Chapter 2 Chapter two

A white Cherokee drove through the gate honking its horn.People watching the laid-off list all turned their heads, looking at the jeep covered in mud as if it had just returned from thousands of miles away.The noise stopped, and everyone looked dumbfounded.The Cherokee also had some effect, the horn stopped, the engine was panting, and the exhaust pipe at the rear of the car was blowing, like a beast that had a premonition of danger. down.The workers roared almost simultaneously, moved their legs and feet at the same time, and surrounded Cherokee in a blink of an eye.It bumped back and forth a few times, then couldn't move.A tall, purple-faced young man bent down and opened the car door—Ding Shikou recognized that it was his apprentice Lu Xiaohu—and pushed out the deputy factory manager in charge of supply and marketing with his hand.There was a roar of cursing, and glistening saliva fell on the deputy director's face like raindrops.The deputy factory manager's face was pale, and a strand of oily hair hung down the bridge of his nose. He clasped his fists in both hands, bowed his waist, and bowed first to Lu Xiaohu and then to the people around him.He opened and closed his mouth frequently, but his words were drowned out by the clamor of the workers.Lao Ding couldn't hear what he said, only saw a pitiful expression on his face, like a thief who was caught on the spot.Immediately afterwards, Lao Ding saw that his apprentice Lu Xiaohu reached out and grabbed the tie that was as bright as a wedding quilt around the neck of the deputy factory director, and slumped down suddenly. The deputy factory director seemed to have fallen into a hole Gone.

Two jeeps drove over in a daze with the alarm on, Ding Shikou was so frightened that his heart beat like a drum, and he wanted to slip away quickly, but he couldn't move.The police car couldn't enter the gate and stopped on the side of the road outside the factory.The policemen got out of the police cars one by one, four fat and three thin, a total of seven.Together with their batons, pistols, handcuffs, talking machines, and electric horns, the seven policemen quietly walked a few steps forward, and then stopped together.Outside the gate of the factory, they lined up in a generally neat line. It seemed that they had blocked the gate of the factory, but it didn't look like much if you looked closely.The elderly policeman with an electric horn raised the horn and yelled a few words to tell the workers to disperse, and the workers dispersed obediently.Like wolves flashing out after felling sorghum, the workers dispersed, and the deputy factory director in charge of supply and marketing appeared.He lay on the ground, holding his head in his hands, his plump buttocks pouted high, like the legendary ostrich who would ignore his head when he was in danger.The policeman who shouted gave the electric horn in his hand to his accomplice, stepped forward, pinched the collar of the deputy director's suit with three fingers, and tried to lift him up.But the deputy factory manager's body was falling vigorously, causing a tent-like shape to appear between his suit and his body.Lao Ding heard the deputy factory manager shout: "Young and old, don't blame me. I just came back from Hainan and I don't know anything. You can't blame me for this."

The policeman's hand holding his collar did not loosen, he raised his foot and lightly kicked his leg, saying, "Get up and give it to me!" The deputy director got up.When he saw clearly that the person holding his collar was a policeman, his spittle-stained face suddenly became like loess on the road.His legs went limp involuntarily, and thanks to the policeman holding up his collar, he didn't let him collapse on the ground again. Later, the factory manager came in a red Santana, and the city's deputy mayor Ma, who was in charge of industry, also came in a black Audi.With sweat streaming down his face and tears in his eyes, the factory manager bowed deeply to the workers three times. After straightening his back, he made a speech. He first complained that the market was ruthless, and then he said that he was incompetent for running a factory with a glorious history. It suffered losses year after year, and if the business did not stop, the losses would be even greater, so it had to close down.In the end, he also mentioned Lao Ding emotionally. He counted Lao Ding's glory, and specifically mentioned that Lao Ding would reach retirement age in one month, but he had to be laid off.

Only then did Lao Ding look back at the big red list on the bulletin board as if he had just woken up from a dream, and he saw at a glance that his name was ranked first on the laid-off list arranged according to the strokes of the surname.He turned around and looked at the crowd, like a child looking for his mother, but all he saw were the same gray and blurred faces.He felt dizzy, so he squatted on the ground; he was tired from squatting, so he sat on the ground; after sitting for a few minutes, he grinned and began to cry.His cries were more contagious than those of the female workers. The workers all had heavy complexions and those with shallow eye sockets began to cry.With tears in his eyes, he saw the amiable deputy mayor Ma walking towards him accompanied by the factory manager, so he hurriedly stopped crying, pressed his hands to the ground, and stood up in a panic.The deputy mayor stretched out a hand to hold his hand covered with dirt. He felt that the deputy mayor's hand was as soft as dough, as if there was no bone in it.He quickly stretched out his other hand to hold the deputy mayor's hand, and the deputy mayor immediately extended his free hand to hold his hand, so that their four hands were tightly held together. together.He heard the deputy mayor say kindly: "Comrade Lao Ding, on behalf of the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government, I thank you!"

