Chapter 34
Lin Xixi looked at herself in the mirror, feeling as if she were in a dream.
This was how she should have looked in her youth; this was the treatment she deserved.
It was hateful that she had been blind back then and chosen the wrong educated youth.
She also suddenly realized that she had really been foolish, not knowing how to dress herself up.
In truth, there had been no conditions for it.
When she came from home to her uncle’s place, her mother had only been willing to give her three yuan for travel expenses for such a long journey.
This was something she had obtained in exchange for the promise, “If I marry into a good family, I will bring you happiness in the future.”
It wasn’t even enough to buy a dress like this.
Working for her uncle and aunt at their house also meant no money.
She knew that in her uncle and aunt’s thinking, they felt that since there was food, drink, and a place to sleep at home, “there was no place to spend money.”
Yes, she fully understood this way of thinking.
But for her personally, it meant there were no conditions even to dress up.
She had to let Yan Lei see this!
This thought immediately flashed through Lin Xixi’s mind.
In the evening, because it was Saturday, many units got off work a little earlier than usual.
The jeep also arrived at the intersection earlier than usual.
As soon as the few people got off the car, they saw a beautiful young woman at the intersection.
Who wouldn’t love to look at a young woman who was young, beautiful, and had skin so tight it was flawless?
Everyone couldn’t help but take another look.
Yan Lei also took another look at her.
Lin Xixi obviously enjoyed this kind of attention, smiled, and stepped forward to call out to him, “Regimental Commander Yan, where is my uncle?”
Yan Lei said, “He is in the car behind.”
After saying this, he walked away with hurried steps, not looking at her again.
The look he had given her just now was merely at the dress—he had recognized at a glance that it was the one Qiao Wei had given to Sister Yang.
What was at home that hooked him so much? Lin Xixi thought bitterly.
Regimental Commander Ma, who was older, rested his hands on his stomach and praised with a smile, “Little Lin is really beautiful today.”
The others all laughed.
They all knew what the Zhao family had arranged for today.
Hearing that there was to be a blind date with the Zhao family’s beautiful niece, the single young men at the Battalion Headquarters had fought tooth and nail just to compete for those few spots.
The leaders had fully supported it and even dispatched a car.
They told Lin Xixi, “Their car is behind, don’t worry.”
They all thought Lin Xixi had dressed up specifically to make an appearance in front of the young men.
Lin Xixi actually just wanted to let Yan Lei see how she looked after dressing up, and didn’t care about anyone else.
But since her uncle’s comrades said so, she could only answer, “Mm, yes, my aunt asked me to come and see…”
After the few middle-aged men went home and dispersed, Lin Xixi stretched her neck to look in the direction of Yan Lei’s house, but Yan Lei was already gone.
Lin Xixi stomped her feet in anger, but she didn’t leave immediately; instead, she turned to look at the jeep—she had always wanted to find an opportunity to talk to Driver Zhang, but had never had the chance.
It was rare that her uncle was not in the car today, and everyone else had left, so she couldn’t let this opportunity pass.
What was even better was that Driver Zhang not only did not drive away, but he also turned off the engine, opened the car door, and stepped out, taking the initiative to greet her, “Comrade Little Lin, don’t worry. They have a lot of people, so they are a bit slow.”
Lin Xixi smiled at him, “I’m not in a hurry. Dinner at home has just been started, there’s still time.”
Before she could think about how to start the conversation, Little Zhang said on his own, “Then shall we go over first? Or wait here for everyone together?”
“Eh?”
“That…” Little Zhang chuckled, “I am also, that, I am also attending today’s study meeting.”
There was no study meeting; it was Regimental Commander Zhao who had picked a group of unmarried, high-quality young men and brought them to his house to let them meet his niece, and also to let his niece meet them.
With an impression of each other, they could then freely date.
Arranged marriages were no longer in vogue; free dating was the trend.
Specifically, it meant finding a matchmaker to introduce the two of you, meeting to exchange information about family background, work, personality, hobbies, living habits, and so on.
If both felt it was okay, the two would officially be in a relationship.
Prepare a bit, and after one to three months, they could get married; longer ones might take half a year, but usually no longer than that.
This was considered free dating in this era.
