Chapter 81
Qiao Wei had to go on another business trip.
The County Party Committee called to notify them about a meeting, and Qiao Wei was specifically named as an attendee.
This time, not even Station Chief Lu or Section Chief Xie needed to go.
The ones going together this time were Secretary Gao, Town Mayor Xie, and the Director.
Since she was going out with three older leaders she wasn’t familiar with, Qiao Wei behaved herself and didn’t ride recklessly this time.
The early autumn sun was truly beautiful, and the ride was pleasant.
The meeting turned out to be about the merger of the county and towns.
This time, Yongming County was expanding and intended to merge its two nearest towns, Qingshan Town and Xiahekou Town, into it, turning them into its two districts.
In the future, the county seat would expand and connect with each district.
Qiao Wei listened obediently the whole time, diligently taking meeting notes.
It wasn’t until the meeting started discussing the renaming after the merger.
Someone brought up the subject of renaming.
Based on some historical allusions of Yongming County, it was suggested that it be renamed Bo City.
Qiao Wei froze.
After transmigrating into this world, she was able to determine her general location because she knew about Lin City and the provincial capital.
However, she had never heard of places like Yongming County or Xiahekou Town.
She thought it might be because they were small places.
But she found it a bit strange; since Lin City existed, where was Bo City?
Bo City was much more famous than Lin City.
So, it turned out that Yongming County was the future Bo City.
That was a powerful heavy industrial city.
Once put that way, many things clicked into place.
Xiahekou Town must be the Hekou District of Bo City, and Qingshan Town must be Qingshan District.
These were all places Qiao Wei had visited on business trips when she was still healthy and able to work in her previous life.
Come to think of it, the county seat area of Yongming County must be the old city district of Bo City.
Alright, everything matched up.
It was time for a meeting break.
This was a time of hardship, so there were no fancy tea breaks.
Everyone just went out to the courtyard to smoke and get some fresh air.
Qiao Wei noticed that Town Mayor Xie and the Director had gone off separately to socialize with others. She thought about finding a less crowded place to stay for a while, as the smell of smoke where the men were huddled together was simply too strong and was choking her.
Unexpectedly, Secretary Gao waved at her: “Qiao Wei, come here.”
Following Secretary Gao’s call, many people turned their gazes toward Qiao Wei.
People in the meeting room had already noticed this girl in the white shirt.
Some had even asked around quietly, only learning that she was from Xiahekou Town.
Since when did Xiahekou Town have such a beautiful young cadre?
Qiao Wei walked over calmly: “Secretary?”
Secretary Gao really liked this quality in Qiao Wei; she was unhurried and possessed a sense of composure. Composed people always make others feel they can be relied upon.
“This is Qiao Wei, the new writer for our Town Committee.” Secretary Gao introduced her to a middle-aged man, “Although Comrade Qiao Wei is young, she is proactive and motivated in her work, and her achievements are outstanding.”
“Qiao Wei, this is our county’s Secretary Meng.”
Qiao Wei suddenly realized; so it was the County Party Committee Secretary. The top leader of Yongming County.
“Hello, Secretary Meng.” She greeted the leader politely.
Secretary Meng extended his hand: “Qiao Wei, right? I’ve read the articles you wrote; they’re very good. I approved sending them to the city for the selection process, and they did indeed win an award.”
Qiao Wei shook his hand and felt that his grip was very strong.
Seemingly noticing it, Secretary Meng let go of her hand and smiled: “I heard you are a military spouse; that is truly rare.”
Secretary Gao smiled: “Secretary Meng also came from the military.”
In this era, unlike in later generations, soldiers discharged from the military didn’t have the opportunity to choose their own careers. In this era, when officers were discharged, the best choice was undoubtedly to enter the government and pursue an official career.
Qiao Wei smiled and said: “Important positions need to be held by people with a military background so that the masses can feel at ease.”
This one sentence flattered both secretaries.
A look of appreciation flashed in Secretary Meng’s eyes.
Secretary Gao then told Secretary Meng: “Qiao Wei’s husband is Yan Lei. The Yan Lei who led less than 200 men, broke through the fire line, and captured two enemy positions in a row.”
Secretary Meng was truly surprised this time: “It’s him?”
“So Regimental Commander Yan is your husband.” Secretary Meng smiled, “I have spoken with him before.”
He interpreted Qiao Wei’s composure as being because she had a husband who was a Regimental Commander. When transferring from military to government, a regimental level corresponds to a division level. Yan Lei’s rank was higher than Secretary Gao’s; he was at the same level as Secretary Meng.
As a former corporate slave in her previous life, Qiao Wei could be tactful and worldly. But as someone from a first-tier metropolis, she actually felt no awe toward these county and town cadres. At least, no fear. Which made her appear more composed than others.
But Secretary Meng could sense this lack of “fear”. If she were the spouse of an officer of the same rank as him, it would make sense.
Secretary Meng praised Yan Lei: “He is remarkable. When we were young, we couldn’t compare to him.”
“You are too kind.” Qiao Wei smiled and said, “He told me that it just happened to be him at that time. If it were someone else, like Secretary Gao or you, if the two of you were placed in that situation, you would only be better than him.”
Just as they were about to continue chatting, the Town Mayor of Qingshan Town brought over a relatively young man.
Secretary Meng naturally had to exchange pleasantries with him.
“Little Qian hasn’t met Comrade Qiao Wei yet, right?” Secretary Meng said, “You are both writers, come, get to know each other.”
It turned out that the person the Town Mayor of Qingshan Town brought was a propaganda cadre from the Qingshan Town Propaganda Section.
