Chapter 65
Fearing that the child would be too excited to sleep if she told him at night, Qiao Wei waited until the next morning to tell Yan Xiang, “Starting from today, Mommy is going to work.”
Yan Xiang asked, “How many days will you work, and when will you come back?”
“I’ll work every day, and sometimes I have to work on Sundays too.”
Yan Xiang looked surprised at first, then disappointed, “Then do I have to go to Uncle Zhao’s house every day?”
Qiao Wei asked, “Don’t you like Aunt Yang and Jun Jun?”
“I like Aunt Yang, she gives me food,” Yan Xiang said, “but Jun Jun is too noisy.”
“What about Wu Nier?”
“Wu Nier is too noisy too.” Without waiting for Qiao Wei to ask further, Yan Xiang added, “Sister Lin is noisy too.”
Qiao Wei told Yan Xiang, “Xiangxiang can go to work with Mommy.”
Yan Xiang’s eyes lit up instantly, and the disappointment on his little face was swept away, replaced by a glow.
Qiao Wei said, “But Xiangxiang must be good.”
Yan Xiang immediately puffed out his chest, “Aunt Yang even said I’m too well-behaved and told me to go fight Jun Jun, but I wouldn’t.”
Qiao Wei rubbed her forehead.
The Zhao family’s way of raising children was very rough.
Sister Yang had told her that Yan Xiang was too quiet and easily bullied, suggesting she could lend Junzi to her so Yan Xiang could practice.
In Sister Yang’s worldview, boys must know how to fight.
The idea that boys must be able to fight, and that one must have a son, were actually products of the rural environment.
In human society, the middle class is the most civilized, while the lowest and highest levels are often worlds of survival of the fittest.
In rural areas, families without sons, with few sons, or with weak or timid sons are truly and maliciously bullied by others.
This situation still existed even in the later era where Qiao Wei had lived. One could easily scroll through video platforms and find clips of families without sons having their homesteads or farmland maliciously encroached upon by neighbors.
But in reality, as a cadre’s child, Yan Xiang was already in the middle class of society and no longer needed to rely on physical strength to win.
It was just that Sister Yang’s mindset hadn’t shifted along with the change in status.
“Aunt Yang likes children who can fight, but Mommy likes Xiangxiang,” Qiao Wei said, “Xiangxiang doesn’t need to fight; Xiangxiang can do whatever he wants.”
That’s why Xiangxiang likes Mommy the most.
Yan Xiang smiled brightly.
On the first day of officially working, Qiao Wei arrived a bit early as promised, bringing Yan Xiang to the office by 9:30.
Station Chief Lu had already brewed a large mug of strong, thick tea.
“You’re here very early,” Qiao Wei said with a smile as she walked into the office. She was still wearing the same outfit as yesterday, and the sunlight seemed to linger on the shoulders of her white shirt, lighting up the office.
“Yan Xiang, this is Station Chief Lu, call him Uncle.” She gently patted Yan Xiang’s head.
Yan Xiang was also wearing a white shirt today, clean and neat. He tilted his head up and called out sweetly, “Uncle.”
“Hey! Good boy~” Station Chief Lu pulled open a drawer, reached inside, fumbled around, and pulled out a piece of candy, “Here.”
Qiao Wei applied a slight pressure with her palm on Yan Xiang’s back. Receiving permission, Yan Xiang happily took the candy, revealing a set of small white teeth, “Thank you, Uncle.”
It was clear that he was very well-bred. Who doesn’t like a polite child, especially when there was nothing to do in the office?
“Oh my, this kid, wearing such white clothes. It gets dirty so easily.” Hu Sui also leaned over to tease Yan Xiang, pinching his cheeks and rubbing his head, feeling a bit nostalgic, “They are still cute when they’re little. Mine are all grown up now, smelly and troublesome.”
Lu Tianming said to Yan Xiang, “Give me the candy, and I’ll perform a magic trick for you.”
Yan Xiang followed instructions and gave the candy Station Chief Lu had given him to Lu Tianming. Lu Tianming moved it from his left hand to his right, then back again, making Yan Xiang giggle uncontrollably.
Lu Tianming asked Qiao Wei how many children she had, and upon learning it was only Yan Xiang, he said, “Only one?”
Only then did Qiao Wei realize that Lu Tianming was about the same age as Yan Lei and already had three children. The youngest was starting elementary school this year, and his wife was currently pregnant with their fourth.
People of this era really didn’t care about contraception; they valued having many children for good fortune.
Lu Manman arrived a little later than Qiao Wei, but she was still earlier than her usual habit of arriving right on time.
Seeing that Qiao Wei had arrived early as promised, she had a very good impression of her.
