Chapter 82
Qiao Wei gave him a sideways glance and tidied up the things on her desk: “By the way, that thick fabric used for autumn and winter military uniforms, where can I buy some?”
“What for? Making clothes?”
“Yeah, a lot of people in the county are wearing military green now.”
“I’ve seen it in town too,” Yan Lei said.
Cadres commuting from the old district to the Battalion Headquarters have a car to pick them up and drop them off. Today, everyone on the car was saying, “There are quite a few people on the street wearing military trousers. I thought it was new recruits wandering around.”
“Speaking of which, I haven’t seen you wear a dress for a long time,” Yan Lei said.
“Then tell me, do I look better in a dress or in a military uniform?” she asked with a smile.
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, her eyes challenging.
Yan Lei thought about it very seriously and answered sincerely, “You look best not wearing anything.”
Some men, despite looking like old cadres in their daily lives and not sparing a glance for young women outside, dare to make dirty jokes and talk smut once they get home to their wives.
Compared to the man he used to be, who only knew the missionary position, he had completely transformed.
Qiao Wei picked up her pen, pretending to throw it at him.
Yan Lei came over with a smile to massage her shoulders: “Don’t move, let me massage you. Are they sore?”
Seeing his wife hunched over the desk writing for so long, his heart ached for her.
The man’s fingers were long and strong, and the pressure of his kneading was comparable to that of a gold-medal technician at a foot massage parlor in later generations.
All the soreness in Qiao Wei’s shoulders was kneaded away by him; it felt incredibly good.
Many young women at work wore dresses; Lu Manman wore them.
But since Qiao Wei started working, she didn’t wear them much. Her daily attire was a shirt and trousers. She wore white shirts the most.
“My desk faces Tianming, and there’s no cover under the desk, so it’s inconvenient to cross my legs while wearing a dress,” Qiao Wei asked, “Do you like me wearing them?”
“Of course I do,” Yan Lei said, “You have nice legs.”
He stated such unembellished praise so naturally.
Qiao Wei couldn’t help but look back at him.
Goodness, she had lived two lifetimes, so why was her heart still racing because of a man’s words?
She folded the manuscript, put the books back on the shelf, and went to put the ink away in the drawer. As she pulled the drawer open, she saw an envelope.
It wasn’t there before; it had appeared today.
“What’s this?” She picked it up and took a look, very surprised; the return address was actually Beijing.
Geographically speaking, Beijing wasn’t actually far. But in this era, it gave people a feeling of being worlds away.
“Is it yours?” she asked, “Who is it from?”
It wasn’t that Qiao Wei didn’t respect Yan Lei’s privacy. It was just that “Beijing” wasn’t merely a place name, but The Capital with strong political significance. She couldn’t help but ask.
Yan Lei said, “A former comrade-in-arms.”
If it were in the past, he probably wouldn’t have said anything more after that sentence. But now, he paused and told Qiao Wei more: “My old leader’s younger brother. The one who sacrificed himself.”
Qiao Wei remembered what he had told her: “The one who was your leader’s youngest brother? The one who was demobilized due to injury?”
Yan Lei was very happy that Qiao Wei still remembered the things he had told her.
Only when someone keeps the things you’ve said and done in their heart are you willing to tell them more. Otherwise, it’s just a marriage of superficial respect, cold as ice.
“This kid is more than a dozen years younger than my old leader; he’s a child born to their parents in their old age. Just a spoiled brat.”
“My old leader was his big brother, the eldest son in the family, the kind of person who could really take charge. But he left home early, so he didn’t spend much time with them. Later, when their parents saw they really couldn’t control him, they sent him to the Military Unit to let my leader handle him.”
“I’ve seen his brother whip him with a belt at least seven or eight times. That’s how he was brought into line.”
“He wasn’t a coward on the battlefield. Actually, he only suffered a minor injury, but since my leader sacrificed himself, his parents insisted on getting him transferred and demobilized.”
“The day he left, he cried like a baby.”
