Chapter 64
Station Chief Lu clarified the work details with Qiao Wei again.
“Official broadcasting starts at 10:05. The machines need to warm up, so you must come at least ten minutes early. You must be on time.”
“Afternoon work starts around 3:00, just be close enough. You handle it yourselves.”
The morning broadcast is for relaying the news and current events from the central government, which are relayed by the county Broadcasting Station.
The Central Broadcasting Station is punctual to the second, so the terminal end here must also turn on the machines on time.
You are not allowed to be late for the morning shift.
The afternoon broadcast is for the town’s own content.
It mainly consists of studying the Party’s spirit and national policies. If there is news in the town, it should also be broadcast, but generally, the town doesn’t have much news to report.
Whatever is broadcast is just trivial matters, but it counts as news.
Because it is self-generated content, the timing isn’t strictly enforced.
Around 3:00, whether you broadcast at 3:00 or 3:30 is fine.
If you don’t broadcast until 4:00, Station Chief Lu will probably put down his tea mug and newspaper, adjust his glasses, and give you a look.
But since you eventually broadcasted, he won’t say anything.
Station Chief Lu’s main job is to sit in the office, reading newspapers and drinking strong tea all day.
“When there are tasks, you will also need to write drafts.”
“When there’s nothing to do, you can dig around to see what current events in our town are worth reporting. Digging for shining gold in the ordinary—this is what our Broadcasting Station should do. After all, we belong to the Propaganda Section.”
Qiao Wei expressed that she would humbly learn.
The morning broadcast time is not long; at 10:05, it relays twenty minutes of news from the Central Broadcasting Station, followed by fifteen minutes of news and current events from Yongming County.
Qiao Wei went out to handle the transfer of her file, then came back to listen to Station Chief Lu’s instructions. Before he finished speaking, Lu Manman’s voice came over the speaker: “Xiahekou Town People’s Commune Broadcasting Station, this concludes our broadcast. Goodbye.”
Qiao Wei glanced at the wall clock in the office; it was 10:40.
Lu Manman quickly came over, twirling a keychain on her finger, and greeted her happily: “Qiao Wei, come here, I’ll teach you how to use the machines.”
Qiao Wei didn’t stand up immediately but looked at Station Chief Lu first.
Station Chief Lu was extremely satisfied with this new female comrade today. Hearing this, he scolded Lu Manman: “Are you in such a rush? She is here to report for duty today. Learn it tomorrow.”
Lu Manman actually meant no harm. She pouted and said: “She needs to learn it quickly; I must have this Sunday off! My dad went to the provincial capital the day before yesterday, and I missed going with him because of work. I don’t care, I must rest this Sunday.”
The daily office hours for a broadcaster are very short.
It was not even 11:00 in the morning, and Lu Manman had already finished her morning work. Before the afternoon work began, she could arrange her time as she pleased—going home or staying in the office to sip tea leisurely were both fine.
The row of potted flowers on the windowsill were all well-tended; it was clear that everyone was very relaxed.
But broadcasting cannot stop on Sundays; in fact, because everyone else is off on Sundays, the broadcast needs to be done even better.
Therefore, regardless of how many broadcasters are officially on the roster, the Broadcasting Station needs at least two who actually do the work. These two broadcasters take turns resting on Sundays.
Last week, because the person who was pregnant went home to rest, Lu Manman, who was supposed to have her turn off, was forced to work overtime on the weekend, missing the chance to go to the provincial capital with her dad. So annoying!
“Rest assured, Qiao clearly looks like a comrade with strong learning ability. I guarantee she’ll learn it as soon as she’s taught.” Station Chief Lu vouched.
It could be said that Qiao Wei was the one with the highest overall quality among those sent over by the Military District. He wasn’t worried at all.
“Alright…” Lu Manman chuckled and said to Qiao Wei, “Then there’s nothing to do today; you can go home.”
Qiao Wei looked at Station Chief Lu again with a smile.
Station Chief Lu liked that she was so observant and followed his lead. He nodded: “There’s nothing else today, Qiao, you can go back. Tomorrow, remember to arrive at least ten minutes early.”
