Chapter 118 After the game of chess ended, Director Qi...

After the game of chess ended, Director Qi stood up and made Yu Jiajia a cup of malted milk powder. She gently placed the enamel cup next to Yu Jiajia, then walked to the dresser and took out an iron box with peony flowers printed on it.

After opening the tin box, I picked out a chocolate with a gold wrapper and handed it to Yu Jiajia, saying, "This is a liqueur-filled chocolate, have a taste."

Yu Jiajia unwrapped the candy and put the whole piece of chocolate in her mouth. The chocolate was very rich, and after biting into it, there was a sweet liqueur filling inside. The alcohol taste was very light, but it was very sweet.

Factory Director Qi washed another plate of fruit. She picked up a grape and ate it, saying, "It's quite sweet."

She hasn't had a chance to eat what I prepared today yet, but it seems sweeter than the ones in Beijing.

After finishing the chocolate, Yu Jiajia also ate some grapes and said sweetly, "Thank you, sister. You're so kind."

Factory Director Qi laughed: "Let's play another round."

Yu Jiajia ate grapes while concentrating on the game; playing chess with Director Qi was a bit tiring.

Fortunately, she won this time!

It was getting late, and Yu Jiajia was about to say goodbye when Director Qi handed her the peony-patterned tin box: "Take this and eat it."

Yu Jiajia had no right to take it, so Director Qi patted her head and said, "Go ahead."

Yu Jiajia left, feeling dizzy, clutching a tin box of candy. She suspected that Director Qi was sent by the Premier to meet with her, but she didn't reveal any secret codes.

The unknown is what makes things more interesting.

Yu Jiajia returned home and sat at her desk looking at the crabapple blossoms. The crabapple blossoms had grown quite a bit; when would she be able to use them?

The skills the system has been giving out in the last few days have been fairly standard. She's already synthesized the tractor driving and repair skill, and today she synthesized the basic knitting skill. The rewards are also quite generous, with a set of "Golden Monkey" stamps being particularly noteworthy.

There are three in total, and they are all used stamps!

It has great collectible value.

Yu Jiajia carefully put it away. She had been too busy lately to go to the post office to buy stamps, but she would have to go this week.

When Cheng Xiuying entered the room, she saw that Sibao was completely mesmerized by the crabapple blossoms, and she began to wonder what was so special about these crabapple blossoms.

It's quite special; Yu Jiajia brought this flower home after meeting the Premier. She even told everyone not to touch it.

Cheng Xiuying said, "Director Qi is quite handsome."

She happened to be at the door, and never expected that Director Qi was much younger than she had imagined.

Yu Jiajia: "Yes, it's really beautiful, it has the air of a great beauty!" She opened the tin box and offered Cheng Xiuying some chocolate.

Cheng Xiuying looked at it and couldn't help but gasp. So many chocolates! These are rare items; you can't buy them even if you have money! They're probably only sold in Friendship Stores.

Factory Director Qi is really good to Sibao.

Yu Jiajia picked out a silver chocolate, unwrapped it, and fed it to Cheng Xiuying. "Mom, try this. It's a liqueur-filled chocolate."

Cheng Xiuying took a bite. "Why is it bitter? There's really wine in it."

Yu Jiajia gave Cheng Xiuying two more pieces: "You and Dad eat them."

Cheng Xiuying put it back: "You can eat it slowly here. Go wash up and go to bed. Don't wait for your third sister. We don't know when she'll be back."

Yu Jiajia then handed some to Cheng Xiuying: "You and Dad eat this!"

The next day, Yu Jiajia woke up on her own without being woken up by her third sister. Her third sister hadn't returned home all night, and she suspected that her third sister's pursuit of A-mei must have made progress. She wasn't too worried, though, as her third sister was very capable.

After she got up, she signed in first.

Congratulations on obtaining [All-Purpose Fish Food*1];

It's all-purpose fish food again! I've saved up so much that I'll never run out!

After she finished washing up, she sat in the wicker chair reading a comic book while waiting for her meal. Old Man Yu walked around her for the fifth time, and Yu Jiajia asked, "Grandpa, is there something you want to tell me in private?"

