Chapter 83: The Mute Girl

The girl continued to bow repeatedly, swaying in front of Li Xian, bringing him back to his senses. 

He couldn't help but examine the young boy who had been forcefully pushed into the crowd. It was somewhat amusing; the boy was clearly still growing and seemed to be just a child…

"Is this your brother?" 

Li Xian asked, pulling the bowing girl aside. "How old is he? Is he sixteen yet?"

If the boy had a disability, Li Xian might consider employing him, but child labor was something he could never risk! Although the paper factory wasn't particularly strenuous, it was still a non-stop operation during busy periods. The boy, who seemed even younger than Li Xian, wouldn't be suitable for such an environment.

Moreover, since the paper factory was now a private enterprise, any oversight by the authorities could lead to serious trouble. Employing minors was a significant violation in any era.

Upon hearing Li Xian's question about the boy's age, the girl's eyes visibly panicked. She turned her eyes around as if she didn't understand Li Xian's words, fluttering her long eyelashes and gesturing with her fingers, repeating her earlier actions.

"No," Li Xian said helplessly, "I know he's mentally and physically capable, but is he sixteen yet?"

The girl stopped, bit her lip, and put her hands together, giving Li Xian a pleading look. The meaning was clear.

Just as Li Xian was feeling troubled, the leader of the Disabled Persons Federation, Mr. Ma, hurried out. Seeing the girl clinging to Li Xian, he immediately scolded, "Su Ya! What are you doing here? Hurry up and take your brother back!"

With that, he reached into the crowd to pull the boy away.

Seeing her brother being dragged, Su Ya, the girl, became anxious and pounced like a small tiger, biting Mr. Ma's arm!

In pain, Mr. Ma swung his arm, pushing Su Ya to the ground.

"Hey?!" Realizing the situation, Li Xian quickly stepped forward and helped the girl, who had fallen into a puddle, back up.

"Mr. Ma, watch your attitude! How can you, as the head of the Disabled Persons Federation, hit people?" Wang Linhe reprimanded sternly.

Mr. Ma, holding his arm and looking distressed, replied, "Old leader, the situation with this brother and sister is different!"

"How is it different? They're both deaf-mute. I see no difference! This attitude is problematic!" Wang Linhe, not giving him a chance to explain, criticized him directly when he saw the weak girl shivering in the cold.

At that moment, Su Ya's brother, who had been largely ignored by everyone, let out a loud shout.

"Ah!"

Then, Li Xian saw Mr. Ma being knocked to the ground. The thin boy had gone wild, straddling Mr. Ma and hitting him indiscriminately.

"Let you bully my sister! Let you bully my sister!"

This scene left Wang Linhe, Zheng Weishi, and Li Xian stunned.

This… how could they be deaf-mute?

…

"Ah, old leader, this is the situation," Mr. Ma explained in the office, covered in mud. 

It turned out that the siblings' father was a sent-down youth from Beidahuang who married a local woman during his service. After returning to the city in 1975, he abandoned his family and never returned. The main pillar of the family was gone, and the mother fell apart. Originally, Su Ya wasn't deaf or mute, but after a high fever wasn't treated in time, she lost her ability to speak.

Because she needed to take care of her mother, Su Ya couldn't work and only received a disability allowance of fifteen yuan a month and a low-income subsidy of twenty-five yuan.

Su Hui's situation was also complex. At fifteen, he had been expelled from school last year for fighting with classmates.

Su Ya wanted her brother to work in her place since she couldn't work herself. Unfortunately, no company would employ a young boy like him. 

It was simply asking for trouble.

After understanding the siblings' situation, Wang Linhe and Zheng Weishi looked at the brother and sister standing quietly against the wall of the office.

"Hmm," Zheng Weishi said, taking a deep breath, "This is tricky. But they do have difficulties, so if you can help, do help. It's quite pitiful."

This wasn't addressed to Mr. Ma.

Li Xian sighed and, glaring at the meddling and scheming Old Zheng, stood in front of Su Hui. "Don't want to go to school?"

Su Hui didn't respond and kept his head down.

Li Xian asked again, "Why do you always get into fights?"

Hearing this, Su Hui's eyes burned with anger, but he remained silent.

Li Xian frowned.

This behavior seemed a bit like autism…

Ever since the coffin business at the lumber yard improved, Zhang Yaba had been looking for apprentices. 

Thinking of this, Li Xian had an idea.

Seeing Mr. Ma's troubled look, he waved his hand, "Here's the deal, Director Ma. We have a carpenter at the lumber yard looking for apprentices. If possible, let this boy try there. As for the girl…"

Hearing her name, Su Ya looked up and blinked.

"Let her work at our factory," Li Xian said with a wave of his hand.

Su Ya quickly shook her head, placing her index fingers on her lips and then drawing a few gestures.

Li Xian was confused.

"She's saying her mother needs care," Mr. Ma translated.

Oh.

Li Xian chuckled, "We have a lot of deaf-mute workers at the factory. Communication can indeed be a problem. Cleaning work doesn't require daily presence; you can work out a schedule. However, the salary won't be high, only seventy yuan a month. If that's unacceptable, then there's nothing more we can do."

Upon hearing the conditions and salary, Su Ya was stunned for a moment, then excitedly nodded repeatedly.

So the matter was settled.

After bidding farewell to Mr. Ma, Li Xian took Su Ya and Su Hui, along with the other prospective workers, and, with Zheng and Wang, went to the factory.

The factory was still bustling. As the market increasingly accepted high-quality sanitary paper, the factory's shipment volume continued to rise steadily after an initial explosive growth.

The disabled individuals watched the roaring machines and busy workers with curiosity, their eyes constantly moving.

Li Xian led everyone and found Zhang Dagong, instructing him to arrange positions for the new workers based on their conditions. This left Zhang Dagong quite troubled!

"Factory manager, this… it's easy to arrange positions for those with missing limbs, they can just monitor the machines, avoiding heavy work. But how do we arrange positions for those who can't understand spoken language?"

As he was saying this, Su Ya made a sound, pointed at Zhang Dagong's mouth, then pointed at herself and performed a sign language gesture.

Everyone understood the meaning.

Li Xian smiled, "Alright, you can be the translator for the non-hearing workers. Represent the deaf-mute workers at the daily meetings."

Su Ya smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

With the workers arranged, Li Xian took Zheng and Wang to his office. Unable to contain his pride, he showed them the factory's recent accounts.

Seeing that the factory's revenue had reached over thirty thousand yuan in just a few days, with profits exceeding eleven thousand, Zheng Weishi and Wang Linhe were amazed.

"Good heavens! If this paper factory keeps developing like this, it might soon rival the lumber factory!"

Zheng Weishi, who previously managed forestry, was well aware of the lumber factory's efficiency. As the most profitable secondary industry in the Forestry Bureau, the board factory only earned a little over ten thousand yuan a day.

But the board factory's scale was massive!

With over nine hundred workers alone!

In contrast, the paper factory, with less than a fifth of that scale, achieved nearly half the profit of the board factory!

As they marveled at the profitability of the paper business, the sound of car engines came from outside the factory.

Li Xian looked out the window, frowning.

He saw Xu Chaoyang's 212 and another Santana parked beneath the factory's second-floor office building. Soon, a group of impeccably dressed people, clearly high-ranking officials, got out of the cars.