He was the real propaganda cadre. This time, it should have been the propaganda cadre who attended. But the county had specifically named Qiao Wei. Qiao Wei was just a broadcaster.
Everyone greeted and exchanged pleasantries. Qiao Wei vaguely felt that this Cadre Qian from Qingshan Town seemed to have hostility toward her.
She suddenly remembered that she had won the first prize this time, and the second prize went to Qingshan Town. Because she hadn’t been to Qingshan Town before and hadn’t interacted with people from Qingshan Town, she hadn’t paid it any mind.
After remembering, she understood immediately.
Secretary Meng held one wrist with his other hand, resting it on his stomach—a standard stance for a leader: “You writers need to write well this time. The biggest event in the fourth quarter of this year is the county-town merger.”
Qiao Wei and Cadre Qian both agreed.
The meeting lasted all day.
Looking at the time, she knew she couldn’t make it back before the Town Committee got off work in the afternoon. Yan Xiang was still at the Broadcasting Station.
Qiao Wei had no choice but to call the Town Committee and speak directly to the operator. The operator’s room and the Broadcasting Station were next to each other, so the operator simply stepped out the door and shouted for Hu Sui at the top of her lungs.
Hu Sui came over to answer the phone, and Qiao Wei asked Hu Sui to take Yan Xiang to Sister Yang’s place first after work.
By the time she rode back to town, it was already getting dark, and the Town Committee had gotten off work.
Secretary Gao said: “Everyone can ride the bikes home first. Return them tomorrow.”
That worked out perfectly; Qiao Wei was worried about Yan Xiang, so she rode straight to the Zhao family’s house.
When she reached the street corner, the children saw her and chased after her.
In this era, you could see some bicycles in Lin City and the county seat, but since the town was small, riding a bicycle was still considered a rarity.
Qiao Wei went to the Zhao family’s house to pick up Yan Xiang. Sister Yang saw it and was amazed: “So this is a women’s bicycle.”
The light in Sister Yang’s eyes was no different from that of the children outside who were chasing the bike.
Qiao Wei said: “You come and ride it.”
Sister Yang quickly waved her hands: “I can’t, I can’t.”
“It’s fine, I’ll teach you.”
Riding a bike is such a simple thing. Except for people with poor coordination, almost no one fails to learn it.
Sister Yang was physically strong and agile, so she learned it immediately.
She rode it several times before getting off, clicking her tongue: “It feels like flying. Whoosh.”
She returned the bike to Qiao Wei and casually gossiped: “That Broadcaster Lu from the Broadcasting Station is quite picky about finding a partner.”
Qiao Wei: “Huh?”
“The Fang family introduced several to her, but she didn’t like any of them.”
Qiao Wei: “…Who is the Fang family?”
Sister Yang thought for a moment: “She seems to have the surname Hu? The one who brought Xiangxiang over.”
Oh, Hu Sui!
“She’s introducing partners to Lu Manman?” Qiao Wei also started gossiping.
“They were all from the military; she introduced two or three. Broadcaster Lu didn’t like any of them.” Sister Yang laughed, “The Fang family asked me today if there were any good-looking young men, looking for someone like Yan. She said the broadcaster doesn’t care about rank, only about whether they are good-looking or not. This young girl.”
Qiao Wei laughed out loud.
So Lu Manman is a visualist.
She said: “If you have anyone in mind, introduce them to her. Her dad is the director of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, she’s 19, has a junior high education, has been working for four years, and her salary is higher than mine.”
Finally, she added: “She also has a good personality and is an easy-going girl.”
Straightforward temper, never suffers from internal friction. Qiao Wei likes people who don’t suffer from internal friction.
The middle-aged sister’s desire to play matchmaker was overflowing. Sister Yang was tempted as soon as she heard: “With such good conditions, no wonder her eyes are on top of her head. I’ll ask Old Zhao to look around for her.”
Qiao Wei said: “I’ll let Yan Lei take a look for her too.”
Yan Lei saw the bicycle in the courtyard when he got home at night.
He circled the bicycle and looked at it with his hands on his hips: “This is a 26? It’s so small.”
“Easy for you to say.” Qiao Wei said, “Does everyone have legs as long as yours?”
Qiao Wei couldn’t ride a 28-inch heavy-duty bike at all, but Yan Lei could definitely ride one.
“This bike is old.”
“Of course, the Town Committee has bought it for many years. It wasn’t bought just yesterday.”
“Why did you ride it home?”
“It’s because I came back late, and there was no one left at the Town Committee.”
At dinner, Qiao Wei was again writing diligently at her desk.
“What are you writing?” Yan Lei leaned over to look.
“A propaganda article.” Qiao Wei said, “It’s not a broadcast script; this time I have to write a news report.”
This should have been the propaganda cadre’s job. But the county specifically named her, so the task fell on her.
“This is harder than a broadcast script, right?” Yan Lei asked carefully.
“Of course. A broadcast script is only a few minutes long. This can be written very long.”
Yan Lei stopped bothering Qiao Wei.
Qiao Wei was so engrossed in her writing that it wasn’t until she finished, capped her pen, and turned around that she realized Yan Lei hadn’t left. He had been leaning against the door with his arms crossed, watching her.
“What are you looking at?”
“Looking at you.”
“Be serious.”
“How is it not serious to look at my own wife? It’s the most serious thing.” Yan Lei’s eyes were smiling.
He liked watching Qiao Wei writing diligently at her desk.
The focused look in her eyes always made him restless with desire.
But he didn’t dare disturb her, wanting but unable to act.
Theoretically, this state should be uncomfortable for a man.
But Yan Lei… actually quite enjoyed it.
