The courtyard: the atmosphere of human life

The director of the Personnel Department is named Meng, a man in his thirties. He is a college student who was assigned a job after graduation. However, he does not have the arrogance of an intellectual and is very humble and friendly to others.

Sitting across the table from the personnel director was a middle-aged lady named Wang. In a workplace with only female employees, the personnel department had to be staffed by an older lady.

In that era, many lesbians had not received any formal education, and the management methods of intellectuals were sometimes not as effective as the heartfelt communications between women.

"I'm Yuan Furong from workshop three." Darong introduced herself calmly.

After hearing Darong say her name, Director Meng smiled and nodded.

"Oh, please take a seat. Director Lu told me about your situation. What brings you here today?"

Although Director Lu did come to the Personnel Department, Director Meng thought at the time that Director Lu was simply there to report some employee problems and vent her grievances, and did not expect that she would actually hand over a pregnant woman to the Personnel Department.

"Come, drink some hot water. It's freezing cold and you're still wearing so little."

Sister Wang, who was sitting opposite Director Meng, looked at Director Meng, then stood up and greeted Darong tacitly.

"Director Lu coaxed me over as soon as I entered the workshop. I was afraid that the leader would be anxious waiting, so I didn't have time to change clothes."

Darong smiled and looked obedient and took the cup of water handed to her by Sister Wang.

"Comrade Xiao Yuan, please tell Big Sister what is going on. We need both sides to understand each other before we can make arrangements."

"My fetus has been unstable for a while, so I got a leave note from the health center in our factory and rested for a few days."

Darong paused, took a sip of the water in the cup, and thought about what to say next.

"On the first day back at work, Director Lu led everyone to learn from Comrade Guo Meihua. She was indeed advanced, but my ideological awareness was low and I didn't want to lose the baby, so I went home to take care of the baby."

Darong sat on the sofa, speaking in a soft and harmless voice, and simply narrated what happened that day.

In fact, how could the two leaders of the personnel department of our factory not know about the news that had already spread to other factories?

Darong did not exaggerate and simply narrated what happened. However, Darong's tone now is very different from that time.

"Then what is your purpose in coming to us?"

When Sister Wang saw Darong's docile appearance, she was dazed for a moment, mistakenly thinking that the people in the workshop were exaggerating and that this little girl didn't look that powerful.

"It wasn't me who wanted to come here. It was Director Lu who asked me to come here." Darong heard the subtle change in Sister Wang's tone, but still answered in a soft voice.

"Comrade Xiao Yuan, you are so young, you can't be so easily taken in by a word. Director Lu leads so many people to work in the workshop, how can they all get along well with each other? You need to learn to reflect on yourself."

Although Sister Wang had a gentle smile on her face, her words were full of criticism.

After hearing this, Darong put down her cup, stood up and was about to leave.

"Hey, why are you going?"

When Sister Wang saw that Darong was about to leave without saying a word, she thought she was scared by her and went back to the workshop in a hurry. She became even more arrogant and yelled at Darong.

"Sister, you are right. I am pregnant and giving birth. It has delayed the factory's production and caused trouble for the factory. I will go to the Women's Federation to get a certificate and go to the hospital to have the baby aborted."

When Sister Wang heard Darong say this, she was immediately choked and blinked for a long time to react.

"Hey, hey, hey, you misunderstood. Sister Wang didn't mean that. Sit down quickly."

When Director Meng saw that Sister Wang and Darong had a falling out, he quickly came out to smooth things over.

"Comrade Xiao Yuan, this matter is not that serious. You are in poor health, and taking leave is a normal procedure. We have already talked to Director Lu about it. In the future, do more of what you can do, and don't overwork yourself if you can't. After all, the child is the most important thing now."

Director Meng has also experienced Darong's ability to play the pig and eat the tiger. She looks very weak, but she is very decisive in doing things.

Although the textile factories at that time were state-owned factories, they were all under the leadership and jurisdiction of government departments. If Darong had really found the Women's Federation, I'm afraid he, as the director of the personnel department, would have to be held accountable first.

After all, over the decades since the founding of the People's Republic of China, important instructions on protecting women's rights have been implemented, and the Women's Federation and trade unions at that time were not just empty offices in name only. They would really stand up for employees and hold units accountable.

So when Darong mentioned that she had to go to the Women's Federation to get a certificate, Sister Wang was really panicked and her arrogance immediately diminished.

"Comrade Xiao Yuan, go back to work with peace of mind. I will contact Director Lu later."

After Director Meng said a few polite words, he planned to send Darong back to work. But how tiring is the work in the workshop, and how comfortable is the sofa in the personnel department?

"I didn't dare go back. I was afraid of making Director Lu angry... Director Lu got angry the day I asked for leave. I forced myself to work the night shift the next day, and Director Lu got angry too. I really didn't know what to do..."

Darong looked like she was about to cry as she spoke. Sister Wang, who was standing by, gritted her teeth and swallowed twice. She had just underestimated Darong's strength, and now she was afraid of exacerbating the conflict, so she didn't dare to speak again.

"Well...why don't you take a rest here for a while, and we can talk later if there's anything."

Although Director Meng knew that Darong was acting, he couldn't think of any good solution at the moment and could only utter these words.

Isn’t there a saying that as long as you are not embarrassed, others will be embarrassed.

Darong sat calmly on the sofa in the Personnel Department, refilling her cup of hot water from time to time.

When I was really bored sitting there, I took two copies of "Workers Weekly" from the newspaper cabinet at the entrance of the Personnel Department and studied the employee code of conduct carefully.

During this morning, everyone who came to the Personnel Department to do business would take a look at Da Rong who was sitting on the sofa holding a newspaper.

"Comrade Xiao Yuan, you have to be careful about your impact. Everyone is busy with production, but you are reading the newspaper and drinking tea. People who don't know would think that the Personnel Department has no work to do."

Sister Wang couldn't help it any longer, so she spoke to Darong, who was staring at the gap between the newspapers and laughing foolishly.

"Sister, my ideological awareness is not up to par. If I don't learn the guiding ideology of Workers Weekly, I'm afraid I will be left behind by the times."

When Sister Wang heard Darong say this, her face turned green. Which newspaper would publish such insightful views on ideological learning in the cracks?