072 Application Form (Bug Fixing)

Good morning, sir!

"Good morning, Section Chief Guan!" the gatekeeper greeted him cheerfully as always.

The name "Section Chief Guan" sounded surprisingly friendly.

Section Chief Xiao Guan was very satisfied.

My position has changed, but my current work hasn't changed much for the time being. After all, when Section Chief Lin—or rather, Deputy Factory Director Lin—was still in the planning department, the work had already been mostly assigned.

But he attended many factory cadre meetings.

Once she sorted out her work, Guan Yuehe realized that it wasn't so difficult after all.

"Is no one in your office who's unhappy about this?" Xie Dongxue asked quietly.

Guan Yuehe thought about it carefully, then shook her head. "On the surface, no. But I might be secretly resentful. But it doesn't matter, as long as the work is done, I don't care if everyone likes me."

"Clear-minded!" Xie Dongxue praised, then teased with a mischievous smile, "It doesn't matter if other people like it or not, as long as the neighbor's brother likes it, right?"

"Isn't that right?!" Guan Yuehe raised her chin high in admission, and the next second she discussed with Xie Dongxue, "Next time you should just call Lin Yiku by his full name. Whenever you mention the neighbor's brother, I always think of how he used to be so disliked, haha!"

Xie Dongxue smiled and agreed, then ate a few mouthfuls of rice before suddenly asking curiously, "Don't you think it's strange to date someone you grew up with?"

“It’s not surprising.” Guan Yuehe quickly swallowed the food in her mouth. “We haven’t seen each other for several years. When he came back to visit relatives the time before last, I didn’t even recognize him.”

If they really met every day in Ginkgo Alley... she felt she wouldn't be able to have any desire to date.

"Wait, is something wrong with you?" Guan Yuehe then realized that Xie Dongxue was acting strangely.

Xie Dongxue scratched her face. "My mom wants me to date the neighbor's son who lives in the next courtyard. How should I put it? He's a nice guy, but I feel awkward about it."

Xie Dongxue's father works at a winery, and her mother works at a machinery factory. In her small neighborhood, every family has someone working at the machinery factory. The machinery factory is a state-owned enterprise even larger than the Five Star Automobile Factory, so the benefits and compensation are only better. Therefore, when Xie Dongxue attended the matchmaking event, she only considered dating men from the machinery factory.

Actually, it's because there aren't many young, single men in the garment factory, and none of them are suitable for Xie Dongxue.

"No rush, observe first. It's okay to date. If it doesn't work out, just break up and find someone else."

Speaking of this, Guan Yuehe felt that many of the women around her really should learn more from Xu Xiaomei. It's not terrible to talk about bad things; at worst, you can just change partners.

“That makes sense.” Xie Dongxue shrugged and stopped dwelling on the issue. Seeing that everyone around her had finished eating and left, leaving a small empty space, she leaned over and whispered, “We have a deputy section chief parachuted in from our publicity department.”

Guan Yuehe stopped scooping rice, stretched her neck and leaned closer, lowering her voice, "What's his background? He's here, what are you going to do?"

Xie Dongxue and He Shuangshuang were listed as candidates for promotion, but they have not been promoted yet because there are no vacancies in the Publicity Department and the Personnel Department.

Relatively speaking, Xie Dongxue might have an easier time moving up the ranks than He Shuangshuang. After all, He Shuangshuang has a father-in-law who is the head of the housing management department, and a husband who was transferred from the purchasing department to the sales department as the deputy head. It's a bit difficult for her family to have three workers who are all cadres.

"They used to work at the Light Industry Bureau; they didn't come here for the propaganda department."

Xie Dongxue tapped her forehead and said, "I just heard some gossip this morning. He was originally going to be parachuted into the Planning Department, which is your department. If it were another candidate, he might have succeeded. But he ran into a tough one like you, and the factory didn't want him to be parachuted in. Even if the people from the Municipal Revolutionary Committee came, they couldn't say that you were not up to the task. So he had to take a step back and come to the Propaganda Department."

That's true. After all, the Municipal Revolutionary Committee issued a document calling on everyone to learn from Comrade Guan Yuehe.