Military dependents from rural backgrounds really had no concept of time. The reason Hu Sui could now come to work on time was because Station Chief Lu had established a rule for the Broadcasting Station that salary would be deducted for late arrivals or early departures, which was the only thing that managed to correct her.
The one who was resting at home due to severe pregnancy symptoms used to be frequently late too.
The announcer’s schedule was already flexible and relaxed enough, yet they would still be late, even after being told many times that “the time for broadcasting Central Station news is fixed and must be punctual.”
It was also by deducting salary that this was forcibly corrected.
For these military dependents, just talking to them was completely useless. They didn’t care much about “rules” or “regulations.”
Only actual money deducted could make them feel the pain.
Hu Sui had broken the equipment twice. The first time, Station Chief Lu kindly reported it as natural wear and tear, but he didn’t expect her to do it again the second time.
Station Chief Lu told her that from the third time on, if she broke it again, the cost of replacing parts would be deducted from her salary, and only then did she behave.
By comparison, not saying anything else, Qiao Wei’s adherence to time alone made her look much more pleasant.
Lu Manman also teased Yan Xiang, then said to Qiao Wei, “Come with me, I’ll teach you how to use the equipment.”
Qiao Wei patted Yan Xiang’s head and looked around.
Station Chief Lu pointed to a desk, “You’ll sit here from now on.”
Hu Sui claimed credit, “I’ve already cleaned it up for you.”
The wooden desk was half-old, but it was indeed wiped spotlessly clean.
Although Hu Sui was stubborn, she wasn’t lazy when it came to work. The office wasn’t even as big as the main room in her house, and she could clean it up in no time every morning.
Objectively speaking, her real work was basically finished in those ten minutes or so in the morning.
Then for the rest of the day, she basically just drank tea, did needlework, or knitted sweaters in the office.
Station Chief Lu and Lu Tianming read books and newspapers.
The sounds of the three of them sipping or gulping tea rose and fell; there were no other sounds, each doing their own thing.
It was all about the golden years, peaceful and serene.
Today, because of Yan Xiang, it was even livelier than usual.
Qiao Wei had Yan Xiang sit in her seat and pulled out two comic books she had brought from her bag, “Read slowly, and don’t disturb others.”
She also placed the military green water bottle on the table for him, then took her pen and notebook and followed Lu Manman to the broadcasting room.
Lu Manman spoke clearly and was actually a decent teacher, “The first step is to turn on the vacuum tube amplifier to warm it up.”
Qiao Wei asked, “How long does it need to warm up?”
“About ten minutes,” Lu Manman said, “So, at the very latest…”
Qiao Wei continued, “Must arrive by 9:55.”
“Correct.”
Lu Manman pointed to the machine and told her, “This switch, pull it to the ‘Broadcast’ position, and the broadcast will be on. You speak into the microphone, and the speakers outside will hear you. Did they give you the opening and closing lines?”
“Yes, they did, I can already recite them.”
She was someone who could really get work done.
Lu Manman was pleased and continued, “When pulling the switch, you have to time it precisely. After finishing the opening lines, immediately switch to the county broadcast channel. This window is very short; the county side has opening lines too. As soon as she finishes reading, switch to the Central channel. We can’t miss her opening lines, and she can’t miss the Central Station’s opening lines. Understand? Write it down, write it down. This is the most important part.”
So, the most important part of this job was to time it precisely and finish reading two sentences within one minute.
Qiao Wei made notes with a serious expression and even circled the key points.
Lu Manman was very satisfied with this work attitude.
She also emphasized the order of opening and closing several switches, “You must remember, if you pull this one first, it will spark, and it will break immediately.”
Even with such simple operations, Hu Sui just couldn’t learn them.
Qiao Wei could now understand the helplessness of the three Lus.
Actually, rather than saying she couldn’t learn, it was more of a mindset of “I don’t believe in this, I won’t do it just to see what happens.”
Anything I don’t know, I don’t believe; it’s all you bragging, it’s all you talking nonsense.
I just won’t listen.
“That clock, Uncle Tianming adjusts it once a month. It’s very accurate,” Lu Manman told Qiao Wei while pointing to the wall clock.
Qiao Wei noticed that she was a generation younger than Lu Tianming, hence she called him Uncle.
But there was no time to chat about this; it was time.
Lu Manman said, “Watch.”
She demonstrated the operation for Qiao Wei on the spot. Once the broadcast switched to the Central People’s Broadcasting Station, the morning’s workload was finished.
“You must pay attention to this switch. If it’s pulled down, the microphone is on. If you sneeze in the room, everyone in town will hear it. Yue Xiufen always forgets this, and it has caused several embarrassing incidents.”
“Is Yue Xiufen the one resting due to pregnancy?”
“Yes, a military dependent just like you.”
