Ch 10: The Unfilial Children Trembles in Fear (QT)

On the final day of training, there was a question-and-answer session. After the assessment, everyone could consult the instructors according to their own situation.

This time, Yun Xi took a thick notebook and went to find the instructors.

Originally, the others also had some questions, but after discovering that Yun Xi’s questions hit the key points directly and were even more representative, they all gathered around and listened to the instructors’ explanations with her.

Yun Xi’s notebook did not only record questions. It also contained many of her own understandings, which led to many additional questions. It was basically that whenever she raised one question, it would connect to many other things, all of them extremely practical.

The two instructors talked until dark and praised her highly.

The drivers pushed one another back and forth, and in the end, they shoved forward the best driver among them. He asked awkwardly,

“Sister Li, your notebook… could we… could we… borrow…”

The driver scratched his head, then suddenly bowed to Yun Xi and said apologetically,

“I’m sorry, Sister Li! I was blind and looked down on you. I failed to recognize a great person right in front of me. I assumed from the start that your training spot came through improper means. Seeing that you were a female comrade and not young anymore, I looked down on you. I’m sorry!”

Everyone looked at one another, then stepped forward and apologized to Yun Xi.

“We’re sorry, Sister Li!”

Yun Xi said,

“You want to copy my notes and take them back to study?”

“Yes. We feel that… Sister Li, you could already be our teacher.”

“Teacher is too much. There are still many things I don’t understand, and far too much knowledge I haven’t encountered before.

I’ll lend you the notebook. I hope that after you return, you can share it with the other drivers so everyone can improve together.

I also hope you can give female comrades more opportunities.

The saying that women hold up half the sky is not a joke. There truly are many female comrades with outstanding abilities.”

Everyone agreed one after another, feeling very ashamed.

In their lives, there were female teachers and female factory directors, and they respected them greatly. It was just that in their impression, a little old lady absolutely had nothing to do with driving.

Her three months of driving experience had directly made them think of connections and unfairness. That was why they had held such deep prejudice against Yun Xi.

They had stood out from competition, so they more or less admired strength.

Now that they saw Yun Xi was intelligent and capable, standing a whole level above them, they could not feel the slightest jealousy. Instead, they felt some admiration.

They had never expected that someone who relied on self-study could already be no worse than provincial capital drivers. A talent like this would be honored wherever she went.

After Yun Xi generously lent them her notes without holding their earlier behavior against them, everyone truly respected her from the heart. They called her “Sister Li” with great enthusiasm and even asked for her unit’s address and phone number, saying they should keep in touch often and that if she ever needed anything, she should just come to them.

By the time Yun Xi’s notebook was returned, the last few pages were filled with their contact information. Some people had even written apology letters and tucked them inside, while others bought gifts of apology for her. It could be said they showed full sincerity.

Whether they were sincere or doing it for connections, Yun Xi accepted everything readily, waved goodbye to them, and set off on her return journey.

During Yun Xi’s training period, someone introduced a potential match to Dong Zhizhi. The man’s conditions were very ordinary. Dong Zhizhi angrily said several ugly things, only for the other side to say that the Dong family’s reputation had already been ruined.

They still wanted to find a good match?

Dream on.

Having someone willing to meet her at all was already good enough.

Dong Zhizhi cried for a while. At dawn the next day, she ran to the city government gate to find Yun Xi.

The gatekeeper told her that Yun Xi had gone for further training. Dong Zhizhi did not believe it at all.

An old woman who had only been working for three or four months, what qualifications did she have to go for training?

So she kept squatting at the gate and waiting.

Xiao Zhang drove up and stopped at the main gate, waiting for the gatekeeper to open it.

The gatekeeper cheerfully greeted him.

“Xiao Zhang, you’re back? How’s your leg? If it’s not all right, don’t force yourself. Your own health is important.”

Xiao Zhang leaned out and smiled.

“It’s pretty good. Nothing’s wrong now. Sister Li fed me so much meat that I healed long ago. She’s just too fond of worrying and insisted that I rest for a hundred days before driving. Otherwise, I would have returned to work much earlier.”