Old Man Yu said somewhat awkwardly, "Jiabao, could you make some fish food for me? Last night, my neighbor, Old Man Zhou, invited me to go fishing. I've been there once before, but the fish food I made didn't catch any fish."

Yu Jiajia laughed: "It's not worth making things difficult for Grandpa. Just tell me whenever you want to go fishing, and I'll prepare the fish food for you! I guarantee you'll catch a big fish."

She used whatever was in the kitchen, and then secretly added some all-purpose fish food. Worried that it would be too effective, she didn't add too much, so that Old Man Yu could catch some fish, but not too many.

When the fish food was given to Old Man Yu, he was overjoyed. "Thank you, Jiabao!"

Yu Jiajia: "When Grandpa returns in triumph, we'll have fish for dinner!"

Old Man Yu was even happier. "With Jia Bao saying that, Grandpa is sure to catch a big fish today."

After breakfast, Yu Jiamin still hadn't returned, and everyone was curious, thinking that she must be up to something big this time.

Yu Songyan: "Being a police officer is quite tough."

Yu Jiajia nodded in agreement; her third sister had been watching her for days!

After arriving at the factory, Yu Jiajia resumed her work in the educated youth office. Now that the office was running smoothly, everyone was fulfilling their duties, and with Deputy Factory Director Gao overseeing things, Yu Jiajia, as the deputy director, had a slightly easier time.

The steel rolling mill doesn't strictly enforce the rule that parents should pass their jobs on to their children. If parents are willing to let their children take over, the mill will arrange it. However, the children will definitely have to start as apprentices. Whether they can become permanent employees and when they can become permanent employees depends on their work ability.

More often than not, they are looking for partners for their children, hoping to avoid being sent to the countryside through marriage.

Yu Jiajia had arranged all the work, so she wasn't as busy anymore. But it wasn't appropriate for her to just sit in the office drinking tea and reading the newspaper, so she came to the registration point to take a look.

However, there weren't many people registering at the registration point.

It's already the third day. The most enthusiastic group of comrades have already signed up and are now studying in various training classes. Others who don't want to go to the countryside don't dare to come, for fear of being caught and lectured by the comrades from the educated youth office.

Liu Weidong happened to be there too, and he waved and greeted him: "Director Yu."

Yu Jiajia: "Just call me Jiajia."

Liu Weidong teased her, "That won't do, a leader is a leader! You are Director Yu now."

Yu Jiajia glared at him: "Deputy, deputy."

Liu Weidong said with a smile, "Jiajia, the oil mill is serious. They've issued new regulations, giving all eligible young people a week to sign up for rural work. Anyone who dares to delay will have their parents immediately suspended from work until their children sign up. Also, starting yesterday afternoon, the option of taking over someone else's job has been completely blocked. The factory workers are in an uproar, but the factory leaders are adamant, saying this is 'resolutely defending Chairman Mao's ideology,' and they won't budge an inch."

What could Yu Jiajia say? She could only say, "The oil pressing factory really has advanced ideas."

She really hates oil presses.

This has blocked all avenues; if you don't get married, you'll have to go to the countryside.

In fact, this is what most factories would choose to do.

It can only be said that the steel rolling mill is a breath of fresh air.

Liu Weidong: "The oil pressing plant has had several major incidents. This time, they want to make progress and strive to be the first in the policy of sending educated youth to the countryside. I just went to the factory office and saw that our factory has seen the trend of the steel rolling mill. Now many people are going to give their jobs to their children."

They were all afraid that steel mills would learn from oil mills.

Yu Jiajia didn't know what to say; she just did whatever her boss told her to do.

Under national policy, Yu Jiajia wouldn't utter a single "no".

Liu Weidong: "Let's invite Xiaomei and Wenbin to have dinner together. I ran into Xiaomei yesterday, and she was talking about you."

Yu Jiajia: "Okay."