He had a sore nose, and tears welled up again.Deputy Mayor Ma said: "If you need something, go to the city to find me." The predecessor of the Municipal Agricultural Machinery Repair Factory was the capitalist Longchang Iron Factory. At that time, the main products were kitchen knives and sickles. After the public-private partnership, it was renamed Hongxing Iron Factory. It has produced Red Star brand cotton planters, changed its name to the Agricultural Machinery Repair Factory in the 1970s, produced wheat threshers and corn threshers, produced sprinkler irrigation machines and small harvesters in the 1980s, and introduced a set of advanced equipment from West Germany in the 1990s. equipment, producing tinplate cans, and the name of the factory was changed to Silas Agricultural Machinery Group, but people still used to call it an agricultural machinery repair factory.

After shaking hands warmly with Deputy Mayor Ma that day, Lao Ding was immersed in a feeling of happiness and emptiness, as if he had just got off his wife when he was young.Facing the police, the mayor and the factory director, the restless workers gradually calmed down.He inadvertently set a shining example for workers.He heard the factory manager say to the workers: In terms of seniority, who among you can be older than Lao Ding?In terms of contribution, who among you can be greater than Lao Ding?Lao Ding obeyed the arrangement without making a fuss, so why are you so noisy?Deputy Mayor Ma also said to the workers: Comrades, I hope you can learn from Master Ding, take care of the overall situation, and don't add trouble to the government.The government will actively create job opportunities for everyone to find jobs again, but before the opportunities are created, everyone has to figure out their own way instead of waiting.The deputy mayor said passionately: Comrades, the hands of our working class can turn things around, can't we still earn two steamed buns?

The deputy mayor left in a black Audi, the plant manager left in a red Santana, and even the disheveled deputy plant manager drove away in his white Cherokee.The workers quarreled for a while, and then parted ways.Lu Xiaohu pissed on the bulletin board, and then said to Lao Ding who was leaning on a tree: "Master, let's go, no one will take care of the food when you stay here, the father and mother marry each other, and each of us will be married." Everyone cares about everyone!" Lao Ding nodded to Lao Qin who was watching the gate, pushed on his big defense, and walked out of the factory gate.He heard Lao Qin say loudly behind him: "Master Ding, wait!"

He stood outside the gate and watched this old Qin who came here to see the gate after retiring from middle school trotted over.Everyone knows that Lao Qin has a very strong relationship, so after retirement, he can find easy jobs like reading the door and distributing newspapers to earn extra money.He stood in front of Lao Ding, solemnly took out a business card from his pocket, and said, "Master Ding, my second son-in-law works as a reporter for the provincial newspaper. Newspapers help you appeal." Lao Ding hesitated for a while, but still reached out and took the business card.He thanked Lao Qin and stepped onto the Great Defense.After only half a circle of kicking, he felt that his legs were so sore that he couldn't bear it, and he fell down when he crooked.The heavy big defense pressed his body, making him unable to move.Lao Qin ran over, moved his car away, and pulled him up.

"Are you all right, Master Ding?" Lao Qin asked with concern. He thanked Lao Qin again, pushed the bicycle, and walked home slowly.The warm breeze in April blew on his face one after another, making his heart feel empty and sweet, with a feeling of top-heavy, as if he drank four taels of old wine, and the poplar flowers were like snow, forming a group , rolling on the side of the road.A group of pigeons are flying in circles in the sky, their whistles are bleak and bright, and the sound is ear-piercing.He didn't feel the deep pain, but the tears flowed down like a small river.When passing by the park in the middle of the street near his home, a little boy chasing a ball bumped into his thigh ignorantly.He felt his legs go numb like an electric shock, and sat down on the curb involuntarily.The little boy looked up, looked at his face, and asked, "Grandpa, why are you crying?"

He raised his sleeve and wiped his face, and said, "Good boy, grandpa didn't cry, grandpa was blinded by the sand." When he got home, he felt pain in his legs, so he asked his wife to buy two plasters and put them on. The pain didn't go away but intensified, so he had no choice but to go to the hospital.They have no children, and the wife finds Lu Xiaohu.Lu Xiaohu dragged the master to the hospital with a tricycle, took a picture, and even said it was a broken bone.