Chapter 105
Qiao Wei became famous again.
After she rested for two days and returned to work, people kept seizing the opportunity to ask her when they came to the office for business: “Did you really drive?”
Qiao Wei repeated her lines: “I only knew that the brake stops and the gas pedal goes; I didn’t know how to press the clutch. I asked Secretary Huang while crying, and Secretary Huang said he didn’t know either. When it finally started moving, I heard him saying’shift gears, shift gears’ in my ear. I felt like I was dreaming when I drove to the hospital.”
She didn’t know how many times she had repeated this line; she felt like she was becoming Xianglin’s Wife.
Finally, Secretary Huang also came back to work, and others couldn’t help but ask him.
Secretary Huang said: “How could she drive? She was gripping the steering wheel and yelling at me ‘how do I press the clutch’, and I didn’t know either. Every time she tried to move, the engine stalled. It stalled so many times, I don’t know how many, and then it really started moving. When I looked, she wasn’t even shifting gears. I told her to shift gears, and only then did she do it.”
He said this to everyone who was curious.
Their stories matched. Only then did everyone finally believe that Qiao Wei didn’t know how to drive; she really was just clutching at straws in a panic and succeeded by taking a desperate risk.
Indeed, when the county first started bus services, there was an accident where a driver forgot to pull out the key, and a middle school student quietly got into the empty vehicle and started it, crashing into a tree. So, it is possible for someone who doesn’t know how to drive to get a vehicle moving.
Anyway, regardless of whether it was a desperate risk or clutching at straws, she succeeded.
Secretary Meng’s life was saved.
Who wouldn’t be envious?
Sure enough, as soon as Secretary Meng returned to work, he called Qiao Wei into his office and told her: “This is the transfer letter. Go to the district and transfer your personnel file over. From now on, your establishment will be officially in the county.”
What could Qiao Wei say?
She couldn’t say “I actually don’t really want to get ahead; I just want to crack melon seeds at the Broadcasting Station and live a retired life until I retire.”
Of course, she couldn’t say that; she still had to look pleasantly surprised and express her deep gratitude.
When one is in the workplace, one is just smooth; when one is in officialdom, one gradually becomes hypocritical.
Secretary Huang’s congratulations to her were sincere.
After this incident, not only did Secretary Meng treat her more closely, but the thin, invisible wall between her and Secretary Huang had disappeared.
He asked her: “Did you get your high school diploma?”
Qiao Wei said she had.
Secretary Huang said: “When you bring your file over, bring your high school diploma along too.”
Qiao Wei didn’t think much of it; she thought it was needed for file registration, regularization, and the like.
She went to the district archives to transfer her file. Since it was a rare trip back, she naturally had to see her old colleagues and leaders.
Everyone knew and congratulated her.
Looking at Lu Manman, one could see she was living well; her face was glowing.
It had only been a few days, but she had gained weight and looked rounder.
It was clearly the plumpness of happiness.
Thinking about it, it makes sense: her husband is handsome, has a good figure, his career is going smoothly, her own job is leisurely, she holds an iron rice bowl, her family is wealthy with connections, and her in-laws are far away.
It’s hard not to be happy living like this.
“He doesn’t even let me do laundry,” Lu Manman whispered to her in hiding. “He said everyone in the Military Unit knows that Regimental Commander Yan does the laundry and washes the dishes at home. He said he wants to follow the leader’s example.”
Qiao Wei laughed.
She went to see Secretary Gao.
Secretary Gao was not surprised at all. He said: “I thought of it that day; there would be such a day sooner or later.”
Qiao Wei sighed.
Secretary Gao scolded her: “Don’t make that face. The county might be a bit more tiring and not as leisurely as the Broadcasting Station, but it has a future! Work hard, work hard! Don’t forget that the District Committee is your maiden home, ah—”
The last “ah—” was dragged out, like coaxing a child.
How great it is to have connections in the county.
With connections in the county, when Secretary Meng had his incident, he went over to show his face immediately and built a rapport with Secretary Meng.
How nice.
There was absolutely no trouble transferring the file in the district. Everyone she met was full of congratulations.
At this moment, there wasn’t even anyone speaking sour words; everyone had a smiling face.
Fortunately, Qiao Wei was not a young person who didn’t understand anything and would get carried away just by being surrounded by people. She was someone who had truly seen the cold and warmth of the world, so she wouldn’t lose herself over these things.
She took the file, along with her brand-new high school diploma, to the county.
Secretary Huang filled out a form, took it to Secretary Meng for his signature, got a few other people to sign it, and then processed the whole set of things for her.
Only then did Qiao Wei know the purpose of him asking her to bring the high school diploma.
The administrative salary system is different from the 24-grade salary system of the Military Unit; it is a 30-grade salary system.
When she was at the Broadcasting Station, she belonged to the “junior high school education” and “just started working” level. The former attribute wouldn’t change, and the next level for the latter attribute would be “regularization,” and then she would have to wait year by year to get a raise.
She was the lowest level 12 clerk, earning the lowest 30-grade salary of 23 yuan.
Now, she was suddenly upgraded to a level 7 clerk, earning a 25-grade salary. This level is for “technical secondary school/high school” and “regularization.” Her salary was now 37.5 yuan a month.
No one dislikes having more money! It was joyous!
Soon, it became so cold that even the cashmere coat wasn’t enough.
Before Qiao Wei could speak, Yan Lei asked her first: “Do you want a military overcoat?”
Qiao Wei said without hesitation: “Yes!”
Yan Lei nodded.
He had asked her a few years ago, and she didn’t want it. Now, seeing that she liked wearing military green, he asked her again.
