zhang Xiuhua invited them in, and everyone else in the room stood up. Li Jianguo and Zhuzhu helped to get stools.

Ergou was chewing on a sweet potato. He couldn't talk much, so he just nodded and greeted everyone.

The old village chief looked at him and asked, "How are your factories?"

Ergou finished eating the sweet potato in his mouth and was about to speak when Song Lianhua suddenly heard Zhuzhu's voice coming from the TV, "Hey, is your TV broken? Why is there only sound but no picture?"

Zhuzhu explained, "This is not a TV series, it's a CD, specifically for singing. That's why there are no pictures."

Song Lianhua clapped her hands, "That's what I said, why is it just singing all the time and there is no picture?"

Li Jianguo asked Zhuzhu to pause the CD first. The volume was too loud and not suitable for chatting.

Zhuzhu turned it off reluctantly.

Everyone was concerned about Ergou first. "You must be tired after this year. You've lost weight!"

"It's dark now! It's not easy working out there!"

Ergou was not used to these people's excessive enthusiasm. He scratched his head and said, "Not bad!"

After everyone finished greeting each other, the leader, the old village chief, coughed lightly and got to the point, "Ergou, can our brewery distribute dividends this year?"

Ergou was slightly stunned. To be honest, he really didn't think about distributing dividends this year, because branches in various places were under construction and he had already bought production lines from abroad, and he was short of money at the time.

Seeing his troubled expression, the old village chief guessed that he was in trouble and sighed, "It's not that I want the money. It's that Guoxiang's factory in the south can't get any orders, and those foreigners have all withdrawn for some reason. Other factories have come to squeeze his business."

Foreign trade clothing factories have more advanced equipment and produce better quality clothing. When they cannot receive orders from abroad, they begin to turn to domestic markets. Small-scale clothing factories do not have as good equipment as theirs and cannot compete with them at all.

Ergou thought for a moment and said, "The factory in the south is still under construction, so there is no way to distribute dividends for the time being. The brewery run by my godfather can distribute dividends this year."

He separated Li Jianguo's branch factory from the company and did not want to share in the company's dividends, hoping that the villagers would benefit. He couldn't just let them wait indefinitely.

After receiving this reply, the villagers were so happy that they smiled from ear to ear. Some of them immediately rushed out of the yard to report the good news to their families. Soon Zhang Xiuhua's house was crowded with people again.

Although the decision has been made, the books have to be recalculated and the equity has changed.

Because Zhang Xiuhua and Ergou made a lot of money during their trip to Damao, they needed to redistribute it.

Ergou went back to the house with Zhang Xiuhua to discuss things. When he came out, he told them, "You guys go back first. I'll need the accountant to recheck the accounts. Once everything is correct, I'll give everyone money in three days!"

The villagers nodded repeatedly. "Okay, okay, take your time. We can wait."

After the villagers left one after another, Zhang Xiuhua invited Ergou to sit down and eat. "I just came back and I'm still hungry, and these people came to my house. Can't we eat later?"

Li Jianguo could understand them. "They were anxious and wanted to ask about the situation. Many people couldn't find a job this year and returned home early. They were also afraid that the brewery would lay off employees."

Ergou was eating the beef noodles made by his godmother and asked Li Jianguo, "Godfather, what's going on with Guoxiang?"

Li Jianguo briefly explained Guoxiang's situation.

Guoxiang came back two days ago. Business is not good this year, especially in the second half of the year. The factory is facing bankruptcy. The old village chief used all the money earned from the fish pond and the vegetable wholesale company to fill his deficit, but it was still not enough.

Li Jianguo didn't see it with his own eyes, but he is the village chief, and he would chat with the villagers after he came back. When it comes to gossip, men and women are almost the same, and the men in the village gossip as well as the women. He also heard it from others, "The old village chief wants to share the dividends, and he also wants to have a good New Year. I heard that they didn't even buy pork yesterday for the festival."

With the delivery of self-packaged produce to every household, every family has a much better life. Every household will stew meat during festivals. The Chinese New Year can be said to be the most important event of the year. How poor must one be if they don’t buy meat on the day of family reunion?

Zhang Xiuhua added, "I heard that his mistress, who was a college student, broke up with him. I guess he lost a lot of money in his business."

Ergou suddenly realized, "It looks terrible."

He was not interested in Guoxiang's private life. He just felt that this man was getting carried away after making a small fortune and would never make a big fortune.

"You are also in the South, haven't you ever met him?" Zhuzhu asked curiously.

"No. I thought he was unreliable before, so I didn't associate with him." Ergou sighed, "Now it seems that it was the right thing to not have a close relationship with him."

Zhang Xiuhua urged Li Jianguo, "You'd better settle the accounts as soon as possible. Everyone in the village is waiting for dividends."