No wonder it took so long to get a result after talking to her; it turns out she almost lost her position as Section Chief Guan!

"I bet they'll leave the propaganda department sooner or later, so keep an eye on them."

Xie Dongxue quickly ended the topic and gestured for her to look to her right and behind. Following Xie Dongxue's gaze, a man in his thirties came to the food window. He wasn't a familiar face in the factory, so Guan Yuehe guessed that this was the deputy section chief who had been parachuted in.

However, the planning department and the publicity department did not usually have much overlap in their work, so Guan Yuehe only remembered his appearance and did not pay much attention to him.

Section Chief Guan is busy.

Section Chief Long was officially appointed, dropping the "acting" title. On his second day in office, he spoke with Guan Yuehe and asked about her willingness to join the Party.

There was no need to ask! Guan Yuehe naturally nodded in agreement without hesitation!

Not long after, the factory's Party branch leaders talked to her and gave her a form to apply for Party membership.

Comrade Xiao Guan pushed his bike home that day, happily walking straight through Ginkgo Alley. As he walked, he realized he had gone too far, so he cheerfully turned back home.

"Yuehe, who are you looking for in the alley ahead?"

"Huh? I'm just taking a walk."

"...Who would believe that?" But what can you do if she doesn't believe you? Can you pry her open her mouth and ask her for an explanation?

After returning home, Guan Yuehe closed the door and stayed in her room, looking at the application forms and figuring out how to write them. Even when she was drafting, she wrote each stroke neatly and solemnly.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" Jiang Guiying came to find her, knocking on the door for several minutes before she finally opened it. As soon as she went in, she saw that her eyes were red.

She wondered if she had been promoted like her sister, and the old hands in the factory were resentful and causing her trouble.

"I was writing something, and then this happened."

"Oh." Jiang Guiying breathed a sigh of relief, at least she wasn't being bullied. She then criticized her, "Couldn't you wait until the electricity came back on before studying? Reading by oil lamplight, be careful you don't end up wearing glasses too!"

Now in winter, it gets dark early, and the electricity doesn't come back on until six or seven o'clock. While others use oil lamps to work, her little girl uses an oil lamp to study. Xie Zhenhua, who lives next door, has been like this for years, which is why his nearsightedness has become more and more serious.

Chang Zhengyi, wearing glasses, was carrying water with difficulty when he heard Jiang Guiying's words. He quickened his pace, otherwise he would be used as a counterexample later.

Guan Yuehe opened her eyes wide and leaned her head close to Jiang Guiying's. "Look at my bright, sparkling eyes, it's impossible for me to be nearsighted!"

Jiang Guiying: "...I'm too lazy to argue with you."

He tore open the cloth bag in his hand. "I had someone replace the cotton for you. See if you have enough?"

"That's enough! Thank you, Mom!" Guan Yuehe said with a smile, offering to massage her shoulders to express her filial piety.

Jiang Guiying was so startled that she quickly slapped her hand away, finding it both funny and infuriating. "Your mother's old bones can't withstand your filial piety!"

Her neighborly friends liked to invite their daughters to go to the public bathhouse for a scrub, but she didn't have that idea.

"Is your older sister alright?"

"It's alright. She said she doesn't want us to interfere, that she can handle people herself." Jiang Guiying sighed. "Now that you're working, we're hoping you'll become cadres, but once you're cadres, you're thinking it would have been better if you hadn't been doing this lousy cadre job!"

“No way. Why shouldn’t we take what we earned ourselves? We didn’t get here through connections or back channels. Being a cadre means a few extra dollars and half an industrial voucher every month.” Guan Yuehe said confidently, “Rather than being told what to do, I’d rather tell others what to do. I think I can think faster!”

"Yes, yes, you're amazing, you're amazing." Jiang Guiying felt that if she continued, her little girl would praise her from head to toe again.

"By the way, Yiku didn't say which specific day he'd be back?"

"He didn't say. Don't worry about it, he knows the way home."

Jiang Guiying glanced at her twice, then sighed, thinking to herself: I've never seen any young people date like the two of them.

