Chapter 115
Qiao Wei had another consideration: she really wanted to escape from here now.
Even if just temporarily, it would at least give her a short period to catch her breath.
The movement had only spread to the county level; rural areas shouldn’t have been covered yet.
Large-scale rustication hadn’t started either.
At this stage, the countryside was actually still peaceful and tranquil.
Qiao Wei really wanted to go and get some fresh air.
But Yan Lei was very worried.
Letting her go to the county, to government agencies, or in front of leaders, he was at ease.
But without his company, letting her go to his hometown, he was very uneasy.
“Forget it, wait until things here stabilize…” He was very hesitant. “Then…”
But he knew himself that so-called “stability” was a very hard state to achieve.
Moreover, his family wrote to him, actually hoping he could return to take his father to a city hospital for treatment.
This back pain was a chronic ailment of many years; writing specifically this year meant it was very serious.
“I’ll go.” Qiao Wei hit the nail on the head regarding his worries.
“People in the countryside don’t take minor illnesses seriously. Writing specifically to tell you means it’s very serious and needs immediate treatment.”
What Qiao Wei said was true.
Because Qiao Wei had read the original text; she had the eyes of God.
She knew what illness Yan Lei’s father had.
The original timeline was short, just a sweet romance novel wrapped in a period piece skin.
The winter before last, about half a year after the original owner passed away, Yan Lei came home from work one day and saw Lin Xixi in his yard.
The kang was warm, the food was hot.
Yan Xiang was dressed warmly and cleanly, well taken care of.
Yan Lei was stunned for a long time.
The next day, he told Regimental Commander Zhao that he was willing to marry Lin Xixi.
Regimental Commander Zhao and Sister Yang had deliberately let Lin Xixi go to Yan Lei’s house to live, cook, and take care of Yan Xiang, just to secure a good marriage for Lin Xixi, and it succeeded.
Then the main story of the original text happened last year, before the ten-year movement began.
In that year, Lin Xixi opened Yan Lei’s heart by meticulously taking care of Yan Lei and his son, especially by taking care of Yan Xiang like her own child, achieving the “sweet romance” status.
The main sweet romance timeline of the main text was just that one year.
Then the big movement started this year, but because Lin Xixi didn’t go to work in Bocheng County like she did, the events in the county had nothing to do with the protagonists.
Actually, there was no holiday starting this year’s Spring Festival, but cadres like Yan Lei had to stay at their posts during Spring Festival anyway.
He had planned to take Lin Xixi to his hometown to see his parents after the Spring Festival.
Being married for a year and taking his new wife to see his parents was also a form of recognition for her.
In any case, in the original text, Lin Xixi was very happy, feeling her marriage was more stable.
Back in the hometown, Yan Lei’s father’s back pain was indeed worse, but not as severe as it was now.
But coincidentally, Lin Xixi’s mother-in-law in her past life had the same illness, so Lin Xixi recognized it at a glance and directly urged Yan Lei to take the old man to the city for treatment.
Later, it was indeed confirmed to be that illness.
Yan Lei was very grateful to Lin Xixi, treated her even better, and defended her everywhere in front of his family.
Lin Xixi not only established her reputation for virtue firmly but also pushed her “sweet romance” status to its peak.
After this trip to the hometown, Lin Xixi became pregnant.
The timing was… actually, Qiao Wei had a guess.
Because Lin Xixi gave birth to a bunch of children later.
So, Lin Xixi didn’t get pregnant in the first year of marriage; Qiao Wei now guessed it was very likely that Yan Lei was using birth control that year.
Remarried families are like this; they live together for practical benefits.
At that time, Yan Xiang’s interests were clearly more important to Yan Lei than his second wife’s.
So it wasn’t until this trip to the hometown that Yan Lei completely let down his guard and let Lin Xixi get pregnant.
The main text ended with Lin Xixi touching her big belly with a happy smile on her face.
Period sweet romance novels would deliberately avoid those ten years; it was the default rule.
The subsequent content, how many children Lin Xixi gave birth to, how happy the whole family was, and the quiet, silent Yan Xiang in the corner mentioned in passing, were all in the extras.
A very standard, template-like period sweet romance novel.
The result was that when things fell on Qiao Wei, everything was different, the entire tone was different.
She shouldn’t have left the small town.
Like Lin Xixi, hiding in the small town, full of pink bubbles—how nice that would have been.
Qiao Wei sighed.
She still felt a little bit of guilt.
Because there were too many things going on, she had used all her energy to focus on major events, and completely forgot that Yan Lei still had a whole family in his hometown, including a sick father.
And if not for her, Huang Zengyue wouldn’t have refused to let her return to the district, and Yan Lei might not have fought to be the military representative for Bocheng County, so he wouldn’t have been tied up by these things and unable to go home to take his old father for medical treatment.
Putting everything together, Qiao Wei decided to go back for Yan Lei this time.
Thinking of the old man’s illness, Yan Lei had no other choice.
He hesitated again and again, and finally agreed: “Then… I’ll leave it to you.”
Then he considered Yan Xiang.
Theoretically, to treat the old man, not taking Yan Xiang would be the least effort.
But this grandson, Yan Xiang, hadn’t seen his grandparents since he was born.
In terms of reason and human relations, not taking him wouldn’t be justifiable.
It was truly tangled everywhere.
