The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 729 - 698: Heartache, Recruiting Workers_1

Chapter 729: Chapter 698: Heartache, Recruiting Workers_1

The sensible He Tiantian, so endearing.

Huo Zhekun said with a sigh, "There’s really no helping it, things are out of our control!"

"That’s what I’ve been telling Tiantian too," Jiang Lifang said, "Fortunately, Tiantian is open-minded and bears no grudges. We truly have married a good daughter-in-law."

"Indeed," Huo Zhekun agreed, "We’ve had our eyes on her since she was young; how could she be anything but excellent!"

"Tiantian is capable, and normally I would be happy about it. I didn’t feel this way when Yingjie was around, but now that Yingjie isn’t here and Tiantian is so competent, do you think that might..." Women tend to worry, and Jiang Lifang had already begun to harbor such concerns.

"That won’t happen," Huo Zhekun chuckled, "We may not know others, but don’t we know Tiantian well? That girl didn’t disdain Yingjie even when times were tough; they’ve been through hardships together."

"It’s sometimes easy to stick together in adversity, but not so many continue to do so in prosperity," Jiang Lifang expressed her worry, "I just hope I’m overthinking it!"

"You are overthinking," Huo Zhekun said, "Tiantian is a smart girl. It’s one thing to say these things to me, but you mustn’t say them in front of Tiantian. You would chill her heart, and how would that be any different from what your sister-in-law does!"

Huo Zhekun’s words were heavy with heartfelt concern as he reminded Jiang Lifang.

Jiang Lifang nodded and said, "I’m just venting to you. I won’t say anything in front of Tiantian. As for household matters, let’s do our best not to overburden Tiantian, otherwise Yingjie will be upset that we haven’t taken good care of her upon his return."

"He wouldn’t blame us, but Yingjie, seeing Tiantian suffering or being wronged, would surely not want to go to work. Then, if it became widely known, it would be bad for Yingjie’s future prospects." Huo Zhekun sighed, only hoping that his son could work peacefully at the research institute without causing any trouble.

The couple kept their worries to themselves.

Watching the two children sleeping soundly beside her, He Tiantian took out some stationery and began to write a letter to Huo Yingjie, filling three whole pages before stopping. She placed the letter in an envelope, affixed a stamp, and planned to send it out the next day.

Now they could only keep in touch by writing letters, making He Tiantian feel a sense of closeness whenever she saw a mailbox.

He Tiantian kissed the photo of the gently smiling man in the frame, then turned off the light and went to bed.

There were no holidays for the Mid-Autumn Festival; work and school continued as usual the next day.

Come the weekend, when He Tiantian visited the shop, she found everyone looking exhausted.

"What’s going on?" He Tiantian asked, "The Mid-Autumn Festival has been over for days. Haven’t you all rested after switching shifts?"

"We did switch shifts and rested, but before the festival, we were selling six pigs a day. We thought sales would decrease after the holiday, but many customers are still coming in. We need six pigs every day to meet the demand. As a result, everyone is quite worn out," Sun Sihao answered, "It’s the same with the pastry shop."

"What?" He Tiantian exclaimed in surprise, "Then I’ll go have a look. If we really can’t keep up, we’ll hire more people! We can’t have everyone worn out just because business is good, right?"

"Right, this time I suggest not hiring from our acquaintances, but recruiting openly," Sun Sihao suggested, "If we hire too many people we know, it’s fine because we understand their background, but when there are too many, it’s easy to form cliques."

He Tiantian nodded and replied, "Yes, I’ll write a notice to hire people later. Uncle Sun, please tell everyone not to bring in their relatives."

"Sure thing!" Sun Sihao nodded, "By the way, Tiantian, when you have time, could you speak to Brother Qian? He got drunk on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival."

"What’s wrong?" He Tiantian asked in surprise, "Is Uncle Qian in a bad mood?"

"His son said he’d come home in the summer. Brother Qian worked overtime to renovate the old house, got everything ready, but his son and his wife never showed up. He doesn’t know what happened, and he’s worried something upsetting may have occurred."

"His son hasn’t come back?" He Tiantian realized, "Then Uncle Qian must be worried. Okay, I’ll go and talk to him later."

He Tiantian looked around inside and out, seeing that everyone was indeed very tired, hiring people was up to human effort.

When people heard that the shop was hiring, they all came over to speak on their behalf.

He Tiantian let every one of them take an application form, fill it out, and then come for an interview to be considered on their merits.

Although they were somewhat disappointed, they also got an explanation from Sun Sihao. To keep their current jobs, they were at most a little unhappy, but there were no hard feelings.

He Tiantian found Qian Shikun and didn’t want to say too much in the way of comfort, so she said, "Uncle Qian, I heard from Uncle Sun that you’ve been very puzzled recently. Instead of worrying here, how about this: write a letter to me, and I’ll have someone send it to you, to check on your son’s situation in Xiangjiang."

Qian Shikun thought about it and agreed that instead of fretting and smoking here, it would be better to ask someone to inquire.

"Thank you, Tiantian," Qian Shikun said. "I’m just afraid that something has happened to them."

"Alright, don’t think too much for now," He Tiantian smiled. "I’ll be back in the shop tomorrow, you can give me the letter then."

"Hmm, I’ll write the letter after I get off work," Qian Shikun said. In his heart, he worried that his wife and son looked down on him and didn’t want to come back to see him, especially since he had done so many foolish things when he was young.

In the past, not knowing he had family, Qian Shikun was content to feed only himself, with no one else to worry about; he lived happily every day. But now, aware of his family, he felt quite a bit of anxiety.

This was a natural human sentiment, which He Tiantian understood.

The next day, when He Tiantian came over, Qian Shikun gave her a thick letter.

After returning home, He Tiantian handed the letter to her father-in-law, Huo Zhekun.

"Dad, this is a letter from Uncle Qian to his son in Xiangjiang. He wants to find out why, even though his son said he’d come over in the summer, he hasn’t shown up now that it’s the Mid-Autumn Festival. Is it possible something has happened?" He Tiantian said softly. She had no other way to find out and could only ask her father-in-law for help.

"Sure, I’ll send out the letter as soon as possible," Huo Zhekun said. He particularly liked dealing with such matters; you never know, it might bring in a large investment and further develop Nan City’s economy.

"Thank you, Dad," He Tiantian expressed her thanks.

"No need for thanks; it’s also to facilitate future work and increase communication," Huo Zhekun said with a smile. These foreign companies usually have strong capital and advanced technology, which is critically important in promoting domestic economic growth.

After a week’s selection, the braised meat shop hired five people: two middle-aged men, a middle-aged woman, and two young women. The dessert shop found two young men and a young woman.

This greatly alleviated the shortage of labor in the shops, balancing work and rest.

Simultaneously, He Tiantian, Sun Sihao, and Qian Shikun also discussed and agreed upon a more reasonable wage system to everyone’s satisfaction.

Sun Sihao and Qian Shikun focused on their work, and with He Tiantian, Sun Sihao and his wife earned over eight thousand yuan, something that would have been unthinkable before.