Guan Yuehe followed Jiang Guiying back to Courtyard No. 3 for dinner, and happened to see Aunt Xie sitting outside the courtyard gate wiping away tears.

Anyone who doesn't know the truth would say "poor thing" after seeing this.

But who in the entire Ginkgo Alley doesn't know this now? Xie Zhenhua himself admitted that he is not Grandpa Xie's biological son, nor has he ever eaten a single meal from Grandpa Xie, so there's no reason for him to support a stepfather in his old age.

Liu Axiu's family members came to check on her every day recently, and in short, they refused to allow Grandpa Xie to stay at their home.

Grandpa Xie stayed at the factory's guesthouse for a month, incurring considerable daily accommodation costs, but without any food rations. Unable to endure it any longer, he returned to his hometown before New Year's Day.

But Aunt Xie didn't leave. She was always outside with a look of great injustice on her face, and no one spoke up for her.

Everyone thought that Aunt Xie was getting senile; she was living with her eldest son, yet she insisted on dragging Uncle Xie into it.

Sure enough, Aunt Xie was wiping her eyes again, but Guan Yuehe saw that there wasn't a single tear.

Seeing that Aunt Hua, who had difficulty walking, was carrying water into the house little by little, Guan Yuehe strode past Aunt Xie, went up and took the bucket of water directly from Aunt Hua's hand. In two steps, she reached Aunt Hua's door, poured the water into the water tank, and then went to get more water.

When Aunt Hua realized what was happening, she tried to stop them, but Jiang Guiying stopped her instead, saying, "Carrying two buckets of water is just a small thing, let the young people do more."

“That’s right, Aunt Hua, just ask for my instructions next time.”

Aunt Hua smiled sheepishly, "When I'm at home and there's no water, Xiao Jin always gets it for me. It's all thanks to the young people in our compound; they've taken such good care of me and Lao Li."

"That's what they mean by neighbors helping each other out; it's not about taking care of each other."

Aunt Ding came out of the house and said sourly, "Guiying, why didn't you ask your Yuehe to lend me a hand? We've been neighbors for over ten or twenty years."

Jiang Guiying didn't respond, but instead asked, "Is your Xianguang lame again?"

"What do you mean 'again'? This is never good!" Aunt Ding said angrily. "Why aren't the factory workers and their families reimbursed for medical expenses when they go to the factory's workers' hospital? I'm going to the factory's union tomorrow to demand an explanation!"

Aunt Ding didn't bother asking Guan Yuehe to help her out as well as everyone else. Standing in front of her own door, she put her hands on her hips and started yelling at the factory's union for being incompetent.

Each family peeked out of their houses, then went back to their own business.

"Ding Xianguang hasn't gone back to Inner Mongolia yet?" Guan Yuehe asked as soon as she got home. She had been having a lot of good things happen to her lately, and she had almost forgotten about him.

Jiang Guiying curled her lips in disgust, "Don't even mention it. In order to avoid going back to Inner Mongolia, she pretended to be sick at home, but when that failed, she ended up in the hospital, saying that she broke her leg and couldn't walk."

The hospital examined him and said he was faking it. The factory refused to reimburse him, and Aunt Ding wanted to ask Sitian for help. Fortunately, Sitian was busy with work recently and was staying in the hospital's on-call dormitory.

Yesterday I went to the union to make a scene, but the security department kicked me out, saying that Ding Xianguang was deceiving people and wasting the factory hospital's resources, so they wouldn't allow reimbursement.

"I think her request was too unreasonable. She wanted the factory to transfer Ding Xianguang from Inner Mongolia to a rural area on the outskirts of the city, but the union couldn't do it. The educated youth office kept coming to urge them, and the union leaders were furious."

They really know how to cause trouble.

The factory wasn't entirely heartless; they just didn't reimburse him. But when the educated youth office came to ask the trade union to come and do ideological work, the trade union made excuses, saying that Ding Xianguang couldn't walk now and asked the educated youth office to make a decision.

Ultimately, if Ding Xianguang wanted to be transferred to another place in the countryside, he could only do so through the educated youth office; going to the trade union would be useless.