That meant the latest time to clock in for the morning shift was 9:55.
Qiao Wei woke up earlier now, unlike when she first arrived. On the way back from buying groceries, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative would be open, and she could browse.
Ever since she started morning jogging, she could go buy groceries early, and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative wouldn’t even be open on her way back.
This work schedule was very generous.
Station Chief Lu nodded, and Qiao Wei didn’t pretend otherwise. She stood up with a smile; today’s reporting for duty was over, so it counted as getting off work.
She left with Lu Manman.
Lu Manman could see that she wasn’t the same type as Hu Sui; she looked like someone who could actually do the work. She was happy and proactively told her: “There is a Cafeteria in the Town Committee compound; if you don’t want to go home to cook, you can eat here. It’s less trouble to eat before going back. I go home to eat because my grandmother cooks every day, and she won’t be happy if I don’t go back to eat.”
“That would be so convenient.” Qiao Wei was overjoyed.
She calculated that she needed to consider Yan Xiang’s walking speed. In the future, she would leave at 9:20 and arrive in about twenty minutes. Walking to work without traffic jams meant she would never be late.
At noon, she could take Yan Xiang to eat at the Cafeteria, saving the trouble of lighting a fire at home. After eating, she could go home for a nap, and wake up just in time for the afternoon shift.
What a heavenly job this is.
When they reached the main gate and were about to part ways, Lu Manman said: “Come a little earlier tomorrow, and I’ll teach you how to use the machines.”
Qiao Wei happily agreed: “Okay.”
She looked like a straightforward person, and Lu Manman was very happy, humming a tune as she left.
Qiao Wei left the Town Committee Residential Compound happily to pick up the shoes she had someone make for her.
At the third house in the alley, she didn’t even need to knock; the courtyard gate was wide open, and the old lady was sitting on the threshold doing needlework.
“Auntie, I’ve come to see you.” Qiao Wei didn’t say she was there to pick up shoes, so as not to be overheard.
“You’re here, come into the house for some water.” The old lady smiled and led her inside, then closed the courtyard gate.
Qiao Wei got her cloth sandals; you have to say, this needlework craftsmanship was truly good.
“Is it like this?” The old lady said, “If it’s not right, I’ll take it apart and sew it again for you.”
“It’s exactly this style.” Qiao Wei was very satisfied. She took out a dried lotus leaf package from her military satchel and gave it to the old lady.
The old lady opened the lotus leaf, which contained a white flour steamed bun. She was also very satisfied: “In the future, if you have any needlework, feel free to come to me.”
Qiao Wei remembered that this old lady also had the surname Lu. She originally called her Auntie Lu, but the old lady told her to call her Auntie Baer.
Her heart stirred, and she asked: “Auntie, there are quite a lot of people with the surname Lu around here.”
Auntie Baer said proudly: “Of course, here in our Xiahekou, half the people are surnamed Lu, half are surnamed Xu, half are surnamed Xie, and the rest have other surnames.”
Qiao Wei didn’t bother to argue with her about how three “halves” added up to 1.5 times the population; she exclaimed: “No wonder, so it’s a major surname.”
“Indeed.”
“Auntie, what was your maiden name?”
“It’s Xie.”
Qiao Wei nodded with a smile, promised to come to her again if there was any more needlework, stuffed the new sandals into her satchel, and went home.
First, she went to Regimental Commander Zhao’s house to pick up Yan Xiang.
Sister Yang came up and asked: “Did you pass?”
She really had a lot of confidence in her.
Qiao Wei chuckled: “I passed.”
Finally, there was something to do. Ever since she finished repairing the road and painting the walls, she had nothing to do, and she really felt like even her walking speed had become sluggish.
Cooking every day became her mental sustenance, but at this time, the variety of ingredients, seasonings, and cookware was not as rich as in later generations.
From now on, there would be a heavenly job to do.
Sister Yang pulled her into the house, avoiding Lin Xixi, and asked: “How much is the salary?”
Qiao Wei said: “I’m a new hire, so I’m paid as a general staff member, 14 yuan a month. After three months, I’ll be a full staff member, 23 yuan a month.”