Nowadays, Cheng Xiuying is too busy, Yu Songqing is too busy, and only she and Yu Hongding are not busy. The father and daughter cannot go to the cafeteria for lunch together every day, so she has plenty of time at noon.

As soon as Lin Mei saw Yu Jiajia, she called her Deputy Director Yu. "I was a little uneasy when the deputy director invited me to dinner."

Yu Jiajia took her hand: "And now?"

Lin Mei: "I was both nervous and apprehensive."

Yu Jiajia couldn't help but laugh.

Zhou Wenbin: "We've all heard about it. Jiajia, you're amazing! You actually came up with the idea of ​​having the educated youth bring their skills to the countryside."

Yu Jiajia: "When educated youth go to the countryside, they always bring something with them, and technical skills are better than anything else."

On the way, he ran into Zhou Liang again. He shamelessly ate with him, and Liu Weidong tried to provoke him, but he couldn't get rid of him.

Lin Mei smiled and said, "You two have a really good relationship."

Liu Weidong was shocked. They were rivals in love, how could they possibly have a good relationship?

Zhou Liang also found these words disgusting, so he walked to the other side, keeping a distance of three zhang from Liu Weidong.

This made Yu Jiajia and Lin Mei laugh out loud.

When it's time to eat, everyone buys one or two dishes and then they all eat together.

Yu Jiajia bought boiled sliced ​​pork and pan-fried dumplings, while Lin Mei bought sweet and sour pork and stir-fried vegetables. After getting their food, the two sat next to each other. Yu Jiajia fed Lin Mei a pan-fried dumpling, saying, "It's fresh out of the pan, the outer skin is crispy, and it smells delicious."

After finishing her fried dumplings, Lin Mei said, "Thank you, Jiajia. I was worried that you wouldn't play with me anymore after you became the deputy director."

Yu Jiajia was shocked: "How can you be so shallow? I misjudged you."

Lin Mei laughed and said, "Jiajia, don't look at me like that, I can't stand it! Your eyes are so beautiful! Let me tell you, matchmakers have been coming to the door every day lately. I met three yesterday at noon, and they were all ugly and wanted to marry into my family. I couldn't stand them at all. Just thinking about sleeping with an ugly woman in the future terrifies me."

Yu Jiajia laughed and leaned on Lin Mei's shoulder, "It's terrifying to even think about it, we have to find someone good-looking!"

Lin Mei whispered, "I still prefer Li Heyu! He has thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a high nose bridge; he's incredibly handsome."

Yu Jiajia: "If it's good, look at it more. If you can take it home, you can look at it for a lifetime. If you can't take it home, take advantage of the present to look at it more. Be bold and go for it."

Lin Mei: "Didn't you try to persuade me before?"

Yu Jiajia: "It's different now. They wanted to go back to the city, and the city was so complicated. It's different now. The city leaders have all changed! The city's cultural troupe is practically becoming our county's cultural troupe. And it's such a perfect match for talented men and beautiful women."

She believes that Qingshan County will be better and stronger than Zhou City in the future.

Seeing that Lin Mei had actually taken it to heart, she quickly added, "Meimei, no matter who it is, we must love ourselves the most and be the best to ourselves."

Lin Mei nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "Jiajia, can you teach me what to do?"

Yu Jiajia became genuinely interested. "For Li Heyu, genuine enthusiasm should be enough."

The municipal cultural troupe has been exploited too much by the municipal revolutionary committee. People like Tian Lili, Tian Xiaoxi, and Su Yu have very weak psychological defenses. If you treat them sincerely, you can basically win them over after a few rounds. But there is a major prerequisite: you have to be able to protect them.

The performing arts troupe is very safe and clean now, so genuine enthusiasm should be enough.

Lin Mei understood immediately. She thought about how Yu Jiajia treated Tian Lili and the others, and held Yu Jiajia's hand, saying, "Thank you, Jiajia!" Then she asked softly, "So what kind of girl do you like?"

Yu Jiajia: "He has to be prettier than me."

There's one more thing she didn't say, it has to be very strong.

She's attracted to good-looking people and also admires strong men.

