Chapter 107
Qiao Wei’s worry about Lu Manman was purely unnecessary.
When Lu Manman returned, her face was a circle rounder, and she was full of vigor and spirit.
Lu Manman’s mother had worried throughout the entire holiday, but upon seeing her rosy, round face, she was finally relieved.
A mother-in-law looks at her son-in-law and finds him more and more pleasing to the eye.
Lu Manman brought Qiao Wei a small jar of salted duck eggs: “This was pickled by my mother-in-law herself. It’s not too salty and is oily; it’s especially delicious.”
Her mother-in-law wouldn’t even eat them herself, but upon hearing that she wanted to bring them for her son’s leader, she took them out.
Qiao Wei asked how the holiday had been.
“The hygiene was a bit poor, but everything else was fine. We didn’t lack for food; the cellar at home was stocked with plenty of winter vegetables, as well as pickled vegetables,” Lu Manman said. “The other two sisters-in-law were quite nice, but there was one sister-in-law who kept making snide remarks, so I ignored her. I didn’t give the candy and chocolate I brought to her children either. It made her so angry that she hit her child in front of me.”
Qiao Wei was speechless.
She really couldn’t understand this tactic of hitting one’s own child in front of others to make a point.
Wouldn’t that hurt the child?
But at this time, many people really did act like that.
“I slept until the sun was high every day. The first day someone said something, but Company Commander Li Aiguo snapped back, and after that, no one said a word. My mother-in-law even brought my food to my room.”
“Before I left, I quietly slipped her ten yuan. I only told Company Commander Li Aiguo on the train, and Company Commander Li Aiguo cried.”
Sure enough, if others treat me with courtesy, I treat them with courtesy; if others care for me, I care for them.
Lu Manman now had many insights into marriage.
After the holidays, everyone went back to work, and basically, no one had that post-holiday syndrome. Instead, because many people bought new clothes for the New Year, they wore them to work, looking extra spirited.
The road between Xiahekou District and the old county seat was finished before the New Year. This road was much wider and smoother than before.
There were buses, bicycles, tractors, horse carts, donkey carts, mule carts, and even ox carts on the road. There were even people pushing flatbed carts and wheelbarrows.
Every time Qiao Wei saw this from the bus, she had many thoughts.
After the New Year, the weather started to warm up. You could feel the change in temperature and the change in sunlight. That freezing cold feeling was gone.
One day, Qiao Wei was taking Yan Xiang to Kindergarten, and when she saw a teacher, she couldn’t help but pause.
Teacher Wang now liked Yan Xiang very much and beamed when she saw him: “Xiangxiang is here.”
She reached out to pull Yan Xiang, but Qiao Wei didn’t let go.
Qiao Wei lowered her voice and asked Teacher Wang: “Is that teacher not feeling well?”
Teacher Wang looked back and said: “Teacher Zheng from Class Two? A little. Maybe it’s the change of seasons; she always says she’s not feeling well.”
Teacher Wang didn’t take it to heart; she heard from the other teachers in Teacher Zheng’s class that Teacher Zheng just wanted to be lazy and pushed all the work onto them.
Qiao Wei stared at Teacher Zheng and asked Teacher Wang: “Help me look, is it my eyes playing tricks on me or what, are that teacher’s eyes… especially yellow?”
Teacher Wang said: “She’s just like that.”
Qiao Wei pulled Yan Xiang back: “Yan Xiang has a bit of a cold, otherwise forget it, don’t spread it to other children. I’ll take him to the office.”
Teacher Wang didn’t really want to take a sick child either; they always had runny noses, sniffling, and some even ate it, which was disgusting.
She said: “Alright then. Remember to give the child plenty of hot water.”
Qiao Wei smiled and pulled Yan Xiang away.
Yan Xiang really wanted to go to Kindergarten and kept looking back. Qiao Wei picked him up and walked quickly.
When they arrived at the office, Secretary Huang looked: “Why did you bring Yan Xiang here?”
Qiao Wei asked: “Is the Secretary coming today?”
Secretary Meng had a cold and fever these past few days and was resting at home.
Secretary Huang said: “No, he hasn’t recovered yet.”
Qiao Wei put Yan Xiang in her seat and grabbed a magazine from the shelf for him: “Read this first, Mommy will be back soon.”
