Chapter 109
The weather warmed up quickly; military overcoats were swapped for cashmere coats, and cashmere coats were replaced by short woolen Lenin jackets.
Soon, even the short woolen jackets became too hot, and one could get by with just a shirt.
In May, the 11th Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee was held.
By this time, Qiao Wei already had a vague premonition.
A transmigrator who cannot remember the years of historical events is truly an unqualified transmigrator.
Sure enough, in June, articles on the front page of the Peoples Daily appeared one after another.
The historical phase that Qiao Wei had been dreading had finally arrived.
Holding the newspaper, she couldn’t help but sigh.
Secretary Huang walked over holding his tea mug: “What are you sighing about?”
Qiao Wei said: “Xiangxiang had too much energy yesterday and kept playing, which made me go to bed late too. I have a headache.”
“Drink some tea, brew it strong. I’m afraid there will be meetings all day today.”
With the new instructions from the Central Committee, those below have to interpret them word by word. With such a massive transformation, if the spirit of these instructions isn’t thoroughly understood, there will be major trouble.
It was definitely going to be another day of mountains of paperwork and oceans of meetings.
Qiao Wei opened her military satchel and took out a paper package: “Here, this year’s new tea, pre-Qingming tea.”
“You got this so quickly?” Secretary Huang was pleased and took it, “Thanks.”
For those sitting in offices within the system, cigarettes and tea were inseparable from their hands.
In June, the new newspapers arrived, and the matter of abolishing the college entrance examination system was brought up. The college entrance exam was deemed to be training successors for the bourgeoisie.
Secretary Huang communicated with Qiao Wei privately: “Life is going to get difficult for university students.”
Qiao Wei lowered her eyes: “Not just them, intellectuals, too, will probably have a hard time.”
Secretary Huang nodded: “High school and vocational school graduates will actually be the best off.”
Secretary Huang also had a high school education.
At this time, university students were actually as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
Thinking about it this way, was that The Technician the original owner had been infatuated with actually a talented person? Relying on the halo of his academic credentials, he flirted with married women.
Qiao Wei couldn’t help but twitch the corner of her mouth.
It doesn’t matter; scum will get their comeuppance eventually.
Things around her didn’t change overnight as Qiao Wei had imagined. This kind of change was actually centered on Beijing and Shanghai, spreading outward in layers like ripples.
Bo City was still just a small county town, not the well-known heavy industrial city of later generations.
These ripples had to first expand to the provincial capital, then to Lin City, and finally reach the county-level regions.
Before being swallowed and submerged by the waves, people still had to eat, defecate, sleep, go to work, complain, and hit their children as usual.
But there were indeed more people in green military uniforms in the county town; military green had become the most fashionable color.
Dresses had clearly become fewer. Female comrades rarely wore skirts to work anymore; instead, they wore shirts and trousers, and clothing began to be de-feminized.
Wu Aizhen from the Propaganda Section came to ask Qiao Wei for help, and Qiao Wei helped her get a brand-new military satchel.
This was the most “in” fashion item, and Wu Aizhen carried it every day.
Regimental Commander Zhao was introducing another suitor to Lin Xixi, and Sister Yang took out those few dresses to give to Lin Xixi to wear, but she got scolded.
Regimental Commander Zhao criticized her: “Why wear that! You have no political sensitivity! What time is it now, can you wear this? Don’t you know what the current situation is?”
In March of this year, the Big Brother held its 23rd Congress, and our side decided not to send representatives to attend; relations between the two parties were basically severed.
What is a dress? It came from over there!
Wearing this now shows a problem with one’s ideology.
Sister Yang was unconvinced and mumbled: “It’s a blind date; don’t I need to dress up prettily? Trousers aren’t as good-looking as skirts. What’s wrong with wearing a skirt? Does wearing a skirt make one a counter-revolutionary?”
Housewives were always a step behind in their perception of the outside world. She spent her days by the stove at home, only going between the vegetable market and her own courtyard; she couldn’t feel the increasingly tightening atmosphere.
Regimental Commander Zhao couldn’t get through to her and rolled his eyes in anger.
Lin Xixi still wore trousers to the blind date.
Not only because dresses were now considered revisionist, but also because she had never been able to summon enthusiasm for blind dates.
The kind of person she wanted, her aunt and uncle couldn’t find at all. The ones they could find for her were still all from peasant backgrounds, and the best were merely small-town youths. There weren’t even any from the county town.
After such a long time, Lin Xixi had actually realized what she really wanted.