But Yan Lei didn’t bring up the past again.
Once she got the military overcoat, she put it on immediately. It was so warm.
Xiangxiang also had a new cotton-padded jacket to wear. It was made from new cotton that Manman’s father helped get, and it was made by the young new tailor in the Handicraft Lane.
The cotton-padded jacket had a core and an outer shell for protection. When washing, only the outer shell is washed.
The new cotton shoes were made by Auntie Baer.
This old lady has great craftsmanship, but she likes to scam people and take small advantages.
Qiao Wei said to her with a smile: “The weight of the materials has been weighed.”
Auntie Baer smacked her lips.
Knowing that Qiao Wei was meticulous, the cotton jacket she made was indeed thick, and when squeezed, the cotton was resilient. She didn’t dare to replace the new cotton with old cotton.
Yan Xiang put on the wool socks knitted by Auntie Hu and then put on a pair of thick cotton shoes.
The wool trousers on his legs were knitted by his mother herself. Although every stitch wasn’t very even, the wool used was new, not old wool that had been unraveled many times.
The warmth of new cotton and new wool cannot be compared to old cotton and old wool.
When going out, they would fill a small hot water bottle, tighten it, and put it into the small pouch knitted by Auntie Hu. He and his mother would each wear one around their necks, tucked into their clothes, warming their bellies through their undershirts.
When it was time to go to the Kindergarten, Mom had already refilled the hot water bottle.
Mom not only gave him cotton gloves but also diligently applied lotion to his hands and face.
Other children’s skin was chapped, but Yan Xiang was completely fine.
He didn’t feel that winter was difficult at all.
The road from the county town to Xiahekou District had been under construction and was almost finished. Qingshan District was extremely envious. Since the ground would soon freeze and construction would be impossible, their road would have to wait until after the New Year to start.
Qiao Wei saw the progress of the road construction every day on the bus. After the county and town merger, there was a feeling of vigorous development.
If only it were really like that.
Qiao Wei sighed.
Time flew by, and New Year’s Day passed.
However, New Year’s Day is not important to the Chinese; the Spring Festival is.
After New Year’s Day, the Lunar New Year would be coming soon. Every household began to stock up on New Year’s goods.
Some people had home leave, so they took the introduction letter issued by their unit to buy train tickets and long-distance bus tickets to return to their hometowns.
Lu Manman was one of those who had to return to her hometown. Well, to Battalion Commander Li’s hometown.
There was no other way; she was a newlywed and had to go meet her parents-in-law and her husband’s family.
It was freezing cold to travel far by train. Lu Manman’s mother felt terrible, but there was no help for it; a new daughter-in-law had to meet her in-laws.
Fortunately, soldiers didn’t have that much home leave. Battalion Commander Li was only able to apply for it this year because he was a newlywed.
Lu Manman’s mother prepared a lot of food for the road and gave many instructions.
Battalion Commander Li kept nodding.
To put her mind at ease, Son-in-law Li even showed the tickets to his mother-in-law.
How many tickets does one person need to buy to take a train at this time?
First, you have to buy a passenger ticket, then if you are taking an express train, you buy an express ticket, and then as a cadre, you are eligible to buy a sleeper ticket, so you buy a sleeper ticket.
Then, if you don’t care about the money and don’t want to lie on a bare berth with nothing, you pay another 60 cents to buy a bedding ticket. With this ticket, the attendant will give you a pillow and quilt after boarding.
Oh right, there is also a slip for which carriage to sit in.
In short, one person taking this train needs to have five paper tickets in hand. Battalion Commander Li and Lu Manman together had ten paper tickets.
Only when the mother-in-law saw that her son-in-law was willing to buy the bedding tickets was she finally satisfied.
But Lu Manman was still nervous. She ran to Qiao Wei’s house, hid in the room with Qiao Wei, whispered to her, and asked for advice.
Qiao Wei said: “Treat others with courtesy, and others will treat you with courtesy. If people care about me, I will care about them even more. How your in-laws treat you actually depends on how your man treats you. If your man values you, he will block everything for you. If your man can’t block it, it means he doesn’t want to block it. Remember, you are the daughter of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative director in the city; you have nothing to be afraid of. This is just a test. You can’t have one face before marriage and another after. If he doesn’t know how to cherish you, divorce him when you get back. This is New China; marriage is free. Don’t be afraid of anything. As the daughter of a Supply and Marketing Cooperative director, even if you are divorced, people will still scramble to marry you. Do you know how many people under your brother-in-law are asking if you have a sister? It’s hilarious. Where else would Old Yan find another daughter of a Supply and Marketing Cooperative director to introduce to them? Can you repeat what I just said?”
Lu Manman: “Ah???”
Qiao Wei: “When you go back, just pretend to be casual and repeat what I said to him as if you were joking.”
Lu Manman was raised a bit naively, but she wasn’t stupid. Once Qiao Wei pointed it out, she understood.
When she got home, she happily repeated the words to her husband like a silly girl.
Battalion Commander Li had a light sweat on his forehead and swore to heaven: “The young daughter-in-law in the village is always the most delicate. Whatever life you have here, you will have the same life at my home. If I let your hands get even a speck of dust, my surname isn’t Li. If anything happens, don’t say anything, just leave it be, and wait for me to speak.”
Lu Manman acted spoiled: “I knew you were good. Sister Wei said that she and Regimental Commander Yan picked so many people before they picked you. I knew they wouldn’t have misjudged.”
Battalion Commander Li: “That’s for sure. The leaders are the role models I learn from!”
