sbdcsierra Chapter 45 Reconciliation
Chapter 45 Reconciliation
"It's nothing, just breaking up a fight. We're all acquaintances from the same town, we see each other all the time, no one would really kill anyone, at most it's just a couple of shoves in the heat of the moment, it won't hurt me."
As he spoke, he deliberately raised his arm to show that he was completely unharmed. Underneath the loose cloth on his arm was the strength he had developed from years of working in a restaurant, moving goods and washing vegetables.
Jiang Wan pursed her lips, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, and she still tiptoed, still worried.
My gaze swept over his arm and then fell on his face, confirming that he didn't have a single scratch.
Jiang Wan's heart, which had been hanging in suspense for more than ten minutes, finally slowly settled back into her stomach.
She unconsciously gripped the hem of her clothes with her small hands and muttered softly.
"I was sitting in the restaurant, not even noticing that the tea had gone cold. All I could hear was the shouting and cursing from over there. I kept worrying that you might have been accidentally hurt. The longer I waited, the more anxious I became, so I couldn't help but run over. Thankfully, you're safe and sound."
Jiang Wan spoke softly, her face still showing some worry, but the pain she had felt from her toothache had long since disappeared.
Seeing her like this, Xu Liang's heart softened even more, remembering how she had been so careful with her words because of her toothache.
This time, instead of pointing towards the small restaurant, he pointed to the town's health center.
"If your toothache is still painful, don't try to tough it out. Go to the hospital for an IV drip, apply a clean towel to your cheek, and rinse your mouth with warm water. That will relieve a lot of pain. It's better than standing here."
The afternoon sun shone through, and as people gradually dispersed in the flow of time, it warmly bathed the two of them.
The chaos of the fight and scuffing at the cooperative's entrance was gradually dispelled by the few rays of sunlight that followed.
The leaves of the old locust trees along the street rustled in the wind. Occasionally, passersby would stop and cast approving glances at Xu Liang. Some enthusiastic aunties would also chat with Jiang Wan with smiles, praising Xu Liang's abilities.
Jiang Wan's cheeks flushed slightly as she nodded gently, but her gaze remained fixed on Xu Liang.
The two were talking in hushed tones when suddenly a series of hurried footsteps and heavy breathing came from afar.
Old Zhao, the director of the cooperative, came running from the east end of the town, clutching a worn-out canvas bag with white edges. He was covered in sweat, and the collar of his dark blue Zhongshan suit was open, with sweat streaming down his face.
Two warehouse managers, each carrying an account book and an abacus, followed closely behind, jogging along.
Upon seeing the messy state of the open space in front of the cooperative, with two wooden sticks lying to the side, one could see...
Looking at Uncle Zhang and Brother Li, their clothes were disheveled, their hair was messy, and they looked tired and resentful. Old Zhao's face immediately darkened.
He paused, stepped forward, and asked sternly.
"What on earth happened? A fight broke out in broad daylight right in front of the cooperative! What will the townspeople think of our cooperative if word gets out? You've all been here for years, how could you be so impulsive!"
Uncle Zhang and Brother Li, who had been arguing fiercely just moments before, instantly deflated when their superior, Old Zhao, arrived.
But they still turned their faces away, twisting their necks to look to the side, suppressing their resentment, neither willing to bow their heads and admit defeat first.
The two young men who were doing odd jobs were even more frightened, their heads down, their fingers nervously gripping the hem of their clothes. They didn't dare to look Old Zhao in the eye, and they were still clutching the brick fragments they had just put down. Their fingertips were pale and bluish, clearly still not fully recovered from their impulsiveness.
Seeing this, Xu Liang quickly stepped forward to block Jiang Wan, then nodded slightly to Old Zhao and calmly explained the whole story in detail.
From Old Wang rushing to the restaurant to report the news, to several people getting into a fight at the cooperative's entrance, to himself coming over to pull everyone apart, he emphasized that the root of the conflict was that the accounts for the newly arrived white sugar didn't match up. The two sides suspected each other, and being publicly criticized made them lose face, which led to the argument escalating into a fight.
He added solemnly at the end.
"Director Zhao, I've managed to calm them down for now, but the knot in their hearts hasn't been untied. If we don't clear up the misunderstanding and find out where the candy bag is, it'll cause an even bigger conflict sooner or later, and then it'll be even harder to handle."
Upon hearing this, Old Zhao's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly, and his eyes instantly filled with gratitude as he looked at Xu Liang. He reached out and patted Xu Liang's shoulder heavily.
"Liangwazi, we really owe you a lot today! If you had arrived a moment later, these guys would have been seriously injured. Not only would we have had to pay for medical treatment, but we would also have had to go to the police station. Our cooperative would have lost all face, and the whole town would have been talking about it."
"You young man, you are always kind and friendly when you run a restaurant, and you can always come in handy when it matters. If there were more people like you in town, there wouldn't be so many troubles."