Qiao Wei asked, “You two have a pretty good relationship, right?”
“The first day he arrived at the Military Unit, we covered him with a quilt at night and gave him a good beating. I led the beating.”
Qiao Wei laughed uncontrollably.
Yan Lei seemed to recall his youth, feeling a mix of joy, regret, and sadness: “This kid is no good; he specializes in deceiving people’s feelings. When he was in the Military Unit, he received letters every month. We looked at them; those letters were written by four different girls.”
“He’s not a good egg.”
A dissolute playboy; just hearing that, you knew he had a background, and in Beijing at that. That was The Capital, the political and cultural center.
Qiao Wei’s mind stirred slightly.
“What are you thinking about?” Yan Lei asked.
“If you have a good relationship with him,” Qiao Wei asked, “could you ask him to help me buy some books? Would it be convenient?”
“Sure, it’s nothing. What books do you want?”
“Science, engineering, and technology ones, anything is fine.”
It would be even better if there were university textbooks on science and engineering.
“Foreign… ah never mind, forget about foreign ones.”
She had originally thought about getting some mathematics books from the Big Brother. As everyone knew, the Big Brother was very impressive in mathematics.
But it seemed too troublesome. After all, she was asking for a favor.
“Tell me what you want,” Yan Lei said, “He and I have a bond forged in life-and-death. If I say I want something, he will definitely do his best to find it.”
Such a solid relationship? Then Qiao Wei wouldn’t stand on ceremony and told him what she wanted.
But Yan Lei’s expression changed slightly after hearing her.
Seeing his expression, Qiao Wei changed her tune: “If it’s too much trouble, forget it. It’s not essential. If you can get it, great; if not, that’s fine. No need to go to too much trouble.”
Yan Lei hesitated for a few seconds, but decided to be open and honest with Qiao Wei and have a good talk.
He said, “Qiao Wei, now is really not the right time to take university entrance exams. That news about stopping enrollment, although not yet implemented, shows that the political climate isn’t suitable for university exams.”
“…” Qiao Wei, “Huh?”
The two of them weren’t on the same wavelength.
Qiao Wei asked, puzzled, “How did we get onto the topic of university exams?”
Yan Lei was also surprised, “You want math books, isn’t that for taking university exams?”
She mentioned science, engineering, and technology earlier, which he didn’t really understand, assuming it was just her interest. But then she asked for S-country mathematics.
Wasn’t math a subject studied in school? Yan Lei assumed she was still unwilling to give up on the idea of taking university exams.
Qiao Wei finally understood and laughed, “You’re overthinking it.”
She thought about it; when she first transmigrated here, he had told her about the possibility of universities stopping enrollment, but since she was new to this place, she hadn’t expressed any opinion on it.
Later, neither of them had brought it up again.
It was time to have a good talk about this; these were all problems left behind by the original owner.
“Yan Lei, I don’t plan on taking university exams. Not now, and not in the future,” Qiao Wei said, “Going to university is for learning knowledge, but you can’t learn anything in schools right now.”
Qiao Wei had long completed her studies in another life; she didn’t need to go to a university here to acquire knowledge.
Furthermore, in terms of the era, the identity of a high school student was truly excellent. In this era, it counted as being an educated person while also being safe.
In the coming times, being a university student wouldn’t be safe.
If she were to give herself the status of a university student at this time, it would be no different from defecting to the Nationalist army in ’48.
Yan Lei breathed a huge sigh of relief, “So you knew. That’s what I heard too.”
Qiao Wei asked, “Is the situation in the education sector very tense right now?”
Yan Lei said, “I heard universities are a bit chaotic now.”
Qiao Wei sighed.
Yan Lei stroked her head, “What’s wrong, regretful?”
“I don’t want chaos,” Qiao Wei said, “I just hope every day is peaceful.”
Yan Lei didn’t say anything else and gently patted the top of her head.
The next morning, he asked her how much military uniform fabric she needed.
Qiao Wei said, “I want to make two jackets, one single-breasted and one double-breasted. Just get me ready-made trousers, so I won’t need extra fabric for that.”