She just wanted to be a superior person in the future, the wife of a high-ranking official, without being surrounded by poverty, without the worry of being laid off, with a villa to live in, and plenty of money to spend.
Of course, it would be best if this person were a city dweller, preferably not from a peasant background.
She had observed that among these officers from peasant backgrounds, apart from Yan Lei and the husband of broadcaster Lu, there weren’t many worth looking at. Even with high salaries, the traces of their background were still particularly obvious.
Only Regimental Commander Yan and Battalion Commander Li had shed these traces.
Sure enough, this blind date failed again.
Although Sister Yang wanted to keep her for a couple more years to do housework, failing every blind date was bad for her reputation. People would think this girl was arrogant and had her eyes set too high.
Sister Yang scolded her a little.
Lin Xixi couldn’t hold it back and asked: “That Battalion Commander Li, why didn’t you introduce him to me back then?”
“Which Battalion Commander Li?” Sister Yang didn’t react for a moment.
Lin Xixi regretted it as soon as she said it and went silent. When Sister Yang asked again, she didn’t say anything, only: “I was just talking nonsense, Auntie, don’t worry about me. I’ll just look after the children for you, isn’t that good enough?”
If it really didn’t work out, she would just stay at her uncle’s house for the rest of her life. This was her own uncle; if she stayed long enough and worked hard for his family, sooner or later, her uncle would have to treat her like his own daughter.
She thought, if it really didn’t work out, being able to get a job arranged by her uncle that wouldn’t lead to being laid off, just like her cousins, was better than having no food to eat while following a useless man.
Having figured this out, her depression improved a lot.
But at night, Sister Yang discussed with Regimental Commander Zhao: “Which Battalion Commander Li is it exactly?”
After discussing back and forth, which other Battalion Commander Li could it be? One who was of a suitable age, who a young girl could fancy, could only be Lu Manman’s husband, that Captain Li who used to be a company commander under Yan Lei.
“Come to think of it… indeed… why didn’t we introduce him to our Xixi back then?” Sister Yang couldn’t help but ask.
Regimental Commander Zhao snorted: “Do you think I’m blind and couldn’t see him?”
Captain Li was also very eye-catching in a crowd, the kind of existence that one could see at a glance.
Since he was so good, why didn’t he introduce him to his niece? Was he stupid?
It was because he had politely declined back then, okay.
Later, when Yan Lei wanted to introduce a suitor to the daughter of the director of the town Supply and Marketing Cooperative, just at the mention of it, Li Aiguo shaved and washed his hair, washed his uniform and hung it up, then forcefully pulled it flat so there wasn’t a single wrinkle, and went to the blind date with enthusiasm.
Regimental Commander Zhao understood as soon as he saw it.
Like commander, like soldier.
Li Aiguo had the same character as his leader; he only wanted to find a city girl.
He looked down on Regimental Commander Zhao’s niece, who was from a rural background, had no job, stayed at home doing housework, and was famous for being virtuous, hardworking, and good at cooking.
The atmosphere tightened, and all kinds of study meetings increased.
Even someone as strong as Secretary Meng began to restrain himself.
In his position, he certainly knew more, saw more, and thought more.
Including his requirements for Secretary Huang and Qiao Wei, which also became “be restrained.”
“The more you say, the more you err.” He said, “The wind direction is too chaotic; when you can’t figure it out, don’t be rash.”
Qiao Wei agreed completely.
She had been particularly worried that Secretary Meng would still be as stubborn as before; she was his pen, and if he continued like that, Qiao Wei would have to consider finding a way out.
But it was good that the leader was clear-headed now.
The office became much less busy.
Qiao Wei even started crocheting sweaters and yarn bags in the office.
She crocheted a small cup cozy with green yarn and a red five-pointed star in the middle, which became very popular.
Because at that time, many people used various glass bottles as cups, which was very common. These water cups had no handles.
Crocheting a small pouch with a handle meant it could be hung on bicycle handlebars and carried around, which was very convenient.
She crocheted them for several colleagues.
These were all small items; the big items were knitting sweaters.
Her skills were better now; the sweaters weren’t all plain stitch anymore, and she started adding patterns.
She knitted a V-neck one for Yan Lei and a turtleneck for Yan Xiang to protect his neck from the cold in winter.
Nowadays, not only were dresses no longer in vogue, but even the previously popular Lenin suits were out.
You have to know, the Lenin suit was once the standard attire for female civil servants.
Now it wouldn’t do either.
One day, even Secretary Meng started wearing a military-style casual uniform to work.