He then turned to look at Uncle Zhang and Brother Li, his expression turning serious again, his tone authoritative.
"You two have been working at the cooperative for almost fifteen years, haven't you? You've been working here since the cooperative was first established, you're practically veterans, how come you're still so clumsy?"
"When there are conflicts or questions, instead of contacting me first, you go to the warehouse manager to reconcile accounts, and instead you start a fight. If someone gets seriously injured, can you bear the consequences?"
Uncle Zhang was the first to be unable to contain his grievances. He took a small step forward, his cheeks flushed red, and began to complain to Old Zhao.
"Director, it's not that I wanted to take action, it's just that Old Li went too far!"
"In front of so many neighbors, he accused me of stealing sugar from the warehouse, saying I was dishonest and trying to smear me! I, Old Zhang, have worked at the cooperative for so many years, always honest and law-abiding. I've never taken a single needle or ounce of sugar from the government. If this gets out, my whole family will be utterly disgraced. My son is about to go on a blind date; if the other party hears that I stole from the government, will the marriage still be possible?"
Uncle Zhang's voice was choked with emotion. He was a man who cared a lot about his reputation. He had been honest and upright all his life and cared most about his reputation. Being publicly accused of theft was more painful for him than being beaten.
Brother Li immediately stepped forward, stubbornly retorting with an impatient expression.
"I didn't mean to slander him! During the warehouse inventory this morning, two bags of high-quality white sugar were clearly missing. The numbers recorded in the inventory ledger don't match the actual stock. Only Lao Zhang and I have the warehouse keys, and Lao Zhang was the last to lock the warehouse door after get off work last night. He didn't take it. Did the white sugar grow wings and fly away?"
"I was so anxious about the lost company property that I said some harsh words in the heat of the moment. I'm not an unreasonable person, but he started arguing with me right away, and that's when I got really angry!"
As they talked, their voices unconsciously rose again, and their eyes became sharp once more. Just as they were about to start arguing again, Xu Liang quickly reached out and stood between them to stop them.
Xu Liang spoke in a calm and weighty tone.
"Uncle Zhang, Brother Li, calm down and stop arguing. There are only three possibilities for the sugar to go missing: either the manager miscounted it during inventory, it was misplaced when the goods were moved, or it was missed in the ledger. It's not necessarily that someone took it."
"Let's not argue about who's right and who's wrong right now. Let's go to the warehouse and re-inventory the books, checking each item in the ledgers one by one. Once the truth comes out, the misunderstanding will naturally be cleared up. That's more effective than arguing a hundred times or having a fight here. Don't you agree?"
Old Zhao nodded repeatedly in agreement.
"Xu Liang is absolutely right! Go to the warehouse now and get all the ledgers and inventory slips. The manager should check them item by item with an abacus, and the goods on the shelves should be counted one by one. We must get to the bottom of this today!"
No one should be wrongly accused, nor should public property be allowed to go missing without cause. If someone is truly negligent and makes a mistake, they must be severely criticized!
After saying that, Old Zhao turned around and led Uncle Zhang, Brother Li and the two warehouse managers toward the warehouse in the backyard of the cooperative. The two young men also lowered their heads and obediently followed behind the group, not daring to slack off in the slightest.
Fearing that the group might argue again on the way, Xu Liang gently tugged at Jiang Wan's wrist, signaling her to come along, since he was the one who mediated the situation.
He wouldn't feel at ease until he saw the problem completely resolved, and he also couldn't rest easy leaving Jiang Wan alone here.
"By the way, could you go to the hospital first? I'll come see you after I'm done with this, okay?"
"Uh-huh!"
Jiang Wan obediently did as Xu Liang said, and walked away slowly with light steps.
She looked at the streets and alleys of the small town in front of her. In the 1990s, the town did not have bustling high-rise buildings or heavy traffic. The bluestone road was full of potholes, and the shops on the street were all low bungalows.
Yet, there's a palpable sense of trepidation about returning home. Neighbors are always in the same boat, and even the smallest things can escalate into public knowledge. This is precisely why a misunderstanding can lead to such a major conflict, making reconciliation all the more crucial.
Jiang Wan arrived at the hospital shortly afterward.
……
Meanwhile, in the backyard of the cooperative's warehouse, Xu Liang had a spacious bungalow with an old wooden door that creaked when pushed open.
The warehouse was filled with all kinds of daily necessities. The shelves against the wall were neatly arranged, with cloth and towels on the top shelf, sugar, salt, soy sauce and vinegar on the middle shelf, and grains, oils and flour on the bottom shelf.
The items were neatly categorized, but the corner was somewhat cluttered due to the recent frequent deliveries, which had resulted in a pile of empty cardboard boxes and miscellaneous goods that hadn't been organized yet.
As soon as the two managers entered the warehouse, they immediately brought over a worn-out wooden table, spread out the thick inventory ledgers on the table, picked up their abacuses, and began to calculate with a rapid, rhythmic sound.