It did not count as an arranged marriage.
Lin Xixi was slightly surprised, “Aren’t you a driver?”
This driver didn’t seem to be under her uncle’s command, so why was he also attending the study meeting?
Regimental Commander Zhao had given instructions; Comrade Little Lin did not know that today was a blind date session.
Driver Zhang chuckled, “Well… a driver also needs to study to make progress.”
He also kept his guard up and didn’t expose it; if it were made clear and Little Lin had ideas in her heart, what if she took a fancy to someone else later?
Lin Xixi didn’t think too much; instead, she felt this was a great opportunity.
She scanned the intersection, worried that her uncle and his men would arrive soon and make it inconvenient for her to talk to Driver Zhang, so she said enthusiastically, “No need to wait, you can come with me first.”
Lin Xixi was not only beautiful, but Regimental Commander Zhao had long boasted about how capable and virtuous she was.
Her background was also good; her whole family were poor peasants.
Placed here, she was the ideal marriage candidate in people’s minds.
Unlike Regimental Commander Yan’s city wife, who, although very beautiful, was the negative example for finding a partner in the entire Military District.
Even the Political Commissar had privately told these young men, “I didn’t persuade Yan back then, and I regret it. I must tell you all, the first point in marrying a wife is that she must be able to endure hardship and be capable!”
And Lin Xixi was originally the female lead of this story; her characteristics were originally set to be someone popular and sought after here.
Sure enough, Little Zhang couldn’t wait to spend more time alone with her, and upon hearing this, he immediately beamed and followed along.
Lin Xixi’s soul was aged; facing a young man, she was certainly not nervous, and her way of speaking carried a kind of aunt-like warmth.
But where would Little Zhang know the truth? He heard and saw that Regimental Commander Zhao’s niece seemed very enthusiastic towards him.
He felt secretly pleased and answered every question.
Lin Xixi took Little Zhang around a corner at the intersection and said seemingly unintentionally, “…You are the one who drives them to the provincial capital, right? So the last time Regimental Commander Yan went to pick up Aunt Qiao, was it also you?”
Little Zhang immediately puffed out his chest and said, “Of course it was me. I go to the provincial capital often. If you have anything you need to bring, just tell me.”
The words were full of promise; the male instinct for courtship was to show off as much as possible to demonstrate one’s ability.
Indeed, in this era, “knowing how to drive” was an amazing skill mastered by only a few people.
Whether in the military or not, being a driver was a decent job.
Little Zhang was a high-quality young man in this era, just as Lin Xixi was a high-quality young woman in this era.
In fact, Lin Xixi didn’t think that much at all.
Because by the nineties, drivers were no longer that precious; it was just an ordinary profession.
In Lin Xixi’s eyes, Little Zhang didn’t count for anything.
Now he couldn’t compare to Yan Lei, who was a Regimental Commander, and in the future, he would be even less comparable.
In her eyes, Little Zhang was just an important informant.
Unfortunately, they hadn’t walked many steps before they arrived at Regimental Commander Zhao’s house, and Yingzi ran out, saw her, and shouted, “Sister, Mom is looking for you!”
She wasn’t familiar with Little Zhang yet, so it wasn’t easy to speak, and Lin Xixi could only wait to ask later.
Returning to the Zhao family, Sister Yang held a spatula and asked, “Where did you go… oh, Zhang is here. Sit, Zhang, come sit, come sit.”
“Xixi, hurry and pour water for Little Zhang.”
Lin Xixi served water to Little Zhang, and Little Zhang took it with a grin before sitting down.
Sister Yang knew what was going on as soon as she saw it.
Her Xixi was virtuous and beautiful, and her background was good; such a girl was very popular in the Military Unit.
She said to Lin Xixi with a smile, “Don’t go into the kitchen, just make pancakes in the courtyard, and serve tea and water while you’re at it.”
There was an outdoor stove in the Zhao family’s courtyard, and today it was specifically left for Lin Xixi to show off her pancake-making skills in front of everyone.
Lin Xixi was focused on getting closer to Little Zhang and talking more, so she didn’t suspect anything and just stayed in the courtyard to make pancakes while talking to Little Zhang.
Little Zhang said, “Your uncle is always saying in the Military Unit that your pancakes are delicious.”