When Dong Zhizhi saw his handsome appearance, her eyes immediately lit up. Then she heard him mention “Sister Li” and instantly rushed forward.

“The Sister Li you’re talking about, is it Li Yunxi? She’s my mom. You have a good relationship with her, right? Please take me to see her. I have something urgent to talk to her about.”

Xiao Zhang was startled.

Thinking that Yun Xi had a poor relationship with her children, he tried to put her off.

“We’re just coworkers. We’re not close…”

Dong Zhizhi said loudly,

“I heard everything just now. My mom gives you meat and cares about you. If you’re not close, why would she treat you so well?”

After saying it, Dong Zhizhi herself became puzzled.

Why would her mother treat an outsider so well?

If it were said that she had taken a fancy to him, that was impossible. They were more than twenty years apart.

Could it be that she had chosen him as a match for her?

Dong Zhizhi’s heart began beating faster.

Although Yun Xi had been extremely cold and merciless the last few times, for so many years in the past, Yun Xi had always protected them.

More than once, she had said that they were the most important people to her, more important than her own life. Back then, Yun Xi had nearly died giving birth to Dong Zhizhi.

So deep in her heart, Dong Zhizhi had never believed that Yun Xi would truly cut ties with them. She only thought Yun Xi was throwing a more serious tantrum this time and wanted to subdue them all at once.

Now that she had encountered something illogical, she naturally had her own interpretation.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that Yun Xi was so good to Xiao Zhang because she intended to introduce him to her.

Dong Zhizhi grew a little embarrassed. She lowered her head and said somewhat bashfully,

“If I hadn’t run into trouble, I wouldn’t be this anxious. I can’t go home, and I have nowhere else to go. I can only come find my mom.

I know I made her angry. I was immature. I’ll apologize to her. From now on, I’ll definitely be filial to her.”

Xiao Zhang did not feel it was appropriate to comment on another family’s affairs. Seeing her blocking the truck, he said awkwardly,

“But Sister Li isn’t at the unit. She went out of town for training. There’s no use waiting here.”

Dong Zhizhi looked at him, then at the gatekeeper.

Both of them had said the same thing, and they had not coordinated their words just now. So the training matter was real?

How was that possible?

An old woman, and the unit had even sent her for training?

In that instant, jealousy burst from Dong Zhizhi’s heart and rapidly grew into a towering tree.

She could not find any job at all, so why had Yun Xi entered the city government as soon as she came to the city, and even changed to an urban household registration?

She had gone around asking classmates for help, and no one paid attention to her. Why did Yun Xi have so many coworkers helping and protecting her?

She had never once been valued by anyone since childhood, so why could Yun Xi be sent by her unit for further training?

How had every good thing fallen into her mother’s lap?

If these good opportunities were given to her, wouldn’t her entire life be settled?

Dong Zhizhi grew so anxious that her face turned red.

How could her mother not think of her?

How could she not know to call her over to take this job?

If she worked in the city government and then married someone like Xiao Zhang, she would immediately live a good life and never have to worry again!

Why wouldn’t her mother give the job to her?

Xiao Zhang waved his hand in front of her.

“Comrade? Please move aside. I still need to go back and hand over my shift.”

The more Dong Zhizhi thought, the more wronged she felt.

Thinking again of the villagers’ mockery, she squatted on the ground and began to cry.

“What am I supposed to do? I have nowhere to go. I don’t want to live anymore…”

Xiao Zhang quickly got out of the truck.

“Don’t think that way!”

He looked toward the gatekeeper.

“What should we do?”

The gatekeeper did not know either.

Xiao Zhang could only go inside and report the situation.

At the very least, Dong Zhizhi was a worker’s family member. If she had encountered difficulties, they could not simply ignore her.

But Sister Qin from the Logistics Department knew that Yun Xi truly disliked her children.

She made the decision and said,

“Nobody pay attention to her. Sister Li doesn’t want to deal with her.

She already divided half a room and gave it to that girl before. The girl turned around and sold the room, leaving Sister Li without even a place to stay if she returned to the village.

She’s an ingrate.