Sister Yang was so happy she clapped her hands: “Good, good, good!”
She was someone who knew the ropes and continued to ask: “What about the allowance? Meals? What do they give out for holidays?”
Qiao Wei broke into a slight sweat.
At this time, there was no concept of “privacy.” If you were on good terms with someone, except for marital matters, you could get to the bottom of how much money they earned.
Yesterday, during the women’s tea party, when the sisters talked about other families’ financial situations, they truly wouldn’t miss a detail, even down to the one jin of meat and half a jin of oil given out for holidays.
They knew everything.
It was impossible to politely refuse to protect your privacy like in later generations; they simply couldn’t understand why income couldn’t be disclosed and would persistently keep asking until you confessed.
Qiao Wei said: “I haven’t figured it out yet. It was my first day, so I was embarrassed to keep asking. I just know that meals are provided by the big kitchen.”
“Indeed. You must figure it out later; don’t let them shortchange you. We are outsiders, and the locals stick together; they might tell us lies or play tricks, so you need to be careful.” Sister Yang said, “There must be other military families in the Town Committee; remember to get close to them too. Remember that we are cadres’ family members; don’t be afraid if something happens, the Military District has our back.”
Qiao Wei had almost been scammed by Auntie Baer just for making shoes, so she deeply felt the truth of this.
Local protectionism was almost an innate consciousness of the indigenous people in every place. Although the military families had their jobs arranged locally, to the indigenous people, they were still outsiders.
In the evening, Yan Lei came back and asked her: “Did you report for duty?”
He didn’t even ask if she passed the exam.
Qiao Wei told him: “My grain rations have already been transferred.”
“Who did you meet? How do you feel?” Seeing her good complexion and knowing everything went smoothly today, Yan Lei asked with a smile.
Qiao Wei roughly described today’s situation and then said: “Counting me, there are only seven people in the Broadcasting Station, and three of them are surnamed Lu.”
Yan Lei looked at it from another angle: “Three out of the seven are military families.”
Qiao Wei paused: “That’s true.”
Although the proportion of people surnamed Lu in the Broadcasting Station was too high, the strength of the Military District was not small either. It could be said that everyone actually had a background. Qiao Wei didn’t rely on her surname, but she relied on the Military Unit.
Actually, it was the same thing.
“I heard that the three surnames Lu, Xie, and Xu account for three-quarters of the entire town’s population?” She said.
Yan Lei knew more clearly: “The Town Mayor is surnamed Xie, those surnamed Lu are mainly in the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and the Armed Forces Minister is surnamed Xu.”
Qiao Wei calculated: “The Station Chief is surnamed Lu, the Propaganda Section Chief is surnamed Xie, the broadcaster, the line technician… ah, I remember, that big brother at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative is surnamed Xu. Auntie Baer, who made my shoes, has the maiden name Xie, and her husband’s surname is Lu.”
“It’s all about being deeply intertwined, right.” Qiao Wei clicked her tongue, “Clan power is still so strong in places outside of big cities.”
In later generations, the North was slightly better, but the South was intense—ancestral halls everywhere, people with the same surname sticking together. Whether in business or in officialdom, they were all twisted into a single rope.
You can see a lot of things online; it has a sense of ashes reigniting and making a comeback.
Yan Lei had never discussed such specific, grounded issues with Qiao Wei before.
“The Party Secretary was transferred from outside, a demobilized soldier.” He told her.
The Party leads the country; the “Chiefs” are all second-in-command, while the “Secretary” is the top leader.
“Imperialism will not give up its intention to destroy us, and feudal remnants are always preparing for a restoration. Don’t be afraid; the Chairman will lead us to thoroughly break feudal thinking, liberate women, and eliminate all feudal remnants.”
“The Chairman teaches us to always carry out the task of educating and reforming ourselves. For this period, you have been doing very well.”
“Qiao Wei, you must study hard, be vigilant at all times, and keep it up!”
Uh…
Being stared at by such a stern, upright person with such passionate, expectant, and burning eyes, the pressure was overwhelming.
Qiao Wei: “I, uh, I will try… um, try!”