"The account book has always been managed by the accountant, and the accounts are clear, you don't have to worry." Li Jianguo scratched his head and reported to Ergou, "But we in the north definitely don't make as much money as in the south. The beer here is also cheaper. After all, the salary is not as high as in the south."

Ergou already knew about this. "I heard from my godmother that the brewery here can make 1.5 million a year, which is not bad."

If it was in the south, with two production lines, he could make about two million a year. But a flood in the south wiped out all his years of hard work. In the north, at least there was no danger, and making one and a half million a year was already good.

Li Jianguo shook his head, "She only looked at the net profit. She didn't take into account the money I paid and other factory expenses. The net profit is not that high, maybe only one million."

Ergou smiled and said, "It's already pretty good. Our county is not like a big city."

After talking about this, Zhang Xiuhua asked Ergou, "Did you meet Jidong in the capital?"

"No! I wanted to talk to him about the toy factory, but he was so busy. I went to the research institute to find him, but he didn't have time to talk to me. I don't know what he was busy with." Ergou didn't know much about Jidong's work. He could take three months off before, but now? He doesn't even have weekends. He eats and lives at the research institute.

Li Jianguo smiled and said, "Just ask Xiangxiang to tell you a message."

"Xiangxiang hasn't seen him for a long time." Ergou shook his head, "I think Xiangxiang is really an extraordinary woman. I haven't seen Baolin for a long time. She doesn't care about me at all. But Xiangxiang? She doesn't care at all."

He had originally promised to visit her in June, but Nantong was hit by a flood and he was trying to raise funds, so he didn't tell her for fear that Baolin would worry. Baolin got angry because he went half a year late.

"What's the comparison? Xiangxiang has been an only child since she was young, and she was raised as a son. Baolin also has her own things to do, and she is worried that you will be like before, hiding when things go wrong. She cares about you, but you still despise her!" Li Jianguo was unhappy when he heard it. Baolin is so nice, with a cheerful personality and speaks out. If Yaoyao's personality is like Baolin, he won't have to bother guessing.

Zhuzhu covered her mouth and laughed, haha, second brother’s mouth was too bad and he hit a wall.

Zhang Xiuhua also looked disapproving. What kind of character is that? He said that Baolin was not good in front of her, his biological mother. If Baolin was not good, why were you with her? How shameless!

Ergou realized it belatedly and apologized with a wry smile, "Yes, yes, yes! I'm not as steady as Jidong, so Baolin is worried about me. So we are a perfect match!"

He rubbed his arm. Baolin was good in every way except that he was too rough. His arm is still sore.

Zhang Xiuhua crossed her arms and said, "Don't be so sure." Who knows if they will get married in the future? Maybe Baolin will get bored soon!

Zhuzhu pointed at Ergou and corrected him, "Second brother, you used the wrong word. A perfect match is used to describe a boyfriend and girlfriend. You and Sister Baolin are brother and sister."

Ergou: "..."

Isn't this silly kid already seventeen? Why hasn't he gotten wise yet?

Li Jianguo glared at Ergou and smiled at Zhuzhu, "Yeah, he's uneducated, he didn't even graduate from high school, and he can even use idioms incorrectly. Zhuzhu is smart!"

After saying that, he winked at Ergou.

Ergou was despised, so he bent over and continued to eat noodles. Thinking about how he had just upset his godmother, he licked his face and gave Zhang Xiuhua an extremely flattering smile, "Godmother, your braised beef is really delicious."

Zhang Xiuhua snorted and said meaningfully, "I recognized a sentence when I was reading a book before, and I still remember it to this day. If a woman is rational enough, does not make a fuss, and takes care of things by herself, such a woman..." She paused and looked at Ergou.

Ergou listened attentively.

Zhang Xiuhua snorted, "Call me a widow!"

Ergou coughed violently, feeling a little uncomfortable. Is Godmother taking sides?! Well, Baolin is her biological daughter, and Godmother must love her more. But... he reminded weakly, "Godmother, Xiangxiang is the kind of woman you are talking about, but she is not a widow."

Zhang Xiuhua rolled her eyes. "Jidong is doing research and development, and he needs an independent woman like Xiangxiang to back him up. But you are different. You have lacked love since childhood, so you need a warm, cheerful, kind-hearted woman who cares about you and stays around you. Only then can you feel the warmth of a family."

Zhuzhu didn't understand Zhang Xiuhua's subtext and thought her mother was introducing a date to her second brother. She pinched her chin and looked at Ergou and shook her head, "Second brother, are you a scumbag?!"

I don't like gentle and generous women, but I like to be a bitch?!

Ergou coughed again, but he didn't dare to say anything back at his godfather and godmother, who were staring at him with eager eyes. He knew that he had just angered his godfather and godmother. He lowered his head and pretended that he knew nothing, and continued to eat noodles.