So, in the following days, Guan Yuehe saw staff from the educated youth office coming to the Ding family's door every day after get off work.

Ding Xianguang insisted that he couldn't walk because of leg pain, which infuriated the staff who came to his door. His mood became visibly more irritable every day.

She hadn't seen Lin Sitian for several days, and she couldn't find anyone to gossip with.

I used to be able to chat with Cao Lili, but now Cao Lili is busy taking care of her little girl as soon as she gets off work.

Goodness, Cao Lili's Lingling has such a loud voice, she's like two people in one, and once she starts crying, it never stops.

Over the past few days, she has repeatedly revised the draft and sought guidance from Xie Dongxue. Finally, she copied it without any corrections and officially submitted her application.

Days passed one by one. Guan Yuehe was anxious for two days before she adjusted her mindset and continued to devote herself to her work and studies.

In mid-January, Guan Yuehe received a meeting notice that a branch meeting would be held at the end of the month to discuss her application to join the Party, and she was asked to prepare.

At the end of the month, the branch meeting was held. She stood in front with her volunteer application and read it aloud word by word, unable to contain her excitement while repeatedly reminding herself to calm down.

Her two introducers to the Party were Factory Director Zheng Xingmin, who led her into the Zhuoyue Garment Factory, and Sister Zhu Ronghua, who provided her with much guidance in her work after she joined the factory office.

"Comrade Guan Yuehe is still young. With more work experience and a more proactive approach to taking on responsibilities, she would be even better..."

Unsurprisingly, I heard that familiar phrase again: "Comrade Guan Yuehe, congratulations, keep up the good work!"

—

"Yuehe, are you up so early shoveling snow?" Cao Lili went out before dawn with a flashlight in one hand and toilet paper in the other, and was startled when she saw Guan Yuehe.

"Wow! I woke up early, so I came out to shovel some snow as exercise." Actually, she was too excited to sleep. At night, she could hear the howling wind outside, and if she listened carefully, she could also hear the rustling sound of snow falling.

"You're so energetic every day," Cao Lili remarked. They were all about the same age, but Cao Lili always felt that Guan Yuehe was several years younger than her and Chang Zhengyi.

Guan Yuehe revealed the lower half of her face from under her scarf and laughed, "I eat a lot."

As soon as Cao Lili stepped out of the courtyard gate, she exclaimed in surprise, "The snow is up to my calves!"

Soon after, Officer Song and Grandpa Chang also went out with brooms to shovel snow. The people living in the front yard also woke up. Bai Xianghong called to Bai Yuejin to climb the ladder onto the roof to shovel snow, while Wu Jiawang, complaining about the cold outside, was urged to go up onto the roof to work...

The alleyway was lined with two rows of people, all of whom were clearing snow and clearing the way.

Although it was cold, everyone chatted happily. Since it was still early before work, no one was in a hurry to go out.

"It's payday today, are you buying meat?"

"What should we buy? Chinese New Year is just around the corner, let's save up now so we can eat our fill of meat for New Year's Eve dinner this year!"

The early riser shouted, "I want meat dumplings! Without sauerkraut!"

This drew laughter and scolding from the adults: "You sure know how to eat! Who wraps dumplings like that? You only eat meat dumplings and don't eat any other vegetables?"

"Master Guan, are you going fishing again this year?"

Guan Canghai nodded, "I have to go! I've already made plans with my old friends."

Guan Yuehe chuckled to herself. Others might not know, but how could she not? Her father's "fishing" was rigged; at least half of it was obtained by directly exchanging items with his old friends.

"Don't laugh!" Guan Canghai pointed to the snow that hadn't been swept clean under her feet and said seriously, "Comrade Guan Yuehe, you have to set a good example now. You can't be careless when you're working."

“You don’t understand, I have my own plan when I work. Look,” Guan Yuehe swept the snow at her feet towards the corner of the wall, “isn’t it clean now?!”

Guan Canghai: "......"

He was definitely too busy laughing to notice the ground beneath his feet!

February of 1975 was truly a joyous month.

Oh, perhaps only a very small number of comrades are celebrating.