Yan Lei said, “A single-breasted jacket? Wouldn’t it be easier if I just found you a female soldier’s uniform?”
Qiao Wei slapped her forehead.
She had only been thinking about making two slightly different military green jackets, never realizing that a single-breasted one was just a female military uniform.
How silly.
Yan Lei laughed himself silly, “Your brain has stopped spinning, hasn’t it?”
“Alright, I’ll get you a single-breasted one, you use the fabric to make the Lenin coat yourself, plus two pairs of trousers.”
This style with double-breasted and suit lapels was called a Lenin coat in this era. This style was a classic and was still common even in later generations, it just wasn’t called a Lenin coat anymore.
Qiao Wei went to submit her manuscript when she went to work.
She said to Station Chief Lu, “Station Chief, the manuscript requested by the county meeting yesterday, please take a look at it so I can take it to the Section Chief.”
Station Chief Lu took it, glanced at it, nodded, and handed it back, “Good, go ahead.”
Qiao Wei then went to find Section Chief Xie, “Please take a look and see if there are any parts that need revising, so I can take it to the Director.”
Section Chief Xie read it even more carefully because writing communication drafts was the work of the Propaganda Section.
“Not bad,” he praised repeatedly after reading it, “Go ahead, give it to the Director.”
After both levels of her direct superiors had reviewed it, Qiao Wei headed to the Town Committee Office.
As soon as she left, someone in the Propaganda Section said sarcastically, “Section Chief, Qiao Wei is really something. She’s only been here a few days and she’s already cozying up to the Director.”
The broadcaster’s job was to broadcast and write broadcast scripts.
Communication drafts were the work of propaganda officers. Qiao Wei had stolen their work.
“If you can win an award, win a banner for the Town Committee, and get named by the county, let alone the Director, even if you cozy up to the Secretary, I won’t say a word,” Section Chief Xie pushed up his glasses, looked at the person, and reached out his hand, “Come, where is the banner you won? Bring it here and let me see.”
Banners won in propaganda competitions counted towards Section Chief Xie’s political achievements. Naturally, the Section Chief favored the subordinate who helped him earn those achievements.
That person was mocked and fell silent.
The Director of the Town Committee Office was surnamed Wang.
When Qiao Wei came to submit the manuscript, he was quite surprised, “It’s already written?”
It was the first time he had encountered someone with such high work efficiency.
Qiao Wei said, “How could I dare to neglect work assigned by the leadership? I stayed up all night writing it; look how red my eyes are. I’m thinking of asking the leadership for leave to go back and catch up on sleep today.”
No wonder Secretary Gao kept praising her.
Director Wang laughed, “If anyone doesn’t approve it, you tell me.”
He accepted the manuscript and told Qiao Wei to go back first.
Secretary Gao hadn’t been at work long before Director Wang knocked on his door, “Secretary, Little Qiao has already finished the manuscript. Please take a look.”
Secretary Gao laughed happily, “This Comrade Qiao Wei, young people are truly like the sun at eight or nine in the morning.”
He took it and read it; as he read, he gradually became serious.
After finishing it, he let out a sigh and asked, “What do you think?”
Director Wang said, “It’s grand.”
“This girl…” Secretary Gao also sighed, “So young, how does she write with such grandeur?”
In this manuscript, Qiao Wei made a wonderful prospect for the future of the yet-to-be-born Bo City.
In her “imagination,” after the small Yongming County was renamed to Bo City, it would develop solidly and become a sturdy and substantial heavy industrial city in the future.
This was very bold to imagine.
Right now, the tallest building in the provincial capital was only four stories high, and it was already a landmark. The future of Bo City described by her was too “fanciful.”
But what truly shocked Secretary Gao and Director Wang was that between the lines of this female comrade’s writing, she believed in this future with absolute certainty.
She believed in the country’s future with absolute certainty.
Every word of hers overflowed with love and confidence in the country.
She was a comrade with faith!