Lin Mei looked at Liu Weidong and Zhou Liang, who were carrying plates over. These two would be considered handsome and talented in the steel rolling mill, especially Zhou Liang, who was sunny, enthusiastic and humorous. However, compared to Yu Jiajia's requirements, they were really not qualified.

Even Li Heyu, whom she thought was the prettiest, wasn't actually as pretty as Yu Jiajia.

Liu Weidong and the other two also ordered two dishes, basically one meat and one vegetable. In order to eat something different, the three of them had different meals and bought steamed buns or rice as staple food.

Everyone pushed their lunchboxes together in the middle and ate together, making lunch a feast in no time.

While eating, they talked about the experiences of educated youth going to the countryside.

Zhou Wenbin asked, "Do you know Xu Chang from the office?"

Everyone knows him; he's a very capable comrade and is well-liked by Gu Yongyi, the section chief of the office.

Liu Weidong knew what he was going to say as soon as he heard it, since he happened to know about it.

Yu Jiajia was always a good listener, so she asked with curiosity, "What's wrong with him?"

Zhou Wenbin said, "He went to the educated youth office this morning to register for going to the countryside." He then explained the reason: Xu Chang had a girlfriend who was unemployed and met the requirements for going to the countryside, but Xu's parents disapproved of her and had been blocking their marriage. Xu Chang's girlfriend had no choice but to register for going to the countryside because she didn't want to marry someone else. Xu Chang had just heard the news and followed her there. Now, no one could stop him.

Zhou Liang: "Why didn't Xu Chang steal the household registration book and secretly get the marriage certificate? Was it because he liked going to the countryside? He's such a progressive young man!"

Xu Chang has a job; he's a cadre! He can easily support his wife. They don't have a house now, but they can live in a dormitory, or find a way to make room for them as their wedding room. Why resort to such a desperate measure?

Everyone: ...

What else could Zhou Wenbin say? "He probably just likes going to the countryside."

Yu Jiajia couldn't help but laugh, hahaha. Suddenly, she felt her right eye twitch twice. She raised the back of her hand and rubbed her eye, but her right eye still twitched. She blinked, "Why is my right eye twitching?"

Zhou Liang: "A twitching right eye means bad luck, a twitching left eye means good luck."

Upon learning that Yu Jiajia's right eye was twitching, Zhou Liang immediately corrected himself: "I was mistaken, a twitching right eye means good fortune."

Yu Jiajia:......

Liu Weidong quickly asked with concern, "Are your eyes uncomfortable?"

Yu Jiajia shook her head: "My right eye keeps twitching, and it's making me a little anxious."

Lin Mei: "I'm probably just too tired these past few days. I'll take a nap after I eat."

Everyone continued eating, but after taking a bite of the boiled pork slices, Yu Jiajia felt increasingly suffocated. She let out a long sigh, reached out and covered her chest, "No, I feel something's wrong."

Zhou Liang looked at him with concern, "Are you feeling very unwell? I'll help you to the clinic so the doctor can take a look."

Lin Mei also put down her chopsticks and reached out to pat Yu Jiajia's chest. She frowned and said, "Jiajia, your heart is beating very fast. Is your heart hurting? Let's go to the clinic first."

None of them ate. Lin Mei helped Yu Jiajia up.

Zhou Liang and the other three were also worried, but they didn't know how to help.

Yu Jiajia's eyelids twitched even faster, and she felt uneasy, worried that something was wrong with her health. She leaned on Lin Mei's hand, preparing to go to the health center for a checkup. She had saved up so much wealth; she couldn't afford to die suddenly.

Zhou Liang was so anxious he wanted to carry Yu Jiajia on his back. "Can you walk?"

Zhou Wenbin and Lin Mufeng quickly packed up their lunchboxes and followed.

A worker nearby noticed and asked worriedly, "Jiajia, why is your face so pale? Are you feeling unwell?"

Yu Jiajia felt a chill for no reason. She said, "I feel a tightness in my chest."

Her appearance was quite frightening, so one of the older women picked Yu Jiajia up and ran outside.

Yu Jiajia: "Big sister, I can walk by myself."