Qiao Wei asked, “Then now…”
“Now there’s nothing to do,” Lu Manman said, “Just time it, it ends in thirty-five minutes. Pull the switch down, read the closing lines, push the switch up, then push this, then push this, and the machine is completely turned off.”
“Lock the door, hang the key on the office wall. Use it again in the afternoon.”
How truly idle.
The two of them didn’t stay in the broadcasting room either.
Because the broadcasting room had its windows sealed with bricks for good sound insulation, the lights had to be on during the day, and it was poorly ventilated and very stuffy.
As soon as the broadcast started, the announcer would get up and leave. Lu Manman chatted with Qiao Wei outside.
“Then we stay in the office?” Qiao Wei asked.
“Anywhere is fine, just time it well and go back in thirty-five minutes.”
The two returned to the office.
As soon as they entered, Hu Sui said, “Oh my, your child is so well-behaved.”
In the ten minutes or so that Qiao Wei had been gone, Yan Xiang hadn’t made a fuss and had just quietly read his books.
The three adults were quite surprised. They had all raised children, and little boys of this age were rarely this quiet.
“As long as he didn’t disturb anyone,” Qiao Wei said, “He just likes reading.”
Station Chief Lu asked, “Finished learning? How was it?”
Lu Manman was very happy, “She’s learned everything.”
“Then the two of you sort out the shifts,” Station Chief Lu said, “Although she’s learned it, let’s be safe; you’re still on duty this week.”
The two announcers took turns on a weekly basis as per custom. The person not on duty also had to come on time in case of any situation, so they could fill in. The person on duty that week also had to work on Sunday.
Lu Manman’s face fell instantly, “Second Uncle!”
She didn’t get to rest last Sunday when she was supposed to, and now she wasn’t allowed to rest this week either!
Yesterday she had called him Station Chief. So they were uncle and niece.
Seeing that Station Chief Lu was about to lecture, Qiao Wei smiled and said, “How about letting Lu Man take me on a trial run first? If I can do it, I’ll take over starting this Sunday. From then on, we can count a full cycle starting on Sundays and rotate like that.”
Lu Manman was immediately all smiles, “Good, good, good! You’ll definitely be fine!”
Station Chief Lu pointed his finger at her in the air, signaling agreement, but reminded her, “Call me Station Chief. Don’t mix public and private matters.”
Lu Manman stuck out her tongue.
The matter of shifts was settled in a sentence.
Timing the thirty-five minutes, Lu Manman went back to the broadcasting room to read the closing lines, turned off the machine, and came back to say goodbye, “I’m off.”
Station Chief Lu said, “Don’t oversleep this afternoon.”
Lu Manman scoffed, “Who’s going to oversleep?”
The announcer’s morning work ended just like that.
Station Chief Lu asked, “Is Qiao going home or eating at the unit?”
Qiao Wei said, “I’ll eat at the Cafeteria. Going home to cook is too much trouble.”
“Exactly, exactly,” Hu Sui said, “Cooking for just one person is too much trouble. Let’s go eat together in a bit.”
Qiao Wei smiled, “Okay.”
Station Chief Lu sipped his tea happily.
He thought to himself that this time the Military District had really acted like humans, finally giving them a decent person.
She was young, good-looking, energetic, had a positive attitude, and was sharp and perceptive enough to know who to listen to.
As a leader, what could be more satisfying than this?
Qiao Wei was very happy to eat lunch with Hu Sui.
The Cafeteria wasn’t big, and many people carried lunch boxes back to their offices to eat. The two of them, with Yan Xiang, specifically stayed in the Cafeteria to eat.
It was clear that Hu Sui also intended to align herself with her.
Humans live in groups and naturally have an instinct to form cliques. Moreover, apart from them, the other three people in the office were local residents with the surname Lu. Who else could Hu Sui align with if not her?
Sure enough.
“Lu Manman and the Station Chief are niece and uncle. Lu Tianming is not from the same branch as the Station Chief; they are clan brothers.”
“Lu Manman’s father is the deputy director of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.”
“Section Chief Xie from the Propaganda Section is the Station Chief’s brother-in-law, once removed.”
Qiao Wei didn’t need to ask; Hu Sui just rattled it all off.
Always trust the information-gathering capabilities of the aunties and older sisters.
“Wait a minute, wait a minute.” Qiao Wei also had gaps in her knowledge, “What does brother-in-law once removed mean?”
“Sigh, you city folks don’t understand anything; you can’t even figure out relatives.” Hu Sui scoffed and explained to her, “Section Chief Xie’s wife is the Station Chief’s cousin. If it were a biological sister, it would be a direct brother-in-law. Since she is a cousin from the same branch, that’s why I said brother-in-law once removed. Cousins from the same branch are very close.”
“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm!” Qiao Wei nodded throughout the entire meal.
Learned something new.
Time to relearn the “Family Song”!!
