Chapter 67
Yan Xiang returned from the Library carrying books, very happy.
The Library had so many, many books, far more than at home.
He almost shouted out in excitement, but fortunately, the moment he stepped into the office and felt the quiet atmosphere, he closed his mouth in time—Mom had said that he couldn’t disturb the other people in the office.
But Station Chief Lu still caught sight of the books he was holding: “Yo, Xiangxiang can read books like this?”
Naturally, he was teasing the child.
Yan Xiang was about to answer, but Qiao Wei slapped her hand on top of his head, interrupting him. She flipped through the books he had brought, saying: “There are so many illustrations.”
A child this small was probably just flipping through the books to look at the pictures for fun. Station Chief Lu didn’t pay it any mind.
He only instructed him: “You can read them, but don’t tear them, these belong to the public.”
Yan Xiang never tore books, so he immediately agreed: “Okay!”
He was truly likable.
Lu Manman had already finished the broadcast and left work.
Station Chief Lu said very kindly: “Qiao can leave too.”
Hu Sui continued to zone out.
She was clearly very used to the fact that the real broadcaster’s office hours were different from hers.
She had nothing to complain about; she hadn’t been asked to pay for breaking the machine twice, but after causing such trouble, her husband was very annoyed. He told her to behave: “Do whatever you are told to do, and don’t mess around with things you aren’t told to do.”
Station Chief Lu told her to clean the office.
In a place only this big, it would be cleaned up in a jiffy. The rest of the day was basically free wages. It wasn’t hard work, it didn’t require any brainpower, so what was there to complain about?
Qiao Wei asked for Station Chief Lu’s permission: “Can I take these old manuscripts home to study?”
Station Chief Lu laughed: “No need to rush.”
According to past experience, he intended to let Lu Manman train the newcomer for two weeks before letting the newcomer gradually take over.
Qiao Wei said: “Manman hasn’t had a day off for two weeks straight, it’s too miserable. I’ll get started early to let her have a break.”
Station Chief Lu laughed heartily: “Fine, fine.”
Qiao Wei asked again: “Can I take the newspapers back to read as well?”
“You can, but these must be brought back; new newspapers must be kept for a period of time. If you need paper at home, go to the warehouse and ask the custodian for some old newspapers.”
“No, I’m just taking them home to study.”
“Then take them, go ahead.”
In the afternoon, Yan Lei returned home and asked the first thing: “How was it today?”
Qiao Wei countered: “Are you nervous?”
Yan Lei didn’t admit it: “What would I be nervous about?”
Qiao Wei said: “I’m not the same as before, you can rest assured.”
“Of course I know that.” Yan Lei took the basin of vegetables she was picking from her hands, “As long as you are willing, you can do it well.”
Yo, what’s with this resentment?
Qiao Wei smiled and teased him: “Is it that I have to say ‘Yan Lei, I want to live a good life with you’ every day for you to be happy?”
Yan Lei carried the basin and followed her into the kitchen: “I’m listening.”
He really wanted her to say it.
Qiao Wei was speechless.
Yan Lei was still aggressive: “See, you won’t say it at all.”
She couldn’t stand this man anymore; Qiao Wei put her hand on his shoulder and leaned out to take a look—Yan Xiang was in the room.
She stood on tiptoe and pecked his lips: “I will… live a good life with you.”
The basin was tossed onto the stove.
Yan Lei gripped Qiao Wei’s slender waist and lowered his head to kiss her back.
Her lips were sweet and beautiful.
After kissing again and again, Qiao Wei said: “If you don’t let go, we won’t have dinner.”
Yan Lei finally let her go.
He went to wash his hands, took off his uniform, and came over to take the kitchen knife from Qiao Wei.
The knives in this era were not as small and delicate as in later generations; they were big and heavy. Since Qiao Wei had transmigrated, her wrist and arm strength had improved from cooking.
Yan Lei took it and flicked his wrist lightly, chopping the vegetables swish-swish-swish-swish, with ease.
The husband and wife worked together, and a meal was quickly prepared.
He picked up a piece of meat, let her taste it first, and then called his son: “Xiangxiang—time to eat!”
The topic at the dinner table was naturally the Broadcasting Station.