Because her mouth was covered by a scarf, Guan Yuehe grinned happily when she received her salary.

Her salary started increasing in January, but she's only receiving her January paycheck now. So, this is the first time she's received forty-three yuan.

The day after I received my salary was Sunday.

Guan Yuehe rode her bicycle out early in the morning, heading straight for the nearest department store.

"Don't push! Don't push! There's plenty of fabric here today, you can buy everything you need!"

"Why won't you give me the blue cloth? I don't want the gray one, give me a different one!"

"Oops! Who stepped on me? People behind, stop pushing!"

Almost every counter was packed with people, and Guan Yuehe had no strength left to use, so she could only be forced to move forward.

Seeing that the person behind her was about to cut in line, she stopped the person who was passing her and handing over money and tickets, and stuffed the money and tickets in her hand directly to the salesperson.

"Comrade, I need a tape recorder."

To buy this tape recorder, Guan Yuehe not only spent all her savings from the previous month, but also exchanged almost all of her allocated cloth coupons and industrial coupons for money. But the constant clanging of her bicycle bells showed her excitement that was practically leaping out of her throat.

As soon as she got home, Guan Yuehe put a cassette tape in and fiddled with it. After a series of piercing hissing sounds, she finally got a normal sound.

"Sister Yuehe, what is it saying?" Southwest stared at the tape recorder. It looked similar to a radio, but apart from the English that Sister Yuehe was learning, she could understand the rest of the radio. However, she couldn't understand a word that this big guy was saying.

"Do you want to learn German with me?" Guan Yuehe, who hadn't even finished her apprenticeship yet, was already thinking about taking on apprentices.

Southwest immediately covered her ears, saying, "I can't hear you, I can't hear you," and ran away.

Sigh! Another kid who frowns at the mention of "studying," just like Wu Jiawang from the front yard.

Upon learning that Guan Yuehe had bought another radio, neighbors came to visit one after another.

I didn't come to see the new radio, but rather to see what possessed Guan Yuehe to buy two radios!

"It's not a radio, it's a tape recorder? What's the difference? They all look pretty much the same to me."

“It can play tapes.” Guan Yuehe had demonstrated it countless times, and after each demonstration she would reply, “The people inside are speaking German. What is German? German is the native language of Germans. What’s the use of learning it? Maybe it will come in handy at the Canton Fair next time.”

"You're going to the Canton Fair?" The elderly people were shocked and began to wonder if they could ask Guan Yuehe to buy some rare items from the Canton Fair that didn't require tickets.

Guan Yuehe: "...I was just using an example, I didn't say that you could also attend the Canton Fair!"

"Why can't you go? You know two foreign languages, you should go and help!" The elderly folks told her not to be modest, but Guan Yuehe really wasn't modest. She had only been learning German for half a year, and she was still far from being able to have a normal conversation with Germans.

It was at this moment that Lin Yiku returned to Ginkgo Hutong carrying two large bags of luggage.

"Who are you?" Lin Yiku was wrapped up tightly and not wearing a conspicuous military uniform, so Grandpa Zhang couldn't recognize him for a while and stared at the unfamiliar face warily.

"Uncle Zhang, it's me." Lin Yiku pulled her white scarf down a bit, revealing her entire face.

"Oh! You're back from reminiscing about the bitter past?!"

Hearing people outside calling for Lin Yiku, the lively group of elderly men and women rushed out again, not forgetting to invite Guan Yuehe to join them.

"Put your studies aside, Yuehe, go check on your boyfriend."

"Oh right, I completely forgot they were dating!"

"What can your brain possibly remember?"

A few steps behind, Guan Yuehe hurriedly put on her coat. Just as she was about to leave, she went back and put on the scarf in the room.

Lin Yiku spotted Guan Yuehe at the back of the crowd immediately. Among so many people, she was the only one wearing a military overcoat and a red scarf, with bright, sparkling eyes that caught everyone's attention.

Lin Yiku walked along, greeting the neighbors as she went, and finally managed to get to Guan Yuehe's side. The two glanced at each other, then quickly looked away.