She wasn't actually that weak.

As they left the cafeteria, Cheng Xiuying came in from outside. Seeing Yu Jiajia like this, she exclaimed, "Sibao, what happened?"

After feeling the sun shining on her, Yu Jiajia felt her eyelids stop twitching, her chest feel lighter, and her whole body feel warm and comfortable. She exclaimed, "I'm all better now!"

The older woman looked down and saw that Yu Jiajia's face was no longer as pale as before; it was rosy now, and she could tell that she was alright. So she put Yu Jiajia down and said, "It's good that you're alright. You scared me to death just now."

Cheng Xiuying took Yu Jiajia's hand and looked her up and down, then used a handkerchief to wipe the cold sweat from Yu Jiajia's forehead. "Have you been too tired these past two days?"

Yu Jiajia was also wondering why her discomfort had come so suddenly. She touched her right eye, her heart skipped a beat, and after taking a few more steps into the cafeteria, her eyelids started twitching again, and she began to panic.

Something's wrong with the cafeteria!

Yu Jiajia held Cheng Xiuying's hand: "Mom, Mom, I feel unwell whenever I get near the cafeteria. There must be something dangerous in there. Mom, you have to believe me."

Cheng Xiuying's expression changed drastically. She instantly pulled a whistle from her collar, blew it quickly, and told Yu Jiajia to get away immediately. She shouted, "There's a bomb in the cafeteria! Evacuate immediately!"

Yu Jiajia followed behind Cheng Xiuying: "Mom, I didn't say there was a bomb."

Liu Weidong and his group were completely bewildered. What was that? A bomb?

How could there be a bomb?

Cheng Xiuying pushed Yu Jiajia out and yelled, "Get out of here right now! Wang Rui, take Jiajia out!" She rushed into the cafeteria.

The older sister from earlier was Wang Rui, who quickly pulled Yu Jiajia outside.

Yu Jiajia was worried, so she pushed Wang Rui away and chased after her.

It was lunchtime, and the canteen was packed with people—there must have been over a thousand. Luckily, Cheng Xiuying was the deputy factory director in charge of safety, so everyone trusted her. Since the bomb was mentioned, almost everyone who heard it immediately urged others to run outside. People who were queuing for food stopped getting their food and ran out as well. The brave and enthusiastic comrades even helped evacuate the crowd.

Upon hearing the slogans, the security personnel rushed over and, after learning the news, worked together to evacuate the crowd.

There must be some who are afraid; those who are afraid can simply hide.

Upon hearing the commotion, the canteen manager rushed out of the kitchen, exasperated, and said, "Deputy Factory Director Cheng, what are you doing? How could there be a bomb in the canteen? Aren't you just messing around?"

Cheng Xiuying was frantic. "Old Cui, quickly tell the kitchen staff to disperse! There's a bomb! Are you going to stay here and wait to die? Everyone, leave the cafeteria immediately, leave right now!"

Director Cui had never seen Cheng Xiuying like this before. Originally intending to confront her, he just wanted to run away immediately. But if he did, his job as director would be over. He rushed to the kitchen, shouting, "There's a bomb! Get the supplies and evacuate! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Cheng Xiuying turned to look at Yu Jiajia, only to find that Yu Jiajia's face was deathly pale and something was wrong. She had never seen Sibao like this before. "What are you doing here? Get out of here right now."

Yu Jiajia took a deep breath: "Mom, let me look for it, let me look for it."

Lin Mei and the others also rushed in, frantically evacuating the crowd. Although they didn't understand why there was a bomb, they all chose to believe it.

Deputy Factory Director Cheng is no joker!

Moreover, it's better to believe this is true than not to believe it is not true.

Yu Jiajia walked straight toward the rows of tables without anything unusual happening. Suddenly, she noticed a canvas bag on a chair in the corner.

Yu Jiajia quickly opened the canvas bag, which was filled with explosives wrapped in oil paper.

In the center of the explosives, a small, military-green electric gun was inserted, with an old horseshoe-shaped watch screwed onto it.