Secretary Huang felt her expression was off: “What’s wrong?”
Qiao Wei said: “Wait for me a moment, I’ll be back soon.”
She acted strangely.
Secretary Huang leaned on the desk to tease Yan Xiang: “Why didn’t you go to Kindergarten?”
Yan Xiang thought, Mommy had taught him that if Mommy said something outside that was different from what he knew, even if he knew what Mommy said might not be true, he couldn’t tell others. In front of others, he had to say the same thing as Mommy.
As for the truth, he would wait until he got home to tell Mommy quietly.
Yan Xiang said: “I have a cold. Mommy won’t let me go to Kindergarten.”
Secretary Huang touched his forehead: “It’s not hot.”
Looking closely, he wasn’t running a nose either.
This Qiao Wei, what’s going on?
Qiao Wei quickly returned with a magazine: “Zengyue!”
She spread the magazine open for him to see: “The article we cooperated with the Health Bureau to promote earlier; I went to the archives to check materials when I wrote it, and I have an impression of this. It’s this, look at this…”
She pointed to those lines with her hand.
“Teacher Zheng from Kindergarten Class Two, I just noticed she fits this perfectly. Her face is yellow, and the whites of her eyes are also yellowish. I saw her rarely before, so I didn’t notice. It might have become more obvious recently.”
Secretary Huang’s face changed: “Are you sure?”
“Why don’t you go see for yourself?”
This was a big deal because it was a government Kindergarten, and many leaders’ children or grandchildren were there.
Secretary Huang really went to see it himself, and when he came back, his face was already very wrong.
Qiao Wei asked: “What should we do?”
Secretary Huang thought for a moment: “Follow me.”
Secretary Meng was on sick leave today and didn’t come, so the office was empty. There was a dedicated line phone in his office.
Secretary Huang used the phone in Secretary Meng’s room to call the Director of the Health Bureau.
Qiao Wei listened to him communicate with them from the side.
After hanging up, he said: “They will send someone over immediately.”
Qiao Wei nodded.
She looked at him: “Or… should you have the children first…”
“No.” Secretary Huang was also a bit irritable, “The leaders’ children are all in there.”
Qiao Wei discovered it before she sent the child in the morning, so she didn’t let the child in.
Secretary Huang just found out, but he couldn’t only care about himself now. It was too offensive.
Qiao Wei kept quiet.
She knew last year how much this man struggled for his career.
There were too many children and relatives of connections in this unit. Even Qiao Wei had support from Military District leaders behind her.
Secretary Huang, as the first confidant of the top leader Secretary Meng, Qiao Wei only learned later that he had absolutely no background.
He was purely from an ordinary family.
Being able to become the top leader’s confidant was purely relying on his own ability to gain the leader’s appreciation.
How difficult it was for him, even Qiao Wei, with her Military District connections, felt a bit guilty.
Talent is talent, but it is most common for many talented people to be suppressed by people with connections.
Because it involved the leaders’ children and grandchildren, the Health Bureau reacted very quickly, and they soon came to take Teacher Zheng away.
There was some pushing and shoving; Teacher Zheng resisted a little, but the Health Bureau staff were very aggressive, intimidated her, and she didn’t dare to make a sound, so they dragged her away.
Secretary Huang and Qiao Wei watched from afar.
They waited for three hours before the Health Bureau called.
Confirmed, Teacher Zheng had Hepatitis B.
Just as Qiao Wei worried.
She suddenly noticed the yellow whites of this teacher’s eyes today, remembered the “yellowing of the body and eyes” she saw when checking materials for the article, and was startled, terrified, and dragged Yan Xiang away.
How annoying.
And she happened to be a Kindergarten teacher.
Secretary Huang called Secretary Meng. The leaders all lived in the County Party Committee Residential Compound, and the families of several standing committee members were all called.
Secretary Huang reported the matter.
Secretary Meng was very angry because his little grandson also went to this Kindergarten.
There were no outsiders in this Kindergarten.
Secretary Meng hung up the phone first, and Secretary Huang and Qiao Wei waited for instructions. Half an hour later, Secretary Meng dialed back: “I communicated with Director Li of the Health Bureau, and the medical team will go over in the afternoon to draw blood and check the children.”