Qiao Wei told Yan Lei about the specific kinship relations of the three Lus and one Xie.
Yan Lei glanced at her expression: “Does it annoy you?”
The town residents had urban household registrations, but because the place was small, compared to big cities, many things were closer to the countryside.
Qiao Wei hated these complicated kinship relations.
“What’s there to be annoyed about?” Qiao Wei said, “It’s quite interesting.”
“Oh?”
“The other broadcaster and I only have to be punctual during the morning rebroadcast time. The rest of the time, including the afternoon shift, has a lot of freedom.” Qiao Wei said, “But the older sister who is in charge of cleaning, she is also a military dependent, and the lineman is a clan relative. The Station Chief keeps their attendance very strict. The kind where being late results in a deduction of wages.”
Yan Lei raised an eyebrow.
Although he was young, he was a regimental-level cadre; he was also a leader, not even a small leader, but a middle-level cadre.
How could he not understand as a leading cadre?
He looked at Qiao Wei, and Qiao Wei also raised her eyebrows back.
Both of them saw Station Chief Lu very clearly.
Control and authority.
The corresponding response was obedience.
Lu Manman and Qiao Wei achieved obedience by doing actual work.
But Hu Sui was almost equivalent to doing nothing, and she had a Military District background. Although Lu Tianming was a young clan relative, he held the technical skills.
In fact, this Broadcasting Station only needed two people—Qiao Wei, Lu Manman, or Lu Tianming—any two of the three could support the Broadcasting Station.
Then what was the point of the Station Chief’s existence? Therefore, there had to be a point.
Hu Sui and Lu Tianming had to be strictly managed; even though they had nothing to do all day, they still had to observe strict attendance.
Thus, they achieved obedience.
Station Chief Lu achieved control and established authority.
He had a sense of existence and a sense of purpose.
Yan Lei asked: “You think it’s interesting?”
He felt a slight strangeness in his heart. Based on his knowledge of her past, her thinking was actually very simple; she was obedient but didn’t know how to read between the lines, and was not sensitive to the hidden attitudes and intentions in people’s speech.
“It is interesting.” Qiao Wei pursed her lips and smiled, “The human heart is especially interesting in these small details.”
In a hospital, if you stay long enough, you can witness the sufferings of the world, joys and sorrows, partings and reunions, and the fickleness of human nature.
The subtleties of the human heart often condensed into black shadows, drifting in the corridors thick with the smell of disinfectant in the middle of the night.
After seeing so much of this, going to see ordinary people in the sunlight, like Sister Yang, who despite having various small faults, was very bright and radiant.
Station Chief Lu’s little tricks didn’t make her feel annoyed; she only found them interesting.
Once you see through them, it’s quite interesting.
Qiao Wei’s eyes were deep and dark.
After dinner, Yan Lei accompanied Yan Xiang to play in the sandbox.
He had a pair of strong and dexterous hands and quickly figured out how to play with the sand. He could sculpt the shape of a house using semi-wet sand.
It made Yan Xiang marvel.
After they had played enough, he took Yan Xiang to wash his hands and went inside, seeing Qiao Wei writing intently at her desk.
“What are you writing?” He walked over.
Qiao Wei handed it to him: “Read it and see, is it okay?”
It was a short article. Yan Lei read it quickly and evaluated: “It’s no different from what we usually study.”
“No mistakes, but also nothing outstanding, right?” Qiao Wei asked.
Yan Lei nodded: “Correct.”
He asked: “Is this what you have to write for work?”
Qiao Wei not only brought the old manuscripts home but also specifically brought back a few newspapers, actually just for—copy and paste.
For this kind of thing, first of all, you don’t have that theoretical level, and you simply can’t write anything new. Unless you bring over the Three Represents.
And then, even if she could write something new, Qiao Wei wouldn’t.
“These are all ideological matters, bearing the responsibility of announcing things to the masses.” Qiao Wei said, “If you are not careful, it’s easy to have problems. If problems arise, they are serious problems.”
“I don’t want to start any ‘three fires of a new official’. It’s easy to burn yourself.”
“Stability. The things written by my pen seek to be safe and steady.”
Follow the most authoritative newspapers.