The pen tip kept drawing on the ledger, and he looked extremely focused.
Uncle Zhang and Brother Li stood on either side of the table, leaning slightly forward, their eyes fixed on the numbers in the ledger and the sugar bags on the shelf. The atmosphere became tense again, as if the air around them had frozen.
At this moment, no one dared to speak loudly, for fear of disturbing the reconciliation.
Xu Liang walked to the shelf and helped the manager count the amount of sugar. He was skilled and counted each bag carefully. Occasionally, he would lower his head and whisper a few words to the manager, asking about the entries in the ledger.
Time passed second by second, and more than forty minutes later, the once quiet warehouse was suddenly filled with the exclamation of one of the managers slapping his forehead. He stood up abruptly, almost dropping the abacus in his hand, and said with a face full of annoyance.
"Oh! Found it! Found it! It's my fault, it's all my negligence!"
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately crowded around, their eyes fixed on the direction the administrator was pointing.
The manager quickly walked to the innermost corner of the warehouse, pried open several empty cardboard boxes and a bundle of old burlap sacks piled on top. Two sacks were intact, with brand-new sugar bags exposed, the white packaging bags printed with red lettering.
It was the newly arrived batch of high-quality white sugar from the cooperative, still sealed, sitting there cleanly without any signs of being touched.
"When this batch of white sugar arrived last week, there was too much stock, and it wouldn't fit on the shelves. I temporarily moved these two bags to this corner of the miscellaneous goods pile, thinking I'd move them back the next day. But I was busy the next day and forgot. When I did the inventory, I only counted the ones on the shelves and didn't check the corner. I also missed recording these two bags in the ledger, which caused such a big misunderstanding. It's all my fault; I was careless in my work!"
The administrator's face turned bright red as he kept apologizing to everyone, his tone full of self-reproach, wishing he could disappear into the ground.
The truth quickly came to light: no one had stolen public property at all; it was simply a case of negligence on the part of the administrator who had missed recording the wrong item in the accounts, which led to the dispute.
Looking at the two bags of sugar placed peacefully in the corner, Brother Li's anger completely disappeared, replaced by deep guilt and embarrassment.
He scratched his head, walked awkwardly to Uncle Zhang, rubbing his hands together unconsciously, and spoke sincerely and apologetically.
"Old Zhang, I'm so sorry, I'm really sorry! I was too impulsive. I wronged you without investigating the situation and even accused you of stealing in public, which hurt your reputation. It was my fault, please don't take it to heart. I'll accept whatever punishment you want."
Looking at the two bags of sugar, the resentment and grievances that had been building up inside Uncle Zhang vanished in an instant.
He waved his hand, let out a long sigh, and the tension on his face softened. He patted Brother Li's arm and said with a smile.
"Sigh, it's not entirely your fault. I was too hasty at the time. When I heard you say I stole something, I got angry and started arguing with you, even hitting you. I also said some nasty things. I was wrong too."
"We've been colleagues for a long time, working together in the cooperative for so many years, and we've always had a good relationship. It's not worth making such a fuss over this little misunderstanding. We'll still be good brothers in the future."
"It wasn't worth it, it's all my fault. I apologize to the two uncles and to everyone!"
The administrator quickly stepped forward, bowed deeply to Uncle Zhang and Brother Li, and said with a face full of guilt.
"Because of my negligence, you had such a big conflict and almost got into a fight. I will definitely work carefully in the future and never make such a low-level mistake again. I will make sure that the accounts match the actual situation every day and never be careless."
The two young men quickly stepped forward, apologized to Uncle Zhang and Brother Li, and said with their heads down.
"Uncle, we were wrong too. We shouldn't have acted impulsively and picked up sticks and bricks, almost causing a disaster. We will definitely control our temper in the future and never be so reckless again."
The root cause of a fierce conflict caused by work negligence has finally been found, and the people who had previously blamed each other and fought have all let go of their resentment.
They took the initiative to apologize to the other party, and their tone was very sincere.
Old Zhao stood aside, watching the harmonious scene before him, a relieved smile on his face, and his tone softened considerably.
"That's right. We're colleagues from the same unit, and even more so, fellow villagers from the same town. We see each other all the time. If we can talk things out, there's no problem that can't be solved."
"Be more careful in your work from now on, especially in warehouse management. You must be meticulous and thorough, and don't make this mistake again."
"When problems arise, stay calm and seek help from the organization. Under no circumstances should we resort to physical violence. Let's put this matter behind us and not hold grudges."
Uncle Zhang and Brother Li exchanged a glance and laughed sheepishly. Their previous angry stares vanished completely at that moment.
Afterwards, the two even reached out and clasped hands tightly, and all the misunderstandings and resentment vanished.
Xu Liang stood aside, watching the two sides completely reconcile.
A faint smile unconsciously appeared at the corner of his mouth.
However, at this moment, Xu Liang remembered that Jiang Wan was still waiting for him at the hospital.