A man as decisive as Yan Lei had difficulty making choices when facing such internal family difficulties.
Qiao Wei said: “I’ll take Yan Xiang. Leaving him with others for too long, I’m not at ease either.”
It was settled just like that.
Qiao Wei first had to go back to her unit to ask for leave.
Huang Zengyue said: “Regimental Commander Yan called me, you can go with peace of mind.”
He approved a leave note for her.
Qiao Wei got the leave note and said: “I haven’t congratulated you yet.”
The Revolutionary Committee had already been established.
In essence, it replaced the original People’s Government and became the new government.
According to regulations, the Revolutionary Committee was to be composed of three forces: revolutionary cadre representatives, revolutionary mass representatives, and military representatives.
In terms of specific positions, there would be one Revolutionary Committee Director, one First Deputy Director, and several other Deputy Directors.
The first two positions only had one person, and the number of “several” for the last position was not specifically limited.
Guan Standing Committee Member was now the Revolutionary Committee Director.
Huang Zengyue was the First Deputy Director.
Under one person, it could be said he had ascended in one step.
Qiao Wei congratulated him.
Huang Zengyue’s face remained calm, as steady and reliable as before, and he said: “It’s the same as before.”
The same?
It seemed like work had returned to normal in the office too.
But Qiao Wei knew it would never be the same again.
She thanked him, turned to leave, and suddenly stopped and turned back: “Do you have an armband?”
A smile appeared in Huang Zengyue’s eyes, and his brow relaxed.
He pulled open a drawer, took out a new armband, and threw it over: “Here you go.”
Qiao Wei caught it and shook it: “Thanks.”
She took the note approved by Huang Zengyue to process her leave and met the current top leader, Director Guan, in the hallway.
“Director.” Qiao Wei nodded.
“Qiao is here?” Director Guan asked with a kind face, “You said you weren’t feeling well last week, are you better now?”
“Much better, but there’s something at home, so I’ve taken a long leave.”
“Oh, is it serious? If there’s a situation, tell me, don’t be afraid to speak up. If I can solve it for you, I’ll do my best to solve it.”
Qiao Wei felt she might never be able to be like Director Guan.
Being insidious and calculating toward the same person, yet kind and caring.
But fake smiles were still possible.
Qiao Wei no longer felt fear.
Yan Lei had taken the post of military representative for Bocheng County; he spoke on behalf of the Military District, and no one dared to underestimate him.
She was no longer an ordinary military family member; she was the wife of the military representative of the Bocheng Revolutionary Committee.
Unless the one surnamed Guan had a problem with his brain, he wouldn’t dare to make a move on her again.
After hypocritical and polite pleasantries, Qiao Wei finished processing her leave, got the introduction letter, and left the unit.
Walking out of the gate, she let out a long breath and looked back at the two-story building.
Although not tall, it covered a large area.
It was the typical style of a government office building: upright, symmetrical, and carrying majesty.
Qiao Wei turned her head and got on the bus to go home.
Yan Xiang felt very curious when he heard he was going back to his father’s hometown.
He hadn’t seen his grandparents or other relatives since he was born.
Sometimes when his father was alone with him, he would mention it, but not much.
He was always full of expectations for unknown places.
Yan Lei felt both relieved and worried about this.
Because Yan Xiang was too young, if anything happened, he couldn’t help.
But in the end, it couldn’t stump Yan Lei; he had his ways.
He bought sleeper tickets for Qiao Wei and Yan Xiang, prepared national general grain coupons for her, and helped her pack her luggage.
He told her: “You can just call the Village Party Secretary’Second Uncle’. Although he isn’t from our main family branch, he is also surnamed Yan. I have everything arranged; if something happens, you go find him.”
Qiao Wei said with some regret: “Director Li from the Health Bureau was also locked up, and I’m not familiar with the new person.”
“Otherwise, if I could find Director Li, maybe I could pull some strings in the health system over there.”
It was just too chaotic now.
Once someone fell, everyone else had to draw a clear line with them; no one dared to get involved.
Fortunately, it was summer, clothes were thin, and there was little luggage.
A rattan handbag and a luggage bag were enough to pack everything.
Sister Yang was moved to tears when she heard she was going to take the child home alone to take her father-in-law for treatment.
She sighed to Regimental Commander Zhao: “I really underestimated Qiao.”
She brought Lin Xixi to fry several meat pies for her, each made into a square shape, specially measured to the size of the lunch box, and packed a full lunch box for her: “Eat on the road.”
Regimental Commander Zhao was truly convinced this time.
He felt that Yan Lei doing laundry and cooking wasn’t a loss after all.
Yan Lei was extremely nervous until he sent Qiao Wei to the train station.
Qiao Wei laughed: “What are you afraid of?”
Yan Lei sighed: “You’re going on a long journey alone; I’m really worried.”
In this era, only a very small number of people had the opportunity and ability to go on long journeys.
Many people had never left the place where they were born, never taken a train, and even felt awe at the act of taking a big train.
Yan Lei instructed her: “Don’t lose your money.”
“Don’t worry,” Qiao Wei said, “You know where I put it.”
As Qiao Wei who had read the original text, because she had a God’s-eye view, in order to avoid some disgusting things from happening, she directly asked a tailor to make a small cloth bag, hung it around her neck, and kept it close to her body.
Fighting with some weird, extreme relatives after losing money? No point, no point, cut it off from the root!!