The second aunt next to her joked, "We're not in the way anymore. Since you've come back to reminisce about your past hardships, why don't you talk to your partner?"

"Yes, Yiku, no one's home. Your parents and Sitian went to a wedding and haven't come back."

The others laughed and glanced at Guan Yuehe's face quite often. Unfortunately, they couldn't see any shy expression on her face.

Guan Yuehe even urged them to hurry up, as if it were perfectly natural, saying, "You have to listen to what young people say about dating?"

The neighbors laughed and dispersed in twos and threes, then called to each other to go home and continue chatting.

Only the two of them remained in front of the gate of Courtyard No. 2.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was watching, Guan Yuehe quickly reached out to touch Lin Yiku's hand, but flinched because it was so cold. She then made Lin Yiku rub his hands together to warm them up before taking his hand. The coat also conveniently concealed their hands.

They held hands, but one looked to the left and the other to the right, to prevent anyone from seeing them "pulling and tugging" outside.

Most people wouldn't be foolish enough to stand outside in the wind, but holding hands was quite warm, and no one thought of going inside.

"I thought you wouldn't be home for a few more days. You really know how to pick your time to come back. Today is a good day."

"What auspicious day?"

“You’ve gone home, and I’ve bought a tape recorder. What’s the difference between this and double happiness?” Guan Yuehe felt there was no difference.

"Then this is truly wonderful." Lin Yi smiled wryly. What was originally an ordinary day had become meaningful after she said it like that.

Seeing that no one was heading this way, Lin Yiku turned around and met Guan Yuehe's gaze.

The two of them paused for a moment, then stared at each other.

They then said in unison, as if on cue, "The scarf suits you very well."

Guan Yuehe immediately looked down at the ground and chuckled, her shoulders shaking with laughter.

The red scarf she was wearing was bought and sent back by Lin Yiku in Hunan Province, while Lin Yiku's white scarf was knitted by someone she asked.

She and Lin Yiku were completely in agreement on the point that they both believed they had good taste.

"Yuehe..."

"Wait a minute." Guan Yuehe gestured for him to stop speaking and reintroduced herself to him. "Now, you can call me Deputy Section Chief Guan, or you can call me the future Party member comrade!"

Lin Yiku: "..."

We missed so much good news because we hadn't exchanged letters for a month!

"Okay, Deputy Section Chief Guan, can I leave my luggage at your place first, and then I'll invite you out for a meal?"

Deputy Section Chief Guan was satisfied and decided to invite him to dinner at his home.

"Yuehe, what's behind you?"

"What?" Guan Yuehe turned her head to look behind her, but saw nothing; her clothes were clean.

Lin Yiku looked up, and Guan Yuehe followed his gaze, only to see the eaves and the sky.

"It looks like there's a tail sticking up to the sky, but I don't know whose it is."

Guan Yuehe realized he was referring to her smugness and boasting, "It's mine, hahaha!"

Most people don't even have the chance to show off!

Guan Yuehe laughed heartily, and Lin Yiku stared at her with a silly grin. Aunt Zhao pulled back the curtains, glanced outside, and felt a pang of irritation before pulling them back up.

Song Xibei wanted to rush over to Lin Yi to ask what the military academy was like, but Cai Ying and Song Gong'an stopped him and told him to stay at home.

—

This was the first time Lin Yiku had stepped into Guan Yuehe's house.

Before we started dating, I was afraid she'd mind, so we'd always talk outside the door. After we started dating, I was afraid people would gossip about her behind her back, so I'd only walk her to her doorstep at most.

Now he came in, and Song Xibei and Song Xinan, the brother and sister, were sitting on the sofa, taking small bites of the cookies he had given them.

Every time Song Xibei tried to speak, Song Xinan would shush him, signaling him to listen to his parents and speak less at Yuehe's house.

Lin Yiku took off her coat and draped it over the dresser, then asked, "What do you want to eat for lunch?"

Song Xibei replied, "Anything is fine."

"I didn't ask you." This time, Lin Yiku looked at Guan Yuehe and asked.

Guan Yuehe replied, "Anything is fine."

Song Xibei sighed; he regretted agreeing to come and visit Yiku.