A white dial, red hands—the minute hand is ticking away. The only sound from the entire setup is the ticking of the mechanical clock, each note striking a chord deep within the listener.

The alarm clock was set to 1:20.

It is now 1:18:45.

There is one minute and fifteen seconds left.

Yu Jiajia felt a chill run down her spine. This was clearly a time bomb, and she even wanted to throw it into her spatial dimension.

Shouldn't the space be explosion-proof?

Cheng Xiuying snatched the canvas bag and rushed outside. Yu Jiajia cried out anxiously, "Mom, it's a time bomb! There's only one minute and thirteen seconds left!"

Cheng Xiuying yelled, "Make way, make way right now!" When she encountered someone who didn't know their place and blocked her way, she didn't care about anything else and just rudely bumped into them and sent them flying.

Yu Jiajia chased after her, calling out, "Mom, be careful!"

Factory Director Qi rushed over and chased after him, shouting, "Deputy Factory Director Cheng, stop right there! Give me the bomb!"

However, she couldn't catch up with Cheng Xiuying, who was running very fast.

Why is Cheng Xiuying able to run so fast?

She was stopped by Yu Jiajia and several workers.

Factory Director Qi shouted, "I can defuse bombs! Let me defuse them!"

Cheng Xiuying shouted, "...It's too late! There's only half a minute left, everyone get out of the way quickly!"

She couldn't possibly escape with the bomb. Even if she flew, she wouldn't be able to leave the steel mill. Fortunately, there was no one within a dozen meters of her, so everyone would disperse and retreat around her.

Cheng Xiuying rushed to the center of an open space, far enough away from Yu Jiajia, and abruptly stopped. She glanced quickly at the canvas bag in her hand, silently counting: ten, nine, eight…

Without the slightest hesitation, she spun around in place with the canvas bag, like throwing a hammer, and swung it with all her might into the empty sky!

"Get out of here!"

The instant the package slipped from her grasp, she turned and rushed towards Yu Jiajia, shouting at the top of her lungs, "Lie down! Lie down now!"

He collapsed heavily to the ground at the last second, desperately protecting his head with his arms.

She didn't know the power of the bomb, nor its range; she could only stay as far away as possible.

She has always been well aware of what kind of person she is: selfish, profit-driven, and adept at maximizing her own interests in everything she does.

Faced with the bomb, she had no choice.

She could run away, but if she did, the Yu family's reputation would be completely ruined, and her position as deputy factory director would be over.

So this is not a multiple-choice question at all.

Faced with the prospect of immense profits versus a sliver of hope, she almost instinctively chose fame and fortune.

At this moment, all she hoped for was to survive and enjoy a bright future.

The others scrambled to find cover, collapsing one after another.

Factory Director Qi, who was further away, reacted quickly and pulled Yu Jiajia into his arms, pulling her down to the ground. He used his back to protect Yu Jiajia and covered her ears with his hands.

Boom!!!

A deafening roar exploded over the steel mill, transforming into a hideous black firework. Amidst the expanding flames and thick smoke, shattered sand and gravel rained down like a sudden downpour, pelting everyone present.

Everyone felt a lingering fear, their bodies turned cold, and their spines trembled.

Just one minute, no, perhaps only a few tens of seconds! That deafening roar would not have swallowed the empty sky, but half the lives of the steel mill workers.

After the loud explosion, Yu Jiajia crawled out of Director Qi's arms. She didn't even have time to brush the dust off her body before running wildly toward the place where the smoke had not yet cleared.

The sand was still falling, hitting her shoulders, but she was completely unaware.

She wanted to find Cheng Xiuying.

Amidst the smoke and dust, Cheng Xiuying sat slumped on the ground, seemingly stunned by the shock.

Her face was covered in dust, a few strands of hair were stuck to her forehead with sweat, and her eyes held a dazed look of relief after surviving a disaster. She looked at Yu Jiajia and belatedly realized that she had won her gamble; she was now alive to enjoy a bright future.

Yu Jiajia burst into tears and rushed to Cheng Xiuying, crying out, "Mom!"