As for that Teacher Zheng, Secretary Meng said: “Treat the illness first, and if it can’t be cured, change her position.”
After hanging up, Secretary Huang asked: “If they are infected, can it be cured?”
Qiao Wei sighed.
In later generations, yes. Now, it cannot be cured.
Secretary Huang’s face was very bad. After all, his child was also in the Kindergarten.
Secretary Huang first communicated with the standing committee members. Everyone’s face looked very bad.
The medical team came in the afternoon, the movement was too big, and everyone knew it. Some people wanted to pick up their children.
Secretary Huang inherited Secretary Meng’s aggressiveness: “It’s already been so many days, will picking them up now prevent infection? No one is allowed to move. Draw blood for testing first.”
Qiao Wei let Yan Xiang have his blood drawn too.
Everyone’s heart was tight.
Fortunately, the test results came out, and no children were infected. Other teachers were not infected either.
When asked, it turned out that this Teacher Zheng always shouted that she was not feeling well and always asked for sick leave. The other teachers were unhappy and reported it to the leaders.
“You are a connection, and I am a connection too. Why should you rest at home while we do the work? Who isn’t a connection?”
The leader found Teacher Zheng’s relative; she got the job at the Kindergarten through this relative. The relative scolded her, and she came to work.
She wasn’t active at work either, always finding a corner to be lazy and rest. Because she wasn’t feeling well, her mood was bad, her attitude towards the children was very bad, and the children were afraid of her and didn’t want to get close to her.
Of course, there was another possibility; Qiao Wei and Secretary Huang had a guess: did she really not know that she was infected with Hepatitis B?
Did she know, so she deliberately avoided others? Before, when Qiao Wei sent the child, she almost never saw her. Today, a teacher couldn’t stand her, argued with her, forced her to come out, and then she was seen by Qiao Wei.
In any case, the children were not infected, which was a blessing.
The next day, Secretary Meng came to the office and gathered the relevant personnel to lose his temper.
As for that Teacher Zheng, Hepatitis B could not be cured at this time, so it was impossible to let her continue to stay at the County Party Committee.
But there was no such thing as “dismissal” in this era, only transferring her to another position, changing jobs.
However, Secretary Meng’s grandson almost got infected; how could Secretary Meng not hold a grudge with his personality?
The new position was a night-soil collector.
At this time, the toilets were all dry toilets, and the night-soil collector was a glorious position in public opinion.
There was a night-soil collector among the first generation of labor models in New China, who had been in the Chinese textbooks, and was even elected as a representative of the Third National People’s Congress the year before last.
But how could a young girl stand it? She wanted to make a scene.
Until later generations, many things could be achieved by “making a scene” to get a result that satisfied oneself.
She wasn’t married yet; if she really became a night-soil collector, it would be too hard to find a partner. Her parents also made a scene together.
This “making a scene” could sometimes really work. Even if she couldn’t go back to the government Kindergarten, she should go to a better unit; how could a young girl go to be a night-soil collector?
The family wanted to force the leader to compromise and take a step back.
But they really didn’t understand Secretary Meng.
Secretary Meng directly transferred her parents, brother, and sister-in-law to work at the manure fertilizer factory.
The whole family was dumbfounded.
They wanted to make a scene again, but all the relatives came to the door. Everyone had a unit and an organization, and they were all afraid of being implicated.
Kicking such an iron plate as Secretary Meng, the more they made a scene, the worse it got.
The family, under the joint suppression of their relatives, finally went to work at the manure fertilizer factory in low spirits.
“Secretary Meng, ah, Secretary Meng…” Qiao Wei witnessed the whole process and sighed to Yan Lei.
Yan Lei didn’t think so, and even felt that Secretary Meng did nothing wrong.
“He sits in that position; if he’s not tough, many things are hard to handle,” he said. “The Military Unit also works in this style.”
People with soft hands and soft hearts cannot be leaders.
Many times, people at the grassroots level rely on strategy, but when they reach a certain level, it becomes simple and crude.
“Why do you keep sighing?” Yan Lei disagreed with Qiao Wei, “It’s a blessing to have such a leader; the people below are all willing to follow such a leader.”
Qiao Wei said: “That’s true.”