The editorials of authoritative newspapers are the meaning of the Central Committee. Every sentence needs to be parsed word by word. No one is steadier than them.
Excerpting, connecting, piecing together, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V—the things produced are completely sufficient for a small-town Broadcasting Station.
Yan Lei was stunned for a moment.
“What’s wrong?” Qiao Wei asked, “Did I say something wrong?”
“What you said is of course correct.” Yan Lei paused and said, “In the past two days, Division Commander Pan just finished conveying this meaning to us.”
Of course, it wasn’t public; it was private, conveyed to a small group of “insiders.”
“Seek stability.” Division Commander Pan said, “Do not try to stand out.”
Yan Lei didn’t expect to hear the exact same meaning from Qiao Wei upon returning home.
Qiao Wei’s eyes changed slightly, and she asked: “Does Division Commander Pan have any news from the Central Committee?”
Yan Lei said: “He didn’t say. But the meaning expressed is exactly the same as what you just said.”
Qiao Wei said to him: “Then you must listen to the Division Commander.”
“Of course.” Yan Lei’s eyes also deepened slightly, “I was originally thinking of finding time in the next two days to communicate with you about this. The Broadcasting Station has this disadvantage; if you express something poorly, you get into trouble. I didn’t expect you to have already thought of it yourself.”
It was so reassuring for a husband and wife to be able to reach a consensus on major issues. They didn’t have to worry about the other causing trouble.
Qiao Wei knew that the Military Unit or Division Commander Pan personally must have received some news or keenly smelled the change in the wind.
She was a little distressed.
She really couldn’t remember the years of major events.
How do the transmigrated protagonists in those period novels remember the years of major events so clearly? It’s almost as if they memorized history books and then transmigrated immediately.
As a transmigrator who knows about major events but doesn’t know the exact dates, Qiao Wei would probably be despised by many senior transmigrators.
But if you grabbed someone on the street to ask, most would be like this: “Yes, I know about this. Ah? Specific year and date? Hmm, ah, uh… that seems… not very clear.”
Qiao Wei tidied everything up on the table and took down a Selected Works of Great Man’s Thought from the shelf high up.
“Every Tuesday and Friday afternoon, we have to study in the Propaganda Section, a study task twice a week. I’ll review it first.”
“Want to do it together?”
Qiao Wei extended the invitation for mutual progress, and Yan Lei naturally joined happily.
Qiao Wei thought for a moment and called: “Xiangxiang, Xiangxiang—come here, baby, come listen to Mom and Dad reading.”
Yan Xiang trotted over: “Which book are you reading?”
Qiao Wei held up the selection in her hand: “This one.”
“I haven’t read this one, what is it about?” The books placed high on the shelf, Mom had said, were adult books, and told him not to touch them.
“Just listen. Understand as much as you can, and it doesn’t matter if you don’t understand.”
Yan Lei laughed and picked up Yan Xiang, placing him on his lap: “Come on, let’s edify my son, the whole family studying and progressing together.”
In the Military Unit, he was the one leading others to study; back home, he became the one accompanying his wife and son to study.
Yan Lei and Qiao Wei took turns reading aloud.
Qiao Wei also took notes.
Yan Lei looked up and saw Qiao Wei’s eyes, and couldn’t help but pause.
She was very serious.
Yan Lei stopped: “Qiao Wei, is your faith firm?”
Qiao Wei countered: “What do you think?”
Yan Lei looked carefully into her eyes; a firm gaze could not be faked, and there was no need to fake it in front of her own husband.
Qiao Wei stroked the book cover: “I can tell you that I firmly believe everything he said.”
In later generations, she hadn’t actually read his selected works seriously. She had only read bits and pieces online.
Now, the more she read, the more she felt moved.
He had long ago seen through the essence of all contradictions: class contradictions, gender contradictions, and the opposition between bureaucrats and the masses.
He had also long seen through the true face of the Western paper tiger; he was far-sighted, sharp-eyed, and firm in his beliefs.
He stood too high, and his pace was too fast; no one could keep up.
People in this era only believed in him out of blind worship, not daring to question, rather than truly understanding.
But Qiao Wei was different; Qiao Wei had already witnessed time and history.
Time has verified his correctness, without a doubt.
The great man is immortal!