Sister Li has already done more than enough for her. We can’t cause trouble for Sister Li.”

Everyone agreed.

Xiao Zhang had no choice but to take Dong Zhizhi to a guesthouse himself and settle her there for the time being.

He did not want to get involved either.

But Dong Zhizhi kept crying at the gate, saying things like Yun Xi would not care about her and that she had no mother anymore. It did not reflect well on Yun Xi.

Besides, Dong Zhizhi was Yun Xi’s biological daughter after all. He had heard that she had been born after a difficult labor, a child who survived only after Yun Xi nearly died. There must be feelings there.

If nothing happened normally, that was one thing.

But this time, Yun Xi was absent. If the people at the unit ignored her and something happened to a young woman like Dong Zhizhi, Yun Xi would surely feel hurt.

Yun Xi had helped Xiao Zhang so much. Xiao Zhang felt he could not simply ignore the matter.

So he could only consider himself unlucky, pay for a room for Dong Zhizhi, and give her some meal tickets and spending money.

This was the first time a male comrade had given Dong Zhizhi money and tickets.

And he was a male comrade with such a good job and such good looks.

Dong Zhizhi’s face turned red.

She said shyly,

“Thank you, Brother Zhang. When my mom comes back, I’ll definitely tell her what a good person you are and have her thank you for me.”

Xiao Zhang waved his hand.

“Sister Li has already helped me more than enough. All right, stay here properly.”

The guesthouse environment was much better than the Dong family’s home, and she was far away from the village’s mockery.

Dong Zhizhi had a night full of beautiful dreams and woke up refreshed.

From then on, she ran to the city government every day to find Xiao Zhang.

Today, she wanted to understand how Yun Xi was doing at the unit. Tomorrow, she wanted to ask whether there were any jobs recruiting in the city. The day after that, she encountered some difficulty and asked Xiao Zhang to help.

Xiao Zhang was annoyed beyond words.

But if he did not appear, Dong Zhizhi stubbornly stood at the main gate and refused to leave no matter what.

Once, even the mayor saw her and asked why someone was standing at the gate.

Xiao Zhang was afraid Dong Zhizhi would cause trouble and affect the mayor’s good impression of Yun Xi, so he could only grit his teeth and deal with her.

Fortunately, Yun Xi’s training lasted only seven days.

On this day, Xiao Zhang calculated the time. After finishing a delivery outside, he directly drove to the train station to pick up Yun Xi.

Yun Xi had large bags strapped to her chest and back, and both hands were carrying full bags as well. Only her two eyes were exposed so she could see the road.

The moment she saw Xiao Zhang, she said in delight,

“Xiao Zhang! I’m here! Good thing you came. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even know how to get back.”

Xiao Zhang looked at her in surprise and stepped forward to help her with the bags.

“Sister Li, this is way too much luggage. Did you buy all this in the provincial capital?”

Yun Xi smiled.

“It wasn’t easy getting to go there once. Of course I had to buy more.

And it’s not all mine. Some of it is for everyone else. There are things for you too. I’ll find them for you when we get back.”

Xiao Zhang smiled, showing a mouthful of white teeth.

“There’s something for me too? Then I’ll thank Sister Li first.

Come on, you must be tired from the train. Let’s hurry back.”

Yun Xi got into the truck.

As she watched Xiao Zhang help put her luggage into the truck bed, she thought that it was lucky she had been cautious and had not put the things she bought into her storage space.

In a world like this, there was no cultivation and no storage space. Possessing a treasure would invite disaster.

She absolutely would not expose it. That meant she had to use the space sparingly and carefully.

This was fine too.

It allowed her to properly experience different worlds even more.

Xiao Zhang drove back to the city government.

When they were almost at the main gate, he saw Dong Zhizhi’s figure from far away and immediately felt a headache coming on.

He turned to Yun Xi and said,

“Sister Li, your daughter has been looking for you these past few days. She happened to hear me say you weren’t here, so she started coming to find me every day.

Now that you’re back, handle this matter properly. Otherwise, the mayor and the others at the unit might develop opinions.”

Yun Xi heard something wrong in his tone.

It was one thing to look for her.