Little Zhang added, “I’ve eaten them; they are really delicious.”
Lin Xixi was confused, “You’ve eaten the pancakes I made?”
Little Zhang said, “Just the day before yesterday, the ones you gave to Regimental Commander Yan, Regimental Commander Yan gave them to us to eat, and everyone said they were delicious.”
Lin Xixi only then realized that the pancakes she had given that day were wasted.
Regimental Commander Zhao had brought back an empty lunch box, and she had thought Yan Lei had eaten the pancakes; it turned out they had been eaten by these people.
Lin Xixi was so angry that she felt choked, turned her head away, and stopped talking.
Little Zhang still wanted to talk, but Regimental Commander Zhao walked in with seven or eight young men.
“Xixi, pour water for everyone.” Regimental Commander Zhao’s loud voice rang out as soon as he entered the courtyard, and he introduced them to everyone, “This is my niece, Little Lin.”
A group of young men in green military uniforms greeted her one after another, “Hello, Comrade Lin.”
Lin Xixi wiped her hands and greeted everyone, “Sit.”
She had a slender figure, a beautiful face, and skin as white as a city girl, and she was indeed as beautiful as the rumors said.
The young men were all here for a blind date today, and everyone’s eyes lit up.
Regimental Commander Zhao took off his hat and greeted Little Zhang, “You arrived early.”
Little Zhang held his tea mug and grinned, “My car is fast, I’ve already been chatting with Comrade Little Lin for a long time.”
As soon as this was said, seven or eight sharp glares shot over.
Regimental Commander Zhao smiled happily.
A daughter in the family is sought by a hundred families; this was the scene the bride’s family liked to see.
He greeted everyone to sit in a circle in the courtyard, “Well, I think everyone knows the theme of our study meeting today.”
“We know, we know.”
The young men’s eyes kept darting towards Lin Xixi by the stove.
Comrade Little Lin was not only beautiful, but her technique and strength in kneading dough showed that she was skilled in housework.
It was said that she was also very diligent and capable of hard work.
This was truly the best possible marriage candidate.
The young men were all as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood; although they were sitting on small stools, their backs were straighter than anyone else’s.
Regimental Commander Zhao looked at his busy niece and greeted everyone, “Before we start, let’s all introduce ourselves first.”
He gave everyone a look.
The young men understood, and someone immediately took the lead in introducing himself.
Lin Xixi listened to these people reporting their backgrounds while making pancakes, and the more she listened, the more she felt something was wrong.
She suddenly realized something and immediately turned around, facing away from these people.
…
Sure enough, when the so-called “study meeting” broke up in the evening, Regimental Commander Zhao called her into the room, “Actually, today was to let you and these young men meet each other. I brought the most handsome young men from the Battalion Headquarters for you today, so how about it, did you see anyone you liked? How is Little Li? Little Wang is also not bad. Tell me which one you like, they all took a fancy to you, tell me which one you like, and you can start dating tomorrow.”
Date for two months, make a red outfit for the niece, make two red quilts, get a big wardrobe as a dowry, and you can get married.
Lin Xixi pulled a long face, “I’m not dating.”
Regimental Commander Zhao didn’t believe it, “There isn’t one you like? These are the best young men in our team, and everyone has a future.”
Military officers, the treatment was better than anything else.
Even workers couldn’t compare.
But when it came to the future, Lin Xixi thought differently from him.
What about being an officer? Who knew if these people could survive those ten years.
In those years, how many people couldn’t bear it and jumped into wells, rivers, or hanged themselves.
Even if they safely passed those ten years, when the major downsizing came, they would all have to transfer to civilian work.
And then? The wave of layoffs in the nineties.
What to do when the wave of layoffs comes, what to do?
Lin Xixi seemed to have returned to the moment before she died; the family really couldn’t afford to eat, it was too difficult, and the feeling of despair was overwhelming.
The torrent of history was more violent with each wave, and everyone was small and fragile.
Everyone met at the blind date today didn’t know which wave would slap them to death on the river beach in the future.
In this rolling torrent, the only person Lin Xixi knew who stood firm and kept moving upwards was Yan Lei—the wealth she had missed in her last life.!