Brand new, obviously just acquired.
Leading cadres all wore green military-style casual uniforms, only changing into Zhongshan suits for formal occasions.
In daily life, everyone lived in a sea of green.
When the weather turned cold and frost appeared, Sister Yang ran over to Qiao Wei’s place, angry.
“They insist I cut my hair!” She said, “How old am I? Aren’t those revolutionary bobs only for young girls?”
Sister Yang had always worn her hair in a traditional bun. Regimental Commander Zhao asked her to cut it into a revolutionary bob, but she felt embarrassed, thinking it was like an old cucumber pretending to be tender.
Qiao Wei explained to her: “Now is the time to break down old things. The hairstyle you wore before is a feudal remnant, so it must be cut off. Look, young girls aren’t wearing skirts anymore either.”
The jujube-red wool coat that Lu Manman wore for her wedding last year, she didn’t dare wear it this year either; it was packed away at the bottom of the chest.
Her long, dark braids were also cut.
Sister Yang said: “I always feel like the outside world is like a dream. How is it changing so suddenly, in waves? What is all this about? We can’t understand it.”
At this time, many people were actually in this state.
They didn’t know what was going on, but that’s how it was. But since everyone was like that, one couldn’t be different.
Qiao Wei said: “I’ll help you cut it.”
At this time, the main customers of barbershops were not women, but men. Only some fashionable women in the city would patronize barbershops. Most women’s hair could be cut at home by themselves.
Qiao Wei used scissors to help Sister Yang cut a revolutionary bob.
She wasn’t a hairdresser, but everyone’s hair was cut at home, so there was no distinction between good and bad.
Qiao Wei at least knew how to trim the edges, holding the scissors vertically to make the hair ends look natural. Unlike most people’s revolutionary bobs, which were blunt and stiff.
Sister Yang felt satisfied looking in the mirror, but seeing the long chunk of hair on the floor, she still felt a bit heartbroken: “I had kept it for so many years.”
In the blink of an eye, it was New Year again, and once New Year passed, it was time to prepare for the Spring Festival.
Joy was blended into the tense atmosphere. Many people took introduction letters issued by their work units and waited in long lines to buy train tickets.
At this time, a train ticket couldn’t print all the information on one ticket. Just like when Battalion Commander Li and Lu Manman went home, one person had to hold five or six paper tickets in their hand.
Therefore, even the most skilled ticket seller took several minutes to sell tickets for one person. If someone bought tickets for a whole family, it could take over ten minutes.
The line was both long and slow.
And you couldn’t complain; the ticket sellers all had big tempers.
That’s how it was at this time.
On the walls of state-run restaurants, it was posted: “Do not beat customers.”
Behind every absurd rule, there must have been an absurd incident; one could tell what had happened before from the rules posted on the restaurant walls.
Many people had gone to great lengths to wait in long lines to buy tickets, preparing to go home and reunite with their families.
Many people were shopping for New Year’s goods.
Many people were decorating their work units and their homes.
Many people were rehearsing programs to prepare for performances.
In short, although the situation was changing, no one could stop the atmosphere of the New Year.
Yet there were people who wanted to block it. In this era, there were people like Secretary Meng who realized the wind direction was wrong and began to restrain themselves, and there were also people who realized the changing situation and wanted to take the opportunity to jump out and show off, get ahead, or just take the opportunity to do something.
With the New Year just around the corner, a worker at the Shanghai Machinery Glass Factory wrote a letter to the Peoples Daily.
“What counts as the Spring Festival!”
“Why must we have a holiday for the Spring Festival!”
“This is feudal dross!”
“We should celebrate a revolutionary Spring Festival!”
That year, the Spring Festival was temporarily cancelled, and everyone returned to their work posts to persist in working.
Many people had to crowd into the train station to return their tickets, almost causing a stampede.
The red Spring Festival couplets were rolled up and put away in cabinets before they could even be posted.
Firecrackers were not set off.
The rehearsed programs were cancelled, and there was no party.
This matter, Qiao Wei really didn’t know about before she transmigrated; that period of history was already very blurry, she only knew it was a time of chaos, she didn’t expect it to be this chaotic.
This was the Spring Festival!
On New Year’s Eve, Qiao Wei and everyone else were working in the office.
Not just today, but also tomorrow, the day after, the day after that, and the day after that.
There would be no more Spring Festivals to celebrate in the future.
Even a person as calm, Buddhist, and composed as Qiao Wei couldn’t help but curse in her heart—
Moron!!
